Darker the Release by Claire Kent

could just slip away.
    He would be hurt. A lot. But he wouldn’t have to feel so utterly betrayed. He wouldn’t have to know how deeply she’d misused him.
    It would be better that way.
    Wes had been right at the party, although not for the right reasons. She was exactly like Hamlet, trapped in a quagmire of her conflicting emotions and human weakness. Driven by hatred and vengeance but imprisoned by guilt and reluctance. She only hoped—at the end of all this—she’d be able to pull through more successfully than Hamlet did.
    The sound of a door opening roused Kelly from her drowsy reflections. She picked up her head from the pillow and blinked in the direction of the door.
    Caleb walked into the bedroom, dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans. He’d been working in his home office, but at least he hadn’t actually gone into the office.
    He’d changed in more ways than one.
    “Hi,” she mumbled, trying to clear her eyes of sleep.
    Caleb smiled with a fondness that made her gut clench. “You’re awake,” he said huskily.
    Kelly pushed her hair out of her face and tried to break the tender mood. “Are you laughing at me?” she demanded groggily, reacting to the warm amusement in his eyes.
    Caleb’s smile broadened as he came over and sat on the edge of the bed. “Certainly not,” he murmured, reaching out to stroke the curve of her hip through the throw blanket. “It’s just that your hair is quite…adventurous at the moment.”
    Sitting up in bed and putting her hands on her tousled hair, she tried to give him a cool glare. “I thought you liked it that way.”
    “I do.” As he drawled the two words, he leaned over to smooth back some of the tangles.
    “That’s what I thought.” She slid her leg away from his hand, which was trailing down to caress it. “And just so you know, laughing at my hair is not the best way to convince me to do what’s on your mind right now.”
    Caleb chuckled. “How do you know what’s on my mind?”
    “You’re pretty easy to read in that regard.” She rolled away from him when he reached out for her again, and then couldn’t help but laugh as they had a teasing scuffle.
    Which ended when he was lying on top of her. “I wouldn’t dream of laughing at your hair, especially if it will affect my chances of getting lucky.” He made a move that appeared at first to be adjusting his position, but he ended up lifting her T-shirt to bare her belly.
    With a frown, she pulled the shirt back into position. “Are you always this horny?”
    “I think we can find a more appropriate word to describe the increase in my libido lately.”
    She wanted to giggle at his condescending tone, but she managed to arch her brows haughtily. “You’re saying ‘horny’ is inappropriate?”
    His eyes glinted with suppressed amusement. “Sadly, no,” he admitted. “But it sounds so undignified.”
    She couldn’t stifle the giggle this time. “You never answered the question,” she prompted at last, straightening her T-shirt once more when Caleb’s hand started exploring again. “Are you always this horny?”
    Pulling back his hands as she continued to thwart his attempts to disrobe her, he said blandly, “As it happens, no, I’m not. So you only have yourself to blame.”
    Kelly shifted restlessly and tried not to like the idea so much. She’d figured he’d been more interested in sex lately than he typically was. They’d had sex at least twice a day this week. If Caleb were always this horny, he’d never get any work done.
    He leaned down to kiss her, but it was slow and gentle and didn’t turn immediately into sex the way his kisses normally did. Then he adjusted their positions so she was tucked in the crook of his arm.
    She smiled as he pulled the throw blanket over both of them.
    “What is that smile for?” he asked, tilting his head down to look at her face.
    “You came in here on the pretense of sex, but you really just wanted to take a nap with me.”
    He chuckled