Chapter Forty-One
Caleb
“Hey Annie, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” Indi asks, and I can’t help but admire her ass as she bends over to take Annie’s blood pressure.
“I’m okay. Feeling a bit groggy and exhausted.”
“Yeah, that’ll be from the emotional distress from the panic attack. Plus, we gave you a mild sedative to calm your nerves. Hopefully, by tomorrow morning, you should feel a lot better,” she says while continuing her observations.
“So the thing I talked to you about?” I ask.
Indi nods and swallows like she’s slightly nervous. “I have a mental health nurse coming up to have a chat with you, Annie—”
“But I don’t need—”
“You may not need to talk to anyone, but they might be able to help you manage your anxiety levels. It’ll also give you a chance to speak openly, alone if you want to—”
“She can’t be alone. I’ll be here,” Colt cuts in immediately.
To my surprise, Indi chuckles. “Well, I’m sorry, Mr. Slade, but if Annie wants to speak privately with the nurse, then she should be allowed to.
Honestly, it may be the only way she feels comfortable enough to open up, and then maybe we can figure out how to help her with these heightened anxiety levels.
Wouldn’t you rather she be healthy and happy than silent because she’s worried about saying the wrong thing in front of you, Mr. Slade? ”
I almost burst out laughing. The way she keeps calling him Mr. Slade sounds both respectful and defiant at once.
Everyone else is clearly trying not to laugh too hard while Colt grunts.
Indi smiles sweetly and nods. “Good. Glad that’s settled. He should be down shortly, Annie. Until then, do you need anything? Something to eat, maybe?”
“No. Thank you, Pixie,” Annie says softly.
Indi smirks.
“Don’t call her that, Annie,” I mutter.
Indi smacks my arm. “Annie, I like my nickname. You can call me Pixie whenever you want.”
She looks over at me and sticks her tongue out.
Bad move.
My entire brain immediately goes to a wildly inappropriate place. “Careful, or I’ll bite that tongue,” I whisper.
Indi giggles while raising an eyebrow as we walk out into the hallway, and I pinch her ass the second she steps in front of me.
“Caleb!” she gasps while smirking.
“What? I can’t help staring at your fine arse in that skirt.” I lean closer to her ear. “You’re making me hard just looking at you.”
“You’re a fiend,” she says, turning away to scribble something on her notepad.
I move in behind her and press my semi-hard cock against her side. She bites her lip but pretends to ignore me.
“Caleb—”
“Indi,” I murmur before lightly biting her earlobe.
“How many times do I have to tell you that I am working?” she asks, turning to face me.
“You can say it as many times as you want. Doesn’t stop me wanting you.”
“We already had our sexy goodbye last night. You don’t get another one,” she says before turning back toward her notes.
“Really?”
She glances sideways at me. “Yes, really.”
Being near her lights me up in ways I can’t even explain.
“Okay,” I sigh dramatically. “But can you at least bend over a little more for me?”
“So you can ogle my arse again? Absolutely not, rockstar.” She leans in and kisses me softly.
“Indi, you can take your break now if you’d like,” another nurse says, interrupting us.
I glance up, and the nurse smirks at me knowingly.
“Oh really? I’m not due for another hour,” Indi replies.
“Go on, hun. Looks like you’ve got company. I’ll keep an eye on the Slade girl.”
I grin instantly.
“Thank you, Ingrid,” Indi says.
“Don’t even think about it,” Indi warns while pointing at me.
“And what exactly shouldn’t I be thinking about, Miss Malone?” I ask innocently.
“I know you’ve watched Grey’s Anatomy. The on-call room is not a place for sex, Caleb.”
I burst out laughing. “Wow. That genuinely hadn’t crossed my mind until right now. ‘Show me the way, baby.’ ” I grab her hand.
“No way. I am not having sex with you at work,” she whispers while laughing.
I tug her along the hallway anyway.
“Caleb, wait. Where are we going?”
“Somewhere that isn’t work.”
“No, seriously, where are we going?”
“To the car.”
She stops dead. “What car? You didn’t drive here, did you?” she asks sharply.
“What? No. It’s a chauffeured car. I want more time with you before I go.”
