Chapter 18
Callum
Her breath catches the moment the question slips out, like she didn’t mean to ask it. Didn’t mean to reveal herself to me.
I brush a kiss over her full lips and make sure my tone is light and teasing, bringing us back to neutral, because I know neither of us can really go there.
We’ve found solace this week in our physical connection, and it is easier to come back to that than try to figure out if there could truly be something more here.
“By all means then, my lady. I exist merely for your pleasure.”
She rolls her eyes but pairs it with a kiss, before pushing me back to lying down and moving between my legs.
This time she takes her time, teasing me like I know she loves to be teased.
Her tongue slides up the ridge of my shaft, circling the head of my cock before trailing back down again.
I moan as she laps at my balls, sucking one into her mouth, releasing it with a pop before moving on to the other, her fist stroking me slowly while her mouth works.
“Caterine…Cate. You are so incredible.” My hips buck, my cock searching for her mouth, needing even the smallest measure of relief.
She kisses the tip of my head. “I like bringing you pleasure, Your Highness. It turns me on.”
I take the nape of her neck in my hand. “Are you already ready for more, my lady?”
Her eyes meet mine, the honey amber softening. “It seems like I’m always ready when it’s with you, Callum. Like I can never get enough.”
I swallow thickly but don’t allow myself to fall further under her spell. “Glad to hear it.” I sit up long enough to grasp her hips and spin her around, lying back down when her pretty pussy is settled back over my face.
She peeks over her shoulder at me. “It’s supposed to be your turn.”
“I like it better this way.” Watching Caterine find pleasure with me makes me feel something close to invincible.
She doesn’t protest further, finally taking my aching cock in her mouth. She moves slowly, gradually taking me deeper and deeper. The things this woman can do with her tongue.
No partner in my future is ever going to be able to compare. Not just with the way she makes me feel physically, but with how comfortable I’ve become in her presence. How at home I feel in her company, and in her bed.
I let my tongue find her center, keeping the pressure soft and gentle in case she’s still sensitive. She lets out a moan with my dick deep in her mouth and I have to fight to keep from coming on the spot.
I’ve never engaged in this act with a partner before, too afraid in the past of looking improper, fearing rumors about the Prince of Scota and his demands in the bedroom.
But with Cate, I have none of that fear.
And so I let go of all doubts and just enjoy this.
Bringing her pleasure, while she guides me to the strongest orgasm I’ve ever had.
It builds quickly. I don’t even have time to warn her before I explode, but she doesn’t seem to mind. Her sucks turn gentle while I come down, and I increase the pressure of my tongue, slipping two fingers inside her, feeling her tighten around me seconds later.
She cries out her release and it’s the sweetest sound. If I heard it a million more times, it wouldn’t be enough. That doesn’t soften the blow of knowing I might never hear it again.
She shifts her weight off me, lying next to me on the bed, her feet at my head, her head at my feet. We both breathe heavily, as heavy as the silence around us.
I reach for her hand and she tangles her fingers in mine. I squeeze and dread the moment one of us speaks and this bubble is broken.
She sits up first and I reluctantly do the same. I wait for her to dart out of bed, and she does, but not before she places a soft kiss on my lips.
Caterine disappears behind her privacy screen, into her bathing chamber. The water runs for several seconds, and when she emerges, she’s draped in her robe.
I gather my clothes from the floor and dress quickly, not wanting to be the only one in the room exposed.
She pours us both a drink, setting the glasses on the table. We sit, and still the room remains silent.
I open my mouth to make my final request.
She holds up a hand to stop me. “I know what you’re going to say.”
“You do?”
She sucks in a long breath. “You’re going to kill your father so you can become the Scotan candidate.”
There’s no question in her voice.
“I know you probably think I’m a monster, Cate…”
“I don’t.” She reaches across the table and squeezes my hand.
I want to tangle our fingers together, keep her tight in my grip, but she pulls away before I can manage. “You don’t think I’m a monster even though I’m planning on murdering my own father?”
She looks me directly in the eye. “I know what kind of man you are, Callum Reid. And I know having to do this must be ripping you apart. I can’t even imagine. I know that just as clearly as I know you would never have come to this decision on your own.”
