Finally, I took a slow, deliberate step toward her, my footsteps swallowed by the carpet, watching the way her spine straightened, like she was bracing for something.
“Where do you think you’re going?” My voice came out rougher than I intended. The idea of her leaving, walking out of this room, felt… wrong.
“I didn’t want to overstay my welcome,” she murmured, her gaze flickering to the door, though she made no move toward it.
I snorted, stepping closer. “Overstay? That’s ridiculous.” My tone dropped lower, an edge of possession bleeding into the words. “You’re not leaving here thinking this is a one-and-done,Dubois. I’m not finished with you.”
She didn’t speak, and I didn’t push. Instead, I crossed the space between us in two strides, my fingers brushing her arm, her body stiffening under the touch. “Stay,” I murmured, the word more a command than a request. “You don’t run from this—not from me.”
She looked tentative, maybe a little afraid. Of what, I wasn’t sure, but I intended to find out. Acting out of instinct, in a desperate attempt to keep her here—I grabbed the neckline of her tank top and yanked—because if her clothes were ruined, maybe she wouldn't leave. The fabric tore with a satisfying sound. She gasped, swatting my hands away.
“Callum! What the fuck?”
“You’re overthinking again. You agreed you wouldn’t do that tonight.”
Aurélielaughed bitterly, glancing down at her tattered shirt that was now backfiring on me as it exposed her tan, toned stomach and soft pink bra cupping breasts that had visible bite marks from our moment of reckless abandon.
As if she didn’t already have her name tattooed on my fucking soul.
Her hair was wild. I’d never seen it like that. Loose and tangled, the ends curling slightly from where my fingers had been in it.
Her lipstick had long since worn off, but her mouth was still pink, still swollen from me.
And her body?
Fucking hell.
The bite marks I’d left on her skin, the faint red streaks my nails had raked down her hips—I wanted to memorize them. I wanted to sink my teeth into her all over again just to watch them bloom darker.
That’s fucked up, Fraser.
Yeah, I knew it was, but I didn’t fucking care. She liked it as much as I did, and the thought made me feral. If I touched her again, she wouldn’t be leaving this room tonight. And that wasn’t part of the plan.
Except—when had there ever been a fucking plan?
Which wasexactlymy dilemma. She had completely fucked my life up in the best way.
“Right. Well, everyone knowsCallumFraser doesn’t hook up more than once. The fact I made it to two is probably a miracle, so I’d rather exit gracefully than be rejected.”
My eyebrows rose, and a slow grin spread across my face. “Really? Who said that?”
She grimaced. “The pit chasers. The entire fucking paddock.”
“And what makes you think you’re anything like them?”
She lifted her chin defiantly. “Because it’s true, isn’t it? That’s the reputation you’ve built,Callum. You’re the notorious ladies’ man, the one who leaves a trail of broken hearts behind him. The unattainable prize, the conquest no one can hold on to.”
God, I could listen to her talk all day. Even if harsh truth struck a nerve.
She was right, of course. It was easier to live up to the reputation than to let anyone get too close. It protected me—kept the past tucked away where it belonged. ButAuréliehad slipped past my defenses, and I was too far gone to stop her. All of it left me reeling.
She thought I was just another playboy.
That was the version of me the world knew. The version I let them believe because it was easier. But if she knew the truth? If she knew that she’d been on my radar long before she should’ve been…
No. That was too much. That was something I wasn’t ready to give her. Not yet.
Instead, I did what I always did. I doubled down, and because I couldn’t tell her the real truth, I gave her a different one.
