24. Callan

24

Callan

M y parents were fine with Avery spending the night once I called them, but I wasn’t sure what Sage wanted out of tonight. Was it too soon to take her to bed? Did she just want to chat? I’d talk with her all night if she wanted, but I didn’t want to ruin whatever this was between us. If there even was anything between us.

She could have only kissed me because of the rush, but a part of me knew it wasn’t just that.

It’d been so long since I’d been with anyone that I didn’t really know what classified as dating. We’d gone on one date and shared one kiss, but did she want more?

I turned onto my driveway, heading toward the house. It wasn’t too far from the street, but the dirt road was bumpy as we approached the white two-story .

“This is your house?” Sage asked from beside me, finally speaking after keeping quiet the entire ride.

“It is.” Shifting into park, I killed the engine and hopped out. I took steady breaths on my way around the hood to open her door for her. The nerves were settling in, but I did my best to keep them away. I didn’t need to be nervous around Sage. She was like sunshine after a blizzard, warming every cold inch that she shined on. Any fear I may have felt about having her in my home couldn’t touch me.

After sliding off the seat, she looked up at the house while I closed the door. “You live here alone?” she asked as she turned to me.

“Aside from the crickets and coyotes?” I joked. “Yeah, I do. My brothers give me shit for having a house like this until they’re the ones crashing in my guest rooms.”

“ Rooms ?” she repeated, emphasizing the S .

“Just two.” Guilt slammed into me like a train. She and Avery were living over in town in a small two-bedroom cottage-like house, and I was out here living alone in a structure four times that size.

Shifting on my feet, I set a hand on her lower back, leading her toward the front door. After I unlocked it and headed inside behind her, I bolted the door again. It didn’t matter that I lived in the middle of nowhere, safety was always a priority. Plus, after tonight, the last thing I needed was that guy coming around for revenge. Speaking of…

“Did you know that guy?” I asked as she studied my kitchen.

She took a moment to respond, like the setup of my appliances and cabinets was all that interesting, then said, “No.”

I cocked a brow. “That doesn’t sound like a very confident ‘no.’”

She looked over her shoulder at me as I set my keys in the dish on the counter and my hat on the hook on the wall. “He was in the cafe a few days ago.”

“Ah, so you know of him.”

“Not really.”

“You didn’t speak to him, then?”

She tensed for a split second, but even though it was brief, I didn’t miss it.

“I did.”

I closed the distance so that I was standing directly behind her, her back now lightly pressed to my chest. Reaching a hand up, I brushed the hair away from her neck, then leaned closer to her ear. “Do I have to keep prying things out of you? Because I can.”

“So demanding,” she teased, her voice full of satiny lust that wrapped around my senses, heading south.

“This? This is nothing, Sage.” I brought my lips to her ear, faintly brushing a kiss to the lobe. Goosebumps freckled her neck and I smirked. “What’d you talk about?”

She inhaled deeply, her chest rising with the action, accentuating her breasts in the fitted white tank top she wore. I wanted to clamp down on them, suck on her peaked nipples for hours. I wanted to do a fuck ton of things to her in this moment, but I had no idea what she wanted out of being here. She was the one to ask to come to my house, but that wasn’t an invitation to have sex with her.

“He asked for my last name and if I’d been in town long,” she stated, her voice harder than before.

I stopped, pulling my lips away from her ear. “He did what?”

She turned, our chests now touching. “It wasn’t anything, but then he wanted to buy me a drink at the bar and…” She trailed off.

“And now you don’t think it’s nothing,” I filled in.

She nodded slowly, her eyes shining with worry, though she did her best to mask it. She didn’t have to hide it around me. Whatever her battles were, whatever her insecurities or problems consisted of, I wanted them all. I wouldn’t let her be alone in that beautiful mind of hers.

She went to take a step back, but my arms quickly came around her, holding her to me. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

She let out a slight scoff. “That’s a lot to ask.”

“Well, I’m asking.”

She pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth, and all I wanted to do was suck it right back out.

Where the fuck was this sudden hunger for her coming from?

“He just gave me the creeps and kept pressing to buy the drink. That’s all.”

If she thought I’d believe that was all, then she must think of me as a fool. But I wouldn’t press. Tonight, Sage was fragile, and I’d handle her with the delicacy she needed.