I have to pull my gaze from hers because there’s a sudden wetness building in my eyes. “How can you possibly know that?”
“Because I know you.” She shrugs, sipping from her whisky like we’re in the middle of a casual conversation.
“It’s only been a few days.”
“That’s more than enough for me to have seen the heart of you, Callum. You are a good person. If this is the course of action you’ve decided on, then it’s the right one.”
I sit back in my chair. “So you know what it is I have to ask of you?”
She nods. “I don’t think you have anything to feel guilty about, but if the guilt feels like it is going to consume you, then I will happily ease it.” She hesitates for a second before throwing back the remaining liquor in her glass.
“But?”
“But I have a request.” Her voice softens as her guard drops. It’s not often Lady Caterine reveals herself. I’ve come to search for her in her rare moments of vulnerability, but they typically seem to catch her off guard. This time feels more deliberate.
“Anything, my lady.”
She rises, untying the belt of her robe and letting the silky fabric fall to the floor. “Stay with me for just a while longer.”
I focus my eyes on hers so I’m not distracted by the sight of her luscious curves.
The golden brown is hazy with wanting, and with something else.
Something deeper. But there can never be anything more between us; both of us know it.
I would be a fool to even hope for it. And yet it’s there, that hint of feelings.
I stand, sweeping her into my embrace, burying my face in the curve of her neck, lifting her easily, carrying her back to the silken sheets of her bed, where for a few more hours at least, we can keep pretending it’s only us.
—
When I wake, the night sky outside Caterine’s window is black as ebony.
This should startle me, I know, somewhere deep down, but the fact doesn’t bolt me out of bed.
Instead, I tilt my head, letting my eyes trace over the naked beauty tucked into my arms. Cate’s head rests on my chest, her golden hair spilling across her shoulders.
She looks peaceful and calm and so beautiful it makes my chest ache.
I run my fingers along her bare arm.
She stirs, turning into me first before pulling away, blinking the haziness out of her eyes. “What time is it?”
I shrug, as if time doesn’t matter, as if I’ve forgotten what tonight is and what I’m meant to do. “Late.”
She sits up, the sheet falling to her waist. “Fuck, Callum. You have to go.” She pushes out of the bed, running to the window as if the night sky can tell her the time.
“It’s fine, my lady. I still have plenty of time.
” Her frantic energy forms a pit in my stomach.
I don’t have plenty of time. Maybe an hour or two at most. I know what’s waiting for me at home, and even though I’m in no rush to complete the deed, I promised my family I would take care of it quickly, before anyone else has the chance.
I rise from the bed, slowly making my way around Caterine’s suite to gather my discarded clothing.
She whirls away from the window, rushing around the space and shoving said clothing into my hands. “I’m not kidding, Callum. It’s already almost midnight. You need to get home.”
I tug my shirt over my head. “A few minutes more won’t kill anyone, Caterine.” I wince as soon as the words are out of my mouth. “You know what I mean.”
Her hands wring together as she wordlessly tries to get me to dress faster. “Shit. Shit fuck shit.”
I raise one eyebrow as I step into my pants. “Something wrong, other than the obvious?”
Tears well in her eyes and the sight punches me in the gut. “You’re going to hate me,” she whispers.
I drop my shoe and cross the room to her, taking her shaking hands in mine. “Never.”
“There’s something you should know.” She pulls her hands from my grip. “You are not the only one planning on killing your father.”
A chill sweeps over my body before sinking into my veins. “What do you mean? And how could you possibly know such a thing?”
She crosses to the other side of the small space. “You obviously know of my abilities. Well, my sister, Andra, she has a Gift of her own.”
“What kind of Gift?” One part of me wants to yell at her to say whatever she needs to say, and quickly. The other wants to linger in this state of not knowing for as long as possible.
“She’s a Seer.” Caterine wraps her arms around her middle, as if she’s trying to hold herself together.
