by Jade West
“What happened?” I cried. “What did he give her?”
He pulled out a rancid piece of meat from his pocket, and they rushed it off to the lab.
The vet shone a light in her eyes, opened her mouth too.
“Hyperextension, vomiting, rapid heart rate.” He focused on Callum. “What symptoms were presenting when you found her?”
“Panting... crying... sick everywhere.”
The vet stretched out his arms. “Was she stood like a sawhorse? Like this?”
Callum nodded. “Then she went all twitchy.”
“We’ll need to wash her stomach, attempt to remove the rest of the toxin. Please wait outside.”
The fear in Callum’s eyes broke my heart. His voice was so nervous, so unlike him. “Help her, please. Please make her ok again.”
“We’ll be doing our very best for her.”
I took his arm, pulling gently. “Come on, Callum. Let them work. She’s in the best hands.”
He hovered just long enough to put his face to hers. “You’ve gotta get better now, alright? These nice people are gonna take care of you. Love you, Case, so much.”
The savage’s eyes were wet with tears when he rose, but he didn’t linger any longer.
***
Callum collapsed in a heap in the corner once the vet was out of sight.
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” he growled. “Just as soon as she’s alright. Gonna cut his fucking heart out.”
“No,” I said. “He wants the fight. Don’t play into his hands. You’re better than that.”
“Don’t fucking feel like it.”
“Casey wouldn’t want it,” I said. “She’d want you to think about your art, about staying out of prison, about how much I need you to come home with me. She needs us, both of us. We’re her home now, Cal.” I pressed my cheek into his back, soaking his hoodie with tears. “Please don’t push me away.”
“Ain’t getting back together for Case’s sake,” he said.
My heart dropped, pain piling on top of pain.
I was numb as he reached for my hand, barely registering he was holding me until he said the words.
“I’m doing it for me.”
***
We sat there for what felt like hours. Waiting, hoping, praying. We’d flinch every time we heard footsteps, but they’d only be offering coffee. I’d think I’d have it together, only for the image of her big brown eyes to reach out and bludgeon me all over again. Callum was quiet in his grief, locked up inside himself with just the occasional outburst, but for me it bled wild.
“You should go,” he said. “You’ve got work and shit.”
“I haven’t. They suspended me.”
“Why?”
“Doesn’t matter now.”
He didn’t push it and I didn’t share.
“It’s all fucked,” he said. “All of it. Got a fucking exhibition tomorrow, all my paintings and shit. I dreamed about it when I was a little kid, and now it’s all fucked. Can’t do it now she’s like this.”
I smiled, but it wasn’t a happy smile, not really. “You’re at the new Southbank complex.”
“Dunno. Yeah, maybe.”
“No maybe about it. It’s the biggest event of the year. I know, my parents built the fucking place.”
“Don’t matter now, does it? Won’t be going.”
I reached out to touch him, the slightest touch of my fingers on his knee. “Of course it matters. You have to go, it’s your big break.”
“Won’t mean anything now.”
I sighed, a long sad sigh that rattled in my chest. “No matter what happens here tonight, Callum, that art means something. Don’t let it go.”
I kept quiet, letting his demons battle it out for themselves. So quiet that it came as a shock when he spoke again.
“Me mam threw me out first time when I was fourteen. Didn’t have nowhere to go. Jimmy was dead, and I didn’t have no one else.”
“She wouldn’t let you back home?”
“Too proud to ask, even then.” He sighed. “I remember her telling me to get out, told me she hated me. Felt fucking rough. Didn’t show it, like. Played tough, but it fucking hurt. Ain’t never spoke about it before.” His eyes met mine, hard. “That stuff with your sister felt like it was happening all over again.”
I flinched inside. “I was a stupid cow trying to keep up appearances. I’ve been doing that my whole life.” I leaned my head on his shoulder. “Hurting you was the last thing I wanted.”
