It was near eleven when Vivian watched Callum climb through the hatch.
She had no idea what to expect tonight, but despite her nerves, she was determined to ask him to make her come.
Taking a breath to steel her nerves, she waited for him to stand.
His smile was bright, and he took a deep breath, almost like he was breathing her in, even though he was across the room. He held up a backpack. “How about a movie tonight?”
She tilted her head. “What movie?”
“You said you like event planning, so I was thinking, The Wedding Planner. Have you seen it?”
She shook her head.
“It’s a romantic comedy with Matthew McConaughey and J.Lo. Sound okay?”
Her lips pursed in amusement. He wanted to watch a rom-com with her? “Are you okay with that? Wouldn’t you rather watch an action flick?”
“Honestly, yeah.” His grin was light. “I’m more of an action flick guy, but I’m good with this. Besides, if we get bored, it’s the perfect excuse to fool around a bit.”
Her eyebrows rose, and she felt her cheeks heat. “Okay.” The word came out as a squeak, rather than the seductive plea she’d been hoping for. Wincing, she glanced down.
He stepped closer. “We don’t have to do that.”
Vivian’s gaze darted up to his. He looked concerned. “No, no!” She waved her hands. “It’s not that. Not at all.”
The concern melted into a knowing smile. “Before I set this up, though, I thought we could get to know each other a bit better.”
“Okay.”
Callum sat on the bed and patted it.
Keeping a few feet between them, Vivian sat, watching him.
Was he going to kiss her now? Was getting to know each other code for sex?
“Do you have any questions for me?”
Vivian narrowed her eyes. “What kind of questions?”
“Like,” Callum stared off as he thought, “jobs, friends, taste in music. Anything.”
“Oh.” Vivian chewed her lip. “I know you’re Elliot’s cousin, but that’s about it. You’re American?”
“Yeah. I’m from Maine. My mom is from here, though. She and Elliot’s mom are sisters. When my dad mated my mom, he asked her to move to the States where he was from. He was beta of our pack until he and Drew’s dad retired a few years ago, and Drew and I took over the pack.”
Vivian’s brows rose. “You’re pack beta?”
Pride beamed from his smile. “Yes. Drew is my best friend and my alpha. Our pack is small though, nothing like this pack. There’s maybe fifty of us. Would you ever consider moving there?”
“Moving to Maine?”
“Yeah.”
“I never thought about it before, but sure.” She shrugged. “Why not?”
“Really? That simple?”
Vivian laughed. “Yeah. Wherever you want to go is fine.”
Callum frowned. “That’s not what I mean. Not what I want.”
Now Vivian scowled. “You don’t want me to move to Maine?”
“I do,” he clarified, “but I want you to want to move.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Are you just placating me? You’ll move wherever I want you to?”
“Yes.”
He set the backpack between his feet and pinched his brow. His sigh was heavy. “You’ll move wherever I tell you to move because it’s what I want? Because you’ve been conditioned to do whatever I want?”
“Oh.” Vivian sat up straight. “Sorry.”
He glanced over. She was expecting him to be mad, instead he was smiling kindly at her. “Let’s go at this differently. Two days ago, where did you see yourself in five years?”
“I didn’t really have a plan.” Surviving? Did she dare tell him that?
“Okay. If you could do anything you want. No limits. No questions asked. What would you do?”
“I like event planning. Maybe take some courses in that?” she shrugged.
“Okay.” Callum straightened. “Do you think you’d want to do that in Maine? Online courses or in-person?”
“In-person might be kind of cool.”
“We’ll look for some online and see what Maine has to offer.” He unzipped his bag and pulled out a laptop. “What about family? I think I met your mom on Monday.”
“You did?”
He nodded. “I was at the garden site.”
“Oh, yes. She’s part of the horticultural society. She likes flowers much better than planning events.” Vivian grinned.
“I’ll admit, I’m not one hundred percent sure which one she was, but I know she was there. I got a whiff of you that day. Rafe and I think it came from your mom. And I’ve met your dad. I went to a morning meeting that same day. But what about siblings?”
“I have an older brother. You?”
“One sister. Younger.”
“Is she nice?”
