He took a deep breath through his nose before he sat down and went to work adding tons of pepper to his food.
“Here you go,” I said as I placed the cup on Steven’s table.
“Thank you.” He smiled at me before going back to the crossword puzzle he was doing.
“You’re welcome.” I grinned and had begun to walk away when Steven yelled, “Do you know a six-letter word for angry?” He looked up at me when I stopped and regarded him.
“Callen!” Aaron shouted, and began to laugh with Danny following suit.
“Fuck off!” Callen rumbled and stood.
Quickly I made my way to him.
“Callen….” I placed my hand on his hard forearm but his heated eyes never left Aaron. “Please, sit down.”
“Yeah, big boy, listen to your….” Aaron paused, then stressed, “Princess.”
I felt Callen’s muscles flex before he pulled from my grip and in the blink of an eye was yanking Aaron out of his seat by the back of his shirt.
“I fucking told you, cocksucker”—Callen grated in a harshly when he came nose to nose with Aaron—“I’d break every bone in your fucking body if you uttered a word about Noelle.”
“Mr. Westbrook!” Dr. Meyers shouted from the doorway.
Callen let go of Aaron and the sudden release had him falling to his seat and breathing heavily with panic.
“You and Miss Anderson may eat in the courtyard,” the doctor said, and waited at the door for us to retrieve our plates.
Callen stalked back to the table, grabbed his food, and walked directly to the garbage can where he dumped his full plate and muttered, “Not hungry anymore.” He walked out of the room.
My gaze was fixed to where Callen had just disappeared. Dr. Meyers’s voice pulled my attention to him when he said, “You can stay and finish eating, Miss Anderson.”
“You can sit with us,” Aaron said with a smirk, gesturing to the table that he and Danny occupied.
“I’m going to check on Callen.” I began to collect my plate.
“You can leave it,” Samantha said. I looked to her and she added in a soft voice, “I got your plate.”
The gentleness in her eyes had me giving her a small smile. “Thank you.”
She returned the smile and nodded.
Callen was walking into his bathroom when I entered his room.
“Callen, I—”
“You need to go, Noelle,” he mumbled, cutting me off.
He was pulling the bathroom door closed and I grabbed the knob, causing him to stop. I hadn’t planned on it, but the sadness deep in his beautiful green eyes had me walking right up to him. I stood on tiptoe as I opened my arms wide and enveloped his broad shoulders. He went still, a towel in one hand and clothes in the other.
With my face pressed into his chest, I felt the pounding of his heart against my cheek.
“I had a great time today,” I whispered, and took a deep breath through my nose, inhaling the masculine scent of him that I’d come to love.
I felt the material of his clothes and towel kiss my feet when he dropped them. He bent and closed his arms around my waist, which had me repositioning my head to his shoulder, and buried his face in my neck. It wasn’t until my body relaxed that I stepped in closer to him, fitting myself against his until he did the same, squeezing my small frame to his hard one.
His voice was a deep whisper. “Me too, princess.”
And as many times as he’d called me princess, this was the first time I felt it snake its way through my body and land in my core, causing me to tremble.
Chapter Nine
Callen
*~*DAY 41*~*
“I will.”
“I’m counting on you today to add to your progression. So please be on your best behavior.”
“I already said I will,” I repeated, and started to rise.
“I’m not done yet, stay seated,” Dr. Meyers said gently.
Letting out an annoyed puff of breath, I placed my ass back in the seat.
He placed his pad and pen on the small, round cherry-stained table next to his wingback chair. His eyes came to me. “Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”
“Nope.”
“Can you tell me why you got so angry when Aaron mentioned Noelle last night?” he asked.
“Thought we already went over this, Doc,” I replied, shifting in my seat, uncomfortable talking about Noelle.
“We did, but your answer was somewhat vague in my opinion.”
I leaned forward, put my elbows to my knees, and clasped my hands. “See, Doc, that’s what’s so great about this world, we’re all entitled to our own opinion.”
He let out a chuckle before he sobered. “So I take it you’re sticking with that you feel Aaron is disrespectful to women?”
“Yep.”
He nodded and rose. “Have fun today, Callen.”
“I will.”
I rose from my seat and left his office, so much more fucking ready to get the fuck out of there than I had been before my session. I walked down the hallway faster than I normally did, since I only had an hour before Noelle was due to arrive. I knew what had to be done before we went out today.
Once inside my room, I grabbed the clothes I’d already laid out and went straight into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Within seconds, I’d divested myself of my basketball shorts and T-shirt and was standing underneath the hot spray. As I bent my head, the water cascaded down my back and I closed my eyes.
My cock was already hard, as my mind had been filling with visions of Noelle ever since I left Dr. Meyers’s office. Taking the rigid shaft in my hand, I began to pump vigorously as my body remembered what it felt like to have her in my arms, the way her small frame fit against my hard form. Her sweet lavender smell had me imagining what she would taste like if I ran my tongue along the soft skin.
