Her hands at his pants startled him back to the present. He held perfectly still as she unbuttoned the jeans and carefully dragged the zipper down. Her knuckles brushed his cock, and it took every ounce of control he possessed not to reach for her then and there. It had been hard enough to restrain himself when he’d been fully clothed and she still had her dress on. With them both naked, he didn’t like his chances of sticking to his guns.
No, damn it. He wanted to do right by her, and he fucking would. He’d decided he wanted this thing with Callie to work, really work. He liked her, wanted her, even respected her. But he didn’t trust her…yet. So right now it was all or nothing.
Easier said than done, though.
Especially as Callie worked his jeans down his legs, and he helped her out by stepping out of them. Her hands traveled over his skin as she rose, pausing over this scar and that—he had a few—until she was standing before him again. He raised his eyebrows. “Do I meet your inspection?”
“You’ll do.” Her smile warmed him in ways he wasn’t prepared for, because this serious woman was teasing him. It was a side of her he’d only gotten hints of up to this point, and he found himself wanting more.
“Are you sure? I think I have an upgraded model stashed in a closet around here somewhere.”
She laughed, the sound light and free, and went up on her tiptoes to kiss him. The move had the entire front of her body pressed against his, the first time with absolutely nothing between them. He ran his hands over her, marveling at how perfect she was, soft and full and seemingly made for him. Before he could get carried away, he dipped down, swooping her into his arms with a move that had another of her infectious laughs slipping free.
He decided that he could spend his life trying to tease that sound from her.
He hadn’t forgotten that she came here specifically for what he could offer her physically, but he was willing to work with whatever he had to in order to keep her coming back for more. If he pushed too hard elsewhere, she might shut him out, and that was unforgivable.
So he’d bide his time and help her forget for a while whatever demons dogged her heels.
Eventually she’d open up to him. Maybe he’d go so far as to return the favor—though he doubted she really wanted to hear him bitch about his shitty father.
He used his foot to nudge open the door into his bedroom. It wasn’t anything particularly fancy, though the sheets were a high thread count and clean. The king-sized bed took up most of the space, barely leaving room for a single nightstand and a closet that was pathetically empty. A signal that he didn’t spend nearly as much time here as he’d like to—most of his valued possessions were in his room in the family home.
He laid Callie out on the bed, suddenly as desperate to stop thinking as she seemed to be. There were worse solutions than getting lost in the arms of a beautiful woman whom he was going to marry. He kissed her as he settled next to her, propping himself up on his elbow. The position gave him the freedom to touch her again, and he wasted no time cupping first one breast and then the other, lightly pinching her nipples until she writhed for him. Only then did he slide down her stomach to cup her between her legs. She was wet and ready for him, and he groaned against her mouth as he pushed a single finger into her. He pumped gently, gauging her reaction.
She dug her fingers into his hair and kissed him harder, her tongue thrusting into his mouth as she moaned. Like that, do you? I’m just getting started, angel. He spread her wetness around, circling her clit a few times like he’d learned she liked it, and then pushed two fingers into her. While he worked her with his fingers, he kissed down her jawline to her neck and then claimed one nipple.
“Oh God.” Her grip on his hair was damn near painful, but he relished the feeling of her losing control around him. For a woman would seemed to be buttoned up in day-to-day life, she was so fucking responsive and unfettered once he got his hands on her. It was