Chapter 21
REID
There are no guards and no resistance as we surround then enter the Loughton compound. It’s completely empty, and almost comically simple. Just some locks that are easily broken. My heart slams into my throat with every step.
I have to find Callie. I have to bring her home safely.
It’s silent as we work our way through the main house, until finally—finally—I hear voices coming from behind some double doors. I’m moving before I can think, bursting into the room, gun raised… To see Callie sitting on a sofa next to another young woman, both with cups of tea in their hands.
“Ah! See?” The other woman beams at Callie. “He’s come for you.”
Callie is on her feet, tea discarded. I’m running to her. We meet halfway, and I grab her up and crush her to me, lifting her off her feet and burying my face in her hair.
“Callie.” My voice is hoarse.
“What is this about?” Lambeth snaps as he follows me into the room.
The relief is a waterfall and I can barely hear or see anything but Callie, safe in my arms again. My heart is light.
“I’m Kylie,” the woman says. “Apologies about my stupid brothers. But this worked out well—”
“It was kidnap,” Lambeth growls.
“—Because I wanted to talk to you about working together.”
I don’t hear the rest. I have everything I need. Callie is whimpering, and holding me as tightly as I am her.
“But look here—” Westminster walks in and weighs into the discussion.
I don’t care. Callie gasps as I scoop one arm under her knees to lift her, but she clings to my shoulders as I carry her out of the Loughton compound.
My heart rate doesn’t begin to slow until we’re in the car, speeding away, back to my house in Woodford.
I can’t let go of her. She’s so incredibly precious, and I almost lost her, and that’s the worst thing of all. Perhaps I might have never got the opportunity to tell her that she’s my whole world. I hold her on my lap, and she clings to me as tightly as I keep hold of her.
There’s no need for words. Her face in my neck and her small body plastered against my chest, her knees either side of my hips, and her arms around the back of my shoulders, says more clearly than anything that she could speak.
I was scared, and you came for me.
And I know my actions are replying in kind. I’ll always come for you. I’ll never let anything happen to you again.
Having her close is eventually enough to calm me.
It’s some minutes until I figure out an arrangement with seat belts to keep us safe—her safe—and my mind almost clears.
“I thought…” Callie says after a while.
“I know. I’m so sorry.” The words are heavy. I failed her.
She shakes her head. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“It was—”
“I was so afraid I’d die without telling you I love you.”
For a second I can’t believe my ears. I tremble with emotion, and take her face in my hands to check her expression, and it’s true. I really am that fucking lucky. My heart floats and I grip her hair and press my lips to hers. Holding her. “Callie, I love you.”
And that’s all we say between kisses all the way until we drive through the metal gates that opened automatically for us and Callie notices, and blinks up at me.
“Am I being kidnapped again?”
I can’t help but smile. “Sweetheart, I should have kidnapped you properly that first night. I’m not making that mistake this time. You’re staying with me.”
She smiles and melts into me, and I hold all the tighter.
I almost lost her. But now we’re home.
I sweep her into my arms, bridal style, and carry her into the house.
There’s no hesitation. I take her straight to the en-suite shower room and strip her naked.
My cock is rigid, a response to her nearness and her confession of love.
Her hands grasp at me to do the same, and I let her, even allowing her to remove the dressing on my arm to satisfy herself it’s okay.
The desperation to comfort her is a thud in my head.
I need to prove to myself and to her that I’m going to take perfect care of her forever.
I get us both under the water, and we both can’t stop touching each other. More and more greedily, and she’s naked, and I am too.
I tell her over and over that I love her, and she’s my good girl.
And get closer, and closer, until I have her lifted, her legs around my waist, and I’m holding her between myself and the wall, partly under the spray.
And then the helmet of my cock slides through the slick evidence of her desire to her entrance.
I kiss her neck, and she whimpers.
“Callie, I can’t resist you.” I’m breathing hard, shaking with the need to be in her.
Gripping my hair, Callie forces my head up, and looks right into my eyes. “I’m yours. Take me.”