Chapter 13
Callista trembles in my arms as I race back to the house through the black of the forest now that night has fully fallen. If I didn’t know every inch of this property so well, finding my way by sight would be impossible. She never could have done it on her own, even if she had managed to get away from Gray.
Her sobs continue, her skin pressed to my chest and neck clammy and cold instead of putting off the usual heat I crave against my own.
Shit.
She’s going into shock.
The standoff with Gray certainly rattled me, but for her, it was too much. She’s going downhill—fast.
I choke back the tears threatening to form in my eyes.
My fault.
It’s my fault she’s like this.
Of all the dangers she faced here, I never thought this would be what finally broke her. I thought it would be me. That she would realize what a cursed piece-of-shit human being I am and completely lose it. But she stood her ground with me through everything—even me showing her the truth about Barker Mountain.
“Hold on, Beauty…” I make it to the door and throw it open, surging through the jamb and kicking it closed behind me before I beeline for the staircase. “I’ll take care of you.”
Her lips tremble, and she mutters something I can’t quite make out as I bound up the steps and hustle down to what was my bedroom and now has become hers.
Even that first night, when I was furious at her for being here, I still couldn’t just put her in one of the other half-dozen bedrooms in this house. She needed to be here, in my bed, in my room.
I didn’t recognize that impulse for what it was then, but as I carry her into the bathroom and set her down on the counter, the reality of it slams into me as hard as my axe blade does a tree trunk.
My conscious mind might not have been on board, but The Beast lurking inside me sure was—it saw Callista and wanted her. And now, that same animal wants to roar and tear something apart at seeing her in so much distress.
Her arms stay loosely looped around my neck, and I reach back and tug them free so I can move. She shakes so badly I worry she’s going to tumble over, so I use one hand to keep her braced as I slide open the shower door and crank on the water.
“We’re going to get you warmed up.” I take her face in my palm, tilting it up toward me as she tries to focus on me with only half-open eyes. “You’re okay. You’re safe.”
It’s a fucking lie.
She’s anything but safe here with me.
But for the moment, at least, she doesn’t have to worry.
Her teeth chatter as she looks at me, cheeks white, normally pink lips so pale it’s terrifying. And there’s so much fear in her eyes, the same I saw there when she looked at me that first night. But she isn’t afraid of me now. She’s searching for a lifeline, something to ground her as she spirals.
The water runs, steam starting to fill the room. “You’re safe, Beauty. I promise. I’m so sorry he scared you.”
“Scared me?” Her words come out shaking, barely audible. “That thing was going to kill me.”
She isn’t wrong about that. As far as protection for the property goes, Gray is right up there with my axe and my shotgun. If my reputation and the rumors about Barker Mountain aren’t enough to keep people away, a single glimpse of that massive animal will send them running.
He’s an effective, efficient killer when he needs to be—probably why we bonded and he took to me so easily.
And why he was so vicious in his confrontation with Callista.
Gray has been watching everything, observing her and me since the moment she drove onto the mountain, and he senses how dangerous she is to me. He can see the shift, despite how much I want to deny it’s happening.
This woman has changed everything.
Brought life and joy to a place where there was none before.
And I almost lost her tonight because she ignored my warning about the woods the same way she ignored the one I gave her about myself.
Stubborn fucking Beauty.
I reach for the hem of her shirt and pull it up and over her head, letting the fabric fall to the floor. She shakes even harder, curling in on herself slightly as I maneuver off her pants, underwear, and bra until she’s sitting naked in front of me.
Any man would be able to see what a stunning woman she is, but all I can focus on is how pale she is—the loss of that vibrancy that usually radiates from her and fills every room she enters.
That somehow revived a heart I thought had flatlined decades ago.
I strip quickly and lift her from the counter to carry her into the large walk-in shower, turning her into the hot spray. She gasps slightly as it hits her, then moans as she sinks into me, letting the water surge across her back and over her head.
Her blond locks darken, and she closes her eyes, absorbing the heat from the showerhead and my naked body aligned with hers on the other side. I rub my hands along her spine and arms, trying to help warm her in any way I can.
After a few agonizing minutes, her skin starts to regain a little bit of its color and her lips pinken slightly from the deathly pallor they held when I first brought her in.
She’s out of the woods.
Literally and figuratively.
Knowing that makes room for my frustration to grow.
“Why didn’t you heed my warning, Beauty?”
My words echo off the tile, sounding far more gruff than I intended them to.
Callista’s eyes flicker open and meet mine, black lashes clumped together by the water and her tears. “About what?”
I feather my lips over her forehead. “About staying out of the woods, especially as night draws in.”