“If he comes near you again, you call me, okay?” It wasn’t a question, more so a demand.

“Okay.”

“Men like that deserve the worst of what’s coming to them. Don’t feel bad sticking up for yourself, and don’t feel guilty calling me.” Because I knew she would. Sage and I, we were alike in more ways than one. Like calls to like, and my entire being called to Sage like a lighthouse to a ship lost at sea.

I reached down, grabbing her hand in mine. “Come on.”

Leading her down the hall and around the corner, I opened the door to my bedroom and led her in.

My king-sized bed sat in the middle, dark brown sheets folded over a cream comforter with more pillows than a typical bed for one held. Women weren’t the only ones who liked pillows.

A floor to ceiling mirror sat against the wall across from the bed, gold rimming the edges with intricate detail at the top. To the left was the door to my bathroom, and behind the bed was a wall of windows that looked out over the land, but the curtains were drawn, blocking us in and the world out.

“You’re very neat,” she stated from where we stood just a few feet inside the door.

“Ranch work and lessons are messy by definition. I need some kind of cleanliness in my life.” People always talk about the gruff, messy cowboys, but never about the ones that still took their immaculacy at home into account. We weren’t all unhinged in that department .

Her hand slid from mine as she made her way over to the antique mirror. I’d found it at an auction and couldn’t pass up the price, and with such an empty house, I figured it would add some character. By the looks of it, Sage approved.

“It’s beautiful.”

I slowly stepped behind her as she looked up at the top of it, admiring the weaving of gold around the frame. It was the most expensive thing in this house. I didn’t indulge in pricey items often, but I was learning to treat myself every now and then. Life was short.

My hand reached up to her shoulder, gently trailing down her arm. My fingertips passed over the strap on her tank top, then slid down her bare skin. Like before, goosebumps rose in the wake of my finger, and I wondered how long it’d been since she’d been touched.

“Just like you.”

She met my gaze in the mirror as I pressed a kiss to the crook between her neck and her shoulder.

“Tell me if this isn’t something you want to do,” I murmured against her skin.

“It is,” she whispered, keeping her eyes on mine in the reflection.

Her arms slid up to fold around her stomach, like she wanted to hide.

That wouldn’t do.

I reached around her, clasping her hands and bringing them to her sides. “Keep them here. ”

Releasing her, I watched as her chest rose with a big inhale while her fingers on her right hand rubbed together.

“Don’t get in your head, baby,” I told her as I slid my hands along her belly.

“I have a scar—”

“Sage.”

Our eyes met again in the mirror. Our silent communication was clear. She didn’t have to explain her body or worry that I wouldn’t love it. She was still standing here fully clothed, and I was harder than I’d ever been my entire life.

My fingers wrapped around the hem of her top and she worried her bottom lip again. Keeping one hand on the fabric, I reached up with the other, using my thumb to free the pink flesh. “I’m not judging you, Sage. I’m going to visually devour you, so that when I physically do the same, it’s that much sweeter.”

Just because she had a baby years ago didn’t make her body any less beautiful, any less breathtaking. She was the definition of perfection, and I hated that she didn’t see that. If anything, I wanted to worship this body harder than I thought possible with that thought in mind.

She was astonishing.

Moving my hand from her mouth, I cupped her chin, making sure her gaze stayed locked on the mirror. I slowly inched her top up, only enough to give me easier access to her pants. I didn’t want to scare her, but I wanted her to know that I wasn’t shying away because she didn’t think of herself as worthy of this. Of being admired openly.

My fingers undid the button on her jeans with ease, moving to the zipper to pull it down. Sliding her jeans down her legs, I bent to take her shoes and socks off. She stepped out of her jeans with my help, all while keeping her hands to her sides.

So obedient.

I rose, leaving her black lace panties on. Reaching back around her, I bunched the material up in the front so the center was a thin strip, revealing her pussy. “Did you wear these on purpose?” I asked her, my voice low and smooth.

“Maybe.”

Pulling up, the fabric went taut against her clit as I whispered in her ear, “Only clear answers, Sage.”

She swallowed, keeping her eyes on my hand in the mirror as her thighs inched apart ever so slightly. “Yes.”

“Did you hope it would be me who saw you in them?”

She nodded and I tugged the fabric down, only to let go so it shot back to her center.

