CALLIE—
I wanted to say something more, but he made himself clear. He could be the respected business owner, the protective father, and the righteous boss, but taking a chance on us was something he wouldn’t do. In a strange way, I was glad. He vocalized all the things I couldn’t, my emotions fighting against logic, the battle of want versus right.
What was right was that we’d stay away from each other. It didn’t matter how he made me feel alive and connected or how I knew I’d never felt this before. I couldn’t, we couldn’t, let it overtake us. There were too many reasons not to.
I flopped facedown on top of my bed, feeling both exhausted and antsy at the same time. After rolling over to my side, I remembered I left my phone in my coat downstairs. Shit. I needed to text Evelyn and have her talk me down from the ledge, a ledge that included me quitting my job, moving back in, and dusting off my Venom pink bloomers.
I waited a half hour before I peeked down the hallway and saw Aaron’s bedroom door was closed. Light illuminated from the gap under his door made it a safe assumption he was in there, and I wouldn’t be running into him.
With gentle steps, I hurried down the hallway and stairs until my bare feet hit the marble floor. I moved fast down the darkened hallway until I reached my coat. Before I even retrieved my phone, I heard it ringing from the front pocket. The Friends theme song alerted me that it was Evelyn calling.
“Hey,” I said, answering.
“Finally!” she said. “I’ve called you like five times.”
“Sorry. I forgot my phone.”
I started walking back down the hallway as Evelyn shouted expletives. Just as I entered the kitchen, she paused to take a breath.
“I’m assuming you want to know how the date went?” I whispered, retrieving a glass from the cabinet.
“Obviously. And why are you whispering?”
“Everyone’s sleeping, and I came downstairs to get my phone.”
I turned on the faucet, filling up my glass before continuing. “The date was probably one of the best I ever had, and I have no intentions of going out with him again.”
“Uh. Okay,” she said. “What does that mean?”
“It means neither of us are interested because he knows full well I am only into his brother.”
I took a sip of water as I leaned against the cool granite counter. Evelyn’s silence meant she was processing, and any moment she would explode into either another round of cussing or a barrage of questions.
“Holy shit,” she gasped. “How the fuck did he know that? Did you tell him? Oh, shit. Did Aaron tell him? What did he say? Abel not Aaron, I mean. So, was the whole date thing a setup?”
“I’ll give you the condensed version now, but will fill you in completely tomorrow,” I said, pausing to take another drink. “The date itself and what we discussed really doesn’t matter. Aaron and I talked when I got home and things are much clearer to me now.”
“Are you serious? What did he say?”
“That it didn’t matter if we felt anything for each other, but that it wasn’t going to happen.”
“Wait. He said he felt something for you?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know,” I said, pushing down the lump that had formed in my throat. “Again, it doesn’t matter. It can’t happen. I needed him to be firm with what’s at stake, and that it’s bigger than us. I wish it was different. I know whatever this is doesn’t happen often, and it has never happened to me.”
“Oh, sweetie. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m…tired. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I ended the call and set my phone down next to my water glass. My entire body shook from all the emotions I was processing. All I wanted to do was run home (the home I shared with Evelyn), climb into my bed, and forget about ever meeting Aaron.
“Callie?”
Startled, I spun around to see Aaron standing in the entryway of the kitchen. I placed my hand on my chest as I tried to catch my breath.
“Speak of the devil,” I said. “You scared me.”
“The devil, huh?” he asked, dragging his fingers through his dark hair.
There was no smile, no hint of joking. I didn’t know what he was doing by coming to me again. There was no room left in me to try and figure him out.
“Did you need something?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I heard you down here and—”
“Wait,” I said, stopping him. “Did you hear me on the phone?”
His large shoulders lifted as he took in a deep breath. He didn’t need to say a word. He absolutely did hear. There are times when you’d think to yourself, Wow. Things can’t get much worse than this. Then like magic, it does. This was one of the moments.
I turned back toward the sink, and after a moment, I heard him move, stepping cautiously toward me. I couldn’t face him.
“I didn’t mean to listen,” he said. “But I need to know.”
“What?”
“If what you said was true.”
He came up behind me, but I still couldn’t look at him. I knew if I did I would lose what little control I was holding on to.
His movements got closer.
Closer.
Closer. So close.
My body adhered to the warmth coming off of him, willing me into submission. I knew in my mind I couldn’t do that, but my body, my body was screaming something different to me.
