11 - Lauren
Lauren
The place was mostly empty, with only a few straggling figures passing by in the far distance, too far away for us to even see their faces. The only sound was the rhythmic lapping of the lake against the concrete seawall.
After turning the ignition off, Callum turned to face me.
“I'm sorry,” he apologized again. I hated seeing the look on his face.
He looked angry and disappointed all at once, and hearing his next words made me realize those feelings were directed at himself.
“I didn't react fast or angrily enough to stop that mob from stirring up like that.
If it was someone else…I know that Brock could've handled the whole thing better.
And even Rafe, God, he would've had that guy on the floor in seconds.”
Callum paused, his hand dropping from the wheel and his shoulders slightly slumping.
“I'm sorry, Lauren. I should've done better,” he said.
I reached out and put my hand on his shoulder. He looked at me and in that moment, I knew exactly what I needed from him.
“Cal, you being here with me tonight was the only thing that kept me sane during the entire meeting. I was only able to be there because I knew you were next to me,” I said.
His eyes turned glassy.
“It doesn't matter what Brock or Rafe would've done. It was you who got me out of there and you who protected me. And I've never felt safer in my entire life.” My words had softened to a whisper and I meant every single one of them.
I trusted Callum.
It was a stark realization to make for someone who'd spent most of her life trying to carve out the part of her heart that longed for it.
Those warm, dependable, steady eyes glinted with something else. Something hotter. It was a mirror to my own and I knew that from this point on, there'd be no going back.
I leaned in first.
Callum's mouth was surprisingly soft against mine, and unyielding at first, as though he wasn't sure whether this was the right thing to do or not.
He was always so concerned with doing the right thing. But I could feel the rising tension in his body as his restraint faltered, and I felt the very moment it snapped.
When he kissed me back, the raw desire behind its intensity shocked me. He wasn't aggressive like Rafe. Callum's desire was shaped differently. It was exploring, longing, seeking depth and not power.
My hands tangled in his hair and he let out a soft, low moan as he leaned closer, quietly asking for more. Begging for it.
The console between us suddenly felt like an ocean to cross. I adjusted my body until my legs were pulled up onto the seat, trying to climb over but it was awkward in the confined space of the cab.
When I moved my mouth to his neck, Callum reared back as though I'd bitten him. He cupped my chin, breathing heavy.
“Miss Lauren,” he said raggedly, voice strained. “I don't want you to do something you're going to regret later.”
His thumb stroked my cheek. His hesitation only melted my heart even more. I knew what he was saying. It wasn't even just about me regretting what I was about to do. It was about me not regretting who I was doing it with.
I put my hand over his and leaned into it. “I want this, Cal. I want you.”
When I turned my head and kissed his palm, his whole body seemed to unspool like wire. He reached over and hoisted me up and over the console with barely a grunt of effort.
My knees knocked into the gear shift before I tumbled into his lap. The truck rocked on its suspension, the heavy springs creaking and cutting through the calming sounds of the lake's waves.
It felt like the most natural thing in the world, to have my body wrap around his. Our lips met again as his hands slipped from my waist to my hair, his fingers curling.
For what felt like a mini eternity, we were locked together like that, slowly moving against each other as we eagerly discovered the other. I memorized everything, from the way his lips tasted sweet, to the way his skin felt beneath my hands and the way his body moved under mine.
I was vaguely aware that we were in public and not entirely alone but at that moment, hearing Callum's small sighs of pleasure, I couldn't have cared any less.
“Wait.” He pulled away, his face expectedly pink with that adorable blush.
He reached over to the back and retrieved a work jacket that he folded and placed behind my back, wedging it between my body and the steering wheel.
My heart stumbled a beat at the care he was showing me, even when I could look down and see that he was hard as a damn rock.
“There,” he said softly, his hands suddenly on me again.
It was like having that small reassurance of my comfort allowed him to fully let go. Because when he kissed me again, I nearly careened off his lap.
We held onto each other, my fingers gripping so hard onto his arms that I was concerned I'd leave a bruise—not that he'd likely mind. Not when he was kissing me like I was the last glass of water in a desert.
I marveled at how he was both gentle and intense, how he compromised on neither side. His kisses moved from my mouth to my neck, then my ear. Soft, curious, deliberate kisses. If Rafe was teasing, Callum was reverential.
There was a spot right beneath my ear lobe that made me go slack, and if I wasn't already in his lap, I know my knees would've buckled. Callum hummed in satisfaction and began to focus on that erogenous zone, gently gripping my jaw and turning my head to give him better access.
“You're so beautiful, Miss Lauren,” he breathed against my skin. “I thought that the first moment I laid eyes on you. It was all I could think about since.”
“Just my beauty, huh?” I said, not seriously at all. I just liked seeing him flustered and blushing. But Callum took it seriously indeed. He pulled away again, his gaze burning into mine.
“Yes,” he whispered. “Because it's everything you are. Not just the way you look but the way you think. The way you see life, the way you see me. The more I know the more I think I'll never fully understand and it's addicting.”
The rawness of that confession entranced me, turned me on so much more. I sighed, pressing myself against him and kissing the hollow of his throat.
He made a strangled noise and leaned back in his seat, his hands holding my hips and his eyes fluttering shut.
He rolled his hips up to mine, shyly at first. But when I met him there and thrust down, he got the point.
His lips found my neck again as his hands started undressing me with all the gentleness he applied to his finishing tasks.
I was left in just my bra and jeans, desperately wanting nothing more than for him to just take me.
