by Pamela Ann
“You sure? I don’t mind if you go first.” She moved a few steps and then halted. Unsure. I merely nodded as I watched her bikini clad body retreat into the bathroom. A long awaited sigh came from me the second the door closed.
What if she decided not to do anything? After all, I didn’t really tell her the words I love you…
Twenty minutes later, she emerged clad in skimpy, see-through sleepwear that ended right around the curve of her butt and was paired with a little scrap of underwear.
I bolted right into the shower like a retreating fool. If she meant to tease and torture me all night long, I had no one to blame except myself. As much as I wanted her body, I craved her soul so much more. Without that, possessing her body wouldn’t be as meaningful.
I wanted forever… and for me to get to where I wanted us to be, I needed my woman to come to me.
Doubts washed over me as I took a shower, and forlorn, I came out of the bathroom, heading towards the closet, when I heard Stella.
“Callum?”
I looked up, my eyes landing on her. The moon from the window basked her aglow. Nothing and no one looked more beautiful then, stealing my breath as she watched me pensively.
All reason… all meaning… all that I was, completely left me when I saw her slowly come to me, eyeing me with naked hunger. Once she reached me, she paused with her eyes roving all over me. “How much do you want me?”
Eyes hooded with desire, I pierced into her eyes. “Dying. I’m dying for you,” I rasped out, baring my all.
“Enough to promise me that you’ll always be mine?” she dared ask as she came close, nose barely touching my neck as she went up on tip toes and inhaled me, similar to how I used to do it with her. “Is this the smell of a man who is willing to be with me?”
The temperature in the room was cool, but I was sweating buckets. Stella… in control… was the sexiest thing I had ever seen. I had been rendered utterly thoughtless. Speechless.
A groan rumbled from my chest when her finger played with the edge of the towel that was loosely wrapped around my hips, costing me ten years of my life.
“Have you stroked yourself thinking of me, my love?” she asked, finger teasing me to oblivion.
Everyday. Every night. “In the shower, every time, without fail.” She purred at that, nipples hardening before my very eyes. My tongue gathered saliva as if those pebbled buds were already in my lips, tasting them.
“Did you touch yourself just now when you showered while I was out here thinking about you?”
When I said without fail. I meant. Without. Fail. Ever. “Yes.”
With a quick tug, she had my towel pooling around my feet. Without glancing at my throbbing shaft, I simply focused on her face, burning her into my memory.
“Is this how you do it, husband?” Innocent eyes stared back at me as her hands wrapped around my length, leisurely stroking it up and down, hardening me until I was blue and purple.
“Yes.” I became a one-word, total sap. Enthralled and hypnotized by the spellbinding sensations my wife was bestowing upon me, but most of all, the empowered look she had… simply engulfed my senses.
How I want you, Stella… how I bloody fucking want you, I yearned some more as I watched in vain…
Waiting.
Still.
“What do you think about me doing when you touch yourself, Callum?” Stella asked, biting her lip before she upped her audacity. “Do you ever think about me… doing this?” She was on her knees as I watched with fascination while her mouth took me whole.
Fuck me.
I was glued to the sight of her pleasuring me, but when I thought I couldn’t handle any more of it, I pulled her to her feet before I took her to bed, throwing myself above her.
She had finally come to me…
The heady recognition of what that meant held me captive. “Am I still in your heart, Stella?”
“Always.” She kissed me gently. “I’m yours… even if I didn’t wish to be.”
Did she still wish not to be mine? Her words hung above my head as I kissed her back.
“Tell me you love me, Stella,” I begged as I ripped her sheer nightwear off before I ripped her underwear into smithereens, too. “I need to hear you keep saying it.” The animal in me was seizing me entirely. The need to mate and be with my woman was beyond primal.
“I love you, Callum.” She writhed against my cock, clasping her legs behind my back. “Make me yours. Show me how much you’ve missed me, my love.”
Snap.
Something broke, like a blasted damn, and everything became a blur as I made love to my woman.
c
It was after the second time we made love that Stella rolled atop me, kissing my face, when her curiosity got to her. “So, where are your dates?”
I studied her face before responding to her with honesty. “Well, I sent them away.” My arms wrapped around her hips before I rolled her onto her back.
“Right.”
I kissed her some more. “Very right.” This felt right… there were no other words for it.
“How many women have you shagged since me?”
That broke our connected lips as I peered into her face, wondering. “Is this a question you really want me to answer?”
She looked away before nodding her head. “Yes. It is. I need to know.”
“Really?” I had to make sure.
Eyes darted me a hateful glare. “Fuck yes. Now hurry and stop making me crazy.”
“Not one.”
She cursed as she pushed me off, enraged. “Not one what? Not one redhead, but tons of blondes? None what?”
She didn’t believe me, yet it was the truth. “Not one woman, Stella.”
That made her think for a second. “You weren’t even tempted? Not even oral?”
“No. Not once.” I sighed. “Although I did want to try, I couldn’t do it.”
Her eyes turned into slits. “Not even with those dates? You shared a room with them.”