“Don’t matter now,” he said. “Thought it would be me and her missing you, but now you’re here and she’s fighting to get back to us.”
Fresh tears pricked my eyes. “Puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?” I paused awhile until I could speak the words aloud. “I’m going to tell my parents about us, Cal. Push me away all you like, I’m going to tell them anyway.”
He reached out for my hand, squeezed it tight. “You’re upset over Case, that’s all.”
“It’s got nothing to do with Casey.”
“She brought us together, didn’t she?” he smiled. “Best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Yes, she did. And loving her has brought us back together, Cal. Don’t let all this be for nothing. It can’t be for nothing.”
“What now, then?” he said. “I’m off the fucking rails here, Soph. Got no fucking idea.”
“We work it out,” I said. “Like families do.”
My beautiful savage took my hand, and finally the vet arrived.
***
Casey’s tail wagged ever so slightly, but it was enough. Her eyes were focused, smiling up at us as we stroked her face.
“She’s a real fighter,” the vet said. “Didn’t give up.”
“Of course she wouldn’t,” I smiled. “She’s like her owner.”
“We’ll need to keep her in a few days,” the vet concluded. “Run some tests on her kidneys and take some blood samples. She needs to rest and recover, so please leave her with us until she’s well enough to go home.”
“Hear that, Case?” Callum said. “You’re gonna come home, just as soon as these nice people have done some tests on ya.”
Her tail flicked again, happy, like she understood every word. Maybe she did.
I hugged her tight before we left, and waited for my beautiful savage outside. I couldn’t wait to take him home.
***
I didn’t flick the light on. Callum reached for the switch himself but I stopped him, intercepting his hand with my fingers in his.
“Don’t think,” I said. “Just feel. Feel me. I’m right here.”
His arms were crushing, wrapped tight around my waist as he buried his face in my neck. I felt him shudder.
“I need to tell you something,” he whispered. “About Vicki. She wanted me... and I... I couldn’t...”
I smoothed his hair. “It doesn’t matter now.”
“I didn’t fuck her,” he said. “Couldn’t. There was only you, Soph. You’re the only one I ever wanted.”
He was so compliant as I took his clothes from him, dropping them onto the floor like dead skin as I pulled him along the bedroom. The sun was beginning to break outside, bathing us in the softest hue of dawn. I traced the dark lines on his chest, kissing my lips against the heavy beat of his heart.
“It’s you and me now,” I said. “We stand tall, we stand together. I’m going to be there tomorrow, with you, at your side. That’s where I belong.”
“Your parents...” he groaned. “Will they...?”
“They’ll be there,” I said. “Prancing about the place like they own it.”
“Figures.”
I reached up, angling his face to mine. “They’ll be there, and I’m glad. No more appearances, Callum, just what’s real. We’re real.”
“That stuff with the bins... I’m sorry, Soph. I wanted to scare you.”
I lay back on the bed, wriggling out of my own clothes as the savage watched me. I reached between my legs, splaying m
yself open without reservation. “I like it when you scare me...”
He knelt on the floor before me, clammy hands hot on my thighs. The slightest smile played on his lips. “Then you really are fucking mental.”
I smiled at the ceiling, arching my back as his tongue found the spot.
“Something like that...”
***
Chapter Sixteen
Callum
I scanned the crowd, hands wringing, knuckles fucking white. I’d been here all afternoon, Raven too, helping with the display. Now it was open doors, and Sophie was the only thing on my mind.
“She’ll be here, baby.” Raven squeezed my arm, guiding me back towards my exhibit and away from the gathering media. “Trust me, she’ll be here.”
“That’s her old man over there, ain’t it?” I tipped my head in his direction. The guy was just like I’d imagined, all posh suits and comb-over hair. He was smiling for photos, standing right in front of the Hardings Property logo.
“That’s him, yeah.”
“He’s gonna fucking hate me.”
“It doesn’t matter if he does, kid. His loss.”