The smile that lit up his face returned. “She’s going to love you. She’s strong and independent. Fredrica works for the same company as me, but she does all our virtual stuff and web design.”
“That’s neat. I’m not very great on a computer. I can type and that’s about it.” Vivian watched as Callum pulled over a table and set the laptop on it. “What company is it?”
“I’m the vice president of Master’s Grilling. Drew owns a BBQ manufacturing plant.”
“Really?”
The more he talked about Maine, the more she could envision it. Living down there with him. Being friends with his friends. Having shopping dates with his sister.
She’d never had many close female friends, but maybe a smaller pack would give her some new opportunities.
Touching his arm, she drew his attention away from the screen. “I’d love to visit Maine with you.” She blushed, trying to figure out how best to please him by pleasing herself. “Then if it’s right for us, we could stay?”
He put his hand over hers. “If it’s right for us.”
His smile warmed her.
“How about this movie?” he asked, pulling away from her, and grabbing a bag of M&Ms out of his backpack. “I brought movie snacks too.”
When he dropped the candy on the table, he turned to set up the movie. Vivian gathered her courage and asked the question that had been burning in her soul. “Can you tell me more about that pleasure you mentioned last night?”
Callum paused, which was a shame. She’d been watching the way his shoulders moved as he bent to fiddle with his laptop. He glanced at her, a knowing smile on his face. “Feeling a little needy, Vivian?”
She fought not to rub her legs together. “I’m just curious.”
“Really?” His gaze dropped. “Because your nipples tell me you’re lying.”
Looking down, she gasped and covered herself. Sure enough, her nipples were erect. The smell of his desire hit her nostrils, sending a shot of lust straight through her.
“So does that sweet smell you’re trying to entice me with,” he added.
“I’m not!” She objected. “What smell?”
He straightened and closed the gap between them, stopping so his chest was mere inches from hers. With his fingers, he lifted her chin. “The smell of your pussy. I could scent it before I came up here. I can smell it now.”
She chewed her lower lip and pleaded with her gaze, but she didn’t know how to ask for what she needed. She knew the basics, but had no clue how to get him to touch her.
“Tell me, my sweet virgin mate,” his voice was soft, his grip on her chin firm but gentle, “have you been kissed before?”
“I have.”
His touch fell away from her face. The tension between them no longer pulsing.
“I mean, I think so.”
Frowning, he went back to the computer. “What do you mean, you think so?”
“Well, it was Rafe. And I was only twelve, and he’s, well, he’s gay.”
“So?” He pointed to the backpack he’d brought. “Can you grab the other movie snacks from in there?”
“I only did it because they were picking on him again. They dared him to kiss me. Jessop and some of his friends were teasing him. Bullying him. They said awful things, and I happened to walk by. They dared him to kiss me.”
“So he kissed you to prove something to them?”
“No. I kissed him.” It was still embarrassing to recall. “After it was over, he thanked me but put his arm around me and told them off. Said right then and there that he liked guys and didn’t care what they all thought.”
She didn’t tell him she’d used it as an excuse to kiss him. Didn’t tell Callum she’d pined for Rafe for years, and that naively she’d hoped her father would hear about the kiss and demand they settle on an arranged mating. She had secretly hoped Rafe would have saved her from a future of the forced mating her father always rambled on about when he came home drunk.
But now she didn’t have to worry about those things.
“That makes more sense.”
“It does?” she wondered, still staring at him.
“Yeah, Rafe doesn’t seem like the kind of man that hides who he is or what he wants.”
“No, I guess not.” Vivian returned to the task he’d assigned her and picked up his bag from the floor. With the zipper opened halfway, she turned and nearly ran into Callum.
Startled, she dropped the bag. Her gasp of surprise died quickly when his hand sunk beneath her hair and cupped her nape. Gazes locked, he walked her backward until she bumped into the wall.
Heart pounding, she knew this was it.
His lips descended, swooping down on hers. The pressure against her mouth was firm, and within seconds he’d kissed her lips apart and slid his tongue between them.
Oh my God, did he ever taste good.
Better than anything she’d ever tasted. She moaned into his mouth, greedily lapping up every stroke, every delicious movement. He thrilled her when he groaned and gathered her closer, pushing his body against her.
