38. Cal #2
I press my knee firmly between her thighs, forcing them wider until she’s completely open to me, and the ragged sound she lets out—a high, needy whimper that breaks into a gasp—is the only permission I need to lose myself completely.
I can feel the slickness of her through the thin lace of her underwear, a promise of what’s waiting, and as she hooks her ankles around my waist to pull me closer, I know neither of us is coming out of this with our composure intact.
“You’re looking at me like I’m the only thing in the world,” she whispers, her nipples peaking against the lace, her body arching toward me instinctively.
“You are.”
I slide down her body, my chest dragging over her aching skin. I reach her thighs and hook my hands under her knees, spreading her wide, exposing her completely to the light.
“Callahan,” she warns, her voice hoarse.
“You’ve spent all season trying to get in my head, Ivy. It’s only fair I finally return the favor.”
I start slow, my mouth trailing fire along the inside of her thighs.
My stubble grazes the sensitive surface until she’s arching off the bed, her breath hitching in a series of sharp, shallow gasps. I trail my tongue upward, marking her, leaving a path of heat until I find her clit.
“Cal—oh god, Cal—”
I use my hands to hold her steady, my thumbs pressing into her hips, anchoring her as I sink my mouth over her.
“God, I’ve spent the last year wondering if you were even real,” I mutter against her thigh. “And now I get to do this. I get to have you.”
I look up the length of her body, watching her chest heave, watching the way her fingers are currently white-knuckled and tangled in the sheets.
I’ve seen her dominate a locker room of professional athletes, but seeing her like this—exposed and trembling under my gaze—makes my heart feel like it’s too big for my chest.
“You’re my favorite place in the entire world, Iveline,” I whisper, before dragging my tongue in one long, slow stripe from the base of her opening to the very top of her pussy.
She screams my name, her body bucking with such force I have to lean my weight into her thighs to keep her on the bed.
“That’s it, honey,” I murmur, lashing my tongue against her again and again, watching her unravel. “Show me everything. Don’t you dare hide a single sound from me.”
I’m completely gone for her. Wrecked. Ruined. And as I watch her break apart under my touch, I realize I’d happily spend the rest of my life right here between her thighs, a slave to every sound she makes.
Her fingers find my hair, tugging with a desperate, frantic strength, pulling me closer, begging for more and less all at once. I use my tongue in long, punishing strokes, teasing her until she’s a sobbing, bucking mess under me.
“Tell me,” I mutter against the arch of her hip. “Tell me you know you aren’t alone in this anymore. Tell me you know that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.”
“I am,” she gasps, her voice breaking on a sob of pure, breathless relief as she tangles her fingers in my hair, pulling me back up to her. “It’s you, Cal—it’s always been you. Please, just—don’t ever let go.”
When I finally slide into her, the fit is so tight, so perfect, it feels like a physical ache being soothed. I groan, the sound torn from the deepest part of my lungs. She pulses around me, squeezing me tight.
She’s so wet and so hot that I almost lose my mind the second I’m inside her. I stay still for a heartbeat, buried deep inside her, watching her face fracture.
“Fuck, Ivy,” I choke out, my fingers lacing through hers and pinning her hands to the mattress. “You feel like you were made for this. Like you were made for me.”
I drive into her with a raw energy, each thrust hitting home, making her cry out in a way that fuels my own fire.
I watch her unravel.
Her head is tossed back, her throat bared and pulsing with every ragged breath she draws. Her eyes are blown out, glazed with a pleasure so sharp it looks like pain, and her mouth is open in a silent, beautiful scream.
“Look at me,” I command. “I need your eyes on mine.”
She forces her eyes open, her gaze locking onto mine with a desperate, wild intensity. I pick up the pace, the rhythm turning uncoordinated.
“Callahan,” she gasps, her voice breaking. “Cal, please—fuck—”
I don’t let her go yet. I slow the pace just enough to make it agonizing, grinding my hips against hers in a slow, circular motion that makes her sob.
“I’ve got you,” I whisper, the words a jagged vow against her lips. “I’m right here. Break for me, Ivy. I’ll catch you.”
“I’m yours,” she sobs, her body pulsing around mine in a desperate, rhythmic claim. “I’m staying right here. With you. Always.”
The tension in the room builds to a pressure so immense it feels like the walls are closing in.
Her body seizes around mine, wave after wave of pure, hot release rippling through her. I follow her immediately, my heart hammering against hers as if they’re trying to sync up for good.
My hands are still shaking as I reach up, my fingers trembling as I stroke her hair back from her face.
I look down at her, seeing the red marks on her hips where my fingers gripped her too hard, the flush on her chest, the way her lips are swollen and bruised from my mouth.
The sight of it—of the evidence that I was the one who finally got through her defenses—sends a fresh bolt of protective heat through me.
“You okay, honey?” I whisper, my voice still rough and low.
She doesn’t answer with words at first. She just shifts, her arms tightening around my neck, pulling me closer until there isn’t a single millimeter of space between us. She breathes in deep, her nose brushing against my collarbone.
“Don’t you dare move, Callahan,” she murmurs, her voice sleepier than I’ve ever heard it, yet still carrying that underlying edge of command I love so much.
We lie there for a long time, tangled together in the wreckage of the sheets. The adrenaline is still humming in my veins, but the fear is gone.
I pull the blanket over us, tucking her against my side. Her head rests on my chest, right over the heart she now owns.
“One-zero, Cal,” she murmurs sleepily.
I kiss the top of her head, closing my eyes, finally at peace. “I think we both won this one, Ivy.”
This is the win.
It’s not the trophy or the parade or the legacy.
It’s her.
“I meant it,” I say softly, my voice echoing in the quiet room. “What I said earlier. About loving you.”
She looks up at me, her eyes warm and clear. “I know you did.”
“I love you,” I repeat, because the words feel right every time they leave my mouth. They feel like the truth.
Her weight on my chest feels like gravity finally figured out where I belong.
I’m not drifting anymore. I’m not performing for a crowd or pretending to be the man everyone expects the captain to be.
She smiles and settles back against my heart, closing her eyes as she finds her home.
And as I hold her, I realize that I’ve finally found mine, too.