But it seemed I'd have to wait until he had his fill first. Callum took his time exploring my exposed skin, kissing my collarbones and my shoulders, letting his hands drift down to my breasts and feeling each one, rolling his thumbs against my nipples and teasing them through the fabric until I was practically crying out for him.
His tongue was hot against my body, slow and torturous as he dragged my pleasure out for as long as I could stand. When I tried taking off his clothes, he stopped me.
“Not this time,” he said softly with a kiss to my nose. “I just want to focus on you.”
And I let him. I let him remove my bra and press his face to my chest, shivering as his mouth began worshiping my breasts. I held him there, my eyes hustling tight against everything he was making me feel.
This was so, so different to what I'd experienced before. I'd never had a lover who was this thorough with my pleasure, who seemed to get off on it and offered his touch as though it was some kind of oblation.
“I need you inside of me,” I gasped when I couldn't take it anymore. “Now, please.”
I felt him smile against my chest. “Yes, ma'am.”
I expected him to unbutton his jeans, but instead he lowered a hand down between my thighs. He pressed it against me and I bucked in his lap. Painfully slowly, he undid my fly and I shimmied until I somehow managed to get my panties low enough for him to slip his hand inside it.
“That's not what I—oh.” My body sagged against him, suddenly falling prey to a touch more lethal than his charm would betray.
His fingers continued their assault on my sensitive pussy, languid in their movements but calculated.
His mouth enveloped a nipple again and I felt my body implode with pleasure.
He gently bit down before changing to the other breast, his fingers keeping time with my pulse as it racketed higher and higher.
“Cal…” I whined, clutching at him like he was a lifeline. “Cal, please.”
“Want to take my time with you,” he groaned, nuzzling into me. “I want to make you feel so good.”
I moaned his name, throwing my head back and riding his fingers without even a hint of shame. When I finally opened my eyes, Callum was looking at me as if I was something divine he was witnessing for the first time.
That was it. My hands scrambled for his zipper as our mouths crashed together again. I rubbed him over his boxers and my eyes bulged at the feel of him. My god, he was massive.
Rafe hadn't been small by any means but this…
My mouth watered. He helped me get out of my jeans and panties, tossing them down in front of the passenger seat and then I was straddling him again.
I sank down slowly onto his cock, the stretch almost painful.
He held me through it, kissing my temple and my cheek and whispering softly about how perfect I was, how good I felt, how he wanted this so badly.
When I finally got him fully inside me, I paused, letting my body adjust and acclimatize to the mix of pleasure and pain. He brought my forehead to his, dropping the softest kiss on my lips.
“Is this okay?” he asked, a look of genuine concern on his face despite the pleasure he was clearly feeling.
I raised my hips slowly, then settled down again and he gasped out loud.
“This is more than okay,” I said. “You feel so amazing inside of me. I want more of you, I want it all.”
Something changed in Callum's face. He nuzzled his face into my neck and held onto my hips, then thrust up, deep.
It was my turn to gasp now. His powerful hips had managed to hoist me up despite the awkwardness of our position in the cab, and he used his arms to raise me high enough so that he could enter me at a delicious angle.
“Again,” I moaned. “Do that again, baby, please.”
At that he growled and the sound took me by such surprise that I almost lost my balance. But Callum held me steady, as he always did. He began to move and I moved with him, trying to meet every powerful, intentional thrust of his.
My toes curled and the sounds I was making didn't sound anything like me. It wasn't just the technique or the foreplay, even though those were certainly playing their role.
It was the intimacy of it all. It was everything he'd done until this point to show me the kind of man he was, it was the way he seemed to lose control of himself inside of me, the sounds he was making, the way he kept his face buried in my neck, breathing me in through his moans.
It was like he couldn't get enough of me.
I came so hard around him that my body spasmed wildly and I had to wrap my arms around him. He held me through it, crying out my name as my orgasm milked his.
We stayed like that for a while, just holding onto each other as we climbed down from the high together.
Still panting, I finally pulled away, kissing his face. The tired but satisfied smile he gave me was so boyishly charming that it almost made me want to go again. Almost. But my body was aching, still tender with aftershocks.
“Was that…was that good for you?” he asked.
I answered him with a throaty laugh, squeezing around his dick and he jolted in surprise.
“What does that tell you?” I asked.
I gingerly slipped off his cock and climbed back into the passenger seat, picking up my clothing and trying to dress myself as best I could in the confined space while Callum interrupted every so often with another kiss.
After we got ourselves in order, he started the engine again and we headed back to the firehouse.
A tiny part of me almost expected that things might feel a bit different between us now. But I was pleasantly surprised to see that while it was clear our dynamic had shifted it wasn't for the worse.
The silence wasn't awkward in the slightest. It was comfortable.
“Oh, Miss Lauren?” Callum asked without taking his eyes off the road.
“Hmm?” I hummed.
“I think it'll be best if you don't mention what just happened to Rafe or he'll kick my ass,” he said.
My eyes flew wide. “What? But how did you…?”
Callum laughed. “It wasn't exactly subtle. He's almost as bad at keeping his eyes off of you as I am. And I noticed something different after he worked a solo night shift at your place. I put two and two together quickly.”
“I…” I had no idea what to say. Was an apology in order? What would I even be saying sorry for?
But as usual, Callum knew exactly what to say.
“There's nothing to feel weird about. What you did with him is your business. What we did together is mine,” he said.
Oh, Callum Doyle. The beautiful, brilliant, wonderful man you are.