Chapter 17 Zandra #2
“Can I talk to you for a sec?”
“I was just about to head out.”
“It won’t take long.” His fingertips touched the small of my back, guiding me toward the storage room near the back of the building. The one with the sticky lock.
We went inside. I spun to face him. And just like before, he shut the door behind us.
“This again?” I asked.
“I didn’t close the door very hard. Even if it stuck, the key’s right there.
” He pointed to it hanging on the wall. “You can leave if you really want to. I’ll let you go.
But I think it’s wiser if we finish this conversation.
Otherwise, we’ll have this unresolved tension hanging over our heads. Making it impossible to concentrate.”
“There’s no tension.”
“No?” He stepped closer.
My body felt like a live wire. “None whatsoever.”
He brought his lips within inches of my ear. “At some point, you’re going to have to admit you like me.”
“I do. As a friend.” My voice shook on the word.
“That’s not what I mean. You can’t fake sparks like the ones we had last night.
I’m a firefighter. I know sparks.” Another step closer.
His breath ghosted over the skin of my neck, covering me with shivers.
“I’ve been half hard ever since. Considered taking care of that when I woke up this morning, but I’m not against a little edging. ”
“Callum.” I pressed my palm to his chest with every intention of shoving him away and getting out of here.
Big mistake.
Instead, I became all too aware of how firm his chest was. How it had felt against me last night, after he’d flipped our positions on the couch and held me down with his weight. How I’d craved so much more.
A moan slipped from my throat.
Callum’s eyes traced down to my lips. “See, I’ve been thinking about it. Could hardly sleep from the way my mind kept turning over what happened. You know what I figured out?”
“That it’s a terrible idea?”
“It is a pretty bad idea. Yeah.”
His words caught me off guard because he was agreeing with me. “And we should never do it ever again, right?”
“At first, that’s what I was thinking too. Just forget about it and focus on work. But we could make this beneficial for both of us. We’re together all the time. Why not take advantage of that?”
“Did they not show you the hostile work environment video? I have to think there was a training at some point.”
“You kissed me.” Callum’s mouth curved in a wicked smirk, and I followed the movement, remembering how he’d tasted. Heat was rising to my skin, burning me from the inside out.
“We’re not doing this. We can’t.”
“We can do whatever we want. If we’re careful.” He inhaled, nostrils flaring. “You still smell like me.”
“I slept in your clothes,” I heard myself saying.
“Fuck, that’s hot. Tell me you don’t want me.”
“I don’t.” Liar.
“Tell me you don’t want to kiss me again right fucking now.” He used his lower lip to bump mine. I whimpered like a desperate, needy thing.
“I don’t.” Pants on fire.
And then, the same bizarre trance overcame me as last night. Like something had completely possessed me. Taking over my brain.
I grabbed Callum’s face and pressed my lips to his.
He grunted, his hand going to my chin to hold me there as he took control of the kiss. Callum tilted his head and his tongue licked against mine, sending shudders of arousal down my spine and between my legs.
There were Hearthstone employees in the kitchen. Someone could come this way and hear us. Or they might need toilet paper, head to this storage room and find us here.
But right now, I didn’t care. There was only Callum standing between me and the rest of the world, his mouth dueling with mine. His solid strength under my hands as I tentatively touched him.
Oh, I wanted to touch him.
Sneaking beneath the bottom of his T-shirt, my fingers met hot, smooth skin over hard muscle. Callum kept dominating my mouth with his kisses while I caressed the ridges of his abs. My thumbs found his nipples, my hands squeezing the thickness of his pecs. He groaned, lips breaking from mine.
“You like getting your hands on me?” he rasped.
“You’re so hot.”
“So are you, beautiful. You drive me fucking wild.”
His hands, so much bigger than mine, suddenly gripped my butt cheeks through my jeans and hoisted me up. Spun me so my back was to the door. I crashed against it, the vibrations sending a few rolls of paper towels and random boxes of supplies careening to the ground.
Then Callum bucked his hips against me. The swollen ridge of his cock pressed between my legs through our clothes, and I jolted with another fierce bolt of arousal.
“That feel good?”
My moan was wanton. He lifted my legs more, wrapping them around his waist as he thrust, his crotch rubbing on mine. Nothing had ever felt so good. So dirty and forbidden and perfect.
Like we were two teenagers stealing a moment together, giving in to our irresistible need, heedless of the consequences.
What was this man doing to me?
“Open your eyes. Look at me.”
I did, meeting the lust-filled gaze of Callum’s brown-and-gold irises. His breaths came shallow and quick, like mine. Like this was affecting him as much as it was me.
“You want me to make you come, Sunflower?”
“Yes,” I whispered. “Make me come.”
He grasped my chin. “Say it louder. Say you want me.” Another thrust. “You want my cock.”
My throat worked as I swallowed. Even with the haze in my brain, I was still aware of the rest of Hearthstone outside this door. The risk we were taking. “I want it.”
“I can’t hear you.”
“I want you, Callum,” I gritted out.
His smirk could’ve been cruel or mocking. But it wasn’t. It was more like the sun rising, lighting up everything in this dim, crowded space. “I want you too, Z. I’ve always wanted you.”
His mouth dove onto mine, tongue sliding past my lips as he rocked his erection over my clit through our clothes. His hands squeezed, holding me up. It was rough and urgent. Almost too much sensation. But exactly what I needed.
The orgasm came on me fast. Flooding my body with overwhelming pleasure. I cried out, but the sound was thankfully muffled by Callum’s tongue. Then I realized he was shaking too. The flat of his palm slapped against the wooden door by my head as he groaned through his own climax.
He’d just come in his pants. In the back storage room at Hearthstone.
What the heck were we thinking?
Callum rested his forehead against mine, breathing hard. Then slowly eased me down so my feet touched the concrete floor. “Don’t freak out,” he murmured.
Too late.
“What if they heard us?” I hissed.
“They probably didn’t.”
“Probably?” I put my ear to the door, listening.
Callum was adjusting his clothes. “But if they did, we’ll deal with it. It’s going to be fine.”
Panic clawed at me. Same thing I’d felt last night at his house, but so much worse. I needed this job. What if I embarrassed my grandfather? My parents’ disappointment was bad enough, but Grandpa too…
“I need to go.” I picked up my purse from where I’d dropped it.
Callum sighed, lifting the key from its hook. But I tried the knob and found it unlocked. He’d been right. He hadn’t closed the door hard enough to make the lock stick. Someone could’ve walked in on us.
Sliding out, I didn’t see anyone. Thank God.
“I’ll call you later, okay?” he said.
“Please don’t.”
“Z—”
I turned to him, pleading with my eyes. “I…I liked what we just did. Even if that was the most reckless thing I’ve ever done. But we got that out of our system, and it’s finished now.”
His mouth opened like he might disagree, but nothing came out. Because he knew I was right.
We were still competing for the general manager position. This had been a one-time indiscretion. And his reputation spoke for itself. Neither of us wanted anything…more.
I couldn’t afford to.