She sags against me slightly, her face falling at my chastisement. “I just needed some fresh air. I wanted to go down to the lake. I didn’t realize how dark it would be by the time I came back.”
Releasing a heavy sigh, I bury my face in her wet hair, the spray cascading over both of us.
I can’t blame her for that—for wanting to be out on this beautiful land.
Once, a very long time ago, when I was merely Weston Barker and not The Beast, before I knew what secrets it held, I found my peace here, too. Out in the woods. Floating in the lake. Lying in the clearing surrounded by the summer flowers. Laughing and running and playing with Wendy in places that now only hold dark realities and horrific memories.
Callista still sees the splendor without the taint of death, even knowing the truth. That inalterable optimism infuriates me as much as it gives me hope for something I shouldn’t want.
Something I don’t deserve.
She lifts her arms and wraps them around my back, holding me tightly, burying her face into my chest like she can’t get close enough. My cock stirs to life, even though sex should be the furthest thing from my mind right now.
That was too close.
I almost lost her.
Jesus, why should that matter?
I have done nothing but try to get rid of her since the moment she set foot on the property so I can return this place and my life to what it was before she arrived. Living day in and day out with the curse I have to carry on my shoulders.
It’s the way things should be.
But I can’t deny the truth.
I do care.
Far, far too much.
Somehow, through all the disagreements, every argument, the snide comments and far too accurate observations she’s made, I’ve actually come to more than care.
Which is far more dangerous than that wolf out there.
We stand together for what feels like forever, her cheek pressed to my bare chest, the hot water cascading over us, her body twitching and trembling off and on, like the trauma of what she just experienced is slowly working its way out of her.
She finally relaxes, becoming almost listless in my arms, and I press a kiss to her forehead and tug her face away from me for a moment.
Callista blinks up at me with hooded eyes, her cheeks rosy from the steam and heat, lips back to being pink and kissable.
“Feeling better?”
A moment passes, like she’s trying to take stock of herself, and she gives me a sharp nod.
I pull away, and she issues a little mumbled objection to get me to stop. But I couldn’t leave her now, even if I wanted to. I grab the shampoo off the ledge, and Callista releases a little relieved sigh when she sees I’m not going anywhere.
Christ, I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.
I’ve never done this before, any of it. But somehow, it feels right, taking care of her, ensuring she’s okay, being what she needs in this moment that is one hundred percent about her.
I squirt some shampoo into my hands and bury them under her wet hair, massaging it into her scalp. She issues a little groan that goes straight to my already hard cock and makes it twitch against her belly.
She shifts her hips and rolls them along it, but I reach down with one sudsy hand and grasp her hip, stalling it instantly.
“Stop.”
This isn’t that.
It won’t be.
Callista seems to sense my mood and stills, and I continue to wash her hair and rinse it, then move on to the conditioner and soap, lathering it in my hands and rubbing them up and down her body.
She’s like putty in my hands, wavering slightly on her feet, leaning into every touch and caress until it looks like she might pass out.
Exhaustion hit her hard as all the adrenaline that was coursing through her system burns off.
“Let’s get you to bed.”
Her head bobs in approval, and she mutters something lost in the noise of the rushing water.
I reach out and turn it off, then maneuver her out of the shower and get her wrapped in a fluffy towel. She watches me with hooded eyes. A mixture of appreciation, awe, and bewilderment darken her irises to an almost evergreen.
Urging her back to lean against the counter, I dry myself off, then scoop her up and carry her into the bedroom. Setting her on her feet beside my bed, I slowly pull off the towel wrapped around her and tug back the sheets.
Laying her down in them, I have every intention of stepping back and giving her the space she needs. Once I’m dressed, I can sit in the chair and ensure she sleeps soundly from the other side of the room, where I should be.
I start to pull away, but she clings to my arm, holding steady with a far more powerful grip than I’d expect from her, given everything she just went through.
“Don’t leave me.”
Shit.
The last thing I need to do is crawl into a bed with this woman. It would spell doom for both of us, for my plan to keep her at arm’s length and keep her safe, but the plea in her half-lidded gaze is impossible to ignore.
With a sigh, I let the towel drop from my waist and slide in, snuggling up behind her and tugging her naked body to mine. She hums her approval, pressing her ass back against my hard cock.
I tuck her head under my chin and hold her tightly, one arm wrapped around her waist, ensuring she can’t squirm.
Please, God, let her fall asleep.
I don’t have the willpower to deny her anything else she might want right now.
And that can’t happen again.
It can’t.
I won’t let it.
She releases a little contented noise and relaxes, drifting off into sleep so quickly that it draws my own sigh of relief.
I just dodged a major fucking bullet, almost as big as the one she did when facing down Gray.
