Creative License (8 page)

“Thank you.” Lily beamed and tucked a stray lock of caramel-colored hair behind her ear.

Caleb noted the small table set for dinner with candles. He walked further in the kitchen to wrap his arms around Lily’s waist. She placed the bread in a cloth-covered, small wicker basket as he bent to nuzzle the back of her neck. He loved the taste of her skin and the fresh floral scent that seemed part of it. With a tinge of shock, he realized how much he’d missed her while he was at the studio. “You smell wonderful too.”

She laughed. “If you keep doing that you’ll distract me and the sauce will burn.” Pulling off a piece of bread, she dipped it in the bubbling red sauce and turned in Caleb’s arms. “Try this.”

He opened his mouth and accepted the morsel from her fingers. He smiled around the bite. “Hey, that tastes even better than it smells.” Without taking his gaze from her eyes, he lowered his head. Her pupils expanded and her lips parted slightly, fueling the need that had grown since he walked in the door. He flicked his tongue over her bottom lip, delighted in her soft gasp. He moved to repeat the action but she opened her mouth, her tongue capturing his. Soft and full, her lips moved against his as she explored his mouth. She’d tried the sauce too. His cock pulsed between them and he was breathing hard when he rested his forehead on hers, fighting the urge to pick her up and take her to the bedroom. “Like the sauce, you taste even better than you smell.”

Lily grinned. “You’re comparing me to sauce now?”

“You’re both edible.” His fingers brushed the swell of her breast.

Lily ducked under his arms, laughing. “Oh no you don’t, bucko, I’ve been cooking for the last hour. Eat first and then….” She glanced over her shoulder. “We’ll continue where we left off.” After opening and shutting a few cupboards, Lily turned. “Okay, I give up. Where’s your colander?”

Caleb retrieved the item and leaned against the counter to watch Lily in action. The steam from the boiling pasta had pinked her cheeks, but he didn’t think steam had anything to do with the sparkle in her eyes. She’d pulled her hair back and soft tendrils curled against the nape of her neck. He knew the skin there was soft as velvet and his fingers itched to touch it again. She drained the pasta, retrieved two plates and dished the spaghetti noodles on them. A delicious smell filled the kitchen as she poured the sauce over the pasta but his eyes were on her firm ass under the blue jeans. His cock twitched.

“Bon appétit.”
With a flourish, she set the plates down on the table. She turned to look at him and her brow creased. “You are hungry, aren’t you? You didn’t eat…?”

He stepped forward, his gaze traveling up and down her body. “I’m starving, but it will have to wait. The food looks almost as tempting.”

Lily stilled, her eyes darkened with desire. Had her nipples had tightened too? He longed to discover the truth himself. Closing his eyes, he mentally sighed. She’d made him dinner. Although he wanted to lick her from head to foot, it could wait. “Shall we?” Caleb asked.

“Oh!” She squeezed by him to retrieve a bottle of wine. The brush of her arm against his caused his erection to strain against his briefs. He’d never wanted a woman like this. It was a primal urge to possess. He shook his head.

“I almost forgot.” She handed a bottle to Caleb. “You open it.”

He glanced at the label and whistled. “This is a bit finer than the wine I usually drink.”

Lily grinned. “Sorry, but those boxes are so damn hard to carry.”

Caleb laughed. “Very funny.” He worked the cork off, poured two glasses of dark burgundy wine, set them on the table, and walked around to hold Lily’s chair. She smiled as she sat and waited for him to settle in his chair.

Lily held her breath while he served himself and then took a bite. “Beautiful, great in bed and a good cook too. Damn girl, you’re a catch. I’m glad I married you.”

Two perfect dimples formed on Lily’s cheeks as she smiled. “Shut up. Between you and me, spaghetti is the only thing I can cook.” She gently swirled the wine glass and sipped the dark liquid.

Caleb grinned, watching the delicate muscles of her throat move as she swallowed the wine. “You made the sauce, right?”

Lily tilted her head. “Yes.”

“Then mix it up a bit. You change the noodles and before you know it, you can make lasagna, rigatoni, angel hair…”

Her smile took his breath away. “Thank you, Caleb.” She scooped up some noodles with the tines and then rested the fork on a spoon before spinning. “Do you cook?”

