“How are you feeling?” I ask.
“Fine,” she rasps and touches her throat. “I’m a little sore, but that’s all. I guess there was no fever after all.”
I smile and run my palm over her hair. “Good.”
“You slept with me.”
“You were shivering.”
Her eyebrows rise slowly, and she giggles. “I warmed up quickly.”
“Yes, you did.”
Her laughter fades. “You’re hurt. They shot you.”
“I was wearing a bulletproof vest.”
“But—”
“See for yourself,” I say.
She draws back to examine my chest with a feather-light touch. There’s minimal bruising and marring where the wound is mostly closed. She lowers her cheek to my pec and rubs against it. “I guess I was a little delirious.”
“A little? Your screams cleared the forest of wildlife.”
“I thought I’d escaped,” she says after a moment of silence. “I have so many questions, Calvin . . .”
Tension tightens my muscles. She removes her cheek, but I quickly blink away before she can make eye contact. “Don’t mistake my lack of punishment for yesterday’s mess as letting it go. You defied me, and like I warned, almost got yourself killed. Once again, I was there, coming to your rescue.”
Fuck. Before I can cover my statement, her eyebrows meet in the middle. “Once again? When have you ever come to my—”
“Cataline,” I say, heavy with caution. “What have I told you about questions?”
“But, last night—”
“No,” I cut her off. “Our arrangement remains the same. You behave, and we can keep things civil. Where in that do you think you get to do as you please?”
She’s forced to peel herself from me as I rise off the bed. “I’ll send Norman up to check your temperature.”
“Where are you going?” she asks as I pull on my pants.
“Where do you think? Work. If you’re going to risk a question, at least make sure it’s worth it.”
I just catch her surprised expression before I leave the room.
The adrenaline current she’s inspired serves to dull the pain in my shoulder. Norman is waiting for me outside the office with his toolbox of medical supplies. “Master Parish, we must remove those bullets.”
“Why do you think I’m here? And get Carter.”
“Yes, sir.”
I focus on my anger as Norman makes the call and then as he prepares his supplies.
“How is she?”
I glance at him from the corner of my eye. “Fine.”
“I trust she had a good night’s sleep? Rest is crucial for her full recovery.”
“You’ve made your concerns clear, Norman, but let me remind you of your place. You can help by checking on her when you’re finished here, and reporting her condition to me every few hours until I return tonight. That’s it.”
“Yes, sir. Anesthesia?”
“No. It only slows me down.” I recline against the back of the chair while he coats my shoulder with iodine.
“The reward for information has gone up. Police Chief Strong is once again calling for your surrender.”
“Over my dead body.”
“So you keep reminding me. Just please be careful. The reward is considerable, and these are desperate times. Perhaps consider lying low for a bit.”
“You know I can’t. Come in,” I call when there’s a knock at the door.
The only man in the house bigger than me enters and comes directly to the middle of the room. I’ve considered sharing my injections with Carter because together, we’d make a powerful duo. But I’ve never truly entertained the thought. “Carter,” I say with a nod. “What happened?”
“There’s no excuse.”
“You have one job. Secure the premises. Nobody comes, nobody goes, without my permission. How the fuck did the girl walk right off the property? And on top of that,” I glance up at Norman, “she’s gone for hours without anyone noticing?”
“This is a big property, sir. I could use a second pair of eyes.”
“I’ve told you before, there’s no one else. As it is, too many people know too much. Everyone on this staff is paid handsomely for their services and their discretion.” I pause, gritting my teeth as Norman makes his incision, slicing the scalpel deeply and quickly. “I can’t bring anyone else on board without knowing their allegiances are impenetrable.”
“You’re right. It won’t happen again.”
I push myself out of the chair with some effort.
“Sir, your wound—”
The burning in my shoulder is acute, but I ignore Norman and walk to meet Carter so we’re standing face to face. “When I hired you, you were at the top of your field. Is that no longer the case?”
“No, sir.”
“Because replacing you is a project I don’t have time to take on. And you know too much for me to just let you go. Understand?”
He swallows but holds my gaze. “Yes, sir.”
“If I can’t trust you, we have a problem.”
“You can, sir.”
“Don’t let this happen again. You’re dismissed.”
I turn my back to him and by the time I’m reseated, he’s gone. I grip the arms of the chair as Norman tears the skin open wider to extract the bullets.
I’m much calmer by dinner, and maybe even slightly remorseful for snapping at Cataline earlier. I find her in the dining room, seated and patiently waiting per Norman’s instructions. “Good evening,” I say.
She glances up from her lap. Her bottom lip is between her teeth, but then she smiles. “Good evening.”
I take my spot at the head of the table and gesture next to me. “You can sit here tonight.”
Her eyes dart between the chair and me. “Really?”
I sigh. “Do I need to repeat myself?”
She stands slowly.
“How are you feeling?” I ask, noting her limp.
“Better.”
Once she’s beside me, Norman arrives to recite the evening’s meal. She watches him with the same attention somebody would give a blockbuster show while her hands remain folded in her lap. When he finishes, dishes are set in front of us and wine is poured.