But there is more to come from people with better aim.
I wake with a start to a dark room lit only by the moonlight streaming in through the window, my heart beating frantically, breath catching as the images from the nightmare start to fade.
A hard, hot wall of flesh shifts behind me.
Weston…
The initial panic fades immediately, replaced by contentment as I snuggle deeper against him, all solid muscles and strong arms securing me to him, holding me tightly, keeping me safe from everything that lurks out in those woods.
A tiny shudder rolls through me at the memory of facing down the massive silver wolf.
But Weston saved me.
He rescued me.
He ensured I didn’t get hurt.
Then he took care of me in a way no other man ever has before.
Weston always takes care of me, even when he’s angry and volatile and pushing me away. Every moment I’ve spent in this house, he has ensured I have whatever I need.
I snuggle closer, and his grip around my waist tightens.
A low growl resonates in his chest, and his lips flutter over my ear, warm breath blowing my hair away as his rough beard brushes my neck. “Stop moving like that, Beauty.”
Turning my head back slightly, I wiggle against him again. “Why?”
He tugs my earlobe between his teeth and nips at it gently. “Because that wolf out there will be the least of your problems if you keep grinding your ass against my cock.”
Heat instantly floods my core at the gravelly tone and promise in his words, and I can’t help but squirm, only making the situation worse. His hard cock pinned between my ass cheeks seems to jerk slightly, and he growls again, tightening his arm around my stomach.
His hand shifts up to cup my bare breast, and rough, calloused fingers find my nipple and twist. “What kind of game are you playing, Callista?”
This man is always accusing me of playing a game with him, but I wouldn’t know the first thing about making the right moves.
I shake my head. “No game. I just want…”
It’s suddenly impossible to voice the rest of that statement. So many different things rush through my head. Some of them so foreign, nothing like what I could have ever thought would make that list a month ago.
His hand shifts across my chest to my other breast and tweaks the taut peak there, making my core clench and heat even more. “You want what, Beauty?”
“To feel safe.”
“Fuck.” He mutters the word over the skin on the back of my neck, then grips my chin and turns it back until I’m almost facing him. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
I shake my head. “No, not you. The wolf…this whole situation. I haven’t felt safe since Dad and I found the axe in the door with that message—”
“I’m so sorry, Callista. I should have—”
“You don’t understand.” I wrap my hand around his wrist, tightening my fingers until my nails bite into his skin. “I didn’t feel safe until now, like this, with you. I know you won’t let anything happen to me. That you’ll protect me, but you aren’t the one you need to protect me from.”
His jaw hardens beneath his white beard, his eyes glinting in the light trickling in through the window, full of trepidation and desire that matches my own. “I told you, Callista. I can’t. We can’t. It’s too…”
He seems to search for the right word, but it doesn’t matter what he says. They’re all just meaningless excuses he can use to prevent himself from taking what he wants, to convince himself he doesn’t deserve it.
“It’s too complicated, right?” I release a little huff of a laugh that doesn’t have any humor in it. I’m so sick of that answer, of being here in this limbo, of this push and pull between us. It shouldn’t be complicated. “I just want you.”
“Fuck.”
He lowers his forehead to mine and presses it there as he takes several long, deep breaths, like he’s searching for something—the answer to a question, composure he lost long ago, the willpower to get up and walk away.
Maybe all of those.
And when he draws his head back, the change in his gaze makes my pussy throb, need pooling heavy between my legs.
It’s shifted from uncertain to determined.
From scared to ravenous.
This is the man who kissed me in the library the other night.
The man who saved me in those woods.
Strong, dangerous, capable of things I probably can’t even imagine.
But instead of turning me away, it only turns me on more, and I twist in his hold to face him fully. His hand falls away from my face, and I take his between my palms, his beard scraping them as I press my mouth to his and end any further debate he may have wanted to have about the righteousness of our desire.
Weston groans against my lips, and I arch my hips to meet his cock trapped between our bodies. He releases a feral growl and grips my ass, dragging me over to straddle him as he rolls onto his back.
My still-damp hair falls around me as I stare down at him. Spread out beneath me in this massive bed, my very own lumberjack madman, my very own beast.
One of his hands tightens on my hip while the other reaches up to brush wet strands away from my face. “Take what you want, Callista. Whatever you need, I’ll give it to you.”
It’s a promise I’m not sure he can keep.
But I am not willing to walk away.
Not now.
Because what I said to him is true.
It might be insanity, but here in this bed with him, I feel safer than I ever did at the bottom of this mountain before my life got upended. I may have been content in my cozy little apartment and with my job. Things might have seemed good. But the moment that axe appeared, it showed how all of that was merely a mirage.
