The Calum

by Xio Axelrod

Duff studied her face. Searched her eyes. Lovie didn’t know what he was looking for. Didn’t know what he needed. There was pain in his gaze, but also passion. Hunger.

  He ran his thumb over her bottom lip, and she stepped into him, flattening her hands against his chest.

  Lovie felt like they were swimming against a strong current, neither wanting to rush things but needing to do just that.

  She went up on tiptoe.

  Duff brought his forehead down to hers and pulled her flush with his body. He was hard and ready against her belly. Damn. Lovie bit her lip.

  “God…your mouth.” The way his voice had dropped yet another octave had her shaking. He teased her, nipping at her lips and chin. Skimmed over her neck and then gently bit down.

  Lovie lit up like a Christmas tree.

  Her clit throbbed as she rubbed up against him, desperate. Her panties clung to her skin, soaking wet. The air filled with gasps and urgent moans, most of them hers.

  She wanted…needed…something.

  Anything.

  Everything.

  Now.

  Before she could find the words, Duff’s hands slid up the back of her tee and lifted it over her head.

  His hand fell to her zipper and then her jeans fell into a pool at her ankles. Duff wrapped his arms around her - God, so warm and strong and solid - and then she was airborne as he picked her up and laid her on the bed.

  He leaned in and attacked her mouth like a man possessed. Duff demanded everything with his kiss. Left her nowhere to hide. It was terrifying. Exhilarating.

  This was what they’d all been writing about, she thought, those romance writers. This aching need to connect or die trying.

  Lovie ceased thinking at all when he captured one of her lace-covered nipples in his mouth, crying out from the unexpected pleasure. She ran her fingers through his hair. His hands never stopped moving, deftly stripping her bare. Even as his teeth grazed her breast, he kept stroking her skin. Marking her with fire.

  He moved back and looked down the length of her body. “Sweet, heav’nly lord.”

  Lovie trembled under his gaze.

  Duff met her eyes and smiled. “Yer so...”

  He reached up a shaky fingertip. Ran it across her lips and down her chin, her neck. Down the valley between her breasts. Down and down. The finger parted her flesh, curled inside her and Lovie gasped, her back arching. “Jus’ beautiful.”

  Lovie couldn’t wait anymore. She sat up and grabbed at his waistband. Taking the hint, Duff stood up to remove his jeans, his gaze always on hers.

  He stood naked and still, breathing heavy, at the edge of the bed.

  She let her eyes do what her fingers couldn’t, frozen as she was at the sight of him in the flesh. His body looked as if hewn from marble by Bernini himself. Powerful but lean, and not an ounce of fat to be found. Self-conscious, her hands went to her doughy thighs.

  “Don’t do that.”

  “What?” God, she sounded so turned on. Which she was, like, whoa.

  “Don’t hide.”

  “I wasn’t.”

  “You were.” His voice was low and throaty. So unbelievably sexy. “You don’t need to hide.”

  “Easy for you to say when you look like a lost Gosling brother.” She tried to smile, but his eyes devoured her.

  Duff crawled onto the bed like a panther, forcing her to lie back. His cock brushed against her thigh, and she glanced down. Her whole body clenched with the need to be filled by him.

  “You did that to me.” He nuzzled his nose against her cheek. It was the only point of contact as he hovered over her, the muscles in his arms barely registering the strain. “You do this to me.”

  He flexed his hips and hissed as Lovie rubbed her leg along his length.

  “Duff…”

  Balancing on one arm, he grabbed his wallet from the side table. Lovie ran her hands down his chest and stomach, marveling at the ripple of muscle beneath his skin. He sat back on his haunches and ripped open the tiny, square packet in his hand. Lovie collapsed onto her back, liquid with anticipation. He covered himself with a groan and then he was over her again. The bed shook as he slowly lowered his mouth to hers.

  “Now, Duff. Now.” She tried to pull him closer. It was like moving a wall.

  “Easy, love, or this could get embarrassing for me.”

  She didn’t care.

  Lovie grabbed his ass with both hands and pulled him into her body. The groan was mutual.