“Nope.”
My answer didn’t seem to please her an iota.
“So, you’re telling me that you had two beddable women and you what? Played Scrabble together?” Stella pressed further.
How did I explain this without sounding odd?
“They were for show, okay?” Best I kept going with that statement. “I didn’t want to look so affected after you, so I had to keep up a façade. The girls were able to do what they liked as long as they remained here while I worked in the adjacent office. Most times, they did online shopping, painted their toenails and played Candy Crush. Does that suffice or do you need me to give you a whole rundown?”
“Candy Crush? Great.” She pushed me back on the bed, grinning. “Nope. I think you’re in the clear.”
I think I’m falling for you, the words surfaced as I kissed her, however now I had come to realize that I didn’t need to insert the think… I was mad for her, but my fear had gotten the best of me.
The four-letter word frightened the living daylights out of me. I knew I should’ve said it then, yet saying it out loud made it all too real… and I wasn’t certain if I was ready to step in that direction.
The point of no return. The second I announced those words to her, I could never take them back. Not only was I frightened, but I was also hesitant that what I was feeling right at this moment might not be the real thing. It could be infatuation or a fleeting moment of madness because I was so caught up in needing her, wanting her in my life. So I had held my tongue in check, knowing it was wiser to say them when I had no doubt, no room for uncertainty over whether it was truly what I felt for her—and I had come to that—I knew now. It was only a matter of time until I told her the truth.
Life was certainly brighter.
c
For two days, we joined the rest of my friends and explored the little cities along the French and Italian Riviera. I had never felt more fun, carefree and very much besotted by having Stella with me.
It
was our last night. Tomorrow, we were heading back to the real world—back to London—so I decided to take her to Positano and enjoy a moment with her. As much as I liked being with my friends, I needed to spend some time with Stella. Yes, I bloody needed it.
After our meal, we strolled towards the shore. It was lined with a tiny strip of black sand and lined with blue and white umbrellas as we watched the sun setting before us.
“Thank you for making this all magical for me. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy since my family left me,” Stella murmured, eyes appreciative to the beauty that surrounded us.
What caught me, though, was her heavenly face. It looked content, in love and happy simply being with me. I watched the sunset happen before her eyes. She was glowing happiness as she gazed ahead, elated.
Spending all this time with her, realizing that she was the one, truly was life changing for me. My priorities were shifting and I would do anything to keep her with me. She hadn’t demanded anything, like I had, but she ought to know…
“I love you.”
She blinked once before she turned to me, smiling. “Are you sure?”
That smile—her—everything about her simply took my breath away. “I have loved you, but my fears have overruled everything. Forgive me for being such an unmitigated coward, but I’m telling you now, my heart lives for you, Stella.” I meant each word. Each were spoken with a promise. “Thank you for loving me, for bringing light into my life, for resurrecting my broken heart and making it feel again.”
She held me tighter, kissing my cheek. “Finally, I thought you’d never get here.”
I hadn’t, either, but I did.
I made it home.
Wrapped in each other’s embrace, I looked forward to spending my life with her.
Our future awaited our return.
Chapter 125
Callum
Knocking against her workroom door, I pushed it open and tried to persuade the stubborn woman to come and join me. “It’s been five minutes, Stella. You need to come out and eat dinner or I’ll very well pluck you out of that seat and take you to dine with me. You choose,” I threatened, but she only gave me a beautiful smile that made my heart beat a little speedier than usual.
“Coming, Callum.” The undaunted woman blew me a kiss. “Give me two minutes and I’m all yours.”
I loved how she said I’m all yours.
“Not a second more, you hear?” I parted the room as I went to the kitchen and waited for her. She had skipped lunch and settled for a sandwich. When she hadn’t eaten dinner, I was ready to spoon-feed her.
Luciana’s mother’s event was right around the corner and she was busy emailing and texting, approving and disapproving orders for the last few days. She needed to take a break and eat or she might fall apart from exhaustion.
So I barged in there and asked that she eat, hoping that by throwing in the idea that I could make her buttermilk pancakes, she just might be tempted to leave her workroom. Of course, I would adore the chance in proving to her that I was very well capable of making some damn pancakes as well.
A minute later, she breezed into the kitchen—eyeglasses and all—looking like a delicious dessert.
“Sit and eat, please?”
I pulled the chair for her to sit on before she plopped her butt and muttered, “Nom, nom. Thanks for the pancakes, babe, but I need chocolate syrup.” I groaned as I marched towards the fridge, taking the thing she asked for and drizzling it all over her pancakes. “No strawberries?” She arched her brow, goading me to snap.
She was enjoying making me suffer and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to kiss or spank her this instant. “Strawberries and what else? If you have any more add-ons, best you tell me now.”
“Orange juice; that’s it.” She blew me a kiss as she started to work on her pancakes.
I was cutting her strawberries in halves when she broke into my thoughts.
“Callum Kensington, hot playboy and badass billionaire with an affinity for doing naked stunts is my personal butt boy.”