My stomach muscles tensed as I felt the tingle tease my spine. Forcefully I pulled at my firm cock, with nothing but images of the woman I was going to spend a few hours with today. When my mouth began to water with what her pussy would taste like, the first surge of come came rushing out. I laid a hand on the wall, the heaviness that took over my body leaving me swaying.
“Noelle” was said on a quiet breath as the last jet of come swirled down the drain.
*~*~*
“This is your car?”
“Umm, yeah,” she answered shyly, her focus on the white run-down Cavalier we were approaching. As soon as she was within arm’s length, she patted the trunk. “She’s a good girl.”
Those two words raised images of Noelle naked on her knees in front of me. I kept my mouth shut and slipped into the passenger seat.
“Okay,” she started as she slid into the driver’s seat and put the key in the ignition. “Are you hungry or do you wanna walk around a few shops first?”
I shrugged.
“Callen….” She paused when it took her three tries to get the car started. “Whew.” She blew out a breath. “She can be stubborn sometimes.”
“You need a new car,” I told her bluntly.
“I know that,” she replied quietly as she backed out of the spot and maneuvered the car out of the parking lot and onto the long stretch of dirt road that lead us off the grounds of Mountains Bay.
“Let’s go to a car dealer.”
“Why?”
“To look for a new car for you,” I said as I looked over at her. And when I took in the expression on her face, I asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Callen,” she said softly, “I can’t afford a new car.”
“Use this as a trade-in and we’ll set you up with a good fucking payment plan—”
“I can’t!” Her voice rose as she cut me off. It took me by surprise, since it was the first time I’d heard firmness in her voice.
I observed her with furrowed brows, and when the car came to a stop at a red light she peered over at me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get loud with you, but I can’t
afford a car payment, rent, and all other necessities on my salary.”
“Ask your dad to help you.”
She let out a sarcastic chuckle before she informed me, “It’s not that easy.”
“Sure it is.” I put my hand out. “Give me your phone, I’ll tell him.”
“Oh, my God, Callen, are you crazy?”
And there it was. The moment that brought me back to what my life had become, because I was crazy. Or I’d categorized myself that way. There were a few beats of silence before she realized what she had said.
“Callen”—she placed a hand on my leg and kept her eyes to the road—“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. I—”
“It’s fine, Noelle,” I told her, and looked out the passenger side window, watching the small town come into view, soaking up the warmth of her hand on me.
When she touched me, it felt like everything evil inside me crawled back within the cavernous holes it came from. As if her simple touch could heal me, tame the demons that ripped at me internally. The car came to a stop, and I hadn’t even noticed that she pulled into a small parking lot behind a store on the main street filled with retailers, bars, and restaurants.
“Callen,” she called softly, taking my hand and holding it between both of hers. “I’m really sorry.”
I twisted to look at her and when I did, my heart clenched because her blue eyes were gentle and I could so get fucking lost in them forever. Without even realizing what I was doing, I lifted my free hand and brushed my knuckles along the soft, creamy skin of her cheek.
“It’s okay, princess.” My voice was low and husky.
She pressed her face into the back of my hand and I flipped it over to cup her cheek. We gazed into each other’s eyes for a second before she closed hers. Her pink puffy lips slightly parted as she took slow breaths, the scent of her permeating the small car. The way her small tits rose and fell under her red tank top had my dick stirring to life. My eyes wandered down to her dark-blue-jean-clad thighs and I bit the inside of my cheek, pondering what kind of panties covered her luscious ass and sweet pussy. It took all the fucking strength I had not to lean over and take her mouth with mine.
“Noelle,” I whispered into the thick air.
She nodded.
“Princess, we have to get out of this car.” The rough whisper laced with need told her exactly why we had to.
“What if I don’t want to, Callen?” she pushed, her eyes fluttering open as she raised a hand to cover mine on her cheek.
I took a deep inhale, trying to fill my heavy lungs as her blue gaze penetrated me.
Fuck!
She was slithering her way inside me, deep down in the depths where I hadn’t felt anything, her pure innocence washing away the darkness and filling it with the light only she had.
“Baby,” fell from my lips in a deep whisper.
I started moving. Slowly I leaned toward her. All rational thought flew from my fucking head when she licked her lips, readying herself for me.
Then a quick rap on the hood of the car had us both jerking our heads toward the windshield. An older man with a smile pointed to a sign hanging on the brick wall in front of us.
Deliveries Only.
Noelle mouthed, “Sorry.”
I released her and she jumped to put the car in reverse. We were silent as she backed out of the spot and pulled into a vacant one on the opposite side of the dirt lot. Once she extracted the key from the ignition, she glanced over at me with questioning eyes. But the moment had passed and fucking sensible thought had come rushing back into my head.
“Ready?” I asked with my hand on the door handle. And her gorgeous features filled with disappointment.
“Sure,” she responded, crushed, and exited the car.
And as I did the same, my mind mentally beat the shit out of me.
She fucking wants you, asshole, just as much as you want her. What the fuck is your problem?
*~*~*
We were forty-five minutes and twenty-six seconds into our outing. Yeah, my pussy ass was keeping track of the time, knowing that it was limited.
“This is cute,” she voiced as she held up a small picture of a log cabin home nestled in the woods.