  Finally, he was inside her. A sense of relief washed over her, so strong that she let out a sob. He felt so good. Had it ever felt so good?

  Duff lifted his head, looking down on her with concern.

  “Did I hurt ye?”

  “No...no.” She smiled up at him, lifting her knees and inviting him deeper.

  He groaned and nudged her thighs wider.

  Her muscles fluttered around him.

  “Christ.” He locked eyes with her again, his usual Caribbean blue looking more like Atlantic gray.

  “Please, Duff.”

  He moved and she dissolved, wrapping her legs around him as she tried to absorb him completely. Be absorbed by him. Duff murmured against her neck, words she couldn’t make out, but understood.

  "Oh God…” Flames of pleasure licked between her thighs.

  He silenced her mouth with an urgent tongue as his pace increased, pulling her right to the edge of bliss.

  Lovie scraped her nails down his back, swallowing his guttural moan. He broke the kiss, panting.

  “Fuck, Lovie...ye feel so good.”

  His eyes were unfocused. His lips swollen. She could feel him barely holding onto his control and her body flushed with female satisfaction. She took his face between her hands as he lowered his forehead to hers, his eyes closed with concentration.

  “Don’t hold back.” She swiveled her hips.

  “Wait! Fuck, wait I...I want you to-”

  She met his eyes and rocked under him again. “Don’t hide.”

  With a groan, Duff withdrew. He grabbed Lovie’s hips, flipped her over and pulled her upright, on her knees. She whimpered at the loss of him.

  “What’re you…?”

  “Shhh, I’ve got ye.”

  Duff knelt behind her, his legs on either side, and slid his arms around, holding her flush to his chest. Large hands cupped her breasts as he pressed his open mouth against her neck. His teeth nipped at her skin. Lovie melted against him, her hair cascading over his shoulder.

  Lovie felt him trapped between them, hot and hard. Why was he holding back?

  The hand on her right breast slid down. Down her stomach and between her thighs, his fingers combed through the damp curls and found her clit.

  “Fuck…you’re so wet.” His breath was hot against her cheek.

  She arched against him. “You did this to me.”

  “Fucking incredible.” His other hand tweaked her hypersensitive nipple.

  Lovie whimpered as tiny explosions sparked behind her eyes. She grabbed his thighs for leverage and rolled her hips against his hot, thick fingers.

  “Yeah, that’s it.” Duff’s mouth moved to her ear. “Come for me.”

  Lovie shattered.

  The orgasm crashed through her with a ferocity she’d never experienced, stealing her breath and her reason. Tendrils of ecstasy curled throughout her limbs as she shook.

  Duff held her close, his breathing as ragged as hers, still hard as steel against the small of her back. Lovie’s body felt light and empty, and her mind floated in an airy bliss. She melted onto her stomach.

  Duff ran his tongue along the globes of her ass, up her spine. “God, that was beautiful.”

  That was one word for it. "Wow," was all she could manage.

  He tilted her hips and parted her sensitive, quivering flesh, entering her with a soft grunt. Her aftershocks reverberated around him, and he shuddered with each one. As good as it was, it was no good. Lovie needed to see him. She straightened up and turned around, p
ushing him onto his back. It was her turn to drive.

  ****

  At the first touch of her tongue, Duff’s mind fractured. His head lolled against the pillow and his fingers dug into the sheets as she moved up his body.

  Lovie licked a line up his stomach, his chest, along the cords of his neck. Even the dimple in his chin. She ran her lips and hands and tongue over his collarbone, his earlobes, the corners of his mouth. She was barely touching him and he was dangerously close to exploding, holding onto his control by a thread.

  “Please.”

  “Now you’re begging?” Her husky laugh almost sent him over the edge. Then she straddled his hips and sheathed him in her slippery heat and he nearly blacked out.

  “Jesus.”

  Brushing his shaking fingers over her face, he pulled her forward. She licked her full lower lip, and it made his brain trip another circuit. He nipped her parted lips.

  “Kiss me. Please."

  Fuck. She was so needy and so open. He kissed her. Drove up into her until they were rocking together, faster and faster, the headboard drumming against the wall like a bodhran.

