Chapter Thirty-Six Callum
Tossing my suit coat onto the bed, my fingers make quick work of the buttons down my shirt until I’m able to pull it off. Getting out of my suit is always a relief—especially after a work trip.
It’s still early but I want nothing more than to climb into bed with Lexie.
It didn’t take much persuading to convince her to join me after dinner when we got back to the penthouse not too long ago.
Colombia was a short but productive trip.
I still have some loose ends to tie up for the Harris job, but that can wait until tomorrow.
Now that I’m home, I’m ready to indulge in some peace.
Lexie sits cross-legged on the bed, playing with the buttons on her silky pajama top. Her eyes move over me, a thoughtful look on her freshly washed face.
“What do your tattoos mean? Why are only some of them in color when the rest are black and white?” Her curious question catches me off guard, though I don’t show it. No one’s ever noticed the difference in the ink on my skin before.
My pretty pink nurse, so smart.
“Truth?” I ask, raising my eyebrows in question.
Lexie pauses to consider for a split second before she nods, her eyes taking their time to look at each image woven together up both of my arms and spread out over my chest before scattering down my ribs and torso.
Every inch of my skin that her eyes touch burns under her gaze.
“Truth,” she repeats. Unbuckling my belt, my fingers work to unbutton my pants. “What are you doing?” Lexie asks, eyes following the movement of my hands. I shove my pants to the floor and kick them to the side, leaving just my black boxer briefs.
“If I’m going to tell you about my tattoos, you need to see all of them,” I say, indicating the tattoos on my thighs ending several inches above my knees. It’s not a lie, but I also want those lovely eyes on all of me. Her fair skin can’t hide her blush, but she makes no attempt to look away.
“None of them are visible under your clothes,” she points out. Clever girl.
“You like staring at my body?”
“Am I wrong?”
“I do that on purpose.” My body tenses when Lexie slides off the bed and steps closer to inspect my ink more closely.
“You do everything on purpose,” she murmurs to herself. “Clark Kent’s glasses.”
“Clark Kent?”
“Yeah, you know, like in Superman. It’s just something I thought the night we first met.
When you’re wearing a suit, you could be anyone on Wall Street.
Well, maybe not just anyone.” Her eyes flicker up to mine.
“It’s always felt like your camouflage or a disguise.
As soon as the suit coat comes off and your sleeves are rolled up you catch a glimpse of who you really are. ”
“I’m no hero, Dewdrop.”
“I know.” She says it so certainly. And she does, she knows me.
Standing here, I suddenly feel naked. Exposed.
I’ve never felt such vulnerability before, and I’m suddenly fighting the intense urge to end this.
Lexie knows me, she sees me like I’ve never been seen before.
It opens me to weakness. I should see her as a liability, but I can’t help but long for her attention. I fucking yearn for her.
Christ.
Her eyes move across my skin, the admiration for the artwork written across her face. My tattoo artist, Gage, is a master at his craft.
I stand completely still, a statue she’s admiring in great detail as I stare down at the top of her pretty blonde head. Her hand lifts to brush gentle fingertips over the Celtic knot colored in red in the center of my chest. My muscles jump under her touch, lust surging.
Fuck.
Lexie doesn’t even realize what she’s doing to me right now, her attention solely focused on the story my skin tells.
She looks to me to translate it. My eyes track her as I stand in place, barely breathing.
Each breath I take is filled with the sweet citrus scent that’s grown to be a part of her. “What’s this one? It’s beautiful.”
Nothing about me has ever been referred to as beautiful before; it fills me with a foreign warmth. Her eyes flicker up to mine and it takes my brain a second to remember her question.
“The triquetra is a Celtic symbol for family. For my mom’s side. The roots of her culture run deep.”
She nods, her observant eyes taking in the details on my chest. Her gaze moves from the triquetra to the Phoenix on my ribs. I can see her clever mind connecting the dots.
“The tattoos in color are significant.”
“Yes.”
“How many do you have?”
“Too many to bother counting.”
“Do you have a favorite?”
“Not yet.”
“Why is the space over your heart empty?”
“I haven’t found the right one yet.”
