Chapter 21 #3
He leans his head back against the rim of the tub. “Whatever magic you put in this water, I’m grateful for it.”
“I’ll let Bianca know.”
“Bianca.” The name hangs in the air between us. “Was she there?”
“I don’t know.”
“There were two of them. I fought one. She distracted me while Harold killed my father.”
My lungs tighten. “I’m so sorry, Callum.” I can only pray Bianca wasn’t the one in the room with him, but in the end, I’m not sure it really matters. Someone close to me is the one responsible for taking his father’s life.
“I don’t blame her.”
I breathe a small sigh of relief.
“There is only one person responsible for the travesty that happened in that room.”
I hold my breath, waiting for him to mutter my name, to end whatever this is between us for good.
Callum tilts his head up, meeting my gaze. “Me.”
“Callum. No. Nothing about what happened in that room is your fault.”
“I should have been there. I should have been ready the moment the time turned. I was so worried about my own feelings, I left my family and my people in a vulnerable position. I can’t blame anyone else for my own lack of courage and foresight.”
I reach for his hand, needing contact with him before the guilt overwhelms me. “You are one of the bravest people I know, Callum Reid. And you would have been there if it weren’t for me.”
“I made my own decisions, Caterine. I wanted to be with you. I needed to be with you.” He laughs bitterly. “I’m a coward and a fool.”
I inch my way closer to him, making sure to keep plenty of space between us. “I could help you with that, you know.”
He runs a hand through his hair, water dripping through his curls and down his cheek. “I don’t deserve to feel better, Cate. I did this, and now I have to live with the consequences. If I had been there, instead of…” He doesn’t finish the thought because he doesn’t need to.
The shame burns through me. I push my way to standing, the water dripping from my bare skin as I make to exit the tub. “I’m sorry, Callum. If anyone is to blame, it’s me.”
He takes my hand again, gently tugging me down, pulling me closer, positioning me so I straddle his lap. “I shouldn’t have said that. There is nothing you could’ve done differently. I was so focused on you, on us, I couldn’t see anything else.”
I think about Harold’s words. About the Bond. Maybe it is true. Because being here in Callum’s arms, even with everything uncertain still swirling around us, I feel almost at peace.
“Do you regret it?” I brush a damp curl from his face, letting my fingers linger over the quickly fading bruises on his cheek.
His arm wraps around my waist. “I could never regret you, my lady.” He presses his forehead to my collarbone, his shoulders sagging. “It feels so good to be in your arms again, Cate. It’s the first time in four days that I feel like I can breathe.”
“I know.” I dance the words over the shell of his ear. “I thought it was going to be easy to let you go.”
His arms tighten around my waist, pulling me closer to him, pressing our cores together. “I knew it would be impossible to let you go.”
I take his cheeks in my hands, forcing him to look me in the eye. “Where do you want to go from here, Callum?”
“You mean other than to bed?” A hint of a grin tugs on his lips.
I roll my eyes, even though I delight in this hint of humor brightening his face. I tangle my fingers in the curls at the nape of his neck. “I will take you to bed, Your Highness. I don’t like to leave my clients unfulfilled.”
His eyes darken. “Am I still a client?”
“Do you wish to be something else?” I shift my hips the slightest bit, rolling against his stiffening cock.
His hands find my hips, shifting me away. “I wish to be a lot of things, Lady Caterine, but none of the things could ever be good for you.”
I raise my eyebrows. “That sounds a lot like you’re trying to make my decision for me, Your Highness.” Though I know I should let him pull away, let him keep this distance between us, especially if it’s what he wants.
“What decision is there to make, Cate?” Any hint of lightness has disappeared. “What could I offer you at this point?”
I press my lips to his cheek. “You, Cal. You could offer me yourself.” I brush a kiss over his forehead.
“And you could let me be the one to decide if I think you’re enough.
” I kiss his other cheek before dragging my lips to his ear.
“And I do.” I turn my head, this kiss landing at the corner of his mouth.
