Chapter 24
Elia
I pace back and forth in Callum’s room, wearing a path into the intricate rug on his floor. I should have left his room hours ago after waking up from another nap. My arm is fine – barely a scratch as Callum had suggested – and there is nothing else physically wrong with me.
But the conversation I’d had with Callum is ringing in my head.
I am having a hard time reconciling the version of Callum I had seen fighting those pirates with the Callum who had stroked my hair in bed, dark bags under his eyes when he thought he had lost me.
Both are two very different people – one a ruthless villain, and the other a man I was sure I was falling in love with.
I’m also frustrated with my naivety in all this. He was training with Ginna and Hanson nearly everyday while I was in Ashven. What did I think he was training for? I knew he had all those muscles under his clothes.
My ears redden at my memory of him under the moonlight on the back of the ship and I quickly shake that thought away.
I did not need to be reminiscing about that now.
Callum clearly wasn’t training for the hell of it.
Relics held ancient, powerful magic – of course bandits and thieves would follow in his path.
He was a King’s Hunter. The head of the entire group.
Of course he would have the skill to back his position.
After all, he did save me and everyone on the ship.
But the coldness in his eyes while he was fighting –
That was what had shocked me.
That, and now the thoughts that plague me are of my family again. Was this the trouble my parents ran into? Did they find a relic during their search and pay for it with their lives? Did pirates attack them?
Not knowing was worse than knowing for sure they were dead. I’ve long accepted that they’re gone, but a small, small part of me still holds on to hope that they’re coming back for me. That we’ll be a family again. Closure of any answer would save me from the torments of the what if.
A knock on the door relieves me of my wandering thoughts.
“Come in,” I answer.
Callum stands at the doorway, dark bags still present under his eyes. He was on cleanup duty all day and it definitely took a toll on him. My guilt creeps in at the fact that I spent the majority of the afternoon and early evening in bed.
“You don’t have to knock,” I laugh. “This is your room.”
He paces across the floor. “I wasn’t sure if you were sleeping or not.”
“I’m pretty sure I’ve slept enough for the whole crew combined.”
He smiles. “Good. I’m glad.” The corners of his mouth drop a little. “How are you doing…with everything?”
“I’m fine, honestly. Just a scratch, like you thought.”
Callum stares at me blankly, knowing that wasn’t what he was most concerned about.
I sigh. “Callum, I promise I’m okay. I’m sorry for the way I reacted and –”
He cuts me off. “Please don’t apologize for that. If anything, you underreacted.” He mutters the last part under his breath, so low that I barely hear it.
He has his hands clasped behind his back so that I can’t see them. But I’m sure they’re tightly clasped, preventing them from shaking and fidgeting.
My reaction affected him greatly, more so than I would have thought, and I can’t help but wonder why.
I must not have been the first person who’s discovered his brutality.
Did Rafe see that same side to him? Is there more to the story of Rafe leaving than Callum’s been telling me? What else don’t I know?
I shake my head. I have to be the strong one here for Callum. This whole trip he’s been making it clear that he’s all in for me; 100% dedicated and committed.
And I haven’t made the same clear to him.
I move closer to Callum, cupping his face in my hands. His eyes close as he leans into my touch.
“Callum,” I declare sternly. “I’m in this with you. This…relationship between us. Whatever we are. I’m glad that I know more about you now. I wish you hadn’t tried hiding it from me, and I am sorry that you thought you scared me.
“I’m not scared of you, Callum. You have handed me my life back; a life I haven’t known in years. You’ve given me friends and a family. I don’t feel alone when I’m with you.”
I take a deep inhale, gathering the courage I need to solidify my showcase of commitment to him. “The only thing I’m scared of is the fact that I’m falling in love with you.”
I step back from him, allowing my words to sink in and letting him have time to process.
But he doesn’t need time, because as soon as I step back, he rushes towards me, arms on either side of my head, caging me against the wall of his room.
“Say it again.” Callum’s breath is warm against me, lips almost touching. He presses his body even closer to mine.
My body trembles. “I’m falling in love with you,” I whisper.
Callum’s whole demeanor changes. The bags that were under his eyes seem to disappear, and the tension that he was carrying evaporates. His sapphire eyes sparkle, a wide grin crossing his face.
“I’m glad you finally caught up.”
And he presses his lip to mine.
Callum kisses like a man possessed. He moves from kissing my lips down to the corner of my ear, down along my neck, and then to my collarbone.
I barely have a second to catch my breath when he kisses my lips again, tracing each lip with his tongue. A moan releases from the back of my throat, and he greedily devours it with his mouth.
His fingers deftly undo the ties of my dress and soon the fabric is pooled around my feet on the floor.
“You are so beautiful, Elia,” he murmurs, staring at my now naked body. “I’m so lucky to have found you.”
“We found each other,” I whisper back in response, taking the break to pull Callum’s shirt over his head.
He leads me to his bed, pushing me gently so I’m laying on my back, fully exposed to him.
He doesn’t join me, and instead his eyes trace over every inch of my body, as if memorizing every line and curve and dimple.
I spread my legs slightly, stretching my arms out above my head.
“Enjoying the view?” I smirk at him. “If you take any longer, I’ll have to keep myself occupied.” One of my arms drift towards the apex of my thighs.
Callum’s hand snatches my wrist before my hand can reach its final destination.
“I don’t think so, Siren. Your orgasms are mine, now and forever. The only place your hand will be from now on is on my cock.”
This is another side of Callum I haven’t seen yet either – one with a filthy mouth, obsessed with me. It might be my favorite version of him yet.
His pants join the rest of clothes on the floor, and I eagerly reach for his thick cock, veins bulging. There’s a bead of precum at the top of the head, and I want nothing more than to lap it up.