“Get it.”
“Nah,” she muttered, and put it back down on the shelf.
“Get it,” I repeated, firmly this time.
Moving slowly down the small aisle of the gift shop we were in, she said, “No, I shouldn’t spend the money.”
I looked back at the picture and was just about to say something when she asked, “You hungry?”
“Yeah.” I nodded and went on, “Why don’t you go out front, look around, see what’s close while I go take a piss.”
She shook her head with a smile playing on her lips. “Okay.”
Five minutes later I found her two storefronts away and I snuck up behind her. She was so focused on reading the menu posted in the window of a small tavern she didn’t even hear me. But what pissed me off was that if I could sneak up behind her, anyone could. I pushed that anger down and made a mental note to talk to her about that, then raised my hand and put the picture she’d wanted in her sights.
Her hands went to her mouth and she breathed, “Callen.”
I moved in closer, fitting my front to her back, and bent so my mouth was at her ear. “For you, princess.”
“You….” She hesitated and put a hand on my wrist, which was holding up the picture of the log cabin burrowed in the woods.
“Shh,” I crooned. “A gift from me to you.”
Her other hand left her mouth and she began to trace the image as she whispered, “Thank you.”
I took a deep inhale of her scent before I replied, “My pleasure.”
I straightened and asked, “They got anything good here?”
“Yeah,” she replied as she took the picture from me. “Burgers, wings, you know, bar food.”
“Sounds good.”
After she put the picture in her car, we went back to the tavern and chose to sit out on the small back terrace. The temperature dropped as dark clouds came rolling in, but that didn’t faze us in the fucking least, because we were too busy talking about nothing and everything again, and listening to the music coming from the speakers as an array of wings, fries, mozzarella sticks, onion rings, and chicken fingers were spread out on the table.
“Where do you live?” I asked, popping an onion ring in my mouth.
“Tallahassee,” she divulged, dipping a fry in ketchup, but stopped mid-dip when her wide eyes rose to my puzzled ones.
“What?” I questioned around the last of the greasy, fried goodness, and swallowing it. “You live in Florida?” I asked, wiping my hands on a napkin.
“Um….” She paused. “Well….”
“Noelle?” My voice was hard as I sat back in the wrought iron chair and crossed my arms over my chest. “Spit it the fuck out.”
“Fine,” she huffed, and dropped the red-drenched fry on her plate. “Yes, I live in Tallahassee, Florida, in a friend’s condo who is currently in Vegas reaching for her dream as a dancer.”
“A stripper?”
“No,” she drawled quickly with a tilt of her head. “She wants to be a showgirl, not a stripper, but she is working part-time in a prestigious gentlemen’s club.”
I nodded. “Go on.”
“About Aurora?”
“No, Noelle, you,” I pointed out harshly. “Where did you live before that?”
“With my dad, stepmother, and brother.” Her answer was vague.
“Where, Noelle?” I grated out.
She sighed. “Florida.”
I leaned forward. “Then why in the fuck are you driving all the way into Georgia visiting me?” My voice was filled with irritation and curiosity.
“I told you why.” She placed her hands on the table firmly. “Because I like helping people.”
I matched her positon and slammed my hands on the table. “And they didn’t have a nut h
ouse closer to you, Noelle?”
“This was the only one advertising the visitor program, Callen.” As if it was a sign from God, when she accentuated my name a loud boom of thunder resonated in the air.
“So, you’re gonna tell me you get in that piece of shit car and drive more than an hour to visit with me ’cause you like helping people?” I tested irately.
“Yes!” she responded loudly with a smack of her hands on the table.
Rolling thunder drowned out the music playing.
“I don’t believe you,” I told her flatly as I sat back in my chair and felt the first drop of rain hit my arm.
“Then don’t,” she threw back, mimicking my position.
Blue eyes to green eyes, we stared intently at each other, as though we battled to break each other with our gazes. But my angry stare quickly changed when it started roaming her beautiful face. She sensed it, and the look in her eyes went soft. The tension between us quickly diminished.
“I love this song,” she whispered.
I listened to the beginning of “Into the Mystic” by Van Morrison, a song I knew very well as my grandmother had listened to him up until the day she died. I extended my hand across the table; the drops of rain were coming quicker now. Her small hand glided into mine and I rose. She followed suit and I met her at the side of our table. All traces of sunlight were gone, replaced by the dark stormy sky.
We never took our eyes from one another as I wrapped an arm around her waist, hers coming around my shoulders, hands tightly folded together we began to slowly sway. The rain steadily beat against us, but we didn’t care because we were locked in one of our moments, but this time nothing was going to fucking break it. Sure as fuck not any water dropping from the sky.
I couldn’t do it again. I couldn’t walk away without tasting her. The pull between us was too strong to ignore. Gradually, I opened my hand and glided it along her arm, feeling the slickness of water under my fingertips, to her neck. I cupped the back of it. She tilted her head, alluring blue eyes staring into my green heated ones. Water soaked her pale blond hair, cascading down her smooth skin. I leaned in and let my mouth still, a breath away from hers.
DAY 31 Page 8