“I don’t know much about what is going to happen over the next few days, or the next few weeks, or the next few months.
” I kiss the opposite corner. “But I do know that with you by my side, I think I’m ready to find out.
” I brush my lips against his in a barely-there kiss.
“But if you’re not ready to find out, then let me have tonight.
Let me comfort you and bring you pleasure and help you escape, even if it’s just for a few hours. ”
He cups my cheek in his hand, his thumb tracing along the edge of my jaw. He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t deny or accept my offer. He just brings his mouth to mine, in a kiss that burns me to my core.
His free hand finds the nape of my neck, holding me to him as he plunders my mouth, our tongues and teeth mingling and clashing as he pulls me closer and closer, until I’m not sure where my limbs end and his begin.
He hoists me without notice, stepping out of the tub and placing me gently on the ground.
He grabs a clean dry linen from the stack by the bath and wraps it around us both.
It’s hard for the cloth to do its job when neither of us is willing to part from the other for long enough to dry our dripping skin.
We stumble into the other room, cloth long forgotten, mouths never parting. I discover the eternal paradox of never wanting to stop kissing Callum and wanting to move my mouth to every other part of him. Kissing him feels like coming home and exploring the world, new adventures and old comforts.
We fall onto the bed, Callum’s hard, hot length covering me, enveloping me in a warmth that has always been missing from my life, a warmth only he has been able to provide.
He breaks the kiss first, but I don’t complain when his mouth trails down my neck. “Fuck, Caterine. How does four days without you feel like an entire lifetime?” He mutters the words into my skin, not pausing for any kind of response.
A lifetime of you could never be enough.
I think the words but don’t say them out loud, still unsure of where this could possibly go, what I should do.
All I do know is I have Callum here in my bed, and I don’t want to waste the time we have together, even if it already hurts to even think about parting.
I drag his mouth back to mine, my fingers skirting down the ridged plane of his stomach, through the golden copper hair leading me downward, until they’re wrapping around the thickness of his cock.
He groans, his hand covering mine, stroking with me, but a second later pulling me away. “I’ll never last with you touching me like that.”
“We have all night, you know.”
“I plan to take full advantage.”
He grasps both of my wrists in one hand, bringing my arms over my head as his mouth works its way down to my chest. He places a single kiss over my heart, his eyes meeting mine for a brief moment.
His lips brush across my sensitive skin, his tongue licking at the peaked buds of my breasts.
Releasing my hands, he continues to move down my body.
I tangle my fingers in his curls, directing him right where I want him.
There is no teasing tonight. Callum’s tongue traces me open, swirling my clit before sucking it between his lips. My hips buck and I tighten my hold on him, taking my pleasure against his mouth. My skin burns, the flush spreading outward from my core.
He gives me everything I need, and I take everything he offers, working me until I fall apart beneath him, until my cries echo around the room and I thank god for thick walls.
He kisses a trail back up my body, finally bringing his mouth to mine in a languid, sensual kiss. His cock strokes my sensitized folds, and I need nothing more in this moment than to feel him inside me, to let him become a part of me.
I push him gently, rolling him to his back and perching over him. Straddling his hips, I stroke him as I bring him to my entrance.
His hand reaches out, halting the motion.
I meet his eyes, terrified I’ve somehow taken things too far.
“Don’t try to ease my pain. Please, Cate. Promise me.” His voice is a broken whisper, his eyes a pleading shade of dull blue.
“I would never manipulate your feelings without your consent, Callum. I promise you.” I would promise him anything if it meant bringing back the light to his eyes.
He leans up, kissing me deeply while I sink slowly down over him, taking him inch by delicious inch. I still once he’s fully seated inside me, breaking the kiss and letting my body adjust.
Letting my heart adjust. It’s so full, I fear it might burst.
Callum falls back on the pillows, his eyes traveling from where our bodies are joined up over the bared expanse of my skin, finally meeting my gaze. His eyes are light again and a hint of a smile tugs on his lips.