Unhinge Me (7 page)

Alex woke up in the dark. It took a minute for her eyes to adjust to the moonlight and she quickly realized she was not in a bedroom she recognized. She wondered where she was and what had woken her. She heard the faint sound of piano music in the distance. As she looked for its source, she noticed the random piles of books and lack of real décor and decided it must be a man’s bedroom.
Caleb’s bedroom?
she wondered. She moved to the edge of the bed and slid off. When her bare feet hit the cold wood floor, she realized her pants and boots were gone. She knew that should concern her. In the back of her mind, she was sure there was that logical part of her that realized the gravity of waking up half naked in a strange bed. But she wasn’t as concerned as she probably should have been. Instead, she wanted to see if it
was
Caleb’s place and to follow that music.

She walked over to the door, which was open just a crack, and slipped out into a dark hallway. Silent on the wood floor, she made her way down the hall where a light was on.

The hallway led to a large room that served as both dining and living room. A small dining table was to the right and a kitchen was off to the left. There was a high countertop between it and the dining area, but it had no barstools. At the far wall opposite her was a fireplace that didn’t look used and, in front of it, a couch. The whole room was just as sparsely decorated as the bedroom. All the furniture looked like thrift shop purchases, yet she could tell the buyer had good taste. There were more books scattered all over almost every surface and it looked like whoever lived there just didn’t bother with anything. In fact, it looked like someone barely lived there at all. For some reason, that made Alex sad.

On the right, in front of a window, was a significantly large keyboard. Sitting in front of it was Caleb. He was playing
Moonlight Sonata
by
Beethoven. It was one of her favorites. She walked quietly over and sat on the back of the couch to watch him play. The way his long, slender fingers slid effortlessly over the keys made Alex think of other things he could do with those fingers. She had a thought about the piano scene in
Pretty Woman
and she studied the legs of the keyboard. Disappointed, she decided they would not hold her weight.

Caleb finished the song and turned to look at her.

“You’re awake,” he smiled softly.

“I heard you playing,” she explained. She shook her other thought away, but not before Caleb noticed.

“What were you thinking about?” he asked in his deep, soft voice.

“Actually, I was questioning the strength of those keyboard legs,” she admitted.

Caleb’s eyebrow went up in question.

Instead of explaining, Alex swallowed, got up as much courage as she could muster, and walked over to Caleb. He turned toward her in his chair as she sat down in his lap and put her arms around his shoulders. She looked down into his face and waited to see how he would react.

His response was swift. Grabbing the top of her button-down shirt, he pulled quickly and ripped it open. Buttons went flying in all directions as Alex gasped… and then smiled. Reaching down, she took the old vintage t-shirt Caleb was wearing and yanked it off over his head. Both of them were already breathing heavily as the tension from their evening at the pub began to expand like a balloon about to burst.

Caleb reached up and pulled Alex’s head down to kiss her. Alex was again reminded of how much she loved kissing him. She ran her hands through his hair, grabbing handfuls and gently squeezing as their tongues intertwined with fascination and delight. Caleb kissed her neck and collar bone and down toward her chest. Alex made a mental note to thank Rachael when he popped open her bra with the front clip. She moaned when he took her breasts in his warm hands.

With the sound of her moan, she felt him grow even harder underneath her and she automatically moved to grind against it. The silk from her underwear slid easily over his hardness, the thin, fragile fabric feeling deliciously intimate. Caleb swore under his breath and moved his hands down. In one hand he grabbed Alex’s underwear and pulled them to the side. With the other, he pulled himself out of his lounge pants easily and positioned himself at her entrance.

“So much for going slow,” Alex said, not at all regretful. She stood up slightly to hover above him and stopped for a minute. She took a deep breath, in and out slowly, taking in the moment. She looked into Caleb’s eyes and inhaled slowly a second time. On the third breath, as she exhaled, she slammed down on his hardness, closing her eyes and crying out at how large he was. He was so long and filled her so tightly it felt like he reached her very core.

Caleb cried out too and began kissing her again as she moved up and down on top of him. Reveling in her having control over him, he grasped one nipple with his mouth. While he sucked on it and swirled his tongue all around it, he used his hand to lightly pinch the other. Alex moaned loudly as he skillfully played with her.

Enjoying the effect he had on her, he took his free hand and reached down to slowly fondle her. Alex cried out in shock and pleasure. No one had ever touched her there and the sensations were almost too good to bare. Her pace quickening, she grabbed onto his shoulders and neck and crashed down on him over and over. Having control of her own pleasure while Caleb was working his magic combined to make a raging orgasm for her. She dug her nails into him as she tried to stay in control of her movements.

Caleb’s own desire was shooting through the roof and hearing Alex’s pleasure was once again too much for him. He seized her hips to help guide her through her explosion. Watching her shudder in orgasm was the end for him. Before Alex even had time to recover, Caleb grabbed on tight to keep them together and threw them both onto the hardwood floor. Hastily, losing all control, Caleb hammered into her over and over until he howled with his own eruption. He yelled out in exasperation and swore as he lowered himself down to rest on top of her. Taking big breaths, he slid to the side and pulled her to him. Still trying to catch her own breath, she automatically snuggled herself into the crook of his shoulder, where she fit perfectly.

