Callie turned in his arms and hugged him. It surprised her, this need to constantly touch Brian. Frank had often said she wasn’t terribly affectionate and Callie wondered if maybe he’d been right, but she didn’t seem to have a problem with Brian, touching him was all she wanted to do and it wasn’t in the least awkward or unfamiliar.
Callie sighed. She had too damn much in her head right now and it was overwhelming her.
Brian bracketed her jaw with his hands and said, “Go get your shower, I’ll get the stuff. You’re tired and you need to be rested.” He wiggled his eyebrows before he kissed her on the lips, slow and sweet.
Callie’s legs had trouble not buckling when he did that.
Damn.
“Rested?” she asked against his lips.
“You didn’t think I was done, did you?” Brian teased.
Callie blushed. Oh. Okay. Good deal. “Gotcha. I’m going to go take that shower now…”
Brian went to get her things while Callie went to prepare for her shower. Her cell phone chirped from her purse and she made a dash for it, flipping it open as she went into the bathroom to turn on the taps. “Hello.”
“Hey. Cal. You okay?”
Katherine. Callie smiled into the phone. She was checking up on her. “Yeah. I’m great, thanks.”
“Ahhhh. Great is good, sweetie! So he’s fantastic, isn’t he?” Katherine gushed.
Taking a deep breath over just how fantastic Brian was she said, “Yes. Yes, he’s fantastic,” she whispered into the phone.
“I knew it! So you’ve done the nasty? That was good too?”
Good didn’t quite define it. “Yesssss,” Callie whispered again.
“Cal?” Katherine whispered back.
“What?”
“Why are we whispering?”
Callie giggled. “Because I’m in the bathroom and he’s getting my things from the car and Brian doesn’t need to know how fantastic he is.”
“Why not?”
“Won’t he get a big head?”
“Cal, it’s okay to tell him he’s fantastic. In bed—out of it—all over it. Sometimes it really is okay to share a bit of yourself.”
She’d shared more than a bit. Callie laughed. “Okay. I’ll do that.”
“No, no you won’t,” Katherine admonished, “but I’m hoping you’ll learn. Okay, kiddo, you go rock the Motel Six and I’m going to go clean my kitchen or something.”
Wasn’t that a real switch, Callie thought “You know, Kath?”
“What?”
“This is the first time in the history of our friendship where you’re the one cleaning the kitchen.”
Katherine laughed. “Yeah, yeah. I owed ya one. Have fun, honey. I’ll check on you tomorrow.”
Callie hung up and grabbed a hurried shower, toweling off. Her body felt like butter half-melted as she wrapped the towel around her and remembered her clothes were out in the room with Brian. Brian was on the bed when she came out, under the blanket with a green thing over top of it. The TV was on and a flash of what was probably Iraq, flit across the screen.
Callie immediately went to it and ran a finger over it. “Is this the poncho liner?”
He grinned at her. “Yep. Never leave home without it.” He grabbed her pillow and said, “This is the pillow, I assume?”
“Yeah, never leave home without it.”
He patted the spot beside him. “C’mere, sweet pea.”
Would her heart ever beat regularly again when she was with this man? Callie went to dig in her small overnight bag for her pajamas, but Brian said, “Now you’re not going to put clothes on, are you?”
“I brought pajamas for nothing is what you’re telling me?” she asked wryly.
“Yessum,” Brian said with a grin and a wink. “I like you much better naked.”
Callie rolled her eyes and let the towel drop before jumping under the covers as Brian pulled her close to his side. Letting her head rest on his broad chest, Callie closed her eyes and inhaled, snuggling against the hard heat of him. “What are you watching?”
“Just the news.”
Callie wondered something then. “Does it bother you to watch, knowing you can’t be there right now until you get another contract or however that works?”
“Sometimes, yeah, but lately I’ve been watching it with a distance from it I’ve never felt before.” Brian sounded a bit confused by that thought and it made Callie’s ears stand at attention.