As I eat, I notice Cataline seems distant, her eyes far off, and her lips curled at the edges as though she meant to smile but forgot. She looks open, innocent, and beautiful, and I can’t resist. “What are you thinking about?”
“You.”
I attempt to hide my surprise. “What about me?”
“I was thinking about the first time I saw you at the office. You looked so serious, but also very . . . handsome.”
I grin. “You thought I was hot.”
She laughs and pushes my shoulder. I’m thankful my pain is completely gone, because I like when she does that. “Yes, I thought you were hot.” She sets down her fork soundlessly, and her smile falters. “I still do, Calvin.”
I inhale deeply and shake my head. “That’s a dangerous admission.”
“I know.”
“Last night you ran without a second thought.”
“It was instinct. I didn’t think. I just ran.” She cocks her head. “Does that surprise you?”
“I’ve given you whatever you ask for.”
“I thought I’d trade anything for my freedom. When you came for me last night, I was terrified of returning here, of what you’d do to me. But I was also relieved. I didn’t realize until that moment how frightened I was that I’d never see you again.”
I set my elbows on the table and look her directly in the eyes. “Cataline . . .”
“I can’t explain it,” she continues. “Sometimes I hate you, but last night, in my bed, I felt . . .” She pauses, seemingly searching for the right word. Finally, she says, “I wanted you there.”
Even as I shake my head, my resolve wavers. “I’m not good for you.”
“You don’t think I know that?”
“I need to stay away, and you need to stay out of my way.”
“What if that’s not what I want?”
“What are you asking me?”
“I don’t know,” she says. “Last night, being with you felt right. And this morning when you left, I wished you’d come back. Neither feeling has left me all day.”
“Fuck, Cataline. Don’t say that shit to me.”
“You’re the one who started this.”
“I know. I made a mistake.” Her face mars, because she thinks I mean fucking her was a mistake. In actuality, I’m starting to see that my mistake was bringing her here in the first place. “You don’t understand how badly I can hurt you. You’re innocent and delicate, and I’m not. You saw what I did to those men. You know deep down what I’m capable of.”
“Have I broken yet?”
My eyebrows shoot up, and we stare at each other until I find the words to respond. “I don’t know. I’m too close to see what damage I’ve done.”
She pouts with a full bottom lip. “So that’s it? You just aren’t going to touch me anymore?”
I have to close my eyes when she says “touch me.” It’s almost more than I can handle. “I think I’ve made it painfully clear that I can’t stay away.”
“Are you saying that if I don’t, you won’t?”
My fingers curl into a fist on the table. “You don’t understand—”
“Then make me understand.”
“I can’t,” I say. “Stop asking me for answers.”
She looks at her lap and shakes her head, her hair falling around her face. I want to wrap that hair around my fist and pull it until she begs for mercy. She looks wild, as though something might come out if she shakes hard enough. When she looks at me again, it’s with big eyes. Somehow, innocence remains there, even after everything I’ve done.
If I were a better man, I’d be gone by now. Something has always intertwined me with Cataline, but now I’m beyond the point where I can disentangle myself. I’ve felt her writhing underneath me, seen her look at me the way she is now, like she’s waiting for instruction. I like that look. It makes me feel like I own a small piece of her.
She rises, and I think she’s going to leave, but she inches toward my chair instead. She lowers herself into my lap, and her eyes scan my face rapidly. She reaches up with slow, tentative fingers and slides my glasses off.
“I didn’t want this,” she says. Her knuckles touch my cheek, and she runs them down my skin until opening her hand to cup my face. “But I no longer know who I am. I think . . . you’re what I want now.”
“Then it has to be with the understanding that I’m hiding things from you. Things that involve you, things that you will never learn. Things that mean the difference between your life and your death.”
“Okay,” she whispers too quickly.
I turn my mouth to kiss her palm. My hand wraps around her wrist, and I hold her there. With her eyes on mine, she bends her head and presses her lips to my knuckles before running the tip of her tongue over them. I extend my index finger, and her hot mouth closes over it, sucking up to the knuckle. She draws back, swirling her tongue over the tip, and her saliva leaves a shimmering trail on my finger. Her pink lips suck and tease me, making my cock hard for her mouth.
I remove my hand and place it between her legs, pushing her jeans up against her clit so she gasps. Her eyes flutter shut as I rub her. “What scares you?” I ask.
She looks up at the ceiling. “You.”
“What is your greatest fear?”
“You,” she repeats.
“No, I’m not.” I wind my other hand into her hair and pull so she’s now forced to stare up. “Why were you still a virgin at twenty-two?”
Her throat, completely exposed to me, contracts when she swallows. “I was waiting for the right person.”
“Never had any boyfriends . . .”
She jerks her head to look at me, but I’m still fisting her hair. “So what?”
“You’re scared to let anyone in. You hide.”
The corners of her eyes glisten. There’s more anger in her voice than I’ve ever heard when she says, “You don’t know me.”
“But I’m right.”
I touch my lips to the pulse under her jaw and kiss my way over her neck. When she speaks, it vibrates against my mouth. “You’re wrong,” she says quietly.
