Chapter Thirty-Three
The first day without Callum sucked as much as the twentieth. Though “without Callum” was a misnomer. Grace had all of him. There was no question about that.
But she hated the distance and hadn’t discussed him with her family.
She wasn’t concerned that they would doubt Callum was a good guy.
They knew him, and any of her bro-code concerns with her brother had faded.
But she was scared they would think the same thing Vivian had thought.
That she and Callum were a white knight-damsel-in-distress collision of adrenaline and hormones.
Every morning, he called her to say good morning.
Every night, she called as she fell asleep.
He had visited her four times in twenty days.
Each time they’d stayed in an extravagant hotel room, staying in bed while he promised he loved her, saying everything except the ways he would take care of her for the rest of her life.
She knew he would, and that he was giving her the space to reclaim her autonomy.
But staying in hotels wasn’t nearly enough anymore.
Grace sighed and studied the design she’d been sketching. It was done. Any further work would spoil the concept. She set her stylus down and would submit it to her client later today.
Mari walked in and plopped on the couch next to Grace. “Working on anything good?”
“Just finished.” She positioned the screen to show her stepmom. “It’s the third book in a series. I really love the way the stars pop in the sky on this one.”
“Gorgeous.”
Grace beamed. “Thanks.” She tucked her feet under her legs. “I’m going to be gone for the day and will be back tomorrow afternoon.”
“I’ll tell Dad not to make too much dinner then.”
She fortified her insides and fidgeted. “I’m going to be with Callum.”
“That’s what we figured. Things are working out well at his new job?”
Her lips parted. They knew? “Why did you figure?”
Mari tilted her head with a knowing eyebrow lifted. “Why wouldn’t we?”
“Mari.”
She laughed. “Apparently, even grown adults forget their parents always know what’s going on.”
“I don’t think you always knew.”
“He’s been watching you almost as long as you’ve watched him. He was less obvious than you, of course.”
“I wasn’t obvious.”
Mari snorted. “You? As a teenager? Not obvious? I think you cried when he and Hayden took a set of twins to the prom.”
“I did not.” Well, actually, she had. “Are you going to tell me to give myself time, that whatever I feel is because I had a hellacious adventure with him?”
“Nope.”
“No?”
“No. That wouldn’t take into account all those years where you ignored him because he ignored you, and he was too worried about what Hayden would say.”
Grace’s frown deepened. That pretty much described their teenage years into their twenties.
“You two weren’t meant for first-love heartbreak. You were meant for forever love.”
“Oh my God, Mari.” Her eyes stung. “I didn’t say anything about forever. I said I wasn’t spending the night here.”
“Soon as you’re ready, he’s waiting for you, Gracie.”
Grace already knew that, and quietly admitted, “I’m in love with him.”
“I know, and when you’re ready, you’ll make sure he does, too.”
She was ready and had been thinking about how life would work with Callum since the moment he had left her and Hayden in her parents’ front yard.
Grace packed an overnight bag and loaded it into her car. A permanent car. One that she’d picked out, negotiated, and signed the paperwork for without asking for anyone’s input. A silver sedan. Practical. Comfortable. Not flashy but had a good vibe.
She drove to meet Callum in the parking lot, and they checked into the hotel not too far from her house. She ignored the uncomfortable feeling that these meetups were too similar to untethered trysts. She had nailed everything else down. Now she was ready for the final touches of permanence.
Callum opened their hotel room, dropped their bags, and wrapped her in a kiss that melted rational thought from her mind.
“Wait, wait, wait,” she said against his lips. “I want to show you something.”
“It can wait.”
“No. It can’t.” Grace dissolved into a fit of giggles as he tossed her onto the bed, covering her with his body. “It will just take a second.”
“Fine,” he grumbled with his lips against her neck.
The amount of internal strength required to roll away from his mouth astounded her. But it would be worth it.
She rifled through her bag and retrieved the paper. “Look.”
His lazy gaze laser-focused as soon as he saw the picture printed at the top corner of the page. “What is this?”
“A real estate listing.”
He snatched it from her, read, looked up and down again, then held out the paper. “You want to see it?”