“Maybe it’s just that you’ve gotten good at removing yourself from the situation when you’re here in the states. Sort of like downtime,” Callie responded.
Brian clicked the television off. The dark of the room settled around them, cloaking her in a blanket of warmth. “Maybe. I’m not sure anymore. I’ve never been able to commit to staying here in the states because I’ve always felt like I’m not done over there yet, but I know I want to have more, someday anyway.”
There’s your sign, Callie Winston. Right there in big, fat neon Brian-speak. No commitment. No needy, whiny women, thank you very much. Is that really what that statement meant? It didn’t matter, Callie wouldn’t ask anyway. For now, she didn’t want to know where this was going—it was easier—safer to remain uninformed. “I guess you’ll make the choice when it’s right for you and not until then.” Good, Cal, that was a good answer! You’re all things sophisticated and savvy. You rule…
Brian slid his body down along hers, and Callie rolled to her side as he tucked her to him. “You know what?”
Callie burrowed deeper into him, noting Brian’s’ stiff length, pressed against her ass with a sleepy grin. It was almost odd, she supposed, if it didn’t feel so right, so comfortable—as if they’d been sleeping like this for years. Couple shit she shouldn’t dwell on. “What?”
“You beat sleeping in a trench or on a rooftop somewhere.”
“I’m beyond flattered, Mr. Benson.”
Brian chuckled as he pulled her closer and whispered, “Night, sweet pea,” and then, “you know what else?”
“What else?” she asked as she fought this drowsy haze that was sucking her deeper into its grip.
“I’ve said goodnight to you almost every night for two months on the phone. This beats the hell out of that any day of the week. I could adjust to this…”
Callie smiled. It did beat that. How many nights had she wondered what it would be like to lay next to Brian before sleep took over, pressed closely to him? More than she could count.
Callie squeezed his wrist that lay just beneath her breast and let sleep take her where her fears were dormant, and she didn’t have to think about what was—or what would be—for a little while anyway.
Her last thought was, two more days…
Chapter 17
Brian woke with the words two more days floating around in his head. Callie slept peacefully next to him, curled into his body and for the first time in his life, he was complete. Coming to terms with that had been a mixture of slow and rapid discoveries since they’d met in person. As Brian sat across from Callie at dinner, he couldn’t help thinking it was like they’d always done this—yet it was like making a discovery, new and palpable, rich in texture and clarity. Callie was as beautiful as her picture—more so with animation added to her face. Her eyes, even softer and darker than he’d first thought, left his mouth dry and her full, ripe lips had his cock standing at constant attention.
He’d found it difficult to concentrate on a steak when her breasts, round and full, filled out her sweater so enticingly. Callie’s deep, throaty voice kept Brian’s thoughts straying to the hotel bed as he silently prayed his hard-on would go away long enough for them to leave the restaurant.
Brian couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept as well as he had last night, and waking to find Callie softly breathing next to him, made him feel possessive, content, fulfilled and Brian accepted that this was something significant he wouldn’t even attempt to deny.
Brian was all about realism and h
is feelings for Callie were bona fide, coursing through him with a strength and intensity that made him want to drag her ass off to a place no one else could find them and keep her there forever.
Before he did that, Brian was going to kick the shit out of Frank for trashing her and leaving her insecure and afraid to believe in anything but her fear. As a mercenary Brian smelled fear on a daily basis—he could read it in the eyes of the oppressed—the beaten down, brain-washed and he could literally smell Callie’s fear—taste it and for that he’d like to have just one shot with his sniper rifle at Frank.
Just one…
Brian wrapped a tighter arm around Callie and inhaled her scent, smiling against her hair. Cucumber-melon…There wasn’t a thing about this woman that Brian didn’t want to know—there wasn’t a thing about her he didn’t want, and Brian knew that should scare him as much as he was confident it scared Callie, but it didn’t.
