“It’s better than nice,” I reply. “I just didn’t expect it.”
“They like you,” he says simply, kisses my cheek and joins his family just as the opening credits of the show begin.
The room grows quiet as we watch, and I’m thankful The Odyssey is the first bar showcased in the show because waiting until the end would be pure torture.
“Lookin’ good, Callie!” Rhys calls out to me when I first appear on camera, and the other boys whistle and cat-call.
“I’ll break your fingers,” Declan says in that smooth way he has, as if he was saying the weather sure is nice.
“You should have let Charly do your makeup, Dec,” Eli says when it’s Declan’s turn on the screen. “You might have looked prettier.”
“Boys,” their mama says sternly, and all three of them pout as if they’re tiny children again, making me laugh.
“You wore the shoes!” Charly exclaims.
“Of course,” I reply. “I love those shoes.”
When our segment is over, which feels like it was three seconds and three hours all at once, we all applaud and cheer. I’m happy with the results. They made the bar look hip, fun and classy, and that’s exactly the atmosphere I’m looking for.
Having Adam with me, and Declan’s family too, is just icing on the cake.
***
“Everyone’s gone,” Declan says after coming back in from walking his family to their cars. “And they had fun.”
“Me too.” I grin, and catch a look that passes between Declan and Adam.
“Hey, Callie, I think there’s something on the roof that needs your attention,” Adam says.
“The roof? The roof is closed.”
“Well, the movement sensors went off, so you should go see what’s up.”
I frown and cock my hip, my hand braced on it. “You’re too chicken shit to go up to the roof, so you’re sending a musician and his girlfriend to check it out?”
“Hey, I may be a musician, but I can kick serious ass when I have to,” Declan says.
“I can too,” I reply with a wink. “Okay, let’s check it out. I’ve told you for years, Adam, this place is haunted.”
We climb the stairs, and I find nothing out of place in the bar area, and then when I step out onto the terrace, I stop cold.
One of the firepits is lit, and on the table is a spread of food from my favorite restaurant.
The Highland Tavern.
“Declan,” I breathe and rush to the table. “How?”
“I have resources,” he says with a smile. “I also have cupcakes from Nic’s shop in Seattle.”
I turn and simply look at him, my arms hanging limply at my sides. He did this for me. This took planning and work, and he did it for me.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He takes my hand and kisses my knuckles. “Let’s eat before it gets cold.”
“It’s hot?” I grab a burger and bite into heaven. “Oh, my God.”
“Of course it’s hot,” he replies with a smirk. “You can’t eat cold burgers.”
“Seriously, this is ridiculous,” I say around a huge bite of burger.
“That it’s hot?”
“No. Yes.” I laugh. “It’s ridiculous that you had this flown in.”
“You wanted it.” He shrugs as if it’s no big deal and takes a bite of his own burger. “Wow. That’s amazing.”
“Told you.”
“I’ll have this flown in every week,” he says, reaching for a tot.
“That’s excessive,” I reply with a laugh.
“No, I think it’s necessary.”
We fall into a comfortable silence as we munch on our food, and when all that’s left is oily wrappers, he pulls me to him and snuggles me close.
“Delicious,” I say with a contented sigh.
“Yes, you are,” he murmurs while nibbling on my neck.
“The food.”
“That too.”
“I want cupcakes.”
He smiles, reaches for a box on the floor and hands it to me. It’s a plain white gift box with a red ribbon wrapped around it.
Inside are a dozen cupcakes, all different flavors, and a note.
“Would Nic send a note?” I ask, but Declan just shrugs. He’s no help.
Calliope:
I’m so proud of you. Tonight should be special. You’ve earned it. Thank you for spending it with me.
Thank you for being mine.
Yours,
Declan
Oh my.
“Declan, I—”
I slip the note back in the envelope and lay it on the table.
“You what?”
Tell him you love him! Now’s the best time.
