"I never wanted it to."
"I know. But I need to say it out loud." I take a shaky breath. "And I need you to know that I'm going to screw up. I'm going to push and test and probably try to sabotage this at least three more times before I fully believe it's real."
"I know."
"And you're still willing to sign up for that?"
"I'm not signing up for anything." He takes the key from my hand and fastens the chain around my neck. The silver settles between my breasts, cool against my heated skin. "I already signed up. The moment I offered you a fake relationship in that bar. I just didn't know it yet."
The key feels like a brand. A promise. A claiming that goes deeper than anything we've done in this room.
"I love you." The words tumble out before I can stop them. "I know it's too soon and we're both insane and this is probably going to blow up in our faces, but I love you. I've loved you since you called me out on my bullshit at The Velvet Antler and didn't flinch when I pushed back."
His smile transforms his face. Open and young and so full of joy it makes my chest ache.
"I love you too." He kisses me, soft and sweet and nothing like the commanding Dom who's taken me apart in this room. "I've loved you since you ordered three fingers of Macallan andlooked at me like I was either going to be the best thing that ever happened to you or your biggest mistake."
"Jury's still out on which one."
"Brat." He bites my lower lip gently. "I think you need a reminder of who's in charge."
Heat floods through me. "Is that so?"
"Mmhmm." His hands find the hem of my sweater. "Strip. Then get on the bed. Face up, arms above your head."
The command voice. The one that turns my knees to water and my brain to static.
"What if I don't want to?"
His eyes darken. "Then I'll make you. And you'll enjoy every second of it."
God help me, I will.
I strip slowly, holding his gaze as each piece of clothing falls away. He watches without moving, his expression hungry and patient and completely in control.
When I'm finally naked, I climb onto the bed and stretch out the way he instructed. Arms above my head. Legs slightly parted. Completely exposed and unbearably aroused.
Callum takes his time approaching. He sheds his own clothes piece by piece, letting me watch. By the time he's naked, his cock hard and thick against his stomach, I'm already trembling with need.
"Look at you." He crawls over me, his body a cage of heat and muscle. "So beautiful. So desperate. And all mine."
"Yours." The word comes out like a prayer.
"That's right." He reaches up and wraps my fingers around the headboard. "Keep your hands here. Don't let go unless I tell you to."
"Yes, sir."
"Good girl." He kisses his way down my throat, my collarbone, the valley between my breasts. "Tonight I'm going totake my time. I'm going to worship every inch of you. And when I finally let you come, you're going to scream my name so loud the neighbors hear it."
"We don't have neighbors. We're on a mountain."
"Then the bears will hear it." He bites the curve of my breast hard enough to make me gasp. "Stop being a brat and let me love you."
What follows is the most intense experience of my life.
He takes me apart slowly, methodically, with hands and mouth and words that sear themselves into my skin. He learns every response, every shiver, every moan, cataloguing my pleasure like it's the most important work he's ever done.
When he finally pushes inside me, I'm so wound up I nearly come immediately. He stops, holds perfectly still, his jaw clenched with the effort of restraint.