None of us are truly in control of our lives.
Outside forces intervene at inopportune times to rip away what we hold sacred and threaten what we love.
Not here, though.
This is his mountain.
Hisbed.
I’mhis, regardless of how much he tries to deny it.
It’s there in his searing gaze as he stares up at me, silvery-white hair against the dark, silky pillowcase.
I shift up, gliding my already wet pussy along his length, and he hisses, his fingers digging into my hips even harder. Muscles in his neck strain, as if he’s trying to temper the beast inside him that wants so badly to take control.
Soaking him with my heat, I roll my hips so his cock rubs along my clit.
His jaw clenches.
I keep moving over him, working both of us up until a hum vibrates through my entire body. The head of his cock catches inside me, and a low groan slips from his lips. Dropping my head back, I gasp at the sensation, clenching around him and seeking to be completely filled.
His fingers bite into my skin painfully, and he growls. “Do it, Callista. Take me hard.”
Jesus…
When he talks like that, my pussy fucking weeps. I align his cock at my opening and sink down on him slowly, allowing my body time to adjust to his massive size and how much bigger he seems in this position.
“Oh, God.”
I tip my head back, my mouth falling open on a silent gasp, and try to catch my breath as he spreads me wide and stretches me to my limits. He groans, and when his cock finally bottoms out inside me, my pelvis pressed to his, I grind down and roll my hips, rubbing my clit against him.
His hips buck, and he somehow pushes himself even deeper.
Fuck.
“Grab the headboard, Beauty.”
The command comes rough through his gritted teeth. Every muscle in his body strains, coiled and ready to snap as I sit atop him with his length buried deep inside me—unmoving. Completely at his mercy, even though I’m supposed to be the one controlling this.
He holds me captive with his onyx gaze, the inferno blazing across it enough to make me clench around him.
“Beauty…” A growled warning to comply.
I lift my hands from his hard chest to grip the wood and metal headboard above him, wrapping my fingers around it to find the support and leverage I need to do this.
Because the man has barely touched me.
He’s only been inside me for mere seconds, but my entire body already shakes so badly I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to keep myself upright.
Not with him filling me so completely.
Giving me exactly what I need.
His hands flex on my hips, urging me to move, and I start a slow ride, rising until he’s just about to slip out, clenching around the head of his cock, and then gliding back down, grinding on each down stroke.
Flashes of searing heat spread from my core through my belly and out into all my limbs, making my head spin as I try to maintain my pace. But the trembling in my legs only grows worse as my orgasm eludes me.
Sensing what I need, Weston shifts his grip on me and digs his heels into the mattress to buck his hips up, driving himself even harder and deeper with each thrust.
“Oh, fuck…”
My head falls back, and he pumps into me, lifting me easily so I don’t have to try to keep my brain functioning as the head of his cock drags against that perfect spot inside me. I lose my grip on the headboard, letting my arms fall and my hands land back on his shoulders.
His heated skin blazes under my palms. The bunch and flex of each muscle as he moves me above him rippling beneath my fingers in a sensual glide that only makes me want more of it.
More of him.
Over me.
Consuming me.
His entire body pressed to mine and moving in such perfect rhythm.
Weston offered me the upper hand for a brief moment, but it wasn’t something that could last.
We both knew it.
He flips me onto my back in one smooth motion, keeping his cock buried deep so he can switch immediately into dragging back his hips and plunging deep.
A gasp slips from my lips, and he catches it in his mouth with a brutal kiss meant to stake his claim.
And I won’t fight him on it.
This man consumes everything around him—the air, the light, the energy in the room. And he does the same with me. Like he can’t exist without this connection.
He tears his mouth away and slides his arm under my thigh, lifting it up and out, allowing him to change his angle of attack. His eyes dart down to where our bodies meet. “You’re so beautiful when you take my cock…”
Christ, there is it.
A few simple words.
The truth in the way he says them.
His relentlessness.
All of it builds that sizzling heat centered between my thighs, and it starts to spread out through every nerve in my body. I tremble under him, wound so tightly, so close that a tear trickles down my cheek in anticipation of the release.
He plows into me, grinding his hips against mine as he bottoms out, hitting exactly the right spot as he leans down and licks the trail of my tear from my skin. His pace increases, and I grip the sheets under me, terrified I’ll float away when my orgasm finally comes.
“I’ve got you, Beauty.” He nips at my lips, his body moving fluidly with mine, muscles bunching and flexing, the sharp snap of his hips echoing in the room. “Let go.”
After the fear I experienced in those woods, I know I need to. I can’t cling to it the way I am this man, and with three more thrusts, he unlocks the final piece holding me back and I spin off into sheer ecstasy.