21. Calla
TWENTY-ONE
CALLA
“You don’t really have a choice, Calla.”
Ashley is explaining to me over speakerphone that we have a studio booked this morning so I can work on the album before the show tonight. On a normal occasion, I would’ve gotten my butt up and got to the studio. But after the events of last night, I need some time off. My mind is not in the right place to work on songs right now. The only reason I was even able to sleep last night was because Luke held me all night. The one time he rolled over, I woke up and made him roll back toward me.
So, yeah, I’m not in the right mindset to write a decent song.
“Ashley, I just can’t.”
“Calla…” She drones on, listing all the reasons she believes I can’t miss this studio reservation. I look up at Luke standing over me. It’s like I’m waiting for him to give me permission to hang up and ignore her, which is ridiculous because I’m a grown woman, but I just… can’t.
I sigh and interrupt her spiel. “Alright, fine.”
“Thank you. A car will pick you up in an hour. Please be ready.”
She’s mad. I can tell by her voice, but you know what? She didn’t have to go through what I did last night. I realize physically, I’m fine. But mentally, I’m not. Someone that I don’t know snuck into my room. I keep thinking about what would’ve happened if Luke wasn’t with me. It’s terrifying.
Luke is debating something in his head. He gets this cute little expression where lines crinkle between his eyebrows and he bites his bottom lip. It’s adorable, especially because I don’t think he realizes he does it.
“Come on.” He grabs my arm and pulls me off the bed.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“There’s somewhere I want to take you.”
“What about the studio?”
He looks at me from over his shoulder. “I thought you didn’t want to go?”
“I don’t, but?—”
“Do you trust me?”
After last night, the answer is simple. “Yes.”
“Then let’s go. Grab a hat and sunglasses.”
I do as he says and follow him out the door. It feels like we’re sneaking around, but Ashley isn’t staying at this hotel, so there’s no chance we’ll run into her. I still feel nervous in my half-assed disguise.
Luke grabs us a cab. I can’t remember the last time I rode in a cab. My stomach flutters with excitement. I watch the city flash by, albeit slowly in the traffic, but it’s fun.
We stop in front of a small building on a busy street corner. I have no idea where we are, but Luke seems to know as he slides out of the cab and extends his hand to me. He leads me into a cute little coffee shop.
“Where are we?” I ask.
“This is my favorite coffee shop by my apartment.”
A huge smile pulls at my lips. Is he taking me to his house? I’m not sure why that makes me so excited, but it does. Maybe because he knows everything about my life but his is still a mystery to me.
We order coffee and breakfast pastries because he has a thing about making sure I eat, and I kind of like that. Then, in true New York fashion, we take our food and drinks to go and walk with the crowd down the sidewalk. Another thing that I’ve never really been allowed to do. People are passing me on all sides, but no one recognizes me. I’m no one important to them as they go to work or school or wherever they need to be, and I feel so much relief. I’m relieved to be unimportant.
How sad is that?
Of course, I’m grateful for everything I have. I’ve worked hard for my success and my fans. But I don’t think I understood at such a young age what fame meant exactly. And it’s been weighing heavily on me recently. Not just the fame but the responsibility. Knowing other people’s happiness or success depends on me is overwhelming and a lot for me to handle.
Luke seems to be the only one who sees that. Maybe that’s why I feel so drawn to him. I feel safe with him. He sees me as a person, not a product.
He stops in front of a brick building, presses a few buttons, and the door clicks as it unlocks. We walk up three flights of stairs before he opens an apartment door and ushers me in.
“Is this your place?” I ask excitedly.
“Yep.” He puts his keys on the counter as I look around. It’s small but cute and all in one room. He’s got a small kitchen area, a big bed that’s perfectly made with tight corners and exactly two pillows, a TV, a table, and a bookshelf. It looks almost un-lived in, but I guess he is gone a lot with his job.
