“She’s fine,” Callum growls. “Don’t call again.”
Then he hangs up.
“Callum!” I snap. “You can’t just?—”
“He doesn’t get to check on you,” he says, jaw hard. “You’re not his to check on. You’re mine. And he freaks me the fuck out. There’s something genuinely creepy about him.”
“Am I yours?” I ask, voice rising. “You’re my fake fiancé, Callum. You can’t be mean to every man who?—”
He pulls me onto his lap before I can finish.
“I absolutely can and will be mean to every guy who thinks they have a right to be around you.” Callum glowers at me for only a moment before he must realize just how good it feels that I’m sitting on his lap.
Instantly, his lips brush my neck, soft but desperate, and I suck in a breath as I slide down, settling fully onto his lap. His hardness pressing against me makes my thighs clench.
He groans, his hands moving to my hips, pushing my dress up slightly. He grips hard, grinding my panties on his jeans.
“You saw what I did to your brother for speaking to you in a way I didn’t like. Imagine what I’d do to someone who hasn’t been my best friend for a decade.”
I cup his face, tilting it so I can study him.
“What are you looking for, bambi?” he whispers.
“Any trace that will tell me this is fake.” I swallow. “I don’t see it. All I see is a guy who has always been around to protect me when no one else has. And I want to know why. You’ve never made a move on me, but you’ve always been there when I?—”
His dick jerks under me, and a soft sound escapes me when his fingers tighten, digging into my hips.
Because he doesn’t answer me, I continue, “Even if my car broke down, you were always there to pick me up or fix my flat tire.”
He looks away, and I gently guide his face back.
“Is any of this real for you?”
He nods slowly and bites his lip, exhaling hard. “It’s always been real, Lilac. No one is good enough for you. Especially not some guy your parents took in because I killed my own?—”
I kiss him before he can finish.
“He wasn’t a father to you,” I whisper. “He was horrendous. And you did what you had to do. If you hadn’t killed him, he would have killed you.” I rub my thumb along the scar that runs along his neck. “Hetriedto kill you.”
Callum is quiet, rubbing his hands through my hair like he’s trying to hold himself back from doing whatever is bouncing around through his brain. “What changed?” I ask. “Why now?”
He exhales, voice hoarse. “You needed me. I need you. And I’m not strong enough to keep my hands off you any longer.”
I pull the top of my dress down over my breasts, acknowledging that he told me it’s something he likes doing to me.
“Then don’t,” I whisper. “I want your hands on me, Callum.”
He stares at me like I’ve knocked the breath from his lungs. Then he shakes his head once, firm. “Not like this.”
I take his hand and place it on my bare breasts, feeling the tremble in his fingers as his palm meets my skin. “Show me how long you’ve wanted me, Callum. I want to know every thought you’ve ever had about us.”
“I can show you,” Callum says, his lips brushing my shoulder. Then he moves lower to the dip beneath my collarbone, to the curve of my breast without touching it, to the edge of my ribs. Each kiss feels like a vow.
“You don’t know what you do to me, bambi,” he murmurs. “You changed everything. And now I don’t care if it ruins me.”
I shift on his lap and feel the way he jerks beneath me. His jaw tightens like he’s ashamed of it, like he’s trying to hide how easily I undo him.
“I didn’t know I could affect you like this,” I breathe. “I love it.”