Brian was going to chalk this up to fates way of telling him it was time to move on to the “what came next” stage of his life. Somehow, he intuitively knew that it was time to move on to something else. Though his life held little attachment, he didn’t even know he’d missed much until he’d met Callie. Her warmth, her seductive smile, her eyes that saw his heart, soothed Brian, released him from the responsibility to the job he’d felt tied to for so long. It was time to let go of what drove him and pursue a new passion to have all of the things he’d put off for so many years.
Callie was what was next; and whatever it took, Brian was going to find a way to show her what they shared was far more than an Internet fling.
That’s exactly what she was thinking right now and it was driving Brian crazy, but, he reminded himself, slow and steady wins the race. He had no choice but to go back to Arizona and sew some things up—that would be the moment Callie began to think too much about what would come to pass between them in the next two days. When Brian was gone and she let that clever mind drift to the “what ifs” of their relationship, creating scenarios in her head that were far from what was true, she would lose faith.
Brian saw the way her brain worked behind those gorgeous eyes and it was a catacomb of fear. The fear that Brian would take advantage of her. The fear that he would use her for his own needs and discard her. The fear that what was happening now was impulsive and reckless and didn’t stand a chance of lasting. There would be no logic in any of her choices once they parted and three days wasn’t enough to convince her of anything.
Callie had taken a chance and Brian knew this was something she didn’t do under normal circumstances. She was warring in her pretty head about it every second they were together.
Callie had to learn to trust him and Brian would have to be patient enough to show her she could.
Until then, and at this very moment, Brian was more interested in driving his cock into Callie’s wet warmth. She did things to him that no woman ever had, though shy and hesitant, she fit him like no other. Callie was every fantasy he’d had about her in his mind, fulfilled and then some.
Brian could no longer resist the need to run his hands over the soft swell of her hip. His fingers itched to slip into her pussy, glide through her folds, slick with desire for him. Callie arched into his touch, still half-asleep she pressed her ass into his hard cock and Brian let the grind of her hips against his linger for a moment. Clenching his teeth, he fought the urge to ram into her and instead, ran his lips over the smooth skin of her spine, soft and fragrant.
Cupping her breasts, he slid his fingers over her tight nipples, rolling them between his index finger and thumb, savoring them as she squirmed into him. Her soft, breathy sigh of contentment made Brian’s blood simmer, that he was able to please her superseded all else.
Brian let his lips glide over her back as he moved lower, running his tongue between the cheeks of her ass with long strokes. Callie’s hiss from above was soft as he slipped between her thighs, urgent with the need to taste her. Callie wrapped her legs around his shoulders as he parted her swollen flesh with his thumbs, grazing her clit with his finger.
The smell of her intoxicated Brian—left him weak as he tasted her hunger, the slick of her wet flesh, tangy and sweet. He moaned his satisfaction as he savored the glide of his tongue over her, tasting every inch as Callie’s hips rose to meet his face and her hands tangled in his hair, clutching it. Circling her clit, Brian laved the swollen nub with slow, precise strokes, relishing Callie’s moans of pleasure, dragging his fingers through her folds as he allowed one to enter her.
Callie gasped and bucked against Brian, arching into his tongue, her back bowing as her hips moved in slow circles. Brian drove his finger into her as he felt Callie tense and stiffen when she came. His cock burned, throbbed with pulsing need, growing harder by the second as Callie orgasmed on his tongue, writhing beneath his mouth.
Her breathing was heavy, jagged as he pulled himself upward to face her, kissing her full lips—lips that drove him to distraction, full and soft, opening to his with a willingness that made Brian want to crush her to him. Callie’s tongue danced with his in a desperate mesh of heat.
Brian fought to keep himself in check as his lungs rasped for air, fighting to keep himself from frightening Callie with his need for her. She reached between them, clutching his cock with silken hands, stroking him from tip to base firmly.
Brian’s groan was feral, low, deep in his chest as her body slithered along his until Callie’s lips hovered near his shaft, aching and rock-hard.
