Chapter 38
“ I want to be clear that there’s no pressure for this trip,” I said as we pulled out of the driveway to head to Lake Mead. “If you just want to hang out this weekend, that’s totally fine.”
“I mean, same goes for you, but, Miles, I’ve wanted to fuck you since I first scented you.”
Heat erupted head to toe, and from the grin on Callie’s face, I could tell she absolutely noticed my scent going haywire. I’d never had to worry about it before she was around since I was on heavy-duty scent blockers so I could keep a clear head while monitoring the heats. Now, all bets were off and Callie would be too close the next couple of days for me to hide a single reaction from her.
We weren’t going far from home. There wasn’t much on Lake Mead itself aside from camping, but the edge of Boulder City had some cute rentals, and we were easily within a mile of the lake. I’d briefly thought about offering Callie a glamping experience, but those were neither soundproof nor in possession of air conditioning, and I didn’t want my omega to melt.
Callie watched the city disappear past our windows. The drive didn’t even take an hour, and I let her absorb the scenery instead of trying to push for conversation. She and I hadn’t had a lot of that. I wasn’t particularly worried, especially knowing I was the very first of the pack members she had opened up to. Circumstances had been different at the time, but I liked to think that we were closer now than we had been.
I parked next to the little cabin we were renting. If I squinted, I could see the lake from here, though it was warped from the heat rising off the ground. Callie bounded from the vehicle and into the already blessedly cool interior of the cabin. She paused in the foyer to take in the Southwest decor of terracotta shades, patterned carpet, exposed beams, and cacti.
“It’s so cute.” She disappeared to explore, snooping through the kitchen cupboards before diverting to the bedroom, where a king-sized bed occupied the bulk of the space. Callie flopped backwards onto it. “Not quite as comfy as my nest, but I’ll take it.”
I took a tentative seat next to her. “What would you like to do today?”
“Is it an inappropriate answer if I say you ?”
My scent went wild and my cock immediately tented in my pants. “Um, not inappropriate, no. I just thought you might want to eat, or go check out the lake.”
“We can do those first if you want.” She sat up and tilted her head. “Are you nervous? If you don’t wanna have sex while we’re here, you should probably tell me now so I can get it out of my head.”
How was I supposed to explain to her that I hadn’t had meaningful sex in years? It wasn’t that I didn’t know what to do, but I’d never had so much riding on my ability to connect with someone. “It’s not that. It’s just… Callie, when was the last time you had sex with someone you cared about?”
“Last night.” She eyed me curiously.
“I haven’t had sex with an actual partner since my early twenties. I started escorting at twenty-two, did that for five years, and then was on scent blockers so strong I didn’t even give a shit that I wasn’t fucking anybody. I’m basically re-learning to function with my normal biology and I don’t want to ruin anything.”
“You’re not gonna ruin anything.” She wiggled over until she was touching me, resting her head on my shoulder. “I said there was no pressure and I meant it.”
“I want to be with you—” I took a deep breath trying to collect my thoughts. “—as a proper part of your pack and as a partner. I just get these giant fucking walls in my head and it takes me a while to climb over them.”
“Take all the time you need to climb. I’ll be waiting on the other side when you’re ready.”
“Why don’t we go swimming for a little while to work up an appetite and then I can make you some of the best white-people tacos.”
Callie giggled and kissed my cheek. “Sounds great. Can you help me with the sunscreen so Amir doesn’t yell at us for coming back burnt?”
“Absolutely.” I changed into my swimming trunks and unloaded the groceries we had picked up into the kitchen while Callie changed into her bikini.
She approached me a few minutes later in barely there triangles of hot pink fabric, holding a bottle of sunscreen. “Ready to be slathered.”
I swallowed hard at the sight of her. She passed over the sunscreen, a lotion this time rather than the spray. Goosebumps rose under my touch when I worked it over her shoulders and down her arms, sliding between each of her fingers in turn. I covered her stomach and made sure to get the sunscreen beneath all the little straps. Callie looked at me like she was ready to devour me, but stayed dutifully still while I completed my task.
I had gotten my hands on her before, but somehow her declaration of no pressure only ratcheted up the tension, turning the simple action into a silent foreplay. She watched me without speaking as I got down on my knees and propped her foot against my chest. Candied apple with a hint of cinnamon filled every breath, sweetened to new heights as my hands swept over her thighs and cupped her ass to make sure no spots were missed. By the time I was finished, I was hard as a rock and the scent of her slick was obvious.
“Return the favor?” I asked quietly, unable to tear my eyes away from hers. “I’m afraid I’m just as prone to sunburns as you.”