“Your tattoos make you look dangerous,” she comments, the pad of her index finger running over the cross on my right pec. “They’re works of art.”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you want me,” I say, tracing her cheekbone and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Breath catching slightly, her eyelids flutter at the contact.
“Then I’m glad you know better.” She just can’t help herself. Her quick wit sends a rush of arousal straight to my already stiffening cock. I’m going to own this pretty, smart mouth of hers.
“Oh, I do know better, Dewdrop. You can’t hide from me.
” It’s the truth. Her expressive face displays her every thought and emotion for me to read.
Like the desire warming her gaze as her focus flickers to my lips.
And there’s no corner of the earth she can run to that I won’t find her. She’s mine to have and never let go.
“Who’s hiding? You know I’m a sucker for pretty things.” Her hand on my chest says I’m the pretty thing.
“I’m not an impulse buy. Or a pair of shoes you want to try on for a night before taking them back to the store.
Once I have you, that’s it. No returns.” My teeth graze her earlobe, and she shivers against me.
My hand in her hair gives a sharp tug, earning me a soft gasp.
I take her lips with mine, kissing her so thoroughly that I can feel her heartbeat quicken against my chest. “You’re mine, Lexie. I want you to say it.”
“I signed my name on your dotted line.” Her response makes me want to fuck her into submission.
There’s nothing I want more than to pound into her until she has no choice but to admit, both to me and herself, that she feels the connection between us.
I know exactly how good that feels, having her begging for me while I’m balls deep inside her.
But I don’t want a hasty surrender in the throes of passion with her simply agreeing to chase an orgasm.
I want Lexie to be mine in every sense of the word. She needs to come to me without persuasion. That just means I have to work harder to get past these commitment issues of hers.
My pretty pink nurse, so fucking stubborn.
“I want you,” I state. Lexie’s hand lowers to palm my erection through my boxer briefs, squeezing my length. A grunt escapes me at the contact, my hips rocking into her touch involuntarily.
“I know you do. I’m right here, Callum.” She can play dumb all she wants, she knows exactly what I mean.
“I want all of you.” She can’t wriggle out of this, I’m not letting it go. But she’s clever, and I can see the spark in her gaze as she unbuttons her top until it falls away from her lush body.
“Like this?” she asks, the innocence in her voice belying the intent in her eyes. Soft blue lace cups her generous breasts, the rosy pink of her nipples peeking through the sheer fabric. The dramatic swell with each breath is hypnotizing. She’s trying to distract me, and fuck it’s working.
“It’s a start.” My voice is deep with hunger, earning me a knowing smile that goes straight to my already rock-hard cock.
Shit, she’s too pretty, too alluring. Too damn sexy.
My eyes remain glued to Lexie as she reaches behind her back to unclasp her bra, watching as it springs open to let her breasts fall free.
Bringing the bra to dangle from her finger, she lets it fall to the floor—those gorgeous breasts bouncing and swaying with her every move.
“Better? Or do you need more?” she asks, looking up at me through her lashes with her blue vixen eyes.
Trouble. This woman is nothing but trouble.
“More.” The word is ripped out of me before I can even think, making her smile widen. Next, her shorts are being slid over the generous curve of her hips and down her legs. Her matching blue lace panties are the last to go. Stepping out of them, she stands in front of me completely naked.
My eyes start from her pretty pink toenails, moving upwards slowly.
I don’t want to miss a single inch. Thick thighs, soft full stomach, defined fleshy waist, beautiful heavy breasts.
Blonde hair spills around her shoulders and down her back, bright blue eyes shining at me with a desire that makes me feel like the most powerful man in the world.
“You are—” I rasp, at a loss. Fuck, Lexie. Always leaving me without words. “Fuck me.” She lets out a soft laugh, taking a step towards me. Her hands go to my briefs, pulling me in by my waistband, her gaze hot on mine.
“Yeah, that’s kind of the idea here, Cal,” she teases.
The laugh I let out is primal, guttural.
While her hands tug at my underwear, mine are sliding into her hair and pulling her in for another kiss.
Our lips move together so perfectly. She fits so perfectly; she’s completely unraveled me.
My underwear is swiftly yanked down my legs.
Stepping out of them, I’m backing her to the bed.
I can’t wait another second. I need her, all of her.
Inside her.