  Lovie sat upright, panting. “Show me what you want."

  Duff’s hands curled around her waist, and he stilled her, held her aloft. Withdrew. Waited until she met his eyes.

  Raising his hips, he teased her entrance. Lovie gasped, suckling him with her body as her sex clenched. The small swell of her belly clenched and relaxed. Her breasts, full and round and creamy, rose and fell with her breaths. The look on her face was pure rapture.

  He was mesmerized. Determined.

  Up. Circle. Down.

  Up. Circle. Down.

  Duff used his strength to control his thrusts, building up a steady rhythm.

  Lovie’s muscles fluttered around him. “Duff…oh…yes…”

  She threw her head back, and her hair brushed the back of his hands. So soft. Fuck! She was so soft, inside and out. He couldn’t believe she’d let him in. Him.

  Lovie leaned forward, her palms on his chest.

  Their eyes locked.

  She was glowing. Radiant.

  “Yer beautiful.”

  She smiled, her hair a red sun setting around her. “So are you.”

  There was so much more than desire in her eyes. It shot through him like electricity. A little moan escaped her throat, and his balls tightened. There were jolts of pleasure everywhere they touched.

  He surged up into her, dangerously close, but he needed her to come one more time. Needed to feel it.

  Duff sat up. Cradling her head, he rolled them over and kissed her long and deep. He gently bit down on her nipple, and she clenched around him.

  Duff built up a rhythm, buried himself inside her. She was so wet, so warm, so perfect.

  It was heaven.

  She was heaven.

  Lovie arched against the bed.

  Duff nudged her legs further apart, stroking deeper, and she made a sound somewhere between pain and pleasure. She was hot and smooth and tighter than a fist.

  She let out a long, low moan and grabbed the headboard. Duff pressed her knees up toward her shoulders and stroked through her cock-strangling climax. He’d been so busy watching her pleasure play out on her face that he was blindsided by his own.

  It bowed his back and ripped her name from his throat, spiraling through him like an errant firework. His body splintered into a thousand pieces.

  Duff collapsed into Lovie’s arms, held her close. He turned his face into the crook of her neck and just…inhaled. Shampoo and whiskey and Lovie.

  He listened to her breathing settle. Felt her stomach move against his. Soft hands stroked his back. Soft lips kissed his shoulder.

  Duff tried to hold onto some portion of his sanity. No such luck. Three days in, and he was crazy about her. He’d known it would be this way. Fuckin’ knew it.

  After a while, he rolled over and sat up. The cooler air of the room raised the gooseflesh on his skin. Grabbing a few tissues, he quickly cleaned himself up and tossed the refuse into the wastebasket.

  He flopped onto his back, turning his head to look at her.

  Lovie lay beside him limp and languid. He spied a tear running down her temple and sat up on one elbow.

  “Lovie?”

  “I’m okay.” She smiled up at him, and he flooded with relief. Sprawled out naked on the bed, the moonlight filtering in through the window to paint her honeyed skin with silver, she was a vision.

  “That was...” She took a shaky breath and gave him a smile that reduced his spine to loose pebbles.

  “Aye.” Duff cupped her cheek and leaned in to kiss her. Lovie smiled against his mouth, teased him with little nibbles. He lifted his head to look at her, and she met his eyes. He wondered what she saw. They barely knew one another, but it didn’t feel that way to him. No, it didn’t.

  Not at all.

  They kissed again, moaning softly into one another. He only stopped because his head was spinning.

  She pushed him onto his back, threw one leg over his thigh and rested her head on his chest. His fingers slid into her hair. The urgent need to consume her temporarily abated, he had time to luxuriate in the soft, fragrant coils.

  Duff had never felt this kind of harmony.

  Lovie was incredible. Sensual, playful and shy and nothing like he’d ever experienced. She was also incredibly brave.

  His head hadn’t been in the right place.

  She should have run screaming from the room. Instead, she’d given herself to him, and in such a way that he had no choice but to give right back. It scared the shit out of him.

  He’d just made love to her. Not shagged, not fucked, made love.

  It may have been a first.