The contact was everything.
Leaving her mouth, he kissed a trail down her jaw and nibbled on her neck. She tilted her head to the side, jerking so her hair would fall away, giving him more space. He slid one thick thigh between her legs, pressing against her core.
“I’m also the kind of man who doesn’t hide what he wants, and right now, what I want is to make you come.”
His mouth consumed hers once more, stealing her breath, feeding her need. Groaning, she clung to his shoulders, feeling those hard muscles beneath her fingers as he held her still for his kiss.
When she began rubbing her sex against his thigh, he abandoned her mouth, kissing a trail across her jaw.
Teeth gently closed around her earlobe, making her gasp. “Callum.”
She felt his smile against her skin, then his low groan when his palm came up to cradle her breast.
Dropping her head back against the wood, she let the sensations swallow her, whimpering when his fingers teased her nipple through her bra and shirt.
He pinched the fabric. “I’m taking this off.”
“Yes.”
Seconds later, the shirt was gone and his hands were at her back, fiddling with the bra hooks until they came loose. He dragged the straps down her shoulders.
At first, she was nervous, even though he’d seen her body just last night, but this was different. It was not mechanical and mandatory. This was a pleasure.
When the bra lay on the floor, she glanced at Callum as he stared down at her bare breasts. She’d always assumed they were average. Not too small, not too big, and just there to be stuffed into a bra. But right now, the tips were so pointed they ached.
Callum didn’t touch. His chest rising and falling.
The way his gaze consumed her made her feel sexual in a way she never had before.
He grasped her hips and hoisted her upward, pinning her to the wall with his body. She spread her legs to allow his hips to settle between them, then his lips closed over her right nipple. Arching her back, she pressed her chest out, eager for everything he was going to give her.
Soon, she was grinding her pelvis against him, desperate for more.
He switched, his mouth moving hungrily to her other breast as his fingers pulled at her wet nipple.
“Callum!” she cried, the sensations in her building.
Lowering her so her feet rested on the floor once more, his voice was husky when he asked, “Have you ever come before?”
“What?”
His question had penetrated the fog of lust.
“Um…” Licking her lips drew his attention there. “I tried last night, and it didn’t…I couldn’t.”
“You’re so pretty when you blush.”
His words just made her flush more. Curse of the redhead.
His lips came down over hers again, kissing them apart and thoroughly ravishing her.
Soon his hand trailed downward, the knuckles brushing against her hips, and running a teasing path along the waist of her jogging pants. When his palm slid lower, beneath the material, she couldn’t help the way she arched against him, eager for more.
When he cupped her mound, he whispered against her cheek, “Is this red too?”
Nodding, she swallowed before attempting to force words from her throat. “Yes. But darker.”
“One day soon, I’ll see, but for now, is this okay?”
Her chin moved up and down. “Please.”
“Don’t worry, sunshine, I’m going to take good care of you.” His fingers trailed further, slipping through her wetness. “Did you touch this sweet little pussy last night? Did you pretend it was me?”
“Yes.” Closing her eyes, she felt her hips roll.
The tip of one finger bumped her clit.
She gasped, and he did it again.
“Right there, huh?”
This time she couldn’t answer, instead she nodded once.
He continued to strum her gently with long, measured strokes until she was damn near breathless. Something inside her was building, much like it had last night, when she’d tried to get herself to orgasm, and the closer she got, the harder she prayed he wouldn’t stop.
She jumped when he pinched her clit between two fingers.
He smiled against her skin. “So sensitive.”
Lower, his fingers traveled until he circled her entrance, before pushing a single finger in with such deliberate, unrushed ease, she wanted to scream. Instead, a whimper slipped out.
His forehead rolled against the wall next to her shoulder, as he let out a guttural groan that her body responded to on a primal level.
“You’re so fucking tight, and you’ve kept this pussy safe and warm just for me.”
“Yes,” she moaned, her hips bucking.
“For me.”
She felt his gaze on her and looked at him. His eyes were dark and intense, heated and smoldering. Raising her hand, she cupped his cheek. “For you.”
As though her words unleashed him, he pounced, his kiss crushing her lips as his finger drove in deeper.