“I don’t even need to see it.” The little white Craftsman house was within walking distance of Main Street in Granite Creek. “The pictures are cute. There’s a garden in the back. Flowers in the front. Just looking at it makes me smile.”
“It’s everything you want.”
“Almost.” She tossed the real estate listing aside. “I want to be there with you.” Her heart slammed in her chest. She didn’t doubt he wanted that too, but saying it aloud nearly stole her breath. “We could make it our home.”
She didn’t need Callum to find her a house or to make that decision. She needed to find herself. He’d understood that before she had and given her the space.
Callum was everything her ex hadn’t been. More than that, he was everything without comparison.
He sat on the edge of the bed and squeezed her hips and pulled her close between his legs. “Is that what you want?”
Nearly eye to eye, her grin hitched. “I mean, that’s not all I want. But it’s a start.” She lifted her arms into the air for him to strip off her shirt. “Back to our regularly scheduled programming?”
His fingers toyed with the hem, and his stormy bourbon eyes reflected the two meanings of the here-and-now in the hotel room and their life together.
Their life together stayed in his mind; she was sure of it. Callum undressed her like a present, taking his time with every touch and tease until she ached for his mouth on hers again. His clothes came off with significantly less fanfare, and she didn’t care.
His hands roamed her body. His mouth tasted every part of her until he’d wound her tight enough to scream. This was insanity. The craving for him. The desire for the way he filled her, fucked her, brought her to the edge of the universe, then gave her more.
Gloriously naked, he covered her with his body of carved muscles, and caged her, pinning her between him and the bed.
She moaned for more. “I need you.”
His cock rubbed against her tender flesh. She needed Callum in every sense. The heavy weight of his erection stroked against her wanting pussy. Grace lifted her hips and locked her legs around his thighs. She did everything to coax him into her. Nothing changed the torturously slow teases.
“All mine.”
She nodded desperately, silently begging for more.
He took her mouth, working his thickness into her, inch by inch, stealing her breath with each soul-touching thrust. She stretched around him, breathing his name as he stilled, deep-seated inside her body.
His ragged breath mirrored hers, and all she needed was him to fuck her until white lights and fireworks exploded. His forehead pressed to hers. Their eyes locked.
Her heart swelled, and she couldn’t believe this man was hers. “I love you, Callum.”
“Fuck, baby,” he whispered hoarsely. “I love you too.”
Then he unleashed everything he’d been holding back. An onslaught of kisses fell. His hips moved. He drove into her, biting, kissing, loving her neck. She gave him all of her. Every part. Her pussy. Her body. Her mind. Her trust.
She buried her face in the crook of his neck. The taste of him, the smell of him, he was everything she could ever want.
The building madness of an orgasm drew tight. She and Callum moved in an all-consuming rhythmic drive that turned her gasping moan into a delirious cry of impending release.
The fireworks and lightning of her orgasm hit. Grace bucked against him, dragging out the beautiful, blinding explosions until he forced another mind-numbing climax that shattered what she knew possible of pleasure.
Callum slowed, panting against the nape of her neck, promising all the ways she would moan like that for the rest of her life.
He captured her mouth again. The kisses flowed like the easy roll of his hips. Her fingers flexed into his powerful back. He set a pace so dangerously slow that she begged him for more.
Callum eased her into his arms and rolled onto his back, giving her the more that she didn’t realize she wanted. “Use me.”
Straddling him, she arched back, in control of the way she moved, of how they fucked.
He cupped her breasts. His hooded eyes drank her in like a man dying of thirst. Callum was everything she had always wanted. She let go of all her inhibitions.
“God.” He groaned when she lifted, then took him again. “Just like that.”
Her eyes shut. She filled herself with him over and over until the perfect cadence of bliss dictated how she rode the thick length of his shaft. Each invasion dropped her jaw more until her head tipped back and she cried his name.
Her pussy pulsed around him, and, clamping his hands onto her hips, took over the way they moved. Deep inside her, Callum rocked her hips, grinding her against him, moving their rhythm to a frantic pace. Her orgasm built, and he strained into her, arching his back as she fell apart again.
She dropped to his chest. Their heartbeats slammed together. His arms hung heavily over her back, wrapping her close as he promised her the future she’d always dreamed of.