She giggles and hurries to keep up as I lead her outside.
The driver climbs out as we approach. He opens the back door automatically, but I stop him first.
“Stay here,” I tell Indi. She smirks and leans against the boot while I walk over to the driver.
“Look, mate,” I say quietly. “I leave for tour tomorrow, and this is my girl. I’ve only got an hour with her. Can you disappear for a bit? I’ll pay you whatever you want.”
The driver smiles immediately. “Sir, keep the car as long as you like. You’ve got my number. Just… please don’t make a mess.”
I laugh. “No promises.”
He chuckles and walks off while Indi eyes me suspiciously.
I open the back door and gesture for her to climb in. She slides onto the seat, and I follow her, locking the doors behind us. Thank God for tinted windows.
“Caleb,” she says slowly. “What exactly is your crazy plan right now?”
Instead of answering, I grab her leg and pull her across my lap. She immediately straddles me, hitching her skirt up onto her hips. The purple lacy underwear she’s wearing nearly kills me on sight.
I slide my hands into her hair and stare up into her eyes. “I missed you,” I murmur.
She laughs softly. “You haven’t even left the country yet.”
“I know, but I’m glad I get one more moment with you before I go.” I pull her down and kiss her hard.
She kisses me back with equal desperation, tongues colliding as though we’re both trying to memorize each other. My cock hardens beneath her as she slowly grinds her hips over me.
God, I need her.
My hands roam down her back and over her thighs until my fingers brush the edge of her purple panties.
“Mmm, Caleb,” she murmurs against my lips. “Do you have a condom?”
I freeze. “Fuck. No. I didn’t think I’d need one.”
For a second, I think that’s it, that we’re stopping.
But then she looks me dead in the eye. “It’s okay. I’m on the pill, and I’ll take the morning-after pill too. I trust you.” She swallows softly. “I want to feel you completely.”
That might honestly be the sexiest thing she’s ever said to me.
“Baby, I don’t want you feeling pressured.”
She exhales and climbs off my lap, and my entire body crashes in disappointment. Then she leans back against the seat and slowly slides her panties down her legs.
Holy. Fuck.
I grin like an idiot while she tosses them directly into my face.
“What? You thought I changed my mind?”
I laugh and tuck the panties straight into my pocket. They’re mine now… souvenir for the next six months.
She climbs back onto my lap and unbuttons my jeans, freeing my aching cock. Her eyes darken instantly.
“Do you need me to warm you up first?” I ask quietly.
She stares at me with so much heat I nearly lose it right there. “No, just looking at you turns me on. I need to feel you now, Caleb,” she says and then moves her hand to my cock, positioning it at her entrance.
I move my hands to her waist and hold her steady as she slowly lowers herself onto me. Her warmth engulfs me as she slides onto me effortlessly. It’s like she’s the perfect fit, and it feels so utterly incredible that it sends a shot of pleasure right through my very soul.
I moan as she brings her lips to mine and she caresses my lips with hers softly and slowly while she lowers herself onto me the entire way.
I groan as I push up inside of her, filling her to the hilt, and she moans softly.
Feeling her bare skin against mine for the first time is something I’ve dreamt about.
Yes, we came close to this once before, but this is all the way, and as she rocks her hips on mine and we move together, working in perfect unison.
It doesn’t get any better than this.
She’s working me up quickly, and as much as I would love for this to last as long as possible, we don’t have hours to make love.
Instead, we have just one, and I’d like to cuddle for some of that time as well and just be with her.
I’d hate to fuck and run. So I’m not going to try and drag this out.
I’m just going to let us enjoy the pleasure as it comes, and it is coming quickly.
She kisses me passionately as I grip onto her hips with my strong hands and move her just the way I want her.
Our breathing is fast, and we’re both panting through our kissing, but we’re keeping up with each other as she starts to moan a little more.
I want to make her feel good, so I move my right hand from her waist down between her legs, pressing my thumb against her clit.
She whimpers against my mouth as she continues to rock on top of me.
The pressure is building for both of us.
My spine starts to tingle, and her back begins to arch.
I move my other hand to her arse and grip onto her cheek as she rides me in the back of the car.
This is sweet and romantic, but also hot and sexy at the same time.
