Chapter 14
VICTORIA
Igripped the edge of the sink and stared at myself in the mirror. My cheeks were flushed. My lipstick was slightly smudged. My hair, which had been doing reasonably well for most of the evening, was a little wild.
I looked like a woman who had just been thoroughly kissed by the most attractive man she’d ever been within arm’s reach of.
I turned on the cold water and ran my wrists under it, something my grandmother used to tell me to do when I was overheated. It wasn’t helping. Nothing was going to help. I was standing in Callum Blackwell’s restroom having a full breakdown over a kiss.
I pulled out my phone and called Betty.
“How’d it go?” she asked. “Tell me everything. Was he awful? Was he wonderful? Did you have fun?”
“I’m in his bathroom,” I whispered.
A pause. “What?”
“His house. I’m in the bathroom of his house.” I rubbed my temple. “He invited me for a drink after dinner and I said yes and now I’m hiding in his restroom.”
“Victoria.” Betty was trying very hard not to laugh. “Why are you hiding in his bathroom?”
“Because he kissed me. Or I kissed him. There was a kiss.”
The laugh she’d been suppressing burst out of her.
“Betty,” I whispered heatedly. “This is not funny.”
“He kissed you,” she repeated. “And you ran away and hid in his bathroom?”
I turned back to the mirror and tried to fix my lipstick with my finger. “I panicked. I just left him standing there on the terrace.”
“Okay. Walk me through this. How was dinner? Before the kiss.”
I thought about that. It was a valid question. “Betty, I hung on every word he said.”
Silence on her end.
“Every single word,” I whispered. “He talked about his family and the store they’re opening. He’s interesting. And I paid attention.” I stared at my own reflection. “Do you know the last time that happened to me on a date?”
“I’m going to say never,” Betty said quietly.
“Never,” I confirmed. “I’ve been on exactly four dates in the past two years and every single one of them I was disassociating by the appetizer course.
They all talked about themselves. Their deals, their cars, their opinions about things nobody asked them to weigh in on.
I always zone out but tonight was different. ”
“Because he’s different,” Betty said simply.
“He’s annoying,” I said, but even I could hear how unconvincing it was. “He’s arrogant.”
“Victoria.”
“He made me laugh.”
“Listen to yourself,” Betty said. Her voice was gentle, the laughing gone. “You’re standing in that man’s bathroom listing reasons why he’s wrong for you, and every single reason you’re giving me is actually a reason you like him.”
I didn’t say anything.
“That’s everything. That’s the whole thing.”
“It was a charity dinner,” I said weakly. “It’s not even really a date.”
“Kissing seem pretty real.”
I groaned and pressed my forehead against the cool tile wall. “He’s so hot, Betty. I’ve seen attractive men before. I’ve dated attractive men before. But this is different.” I swallowed. “I haven’t felt like this ever. Not once in my entire life.”
Betty was quiet for a moment. When she spoke again, her voice was soft. “Then why are you hiding in a bathroom?”
“Because I don’t know what to do.”
“You go back out there and enjoy his company,” she said. “See what happens. Don’t think so hard about what you should or shouldn’t do. Just let it happen.”
I thanked her and ended the call. I felt ridiculous. It was time to face him.
I fixed my lipstick as best I could, smoothed my dress, and took one long breath.
Callum was still on the terrace where I’d left him. He didn’t say anything. He just looked at me with those green eyes and waited.
“I should go,” I said.
He nodded like he’d expected as much. I hadn’t. I thought I was going to return and be brave. But apparently I was a coward.
“I’ll drive you,” he said.
“You don’t have to. I can call an Uber.”
We walked through the house in silence. It was enormous and beautiful and somehow still managed to feel like a home.
There were books on the shelves that looked actually read.
A guitar propped against the wall in the hallway that I hadn’t noticed on the way in.
There was so much to see and learn about him.
But I was a coward.
He grabbed his keys from the entry table and reached past me to open the front door.
That was when it happened.
He reached for the door handle and his arm brushed mine. I could smell his cologne again and my brain went completely offline. It just shut down and left me with nothing but desire.
I looked up. He was already looking down at me. His eyes dropped to my lips.