Sure wished I felt like that. I saw Adrian, the gallery guy, give me a nod as he showed off my artwork. People were looking, and they were smiling. Smiling at me. It felt so fucking weird.
Raven nudged me. “Incoming.”
I turned around to catch Green Eyes on the approach, fingers gripped around the arm of the huge beast at her side. Couldn’t fucking be, surely not. He looked so fucking different without the mask on, all suited and booted with a big fucking smile on his face.
“They’re here for me?”
“Not just them,” Raven smiled. Behind Masque and Cat were a load more from Explicit. Diva, and Trixie and Ash, and others I didn’t know.
And then there was Sophie. My Sophie. She was hidden amongst the crowd, nervous eyes looking for me. They found me and she smiled. A smile of pride and love and everything else I ever wanted. She looked so fucking pretty, in a real posh frock, she was, sparkly and dark green. Really suited her.
She reached my side at the same time as the Urban Life journalist, a trendy woman in her forties, with thick-rimmed glasses and a microphone ready to shove in my face.
“You’re new on the scene, Mr Jackson, please tell me what inspires your art.”
“Life,” I said. “Its love and its pain. Its heart, ya know?”
I thought of Casey’s waggy tail, and all the love she brought me, turning to look at the picture of her high up on the wall. I’d painted it weeks ago, one of my favourites. The picture was choppy and careless, catching her in her best light, jumping up at my legs as I tried to paint, wanting to run and play and wrestle about on the floor.
“And your loves, Mr Jackson? Do you have a special someone in particular?”
I saw Sophie’s dad in the crowd and bit my tongue. Sophie didn’t bite hers, though. She stepped forward, bold and steadfast, snaking her hand through my arm and resting her head against my shoulder.
The journalist turned her attention to Sophie, shoving the microphone in her face instead.
“Are you the artist’s muse?” she asked.
“One of them,” Sophie smiled. “The human one. We have a dog, too, Casey. She’s the model on the wall up there.”
Sophie’s parents came rushing forwards on sight of her, honing in on the conversation with horror on their faces. She didn’t flinch, not for a second, meeting her dad’s glare with her head held high.
“Can we have a picture of you together? For the magazine?”
Sophie smiled and pressed herself right against me for the whole world to see.
“I’m Sophie Harding, of Harding’s Property,” she said. “Callum Jackson’s very proud girlfriend.”
The look on Mr Harding’s face told me he wasn’t sharing the fucking sentiment, but Sophie didn’t seem to care. Not one fucking bit.
***
Epilogue
Sophie
“Honey, I’m home.” I grinned as I closed the door behind me, then waited for it. I was ready for Casey’s assault, crouching down so she could cover me in doggy kisses while I threw aside my ID badge and all the other work shit.
Callum smiled at me from across the living room, and in his eyes there was still a hint of savage, not that most people would see it these days. His new jeans fitted him like a glove, hugging his toned arse like they’d been painted on him. Judging by the splotches of paint on his t-shirt there was probably some truth in that.
He stepped back to give me a better view of his canvas. The Sophie he’d painted was glowing, beaming with happiness at the tiny baby in her arms.
“It’s beautiful...” I whispered. “You’re so bloody good, Callum. I hope you realise just how talented you are.”
“Love painting in this place,” he said. “I’m so happy here, Soph.”
“Me too. Beats the crap out of Canary Wharf.” I walked past him, staring out of the window at our new little yard. “We’ll be good here, Callum. The Haygrove people are really nice.”
“Should hope so, estate manager. Else you’ll have to sort ’em out, won’t ya? Good you’re getting right back on the horse, Soph, they had nothin’ much on you and they knew it.”
I watched him paint awhile, loving the way he moved, the way he gritted his teeth in concentration.
“You’re going to make an incredible father.”
“I wanna have six, at least,” he said. “Loads of the little buggers.”
The image reignited the flame I’d been harbouring all day. It didn’t take much for it to flare into a fire.
I pressed up against my savage’s back. “In that case we’d better get started.”
