The Redemption of Callie and Kayden (26 page)

break and be free. But he abruptly stops and then he’s pulling

away again. The moment starts to dissipate and fall into the sand

as he sits up, moving me with him.

“What are you doing?” I stutter, feeling flushed. “Is

something wrong?”

His fingertips burrow into my waist and he holds me firmly

as he stands. Sand showers from our bodies as he wraps his arms

underneath me and he holds me against his body. He hikes across

the beach and toward the house, with me attached to his front.

“I’m taking you inside,” he says softly, kissing me and then

pulling back. “Before things get too out of hand.” He presses his

lips to mine and gives me a delicate kiss. “We don’t want to be out

in the beach… out in the open.” He brings his lips to mine as his

shoes scuff in the gravel of the driveway. He nips at my bottom

and I shiver uncontrollably. When he pulls back, his lips quirk. “We

don’t want to be in the sand… it can get messy.”

I try not to blush, but I’ve never been good at suppressing

my embarrassment, and my cheeks are fiery hot.

He walks around Luke’s truck and trots up the steps, bringing

us into the porch light. He smiles as he takes me in and then

moves one arm away from me to touch his finger to my cheek.

“I’ve missed that, you know—the blushing. It’s adorable.”

I blush even more, but I let it be—there’s nothing I can do

about it. Smiling, he shifts my weight to the side, and I overlap my

fingers behind his neck as he maneuvers the door open without

setting me down. We stumble into the kitchen and his lips come

down on mine as soon as his feet make it over the threshold.

His hand travels up into my hair as he kisses me and walks

through the house, bumping into the corner of the countertop and

knocking his elbow against the wall of the hallway. It’s dark, but

there’s a lamp on in the living room and also in the bedroom and a

soft trail of moonlight filters through the windows.

Kayden’s hands run down my back and slip underneath my

dress as he turns the corner and stumbles through the doorway

into the room Seth and I are sleeping in.

“What if they come back?” I ask, breathless, and my lips feel

bruised from all the kissing.

Kayden adjust his arm so it’s under my backside and I can

feel his hardness pressing against me. All there is between us are

his jeans and my panties. “We’ll lock the door… unless… unless you

don’t want to do this.” Without letting me go, he reaches back with

one arm, shuts the door, and pushes the lock in.

I love that he asks. I love it even more that I want to do it. I

want to be with him. I can be with him. Only months ago, the idea

seemed out of reach, nonexistent, impossible. But now, with him,

everything inside me has changed and my heart and soul aren’t so

shadowed anymore. He is my light and I hope one day that I can

be his.

I move my lips toward him. “I want to be with you.”

He doesn’t say anything else. His lips collide with mine. He

starts walking again as his hands stray to my waist, fingers dipped

inward and leaving paths of sweltering heat on my skin. He lowers

us onto the bed, sits up a little, and shoves Seth’s bag off the edge.

Then he maneuvers his body over mine and our lips reconnect

with a shock of static. When his tongue enters my mouth, I knot

my fingers in his hair and steer his face closer, wanting all of him.

“Callie,” he groans as his hands round to my stomach. His

fingers graze along my skin and send a coil of heat down between

my legs.

My back bows up into him as I relish the feel of his tongue

on mine. If I could wish for one thing, it would be that I could

always feel this way, completely and blissfully consumed by

someone else. No, not just by someone else. By Kayden. My legs

move around his hips, so I’m opened up to him, and his weight

bears down on me. He’s holding himself up with his arm propped

to the side of my head and his other hand moves up the front of

my dress until it reaches the edge of my bra. For a split second I

feel uneasiness choke inside me, but I remind myself that this is

Kayden and he would never hurt me—he’ll only ever protect me,

no matter what it costs him.

His fingers sneak under and cup my breast and my nipple

promptly hardens. My knees constrict around his waist as the pad

of his thumb grazes across my nipple. My head falls back as I let

out a moan and Kayden begins grinding his hips against me. He

does it over and over again, our bodies connecting and colliding.

There’s undying passion in each movement and I forget where I

am. I exist only in this moment and every other moment in my life

is dead. My nails dig into his shoulder blades as I feel myself rising toward the stars outside the window and seconds later I fall back

to earth. Panting loudly, I stretch my fingers out as he stills.

Then he’s sitting up and grabbing my arm. Moving off the

bed, he pulls me up so I’m sitting on the edge of the bed and he’s

standing in front of me. He reaches for the bottom of my dress,

and with one swift movement, he pulls it over my head. My heart

jumps inside my chest as my hair falls to my shoulders. He leans

over me and his hand slides up my back to the clasp of my bra. My

chest rises and falls as he flicks the clasp open and my bra falls off my shoulders. I’m choking up again, but whisper at my heart to

calm down as I reach for his shirt. His breathing becomes unsteady

as I slip my hand up his chest and bring my body up, so I’m

standing in front of him and his shirt is pulled up. One of my hands

rests above his heart, beating unsteadily against my palm.

I swallow hard as I take in the scar on his side, still healing,

and I trace a path around it. Tears sting my eyes as I think about

how it got there, what he went through, what he must be going

through.

“Callie…” Kayden says and he hooks a finger under my chin

so I’ll look up at him. He lowers his hand and his fingers circle my

wrist. Bringing my hand up to his lips, he kisses the inside of my

wrist and I shudder from the delicate touch of his breath. “I’m

okay.”

No, you’re not. I want to say. Your father stabbed you and

you took the full weight of it. You can’t be okay.

