When she finally slowed, her breath ragged, she leaned close, lips brushing my ear.
“This was just the beginning,” she whispered. “The next time, you’ll both be on your knees pleasing me.”
The room was heavy with the smell of sweat and sex, the sound of our ragged breathing the only thing filling the silence. Calla stayed on top of me for a moment, her chest rising and falling against mine, her body still pulsing faintly around me like she wanted me to remember exactly where I’d been.
Then, just as quickly as she broke me down, she softened.
Her fingers traced lightly over the raw crescent marks she’d carved into my chest, soothing over the sting. She eased her weight off me, settling against my side, her hand splayed over my heart as if to remind me it was still beating.
“Breathe, baby,” she murmured, her voice low, steady. Not a command this time. A balm.
The term of endearment tugged at my heartstrings. Idragged in air slowly, my body shaky, but her presence anchored me. Every time she pulled me apart, she stitched me back together. That was the fucked up beauty of her.
She pressed a kiss just under my jaw, soft, lingering. “Always such a good boy, giving me everything.”
My throat tightened, words caught between shame and relief. “You… you wreck me, Calla.”
Her lips curved against my skin. “And you love it here, that’s why you keep coming back for more.”
I laughed weakly, running a hand through my damp hair. “You’re not wrong.”
We lay there in the quiet, her body warm against mine, and I realized how much I craved this—the stillness after the storm. The way she didn’t leave me in pieces but helped gather the shards.
After a while, she sat up, fixing her skirt, slipping effortlessly back into the armor of CEO elegance. It was always jarring to watch—the transition from the woman who rode me like she wanted to destroy me to the one who could walk into any boardroom and command it.
“We’ve got plans tonight,” she said matter-of-factly, smoothing her hair. “CJ and Calil want to meet at Olive & Oak. Live music, dinner.”
“Yeah, Knox called me earlier this week, letting me know he had a new band debuting and Dana’s fall wine selections were hitting the menu,” I rebutted as I rubbed my eyes, still trying to reel myself back in. “Are we acting like you still can’t stand me, or are you ready to be seen together like that?”
She glanced down at me with that knowing smirk. “I’m…we’re… you’re mine,” she stammered slightly, the chink in her armor present.
I groaned, dragging myself upright, already imagining the stares when we walked in together, comfortable, familiar. “Don’t expect me to eat much. After this,” I gestured between us, “I don’t know if I’ve got the appetite.”
“Oh, you’ll have an appetite,” she teased. “Just not for food.”
We got cleaned up, her presence filling every inch of my house even as she moved with quiet grace. By the time we left, I’d pieced myself back together enough to slip behind the wheel, though the rawness lingered in my chest.
Rarely was Olive & Oak not busy, but Fridays were especially packed with the after-work crowd ready for the weekend. When we arrived, the low lights, clinking glasses, and the whispers of conversation spilling over a live saxophone on stage made for the perfect place for people to come and wind down after a long week.
I was starting to settle into the rhythm when I froze.
Across the room, in a corner booth, sat Amiyah. Laughing, curls splayed across her back beneath a fedora, dimples deepening. I was stuck; she looked as though she’d walked off a photo shoot and into dinner. Beside her, Lena, her best friend, aka my sister-in-law’s baby sister, whom she recently connected with, if I remembered correctly. The sight of her hit me in the gut, hard.
Calla followed my gaze, her lips curving like she’d been waiting for this moment.
“Well,” she murmured, sliding her hand in mine. “Isn’t this… convenient.”
The hum of live music wrapped around the restaurantlike smoke, the sax player on stage pouring something low and sultry into the air. Olive & Oak always had that effect, polished, intimate, like every corner was lit for secrets.
My dick immediately stirred, already betraying me in my slacks. Calla noticed, of course, she did. She leaned in, her voice low, taunting, “See what I mean? She’s practically begging for us with that smile.”
I swallowed hard, tearing my eyes away before I gave myself away too fast. But it was useless. Every time I looked back, Amiyah’s gaze flicked toward me, curious and hesitant, as if she felt the pull too but didn’t know where to place it.
When Calla and I finally crossed the room to join CJ and Calil, their eyes ballooned at the sight of us holding hands.
“You finally let him wear you down, huh?” CJ smirked.
“Nigga been begging and pleading long enough,” Calil quipped, as I chuckled.
