All I Want is You_A Second Chance Romance

by Carter Blake

  Because if he was around…

  I think about the previous night.

  Holy fuck, that really happened.

  I shake my head. I can’t think about Griff and his amazing body, or that ridiculously hot accent of his. I can’t think about how much I really wish he was still lying beside me, twirling his fingers through my hair while whispering into my ear how much he wants me.

  I can’t—which means it’s all I think about.

  I go and grab myself a glass of water in the hopes that it will clear my head because I have something important to do. So important that even filthy thoughts about Griff will have to wait.

  Life is so unfair sometimes.

  I sit back on the bed, attempting desperately to act as if I’m totally fine—as if I’m not waiting for something to happen.

  But my constant glances over at the phone and the incessant tapping of my feet betray me.

  It feels like ages before the phone finally rings. When it does, it takes me a few seconds of blankly staring at the damn thing for it to register that the annoying buzzing sound was coming from it.

  I take in a sharp breath to steady myself as I bolt over to the phone before the ringing stops. I place the receiver to my ear, my hand shaking slightly and the deep breaths not helping—and then I hear his voice.

  “Kali? Kalista, please tell me that’s you,” my father’s voice says, quiet and unsure.

  To my surprise, I feel tears stinging my eyes almost as soon as I hear him say my name.

  “Yeah. It’s me, dad,” I reply, smiling even though he can’t see it. “It’s your little girl. My note said I was safe and sound, didn’t it?”

  My dad lets out a sigh of relief.

  “Honey, I’m so glad to hear your voice.” There’s a pause, as if he’s considering what to say next. “But honey, if you’re so sure you’re safe, then where are you? I’ve been worried sick. And don’t even get me started on your mother.”

  Oh, I laugh at that.

  More at the thought of my mom’s face when she actually gets to see me again rather than about her currently worrying for me.

  Gotta think about the positives, right? She’ll be ecstatic.

  “Dad, honestly, I’m completely fine,” I reply soothingly. “More than fine, really. I think this time away has been good for me.”

  I hear my dad barely suppress a sigh.

  Oh no. Not a good sign. I’ve heard that sound before.

  “Kalista, honey, you’re not safe. Not really. You’re in a foreign country with only god knows who, with a ten million dollar ring in tow. Do the people you’re with know about the ring? Do they know who you are?”

  I bite my lip a little too hard and brace myself. This is when the lying truly begins.

  “No, dad, they don’t. I’ve been keeping that to myself. You didn’t raise an idiot, you know.”

  I glance at the open window. The sun has started creeping its way into the room, illuminating the lush, elaborately woven rug that lies beneath the windowsill in a disheveled mess.

  I think about what happened on top of that rug that resulted in it becoming such a mess, and I probably truly am the idiot I’m pretending not to be.

  But right now, I can’t find it in me to care.

  “Kali?” my dad murmurs into my ear questioningly, snapping me out of my Griff-centric reverie.

  “Sorry, dad, I was just thinking about what you said. Why do you think I’m so unsafe right now?”

  “Damn it, Kalista, you can’t be that stupid,” my dad suddenly explodes, causing me to recoil from the phone receiver.

  “Dad, I—”

  “No, you listen to me, young lady! Do you think it’s all fun and games causing your parents this much grief? You could have been dead for all we knew. And you want to make it out like you’ve been safe and sound this whole time, without contacting us once? Even you must realize how ridiculous that sounds.”

  “But I really am safe, Dad! I swear it!”

  “Then tell me where you are! Please, Kali. I don’t think your mother and I can take this much longer. You’re not safe out there with people you barely know, with a multi-million dollar fortune on your finger. How do you know these people aren’t just using you? Or trying to scam you?”

  I’m frowning at the phone now. My dad isn’t being fair.

  But when I think about it, how can I blame him? He’s not wrong, technically.

  “Dad, you know I’d never be so stupid as to flaunt the ring on my finger,” I say to placate him. “And I’m okay. Really, I am. And these are good people. Really. I’ll be home soon, I promise. Just give me some time.”

