Chapter 14
He wanted her.
He craved her.
No longer could Wyatt pretend otherwise. The truth had become painfully evident when they had been locked together, their bodies rubbing against each other just hours earlier.
Had the perimeter alarm not gone off, he would’ve kissed her. It was the thought of tasting Callie’s lips again that caused him to look at her now.
She was staring into the fire. As he gazed at her profile, he wondered what she was thinking. Did she long for his touch once more? Did she remember the pleasure they had found in each other’s arms?
Or had he burned that bridge once and for all?
He held out hope. It was slim, but her reaction to him couldn’t be denied. Not the way her breathing had changed or how her lips had parted. Most definitely not the way her blue eyes had filled with need.
His balls tightened thinking about it. And when her lids had slid closed, his only thought had been to claim her lips, to let her know how he’d hungered for her kiss all the years they’d been apart.
But the damn alarm had interrupted everything.
Now, he might never get that chance again. Callie was a master at remaining just out of his reach. Perhaps if he were more of a charmer, like Cullen, or even as open as Owen, there might be a chance for him.
But he was neither of those things. He was hard, cold, and closed off to the world.
Callie had been the only one to get close to him, the only one to ever touch his heart and make him long for a life that could never be his.
This was where Owen would urge him to let Callie know that secret, but Wyatt didn’t dare. It would leave him too exposed. Admitting it to himself was one thing, but no one—absolutely no one—could ever know.
His thoughts came to a screeching halt when Callie’s head turned, and their eyes clashed. The palpable desire he saw made his body pulse with a yearning he hadn’t dared to give in to. But there was no turning away from it now.
From the very beginning, Callie had a hold over him. She swayed him with a smile or a look. He didn’t know if she grasped the power she had back then—the power she still had.
Because if she did, with just a few words, she could make him invincible—or break him.
She rose from the couch and stood to face him. There was no other choice for him but to go to her, to go to the only woman he’d ever wanted.
When he reached her, she turned him, shoving him back onto the sofa. He looked up at her and was consumed with lust. Callie stood between his legs not as the young girl he remembered, but as a woman who knew what she wanted—and got it.
Her head tilted to the side, blue eyes shamelessly looking over him. He swallowed a groan and grabbed her wrists. A seductive, teasing smile pulled at the corners of her lips before she placed one knee on the outside of his hip.
His mouth went dry as she straddled him, her breasts even with his face. Before him was a temptress, who would accept nothing less than all of him.
She glided her hands up his arms and over his shoulders before sinking into his hair. Then she arched her back and rolled her head to the side before letting it fall backward.
The moan he’d been holding back rushed past his lips. He gripped her on either side of her ribcage and leaned forward. His lips touched the space just below her neck in the middle of her chest.
“Wyatt.”
His name whispered in that husky voice of hers stirred something deep and primal within him. He wrapped an arm around her while he yanked at the collar of her sweatshirt to expose a slim shoulder.
He nipped and kissed the skin there before moving across to her collarbone. All the while, the long, silky strands of her hair teased his arms and hands with whispered touches.
Her head shifted to the side to give him better access to her neck. Slowly, he worked his way up the column of her throat to her ear and licked the spot that always drove her wild.
Just as he’d expected, her response was immediate. Her nails sank into his scalp, and her hips rocked against his cock. He gently sucked on the delicate skin until her breathing was as erratic as his heart.
Only then did he return his lips to her throat and kiss his way up to her chin. But he didn’t take her lips. Her head lifted, and their eyes clashed.
For long seconds, they stared at each other, the longing, the hunger growing with each breath. The only sound was the popping of the fire. Without realizing it, they moved toward each other.
Her hands came around to caress his jaw as her gaze lowered to his mouth. Her thumb swept across his lower lip. He hesitated in kissing her because once he did, there would be no turning back. He only had so much self-control, and she was quickly sapping him of what was left.
She lifted her eyes to him. Then she leaned forward and placed her mouth over his.
For a heartbeat, Wyatt didn’t move. He was afraid that it would shatter the moment. But when her tongue skimmed along the seam of his lips, he couldn’t hold back.
Gripped with desire so overwhelming, so consuming he had no choice but to succumb, he held the back of her head, his fingers tangled in her chestnut locks, and he kissed her—letting her feel and taste the years of longing, of his aching to have her again.
He had to know the texture her skin, her warmth. Her softness. No longer could he wait. He took her arms and moved them above her head. Then his hands slipped beneath the hem of her sweatshirt and impatiently pushed the cloth upward.