But I’m such a damn wimp.
“Tonight wouldn’t have been half as special without you. And not just because of all of this, which I love, but because when I’m with you—”
He kisses my hand and squeezes it three times. “When you’re with me?”
“I just feel better. I feel more.” His eyes widen and then darken. “Emotions are brighter, and that’s the only way I can describe it.”
“I think that’s a beautiful way to describe it,” he whispers before he pulls me in and kisses the hell out of me. “You are more, Callie. We’re more.”
I nod and brush my fingertips down his cheek, his neck. “I like it.”
A slow smile spreads over his sexy face. “I like it too.”
Chapter Fourteen
~Declan~
I wake up needing her. I’m not jolted awake out of a dream, or because of a noise in the house.
It’s because I need her, and I’m not only hard as stone, but I’m sweaty with it.
I roll over. The moon is shining in the window, casting a blue glow over the bed, and there she is, with her back to me, curled up in a ball, sleeping peacefully. Her arm is over the covers, the bright colors of her ink perfectly lit up by the moon.
I became addicted to the pain.
That there was ever a time in her life that she needed the pain as an outlet for her feelings pulls a sorrow, a longing, from so deep inside me it almost renders me breathless. And the fact that she pulled herself together and became what she is now makes me burst with pride.
I reach over and trace the ink with the pad of my forefinger, smiling when she lets out a soft moan. Her noises are the best music I’ve ever heard. The way she breathes when I’m inside her, the way her muscles tighten around my cock, around my body.
I’ve never been with anyone like her, and I know I never will be again. She’s mine. Callie is it for me, and I know it’s going to take patience while she comes around to the idea, but she’ll get there.
I’m nothing if not patient. Some would call me too laid back, or even lazy, but the truth is, I just know how to bide my time.
I smile as she leans back into my touch, still sound asleep. The connection we have can’t be explained with words. It just exists, like electricity, or the moving of the tides by that bright moon.
God knows I feel both the energy and the pull of her, even when we’re not together.
I let my hand drift around to her chest and gently roll her already hard nipple through my fingers, then slide down her flat stomach and firmly urge her onto her back so I can part her legs, brushing my knuckles over the soft flesh of her thighs.
“Mmm,” she moans and cracks her eyes open. “Time is it?”
“No idea,” I whisper and kiss her belly as I work my way down. She threads her fingers through my hair, over and over again, with a sweet touch, and when I open her center to me and place a deep kiss over her pussy, those fingers clench in my hair, not pulling me closer but holding on while the first jolt of pleasure bursts through her.
“Oh my,” she breathes, then catches her breath again when my lips close over her clit and suck, not hard, but in a persistent rhythm. My face is rocking against her, and I can’t get enough of her. I love the way she tastes, her scent, all
of it. I could camp out here all night.
But I need her. I need to be inside her, to claim her. It’s primal, and 100% male ego, and I don’t fucking care.
“Love you,” she whispers, just as I push two fingers inside her, and my world just tilted on its axis.
“Love you too,” I reply softly, but she’s whimpering, her lip caught between her teeth, already in that incredible place she goes when the pleasure takes over. It’s the damnedest thing to watch.
I kiss both her thighs, her flat stomach, then over to her side. Sex with Callie is usually fierce and passionate, fast, hard, maybe a little dirty. But tonight I want to savor, enjoy.
Love.
My body covers hers, her legs are hitched around my hips, and her arms are wrapped around my back. Her clean face is sleepy and happy, and as I slip inside her, we both sigh at how damn good it feels.
“It’s always different,” she murmurs. “Just when I think I know exactly how you’ll feel, you surprise me.”
I grin, seated inside her to the hilt, and kiss her neck, then drag my lips up to her earlobe. “I want to keep surprising you.”
She cups my cheek and guides my lips to hers, and for several long minutes, I move at a slow, leisurely pace in and out of her while I make love to her mouth. I link my fingers with hers, squeeze, and pin her hand over her head, using it as leverage as I pick up the pace, just a bit, adding a little more force to each thrust.