I plucked the paintbrush from his grip, dropping it with a plonk into the water jug, then pulled up his t-shirt to plant hot kisses down his spine. He turned and reached for me, but I sidestepped. I shook my head. “I want you naked. I want you ready. I want you in that fucking bedroom, right now, Callum Jackson.”
He stared down at me, eyes glinting. “You’re a bit bossy tonight, don’t ya think? Might have to do something about that…”
“Don’t try me. I learnt from the best.” I pointed to the bedroom. “Shut your mouth and do what the hell you’re told.”
He took his time about it, sloping slowly down the hallway with his eyes still on mine. I followed him in, standing triumphant as he adhered to my instruction.
“Naked,” I said. “Now.”
“You’re pushing your luck, Missy,” he said, but his hands were already at his jeans, sliding them down over perfect hips. I admired the steel plains of his stomach, wetting my lips as he yanked his top over his head. The intertwined skulls on his chest glowed with a sheen of perspiration and the savage smelled gorgeous. His musky scent went straight to my head. I took a breath, restrained the urge to jump on the bed and beg for a hammering.
“On your back, Savage – hands above your head.”
“For fucking real?”
“My way tonight. All mine.”
Fuck, how my pussy throbbed as he submitted. He lowered himself slowly, arching his back on the descent and stretching muscle-ripped arms right the way to the headboard, his perfect tats snaking to the V at his waist. My Callum was indeed a perfect fucking specimen.
“Come on then, Missy,” he growled. “Do your fucking worst.”
Oh, how I intended to.
The savage watched me with hungry eyes as I stripped naked, grunting his appreciation. He licked his lips when I played with my nipples. And he groaned out my name when I squeezed my tits together. Fuck, how I wanted his hot, wet mouth on me. His slavering kisses on tender skin, vicious teeth to mark them deep. I kneed onto the bed, stalking him slowly, teasing my mouth up his thighs until he gasped.
His beautiful cock jutted up at the ceiling, straining for my hot, wet throat.
“I’m going to ride that dick so hard, Savage, so fucking hard…”
“Fuc
k yeah,” he growled. “Show me what you’ve got.”
My tongue flickered, teasing his veiny shaft while my fingers worked his balls. He groaned and squirmed, knuckles white against the headboard as I sucked him all the way in.
“Got so much for you, Sophie,” he hissed. “So fucking much. You’d better be ready for it.”
I climbed up to straddle him, rolling my hips against his cock. Jesus, it hit the fucking spot. My pussy was swollen and ripe for him, craving the swell of his dick to stretch me wide.
“I’m going to fuck your brains out, Savage.”
I impaled myself so slowly that he hissed out all his breath, growling his frustration through gritted teeth. I leaned forward, angling a hard nipple at his lips as I pinned his wrists tight to the bed. He sucked me so greedily, grunting into the soft white flesh of my tit. I moaned loud as his teeth clamped, begging him for more.
“I want your baby, Savage! I’m going to milk you fucking dry!”
He bucked, urging me on, and his eyes were wild, feral… so fucking savage they stole my breath.
I lay down on his chest, enjoying the slick heat of his sweaty flesh against mine. Our faces so close as he pumped me fast, grunting and moaning and wheezing mouth to mouth, eyes like pools of liquid coal staring right into mine.
I fucked him all fucking night long. I fucked him like a woman possessed, like a woman in love… like a woman who’d never get enough of his beautiful cock. I fucked him like I wanted his baby, but mostly I fucked him like I wanted him.
I fucked my Callum dirty.
I fucked my Callum bad.
I fucked my Callum savage.
THE END
Acknowledgements
As always, I’d like to thank my incredible and tireless editor, John Hudspith, who really pulled out all the stops this time around. Couldn’t do this without you!
Thanks to Letitia Hasser for another incredible cover design, and to my awesome PAs, Tracy and Shweta, for all the work they put in on my behalf.
