I braced my hands against his chest to rear back. ‘There is so much in those sentences we need to unpack.’ I shook my head, trying to reshuffle my queries into priority order. ‘Right. Claws?’
Callum stared at me for a long moment before raising his hands on either side of my arms. Slowly, his long fingers topped with ordinary blunt nails grew into blackened claws. They extended inches beyond where his fingertips had been, the ends intimidatingly sharp.
I touched along the edges of the hard, black skin. ‘You have motherfucking claws.’
When I looked up, Callum’s mouth was open. His upper canines had extended and sharpened.
I leant forwards to get a better look, his clawed hands curling around my forearms to keep me steady. The sharptips pressed into my skin. ‘I thought being a witch was cool, but you are so much cooler.’
Callum retracted his claws and fangs. I turned one of his hands over. No hint of what waited underneath.
‘You really don’t mind?’ Callum had put on his neutral mask, which meant this was of the utmost importance.
‘I don’t mind.’ I leant forwards to kiss him. ‘I wish you would stop upstaging me, though. I’m not sure there’s a competition in the world I would win against you.’
‘Talking,’ Callum said promptly. ‘And you know more types of flower than me.’
‘Wow.’ I kissed him again and leant back to rest on his thighs. ‘You’re giving me nattering and botany.’
Callum’s face was serious. ‘You’re braver than me. And kinder. You’re generous and funny and clever.’
I wrinkled my nose. ‘I guess I am all those things.’ Like an irritating neighbour—who I would shower with gifts—my brain reminded me we had something more pressing to talk about than the many wonders of Aster. ‘You didn’t want to top because you were scared of revealing you’re a werewolf? Well, you don’t have to be afraid of that any more.’
If he hadn’t already done it multiple times, I would have yelped when Callum slotted his hands under my thighs and stood up. As it was, I made a totally unstartled high-pitched noise. I clung to his shoulders as he walked through to the bedroom and lowered me onto the bed.
I’d only put on two items of clothing after my bath, so my—Callum’s—jumper and pyjama bottoms were quickly stripped away. Callum’s undressing was more complicated, not helped by his fingers slipping over his shirt buttons and his hands shaking as he pushed off his jeans. I didn’t know whether his unusual lack of coordination was a result ofemotional overstimulation or the prospect of getting in me soon. I hoped the latter.
I wanted Callum to lose control. I wanted him to bury himself inside me until he howled, helpless to keep his claws and fangs contained.
I reached over to the bedside table and grabbed the lube. ‘You want me to do this bit or you?’
Callum looked slightly offended as he took the lube and dripped it over his hands. He knelt between my legs and watched intently as he pressed his finger against me. He rubbed there for a minute, making the skin flutter.
‘Please, Cal,’ I whined, writhing on the rucked blankets as though that would persuade him to actually put something inside me. ‘I want you to finger me.’
His gaze grew intent. I couldn’t stop my hitching moans as he slowly pressed a finger inside.
Callum preparing me was beyond anything I’d experienced before. It wasn’t just that I hadn’t done this in a while. I hadn’t done it with someone I was so profoundly attached to. I refused to put any other label on it, but my feelings for Callum were stupidly deep. They made his every move overwhelming.
He added a second finger. The expensive lube made the way slick as he pressed and scissored. I was tempted to tell him that was enough, but it had been a while and Callum was well endowed. I didn’t regret the decision when Callum added a third finger and immediately rubbed across my prostate.
‘Oh, fuck.’ I arched off the bed, my dick leaking onto my stomach. ‘Stop that soon or I’m going to come.’
Reluctantly, Callum withdrew his fingers. I panted, staring up at the ceiling, then reached blindly fora condom.
Callum stared at the foil package in my hand, visibly straining for the right words. ‘I don’t need protection.’
‘It’s for both of us,’ I said, baffled at having to give an impromptu safe sex talk when Callum hadn’t objected to using a condom the many—many—other times we’d had sex.
‘No.Wedon’t need it.’ Callum gritted his teeth, frowning over his inability to talk once all the blood in his body had relocated to his dick. ‘It’s a werewolf thing. I can’t get or pass on anything.’
‘Oh.’ I looked at the condom. ‘You want to go bare?’
Callum closed his eyes. ‘Yes.’
I’d not done that before. I’d never been with someone I trusted enough. But Callum had only ever had sex with me, and his wolfy powers meant he couldn’t catch or transmit anything. I’d have to add that nugget of wisdom to Frank’s book.
I threw the condom in the general direction of the bedside table and grabbed the lube. Slicking my hands, I ran them up and down Callum’s erection.
