Enemies with Benefits

Chapter Fourteen

I sat on the kitchen counter in silence, watching the defined muscles of Caleb's back clench and twist under each movement. I stared at the ripples in greed and hunger, like I hadn't just been fucked into a dream and back.

Then again...he was making food—that smelled too fucking delicious compared to the guy I used to know who could hardly boil water, I might add—and he wasn't being a dick. Maybe I was still dreaming.

And even then, did I really hate when he was a dick, considering how his most domineering vocal moments were during sex?

Yeah, that's not you being a glutton for punishment at all, Rachel. Toxic, stupid ass.

I swung my legs to and fro, strumming my fingers along the edge of the countertop. "Can I ask you something?"

Without turning to face me, Caleb sighed with a soft chuckle to follow. "You just did."

I rolled my eyes. "Seriously. Can I?"

"That was a second one," he pointed out. When I glared at his stupidly sexy back in silence, he turned and leaned his hip against the counter on his side, careful of the burner knobs at his backside. "What is it?"

"You're a pain in the ass," I grumbled.

Caleb's answering smirk was mischievous, though its allure was also prominent. "I beg to differ. It'd be much more pleasure than pain for you. Care to find out?"

I shuddered. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

"That wasn't a no."

I shot him a look that I wished would've been intimidating, but he wasn't phased in the slightest. I hated to admit it, but the excitement in the boyish glimmer of his eye had my heart trying to speak up where it should've remained silent in its frozen resting place. It took conscious effort, but I finally forced myself to stop noticing the cute pieces of him that were still there. Sexy, I could handle. Sexy was what my pussy wanted. Cute had my heart warming.

"Anyways," I drawled. "You're a lot more vocal during sex and shit now than you used to be. Can I ask why?"

Right before my eyes, the boyish gleam was gone. A hard edge replaced it, and it was unrelenting. I knew that without a pitiful attempt to try to break it back open. Caleb sauntered over, dipping his head down to let his lips fall over my collarbone that sat exposed in the too-large shirt of his I wore. His arms encircled my waist and he stepped in to stand between the crook of my legs.

"You tell me to get my mind out of the gutter, yet your question was almost as deep into it as I was in you not twenty minutes ago." His teeth grazed my shoulder before his lips curled into a knowing grin when goosebumps rose on every inch of my skin.

"That—" I squeaked, then cleared my throat after two tries. "That didn't answer my question."

"Am I wrong?" Another bite.

I pushed at his chest, the light giggle on my tongue only half-hearted. "Come on, Caleb. Why? When did you get like that? I mean, you were hot before, but I—yeah."

I was hoping for an answer, though I had no idea why he'd actually give me an honest one. Hell, he didn't even give me a lie. Instead, his lips trailed up my neck to my chin, then furthered north to my ear.

"So, you're saying I'm hotter now because of it?" One hand disappeared from my waist and reemerged quickly between my legs, his finger spearing into me before I could gasp my surprise. "See how wet you are already? Fuck, that's sexy. I think you find it hotter, don't you, gorgeous? You like it a little more rough." His finger withdrew slowly, and when he pressed it back, a second had joined the first. "You love it. Admit it. You're hotter than fuck when I get nasty, baby."