A little cold is a good price to pay for being here.
Until Calliope’s soft voice drifts down from the bed. “Elijah, I can hear you shivering from here.”
“I’m okay,” I whisper back as my voice sounds infinitely louder in the dark. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.” She pauses and fabric rustles. “Come to bed.”
My heart jumps violently in my chest and I slowly roll over. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I don’t want to wake up to an icicle on my floor. Please, come to bed.”
How can I resist an invitation like that? Scarcely able to hide an excited smile, I climb to my feet and reach for the bed blindly in the dark. Calliope’s warm hands clasp around my bare forearm, and she draws me in and down, then throws warm blankets over me, which causes a sudden, violent shiver to rock through me from head to toe.
“I’m used to the cold so it’s really okay,” I say as I settle into her amazingly soft pillows. The warmth wraps around me as Calliope suddenly presses against my side and rubs her hand over my chest.
“Better?” she whispers.
“Much better.” I can just about make out the soft angles of her face in the dark, and a trail of fire follows the path of her hand across my chest.
“You’re so cold,” she murmurs.
“I’m warming up.”
“Good.” Her hand slides back across my chest and then hesitates. Despite being barely able to see her, I catch a subtle glint near her mouth where the faint light coming through her curtains catches on her tongue as she licks her lip.
“Better?” she repeats, her voice soft and hoarse.
“Infinitely,” I whisper.
“Good.” Her entire body presses against me, from shoulder to calf, and every inch of her exudes inviting warmth. It’s either the blankets or she runs hot, I can’t tell. Then her cheek settles against my shoulder and my heart soars.
I should hold back but I can’t help myself. Through the dark, I reach for her and cradle the soft curve of her jaw with enough pressure to tilt her head up. Then, I kiss her.
And she kisses me back.
A soft, sweet press of lips with nothing behind it other than appreciation and a slight hunger just to feel her once again. But when I try to break the kiss to speak, Calliope’s hand slides back over my chest and uses it to brace herself and lean deeper into the kiss.
Part of me remains distantly aware that two children and her mother are sleeping somewhere else in the house, but it’s notenough to make me stop. Not when her leg slides against mine as she shifts against me, then lifts and slides into my lap.
I drop my hand from her jaw to her thigh, caressing from her knee up to the curve of her ass and pushing her nightdress higher as it gathers against my wrist. She leans into me ,so I grip her thigh and guide her knee around my hip as I roll over the top of her and press her into the mattress.
Both her hands caress the sides of my neck and then one slides up into my hair.
Not a word is spoken.
I follow the softness of her gasps when I roll my hips down against the heat between her legs, trust the weaving movements of her lips as she kisses me repeatedly, and give myself over to the thrill of heat that jolts through me when her other hand drops to my shoulder and grips so tight that her nails press deep into my skin.
I’m turned on in an instant. I want to devour her. Barely a breath and my cock is straining against my boxers. I can’t hide it on the next roll of my hips and Calliope smothers her gasp in my mouth, tugging hard on my hair. My hand on her thigh slides higher, dipping underneath her nightshirt and sweeping along her abdomen where a long, thin scar catches on my fingertips.
A scar… from Nick?
Not wanting to pause or highlight my curiosity, I glide my hand up further and grasp a handful of her breast. The softness draws a moan from my throat and she tugs on my hair again, arching into me like a taut bowstring.
I’m losing my mind.
The heat building underneath the blanket is reaching smothering levels but it’s nothing compared to the warmth beading between her thighs. She shifts herself on her mattress and her leg falls away from my hip, as do her hands from my body. Calliope uses pressure against my mouth with the kiss to push me back and then the kiss breaks, followed by a rush of fabric and she pulls her nightdress clean off. She loops her hand back around my neck and pulls me in for a deep kiss that I match with equal eagerness, and as we collapse back down onto the bed, both her legs wrap around my waist and she locks her ankles at the small of my back, drawing me in.
“Please,” she gasps, and her voice is unexpectedly rough. It sends a spike of lust straight to my cock.