“Calliope,” he whispered into the back of my neck. “Tell me. Please.”
His hands circled my waist, and I lost all resolve when he pulled me into him. His lips grazed my ear. “Tell me,” he repeated.
I was almost light-headed, our bodies melting into each other, his warm mouth breathing softly on my neck. “What do you want me to tell you?”
His grip around my waist tightened, and he spun me around, our faces just inches apart. His eyes lingered over my face, settling on my mouth. He dragged his tongue over his bottom lip, the energy between us enough to make me tremble.
Before I even knew what he was doing, he shifted me away from the sink and picked me up from the waist, lifting me onto the countertop. With his eyes still fixed to mine, he placed his hands on my bare knees, spreading apart my legs.
He stepped into me while lazily dragging his hands from my knees to my hips. His movements continued up my side, increasing pressure while passing my breast and letting a thumb graze over the swell underneath it.
He still hadn’t answered my question when his hands reached my neck, and he intertwined his fingers behind it.
He leaned forward. “Tell me it’s okay for me to kiss you. I need you to say this is okay,” he begged.
I shut my eyes tightly, knowing the only way I could refuse him would be if I didn’t have to see him. “I can’t. You said—”
“Look at me,” he demanded.
I should’ve shouted at him that enough was enough, and we couldn’t keep doing this dance. I should’ve reminded him about Delilah and how she was the most important thing in all of this. I should’ve told him we both knew it was wrong. I should’ve told him that despite the pull, the unstoppable force chipping away at our resolve, we could never be right together because the twenty-four-year-old nanny wouldn’t be enough for a man like him. I couldn’t ever be enough for him.
I should’ve said all these things.
I should’ve pushed past him and run out of the kitchen.
But I didn’t do or say any of those things.
Instead, I did the one thing I knew I shouldn’t. I opened my eyes, met his, and willed myself to stay strong.
He reached his other hand up to the side of my face, cautiously and painfully slow. “I know you feel it, too. I see it in the way you look at me, the way your entire body responds when I move close. I just heard you say the words on the phone. I’m telling you I feel it, too. I’ve fought it, but…” He trailed off.
I tilted my head, resting my cheek into his touch. Everything about him surrounded me, and I fought against the voice inside of me, the screaming voice that shouted this was wrong.
But there was another voice that told me that this was maybe a once-in-a-lifetime thing, that if I walked away I’d never feel this kind of intense pull to another man again. Yeah. That voice was so much louder.
“Are you sure?” I whispered. “Only if you’re sure.”
His expression looked almost pained, and I knew he was battling the same voices in his own mind. “I’m not sure, but I can’t walk away anymore.”
He was leaving it in my hands. It was all me. I knew what I should do, but…
I grabbed his shirt in two fists and pulled him toward me, our lips almost touching. “It’s okay.”
Our lips connected in a fiery passion and my body lit up everywhere. The answer was right there. This was what I wanted.
And it was what he wanted, too.
It was in the way he kissed me. The way his hands forced me closer to him. The sounds he made, mumbled against my lips. My entire body tingled and pulsed.
My legs wrapped around his waist, begging him to keep going and to assure him I was as sure as he was. My hands, my fingers…my entire being wanted him without any barriers. There had already been too many barriers between us, and I wanted nothing to come between us and this moment.
Except something could and I had to ask him about it. I pushed him away gently. “Delilah. What if…?”
“Don’t worry,” he interrupted breathlessly. “The gate is up at the top of the stairs. She won’t come down.”
Our lips were back on each other’s in a half second, and the kisses took on a ferocious tempo, the softness of our lips mixed with the subtle bites of urgency. His tongue slid into my mouth effortlessly, and when my tongue met his, our excitement was lifted to an entirely different level. He tasted of mint and alcohol and of him, and I wanted to drink him in.
His hands moved to my hips where he gripped the sides of my dress roughly and pulled me further into him. His lips left my mouth and traveled to the crook of my neck. Kissing, sucking, and running his tongue along my skin.
“Please don’t stop. Please,” I pleaded.
His nose ran along the side of my jaw until he reached my ear. “I’m not stopping. I won’t,” he whispered.
“Promise?”
His hot breath mixed with words returned to my ear. “I’m never fucking stopping again. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone in my life.”
“Me, too.”
