Chapter 10
TEN
The breeze floated through the open sliding-glass door, jarring Callum back to reality. He felt like he’d just awoken from a coma.
“Your heart is racing,” she whispered, her breath tickling his chest.
“Is it?”
“Don’t you feel it?”
It was amazing he could feel anything. The last time he was this debilitated he was on his back in a burn unit.
She sat up slowly then straddled him with her long, sleek legs. She looked spent, but there was an energy in her sleepy eyes even apparent in just the moonlight. Good, maybe she didn’t regret what just happened either.
And maybe he was ready to do it again.
With renewed carnal instinct he reached up and brushed the hair over her shoulder. Exposing her perfect round nipples, the pads of his fingers moved to trace one. She smiled down at him. “You’re the insatiable type, aren’t you?”
“Would that bother you?”
She pushed his hand away, studying his chest as she ran her fingers over him. “I’ve never seen you without your shirt before. Nice six pack.”
“Thanks.” He barely heard her. Post coital small talk drove Callum crazy. To him it was just passing time between sex and more sex. In his experience, sleeping with a woman was much better when fewer words were exchanged.
“So why not?”
“So why not, what?”
“Why haven’t I seen you without your shirt?”
He thought about it a moment, wanting a good enough answer so she’d drop it. “I don’t know. The opportunity never arose.”
Even in the darkness he could tell she didn’t buy it. She looked at him then smiled, running her index finger along a thin white scar on his arm. “You don’t have to be embarrassed, you know. They’re only a big deal if you make them that way.”
He sucked in a breath as she studied his nakedness, feeling oddly nervous about what she’d see. He tensed when her finger found the thick purple gash just below his collar bone. “What happened here?”
“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “Something cut me.”
“Like what?”
“Brielle, I went through the windshield. Glass, metal. It could have been anything.”
She gave him a pointed look. “Now who’s the one who could use a dose of self-confidence?”
The jab caught him right in the gut, presumably right where she intended. He remembered from his research that Brielle Riley was a master at mental strategy on the court, outsmarting opponents with her quick thinking. It amused him to think she was applying her skills to him.
“How long did it take for your body to heal?”
He thought about it a moment, running his hands along her thighs. “A couple of years maybe. Skin grafts, surgeries. I don’t know. I don’t think about it much anymore.”
“I think you think about it all the time.”
She caught him again. This was exactly why he trafficked in casual sex. He was spared the pop psychology. Grabbing her hips he attempted to flip her under him, but she pushed him back down, and smiled. “Sex won’t make you feel better.”
“Want to bet?”
“What about this patch along the bottom of your stomach?”
“Brielle, don’t.” He pushed her hand away.
“Does it hurt?”
“No, it’s healed. I just don’t like you touching it.”
She replaced her hand where it had been and glared at him as if daring him to remove it. “Did you ever notice the flesh that makes up a scar is much tougher than the skin it replaced?”
He could tell by the look in her eyes she had a deeper point. “Maybe.”
“Why aren’t you proud of them? If it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger, right? Besides weren’t you the one who just told me you can’t let something in your past dictate the rest of your life?”
Beautiful and smart. A killer combination. He reached out, sliding his hand between her legs but she shifted away from him.
“This is your number, isn’t it?”
He looked down at the faded green tattoo over his heart. The number thirty-seven with a white lightning bolt through the middle. “Yeah,” he replied. “I wanted to get it removed but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”
“Why would you do that?”
“I don’t know. Seems kind of pointless now.”
“Well, that doesn’t seem right. It’s part of who you are,” she said, as if it was obvious. “That’s like if I couldn’t play tennis anymore and I turned in all my victories.”
“Okay fine, so I’ll keep my number and you keep your trophies. Happy now?” He was surprised by the agitation in his voice.
“I don’t mean to upset you,” she said, still staring at his chest. “I just know that what happened hurt you, in more ways than what these scars reveal. You’re never going to get over it unless you deal with it head on.”
His eyes locked on hers.
Wasn’t that exactly what he was doing?
Softly, she brought her lips to the deepest part of the gash on his lower chest. He closed his eyes, his body trembling when she ran her tongue along the groove.
“It feels good to feel, doesn’t it, Callum?”
He exhaled, as if expelling the smoke of a building fire. He held her closer when her mouth found the marred skin just above the hairline of his pelvis. “Don’t stop,” he heard himself whisper, his fingers now tangled around her blonde locks.
“You tell me you want me to trust you,” she said. “Well, it goes both ways. I won’t hold back if you won’t.”
Gently, he pulled her back up on him, his wide eyes staring into hers. No woman had ever captivated him the way she did. It went beyond desire. It was a craving. A need. As he held her, she seemed a universe away. He wanted to be back inside of her.
This time he slipped within her gently, moving slowly but grinding deeply, touching her innermost recesses.
He held her hips, watching each sensation register on her shadowed face.
For the first time ever, he was completely conscious of the act.
Feeling every part of her, their bodies moving in sync.