“I’m a bachelor: If I don’t cook, I don’t eat.” He sipped from his glass. “Hey, this is really good. I do grill a fairly mean steak, if I do say so myself, but most of the time I make things that are fast and easy: salad, baked chicken, top ramen.” He took another bite. “My mom gave me a crock-pot last year for Christmas. That really helps, especially in the winter. I can come home to stew or roast.”

“Wow, you really do cook.”

Caleb shrugged. “Who cooks for you at home?”

“The microwave, or I go out. I’m not home very much. Stewart likes to eat out.”

“Your guy friend.” Caleb almost choked on his bite, his irritation rising. “He won’t want you to cook?”

“Heavens, no. He’ll expect us to hire a cook.”

“I see.” Caleb drained his wine. “Does he know you’re here, with me? And um…”

“No, he doesn’t know and no, we don’t have an exclusive relationship. He doesn’t care who I’m with as long as I’m discreet and don’t embarrass him in some way.”

Caleb shook his head. “If you were my…” He stopped. She wasn’t. Not really and he needed to get that little fact through his thick skull. “And that’s the kind of relationship you want?”

“I’m sure it will change after we’re married,” she said, staring into her wine instead of meeting his eyes. “He cares about me, we’re well-suited, come from similar backgrounds, want the same things out of life.”

Caleb thought of his parents, of the little things they did every day for one another that said I love you better than words. That’s what he wanted. He couldn’t imagine Lily in the sterile environment she described. It would suffocate her. “What about your singing, Lily?” What he wanted to say was what about love? What about passion? But he didn’t dare.

“That’s a pipe dream.”

“So you just abandoned it?”

Lily shrugged. “We live in the real world. Sure it sounds romantic to run off and pursue your dreams, but that’s how—”

“You end up living in a run-down one bedroom apartment barely able to pay the bills?” he finished.

“Caleb, I didn’t mean—”

“No. That’s okay. I’m not ashamed of it. You see, even if my dream doesn’t come true, the fact that I pursued it, that I risked and suffered and loved…” He shook his head. “I can’t see regretting that. I lived. I live.”

“And I don’t?”

“Do you like being stuck in an office all day? Do you like what you’re doing?” He saw the hesitation in Lily’s eyes.

“Most of the time.”

“That’s good. But when you’re old and grey, will you say ‘what if’?”

This time Lily’s hesitation lengthened. “I will have had a good stable life.”

“There is more to life than stability, sweetheart.”

“Can we talk about something else now?” Lily asked, refilling Caleb’s wine glass.

Caleb wanted to take her in his arms, reason with her.
Face it, bud, you want to talk her into staying.
“Are you trying to get me drunk?”

“Do I need to?”

“Hardly.”

A dimple appeared on her cheek and he wanted to kiss it.

“Did you and Monique have a good chat after I left?”

“Good? She quizzed me about you for a half an hour and remembered a date she’d made. I worked for a bit and came home.”

“What did you tell her?”

He shrugged. “The truth.” He didn’t add that Monique had accused him of being in love with Lily.

“What did she think?”

“She thought you weren’t quite my type, but an improvement upon the last female in my life.”

“The one you almost married?”

“Yeah, Arianna.”

“I guess I should be flattered.”

“It doesn’t matter to me what Mo thinks, you know.”

“She’s your friend; she’s looking out for you.”

“Maybe.”

“So if I’m not your type, what is your type?”

He shook his head and leaned forward. “I think you fit me just fine.”

“Come on, Caleb.” But she blushed.

“Someone who makes dinner for me when I come home, someone to hold, who will make wild passionate love until the wee hours of the morning, who will encourage and support and will accept all those things from me. That’s my type.”

Lily blinked, her fork halfway to her mouth.

“And a good fork fighter is essential.”

Her smile broke the spell.

“Drink your wine, Caleb.”

“I intend to and then I’m going to drink you.” His chest suffused with warmth as he watched the blush rise from Lily’s chest, tinting her cheeks a brighter pink and he could well imagine also tinting the pale skin of her breasts. He was instantly hard.

She smiled.
“Touché.”

Lily reached into the sudsy water for another plate. “You need a dishwasher.”

“Why? You’re doing the job just fine.” He kissed the side of her neck, set the wine glass on the counter and grabbed a towel to wipe the table. Tears unexpectedly pricked Lily’s eyes and her hands fell limp in the water. For a moment it had felt real, as though this was reality. It wasn’t. The only thing real between them was the heat that sizzled back and forth whenever they were near. Caleb was like her music—exciting and fun while it lasted but it would fade like mist in the real world of bills and taxes.