“Feel that?” He swiveled and jerked his hips into me, his erection rubbing against me. “That’s how much I want you.”
Instinctively, I ground myself into him harder, wanting him to feel how much I wanted him. As if he didn’t trust what he was feeling, he pushed my skirt up further and his hand dipped between my legs.
“Jesus,” he hissed.
His mouth was back on mine before I could even register his movement, kissing me deeply.
I wanted, I needed, more of him. Sliding my hands around his waist and under his shirt, my fingers brushed along his smooth, warm skin. I gripped the bottom of his shirt just as he broke our kiss and leaned his forehead against mine.
“Your hands on me, they feel so good,” he whispered.
I gripped his shirt at the hem, causing him to pause as I lifted it over his head. The shirt was tossed to the floor, and I took in the perfection of his bare chest, running my fingers over his hard muscles.
“I want to feel you everywhere,” I said.
He worked his mouth down my neck until he reached just below my collarbone, burning a path down my chest to in between my breasts. His fingers slipped under the small straps of my dress and eased them down with a deliberate, determined resolve, until my breasts spilled out from the top.
The tip of his tongue met the top of my erect nipple, swirling around and around until he bit down, subtly evoking the most intense mixture of pleasure and pain I’d ever felt. His hand rubbed and caressed the other breast until he switched. I could barely take how good it felt. His hands went to my waist, and while still focusing on my breasts, he starting pushing the rest of my dress up.
He stopped and brought his attention to my eyes. “I want you.”
His tone was almost pleading, but it was his eyes that told me it was all desire. It was the words I’d waited to hear.
“Then take me.”
I made quick work unbuttoning the top of his pants, dragging the tips of my fingers across the skin of his lower stomach. The heat between us grew stronger, his mouth getting closer to mine again.
A low, primal moan echoed from deep within his chest right before his arms reached around and he lifted me up. My legs wrapped his waist as he walked toward the stairs.
“My bed?” he asked.
“Yes.”
I rested my head on his shoulder until we were in his room, and he placed me on the bed. In a fervent rush, his lips were back on mine as we both wildly removed each other’s remaining clothes. I unzipped his pants and pushed them down as he slid the rest of my dress down. I watched as his eyes moved from my shoes, up my leg, and stopped at my black panties. His brows furrowed, and I could see the question written all over his face.
“I didn’t do anything with him. He’s not the one I want. You are the only one I want,” I said, placing my hands on both sides of his face.
His hands cradled my face, his thumbs running softly across my cheeks. As he leaned in to kiss me, his erection pushed against me. Our tongues swirled together as I reached down and slid my hand under his boxers to take his cock in my hand, gripping from base to tip in a twisting, strong hold that had him growling into my mouth. I continued pumping him, feeling his pre-arousal at the tip and working it all the way up and down his thick shaft.
“I want you. All of you,” I begged.
He leaned back and grabbed the modest strings of my panties and practically ripped them, pulling them down my legs.
I worked his boxers off, while he leaned his head against mine. “It’s been a long time for me. I don’t have a condom or anything.”
“It’s okay. I’m on the pill and have always been careful.”
He nodded his head, the back of his hand brushing my cheek. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”
With one careful movement, he slowly eased himself into me, stopping just before he was completely in. I gripped the side of his face, begging him silently to look at me. His eyes met mine, and that was all the reassurance he needed.
He continued to push himself inside, inch by inch, until he filled me completely. My breath halted, and it took a moment for me to get used to the overwhelming sensation.
He slid himself in and out, in…and out…unhurriedly, each of our bodies welcoming the other. His hand reached down behind my left knee and lifted my leg up just far enough for him to place his hand under the bottom of my heel. The altered movement drove him deeper inside me, causing me to whimper.
“You like that?” he asked.
I nodded my head because at that moment, I was completely incapable of words.
My other leg wrapped around his waist as his tempo accelerated, our damp bodies rocking together in perfect unison. He burrowed his face in the crook of my neck to stifle his loud moans, and although I wanted to fucking scream out how good he felt, I knew we had to be conscious of our voices.
He nibbled and sucked all around my collarbone like he wanted to taste every inch of me. Such a subtle gesture, but one that pushed me that much closer to coming completely undone.
“Fuck, Calliope, you feel so good,” he said through ragged breath. “And seeing my dick slide in and out of you is the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“You,” I panted, “are going to make me come. Please tell me you’re close.”