And then I decided to throw caution to the wind. I could go home and sit in my apartment and think about what I could have done. But I didn’t want to do that.
I rose to the tips of my toes and kissed him. He didn’t move. He seemed surprised for about half a second. Then his hand came up to my jaw and I was lost. I knew exactly what I was going to do. And judging by the way he was kissing me, he wanted it as well.
His mouth was urgent against mine, his fingers sliding back into my hair. I made a sound against his lips that made me blush but I didn’t care.
He walked me backward without breaking the kiss.
My back met the door with a soft thud. His body followed, pressing against mine, one hand braced against the door beside my head, the other still cradling my jaw.
I grabbed the front of that hideous polo shirt with both hands and pulled him closer, which made him groan low against my mouth.
“Victoria,” he said against my lips.
“Don’t talk,” I said.
He laughed, and then he kissed me again. A wave of heat crashed through my body.
His mouth was hot and demanding, his tongue sweeping against mine as he pressed me backward. I could feel every hard line of him, every muscle, every ridge, including the growing bulge in his pants that pressed against my stomach.
“Victoria,” he murmured, but I didn’t want words. I wanted him.
His hands slid down my body, tracing my curves. His fingers found the hem of my dress, tugging it up until it was bunched around my waist. I gasped as his palms skimmed up my bare thighs, his thumbs tracing circles on my skin that sent shivers up my spine.
His mouth left mine, trailing hot kisses down my neck. Then he dropped to his knees in front of me and looked up at me, those green eyes dark with desire. I saw a question there. I nodded. I wanted all of it. All of him.
He hooked his fingers in the waistband of my panties and slowly pulled them down. I stepped out of them, my heart pounding in my chest. He dropped to his knees and pulled off one heel and then the other. And then my panties were gone. My heart raced. The fire in his eyes burned hotter.
Oh god.
I knew what was coming but I was not prepared when he lifted one of my legs over his shoulder.
I braced myself against the door as he leaned in, his breath hot on my most intimate place.
He ran his tongue up the length of me, slow and deliberate.
I cried out at the sudden rush of pleasure.
He did it again, and again, each lick sending jolts of electricity through my body.
When he circled my clit, sucking gently, I thought I might collapse from the intensity of it all.
But he didn’t let me fall. He held me steady as he brought me to the edge with his mouth, his tongue working magic. Just as I was about to tumble over the edge, he pulled back, looking up at me with a wicked grin.
He stood up slowly and pulled out a condom from his wallet. He held it in his teeth as he undid his pants. I was slumped against the wall, my core throbbing. He’d taken me to the edge and left me wanting. He kicked off his shoes and his eyes locked on mine with the cockiest smile I’d ever seen.
And damn was it sexy.
I reached behind me and fiddled with zipper of my dress. It cost too much money to get… messy. I managed to get the zipper down and stepped out of the dress while he stripped. We were in the entryway of his massive house—naked.
And then he was rolling on the condom.
“Here?” I asked breathlessly.
He stepped into my space again. My pulse throbbed in my neck.
“Right here, Victoria.”
Oh shit. I was so wet. His chest brushed against my breasts. His breath brushed over my neck. He leaned forward and his teeth nibbled my ear.
I was going to spontaneously combust.
Callum pushed one knee between mine, forcing them apart. He grabbed both wrists, pinning them above my head with one hand while guiding himself with other. He rubbed himself against my wetness. I was so wet and ready. He was big. Maybe too big, but I didn’t care. I was desperate for him.
His lips found mine again. “You ready for this, Victoria?”
If he kept saying my name, I wasn’t going to need him to touch me. That husky tone was more than enough to get me across the finish line.
His gaze locked onto mine as he thrust into me hard. I sucked in a sharp breath as he stretched me. Our simultaneous groans filled the air around us.
Each pump made me gasp for air. Every time he pulled out with just the tip inside me had me begging for more. His hands gripped my wrists tighter above my head as he drove into me again. I stopped thinking entirely. There was nothing left in my brain.
“Callum.” His name was a prayer and a plea at the same time.