She looked entirely too smug, so I threw her a piece of strawberry and much to my awe, the woman caught it with her mouth.
Damn.
Without thought, I came to her, plucked her out of her seat and shoved her on the counter, kissing my wife with a passion that burned like a raging furnace inside me. “You wanted chocolate syrup?” I dipped my finger onto her plate and swiped a line of syrup onto my chest, on my cock and everywhere else. “Give a go at me, wife.”
“You and chocolate?” She licked her lips. “You’re on.”
The mess we left for the next day was unbelievable, much to my housekeeper’s delight since she wanted us to make babies…
A baby, however… comes later.
For now, I have to start at the beginning.
c
I wanted to renew our vows because, this time, it was the real deal. I wanted to see her eyes as she said the words to me. We had even returned to where it had all started, St. Lucia, because I wanted to be in a place which held great memories for us.
I chose to propose to her next to Richard’s burial plot. It might seem weird to some, but I wanted her family to be a part of this, too. I also wanted them to know, if they were watching, that I was serious about Stella.
“Ever since you came back into my life, nothing has ever been the same. You came and you marked me anew.” I looked into her eyes, seeing only her; her big heart, her love for me as well as my future with her, my wife. “I was suffocating, drowning in my sorrows—and you—you came and you breathed new life into me. You have seized my soul when I didn’t want it possessed. You burned and made your mark even though I held you at arm’s length.
“I love you. I am so in love with you that I want to make you my wife twice. I want to hear you say the words to me, before our friends and family, that you’re mine and I’m yours because I am yours…
“You—” I spoke, breathless as I tried to reign all the flooding emotions that were overwhelming me at the moment. “You own me, Stella, and I wouldn’t want for anything if you make me your husband again. Marry me and be mine forever?”
Tears formed in her eyes as she broke down in front of me.
My wife was a beautiful mess and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
That same day, when Stella fell asleep after we made love, I found myself before my best friend’s grave. I stood there a moment, understanding the meaning of it all. Rehashing memories of that very same day I came back to the island, Richard bearing bad news along with the request of marriage to Stella.
“Thank you for bringing me to her,” I murmured. “Even though you’re gone, you’ve still looked out for me. I will take care of her. I love her more than anything. We miss you.” Silently, I spoke to my departed friend as if he was still alive.
c
The next day, I had our family and friends flown in for our wedding. Eleanor was the one who handled it all and I couldn’t have been more grateful for her help.
Our ceremony was held during sunset since it had been during one that I realized that I had been in love with Stella all along. I wanted to see the sun set on her again as we shared our love.
It was an intimate gathering. One that was sealed in my heart. This time, when I spoke my vows, it was spoken with truth—my truth.
That very same night, we were out on our bedroom’s balcony, draped only with a sheet while we stared out to the sea with the moon and the stars above as we cooled our heated bodies in the hammock, when Stella broke the silence.
“You know what I thought when I first saw you?” She cocked her head sideways, reminiscing.
This ought to be interesting. “Love to hear it.”
“I thought you were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and I wanted you for myself. When I told Richard what I thought, he laughed me off, saying that maybe someday, if I let fate do its own will, it just might happen.” Stella crawled a little closer to my face. “I love you, Callum
Kensington.”
I paused, looking at her grinning, beautiful face as my heart squeezed tighter. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
Epilogue
Callum
“Your baby is so beautiful,” Stella cooed at Ally’s newly christened baby girl named Elizabeth.
“Here, why don’t you try to burp her? I need to go and check on something in the kitchen.”
Stella looked skeptical. “Uh, yeah. If you really want me to.”
“I’ll hold her if you like,” Blake Knightly, who was sitting next to Sienna on the outdoor settee, offered Ally as he placed his drink on the coffee table.
Ally reddened. “You would? Thank you, Blake,” she muttered, not looking him in the eye as she moved closer to pass the small, cute bundle over.
I hid back a smile as I took another sip of my wine. Blake Knightly and I weren’t really friends since I loathed his cousin’s guts, but since our wives were friends and colleagues, we had to interact. The man wasn’t bad actually.
Elizabeth looked so tiny in Knightly’s arms and he seemed to be absorbed in the baby as he studied her facial features. When Elizabeth let out a tiny, cuter than anything that I had ever seen, small, sleepy yawn, the rest of us cooed and melted.
“I want one of these soon, cara,” Blake addressed Sienna without even giving his wife a glance because he looked so enthralled at the now sleepy form in his arms.
A round of laughter was shared while I reached for Stella’s hand and kissed it. My wife glowed as she gave me a smile.
Stella, after months of being married to her, still took my breath away.
Sienna, on the other hand, only shook her head. “Talk to me about babies after you’ve potty trained both dogs, hm?” She then looked at us, grinning. “He spoils them rotten and doesn’t seem to know how to control the urge to keep giving them treats for no reason. If the dog looks cute sitting down, he hands it a treat. If one is acting all sweet and cuddly, he hands out another treat. I don’t even want to imagine how he’ll be with babies.”
