“You can hurt me as badly as I can hurt you,” I told him. “It’s mutually assured destruction, Captain. So why don’t we try our very best not to hurt each other?”
His fingers flexed around mine, relief lightening his expression. “Okay, princess.”
“Are you … are you saying you want to try this for real?”
“I can’t seem to function without you, so, aye. I want us to try this for real.”
My lips trembled and he suddenly pushed away from the door and stood. He pulled me up and I wobbled in my sandals.
“Can I come in?”
I nodded, my fingers shaking with a million different emotions as I pulled the keys out of my clutch. It was a lot to come at me after a week of nothing. I opened the door and whirled on Callan. His expression was still brooding, his shoulders seeming to bristle with tension. “You’re not … you won’t leave?”
That earlier anguish returned as he sensed my fear. “Beth, no. I’ve been miserable without you. I won’t leave.”
Deciding to trust in him because he’d never been anything but honest, I let us into the flat. My heart raced, a part of me not quite ready to believe this was real. I heard him close the door behind us as I kicked off the sandals that were biting into my feet and strolled into the kitchen. “Can I get you a drink?”
Callan stopped me with a hand on my arm.
I turned to him in question, and his answer was to draw me into him. His embrace was tight, desperate, as he buried his face in my neck and shuddered.
Tears spilled down my cheeks as I returned his hold, my fingers curling into the muscle of his strong back.
I pulled away to kiss him. His lips were gentle, teasing, searching. It wasn’t a kiss for the sake of leading to sex. It was loving and tender. It was the most intimate kiss we’d ever shared. My tears this time were of relief and gratitude.
Because I knew …
I’d found him.
The person I’d been searching for, for as long as I could remember.
“Don’t cry, princess,” he whispered, attempting to catch the tears on his lips. “It kills me.”
“They’re good tears,” I promised. “Happy tears.”
That seemed to appease him, and his lips brushed over mine. He tasted salty now. I deepened the kiss, wrapping my arms around his neck and drawing up on my tiptoes.
Callan broke away. “We don’t have to do anything tonight. That’s not what I came here for. I need you to know that.”
“I do.” I clasped his face in my palms, his stubble scratching against my skin. His words ironically only turned me on more. “But I want to. I’ve missed you. I want your mouth on me everywhere. I want to feel your stubble against my thighs.” I gasped the last part, very much aroused at the thought. “I want you to be mine.Reallymine.”
Heat brightened his eyes, his jaw clenching.
Then I felt him hard against my stomach.
I wanted him all over me. I wanted his scent, his hardness, his mouth, his heat, his cum … I wanted to be covered in every inch of him. It was like a mad haze that took control of me. I tugged at his shirt, but Callan curled his hands around my wrists to stop me.
At my questioning gaze, he walked me back until my arse hit my dining table. “Sit.”
Oh.
Wet slicked between my thighs as I hopped up onto it.
Callan held my gaze as he slowly drew up my dress. I lifted my left hip, then my right so he could raise it up my torso and over my head. I laughed a little when his gaze zeroed in on the adhesive cups that covered my nipples. His lips quirked up at the sound as I peeled off the pads.
Callan brushed his thumbs over my nipples. “Do those hurt?”
“Nope. But silk and hard nipples are a match made in heaven. I didn’t want my nips showing tonight.”