“You’re afraid of getting hurt.”
“I’ve lost so much,” she says. “Even things I never had. And I have no one.”
I release her hair, but she won’t look at me. “You have me,” I say.
When her eyes cut to mine, they’re filled with disbelief. “I have no one,” she repeats with conviction.
My fingers are growing impatient with her pants. The anticipation of them inside her is written on her face. “I want you too, Cataline,” I say. “I want to be the answer to your no one.”
Her voice is thick. “You won’t stay away?”
“I’ve tried, and I’ve failed. I don’t deserve you. I’ll hurt you.”
She places her hands on the sides of my head and slides them back into my hair, digging her fingers in. “Hurt me,” she says. “Just don’t stay away.”
She pulls me to her, but I’m already there, pushing my tongue inside, soothing my guilt with her hot, devouring mouth. I pulse my palm against her faster, excited by our moans.
Her hands move to my waistband and pull on the fly until it opens. She digs in my pants, and her soft fist is the answer to prayers I didn’t know I had. I’m so hard in her hand as she strokes me long and gentle.
“What, you going to jerk me off?” I growl into her mouth.
“You’re really . . . big.”
I chuckle. “Going to have to go harder than that,” I say. Her grip tightens, and her pace speeds. “You’d be the first to make me come like this. Normally I’d rather just fuck.”
She inhales with a sucking noise and stands. “Chase me, Calvin.”
I’m panting heavily, empty-handed and gaping at her. “Chase you?”
“Like last night. Like all the other nights.” She takes a step back.
“This isn’t a game. I’m strong. I can hurt you.”
She takes another step before turning and running for the staircase. I’m on my feet in a flash, succumbing to instinct and temptation outside my control. I catch her ankle halfway up the stairs, and she falls forward. I let go to carry her up to my bedroom, but she scrambles to get to her feet and her flailing heel catches me in the jaw. I seize it angrily and yank her squirming body down until she’s underneath me.
“Let me go,” she says.
I drop my body over hers and catch her neck, pulling her face backward for a hard kiss. I shove my open pants down and stroke myself, rubbing my crown against the curve of her ass. “Don’t forget you asked for this,” I say.
She wriggles harder, her hands clawing at the steps above us. The more she struggles, the harder my teeth mash together. I let go of my cock to rip her jeans down over her hips, taking her panties with them.
My arm drops from her throat to surround her shoulders and secure her back to my front. I slide my dick along the opening of her pussy, which is as slick as if she’d been sitting in it all day. While my fist slides up and down, I gather what I can on the tip and slip lengthwise between her ass cheeks.
“Calvin,” she protests.
I barely manage a response. “I warned you.”
“But not there,” she says, her words frantic.
I lean into the crook of her neck, breathing hotly as I press against the forbidden spot. I can’t do it—it would take more control than I have. I release her shoulders but catch her hips before she can get away. I move to my knees. My grip is no contest for her, and she slithers from side to side, whimpering. The sight alone is too much. I pry her cheeks apart with my thumbs and spit on her tailbone. My crown rubs through it and soon I’m working myself into her tight anus until it sucks the head in.
/> “Stop,” she sobs from the back of her throat. “Calvin, wait.”
The way she says my name only weakens my resolve. As she molds around me, her breathing slows, and her grip on the edge of the stairs loosens. I massage her cheeks with my palms and push a little deeper. Her eyes squeeze shut before her forehead drops onto the step in front of her. Any lubrication from my saliva is gone. My cock is so hard and aching that I want nothing more than to anchor her hips down and fuck her into the stairs. I take a deep breath. “Do you want me to keep going?” I ask.
She shakes her head.
“Tell me to stop then.”
Her back rises and falls with deep breaths. I’m a few inches deep when I climb back over her, propping myself up on a step above us. I move my hips with small thrusts, each one eliciting a squeak from Cataline. Her nails dig into the hardwood as I angle until I’m over half way in.
“I’m going to mark you here and make this ass mine. I’ll come so hard that you’ll be dripping for days.”
She shudders beneath me, and I drop my face into her hair, inhaling jasmine as I draw my hips back and thrust again.
“You’ve had me in your mouth, your pussy, and your ass. I never knew you’d turn out to be such a little slut.”
“I’m not,” she says through gritted teeth.
“I’d advise against backtalk when I’m in this position. You are my little slut, Cataline. Say it.”
“Oh, God,” she cries as I pulse harder into her. “I’m a little slut.”
I nip the shell of her ear just enough to make it painful. “Wrong.”
“I’m your little slut.”
I give her a hard thrust, and her knuckles whiten. My hand covers hers, dislodging it from the step. I reach both of them down between her legs and guide our index fingers inside her. “I want to make you feel good. Do you feel good?”
“Calvin,” she moans.
I remove our hands to force her mouth open with our fingers. “Do you taste good?”
She glances over her shoulder at me. I bend my head to lick the corner of her mouth. My tongue runs over hers and then our knuckles.
“You do,” I say. “You taste so good, I could eat you and nothing else for the rest of my life. Would you like that, Sparrow?”
Hero Page 18