“I guess I should start at the beginning. After the Uprising, the club was in a lot of trouble. Money trouble. Harold financially helped support the rebellion, and our business took a hit, leaving us on the brink of closing. Harold would rather die than see that happen, so instead he married a wealthy woman. Lady M.”
My brow furrows in confusion. “I’ve never heard of her.”
“She sort of just appeared one day. When she married Harold and took over partial control of the club, she put all of us under contracts, most at impossibly high sums, so high we’d never be able to work our way out of them.” Her fingers tighten around her, her knuckles turning white.
“That’s why you agreed to help me?” I knew she always saw me as a client, yet what she’s telling me now makes her motives even more clear. Not that I can blame her.
She nods. “With the money your sister paid for your lessons, I could buy out not just my contract but Andra’s as well.
” She makes some kind of decision, dropping her arms. “Lady M has been making Andra read for her, pushing her to See in a way that has worn Andra down, both physically and mentally. And today, right before you got to the club, I found out that Lady M has taken her and is keeping her somewhere.”
“To get you to obey? She’s holding your sister’s life?” This Lady M must have asked something terrible of Caterine, and my stomach tightens as I think of what that could possibly mean. What she might have done. Might still be doing.
Caterine nods again.
“What did they ask you to do, Caterine?” My voice is low, brimming with barely restrained anger—if she did what I think she did, it’s time to cut to the heart of the matter.
“Harold is going to murder your father under Lady M’s orders.
” The words come out as faint as a whisper.
“They told me to keep you here until after midnight, and if I didn’t, if I told you what was going to happen, they would hurt my sister.
” She crumples into a chair, and I don’t have the capacity to care that she appears completely drained.
“So you’ve known this entire evening that this terrible thing I have to do, this thing that has been torturing me for weeks, is going to be thwarted and you didn’t bother to tell me?
” I try to keep my voice level, but I don’t succeed.
The anger is a good mask for the total devastation ripping through me.
I thought we had shared something special this evening.
I came to her for help, and this entire time she was lying right to my face.
No doubt manipulating me and my feelings for her.
No. Not feelings. There’s no love here, only pure lust. It’s her job to exploit that lust, and she played me perfectly.
“I’m sorry, Callum. I wanted to tell you, but what was I supposed to do, sacrifice my sister’s life?” She crosses over to me, her hands clenched in fists at her side, not about to let my anger go unchecked.
“If it means saving the country from being ruled by people unfit for leadership, then yes, Caterine, that’s exactly what you should do!” I’m being unfair, and I know it. God knows I would probably do the same in her situation, but I can’t make myself justify her actions knowing the consequences.
She gets in my face. “I’m sorry I wasn’t raised like that, Callum Reid! I will not apologize for doing what’s best for the only person who’s been there for me my entire life.” She lowers her voice. “Besides, Harold does have the capacity to be a good leader.”
“Does this Lady M? Because it seems like the two of them are a package deal. Is she the kind of person you want in control?” I shove my feet into my shoes, gathering my coat and heading for the door. “I don’t have time for this argument, I may still be able to get there in time.”
“Wait!” she cries, meeting me at the door. Her hands find mine, and I wish I had the strength to pull away, but my fingers latch on to hers like they were created to be connected. “Please be careful, Callum.”
“You don’t get to tell me that now, my lady.”
A single tear rolls down her cheek, and for a minute I question everything. This tear, this night, everything that’s happened in this room.
“Was any of it real?” I ask the question I don’t want to know the answer to.
“Yes,” she says fiercely. “I…I care about you, Callum.”
I gently tug my hands from hers, grabbing my coat and slipping into the sleeves. “I thought I cared about you too.”
She sucks in a sharp breath. “I earned that, I suppose. And I understand if you never want to see me again.” Her voice breaks and falls to a whisper. “But please don’t hurt him. He’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a father, Callum.”
“You don’t get to ask that of me either.”
“I know.” Tears flow freely down her cheeks now. “I will still help you, after. If you need my services, I’m here.”
“Because I’ve already paid for them?”
She shakes her head. “Because you don’t deserve this. You don’t deserve any of this.”
A million words dance on the edge of my tongue, but none of them are the right ones. So I nod, open the door, and walk away.