by Cecilia Lane
He wore his typical layered shirts and dark jeans. It was a good, country boy look, though she’d never seen it look so perfect. His dark hair was freshly washed and tousled with quick fingers. She knew because she’d seen him work a squirt of gel through his strands just that morning. There was zero maintenance to his drop-dead gorgeous appearance.
Which was entirely fine by her. She was done with pretty boys who were bothered by paper cuts. She wanted a rough sort of man that couldn’t be blown over by the first sign of trouble.
Callum gave her a wink as he passed her by without a word and went straight for his brother.
Leah tilted her head and realization dawned on her. He was playing hard to get as well as any teenage girl she’d grown up with. And it was working. She was nearly tripping over her tongue for a moment with him, the same as any boy she’d had wrapped around her finger.
She needed to be dared into action. He’d zeroed in on that weakness and turned it to work in his favor. Stay and put down roots, he told her. And now she stubbornly wanted to prove that she could. Knowing that she’d been tricked didn’t break her resolve. She respected him even more for running his game.
Leah busied herself with serving and cashing out tabs. She tried not to play the role of love-sick puppy, but it was hard to keep her eyes off the group of men still crowding around the dart boards. Something occasionally set them off into loud cheers or raucous teasing, which forced her attention to them. And always, always, Callum’s eyes were on her.
She swallowed hard each time she caught a glimpse of him stroking her with his gaze. She could practically feel his hands running over her curves as he wandered over her body at will. The room grew to an almost unbearable, and definitely unseasonable, heat. All from Callum watching her.
With murmured words for the rest of the clan, he met her just a short distance away from them. She wrapped her hands around the edges of the bar to keep herself from shaking. No words, only looks, and he had her ready to burst.
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Heading out?”
“A delegation from a fae court is coming in tomorrow. I have to check over some things before they show up.”
“Fae court. More mysteries.” Fae were the ones that helped create the magic that kept the sleeping figures under town hall in their stasis. Her eyebrows shot together. “Everything okay?”
“Fine. They just want to lord it over us lesser beings that they can do some magic. They can’t even make more enclaves these days, and I doubt they could fix one if it was somehow damaged.” Callum rolled his shoulders and tossed her a hungry look. “Definitely not what I’ve been thinking about all night, though.”
Gideon sidled up to them with a sour look. “Not paying you to flirt. Now, go grab a keg for the switch out,” he said.
Callum shot Gideon a smirk and curled his finger at her.
Biting her lip, Leah leaned closer. Callum hooked his finger into the collar of her shirt and tugged her up on her tiptoes and further over the bar. He leaned in and kissed her hard.
He swiped his tongue against the seam of her lips and demanded an entry she willingly gave. They clashed with lips and teeth, him dominating and subduing her with his mouth. Each stroke of his tongue promised more to come, if she just stayed still for a little while longer.
The rest of the Strathorn crew whooped and cheered by the time they parted.
Callum’s eyes didn’t leave her face. Gold swirled with the dark heat of the promise sealed into their kiss. “What time are you off tonight?”
“Midnight,” she said a little more breathlessly than intended.
“Then you’ll get off again by midnight-thirty.” He grinned against her mouth and caught her lip between his teeth before stepping back. “Better grab that keg before Gideon burns the bar down.”
Choking on her frustrated growl, Leah disappeared through the doors and into the back. Kegs were stacked on racks inside one of the fridges. She hooked hands around the one she needed, and quickly walked it out of the fridge, bumping the door closed behind her.
Heavy steps jerked her attention and her heart skittered in her chest. Callum slid the lock on the doors to the bar and slowly advanced on her.
She lifted her chin and tried to keep her voice light. “You’re not supposed to be back here.”
He grabbed the handle of the keg and set it next to her. His eyes locked on hers, the brown color slowly churning to gold. He took a step toward her, then another, backing her against the wall.
“Are you going to complain?” He rubbed his stubbled cheek into the crook of her neck and followed the motion with a nip of her earlobe.
The world spun as he grabbed her hips and turned her to face the wall.
“Do you know how good you smell?” His words sounded thick to her ears. He grazed his hand around her waist, fingers hot on her skin. He kicked her feet apart and leaned into her.
“You’ll make me lose my job,” she breathed. The protest sounded thin even to her own ears. Desire coursed through her veins and her body acted on its own. She arched against him, grinding her ass into the hard bulge pressing against her.
“Mmm,” he rumbled against her neck. “You can always file a complaint with the mayor.”
“You hate being mayor.”
“I know. About time I get some benefits from it.”
“And what do you have planned? Taking advantage of the poor barmaid?” Her eyes fluttered closed and she let herself just feel. He covered her from head to toe, just about, hard body pressed against her softer curves. So tempting. Full of such promise. She nearly vibrated for him to stop playing games and touch her.
Sure fingers popped the button on her jeans, then dipped into the waistband to tease the top of her panties. Her breath caught in her throat and her fingers flexed against the wall. He dipped another teasing touch before pulling her zipper down excruciatingly slowly.
“Maybe I want you desperate for me. Maybe I want you so needy that you can’t think of anyone else until I get you back in my den.” Hot breath scorched against the back of her neck with his every word.