“So this is where the Luke Pierson magic happens?” I ask, turning in a circle in the space.
He chuckles. “I guess so. It’s small, but it’s the first place I’ve had that’s been mine.”
“I like it.” The whole apartment is smaller than my master bedroom, but I think I would like to live somewhere like this. Somewhere I don’t have so many things that are not important. I have so many rooms in my house that I don’t even know what’s in most of them. I let a decorator do her thing, and then I never went back in them. What’s the point?
With a place like this, there’d be so much less clutter in my life. It feels freeing just being here right now. I sit down on his bed as he watches me from his spot near the kitchen.
“Why’d you bring me here, Luke?”
He shrugs. “You needed to get out of there, and this was the first place I thought of.”
“No other reason?”
His eyes darken slightly. “I wanted to see what it’d be like to have you in my place.”
I look him up and down. I’ve been dying for this man to take me fully. His fingers and tongue are just not enough anymore. I want all of him. And this would be the perfect place for that to happen.
He’s in jeans and a plain white T-shirt that strains across his chest and shoulders, and all I want to do is rip it off.
“Luke.”
“Mmm?” He acts like he doesn’t know what I’m thinking. Like he doesn’t want the same thing, but I know he does. I feel it between us.
“I want you,” I say simply and hear him inhale.
“Calla.” He says my name like a warning.
“Luke.”
He’s silent for a moment as if he’s weighing the consequences of his next words, and then I see the silent “Fuck it” cross his eyes.
He pops the button on the top of his jeans, giving me a tiny glimpse of the band of his underwear. “You want my cock so bad, you need to crawl to it.”
I swallow, and heat pools in my belly. “What?”
“You heard me, princess. You want my cock, crawl to it.”
I don’t even hesitate to drop to my hands and knees and make my way toward him, crawling across his hardwood floor. The surprise on his face is worth it. He thought I’d say no. But if this is what it takes to get what I want, then I’m going to do it.
And I don’t mind crawling to him. Especially not when he’s looking at me like I’m the most extraordinary thing he’s ever seen. No, it makes me feel powerful. I’m turning him on. He likes seeing me like this.
I kneel in front of him and reach up to his unbuttoned pants. I pause and wait for him to let me proceed. He nods once, and I get to work unzipping his jeans. I tug them down his powerful thighs until he’s left in his tight, black boxer briefs.
My nervousness hits right now. Not because I don’t want to do this, but because I’ve only been with one other man. What if I’m not good at this? I mean, Thompson ended up going to other women to get what he needed. Maybe it was because I’m terrible.
I can’t let my insecurities take over right now, not when I’ve been waiting for this moment. I trust that Luke will guide me if I need it.
Before I have a chance to pull down his underwear, he hooks his finger under my chin and tilts my head up to meet his gaze.
“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on.”
My cheeks heat from his comment. He always makes it a point to tell me how beautiful he thinks I am, and I think I’m actually starting to believe him.
He leans down and kisses me, his tongue meeting mine just barely before he pulls away.
I focus back on his hardening cock in front of me. “Are you sure you’re ready for this, Mr. Pierson?”
“Baby, I don’t think I’ve ever been so ready for anything in my entire life.”
Without waiting a second longer, I pull his underwear down. I wrap my fingers around his length and pump a few times, feeling him get even harder in my grip. I’ve never minded giving blow jobs, but I’ve never been dying to give one. Except right now, my mouth is watering.
I lick around the tip first, which makes him moan my name, before going down the side and back up, swirling my tongue at the top again.
He hisses. “Don’t play with it, princess. If you’re going to suck it, suck it.”
I suck his cock into my mouth, and the moan he releases makes me take him even deeper. My hand pumps his base while my mouth works the top. I know he’s watching me, but I don’t care that my saliva is running down my face. I’m making him feel good, and that’s all I care about right now.
After a few minutes, he grabs my head, forcing me to stop. “You gotta stop, princess. I don’t wanna come this way.”