“And as I promised, tonight I’m not going anywhere,” he reassured. He kissed her forehead and laid there for a while just holding her. He still couldn’t believe the effect she had on him. He wasn’t sure what to do. He knew what they were doing was wrong, but at the same time he didn’t think he could stop now if he wanted to. He was so sick of living a cold and dead life and with each breath Alex took, she was breathing the life back into him. He could feel it. No, he decided, come what may, he wasn’t going anywhere.

When he was sure she was asleep, he carried her to his bed where he again pulled her close and held her. Soon, he too was fast asleep.

The next morning was a gray and gloomy one, encouraging the couple to sleep in. They smiled at each other sleepily as they slowly woke up. As Alex looked at the gorgeous man lying next to her, she suddenly realized that her hair was mess and she probably had morning breath. She quickly ran to the bathroom to freshen up and Caleb grabbed his phone to read the morning news while she was gone. When she came out, she saw Caleb was making a face at his phone.

“Something wrong?” she asked as she slid back into bed, feeling better now that she had rinsed with mouthwash and ran her fingers through her hair.

“Just that hurricane they have been talking about. They say it’s coming in further than they thought.” He looked toward the window. “Looks like a stay in kind of weekend,” he said thoughtfully.

“Oh,” Alex said, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. “I should probably get going then, to get home before it gets bad.”

She got out of bed and started looking around for her clothes.

“Oh, right,” Caleb said, not hiding his own disappointment. Then he added, “Unless…”

Alex looked at him.

“Unless?”

“Unless you want to, you know, stay here for the weekend. Not to be presumptuous or anything, but it would be nice to have the company,” he smiled.

Alex liked the idea of company. She really didn’t realize just how lonely she was sometimes.

“Company sounds nice,” she smiled back. “Let me just go home quick to get fresh clothes and make sure Bear has enough food to hold her over,” she offered. Caleb was delighted but tried not to show it. Alex finally found her pants on a chair over by the window and starting pulling them on.

She paused as a realization hit her. “Umm… one problem.” She glanced over at him again.

“What?” he looked up, concerned.

“I’m gonna need a new shirt,” she smirked.

Images of flying buttons came to mind as Caleb grinned and got up to get her one of his as a replacement.

“Just hurry up,” he told her as he handed one to her. When she looked at him in surprise, he added, “You know, before it starts to rain.”

She smiled again. It felt nice to have someone worry about her. As she headed out the door, Caleb wondered what the hell had come over him. Why did he feel so protective over her?

By the time Alex returned, the rain had already started and the wind was picking up. She found Caleb’s apartment full of candles and couldn’t decide if it was super smart or super romantic. Trying not to read too much into it, she settled on smart and, in fact, it was. By dinner time the power was out. As they sat over their meal from the last Chinese place willing to deliver, Alex decided to get to know him better by playing her favorite game of “ask anything”.

“Random question: You’re stuck on a desert island and can only have one book, one movie, and one album. Go!”

Caleb put down his chopsticks to think.

“Well, my book would be have to be the complete works of Shakespeare, maybe
V for Vendetta
for the movie, and a Franz Ferdinand mix for music. Your turn.”

“Some kind of Walt Whitman collection,
Pride and Prejudice
for my movie, and Nora Jones for my music,” she returned. “Favorite food?” she asked next.

“I don’t have one really,” he confessed.

“Really? Nothing?” she asked, appalled. “You have to have something you loved to eat as a child. Like your grandmothers cookies maybe?”

“My grandmother has probably never stepped foot in her kitchen,” Caleb replied shortly. “But they did always have these little sweets in a bowl on their front table.”

“Oh, were those good?” she asked.

“No, they were wretched!” He laughed. Alex gave up and laughed too.

“Okay, fine. Favorite color?” she tried.

“I don’t know…” he said, but when she gave him a look, he gave in. “How about black?”

“I’ll take it,” she grinned. “And mine is red,” she answered before he could even ask.

They spent the rest of the night drinking wine while they laughed and talked and asked more questions. As morning came, they finally fell asleep while the storm raged on outside.

The school ended up losing power too and closed down for the first two days of the school week while they cleaned up from the wind, so they had four whole days hunkered down getting to know each other. They ate candle lit meals at the small table, asked each other more random questions, and caught up on a few things they needed to do. Alex did some homework and Caleb worked on his lesson plans.

Alex’s favorite moments were when Caleb would read aloud whatever poem he was working on, but listening to him recite poetry with his deep accent usually led to other things and they always ended up in bed.

Tuesday afternoon was one such occasion. Caleb sat in the middle of his couch reading aloud as Alex lounged on the big chair next to it, her legs lazily hung over the arm. Knowing he had a captive audience, Caleb let the words pour out of his mouth like honey, enticing her.

Alex bit her lip as she listened, his voice making her quiver with desire. Finally, being able to stand it no longer, she got up and went over to stand in front of him. Silently, as he continued to read, she slowly undid her pants and slid them and her underwear off. When he ignored her, she reached over and pulled his off too. Caleb tried to pretend he didn’t notice her and held the book in front of him as she climbed up on top of him, but his hard manhood betrayed his ruse. He exhaled as she eased herself around him, but he tried to keep his voice as even as he could while he read the words to a particularly sexual poem.