Not to change the tone of the moment, but to kick up her own need just a notch because I don’t know how much longer I’m going to last. Jesus, she’s sweet. Tight.
Mine.
“Love the way you feel,” she whispers and grabs my ass with her free hand, pulling me against her, and I can feel the tension building. Her back arches and her pussy tightens around me, making my eyes cross. “Your pubic bone hits me in just the right damn spot.”
“Callie, go over, baby.”
She cries out, then whimpers softly as she surrenders to the orgasm and pulls me over with her. We’re quiet, the room is hushed as we fall apart, then cling to each other and fall back together, catching our breath.
I brush the hair off her face and kiss her softly, then roll us to our sides, wrap her up against me and kiss her forehead.
“Sleepy,” she mumbles, and before I can reply, she’s slipped away, back into sleep.
I want this, every night.
***
Over the past year or so, my brothers, plus Ben and Rhys, have started getting together a couple times a month for a guy night. Mostly, we play pool, drink beer, and rag on each other.
It’s generally a good time, and as much as we all love our women, it’s nice to not have any estrogen around for a little while.
Not that we’d ever admit that to them.
Tonight, we’re in a dive bar a few blocks from the Quarter, playing pool and watching Monday night football. We usually gather at Ben’s, but he’s having work done on his place—mine’s not ready, and the others have that estrogen I mentioned earlier.
So, dive bar it is.
“Nine ball, corner,” Eli says and takes his shot, easily sinking the ball.
“So you’re moving into town?” I ask Beau as he watches Eli survey the table. Beau has lived on the inn property since Gabby opened, to keep an eye on things there, and to protect Gabby and Sam.
“Yeah, I’m moving into the loft next to Eli’s townhouse,” he confirms. “There’s no need for me to be out at the inn now that Rhys is there.”
“We told you a hundred times,” Rhys says and smirks when Eli misses his next shot. “We don’t mind if you stay. Your house is separate from the inn, you’re not in anyone’s way.”
“It makes sense to move into town,” Beau says. “I won’t have to commute to work anymore. The loft will do just fine until I find something else to buy.”
“Are you looking for a house?” Ben asks. “I think I saw a house about a block from me come up on the market.”
“Not yet,” Beau replies. “Although I do love the garden district.”
“How’s your house coming along?” Rhys asks me.
“It’s coming, one room at a time,” I reply with a shrug. “No hurry.”
“Declan’s never in a hurry for anything,” Eli says, but he smiles over at me with affection. It’s not a dig; it’s the truth.
I simply shrug just as my phone rings.
“This is Declan.”
“Hey, man, it’s Adam. Are you available to chat?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“No, I mean in person.”
“Is Callie okay?” I ask with a frown.
“She’s great. I’d just like to talk to you in person.”
Ben raises a brow, but I just shrug. “Sure. I’m at the Big Boy, it’s a bar in—”
“I know it. See you in ten?”
“See you then.”
I hang up and frown.
“What’s that about?” Eli asks as he takes a shot and misses, then swears a blue streak when Ben laughs at him.
“Not sure. Adam, Callie’s friend, is on his way to chat.”
“Uh oh,” Rhys says and pats my shoulder. “Good luck with that.”
“What does that mean?”
“Means he’s gonna want to have the same chat with you that we all had with Rhys last year,” Beau says.
“You guys didn’t scare me,” Rhys insists.
“You didn’t have any reason to be afraid,” Eli replies. “What did you do, Dec?”
“I didn’t do anything,” I say and cross my arms over my chest, lean back against the bar and watch Eli at the table.
“I’m glad we get to watch this,” Ben says and cracks his knuckles. “Just so you know, if he takes a swing at you, we have your back.”
“Maybe,” Beau says. “Depends on what he did.”