The first caress of her tongue against him immobilized Brian as heat, white and sharp shot to his cock, made every muscle in his body tense with an iron grip. Callie took another long swipe, flattening her tongue against his length and sweeping it over him, cupping his balls with a gentle hand.
As she enveloped him fully with a slow downward motion of lips and tongue Brian moaned from somewhere deep. Her mouth was soft and hot, an electric cavern of tongue and moist warmth.
“Christ, sweet pea…” slipped from Brian’s lips as Callie picked up the pace of her rhythm. She wound her hands around his cock, threading her fingers through the hair at the base of it. Brian grit his teeth to keep from ramming into her mouth, grabbing fistfuls of her hair as she pushed him to the edge.
Brian couldn’t trust himself to stop, so he cupped her jaw, removing himself from between her lips and hauling her back up to him again, pressing her chest to his, groaning as her hard nipples scraped against him.
Callie wound her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist. “Jesus, Callie,” he whispered into the creamy hollow of her throat. Brian wasn’t waiting anymore as he gripped Callie’s hips and pulled her toward him, impaling his aching cock with a swift glide. Brian clenched his eyes shut on impact, she was that tight, that wet, that sweet.
Callie’s hips ground against his, their bodies locked in a tight embrace and Brian wanted to remember this always—he wanted Callie to remember—to know that not another woman before her made Brian this frantic with lust—with the desire to please her. So he told her with the words Callie was afraid of, with the words that came with ease from Brian’s lips. “Open your eyes, Callie and look at me,” his demand was harsh as he continued to stroke within her.
Callie’s breathing was shallow, but she opened them, heavy lidded and inky black as the night. They smoldered, simmered, brimming with emotion unspoken and trapped in a place Brian wanted to reach.
“Do you feel my cock in you, Callie?”
She nodded as Brian bracketed her head with his hands, running his thumbs over her cheeks. “That’s how much I want you. I ache to be inside you. Do you hear me? It’s you that I want, Callie. Just you, just like this, wet and hot for only me.”
Callie’s response was to kiss him, hard, long and deep as she enticed him to intensify his thrusts and pulled him to her to hide her face. With each slick plunge into her depths, Brian let the sound of their flesh meeting crash in his ears as he cupped her ass with fevered hands.
&nbs
p; Callie whimpered his name as her muscles clenched his cock, milking it until the rush of electric heat had Brian in its grip and he lost control. “Come with me, baby,” he encouraged in a whispered demand as a surge of adrenaline shot to his cock and he came, long and so satisfying every nerve ending in his body felt the flood of release.
Clinging to his shoulders, Callie collapsed against Brian’s chest, lying limp in his arms.
Brian stroked her back with soothing hands, kissing her damp brow as he tried to breathe. “You know,” he said as he gasped, “you sure beat waking up to grenades flying around in the morning.”
Callie’s laughter bubbled from her throat, free and lighthearted. “You smooth talker, you.”
“How’d ya sleep?” he asked.
Callie stretched against him and smiled. “Really good, you?”
“Better than I can ever remember,” Brian answered honestly.
And there it was again, the doubt that peeked from behind her eyes, quickly covered with a sweet smile of innocence. “I’m glad. I was worried you’d be uncomfortable. You’re kind of big for such a small bed.”
“I spent most of the night on your side of the bed, spooning.”
“Yeah, we did spoon, didn’t we?” she said on a sigh.
“Yes, ma’am, all night long. Like I said last night, I could adjust to this.”
Again, Callie’s eyes clouded with doubt, but she smiled and said, “Yeah? That’s nice to know. Know what else?”
“What?”
“If we keep this up, housekeeping is going to make us wash the sheets.”
Brian chuckled and pulled her closer. He hoped to trash a few more sets of sheets before he had to leave…
Chapter 18
“So tell me about your online experience, Brian.” Callie cocked her head as she bit into her burger. She had Brian’s poncho liner wrapped around her and they sat facing each other on the bed, eating the burgers Brian had picked up because Callie didn’t feel much like moving from the space on the bed she’d become so fond of.
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