He lets go of my hand and reaches behind his neck. With a

soft tug, he slips his shirt off the rest of the way and drops it onto the floor beside my dress and bra. His hair is sticking up and his

lips are red from kissing me so roughly. My gaze moves from his

face to the scars. Most of them are small, but some aren’t. The

largest one tracks up his chest and looks coarse.

“I fell on a rake when my father hit me,” he explains in a

solemn voice, like it means nothing. Like it’s something that just

happens and he’s moved on and forgotten it.

I want to cry for him. I trace my finger up the scar, feeling the

bumps and imagining how painful it must have been. “Kayden, I—”

He silences me with his lips as he falls down on me and lays

us back onto the bed. After his tongue searches every inch of my

mouth, he pulls away again. “I know you want me to talk about it

with you—and I will—but right now this is what I want.” He

sketches his finger down my cheekbone and my eyelids flutter

shut. “You’re all I want for a minute.”

His touch is driving my body crazy in ways I didn’t even know

were possible. I nod my head, wanting him to have me for a

minute. There’s a faint smile at his lips as he kisses my cheek and

then he lifts his hips off me. He slips his jeans off and then his

boxers before sliding my panties down my legs and pulling them

off too. He grabs a condom from his wallet before tossing his jeans

aside, and then he stills over me with his arms resting at the side of my head as he looks me in the eyes.

“You know, if you ever need anything from me—whether it’s

to stop or slow down or simply talk, I’m here,” he says, trying to

calm my nerves, which are a mess, even though I’ve done this with

him before.

“I know.” I inhale and exhale and I almost tell him I love him

right there and then, because holding it in is nearly excruciating.

I don’t though and then he’s kissing me and sliding inside

me. It doesn’t hurt as bad as the first time we had sex and my legs

more willingly open up to him as he rocks inside me. I fasten my

hands around his back and hold onto him as my body drifts to that

place again, the one where I’m free, the one where he and I only

belong together.

I begin to sweat and the muscles of his arms and chest flex

as he speeds up his movements. All thoughts leave my head. I wish

I could grasp onto this moment, hold it in my hand and keep it

with me forever, because then my life would be complete,

breathless, real.

It would be perfect.

Kayden

I don’t have control when it comes to her. I’m quickly

learning this. Whenever she looks at me, I swear she steals another

piece of my soul. Unlike most people, she doesn’t care if it’s

damaged. And once we kiss, I’m gone. The broken, soulless, empty

Kayden who’s existed since the first time his father beat him no

longer lives. She owns me and I want nothing more than to be with

her.

I pick her up and carry her into the bedroom, because what I

want to do to her can’t be done on the beach without things

getting messy. I kiss her for as long as I can, rubbing up against

her and then watch in fascination as she breaks apart. I need more,

so I stand up and bring her up with me, undressing her. Then she

reaches to undress me and I can tell she’s looking at the scars and

thinking about what put them there. When I take my shirt off, her

gaze goes to the largest one right up the center of my chest.

“I fell on a rake when my father hit me,” I tell her and I don’t

even know why. I hate talking about it, but suddenly I want her to

know because it’ll make me feel better and the weight on my

shoulders will be a little less heavy.

She looks like she’s about to say something that might ruin

the moment, so I crash my lips against hers and steal both our

breaths and voices. I fall onto her, holding my weight, noting how

small and helpless she is underneath me.

I finish taking off the rest of our clothes and then she’s lying

underneath me, looking about as terrified as I feel, her eyes

massive and I sense a small tremble of her body every time she

breathes.

“You know, if you ever need anything from me—whether it’s

to stop or slow down or simply talk, I’m here,” I say, trying to calm her nerves. And it’s true. I’d stop if she asked me to. I’d do

anything for her.

She doesn’t say anything and I slide inside her, feeling her

warmth and wishing I could just stay there and just feel her. It’s

calming, terrifying, perfect—it’s so many God damn things I don’t

let myself feel except when I’m with her, and when I’m with her,

feeling things isn’t as hard.

I rest my arms by the side of her head and rock inside her.

Her legs fall open and her hands tighten around me as I press

deeper into her, knowing that nothing else will ever compare to

this. I thrust inside her, watching in awe as her eyes glaze over and her head tips back. Her body starts to arch against mine and we

collide into each other as I drive her further. She bites down on her bottom lip and her neck bows forward as her fingernails pierce my

skin. I hate how fucking much I like it, but I can’t help it. Even with her beneath me, it’s still there, hiding inside me, the desire for pain instead of feelings.

“Kayden,” she moans and loses herself in my movements.

She holds onto me, our skin damp, our breathing fitful as I

still myself inside her. My head is tipped down and her breath is

hitting my cheek as her fingers draw up and down my back. When

I get control of myself again, I kiss her cheek and then start to pull back, but she tightens her legs around my waist and holds me in

place, refusing to let me slip out of her.

I lean back and look her in the eyes, searching for what’s

wrong. “Are you okay?”

She nods, with a funny look on her face. “I’m just not ready

to let you go yet.”

A smile reveals at my lips. And it’s genuine and not for show

like most of my smiles are. I kiss her deeply with every ounce of

passion I have in me. “Give me a few minutes,” I say and turn my

hips to the side. “And I’ll be back in the game.”

This time she releases me and I lie on my back, with my arm

behind my head as I stare up at the ceiling. I’m very aware of my

scars at the moment and how each one feels smaller somehow. I’m

starting to realize something… something I’m not sure I want to

realize. She makes me feel better and I wonder if that means I’m

supposed to be with her. I don’t want it to mean that, though. I

want her to be unrestricted.

Pulling the sheet over her, she rotates onto her hip and

brushes my hair out of my face. “What are you thinking about?”

she asks, grazing a finger between my brows and erasing the worry

line.