  I can hear my dad sputter in disbelief at my outright refusal to cooperate, but it’s not as if I can tell him everything that’s really been going on, can I?

  No, that would just make things worse.

  “Kalista, honey, just tell me where you are,” he pleads.

  I shake my head even though my father can’t see it.

  “I can’t, Dad. I love you. So much. I’ll speak to you soon.”

  “Kali, don’t you dare—”

  Too late. I hang up.

  I fling myself across the room to land on the sun-warmed rug and find myself burying my head into the folds of the fabric.

  It smells of me and Griff—and sex. It’s wonderful.

  And really, what better way to mask the overwhelming guilt over lying to my father than by thinking about Griff instead?

  It’s full-on midday now and the sun feels glorious on my skin—just not quite as glorious as Griff’s fingers. I’d trade the sun for that in a hot second, no questions asked.

  I’d live in darkness for all my days.

  “Ha! Listen to how ridiculous you sound, Kali,” I scold myself.

  Griffin is just a man, after all. An incredibly sexy and unbearably interesting man—but a man, nonetheless.

  But damn, if there’s nothing more there than simply carnal attraction…

  Though the very notion of that feeling spreads a warmth between my legs that could rival the heat from the sun.

  I want him. Again.

  I roll onto my back and sigh. I close my eyes against the golden light emanating through the window.

  I wish things could be less complicated. But honestly, the more I think about it…

  Do I really want that?

  I would have never met someone like Griff, had my life remained simple.

  Complicated is interesting. Complicated is thrilling.

  I just wish my parents could stop their worrying.

  I open my eyes to throw a sidelong glance at the bedside cabinet where the Canary ring is stowed away in a safe.

  I grow more resolute than ever that I won’t lose it to anyone, just so I can throw it in my dad’s face that I’m not the silly girl he seems to think I am.

  Not even to Griff, I swear silently.

  He’s been teaching me all of his tricks, after all. I won’t be so easily swindled.

  I push my thighs together to try and distract myself from the gnawing hunger that lingers within me, one that, most definitely, isn’t food related.

  Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t work.

  “Griff, Griff, Griff,” I murmur, enjoying the sound of his name in the air and the feel of the syllables on my lips.

  I didn’t care what time he came back before, but now, I oh-so-achingly do.

  I wonder if we’ll continue where we left off from the night before—before we ended up sprawled unconscious on the bed, and exhausted from exploring each other.

  I’ve never wanted anything more in my life.

  As I feel myself slowly dozing off under the sun, wrapped up in the smell of Griff, I decide that it’s not really an unreasonable desire to have.

  And if I get to fulfill that desire when Griffin returns, it’d be best to save my strength.

  I smirk mischievously for the heavens to see.

  A faint breeze rolls through the window, and finally lulls me off to sleep,
my head full of thoughts of Griff—and my dad forgotten.

  Griffin

  When I get back to Kalista, she’s dozing peacefully by the open window, sunlight dancing in her hair. She is astoundingly beautiful like that—not to mention unreasonably sensual, with that slip of a white dress bunched up artfully around her thighs.

  I get the feeling that Kali knows how this will affect me, even if she couldn’t possibly have planned it, given her current state of unconsciousness. And she really does seem to be asleep, rather than pretending to be in an attempt to surprise me.

  I feel a sly grin creep up my face.

  She may not be planning on surprising me, but that conveniently means I’m ideally placed to surprise her instead. And after what happened last night—which has been on my mind all fucking day—I’m inclined to make this a surprise of the mutually pleasant kind.

  I take a step towards her. Then—

  I feel my phone buzz in my pocket. Frowning, I take it out to check the caller ID: it’s Leviathan.

  Strange, since we spoke over the phone only two hours ago. I accept the call, curious.

