“If you have tolieto me to get your way, then that should be a pretty good indicator that your idea is fuckingstupid!”
“I didn’t lie! I just… left.”
“You said you were going to rest!”
He rolled his eyes, though he was smiling at me in the most endearing way. My resolve was already fading.
He slid his hands around my hips and thumbed up the hemline of my T-shirt, brushing his fingers over the sensitive skin of my abdomen.
“Baby… when have I ever voluntarily gone torest?Come on, that wasn’t even believable.”
I snorted, my face burning from both my raging emotions and the light circles he was now tracing beneath my T-shirt. The blood that had been pumping my heart full of anxiety and anger was now shooting directly toward my dick, and I was having a hard time staying angry.
“Besides…” He leaned forward and brushed a soft kiss on my lips. Even covered in debris and blood, he smelled like Cal, and I couldn’t help but wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him back. He grinned against me and pulled away just enough that our noses were touching.
“It was worth it. He’s dead, Ryan. I killed him. You can open back up whenever you’re ready.”
“Wh-what?” I gasped. But instead of answering me, he took my open mouth as an invitation to slip his tongue past my lips, closing his mouth over mine.
He dug his fingers into the skin on my waist, and I groaned into him as he kissed me painfully slowly… like we had all the time in the world.
He slid his hands over my ass and down my thighs, and before I knew what was happening, he hiked me up off the ground and forced me to wrap my legs around his waist. He didn’t even break our kiss.
I pulled away from him in shock, gasping for air.
“Callum! Put me down! This definitely counts as strenuous activity!”
My voice sounded just as panicked as I felt, but he just chuckled and began to make his way to the stairs.
I was not a short man. Carrying me like this was definitely not easy, even though Cal had several inches on me. However, he barely seemed winded as he held me up, kissing me over and over again on the way to our room.
“Baby, I just killed like fifty mercenaries and the leader of an underground trafficking ring. If I can survive all that, then I’m more than healthy enough to carry my man to bed.”
Kicking the door to the bedroom closed behind us, he sat me down on the edge of the bed in question.
My heart was suddenly pounding again, but this time for a different reason.
The amusement was gone from Cal’s face, and his eyes were now dark with lust and a primal sort of need.
My cock swelled between my legs as he peeled my T-shirt off without asking permission.
“You did all that?” I whispered, absolutely amazed that he was capable of such a thing while also somehowso fucking turned on.
He nodded, brushing his thumb over my lips, before sliding his hand around my nape and resting his forehead against mine.
“Yes, Ryan.” He closed his eyes and inhaled as if he were breathing me in. “And I would do it again. I couldn’t allow you to keep putting Fairview at risk because of me and all my baggage.” Opening his eyes, he pinned me with an intense look full of so much emotion that I found myself swallowing back what felt like another rush of tears. “I want to be the person you count on to help you achieve your dreams, not the reason they go up in flames.”
I choked, and he made a soothing ‘shhh’noise, dropping a damp kiss on my lips.
“I’m sorry it took me so long to get here, baby,” he whispered, ghosting his thumb over my mouth again. I knew he wasn’t talking about coming back from his mission.
“You got here as fast as you could.” I hummed as his warm, minty breath mingled with mine. My whole body was buzzing with his proximity, and my skin erupted in gooseflesh in anticipation of his touch.
He nodded. “I did. But now that I’m here, I’ll never allow anyone to threaten you again. You’re not alone anymore, Ryan. You have me now. Do you hear me?”
I met his warm brown eyes head-on and nodded, feeling too overcome with emotion to speak.
“Good.”He kissed me again, holding my head steady in his large hands so I couldn’t get away while he devoured my mouth.