“All done, sugar.” Caleb hung the towel over the edge of the counter to dry and wrapped his arms around her.

For a moment she leaned into the embrace and closed her eyes. Caleb’s arms felt real. “You haven’t even asked me what’s for dessert.”

“You made dessert too? Aren’t you the domestic goddess?”

Lily smiled, slipped out of his arms and walked into the bedroom, Caleb a step behind.

“That’s my kind of dessert.”

Lily turned, winked and reached for a bag on the bed.

“What’s in there?" His eyebrows drew together in puzzlement.

“Dessert.” Lily reached into the bag and produced a box. Inside the box nestled three jars and two large paint brushes. “Didn’t you say you’d like to paint me sometime?”

“Yes,” Caleb said slowly, his expression curious.

Damn, he took her breath away. Long and lean with an easy grace about him, her fingers still itched to explore every inch of his body, to touch and taste and… Her belly tightened in anticipation. She walked closer, displaying a jar. “Edible chocolate paint.”

Caleb’s eyes widened as his mouth moved in a slow smile that sent a rush of warmth to all the right places.

“My, my, you are full of surprises.” He glanced around the room. “I’d say the light is about perfect now.” He moved forward, his focus on Lily. Her skin pebbled before his hand even reached out to touch her face. He ran a finger down her jawline and her eyes closed.

“Uh, uh.” Lily forced herself to step away. “You get to paint all the time. My turn first.” She reached for Caleb’s shirt and slowly pulled it over his head, kissing the smooth skin over the hard muscles of his chest before his arms were free of the sleeves. She flicked the hardened nub of his nipple with the tip of her tongue and smiled when Caleb gasped. Lily caught Caleb’s hand before it reached his zipper. “Oh, no, buster. You’re the canvas. Hold still like a good boy.”

Caleb’s body shuddered but he kept his hands at his sides. His green eyes smoldered with desire as Lily slowly unfastened his jeans and pulled them down his hips and then over his legs. His erection already strained his briefs and Lily’s mouth started to water.

Caleb obediently stepped out of them and then froze when Lily opened her mouth, pressed over his cloth-covered erection and blew. The hot air warmed her cheeks and his cock swelled further against her mouth.

A low groan escaped Caleb’s throat. Lily smiled and slowly, inch by inch pulled Caleb’s briefs down, kissing the exposed flesh of his hip as she went, but avoiding his thick shaft.

“You didn’t say torture was part of the program, princess.”

Lily ignored Caleb, kissing and licking his inner thighs, the briefs soon joined the jeans on the floor and Caleb stood before her, naked in all his glory. Her breath caught in her throat. “You’re magnificent.”

Caleb’s green eyes darkened. “And you have too many clothes on.”

Lily pulled her shirt over her head, slipped out of her jeans and stood there in her thong and bra. She moved to where she’d left the supplies, dipped the brush in the dark chocolate and slowly walked around Caleb. He was beautiful, all toned muscle and smooth tanned skin. As her gaze fell on his cock, it jerked as though she’d touched it. She glanced up slowly as his abs contracted and his breathing turned quick and shallow.

“You’re killing me,” he said as she met his gaze.

Lily smiled at Caleb’s intake of breath as she swirled the chocolate in a lazy circle around one nipple and then slowly down his chest to his stomach. She dipped the brush in the creamy confection again and touched it to his stomach, looping around his belly button and down to one thigh. When the brush moved from the sensitive skin of his inner thigh to stroke his balls, Caleb groaned and leaned against the dresser. Hooded eyes, darkened by desire, watched her every move.

Lily’s body warmed and fresh cream dampened her thong. For a moment she considered putting them both out of their misery but instead she dipped the paintbrush back in the chocolate and spiraled the sauce around Caleb’s thick shaft. After a deep breath, Lily stood and placed the brush back in the jar. “Do you know what I’m going to do now?”

“What?” Caleb’s voice was little more than a croak.

“Clean you up.” Lily started at his chest and following the chocolate path with her mouth, licked and sucked the confection from Caleb’s body. The taste of chocolate mixed with the salty flavor of his skin resulted in an erotic blend that had Lily wondering if it was possible to orgasm without being touched.