I pull back and wipe my mouth. “How do you want to come then?
“I want to come deep inside you if you’ll let me.”
“Yes, please.”
He helps me stand and, with such gentleness, starts removing my clothes. First, my shirt, then my bra. My jeans are unbuttoned, and he slowly slides them down my legs, only stopping to place a kiss on my lower stomach.
Once we’re both undressed, he leads me to his bed.
“Legs wide, baby.”
I do as he says and watch as he settles between them. His warm tongue runs down my core before he sucks my clit into his mouth.
“Luke,” I cry out breathlessly.
He slides a finger inside me while his tongue works in slow circles around my clit. Luke always takes his time when he makes me come. He never tries to rush me. It’s almost like he’d stay between my legs all day if he could. I don’t think he even realizes how comfortable he makes me and how much easier it is to reach my orgasm.
He slides another finger inside me and curls them both up, hitting just where I need them to. But to my surprise, he doesn’t stop there. Nope. A third finger goes inside me, and then a fourth. My fingers dig into the blanket on the bed, trying to grab onto something to keep myself grounded. I feel so full, so stretched like I’m on display for him, and that thought alone sends me over the edge.
“Luke, I?—”
“That’s it, baby. Come for me. Show me how much you want me.”
I do come for him so hard that I see stars. He doesn’t stop until my legs stop shaking and my back lowers to the bed again.
He pulls away slightly and gently bites my inner thigh before standing and grabbing a condom from his desk. I watch as he rolls it on, and for some unexplainable reasons, I like watching him do it. The way his forearm works and how his long fingers wrap around himself. Everything about this man turns me on.
“What position do you like?” he asks me once he’s suited up and ready to go.
I’ve never been asked that before. Thompson just put me how he wanted me I guess.
“Oh, I, uh, don’t know that I have a preference.”
“Well, we’re going to start with this then because I want to see your face when I’m inside you for the first time.” He climbs on the bed and gets between my legs, lining himself up with my entrance.
He slowly starts to push in, and my stomach flutters. I can’t believe we’re finally doing this. It feels so forbidden and yet so right. He watches my face as he slides inside. He pauses and sighs once he’s fully in, tilting his head back and looking at the ceiling.
“It’s like you were made for me, Calla.”
“I was. I am,” I pant as he starts moving slowly in and out.
He watches where we’re connected as he thrusts before he leans down so our bodies touch and our sweat starts to run together. He kisses me. It’s sloppy and frantic, but it feels perfect.
“God, Calla. I’m not gonna last. You feel too damn good.”
He pushes up and grabs one of my legs to put on his shoulder. I gasp as it pulls him even deeper, which I didn’t even think was possible.
Then I moan his name, which sparks him to pick up his pace. His thumb finds my already swollen clit. Does he want me to come again? Can I come again? I have no idea, but my body feels like it’s on fire. I’m sticky with sweat but the way Luke is looking at me makes me feel like I’m the most stunning thing ever.
He doesn’t last much longer after that. He thrusts a few more times before stilling inside me and coming with my name on his lips.
When he finishes, he looks down at me with a satisfied smile, but it quickly fades.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, wondering if I did something.
“You didn’t come again. Shit, I’m sorry. I’ll get you there again.” He starts to move his hand down again, but I stop him.
“Hey, I came once and honestly, that feels like enough. I’d rather you hold me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He reluctantly pulls out and discards the condom. He climbs back in bed with me and pulls my body as close to him as we can get it.
“Calla,” he whispers my name.
“Hmm?”
“I’m gonna be honest with you.” My heart drops for a second, thinking he’s going to tell me something devastating like he’s married or that I was terrible at sex. But instead, he says, “I’ve thought about fucking you a lot since the day we met, but that was better than anything I could’ve ever imagined. Thank you for trusting me with your body.”
“It’s yours, Luke. I’m yours.”
And I mean that with every fiber of my being.