She moans as I press harder on her clit and start to circle it.
Her body begins to shake, and she’s panting into my mouth.
Grinding on me, I feel the pressure building, and I’m finding it difficult to concentrate.
She pushes down on me hard, and I growl into her mouth. “Fuck, Indi!” The tingle in my back builds into a pressure running straight to my balls. They tighten and pull up so I press harder on her clit because I don’t know how much longer I can hold out.
“Come with me, baby,” I murmur against her swollen lips, then bite her bottom lip.
She grins, and I press hard on her clit.
Her pussy tightens around my cock, making me groan loudly.
The pressure in my balls is too much to bear, and when her mouth crashes to mine, we both moan out loud in pure ecstasy, as I unload inside her while her pussy constricts so tight around my cock it feels like pure heaven.
My body jolts a few times as she convulses.
We both come down from our amazing high together.
She slumps her body onto mine, and I wrap my arms around her as she rests her head in the crook of my neck, relaxing from the exertion.
I hold her to me tightly, and right now I wish like fuck we were naked, but just holding her against me is going to be enough for now.
I nuzzle into her and hold her so strongly as the realization hits me harder than when I left her this morning.
I won’t do this for six months with her, and right now that’s killing me.
I kiss her head as she cuddles into me as much as she can while I’m still inside her, and she isn’t letting me go for anything.
I think she’s coming to the same realization as me.
I feel something warm running down my neck, and I pull back as I hear Indi sniff.
I pull her face up to look at me, and I see she’s crying.
“Hey,” I whisper gently, wiping away her tears.
“I didn’t want another goodbye.”
“I know.” My throat tightens painfully. “I know, baby.”
She shakes her head and wipes her face. “No. I’m glad we had this. This morning wasn’t enough. I needed one more moment with you.”
I cup her cheeks gently. “Me too.”
We spend the rest of her break kissing and holding each other in the back of that car. She cries a little more, and every tear breaks me, but I keep myself together because if I fall apart too, I genuinely don’t think I’ll be able to leave.
When her break ends, we return to the hospital, and I force myself to behave because she deserves respect at work, no matter how badly I want to drag her somewhere private again.
Eventually, Annie gets discharged, and that goodbye hurts the worst of all.
Indi keeps herself composed in front of everyone else, but I can see how close she is to breaking again.
I promise I’ll call her as soon as I land in Belfast, and she promises she’ll call me the second she gets home from work.
That promise alone keeps me breathing.
We stay on the phone for hours that night, talking about tour schedules, time zones, video calls, visits—anything to make the distance feel smaller.
This has to work.
What we have is worth fighting for. Worth waiting for.
And before we finally hang up, I ask her to marry me again.
Usually, she laughs and says no.
But this time, she pauses softly and says, “Maybe.” Then she tells me to ask again in six months.
***
The plane ride to Belfast was intense. I was exhausted after being on the phone with Indi for most of the night, and Annie was an emotional wreck after everything that happened yesterday.
I heard through the grapevine that she officially ended things with Aston, and honestly, I have no idea what she’s thinking.
They were happy. Really happy. I never saw this coming, and now I’ve got no clue how it’s going to affect the band, let alone Annie’s mental health.
If she genuinely believes she isn’t worthy of love, then how the hell is she supposed to get through life carrying that around?
She needs help, real help, and I hate that all of this has surfaced right as our first world tour is beginning.
I want her okay. I want Aston okay, too.
The guy is hopelessly in love with her, and now she’s shutting him out completely.
I know exactly how that feels.
I remember what it did to me when Indi walked away. It hollowed me out from the inside, and I don’t want Aston spiraling the way I did. I need to make time to check on him because right now he’s pretending he’s fine, but I can see in his eyes that he is devastated.
This whole situation is messy as hell.
Inter-band relationships are dangerous enough without heartbreak getting thrown into the mix.
Tonight we’re performing, and Annie has already decided to switch stage positions, supposedly to make things ‘less awkward,’ but honestly, I think it just confirms how badly this has shaken her. Hopefully, everyone can still work together without it becoming a complete disaster.
I pray this tour isn’t falling apart before it’s even properly begun.