CHAPTER 44
Victoria
I’m confused. Baffled. Cal is standing right in front of me, but he’s not the same man who walked out of this house just over an hour ago.
Gone is the generous, funny, and serious lover I’ve come to know.
In his place is a man with empty eyes. An unmoving body.
And the excuse that he just gave me, that he’s just tired and not feeling well?
That was a lie.
This would be a first. He’s never lied to me.
I’ve had so much experience in this area that I can spot a man’s lie from a hundred miles away.
And just now, he looked right at me and spoke an untruth.
Every fiber in my being wants to run, just pack my shit and get out of here.
Once a man starts lying, there’s nothing left to save.
I’ve already told my father the deal is off. He’s already screamed and cussed and threatened to fire me. Which means the only reason I’m still here is for Cal. The man who’s looking at me like he despises me.
For some reason, his angry gaze keeps darting to my necklace. This is weird. My hand instinctively touches the gold at my throat.
Something is very, very wrong. With him. With us.
I step back, putting distance between us. I clasp my hands in front of me so I won’t be tempted to reach out and touch him again. I was just rebuffed, and once is enough for that kind of hurt.
“All right.” I turn and walk to the kitchen, then hoist myself up on the island. I grasp the granite edge in my hands, cross my ankles, and swing my feet. “So, I’m going to ask you once more, and you’re going to tell me the truth this time.”
His jaw tightens. His eyes are so hard that the violet has gone midnight black. “I don’t take orders from you, Miss Backlund. I don’t work for you. I never will.”
Whoa. Where the hell did that come from? I stop swinging my feet, stunned. I’ve never heard his voice sound so vicious. “So you’re angry with me.”
He says nothing.
“C’mon Callum MacLaine. Use your big-boy words and tell me what’s on your mind.” I jump down and walk toward him again, pissed off now. My cheeks get hot. “Tell me exactly what you think I’ve done to justify you behaving like such a complete jackass tool. Let me have it.”
He tips his head back and laughs. It’s not the laugh I love. It’s shallow and hollow.
I feel like I just stepped into the Twilight Zone.
“Let you have it, huh?” He’s looking down on me again, a wicked smile on his lips.
“Go on. I can handle it.”
He raises his hand to my hair, stroking the strands softly. My alarm bells are going off. His energy is spiking all over the place. So is mine. It’s sexual, but it’s harsh at the same time. I’m not sure what’s going on here. I don’t feel unsafe, but I have no fucking idea what’s about to happen.
My underwear is soaked—that I’m sure of.
Suddenly the gentle caress of his hand gets rough, and he grabs my hair and tugs me closer. I look up at his stormy eyes, the hard line of his lips. I see him breathing hard.
I croak out a whisper. “Tell me.”
“Suck me. On your knees.”
I fall to my knees, unzip his jeans, and take out his huge and hard cock. I try to wrap my lips around his girth, so silky and salty in my mouth.
I don’t mind a little rough play—that’s already been established between us. This is different. He’s not playing.
I feel his cock slide into my throat. More. More. The hand on the back of my head inches me forward. His other hand cups the bottom of my jaw, like he’s making sure I don’t get away. I hate it. I love it. I try to squeeze my thighs together, but it provides no relief.
In and out of my mouth. I’m not sure how much more I can take. My chin and chest are wet, but he just keeps pushing harder, harder, forcing his cock deeper, deeper.
Suddenly, he lets up. His cock pops from my throat and I gasp for air. His hands grip my upper arms, and he lifts me off my knees and into the air. His kiss is unforgiving. His tongue is as demanding as his cock was just seconds before.
He shoves a hand down the front of my jeans and there are no more secrets between us.
I’m so slick with need that his big fingers slide right up into me.
He laughs, still kissing, still demanding.
He develops a rhythm—his fingers against my clit before they shove inside me. Then repeat. Over and over.
My legs shake. I tense up from my toes to the top of my head and cum so hard that I nearly black out. I hear myself scream in his mouth, but he’s not stopping. I don’t know what this is. I don’t know why he’s doing this.
I’m cumming again.
Then suddenly his hand is gone. His mouth is gone.
And he picks me up and carries me to the great room, where he unceremoniously deposits me on my belly over the back of the large leather sectional.
My vision is blurry. I’m still trying to catch my breath.
I hear his zipper open, and I feel him rip my jeans off my ass.
He leaves them tight around my thighs. I can’t move.
I try to put a sentence together. “I can’t… I don’t think…”
“We’re not done. You’re gonna cum a lot more before I’m through.”
“Good. Fuck me. Do it.”
He laughs. This time it’s booming and deep, though still tinged with bitterness.
I don’t know what he thinks I’ve done, but I’ll worry about it later.
After he’s fucked me senseless. I hear him rip off his jeans and boots, and then I feel his body hot against my back.
He grabs ahold of my jeans and moves me into position.
His cock lines up with my slit.
And he pushes inside me so hard and deep that I see black spots. I see swirling purple stars and white pulsating emptiness as I cum, my belly rubbing against the leather, his hands lifting me and repositioning me like a rag doll. I cum again.
He shoves my jeans all the way down to my legs and rips off my boots, then picks me up again and carries me folded at the waist, my bottom half naked. I think he’s carrying me to his bedroom, but he’s not. He flips me around, pulls my legs over his hips, and presses me against the wall.
I’m not sure what makes me feel more helpless. His lips crushing mine? My head and back pinned to the wall behind me? His hands gripping my ass as he impales me hard and rough, leaving no way to escape from his demands?
This feels too extreme. Too intense. At that exact instant, a framed historical map of the ranch falls off the wall and crashes to the wood floor. I squirt all over Cal’s dick, and he cums inside me, both of us letting go with long, wild moans.
It’s a release of pleasure, pain, and sadness, all at once. It feels like the end of something.
Like a goodbye.