  “Yes?” I inquire quietly, forgoing a hello. I don’t want to wake up the sleeping beauty on my floor, after all. Well, not whilst I’m still fully clothed and otherwise occupied, that is.

  “We have a problem,” Leviathan replies.

  I stiffen immediately. And not in the way I’d very much prefer.

  I stalk over to the bathroom and close the door behind me before returning my attention to the phone call.

  “This problem would be…?”

  “Someone has become aware of Kalista’s location within the past hour or so.”

  Fuck.

  “Are you sure?” I ask, knowing full-well that Leviathan is never wrong.

  “I’m afraid so, Gryphon. I don’t know about the particulars, but some pretty nasty people seem quite intent on chasing after her now that they know where she is. I think it’s time you said goodbye to your safe house.”

  I rub my temples in frustration as I try to think about how such information could have leaked. But I can’t think of anything—or anyone—who could be responsible. I glance at the bathroom door, and the woman sleeping peacefully behind it.

  What have you done, Kalista?

  “Check back in with me as soon as you have any update. We’ll be out of here in ten.” I hang up before Leviathan can express any assent.

  I make no secret about my presence to Kalista now.

  I all but wrench the bathroom door open to dart across my now not-so-safe house, hurriedly collecting passports, money, clothes, and as much of our recently acquired stash as I can think the two of us can feasibly carry.

  I abruptly pause for a second.

  The two of us? When did it become ‘the two of us’?

  Griffin Abernathy works alone.

  And yet that doesn’t currently change the fact that Kalista is here, finally waking up in a gorgeous heap on the floor.

  “Get up,” I order curtly, not looking at her.

  I can’t let her distract me—not again. She’s on the verge of ruining me.

  The Gryphon brought down by a woman is not how I planned to end my career.

  “Griff? What—” Kalista yawns, as she stretches her arms luxuriously above her head before standing up. “What’s up? Where are we going in such a hurry?”

  “Out. Away from here. Literally anywhere else. We’ve been had,” I say, finally rounding on Kalista to narrow my eyes at her. “Or, rather, you’ve been had, and now I’m caught in the crossfire. Tell me, love, might you have done anything I’d rather you hadn’t done whilst I was otherwise indisposed?”

  Kalista flinches at my question. It only confirms my suspicions that she’s the leak. She frowns in worry—it creases up her brow slightly, and it’s adorable—but I have bigger things to focus on.

  “I might have talked to my dad on the phone,” Kalista murmurs, having the decency to look abashed as she says so.

  I don’t say anything. I stare at her pointedly, waiting for her to elaborate.

  Kalista gulps before continuing, as if anticipating that I might scream at her once she finishes explaining. But that’s not my style. No, I’ll explode on the inside. On the outside, I’ll keep that perfectly calm exterior I’ve mastered over years in the business.

  She walks over to the wardrobe to pull out a dress. For a moment, I believe that she fully intends to strip in front of me despite our current topic of conversation. It makes my trousers begin to grow just a little too tight in response.

  I ignore it. I have to.

  Kalista pulls on a dress on top of the little white slip she already has on. Thank God for that.

  “I saw my dad last night,” she finally says. “I didn’t speak to him, though! And he didn’t recognize me! But I…may have sent a note to him. And then he may have called me today.”

  She’s moving as if she’s not aware of the obvious haste with which I need her to act right now, though she at least starts to help me pack up our belongings.

  I turn on her, eyes widening.

  Fuck.

  “Kalista! Please tell me you didn’t—”

  “Of course I didn’t say where or who I was with,” she interrupts. She runs a hand through her beautiful hair, clearly aggravated. “Why do you all think I’m so stupid? When have I ever given you cause to believe that?”

  “You mean, besides this moment right now?”

  Kalista gives me a measured look.

  “Honestly, I didn’t tell him anything. It was hard not to, but I didn’t. My dad really believes I’m not safe. He said there are still people after me.”

  “And he’s right, love,” I say as I throw a bag at her to pack her clothes into. “The call was clearly traced. There are people on their way here right now.”

