Chapter 43
Carla
I chuckled at his throwaway line, until I realized… Kellan wasn’t joking. “I’m serious,” he murmured, tugging me closer on the squeaky mattress where, minutes earlier, he’d thrilled me with over a dozen orgasms, spread over the length of one amazing, too-short hour.
His body shined, hard from the physical labor of his new “career”. Buttery, smooth and tanned from days spent under the unrelenting Florida sun. He’d always been hard, sculpted and lean, but now his new physically demanding job had left him harder, leaner and more naturally sculpted than ever, making me want him every time I noticed a new, hard edge or jutting, sharp corner.
His eyes drank me in—all of me—and nodded. “I’m serious, Carla,” he insisted. “I’m sick of renting this little cottage, and sick of sharing you with your family.”
I gave him a warning glance. “I thought that’s why we’re both here, Kellan,” I reminded him.
“I’m happy to be here,” he said. “But not happy about being apart so much. Maybe… maybe if we bought a place together, we wouldn’t have to—”
“Bought?”
He blushed, looked away, then nodded energetically. “Sure, why not?”
“How… how long do you intend on staying in Siesta Key?” I asked, broaching a topic I hadn’t even answered myself.
Ever since that fateful night when my mother had called to say that my stepfather, Roy, had had a stroke, I’d been in limbo. Stuck halfway between two worlds, I’d let my life in South Beach slowly phase itself out while investing more and more of myself in Siesta Key.
I’d tried to consider Kellan’s feelings, promising him he could leave whenever he wanted, even if it meant finding a temporary captain for Roy’s Retreat and living a solitary existence in my old hometown. But he’d been so sweet and kind throughout the entire ordeal, I’d just settled into taking him for granted.
Now, hearing him talk about buying a house, I wondered how much he considered tiny Siesta Key, Florida his adopted home. “How long do you intend staying here?” he threw back at me, leaning back against the bedroom wall and making himself comfortable. “I mean, not to sound all doom and gloom, but we both know your stepfather has a long way to go before he can be independent again, and your Mom still needs a lot of work at her house, which I can’t get to right away because we’re coming into the busy season with the boat, so… this could be awhile.”
I’d been nodding for some time, as if realizing such things myself. “I just always figured you’d tire of all this and…”
His face looked hurt, so I clammed up. Spreading his legs gently, he slid me closer, so that my thighs slid on top of his and he held me gently, both hands around the small of my back. “How could I tire of all this, babe?” he murmured, nuzzling my neck before rubbing my nose with his. “I’ve found a little paradise, and I want to stay for as long as you’ll have me.”
My heart hammered, realizing how much the thought of leaving Siesta Key bummed me out and tore me down. I knew that, in addition to Roy’s recovery and mom’s readjustment to her role as primary caregiver, it would be longer than “a while”. A year, at the very least. More like years, and several of them.
But as we faced each other on the bed, spent from another orgasmic session together, my face burned with shame. “What is it?” he asked, sensitive to my ever changing emotions as ever.
I shook my head, fresh tears falling. “Nothing,” I lied. “It’s just… if we’re going to do this, and do it right… I have a confession to make.”
He nodded, apprehensive but eager to hear. I rushed it out, the burden of the last few months more than I could bear. “That time I went back to South Beach to sell Miami Models?” I said.
“Yeah?”
“Well, you know Deacon Manchester, right?”
“Yeah I know him, what happened?”
“Well,” I sighed. “He took me out to dinner and… we kissed.”
His face changed, almost imperceptibly, his good natured smile and flushed features dimmed slightly before he shrugged. “Wow, Carla. You kissed him? Is that all you did?” he asked.
“Of course it is,” I said, slapping him playfully—if only to ease the growing tension in the room. I’d been wanting to get the confession of my chest for weeks now, but had never found the right time to do it. This might not have been the right time, but… was there ever a good time to tell your lover you kissed another man?
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” he grumbled, like a little boy who didn’t find what he wanted under the Christmas tree. “Deacon Manchester is a low down, dirty, stinking—”
“He didn’t make me kiss him,” I confessed. “Nor was it romantic. I just… thought it would seal the deal, and so…”
He nodded, then shook his head. “Doesn’t sound very much like you, Carla.”
“I know, Kellan. That’s… that’s why I wanted to tell you. I’m not proud of it—and it was stupid—but if we’re going to take this next step together, I don’t want to have any secrets from you, either.”
He seemed comforted by the explanation, my heart pounding as I awaited what might happen next. He smirked, then slid me closer. “What,” he murmured, nuzzling my ear unexpectedly. “You don’t think I wanted to kiss Selena back when she was coming on to me that one time?”
I pushed him away. “You did?”
He shrugged. “For a hot moment there,” he said. “But I didn’t. Doesn’t make it any less sinful than what you did, though. At least, not in my heart – and that’s where it counts, right?”
I nodded. “I just didn’t want to take a big step like this and still have skeletons in my closet, you know?”
“Great,” he said, pulling me even closer as my heart began to hammer for a different reason. “Now our closets will be new and totally skeleton free.”
I pushed him away once more, if only reluctantly. “You’re taking this very lightly,” I said.
He shrugged. “If all you did was kiss the second most handsome man in South Beach,” he teased, “and all I did was want to kiss the second prettiest girl in South Beach, then I’d say we’re about even, right?”
“If you say so,” I chuckled, relief flooding my entire body as I sagged against him with all my worth.
“So what do you say?” he pressed once more. “Are you up for buying a new, totally skeleton in the closet free house with me or what?”
“Buying a place would be smart,” I murmured, picturing house hunting with Kellan and how exciting it would be holding hands while touring new homes up and down Siesta Key.
“Think about it,” he urged, tugging my closer so that my thighs slid farther atop his, our pelvises dangerously close to igniting each other’s once more. “Even if we bought a place now and lived in it for a few years, then moved on when Roy was up on his feet and your Mom was in a little better shape, we could rent it out.”
I nodded, feeling my heart thrumming, and not just by the way Kellan was stiffening against my still slick red bush. “I do know a realtor in town,” I sighed, feeling the rock and writhe of Kellan’s hips as his stiff cock began to glide along my rosy bud. “He’s… one of… Roy’s regular customers…”
Kellan nodded, his voice quickening as his hands slid from behind my back to tease and rasp across the front of my still tender breasts. “Let’s call him first thing tomorrow morning,” he mumbled, his breath sweet from our shared cup of coffee on my throat.
“But what will we do until then?” I asked before gasping as, stiff and tender, the tip of his throbbing cock slid just inside my eager pussy.
“Oh, I dunno Carla,” he grunted, sliding more of himself inside with each syllable as I gently rocked and ground to invite him deeper still. “I think we’ll figure something out…”