As soon as the shirt was gone, they were kissing hungrily again. With just a twist of his fingers, he unhooked her bra. The garment was tossed aside. He wrapped an arm around her before shifting them so that he lay atop her.
Her warm flesh against his palm as he caressed upward from her waist was exactly what he’d longed for. But that wasn’t all. Not by a long shot.
He broke the kiss and rose up enough to look down at her. The sight of her hair spread around her with her lips swollen from his kisses caused his cock to jump. His gaze moved lower to her breasts.
His mouth went dry when he saw her dusky nipples already hard. Callie always had the most amazing breasts. There was a rough intake of breath from her when he cupped one perfect globe and massaged it.
Her eyes rolled back in her head, her lips parted on a silent moan. He rolled one tip between his fingers while leaning down to tease the other with his tongue. Her answering cry was just what he wanted to hear.
Just as he was about to get settled to feast on her breasts, Callie surprised him again by once more taking control and pushing against his shoulder to roll him. He tumbled off the sofa onto the floor with her still in his arms.
She leaned over him, her hair falling in a curtain around him. He was so turned on by her aggression that he was more than willing to see what she would do.
Her lips brushed against his, but when he tried to kiss her, she pulled away. Then she sat up, giving him a view of her bare chest in the light of the fire.
“Take off your shirt,” she commanded.
He eagerly complied. This new side of her was something he could definitely get used to. Callie had always known what she wanted and had never been afraid to ask for it. But this was a whole new level.
With her hands spread wide, she leisurely caressed his chest, gliding over his muscles and lingering at his wounds. His gaze never left her face as her eyes followed her hands. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking, and he hated that.
Suddenly, she rolled back onto her feet and stood. Wyatt rose up on his forearms, afraid that she’d changed her mind. He should’ve known better.
Callie removed her shoes, then shimmied out of her jeans before slipping her underwear off. His gaze swept her naked form from her breasts to the indent of her waist to her flared hips then lower to her muscular legs.
He held out a hand. As soon as she placed hers in his, he pulled her down beside him. Then he rolled to his side and let his hand move over her body.
“Have I changed much?” she asked.
He touched the swell of her hip. “You’ve filled out more in all the best places. Have I?”
“I don’t know,” she replied saucily. “You still have your clothes on.”
The smile formed before he realized it. Not one to disappoint, he stood and removed the rest of his clothes. When he finished, he let her look her fill.
“Well?” he prompted after several quiet minutes.
She got to her knees and began to touch the scars on his legs before moving to the ones she’d already investigated on his upper body and arms. Then she climbed to her feet and walked around to his back.
His wounds were proof that he had survived. He barely noticed them anymore, but he began to wonder if she found them offensive. Did she think them unsightly?
When they were younger, she had often commented on the beauty of his body. He’d laughed about it then, but that memory returned, putting doubts in his head now.
Her hand trailed behind her over his butt as she walked to stand before him. “Yes, you’ve changed. You’re stronger than before, more filled out.” She reached up and ran her middle finger along the outside of his eye. “You have lines from squinting in the sun.”
“Is that all?” He didn’t know why he asked. He should’ve just left well enough alone.
A slim brow lifted. “You’re a warrior, Wyatt. Your body proudly carries the marks of battle—and victory.”
With one hand, he yanked her against him and claimed her mouth in a savage, fiery kiss. She had always brought out the best in him. With her, he could be the kind of man she looked at with pride and delight.
She ended the kiss and sat on the floor before leaning back, propped up on her arms.
“Are you going to join me or stand there staring?” she taunted.
“I’m enjoying the view.”
With a carnal smile, she spread her legs, giving him a view of her sex and the triangle of trimmed hair. “Still want to wait?” she teased.
The last of his self-control vanished. He knelt between her legs and held himself over her with his hands.
“Please,” she begged, the smile gone. “I need to feel your weight atop me.”
He lowered himself, settling between her legs.
Her eyes closed as she sighed contentedly. “I missed this.”
“I missed you.”
The words were out before he could stop them. But if he thought they would have any effect on her, he was wrong. She acted as though she hadn’t heard him while running her hands over his back.
He was glad she hadn’t heard. That way, he didn’t have to explain or lie. And he wouldn’t repeat such a mistake. It didn’t benefit either of them.
He hissed in a breath when she ground her hips against him. He knew what she wanted, because he wanted it, too. But it wasn’t time yet.
He wanted to hear her scream in pleasure first.