  Kalista goes bug-eyed. She’s finally clued in that we need to move with more haste.

  “You could have led with that, Griff!” she cries as she suddenly picks up the pace, rushing over to the cabinet, which holds her precious Canary ring.

  “Was ‘we’ve been had’ not obvious enough for you, Kali?”

  I hate how much obvious irritation is coming through. I need to keep calm.

  Kalista flings her hair up into a ponytail. “Let’s go, then. No need to be such a brat about it, Griff.”

  I laugh as we head out of the door. Fuck, I’m going to miss this place. I was really rather fond of it.

  Especially the kitchen. I spent thousands remodeling it.

  “If anybody’s a brat, it’s the little heiress who wanted daddy to know she’s safe and sound.”

  In any other situation, that kind of remark would likely have resulted in a slap to the face or a stab from a fencing foil. Luckily, Kalista has the sense to keep focused as we head through the winding streets to the rendezvous point Leviathan has just texted me.

  I’ve allowed entertaining Kalista to blind me from my own priorities. I can’t let that happen again.

  But then I see the fading marks on her neck—her ponytail exposing them to my eyes for the first time—physical proof of our night together…

  And I really haven’t fucked a woman like that in a long time. So long as I can keep focused on my job, having Kalista along shouldn’t be a problem. I can’t let it be.

  I have a reputation to uphold, after all.

  And—most importantly—it would be a crying shame if I didn’t get to strip her down to nothing but glowing skin and moonlight at least one more time.

  I just need to keep focused in the meantime.

  “Griff, is this the place?” Kalista asks as I begin to slow down.

  I survey the area before turning to her with a nod. “Yes. Transport should be here in five minutes.”

  She looks at me with those beautiful eyes, skin glistening slightly in the late-afternoon sun.

  Focus, Griff!

  “No more calling or receiving calls from mummy or daddy, love,” I say, keeping m
y tone lightly condescending.

  Kalista rolls her eyes. “As if you had to tell me that, Griff.”

  Apparently, I did, considering we’re now in this mess.

  “You cost me a rather splendid safe house, you know. I hope you’re aware that I expect to be paid back in full.”

  Kalista smiles in a deliciously suggestive manner.

  “Are you open to services in-kind?” she coos.

  Oh, I like that. I allow her just a shadow of a smirk in response, confirming that I’m very much open to such a negotiation.

  There’s a pause. And then—

  “Where are we going to now, Griff?”

  I can’t help but grin at the question.

  “Morocco. I think you’ll like it there.”

  My mind starts thinking about the hammam there—opulent baths which I’m certain Kalista will adore—and the fun we can have in them.

  Kalista raises an eyebrow at the statement, and I have to stop myself from kissing her.

  “And what makes you think that?”

  “You’ll see, love, you’ll see.”

  Kalista simply raises her eyebrow even further in response. In the golden afternoon light and with the breeze gently blowing her hair away from her face, she looks particularly irresistible, despite the trouble she’s put me through.

  I look away from her.

  I’ll make this work. For my own sake, I’ll make this work.

  Griffin

  We arrive in Morocco, and I pull our papers out for the Customs agent, who nods and greets us, waving us through.

  “Welcome to Marrakesh, Mr. and Mrs. Langdon.”

  I nod back at the man and take our documents back, slipping them into my jacket pocket. I feel Kalista’s grip on my hand tighten, and she pulls me in and whispers into my ear.

  “Mr. and Mrs.?! Care to elaborate on that, Griff?”

  I chuckle and squeeze her hand in response, grazing my stubbled cheek along hers as I whisper back.

  “It just made more sense this way. Jackal, my guy who forges my papers, gave us the same cover names, so that going through customs and security would be less difficult. Don’t be so contrary. You know you’d love a husband as handsome as I am.”

  She scoffs and tries to act upset, but I can tell that she’s loving playing this role. The flush in her cheeks and spring in her step—a dead giveaway.