Callie nodded and dragged one of the kitchen chairs over for her to stand on, bringing her a little above eye level with me. Her touch was impossibly tender as she carefully coated my face, taking extra time with my ears, before hopping off the chair to stroke her fingers over my chest while I tried very hard not to breathe deeply. She looked way too fucking adorable, the tip of her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth in concentration. There wasn’t a white streak to be found once she had completed my chest and arms before dropping to her knees just like I had done.
Fuck me. Seeing her down there was pure torture. My hard-on was painfully obvious, but Callie ignored it, working the sunscreen into my thighs. I was shaking with the effort to keep still when she swept her hands under the hem of my trunks to get the first few inches of skin hidden beneath it. By the time she was done, I thought I might pass out, or drag her straight into the bedroom and ruin all of our hard work. If nothing else, the sunscreen checked the urge to taste her, knowing I would get a tongue full of chemicals and coconut fragrance.
Callie fetched us a pair of towels and I packed up a quick cooler with drinks before we set off to one of the swim areas.
“It’s like a bath,” Callie commented when she dipped her toes in.
“It gets pretty warm in the summer, but still better than the air temperature.” It was hot as balls, and while the water certainly wasn’t cooling, it did make the experience tolerable. I set aside our supplies and followed Callie into the water. When she was waist-deep, she dove under and popped up again with her hair slicked against her head before launching onto her back with a splash.
She was unfairly cute.
“Enjoying yourself?”
“Hell yes. I love swimming.”
I settled on my back next to her, my sunglasses blocking the blazing glare of the sun.
Callie laced her fingers with mine while she slowly kicked, swishing her other hand to stay level. “We should’ve brought some floats.”
“I feel like that would encourage you to stay out long enough to get burnt.”
“Spoilsport.”
“I don’t think either of us want to piss off Amir.”
“Fair point.”
She got bored of floating after a few minutes and slipped away, sending a wave splashing against me.
“That’s a declaration of war.”
Callie grinned and dove under, kicking erratically to get as much splash going as she could. Her swimming away triggered my predator drive and I launched myself in her direction. She didn’t have much chance of evading me, considering how much taller I was, but she was pretty fucking agile in the water.
Callie tried to glide past me like a seal and I caught her by the ankle, dragging her close so I could scoop my sodden princess out of the water. Her arms locked around me and she wiggled until her legs could do the same, her giggles muted as she laughed against my skin.
“Is that you conceding?”
“Absolutely not.” Her arms released and she fell backward against the water, swinging them like angel wings to send a massive splash straight at my face. I released her legs so I could wipe my face and she took the opportunity to get into shallower water to sprint away.
I raced after her, heart pumping excitedly, instincts sliding to the surface. My fingers caught the string of her bikini, and when she jumped forward, it unraveled the bow holding everything in place. Before anyone else could get an eyeful, I took a flying leap, wrapping my arms around her top half and sending us both crashing into the water, twisting so I landed first.
It was shallow enough here that she could get her head out of the water while bracing her fingertips on the bottom, and she was laughing heartily when I swept my hair off my face and sat up, my shoulders peeking out of the water with my ass on the ground.
“Trying to expose me to the world,” she teased. “You already did that.”
I dragged her onto my lap and she sat on her knees, straddling me while I tied the top back up, adding a double knot to be safe before sweeping my thumbs over the curve of her breasts. A saint wouldn’t have been able to stop touching her right now, and I had certainly never claimed to be saintly. Callie shivered as I adjusted the fabric to cover her, though the peaks of her nipples pressed against it, betraying her arousal to anyone who might get close enough to look.
Callie walked her fingertips up my chest and linked them together behind my neck. “Are kisses off-limits too?”
I shook my head, barely daring to breathe. Then her perfect mouth was on mine, lips sweeping and tongue searching. I locked my hands around her hips and pulled her down. Callie only wiggled closer, every inch of our chests touching, the heat of her cunt pressed against my cock with only those thin layers of fabric separating us. I was absolutely not going to fuck her in the water. Who knew what the hell was in it?
The only thing in the world that mattered was the taste of her mouth and the feel of her body against mine, at least until a golden retriever came racing past us.
“Cockblocked by a cutie.” Callie laughed as the dog retrieved its toy and went splish-splashing back to shore. Then Callie turned back to me, her pupils still dilated, and her candied apple scent thick around her. “Sorry, did I go too far?”
“My body would say you didn’t go far enough.”
“But it’s your nervy brain I’m worried about, Miles.”
“I think if you kiss me long enough, my brain could be persuaded of just about anything.”
“Take me back to the cabin and I will persuade all the nerves right out of your head.”
“You’re so dangerous for my self-control.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing I don’t want you to control yourself.”