“I didn’t do anything,” I reply, my voice hard just as Adam walks through the door, surveys the room, then walks toward me when he sees me at the bar in the back of the place. He doesn’t look angry. His face is calm, his walk loose and relaxed.
“Doesn’t look mad,” Rhys murmurs, reading my mind.
“Hey, Adam,” I say and shake his hand. “You remember my brothers.”
“I do. Hi, everyone.” He nods at them, then turns to me. “Can we talk?”
“You bet.”
He glances at the others and then at me.
“We can talk in front of them,” I tell him. “They’re a vault, and I don’t have anything to hide.”
“Fair enough.” He sits on a stool to my right and shakes his head at the bartender when asked if he wants anything to drink. “I’d like to talk about Callie.”
“Told you,” Beau says, earning a look from me that says shut it.
“Shoot,” I say and lean against the bar, facing him.
“Look, her dad’s gone, and I’m the only man in her life that gives a fuck about her. You and I have been friends for a long time, and I like you, but I love her.” He stops and frowns, looking down at his hands, and I suddenly respect my friend more than I ever have. “You have a history, Declan.”
“He’s a man whore,” Eli says from across the room.
“Not helping,” I say mildly.
“No, he’s right,” Adam says with a chuckle. “You are. So am I, so I know it when I see it.”
“And you want to make sure that Callie isn’t just another notch in my bedpost,” I say, nodding.
“She’s better than that,” Adam says simply. “She’s better than any of us.”
“Damn,” Ben whispers. “I like him.”
“Honestly,” Eli says as he sets his cue down and walks toward us, “I’ve been wondering what’s going on there too.”
“I think we all have,” Rhys says. “I know I haven’t been in the picture for long, but even I know that you’re not a one-woman kind of guy, Dec.”
I frown, suddenly ashamed of myself for the first time in my life where women are concerned. In the past
, I always made it clear that if I was with a woman, it wasn’t going to be long term. We had fun together, and went our separate ways, no harm, no foul.
But it never occurred to me that it could have caused hurt feelings, and that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
I glance around at the guys I respect most in the world, and then let out a gusty breath. “The truth?”
“No, lie to us, moron,” Beau says and rolls his eyes.
“I love her,” I say, enjoying the way the words roll off my tongue. “Adam’s right, she’s better than any of us. She’s probably too fucking good for me, but I’m so damn in love with her, I can’t breathe.”
“Well, that’s just the sweetest thing,” the bartender says, wiping a tear from her eye, eavesdropping unapologetically.
“Adorable,” Adam agrees, but he’s not smiling. “But that doesn’t really ease my mind.”
“What do you want from me?” I ask.
“I want to know where you plan to take this. Is she fun for now and when you decide you’re not in love with her anymore you move on to the next thing?”
“I should fucking deck you for that.”
“It’s a fair question,” Ben says quietly.
“Look, Callie and I have known each other for about four minutes. It’s early, way too early to put a ring on it. Especially for Callie. She doesn’t trust easily, and she definitely doesn’t make life-changing decisions in just a few months' time.”
“You’re evading,” Adam says. “And you forget that I know her. I agree, if you dropped to one knee and pulled out a rock, she’d run screaming into the night.”
I frown, hating that he’s right.
“But,” he continues, “that doesn’t mean that you haven’t already thought about what you want.”
“I want her. All of her.” I stand and pace to the pool table, then back to Adam. “I am in love with her. Not for a month, or until she irritates me. For good. I plan to make her mine, but damn it, it’s not as easy as just deciding it and expecting her to fall in line. She has a say.”
“You’re damn right she has a say,” Adam replies, smiling now. “And you’ve told me all I need to know.”
“You’re going to make a good dad someday,” Rhys says to Adam. “I hope you have a girl.”
“No kids for me, pal,” Adam replies, then shudders and takes a swig of my beer. “Unlike Declan, I’m a player for life.”
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