For moments they stayed like that, lips locked, his finger working slowly, but steadily inside her, creating a rhythm that had her rocking and grinding against his hand.
Her fingers sunk into his hair, holding his head in place for her open-mouthed kiss.
Something was building within her.
When he pulled his mouth from hers, he asked, “How about a second?”
Second what? She hadn’t come yet, had she?
Fuck, I’m clueless.
“Second what?”
The left side of his lips turned up, and his eyes sparkled with humor. “Finger. How about a second finger, sunrise?”
“Uh,” she wasn’t entirely sure of his meaning, until on the next stroke, he pushed a second finger inside her. “Oh! Yes. Yes. Yes.”
Callum chuckled before closing his lips over her nipple.
Her body tightened. The muscles in her legs bunching as she grew closer to the edge. If he stopped, she might just clobber him, but luckily for her, he casually worked another finger in as he switched to her other nipple.
“Fuck, I want you so badly,” Callum said, nuzzling her breast.
When he pushed something hard, and solid against her leg, Vivian almost lost her control. His erection made her mouth water.
As a shifter, she’d seen lots of penises. You couldn’t go on hunts and runs with the pack without expecting there to be nudity. It was simply a common occurrence for their kind.
But she’d never touched one.
In her ear he whispered, “You’re soaking my hand, did you know that? And it’s so fucking hot.” His lips brushed the slope of her neck. “You’re so fucking hot.”
She burst, fracturing there between the wall and his rock-hard body, whimpering and convulsing, panting and clenching.
“That’s my girl, my sweet sunbeam.” His kisses grew softer, and when she’d finished, he withdrew his fingers and licked her juices from them.
In awe, she watched, not expecting it to be so sexy.
“Thank you,” he said, but when he kissed her cheek and stepped away, she was confused.
His gaze tracked down her before he turned toward the computer once more.
“What about you?”
He looked over, one brow raised in question.
“Shouldn’t I…” she trailed off, motioning to his body.
He shook his head. “No. Tonight is for you.”
“But–”
Coming closer, Callum took her hand and placed a kiss to the back of it. “Vivian, this is all new to you. I want to ease you into it. I want us to learn what you like, together, and I want you to be comfortable and happy.”
Understanding, she nodded. “I am.”
She felt limp and loopy and as though her insides were made of goo.
“I want you to look back on our mating, and our first times together and be happy. I don’t want to rush you. It’s important to me.”
Looking him over, she was both relieved and disappointed. As much as she wanted to see all of him, to touch and taste him, she had no experience with any of it. What if she couldn’t please him?
“Okay.” Bending to grab her bra, Callum stopped her.
He pulled off his sweater, revealing a light blue T-shirt that made his eyes pop. “Here, wear this.”
She pulled it on and inhaled. Callum.
They settled on the bed and began the film, a bag of M&Ms and one of cheesy popcorn between them.
While it was slow, in the way that twenty-year-old movies were, it was cute and fun. At points, Callum held her hand and the simple gesture made her feel cherished.
She may have missed out on dating and all that came with it, but Callum had been worth the wait.
Halfway through the film, Callum suggested they lay on the bed. He paused the movie while they adjusted, and soon they were both reclining on their sides. His body was curled around hers, connected at so many points, it distracted her from focusing on the love story before her.
It must have distracted Callum too, because it didn’t take long before his lips found her neck and kissed a path along her skin.
Shortly after, he pulled up the sweater and found her bare breasts. When she was lying flat, her body squirming, he kissed her stomach, circling her navel with light brushes, licks, and nibbles.
He glanced up, his blond head halfway down her body as he rolled her pants down over her hips. “It would be a shame if your first sexual experience ended with only one climax, don’t you think?”
His eyes sparkled.
She didn’t answer, but he continued his work, kissing along her body, her hips, her thighs, until she was wiggling. When she spread her legs, he grinned at her before settling between them.
The rest of the movie was lost to them, as he proceeded to use his tongue and fingers to bring her to not one, but two more orgasms.
After wiping his face on the sweater she still had wrapped around her body, he laid next to her and pulled her into his body, spooning her.
The credits and music continued to play, but Vivian fell asleep in the arms of her mate and lover.