“Are you okay?” he asks. I nod in response. He touches the wetness between my thighs and frowns. “I should have asked.”
“I’m not going to get pregnant.”
His brow furrows by how easily I say it but there is something unreadable in his eyes too, an intensity I’ve not seen on his face before.
He doesn’t ask any more questions just nods, then scoops me up before I can ask what that was about. Not firefighter style this time, his arm is under my thighs, the other holding me around the middle of my back so I’m cradled into his chest.
I don’t ask where we’re going because I’ve already come to learn how Callum takes care of me after sex.
We shower together and he washes my hair for me, massaging my scalp to the point of me almost having another orgasm, which he finds endlessly amusing.
“Fingers win this one,” he laughs.
I need to get ready for work soon but he strips off my towel and encourages me into the bed.
“What are we doing?” I ask as he shuffles down the bed and lifts my arm so it’s over his shoulders, then he kisses the side of my breast. My heart skips a beat, but he doesn’t take it any further than that, resting his cheek on my stomach.
“Things have been shit lately,” he sighs.
Both Lily and Taylor have told me how secretive the men in the club can be. Callum has told me himself he can’t talk about what he’s involved in, even when I saw firsthand how they reacted to the asshole at Elegance.
Asking him a question I know he won’t answer is pointless, so I run my fingers through his hair and wait to see if he will elaborate.
“Sometimes you need to switch off, or do something you wouldn’t normally do.”
“What wouldn’t you normally do?”
“Stay in bed in the middle of the afternoon with a beautiful woman I never expected to come into my life.”
That was a moment of completely raw honesty. My pulse rate picks up and my anxiety spikes, does he want me to reciprocate?
“I’ve seen some bad things, been through a lot of bad situations, things I would never want you to know about,” he tilts his head to meet my gaze. “It’s part of who I am and I’ve always figured it meant having this kind of thing was impossible.”
“What kind of thing?” My voice is a mere whisper.
His lip tilts in a tender smile but he makes the moment lighter by rubbing his palm over my breast, giving it a squeeze.
“Wanting to stay here and find out everything there is to know about you. I’m not blind, Charley, there is something you’re hiding from me. I’d be the biggest hypocrite to ask you to tell me, but it’s hard not being able to help.”
“I don’t need you to help me, Callum. Not in the way you’re thinking. The last couple of weeks have been the first time I’ve felt safe.”
He shifts and props himself up on his elbow. “That’s the kind of thing that worries me, Charley.”
“I’m not in any danger, Callum. Maybe safe is the wrong word.” God, I’m messing this up. “I’ve been on my own for a year, moving around, trying to find my place. Baltimore wasn’t my final destination, given the shit hole I was living in.”
His expression darkens at the memory of that place. He is desperate to ask questions about my past and maybe that is why I finally feel like I want to tell him.
His gaze never wavers from mine, even as he places his palm between my breasts where my heart is beating wildly.
“If ever you want to tell me, I’ll listen. You know I won’t judge, given the surface details you know about my life.”
“I’m not afraid of you Callum,” I shift so his hand falls away but roll onto my side and face him. He drops his elbow so his head is resting in front of mine on the same pillow.
“Good. Because I will never hurt you. And I’ll never let anyone else hurt you.”
“You proved that,” I smirk.
“Fucker,” he grumbles, like he wishes he’d been able to do more than knock him unconscious and run out of town.