“Are you kidding me? I was ready the minute we walked in here.”
I laced my fingers through his hair and roughly brought him back to my mouth. I kissed him deeply as he moved to drive himself into me harder and faster.
“Yes,” I said, gasping. “Just like that.”
He kept fucking me with the same steady, hard pump, but he swiveled his hips slightly, creating an entirely new sensation.
“Oh God, yes…,” I cried into his shoulder.
The moment the words left my lips, my orgasm took over my body, and I bit into his shoulder to keep from screaming. I contracted around him, encouraging him to follow suit.
His body shook against mine before he cried out in the same wave of pleasure that I’d just experienced. The warmth of him came inside me until his head rolled back in ecstasy.
The rocking of his body slowed until he lazily rested his head on my shoulder. We stayed like that, our rapidly beating hearts pressed against our naked chests, for several minutes. As soon as our breathing returned to normal, he slowly pulled his body away from mine.
“Wow,” he whispered as he tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear.
“Yeah, wow.”
“I’m sorry,” he said trailing off, worry etched across his face.
I took his face in my hands. “What is it?” I asked.
His brows furrowed. “I’m sorry I didn’t last longer. It’s been so long, and you’re just so beautiful, and I’ve been wanting you so badly, and…”
“Shh,” I said, tapping a finger over his lip. “It was amazing. Actually, it was beyond amazing.”
“Yeah?”
“Absolutely.”
I tucked myself into his side as his arm wrapped around me, his fingers dragging lazily across my skin. We were quiet for a while as we came down from our high. My mind went in so many different directions—what did this mean? Would it happen again? Would it happen often? How long should I stay in his bed? Did he regret it?
There were so many questions, but I pushed them all away. For the moment, I was going to lay in his arms and not think.
“Shower?” he asked, breaking the silence.
“Absolutely.”
He took me by the hand and walked us to his bathroom. I watched him as he turned the water on the shower, testing the temperature with his hand, before turning toward me with a devilish smile.
If I could’ve high-fived myself, I would’ve. Better yet, if there was an award for the best receiver of the fuck of their life, I’d be winning it.
“Hey, you,” Aaron said, stepping into the shower. “Get that sexy ass in here before it gets cold.”
I thought we were about to get down in the shower all over again since we were making out like crazy, and he was hard all over again. But when he shut off the water and stepped out, I thought maybe he was a once-a-night trick pony.
He wrapped a towel around me, and while I dried off my hair and body, he got me one of his T-shirts to put on. It was so sweet and unbelievably hot. Once ready, we climbed back into his bed.
He leaned into me, kissing me softly on the lips. It was playful at first, but the kisses grew more intense as our bodies began to grind into each other. When he pulled away just slightly, I was ready to grab him by the shirt and beg for more.
His hands crept under my shirt and circled my waist. “Hi,” he said.
“Hi. Something I can help you with?”
“Perhaps. You see, I’ve been waiting entirely too long to do something, and now that you’re lying here in my bed, I don’t think it’s fair of you not to let me do it.” He cocked his eyebrows up.
“And what would that be?” I asked.
His fingertips, along with his right hand, delicately traveled down my side, stopped at my waist. He urged my body to the side slightly before turning his attention to my left hip.
“This,” he said, rubbing his thumb over my little heart tattoo. “I’ve wanted my tongue all over this since that first night in the hot tub.”
Without waiting for a response from me, he lowered his head and used the tip of his tongue to trace his way around the heart. I watched him lick, suck, and nibble his way around the entire tattoo, and when he was finished, I wasn’t sure what was hotter—the feel of his tongue on my skin or the fact he thought to do so in the first place.
He looked up at me. “Tired?” he asked.
“Depends on why you’re asking,” I said, winking.
He rolled me onto my back before he followed, looking down at me. “I could be asking for several reasons.”
“Is that so?”
“Mmm-hmm,” he said as the corners of his mouth turned up into a smile.
“Definitely not tired even though it’s been a roller coaster of a day,” I said, running my hands through his hair. I twirled my fingers across the smooth, curled edges.
“Do you like roller coasters?”
“Sometimes,” I said, turning my head to look at him. “It depends on the ride and how you feel when it’s over.”
He nodded, but concern was etched across his face. “How did you feel about this last one?” he asked hesitantly.
“It was the best I ever had. I can’t wait to ride it again. Over and over again.”