I slammed the door to our room shut behind me. Callan whirled around at the noise and blinked at me in surprise. In surprise. As if he didn’t already know exactly why I was pissed at him.
“What the hell was that?” I snapped before he could get a word out.
He glanced from side to side, as if the correct answer would magically appear out of thin air. “What was what?”
“You know exactly what!”
Stalking up to him, I gave his chest an angry shove. It did nothing to actually push him back, which just pissed me off more, so I placed my palms on his chest and tried again. That time he did take a step back, but then his hands shot up and wrapped around my wrists.
“Audrey, what the hell are you talking about?”
I yanked against his grip on my wrists while glaring up at him. “Have you already forgotten what we talked about in Malgrave?”
His brows scrunched up in confusion. “Which part?”
“Fucking hell, you are unbelievable!”
My left hand finally slipped free of his grip, and I whirled sideways to make him release the other one too. But I wasn’t fast enough. He spun me around, twisting my trapped hand up behind my back while his fingers closed around my throat. A snarl tore from my chest as he used his grip on me to push my back harder against his chest, keeping me pressed against him.
“Just tell me why you’re angry,” he said into my ear.
Grant had made us take our shoes off before we went upstairs, so I lifted my foot and tried to stomp my heel down onto Callan’s bare foot. Since his hand around my throat prevented me from being able to look down, I missed and instead slammed my heel into the pale wooden floorboards with a thud that echoed around the room.
Callan tightened his grip on my throat while also raising his hand higher, forcing me up onto my toes.
“Stop,” he said, his voice infuriatingly calm. “Why are you angry?”
“Because you were going to sacrifice yourself!”
Deafening silence descended on the room. However, Callan kept me balancing on my toes and trapped against his chest.
“I told you in Malgrave that I’m not some fucking damsel that needs protecting,” I growled and yanked against his iron grip. “So why the hell would you try to sacrifice yourself for me? I’m not some weak—”
“That’s not why I did it.”
“We’re equals!”
“I know.”
“Then why did you…” I trailed off as he finally released me.
Not wasting a second, I slapped my palms together and whirled around right before placing my hand against his thigh. Thankfully, the magic worked, and poison flooded his pain receptors.
He sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth as his leg buckled, sending him crashing down on his knees. Using his moment of surprise and pain, I planted my foot on his shoulder and shoved him backwards. He landed back first on the spotless floorboards while I ripped out the knife I had strapped to my thigh, and flashed down. Straddling his chest, I pressed the edge of the knife against his throat.
Anger crackled through my veins as I held his surprised stare.
“We do not sacrifice ourselves,” I ground out between gritted teeth. “Heroes sacrifice themselves. We are villains. Merciless villains. We don’t give up and accept defeat. We fight and torture and kill our way out of dangerous situations. Together. Do you hear me?”
His face softened. Blowing out a deep sigh, he let his head fall back the final bit to rest on the floor. “Yeah, I hear you.”
“Good. So then why the hell did you try to sacrifice yourself?”
He slid his gaze from mine and instead stared up at the glittering chandelier in the ceiling above.
I wrapped my free hand around his strong jaw, forcing his eyes back to mine. “Answer me.”
Something flashed in his eyes. He wasn’t used to someone ordering him around like this. Good. I wanted him to snap out of whatever this was and to make him actually tell me what he was feeling instead of just remaining this infuriatingly calm.
Pressing the blade harder against his throat, I ordered, “Answer.”
“Because I’m terrified!”
That stunned me enough that I loosened my grip on the knife. Callan used that moment of inattention to push himself into a sitting position. The move made me slide down from his chest so that I was straddling his lap instead. I kept the blade against his throat as he reached up, but he only raked his fingers through his messy hair. Letting his hands drop back down to the floor, he shook his head at me while a hint of vulnerability swirled in his dark eyes.
“I’m terrified, Audrey. I don’t know if it’s different for you because you had Paige for so long, but I… Even before I left Eldar, I didn’t really have anyone. And then after I left, I didn’t get close to anyone either. I killed colleagues and casual friends on Levi’s orders without a second thought. I’ve never really cared about anyone.” He shook his head again, desperation bleeding into his voice. “It wasn’t until Malcolm kidnapped Henry that I even realized that I cared about him. And then you… I love you. I didn’t even know I was capable of an emotion like that, but I love you. And now, I can’t breathe, Audrey. I can’t breathe because I’m so fucking terrified that you or Henry will get hurt in this war. And I don’t know how to handle it!”
For a few seconds, I just stared back at him. My heart squeezed painfully at the genuine dread swimming in his eyes. I hadn’t realized just how foreign these feelings were to him. While it had shocked me beyond belief that I had fallen in love with Callan, caring about someone in general wasn’t a new concept to me. Because Callan was right, I’d had my amazing friendship with Paige all throughout our academy years. But he had never had that.