  Lovie turned away, putting her back to his front, and he spooned her. Generally speaking, he wasn’t a spooner. Generally speaking, he didn’t do this. Intimacy.

  The women he had been with over the years, they’d meant nothing. He’d felt nothing, outside of immediate gratification.

  Lovie sighed, and there was a twinge in the vicinity of his heart. Hope stirred in the place where his soul had lain dormant.

  It felt foreign and right and good.

  Too good.

  He wrapped himself around her. Nuzzled into her hair. Took her scent into his lungs.

  This was something.

  She turned her head toward him. “Do you have anything to drink besides Scotch?”

  “Ah, no.” Duff sat up and peered over her shoulder.

  She had a dreamy, satisfied expression on her face that made him want to roar with pride. “I can get us some water, or-”

  “Water would be perfect.” She smiled, her eyes already closing.

  He kissed her shoulder. “Be right back, then.”

  Duff slid off the bed and stepped back into his jeans. The duvet had been pushed to the floor.

  Lovie lay curled on her side, her arms wrapped around her. He couldn’t get over how trusting she was. How completely she’d chipped away at his defenses.

  A clock chimed somewhere in the house. It was almost Christmas Eve. Would Lovie want spend it with him and his gran? Joana could come too if she wanted.

  Maybe he had time to get Lovie something small. To show her that he’d been thinking of her.

  Duff smiled to himself, shaking his head. You’re in trouble, me lad. He gently covered her and slipped out of the room. He’d made it halfway down the hall when he heard a familiar rhythm.

  Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

  The closer he got to the master bedroom, the louder it got.

  Bang-bang. Bang. Bang.

  “Oh God! Don’t stop!”

  Mother. Fuck.

  Duff was going to kill him.

  Departures

  Lovie woke up, acutely aware of the lack of a warm body next to her. The light filtering in through the windows told her that it was well into the morning. Had Duff come back to bed last night?

  She needed some water. She als
o needed to pee. Her muscles protested from abuse as she got out of bed, but it was a welcome ache. Making love to Duff, and that’s what it was, had been a revelation. But what now? She didn’t even know where he lived.

  She dressed quickly because the room was freaking cold. Apparently central heat hadn’t reached the Highlands. Out in the hall, she listened for the sound of the other occupants, but it was church-quiet. Where was Duff?

  After using the bathroom and brushing her teeth - no morning kiss with funky breath, thank you - she crept downstairs.

  Duff sat scowling in front of the fireplace, poking at the crumbling logs.

  “Hey.”

  His head snapped up, his brow knit with a frown before a soft smile curved his lips. “Hey.”

  “You...didn’t come back.”

  “Shit.” He ran a hand over his face and came over to her. “I’m sorry. Your water. Hang on.” He started toward the kitchen, but Lovie stopped him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He hugged her close, his body deliciously warm against her chilled skin.

  She looked up. “I can get it.”

  “I lost track o’ time.” He smiled down at her, but there was sadness in his eyes.

  Lovie frowned. “Everything okay?” Duff nodded, smoothing her hair back from her face. He was so powerful and yet so gentle.

  “Yeah, I just...needed to think.”

  Oh no. No, no, no. She knew that look. Was he really going to hit it and quit it?

  “You’re not, I mean...” She couldn’t stop staring at the non-existent spot on his chest. “You don’t regret-”

  “Oh, God no!” He squeezed her to him so hard it was difficult to breathe, but who needed air?

  “No.” He kissed her softly, cradling her face in his hands. “No.”

  Lovie smiled with relief. “Good. Me neither.”

  “Good.” His was only a half-smile.

  Something was up, but she’d done enough pushing in the last twenty-four hours. After everything they’d shared, he’d tell her in his own time. He patted her bottom as she turned for the kitchen.

  Jo wasn’t in her room when Lovie made it back upstairs, and her bed hadn’t been touched. Apparently, she’d sealed the deal with Hamish. And good for her! Rumpled sheets all-around.

  Lovie grinned, the highlight reel of her evening with Duff running through her head. He seemed a little distant just now, but she felt assured that it was nothing to do with what happened between them.