Sheer Bliss Read Online Free PDF

naked and writhing, just as she had on her bed earlier, only
she now rode him. Caleb conjured the visual as a voyeur watching
himself, mentally directing his every move. In this fantasy, his
hands first cupped her knees as she bore them into her mattress,
then slid up her thighs and ribcage to rest on her firm breasts.
She writhed around him and tightened her channel, thrusting her
upper body and cooing with each pinch of her nipples.
    What sent him finally over
the edge, though, was the clear view of Calla’s face, and her
serene satisfaction. He’d always thought her lovely with her wavy
blond hair and sharp green eyes. That this conjured dream-Calla
smiled at him with such longing and love led him to believe, even
for the brief moment as he silently came, that he might win her
just yet.
    Of course, he had to want to win her. He didn’t want to marry again. He’d rather
leave mating to the younger ones and rely on their prowess to
repopulate the species.
    Spent and sated, Caleb
opened his eyes and waited for his breathing to slow before
shifting back to panther form. That completed, his hind paw kicked
sand over the telltale puddle of his essence. He didn’t expect
Calla to find it, but surely a passing shifter might sniff him out
and make much of it later.
    Home , he told
himself firmly. He’d go home, shower, and eat. Then he’d sleep away
any fanciful notions of winning over Calla Savitch as his
own.
    Tomorrow, maybe he’d get a
haircut.

Chapter Five
     
     
     
    “ What fresh hell is
this?”
    Little Melina Wilkins, to
whom Calla had given her first haircut six years ago, twisted away
from the comb to frown at her with disapproval. “Miss Savitch, that
wasn’t a nice word,” she scolded.
    “ I know, sweetie, I’m
sorry. Forgot where I was,” Calla said, but kept her gaze fixed on
the salon entrance. Perfect timing as decreed by some prankster
deity—Maya Winston opened the door just as Trisha Houlihan
quick-stepped up the walk and flagged her down.
    Calla relaxed. Okay, she
could deal with this. She knew that Trisha, unlike others in her
extended family, considered the Winston/Houlihan feud ridiculous.
So long as Trisha hadn’t come with her—
    “ Hey, Caleb.”
    Cousin .
    Shit.
    When did Caleb come back
to Bliss? Furthermore, why come here? Caleb hadn’t set foot in
Shear Bliss in years, not since Calla’s mother still owned the
salon.
    The last time he came, he
stopped by to break the news to her of his mating with
Teresa.
    “ Sh—” Calla, turning back
to the little girl in her chair, stopped the spoken expletive in
time, and stretched the syllable a few seconds before pitching the
save. “Sh…shall I put a few bows in this time, Deb?” she called to
Melina’s mother, who waited in the small lobby at the front of the
salon.
    Deb, of course, didn’t
hear her. Like any other red-blooded woman in Bliss, New Jersey
would, she fixed an appreciative eye on Caleb in his tight jeans
and skin-hugging black tee. Only Caleb turned to the young mother
with nothing more than a kind nod in her direction. Those eyes
smoldered with desire only when he turned to silently greet
Calla.
    “ You know, I think we’re
done here, sweetie.” Calla ducked his gaze, and quickly finished
with Melina. Once released from the bib, the little girl hopped
from the chair without concern for stray clipped hairs and dashed
straight for the large treasure box of toys Calla kept for
well-behaved child customers.
    Yes, he’s still cooler
than the proverbial cucumber , Calla noted as he quietly
surveyed the salon. His gaze seemed to pan the breadth of the
shotgun-style hair studio, casually studying the hairstyle posters
and displays of high-end hair care products she seldom managed to
sell. When he finally glanced her way again, his cousin and Maya
were jockeying for her attention.
    “ Hey, Calla, I know Mom
set up an appointment for me right now, but I don’t mind waiting
while you do Maya first,” the younger one had