He circled her entrance, not giving in even when she danced under him and tried to press for more. Desperate? She was long past desperate. She was ready to beg.
“Callum,” she whimpered.
Leah gasped when he speared a finger through her folds. His thick finger worked in and out of her heat, drawing ragged breaths from her lips.
The denim of her jeans hugged his hand tight against her body. Her head fell back when he pulled himself free only to add a second finger to his skilled invasion. In and out, he pumped and worked her body. His hand rubbed against her clit with every thrust of his fingers. He curled his digits, hitting her just right and forcing gasp after gasp from her lungs.
“Want to feel you come for me,” he groaned into her ear.
She tried to bite back the moan that wanted to spill out of her chest. Tried, and failed. Her walls clenched around his fingers as she shattered around him. Her release poured through her until she was nothing but live nerve endings sparking against his touch. And still, he carried on, relentlessly pursuing her pleasure, until she sagged against the wall.
“Callum,” she mewled, barely able to find her voice.
He pulled his fingers from her with a chuckle. The last of her aftershocks faded, and she still wanted him. Damn him, damn him to hell. Two could play at that game.
Leah ducked out of the cage his arms made and dropped to her knees. She yanked open his belt before his golden bear eyes found her again. Button undone and zipper pulled before his tongue could form any words.
She licked a long line up the bottom of his shaft and any objections faded with his groan. That delightful noise resonated inside her and she wanted to be the cause of more. There was something entirely empowering about hearing his enjoyment and knowing it stemmed from her.
Leah wrapped her mouth around his tip and played her tongue along the underside of his head. He was so big, so
thick, that she could barely fit him. Didn’t matter. What she couldn’t reach with her lips, she could touch with her hands.
Callum pressed a palm against the wall behind her and sifted his other into her hair. Powerful man, so used to being in control, and he still let her have her way. His rough presence was in her hair, but he wasn’t forceful with her.
Callum’s hips rocked as she worked him up and down with her mouth. She’d never been with a man who showed so much appreciation for her. Tasting her, touching her, and her doing the same to him, all elicited the same grunts and groans and cues that he was very, very satisfied. She loved every noise that dripped from his lips. Her core clenched with every mumbled curse. Fire bathed her insides when his eyes dropped closed.
His hand tightened in her hair just before he throbbed his release down her throat. His hips jerked into her hand and she licked him clean, then laved her tongue over her lips. His eyes followed the motion, and a growl rattled in his chest. He reached for her, eyes hot with lust for more, but she sidestepped away before he could put his hands on her.
One touch, and she’d lose her resolve. One touch, and the world could burn around them as long as he kept pulling orgasms from her.
He wanted to tease her and make her desperate? Done. But he could feel the same way.
“Pick me up at midnight,” she said, blowing him a kiss as she hauled the keg through the doors.
Chapter 18
Leah felt a whimper bubbling in her chest. She bit her thumb to staunch the flow, but it was entirely useless. Her hips bucked against Callum’s mouth and her back arched off the bed. Unable to keep silent, her scream ripped through room.
She glanced between her legs and found him utterly transfixed on her. But he still didn’t stop. Oh, not Callum. He’d wring the last bit of pleasure from her body before he gave in.
Leah pressed her palms to her eyes as another shattering release worked its way up and down her body. Her thighs tightened around Callum in her uncontrolled writhing.
How many was that? She’d lost count. He’d had her on edge from the moment she woke to his delicate touches between her legs. As soon as her eyes sprang open, he’d been on the attack. There was no mercy for her, no pause between his thrusting licks. The world disappeared until it was just her and Callum and everything that rose between them.
She reached between her thighs and tugged on his shoulders until he finally let her collapse against his chest. Her breath evened out, though her entire body still shook. Each tiny movement sent another reminder of the pleasure overload through her delightfully used nerve endings.
“Morning,” he murmured against her lips.
“Mmm.” The drawn out, satisfied sigh was the only response she could muster. The man had fucked the linguistic skills out of her brain.
She threw a leg over his hip and gasped when he eased forward another inch. The thick head of his cock teased her entrance and the well of desire she thought had run dry rapidly filled once more.
Callum buried his face in her neck and rolled her to her back. One thrust slid him deep inside her. A second rasped against her clit and jolted pleasure down her spine.
“I thought you were done,” he teased and nipped at her skin.
She wound her fingers through his hair. “Don’t stop,” she gasped.
“Never.” He thrust hard into her. “Gonna.” Another thrust. “Stop.”
The buildup was slow. He pinned her with his eyes. Dark brown, with barely a hint of gold in them. She didn’t know why, but that felt more intimate. Like it was just them, somehow. She’d grown used to seeing the gold of his inner animal, especially as he started to slip toward his own release.
She pulled him down for a kiss, but he pulled back just as quickly and stared at her again. It was just them. Two people enjoying each other fully.
A tiny spark of something more existed between them in that moment. So fragile that she was scared to examine it. When had it appeared? What would inevitably she do to crush it?
“Don’t think,” Callum breathed against her lips. “Just feel.”
