Chapter 46

While kissing Scottie in her apartment, my fingers threaded in her hair, and I felt some of the dirt she so desperately hoped to remove in the shower. I remembered her saying she had terrible water pressure at her apartment, so it makes for a great excuse to get her in the tub with me. Plus a few other bonuses: relieve sore muscles, see her naked, et cetera.

Watching her strip down to nothing heals the part of me that fractured earlier when I had to drive away from her. She came back to me, and my world is right again. Not sure what it is about this woman, but I have an overwhelming need to keep her close. After everything we’ve been through, seeing her in my space feels right. This is how it’s meant to be. And discovering she’s been dreaming about this house all this time? That can’t be a coincidence.

She takes my hand, stepping in front of me into the tub, giving me a great view of her ass. Submerging into the soothing water, she groans.

I chuckle. “See?”

Scottie blows out a breath. “So good.”

As soon as she’s seated between my thighs, I wrap my arms around her, sealing her back to my front. I lean back, bringing her with me. Laying skin to skin with Scottie might be my new happy place. My lids close, and we sigh at the same time. A small laugh escapes her. Our relaxation is perfectly synchronized.

“I could get used to this,” she murmurs.

“Me too.” I press a kiss to her hair. “You want me to get that dirt out?”

Her palms grip the sides of the tub, and she sits up. “Could you? I tried earlier but couldn’t get it all.”

“Of course.”

I lift the copper handheld showerhead from its cradle and test the water temperature, that should do the trick. I bring it to her scalp, and she tilts her chin higher to give me more access. I jostle the saturated strands, raking through them with my fingers. I’m pleased to see the tiny black specs of dirt and sand peppering the bathwater.

“It’s coming out now,” I reassure her, then smile. “You look hot like this. Clutching the tub and arching your back… I like that.”

“Glad you’re enjoying yourself,” she says through a small giggle.

“I’d enjoy it more if you turned around,” I tease.

“If you get the dirt out, I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Oh yeah? Anything?”

“Anything.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“Me too.”

I work through each section of her hair. I have to open the drain on the tub at some point because the water is getting too high. After twenty minutes of combing through her locks, I give her the all-clear. I’ll be damned if there’s a spec of sand remaining. I drop the showerhead back into the water and adjust the knob to re-warm the bath .

She moans, adding to the partial erection I’m sporting. Wringing out her tresses, she twists it up and relaxes against my chest. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

Her head rests on my shoulder. Holding the handheld showerhead underwater, I use the high pressure to massage our thighs and knees. “You’re going to spoil me.”

My hand slides between her breasts. I brace an open palm at the base of her throat, stroking my thumb back and forth over her soft skin. “You’ve earned some spoiling.”

Bringing the water back to her tired legs I creep higher and higher. She sucks in a breath.

“Just relax,” I croon. A lot of shit has gone down today, and I want to see her unwind.

Scottie melts into me on an exhale.

My hand slips under the water and travels down her stomach. “Still with me?”

“Yeah.” Her voice is soft and seductive. “Don’t stop.”

My middle finger parts her lips, grazing her clit, and she opens her legs wider for me.

Targeting the spray between her thighs has her back arching again. “Relax your muscles, just feel. Ride it out.”

Slumping against me, I bring the pressure to her clit. She startles, then softens her muscles like I’ve instructed. “That’s my girl.” She makes a small O with her lips and takes a slow breath, as if she’s meditating. It’s perfect.

“Whoa,” she murmurs.

The pleasure painted on her face has my cock fully hardened. She’s stunning like this.

Except for the powerful surge of water hidden under the surface, we remain as still as possible to keep water from sloshing over the side and onto the floor. She weeps as the pressure turns into a pulsing flutter with the push of a button. “You’re doing great. ”

“Mm-hm.” It’s almost a whine.

“I like that you’ve been fantasizing about my house,” I whisper against her wet hair.

She nods, blowing out another breath.

“I’m going to make you come in every single room until you call it home.”

Her gasp puts a smug grin on my face. Directing the pulse to where she needs it most, I use my free hand to pinch her nipples, and her rose-colored lips part, a hint of a smile lingers. “ There ,” she squeaks. Fingers dig into my thighs, and she arches against me. Shallow waves roll on the surface of the bathwater as she comes with a sweet sigh, rocking her hips. Fucking hell.

“Ride it out. Keep coming just like that,” I growl. The sounds she makes getting off punch right through me. It spurs a primal need to shove my cock deep inside her.

She must read my mind.

“Callahan?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“I need you. Please.” Those sexy whimpers have a sweat breaking out across my brow. “Take me to bed and fuck me.”