“Use your words like a good girl, baby.”

Her legs were practically shaking. “Yes, I hoped you’d see me in them.”

A smirk pulled at the side of my mouth as I ran a hand over the smooth skin of her thigh. My fingers lightly ran a path up the inside of her leg, the sensitive skin prickling under me. She was so hyper aware of everywhere I touched her and I fucking loved it. I could play with her for hours .

Gliding my hand up her center, dragging it over her clit through her underwear with slight pressure, I grabbed onto the hem of her tank top and began to lift it.

Her fingers twitched at her sides like she wanted to pull her shirt back down. “You deserve to be worshiped, baby,” I murmured in her ear.

“What if you don’t like what you see?” she asked, a slight tremor to her voice.

I immediately let go of the fabric, twisting her around to face me. Clasping her chin in my fingers, I stared into her eyes, my words hard as I said, “There’s no fucking way I won’t love what I see. Just because you think your body looks different than what people think the norm is does not mean you’re not worthy. Do you hear me? You. Are. Worthy. You deserve the same sex as the rest, the same love, the same admiration, and I’m going to give it to you.”

Her eyes shone. I didn’t want her to cry, but she needed to hear it. I fucking hated whoever instilled in her mind that she wasn’t beautiful.

“Now let me show you.”

Turning her back around, I stood between her and the mirror as I gently pulled off her top, tossing it to the ground.

“You keep your eyes on that mirror the entire time, and don’t focus on anything other than how good this feels.”

“How good what—” But before she could finish her sentence, I dropped to my knees in front of her, practically ripping her panties as I yanked them down her legs.

I peppered kisses over her thighs, my movements now slow again, but once I got to the main course, I wouldn’t be holding the same restraint. The slight stubble on my jawline scratched against her thighs, but instead of moving her legs away, she pressed them closer together.

“Rule number one,” I started, using my hands to pry them back apart. “No hiding.”

Sage let out a small whimper, and it was now my ultimate goal to make her louder. Make her scream. I wanted the neighbor a mile down the road to hear my name on her lips.

“Rule number two,” I said as I lifted each of her feet to pull her underwear off the rest of the way. Once they were off, I looked up at her, but like the obedient girl she was, she had her gaze on the mirror. “No holding back.”

“No holding back?” she questioned.

I dragged my eyes down her body from where I was kneeling in front of her, my gaze snagging on the way her breasts seemed to want to spill out of her lacy bra.

“Meaning, no keeping quiet when I do something like this.” In a flash, my mouth was on her clit, sucking it into my mouth. There was no slow preparation this time, no working up to it. Her pussy was mine to conquer tonight, and I’d own it.

A moan slipped out of her, causing my dick to twitch against my jeans. Tonight wasn’t about me, so I did my best to ignore the urge to stroke myself.

Sucking her clit, I let it go with a pop , then moved to drag my tongue up her center. “You taste so sweet,” I mumbled.

I speared my tongue inside of her, not able to get enough of her. My new favorite meal was Sage, and I was fucking starving.

I fucked her with my tongue for a moment, then moved my mouth back to her clit. Flicking my tongue over the sensitive bud, I felt her belly jump with the sensation.

Removing my mouth from her, I ran my hands up her thighs, then used my thumb to rub circles over her clit.

“Rule number three,” I began again. “We’re honest with each other.”

She let out a small, breathy laugh as the sensation of my thumb clouded her head. “You want to talk honesty right now?”

“I’m not talking about just outside of the bedroom. I mean right now. You want me to do something else to make you come, you tell me. The way I’m touching you isn’t good enough? You tell me. I always want your words, and never false pleasure.”

She audibly gulped, nodding.

“Now sit on the edge of the bed.”

I dropped my hand from her and she took three slow steps backwards until the backs of her thighs hit the mattress. She lowered her ass to the comforter, her eyes moving to me. Standing, I stalked over to her.

“You want to watch, Sage?”

With her eyes aimed up at me, my dick twitched again, and an image of her lips wrapped around me flashed in my mind. It wouldn’t be happening tonight, but soon. So long as she wanted to continue this .

Whatever this was.

“Yes,” she said, her voice slightly higher and full of need.

Kneeling again, I opened her legs wider.

“Eyes on the mirror, baby.”