Callum stops me again and I whine. “Ah, ah. Only when I tell you to.”
He pulls my body to the edge of bed so my legs dangle off the side.
“Open.” Callum taps my inner thighs in command and my core throbs.
I’ve never been more aroused in my entire life. My wetness pools between my thighs and I might die if I don’t find release soon.
And this dominating side of Callum? I am so onboard with it.
I spread my legs wide, giving Callum an obscene view of my dripping core.
“Callum,” I whimper. “Fuck me. Please.”
Callum crouches to his knees. There’s a hunger in his eyes, one of a starving man. “Not until I’ve had a taste.”
The first stroke of his tongue has my back bowing in ecstasy, crying his name.
“Fuck, Elia,” Callum groans between strokes. “Your taste is addicting, like sunshine itself.”
He slowly thrusts one finger into me, then two. I release a sound that’s halfway between a cry and a grunt.
“That’s right, Siren.”
When a third finger enters, I’m on the brink of shattering into a million pieces. And when he curls his fingers and sucks hard on my clit, I do.
My release feels like the explosion that shook the ship earlier, blasting me apart. I’m breathing heavily now, seeing stars under my eyelids.
“That’s my good girl,” Callum murmurs, voice heavy. My wetness coats his face, and I sit up to pull his lips to mine, tasting myself on him.
“You like the way you taste?”
I nod, giving him a slow last lick of his lips before I release him.
A guttural sound escapes his lips. “You’re going to be the death of me, Siren. One I’ll happily enjoy.”
He lifts me and places my back against the pillows on the headboard.
“You sure you want to do this?” The hunger is still deep in his eyes, and my core aches again, as if it hasn’t already had its release once.
“Please,” I beg.
Callum crawls to me across the bed. He grabs one of my feet, and places a small kiss on the top. He moves to my ankle, placing another featherlight kiss. I rub my thighs together, watching as Callum trails light kisses on every part of my body.
He’s reached my breasts and slowly teases my aching nipple with his tongue.
“Soft?” He trails his tongue around my tightened bud slowly.
“Or hard?” Callum moves to my other breast and tugs my nipple with his teeth.
“What?” I’m having trouble focusing on his words, too lost in the sensations happening across my body.
“Do you want me to take you soft or hard?”
His question shoots heat straight to my already pulsing core, toes curling.
I need Callum to know that I’m all in, for every side of him. That I want every side of him.
“Hard,” I order breathlessly.
With one effortless move, he flips me over so I’m on my hands and knees.
“As you wish, Siren.”
He presses down slightly on my upper back, positioning me so my chest is flat against the bed, ass exposed in the air.
Callum kneels behind me and rubs the head of his cock in between my wet folds.
“Last chance, Elia. Once I have you, I won’t let you go.”
This is what I’ve always wanted. This complete dedication and commitment to me. I believe Callum’s declaration, and I don’t want to be alone anymore.
“Take me,” I moan.
Callum sinks himself all the way into me with a single thrust. I cry out at the fullness of him, wiggling as I try to accommodate his size. Other men I’d been with definitely did not have this same amount of girth or length.
“Fuck, you’re so good, Siren,” Callum swears. “Taking every inch of me.” I love Callum like this, unraveled and uninhibited only for me.
Callum starts to move now, removing himself and then sheathing back into me with a hard thrust each time.
Another orgasm start to build inside me.
“Callum I’m going to –”
“Come on my cock, Siren. Give me all your orgasms.” His voice is gravelly, and I know he’s close too.
I shatter around his cock as I scream out in pleasure. I have half a thought as I remember there are other rooms surrounding us and that I should be quiet, but soon forget as I lose myself in the desire.
Callum’s thrusts quicken and his breaths are shallow. I brace my hands on the headboard for support as he slams into me over and over.
His cock thickens and twitches as he cries out.
“Fuck, yes, Elia,” he shouts, and his warm come spurts in thick streams into me.
When Callum stills and pulls himself out of me, I flop around to my back to stare at him. He’s covered in sweat from exertion, but there’s a faint glow to him that he didn’t have before.
He grabs a discarded cloth and comes back to bed. I’m still spreadeagle in the bed, his warm come dripping out of me onto the bed and down my back hole.
Callum takes a second to stare at the obscene sight of me, and a smug, satisfied smirk crosses his face.
“If you’re done staring at the mess you’ve made, would you mind passing me that rag?” I retort, the corner of my mouth tugging up in a grin.
Callum drags the wet cloth between my thighs gently, cleaning me, placing a kiss on either side of my thighs.
“I didn’t hurt you, did I? I’m sorry I was a bit rough, I - ” The refined, formal, polite Callum has returned, and I silence him with a kiss.
“That was perfect. Ready to do it again,” I wink saucily and he smirks in response.
“Give me…” He tilts his head in consideration. “Thirty minutes, and I can go again.”
I pout. “Thirty?”
“Fine. Twenty,” he grumbles.
Callum climbs into the bed next to me, pulling me into his arms and kissing me on the top of my head.
I can’t stop smiling and burrow myself further into his chest.
“Elia?” Callum asks.
“Hmm?” I glance up at him.
“I’m falling in love with you, too.”
I laugh and beam at him. “I’d gathered that from the whole…” I gestured to our clothes abandoned in a pile in the middle of the room.
“I wanted to make sure you knew.”
I lean forward and press a kiss to his lips. “I do. And I’m falling for you, too.”
I pull myself closer to Callum, his erection hardening against me already.
I cock an eyebrow at him. “Ten minutes?”
Callum responds by pulling me onto his lap with a chuckle.