The words administer a kick of adrenaline, and I stand, stepping out. Her hand trembles when she reaches for me, arousal still buzzing through her veins. I grab a towel, gliding it over the remaining droplets trickling off her body.

I kneel through the pain in my knees and blot her legs one at a time. Afterward, I dry myself off and cup her chin, admiring her blown pupils and the radiant flush on her cheeks after she comes. It’s my favorite version of her. Soft and blissed-out eyes stare back at me with just enough spark to tell me she’s begging for it.

I bite my bottom lip, imagining all the ways I want to take her. “You’re the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen.”

She rises to her tiptoes and kisses me. I love this girl.

Fuck. I love her.

As soon as she’s in my bed, I’m bracing my elbows over her and lining myself up. We regard each other the same way, as if three words are passing between us. Scottie’s fingers press into my biceps as she prepares to be stretched around me. Usually, I’m impatient, rushed, eager to satisfy a need. This time is different. I sink inside her slowly. She inhales but keeps her gaze locked on mine. Her ocean eyes shimmer, and I take her mouth in an equally unhurried kiss, every stroke of my tongue deliberate, and spill every emotion I have onto her lips.

When she’s adjusted to my size, I begin moving, and every thrust is steadfast and intentional. No way in hell I’m letting this go . She cups my face with her hands, and I seal my mouth over hers again. I trace the seam of her lips, and she opens for me. We lick and tease, consumed by each other. I fill her pussy, and she moans against me. So fucking perfect.

Her fingertips skate over my scalp, and chills ricochet down my spine. No one has ever touched me the way she does, made me feel the way she does—in every adaptation.

I need her to know how I feel; my words are out before I can stop them.

“I love you.”

Her lips part. It's been over five years since I’ve spoken those words, and even then they didn’t hold the fire they do now. I swallow, and it’s as if she’s reading the thoughts in my head, and for a split second, I wonder if she’s feeling the same way.

“Still with me?” I ask. It was too much. I should have waited.

She smiles. “I love you too.”

I swear every molecule of air leaves my lungs. “Yeah?”

“Just because we figured it out early doesn’t make it any less real.”

My lips find hers again. This confession of love delivers a burst of energy to me, and I snap my hips with a newfound vigor. She fists my hair at the roughness and arches beneath me, squeezing her eyelids shut. “Oh my god, Cal. More. ”

“I’ll give you anything you want, Prescott. I’ll give you the fucking world, but I wanna see you look me in the eyes when you ask.”

She gifts me with her stunning blue irises. “Fuck me harder, Callahan. I want all of you.”

I smirk. “Atta girl. I love it when you use your words.”

Sitting up on my heels, I yank her closer, pulling her ass into my lap while I pound into her. Each thrust hammers, causing Scottie to press her fingers against the wood behind her to keep from getting thrown into the headboard. My palms rest on her bent knees, parting them so I can marvel her exquisite body as I devour it. One hand slides down her soft thigh until I’m massaging figure-eights over her clit, the way I watched her do it in the fire tower.

“Is this how you like being taken?”

“Yes,” she cries.

“Show me, Prescott. Come on this fucking cock.”

Her raptured cries spur me on. How did I get so lucky? Muscles tighten around my length, and I smile as her impending orgasm amplifies. “That’s my girl.”

With that, she begins fucking me back.

“Goddamn,” I growl. “That’s right, take what you deserve. It’s all yours. I’m yours.” She owns me like no one ever has or ever will. “Make me come, just for you.”

Her mouth drops open, and her abs ripple as she bends forward, slapping her trembling hands against my forearms to squeeze them with all her might while she holds on to the euphoria coursing through her. “That’s my girl, just like that, baby.”

“Who do you belong to, baby?” I gruff, panting, stuffing her tight pussy over and over. Her words are mumbled, then she stops speaking altogether. I feel the second she’s toppled over by the wave of her orgasm. Fuck. “Tell me, Prescott. ”

“You. Only you,” she says between sobs. “Don’t pull out.” As if she needs to tell me.

Two strokes later, I’m coming. This time it doesn’t feel like an explosion, it feels like being put back together. Like finding that missing piece. Like being made whole again.

I bracket my elbows on each side of her when I collapse. “I love you so fucking much.” I crush my mouth to hers, and she circles her arms around my shoulders, her fingernails trailing over my skin and sending me into a deep relaxed state, in a cadence that’s ours alone.

She moves her lips with mine. It’s real love. I can taste it in her kiss, feel it in her touch, and see it in the sparkling blue eyes I adore so much.