Her gaze moved to the mirror right as I slid a finger inside of her, and her mouth parted on a moan as I crooked my finger right against her sensitive spot.

Lowering my head, I lapped at her clit, matching the pace of my finger as I kept it deep inside her, only moving the tip of it.

Adding a second finger, I reveled in the way her opening stretched around me. She’d feel fucking phenomenal around my dick.

She braced her hands behind her, not once straying her gaze from the mirror. I sucked, licked, and fucked her all at the same time, feeling her pussy slowly start to clench around my hand.

“Just like that, baby. Feel my fingers so fucking deep inside you. How wet you are on my hand. How all I can taste right now is you.”

She whimpered, her elbows bending a bit as she fought the urge to lie back.

“You want to lie down, do it. Do whatever you need to get there.”

Her head tossed back as her back hit the comforter and I fingered her deeper, pulling her clit back into my mouth to flick my tongue against the bud.

She arched her spine, her fists clenching in the sheets, and then she exploded .

A scream filled the air as her hands quickly moved to my hair, gripping it so hard that I had no choice but to keep my mouth firmly against her. Not that I’d want it to be anywhere else. Pleasuring Sage was my new favorite hobby. Just seeing her unravel like this made me feral.

Her whole body quaked with her orgasm, her pussy clenched so tight around my fingers that I was sure the blood had stopped circulating to them. But fuck, she could keep them. I was weak for her.

As she came back down, I gently slid my fingers out of her, then wiped my tongue over her center one last time, like I was so hungry that I had to lick her clean. Her body twitched slightly as I passed over her clit, the bud even more sensitive than before.

Gliding my mouth up a few inches, my lips ghosted over her scar, pressing a gentle kiss to the skin. I peered up at her. "Don't ever feel ashamed of the body that brought life into this world. Every inch of your skin is flawless."

She stared at me for a moment, blinking as she let my words weave through the dark crevices of her mind. Standing up, I laid on the bed beside her, pulling her to me so that her head lay on my chest.

We lay there in silence for a while, my hand idly running over her hair. For a second, I thought she may have fallen asleep, until she spoke up. “I haven’t done that in a long time.”

“Been fingered?” I asked, staring up at the ceiling. Her body was a welcome weight on me, and I never wanted to move again.

“No,” she said, adjusting her leg over mine. “Orgasmed. ”

My hand froze on her hair. “How long?”

I felt her cheek move against my chest as she must’ve been chewing on it, deciding how to answer. “Since before I had Avery.”

Crinkling my brow, I lifted up on my elbows slightly, the changed position causing her to have to sit up with me. “I don’t understand. How?”

She inhaled deeply, like she was preparing herself to voice it. “Well, I was too pregnant for… When I was that big, I guess he didn’t want to…” She stuttered over the words before taking another steadying breath, then continued. “He didn’t want to unless he got something out of it, and I was too pregnant for sex to be enjoyable, so after about five months, we stopped. And then I had a C-section, and he didn’t…” She looked down at my shirt as her words trailed off.

“Hey,” I muttered, crooking a finger under her chin to bring her eyes back to mine. I loved when she looked at me. “I’m sure you already know this, but he’s an asshole, okay? Real men don’t treat women like that, and I promise, as long as you’ll let me, I’ll make sure you know every day how important you are.”

Her expression changed from sad to piqued interest. “As long as I’ll let you?”

“I like you, Sage. I don’t know if that’s clear after what we just did, but I want more. Not just of that, though I’d gladly take that every day,” I admitted with a smile, “but I want more of you. As much as you’re willing to give, I’ll take it all.”

“Are you saying you want to date? Officially?” she asked .

I nodded. “Do you?”

She blinked a few times and I dropped my finger from below her chin. “I mean, yes. But—”

“Baby, don’t think of the buts.” I lay back, pulling her on top of me so that she was straddling my hips. I brought my hands up to her cheeks, brushing her hair behind her ears. “We’ve got a million years to think of the reasons we shouldn’t, but what if instead, we spent those thinking of the reasons we should?”

A smile reached her lips, and all I wanted to do was kiss her again and again and again.

“I think that sounds like a good plan,” she said, inching her face closer to mine.

“A million years, then, yeah?”

Her smile widened, and right before she pressed her lips to mine, she murmured, “A million years.”