Chapter 17 #3
Oliver brushes his nose along the length of mine.
“Oh.” Swallowing, I shiver at the featherlight touch as his cheek lifts into a smile against my face.
“First, there’s your dedication to a career you love.
” He presses a kiss on the tip of my nose.
“You take care of all those plants.” Another kiss lands on my right cheek.
“You would consider that a feat,” I tease. This close, his scent is intoxicating and I have to work twice as hard to keep my mind from wandering. Worrying about if he still thinks this is fake for me.
If this is still fake for him.
Or what would happen if I just started peeling off my clothes.
Focus Callie.
His smile widens as he continues. “There’s your courage in standing up to your family at every turn.
” A third kiss warms the other cheek as Oliver wraps my arms around his middle.
Only when my hands are linked does he release me from his hold, palms moving to press into my back. “But then there’s my favorite one.”
Leaning back, I raise my brows in question. “You have a favorite thing about me?”
“Callie, everything about you is my favorite.” Despite my teasing, Oliver’s voice only holds gentle sincerity.
I love you. The words catch in my throat, clawing for freedom. But that lingering doubt screams in the back of my mind.
One of his hands reaches up, tracing my cheekbone with delicate fingertips while his blazing blue eyes remain my entire universe.
“You don’t understand, do you? You work so hard to accommodate everyone else that you don’t even realize there are people who would turn their lives upside down to make sure you stayed there forever.
” Oliver leans in, closing the distance remaining between our lips as his other hand presses me deeper into him.
His heartbeat thrums through the thin shirt, every hard plane melding perfectly with my curves.
My hands move from his waist. Curling around, they grab at the loosened front of his pants, gripping as tightly to them as I’m trying to hold on to my sanity.
A battle I’m quickly losing.
Breaking the kiss, my apprehensive gaze finds him. “Oliver, I feel like I need to tell you something.”
Two large palms cup my face.
“This … this is—”
“Real,” he finishes.
I nod. “So, I don’t really know if this is a good idea. You know, if it’s still fake for you. And I completely understand if it is.” Silently pleading with the hot chocolate gods to make the word vomit stop, Oliver proves he knows how to answer my every prayer.
Those kind eyes holding my gaze come to life. Pressing his unyielding groin against my stomach, the fire staring back at me only burns brighter. “Is this real enough for you?”
My breath hitches, eliciting a wicked grin from the man before me. Swallowing, I nod to myself before peeking up at him. “I’m sorry, Dr. Rhodes, but I think I’ll need to take a better look before I can adequately answer your question.”
Every ounce of blue vanishes, his beautiful eyes eclipsed by midnight. “I’m all yours, Callie. Only yours. Take every part of me.”
Holding his gaze, I push his pants to the ground, thanking my downstairs self for getting me this far.
I don’t think I could even locate his zipper otherwise, with how fast my head is spinning.
A bold moment makes me ghost my hands up Oliver’s toned thighs, sinking into the waistband of his briefs.
One sharp intake of breath from him and I’m sliding them down.
He bobs free as they join his pants pooled around his ankles. Oliver’s hand presses down on my shoulder as he steps out of each leg.
Biting my lip, I smirk up at him. “You, uh, should lose your shirt, too. Makes for better research.”
“Help me, then,” he croaks.
My fingertips grab at the hem of his undershirt as I rise. In one swift movement, Oliver stands before me completely bare. Dragging a finger down his chiseled chest, I murmur, “You’re beautiful.”
Oliver hooks a finger under my chin, bringing my eyes to his. “You’re beautiful, Calloway.”
Unable to help myself, I grin. “I’m not even naked yet.”
“Then I say we fix that.”
The only answer I can conjure is to shimmy down my jeans in about the most unattractive manner possible. But if the heat raging in my lower belly is any indication, they were about to spontaneously combust, anyway.
Oliver gives a low chuckle as he leans in to kiss me.
Without breaking the connection, his strong fingers dance down my ribcage, his tongue swiping along the seam of our lips.
Grabbing my sweater and pulling it over my head, Oliver traces the goosebumps rising across my exposed skin.
“Looks like I’ll need to help you warm up,” he whispers into my neck.
As he peppers kisses down the column of my throat, my fingers knot themselves into his hair while he reaches around and unclasps my bra.
I disentangle myself from him long enough to drop it on the floor unceremoniously, before snaking my arms back around his neck.