No words were better designed to make her do the opposite. But he was ready for her resistance. He kissed her, hard, and plowed them on toward pure bliss. It didn’t take long before her body tightened around him and he roared her name as he throbbed inside her.
Callum glanced at the clock on his nightstand and groaned. He planted a kiss on her temple, then sat up. The early morning light filtered through curtains hastily drawn at the first sound of trucks rolling into the clearing the night before and cast shadows over his back slick with sweat.
“Shower time,” he announced, and gave her a regretful look.
“I’ll join you,” she offered reluctantly.
“You will not. I’ll be later than I already am if I get you in there.”
Grinning to herself, she pulled his blankets around her and snuggled down while he started his day. “So who are these people you’re meeting so early?” She shouted to be heard over the running water. Not terribly loud. He had impeccable hearing.
“Delegates from the nearest fae court. Lots of fancy words to mean stuffy magical folk. They have their own enclaves and rarely journey outside of them.”
Callum emerged from the shower in a cloud of steam a handful of minutes later. His weight pressed against the mattress and she opened her eyes to find him looming right above her. “Stay and sleep,” he said and kissed her nose. “Just because I need to be up doesn’t mean you do, too.”
She tilted her head and shivered when he kissed her softly along her neck. “Lunch?”
A frown tugged down his lips. “Maybe. I might be stuck playing babysitter to the fae dolts.”
She filed away that bit of information. He had a clear dislike for fae. He didn’t show the same contempt for the vampires that only came out at night. She wondered if it was a shifter against fae thing or simply Callum disliking them personally.
With a yawn, Leah dismissed it. She wasn’t needed, and after being thoroughly sated, had no energy to devote to examining the feud.
She dozed for a bit, then woke and helped herself to a shower. With her stomach rumbling, she decided to make the easy walk to the coffee shop and treat herself to one of Faith’s ginormous cinnamon rolls.
The crisp morning felt wonderful on her skin. The sky opened into a gorgeous, cloudless blue that just asked for admiration while she sprawled on a blanket in a park. Leah sighed happily, and waved to a few of the regular faces she recognized from the bar as she walked.
Something had changed in her. Something had slid into place and unlocked an entirely new outlook. It hadn’t been long ago that she viewed Bearden as just another cage to be stuck inside. She was almost frightened to admit it, but it was starting to feel like home.
Callum’s words came back to her with a blush. Don’t think. Just feel.
She tried to follow his request. For an hour, she swore to herself. Just to try on being a citizen of Bearden without planning her escape.
She paid for a copy of the newspaper and placed her order for coffee and cinnamon roll with Becca. They even joked about Faith and Tommy both taking the morning off and exactly what sort of adult shenanigans that meant.
Being a proper Bearden resident might not be the worst thing in the world, a small voice whispered. The much larger voice that shouted for her to run stayed surprisingly quiet.
“Hello, Leah.”
Her eyes widened and her heart pounded in her chest at the sound of the voice behind her. She didn’t want to turn around and make it true. She never wanted to see Jamin again.
Gulping down her fear and adding a bite of hatred in its stead, she turned and found her murderous ex standing far too close. Her skin crawled at his nearness, especially after nights spent with Callum. Jamin had no claim to her, not after everything he’d done.
And how different he was from Callum. Strong and muscled, yes, but he was shorter and more compact. He kept his cheeks smooth, which wa
s fortunate for him. She didn’t think he could pull off the rugged, mountain man look that Callum flaunted effortlessly. Jamin was delicately beautiful where Callum was tough and handsome.
“Jamin,” she hissed. “What are you doing here?”
“You haven’t figured it out, have you?” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his shoes. Shiny leather, she noticed. Another marked difference from the boots Callum wore. “You always were a beautiful little idiot. Useful, in your own way, but still so far behind everyone else.”
Her jaw worked to contain the rage she wanted to spew at him. Already, too many ears were cocked their way. Fucking shifter town. She was at a disadvantage when it came to their senses, she’d learned.
“I’m trying to give you clues, you stupid girl. You’ve been in this shitheap long enough to know some of the particulars. How could I be here if I were purely human?”
“You’re not human. But the only visitors to arrive have been the fae court.” The information sat heavily in her stomach. She’d been touched by the supernatural for far longer than she’d been in Bearden. It explained why Jamin had the map that led her there, and why he was so desperate to get it back. The hidden enclaves needed to be protected. But why had he wanted to attack Bearden? “You’re with them.”
“Ding, ding, ding. Maybe she’s not as stupid as previously thought,” Jamin taunted.
“Leah?” Becca called and slid her order on the counter. She gave Jamin a casual look and leaned forward when Leah approached. “You okay?”
“Fine,” Leah snapped her teeth together and grabbed her order with more force than necessary. She charged out of the cafe and glanced around. Where could she run? How could she explain herself? No one knew Jamin the way she did. Anything she said against him would implicate herself.
She decided on settling at one of the outdoor tables. Away from eyes watching inside, and with enough people on the street that he wouldn’t be able to hurt her if he approached her again. When he approached her, she corrected. Jamin wouldn’t be able to leave her alone.