“Oh,” I managed to press out.
Embarrassment blew across his face. “Yeah.”
Removing the knife from his throat, I set it down beside us and instead placed both my hands on his cheeks. “Look, we all worry. It’s normal. I panic at the thought of someone hurting you too.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“So how do you deal with it?”
I let out a soft laugh. “By remembering that you’re a fucking lethal bastard who has somehow managed to survive five years of war against me. You’re deadly. And hard to kill. And if I haven’t been able to kill you, how the hell would someone like Godric Quill manage it?”
A smile spread across his lips. It chased away the haunted look in his eyes. Reaching up, he brushed a hand along the side of my face and hooked a few loose strands behind my ear. “That’s actually a very good point, my vicious little poisoner.”
“I know.” A sly smile played over my lips. “And you seem to have forgotten just how vicious I can really be.” Taking my hands from his face, I slowly touched them together. “Let me remind you.”
Glittering green mist rose up between us and swirled down Callan’s throat. He coughed and blinked as it moved through his windpipe and down towards his lungs. I wrapped my hand around the back of his neck. While letting the poison slide through his body, I leaned forward and slanted my lips over his.
“I love you for worrying about me,” I breathed against his mouth while he choked on my poison. “But you don’t need to. Because I am lethal too.”
I claimed his lips in a sensual kiss. His chest shook with the effects of the poison, and he braced his hands on my hips to keep from toppling backwards as he answered with equally heart-wrenching passion.
Keeping my grip on the back of his neck, I deepened the kiss and then sucked some of the poison from his body in a long inhale.
His hands tightened on my hips.
The poison disappeared from his chest, making the trembling in his muscles stop.
With my mouth still locked on his, I inhaled again.
My magic obeyed immediately, sliding out of his lungs and up his throat until I had sucked every single drop from him.
Tearing my lips from his, I leaned back slightly and tilted my head back. Then I blew out a long breath.
Glittering green mist swirled out of my mouth and twisted above us before fading into nothing.
Callan sucked in a deep breath.
“Never forget that,” I finished as I looked back down to meet his gaze.
His brown eyes glittered in the golden light falling in through the windows. “By all hell, you’re fucking glorious, have I told you that?”
“Yes.” A wicked smile tugged at my lips. “But I could stand to hear it again.”
He curled his fingers under the hem of my shirt and pulled it up and over my head. I raised my arms to help navigate them out of the fabric before Callan tossed the garment to the pale wooden floor. My nipples hardened as he removed my brassiere as well.
Both lust and admiration burned in his eyes as he raked them up and down my body. Then he met my gaze again and held it. “You’re glorious.”
Heat spread through my core.
I grabbed the edge of his shirt and yanked it over his head as well. It had barely joined my garments on the floor before he wrapped an arm around my back and leaned forward to kiss his way down my chest.
The change in position made me slide up so that I was sitting directly on top of his hard cock. A moan tore from my chest.
Callan sucked my nipple into his mouth and rolled it between his lips.
It made a shiver course through my body, and I slid my hands up his muscular arms while grinding my pussy against his cock. He groaned, making his warm breath dance over my breast. I let out a small whimper as he nipped at my nipple with his teeth before swirling his tongue around it.
My clit throbbed with need.
Fuck, I needed his cock inside me right now.
Bracing myself on his shoulders, I scooted backwards until I could reach the top of his pants. Metal clinked faintly as I unbuckled Callan’s belt while his very distracting tongue made lazy circles around my nipple.
My fingers fumbled as he flicked it with his tongue.
While dragging in a steadying breath, I renewed my efforts with his pants. The belt finally fell open, and I quickly undid the buttons as well before wrapping my fingers around the edge of both his pants and underwear.
Callan leaned back on his elbows and lifted his hips, allowing me to push both garments down to his mid thighs. His thick cock sprang free. The sight, combined with the impressive abs currently on display, made heat ripple through me.
Deciding that halfway would have to do, I left his pants where they were on his thighs and instead made quick work of my own.
After tossing them aside, I swung my leg back over Callan again and then placed my palms against his chest. With a firm push, I shoved him the final bit down towards the floor. He wrapped his hands around my wrists, keeping them trapped against his hard chest, while I slid down onto his cock.
Deep groans tore from both of us.
Curling my fingers against his heated skin, I lifted my hips and then moved down his shaft again. He tightened his grip on my wrists while his eyes fluttered. I shifted my position so that my clit ground against his cock as I started up a steady rhythm.
Callan released my wrists and slid his hands up my arms and then down along my sides instead. I leaned forward and stole a savage kiss while continuing my movements. He answered by pinching my nipple and then twisting it hard. I gasped into his mouth.