He answered by rolling his hips in a way that made my toes curl against the hardwood floor.
I couldn’t move my hands. He had them pinned and I didn’t want him to let go.
The helplessness of it was doing things to me I wasn’t prepared to think about.
My back arched away from the door, pressing my chest into his, desperate for more contact, more pressure, more of everything.
He released my wrists finally, and both of his hands dropped to my hips, gripping hard enough that I was certain I’d have bruises tomorrow.
I didn’t care. I grabbed his shoulders, his back, anything I could reach.
The muscles moving beneath my palms were extraordinary.
The man was built like something carved out of stone.
He moved like he knew exactly what he was doing with every inch of himself.
He pulled back slowly. So slowly it was cruel.
“Don’t you dare stop,” I gasped.
I felt him smile against my neck. “I’m not stopping.”
He thrust forward. I cried out, the sound ricocheting off the high ceilings and the glass. I had absolutely abandoned any shred of dignity. My nails scraped down his back.
I had never in my life made sounds like the ones I was making. I was past caring if I sounded like a cat in heat. I was past everything except the way he made me feel. He was making some pretty cat-like sounds himself. More like a feral lion.
He bent his knees and shifted his angle slightly. When he thrust again, I lost what was left of my composure entirely.
“Right there,” I managed.
He did it again. And again.
My head fell back against the door. My fingers found his hair and I pulled, probably too hard, but he groaned like it was the best thing that had ever happened to him.
The tension had been building since the moment he’d dropped to his knees.
It was coiling tight at the base of my spine.
I could feel myself coming apart at every edge.
“Look at me,” he said.
I lifted my head and found those green eyes watching me. And I was gone. Another cry of pleasure rolled over me, riding the white lightning coursing through me.
His whole body shuddered against mine. A long, low sound tore out of him that was pretty damn satisfying to hear. His forehead dropped to my shoulder. We stayed like that, breathing hard with his hands still gripping my hips.
Neither of us spoke.
He’d sent me to the stars and I was slowly coming back down. I was standing naked in the entryway of his house with absolutely no regrets whatsoever.
He lifted his head from my shoulder and looked at me. His hair was wrecked. I’d done that. He pressed a single kiss to my forehead that undid me all over again.
“Come on,” he said quietly.
He took my hand and led me down the hall.
I grabbed my dress on the way, clutching it against my chest. He pushed open a door that revealed a bathroom larger than my bedroom.
It was different from the one I’d hidden out in.
Marble countertops, a soaking tub that could fit four people, and soft ambient lighting.
Of course his bathroom looked like a spa.
He turned on the faucet at the sink, tested the temperature with his wrist like it was the most natural thing in the world, and handed me a folded washcloth. He stepped back to give me space, then took off the condom and disposed of it.
I cleaned up quietly. He did the same. The moment held a quiet intimacy.
I pulled my dress back on. He found my underwear somewhere near the door and brought them to me without comment, holding them out with two fingers and a perfectly straight face. I took them from him and he turned around to give me privacy, which made me laugh despite everything.
“A gentleman,” I said.
“Occasionally,” he said.
I stepped into them and smoothed the dress down. I found my shoes near the front door where he’d taken them off me. I slipped them on and picked up my purse from the entryway table.
He’d gotten dressed while I was gathering my things. He looked almost exactly as ridiculous as he had when he’d shown up at my door.
“I’ll drive you home,” he said.
I nodded, appreciating that he wasn’t just sending me off on my way. We didn’t talk much on the ride over, although we shared the occasional smile.
Before I knew it, he pulled up in front of my building and put the car in park.
“Thank you for dinner,” I said. “And for the view.” I paused. “And the other things.”
The corner of his mouth curved. “Happy to oblige.”
I laughed before I opened the door and got out, then leaned back in before closing it. “Goodnight, Callum.”
“Goodnight, Victoria.”
I shut the door and walked up the stairs to my building. I made myself not look back. As soon as I was inside, I went to the window and peered through the blinds.
He hadn’t moved. He was just sitting at the curb in front of my building. I watched him before he finally pulled away.
Holy shit. That was not how I expected the night to go. And damn, it was a night I would never forget.