She caught his hands, weaving her fingers with his as she pressed them back in the mattress over his head.
When her eyes met his, he smiled. Connected in every way.
He wondered if this was what making love felt like.
Whatever shame or anger that had festered within him had come to the surface, now cinders that no longer fueled the flame.
Taking her by the arms, he gently shifted them to bring her under him.
She looked up at him, her eyes catching the moonlight like prisms as they searched his.
Her chest rose and fell in shaky breaths, every inhale betraying how undone she was.
The release he felt was like no other. Whatever poison he held exploded from him with crippling force. His body rocked and seized, and as he filled her, she freed him. The demon was gone, banished forever by the angel trembling beneath him in his arms.
He rolled over onto his back, pulling her head to his chest. Her body molded against him completely limp and sated. They stayed like that for a few minutes or maybe more. His limbs felt heavy, he was fading…
“Callum, what if I’m pregnant?”
His eyes flew open. He looked up at her, her green eyes wide over him. “What are you talking about Brielle?”
“I’m not on birth control.”
If the question hadn’t knocked him on his ass, the excitement in her voice when she asked it would have. Callum was many things, but a daddy was not one of them. “You’re not pregnant,” he said with a flustered chuckle. “No worries there.”
“But the timing of it is pretty accurate.”
He sat up, scratching his temple. Was he not understanding what she was asking? “Brielle, sweetheart. I can’t have kids.”
She looked at him like he had three heads. “Why? What do you mean?”
He had never had this conversation before. It felt strange and pointless and inexplicably sad. He rubbed where he felt a sudden ache in his chest. “After I had the accident, I was on a lot of medication to prevent infections. They made me sterile and I can’t have children. It’s no big deal.”
“No big deal?” she replied. “I can’t wait to have kids.”
“Hard to play tennis at the same time.”
“Yeah, but it would be worth it.” She lay on her back, not bothering to pull up the sheet, and splayed her hands across her flat stomach. “A baby loves you no matter what. Totally unconditionally. That’s got to be the best feeling in the world.”
He looked down at her, studying her in a way he never had another woman. “You’d make a hell of a mother.”
“You think so?”
“Wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.” He dipped his head to kiss her, running his fingers down the length of her body and between her thighs. When she flinched, he did too, perplexed by the look of pain on her face.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing,” she said quickly. “I’m fine.”
She took his hand and attempted to replace it, but again he felt her tense when she did. Suddenly, concerned, he drew back the sheet for closer inspection.
There, on the white sheet was a trail of crimson blood. Rough sex wasn’t uncommon for him. He bruised and scraped himself before. But when he looked back up at Brielle with panic in her eyes, he suddenly realized what the blood meant.
“Christ, why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
She rolled away, pushing herself to the edge of the bed before he gently pulled her back to him. “Brielle, you were a virgin?”
“Does it matter?”
“Of course, it fucking matters!”
He was angry and not sure why. Sucking in a deep breath, he rubbed the side of her hip. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to yell. It’s just I would have gone easier maybe…or at least…been… different.”
“I wanted you to be real.”
In that moment he realized she wasn’t wrong. Or at least he understood her point. He licked his lips and made sure the next words out of his mouth were as gentle as possible. “Okay fine, so this is a big night for you,” he said. “You had some drinks, you made some love.”
“Don’t make fun of me.”
“I wasn’t making fun of you.” He lifted her chin to find her eyes. “I was thanking you. I’ve never been someone’s first time.”
“Gee, I hope I didn’t bore you.”
“Bore me? Does this look like the face of a bored man?” He leaned even closer so she could see his smile.
“I guess not.”
“Can I ask you question?”
She cocked her head. “Sure.”
“Not that I would know, but you certainly didn’t strike me as someone who hadn’t had sex before.”
She wrinkled her nose and Callum braced himself, noticing a twinkle in her eye. “Well…” she said slowly. “When I was fourteen, a kid at Vitalie had a huge porn collection he’d stolen from his older brother. What can I say? My dorm was the only one with a DVD player.”
Callum laughed. Again, he was amazed by the woman he should have despised.
He kissed her hard then pushed her away, just before the point of no return.
“I don’t want to start something you can’t finish.
Why don’t I fire up the hot tub out there and we can soak in there a while.
” He moved to get up but, she pushed him back down.
“I can do it myself.”
“Hey, I’m trying to be a gentleman here. Don’t ruin the moment.”
“Consider it ruined.” She kissed him, then jumped off the bed. “I’m fine anyway.”
She grabbed a shirt from her bag and went into the bathroom. He was pulling his boxers back on when he heard Brielle scream.
He snatched the gun from the nightstand and burst through the door, heart slamming hard enough to rattle his ribs. In one swift motion he pulled Brielle behind him and leveled his weapon at the empty shower stall.
“What the hell is going on?” he demanded.
Brielle’s hand shot out, trembling as she pointed past him. “Look.”
Callum’s gaze snapped to the mirror and his blood turned cold.
Smeared in bold red lipstick the words…
WATCH OUT brIELLE!