His strong hands cupped my tits and kneaded them while I rode his cock. Pleasure built inside me.
He alternated between massaging them and playing with my nipples in a way that made my brain flicker. Shifting my hips slightly, I moved into the perfect position while raising and lowering my body. The friction of his thick cock against my pussy made a shudder roll through my body as I soared towards the coming orgasm.
Callan rolled my nipple between his fingers right at the same time as his cock hit the perfect spot inside me.
Release shot through my body.
My thighs shook on either side of him as the wave of pleasure swept through me. Callan shifted his hands from my tits and wrapped a hand around my throat, moving my face down so that he could see it properly. And instead of chasing his own release, he stopped moving and just watched me. As if searing the image of me coming on top of him into his mind forever.
When the last of the tremors had died down, he used his grip on my throat to move my face all the way down to his and steal a deep kiss from my mouth. Then he released me and gently lifted me off his cock.
I rolled to the side and collapsed on the floor.
My chest heaved.
Lying there, I just stared up at the white marble ceiling above. Light from the golden afternoon sun fell in through the windows and hit the crystal chandelier. It made the glittering light fracture in the glassy stones, which cast a million shifting shapes over the walls and ceiling.
“Satisfied already?”
I pushed myself up on one elbow and raised my head. Callan was watching me where he sat next to me on the floor, his pants still only halfway down his thighs and his cock still stiff from the release that he never claimed.
After glancing down at his thick shaft, I met his gaze and smirked. “Satisfied? Never.”
“Good.” A villainous grin curled his lips. “Because we’re just getting started.”
Excitement rippled through me as he twisted around so that he was on his knees instead. Reaching forward, he grabbed me by the hips and did the same to me. Sparkles skittered across my skin as he drew his hands over my ribs before positioning me on my knees in front of him. I glanced over my shoulder and was met with a wicked smile.
“Eyes front,” he ordered.
I flashed him another smirk before obeying his command.
Behind me, a slow sliding sound began. Then it ended abruptly in the snap of a leather belt.
A thrill raced through me.
Callan stroked gentle fingers down my spine before drawing his belt around my throat. I sucked in a short breath as he tightened it. A moment later, he placed his large hand between my shoulder blades and pushed my chest down towards the floor. I followed his directions, raising my ass up into the air as I did. His hand trailed down my back and caressed the curve of my ass before adjusting my hips to his liking.
With my hands flat on the floor, I arched my back farther as Callan moved into position behind me.
Desire rippled through me as he dragged his cock through my wetness and towards my entrance.
Then he shoved inside.
A moan tore from my chest as his cock slid in all the way to the hilt until it filled my pussy completely. Callan must have rolled the leather belt around his hand because it tightened against my throat. I pushed my ass harder against him.
He slowly pulled out and then pushed back in again. I curled my fingers on the wooden floorboards. A low groan rolled from Callan’s throat. He increased the pace.
My body rocked forward as he shoved harder inside me before drawing out and then slamming into me again. He jerked me back towards him using the belt around my throat for leverage. Pleasure crackled through my veins as he pounded into me.
Then his hand disappeared from my hip.
A few seconds later, he brushed two vibrating fingers against my clit.
I let out a strangled cry of pleasure.
Callan rolled his hand around the belt again, tightening it over my throat while his force magic pulsed into my already throbbing clit. Keeping my back arched, I pressed my forehead against the cool floor as Callan fucked me with brutal strength.
The pressure inside me kept mounting until my body was screaming for release.
His vibrations drew a garbled plea from my lips as they pulsed against my sensitive skin. Callan kept slamming into me.
White light flickered in front of my closed lids.
My whole body was trembling with the pent-up orgasm.
I sucked in strained breaths underneath the tight belt around my throat.
Just when I thought that I was going to lose my mind, Callan shoved into me at the same time as his vibrations sent me over the edge.
Violent release exploded through my body.
All of my limbs shook, and I almost collapsed to the floor. Callan kept my body steady with his belt while he rode the orgasm with me until release crashed over him as well.
My pussy still trembled around his cock as he came inside me.
I sucked in desperate breaths while my heart slammed against my ribs. Heat radiated from my cheeks.
When Callan at last pulled out and slid the belt off my neck, I just collapsed onto the floor chest first. I swore that the room below could hear the loud thumping of my heart through the floorboards.
A thud sounded next to me.
Tilting my head to the side, I rested my cheek against the floor and looked over at Callan.
He was lying on his back beside me, and his broad chest rose and fell with rapid breaths. Light from the windows cast gilded streaks across the sharp ridges of his abs. I let a smirk slide home on my lips as I dragged my gaze up to his eyes.
“Satisfied already?” I taunted.
His eyes glittered with mischief as he turned his head to face me. “Never.”