Oliver guides us back toward the bed. “You can always say no, Callie,” he pants. His large hands rub up and down my sides, holding me together.
“Do I look like I’m saying no?” Lifting a brow, I reach between us, taking him in my hand and beginning to pump.
Oliver sucks in a breath, pushing himself deeper into my grip. “I need to get something, if we’re really doing this,” he chokes out.
“I’ll warm up the bed,” I grin, releasing him. He nods, making quick work of locating his toiletry bag while I slip between the covers. The cotton rubs against my sensitive skin, which nearly weeps when Oliver makes his way back to the bed, foil packet in hand.
Tossing it on the nightstand, the man takes his sweet time joining me.
“Dammit, Oliver,” I groan, “are you trying to kill me?”
He has the audacity to smirk. “Death by sex? Probably not the worst way to go.” Oliver climbs in beside me, pulling me up so that I’m sitting between his legs, my back to his chest. Gathering my hair, Oliver pulls it all over to one side and presses kisses along my bare shoulder.
“I don’t know who you think you’re sleeping with, but I am definitely not employed by the Cirque de Soleil cast.” I press my hands onto his thighs to emphasize my point. “I can’t reach you from here.”
Oliver nips at my ear. “That’s the point,” he says, his warm breath sending heat radiating throughout my entire body. His hands rise to my peaked nipples, taking one in each hand and working them with expert precision. “I want to take care of you.”
A moan slips out as I push my breasts further into his firm grip. The ache between my thighs grows more uncomfortable with each passing moment, causing me to squirm. My nails bite perfect crescents into his flesh.
“What do you need, Callie?” Oliver’s low voice rumbles through his chest, the vibrations only making my desire more potent. “Tell me.”
“You,” I mewl while he continues his exquisite assault.
He grins into the nape of my neck. “Where, Callie? You have to show me.” While one hand continues teasing me, the other finds my own.
Taking his hand in mine, I guide it to my center.
Scraping his thumb along the lace of my panties, he hums in appreciation. “I hope you’re not too fond of these,” he says, releasing my other nipple. Hooking his thumbs into the front of my underwear, Oliver rips them open so that they lay flat beneath me.
Looking back at him with a playful glare, I jut out my lower lip. “Those were my favorite ones.”
Dipping his chin, Oliver pins me in place. “I’ll buy you more. In every color, if that’s what you want. So long as I can do this,” he smirks. Spreading my legs with his own, Oliver presses a finger right where I need him most.
My hand flies behind my head, holding onto his neck as he touches me. Circles me. Claims me like a man obsessed.
As if he’s trying to memorize every part of me.
Oliver nips along the shell of my ear while pressing his other hand flat onto my stomach to keep me still. Dipping one finger inside and then another, he stretches me as I climb higher with each pump of his fingers. “That’s it, baby. I know you’re ready. Let go.”
A ragged breath drags itself from my lungs when he hooks his fingers inside me, finding the perfect spot and triggering my release.
Oliver continues lavishing me with pleasure through my orgasm, shifting so that I’m laying beneath him when he finally pulls his fingers out of my body. He shifts to sit on his knees, greedy eyes taking me in.
A sated grin consuming my face, I loll my head toward the nightstand.
Reaching out, I grab the packet, ripping it open.
Turning hungry eyes to the man I love, I roll my lower lip between my teeth.
“That was amazing. You’re amazing,” I sit up, taking Oliver in my hands and rolling the condom onto him, “but now I want all of you.”
He wastes no time as I lay back, positioning himself between my legs. Oliver shifts his weight to impressive forearms. Pressing a single kiss above my heart, his lust-filled gaze meets mine. “You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met, Calloway Rutherford.”
Taking his face in my hands, I pull him up into a sloppy kiss as he pushes inside me.
Oliver’s tongue demands entrance, which I happily give him. All too soon, he breaks the kiss, panting. He nods above my head. “Grab the headboard,” he growls.
I immediately do as he says. Wrapping my fingers around the iron, I fold my legs around Oliver’s sculpted waist, securing him to me.
He begins to move, driving me wild. His hands drift over my body, learning every part of me.
Tenderly at first, then demanding.
And when he flips me over, holding my hips and driving deeper, I scream his name into the pillow while he bites at the curve of my neck. Only when I’ve come again does a string of profanities accompany my name, falling from his lips like an everlasting oath.