“Only the ones with style.” I tipped his chin up and kissed him. “Don’t even think of stealing them, shoe thief.”
Callum chuckled. “I fear they’re much too small anyway. I’d rip them.”
“Because of all these muscles.” I ran my hand across his chiseled pecs before dipping lower, stopping at his ass. “You have buns of steel.”
“Buns?” He smiled. “Like the ones you made that night for dessert? I really enjoyed them.”
I dropped my head to his shoulder, laughing. This cinnamon roll would be the death of me. He was both hot as hell and adorably clueless sometimes.
“What do you say, dear knight?” I wiggled my hips. “You gonna finish the job? Pretty sure these hotdog creatures are trying to attack me. You need to rip them off and save me.”
With a grin in place, he pushed down my boxers and slid them down my legs, throwing them aside. That grin fell as his gaze raked over my naked body. “Gods, Ev. You called me beautiful, but seeing you on top of me like this? My heart might stop.”
A pang hit my chest. “You’re only saying that because I’m your first.”
“I’m not.” Callum sat up and feathered kisses along my collar bone, holding me as I straddled him. “You forget I’ve bathed with nearly every male in the Second Order. I’ve seen all of them. Yet, you’re the only one who’s ever made my heart race. The only one I’ve ever wanted to strip bare and sink into.”
Chills erupted across my skin. “Is that what you want to do?” I rolled my body, rubbing my ass against his bulge. I had unfastened his pants but hadn’t taken them off yet. He’d been too eager to get me out of mine first. “Sink into me?”
“No.” The corners of his eyes softened. “I want more than that. So much more.”
Another knock in my chest—in my heart. “Show me.”
He captured my lips in a kiss that turned my insides to liquid fire, like I’d absorbed the sun itself. His heat burned through my bloodstream.
“Cal.” The backs of my eyes stung. “I…”
I hadn’t felt this before. The blazing inferno. The desperation to burn even hotter.
“I feel it too.” His shaky breath tickled my lips. “Feels like I’m about to burst into a thousand pieces.”
Callum brushed his tongue along the seam of my mouth before kissing me again. I surrendered to him, to the sizzling heat in my veins that deepened as the seconds ticked by.
Was this how Icarus felt when he flew too close to the sun? The story had always seemed tragic to me. The heat destroyed his wings and sent him crashing back to earth. But as I kissed Callum, I would’ve bet anything that Icarus had smiled as he fell.
Because although it’d destroyed him, it had made him feel alive.
Between kisses, I removed Callum’s pants and tossed them to the floor. Our mouths then came back together, harder than before, fueled by the need to be closer than we’d ever been. Gently, I pushed him against the mattress and rose up.
Silences had never been awkward with Callum. Even when not saying a word, I felt at peace with him. Comfortable. It had always been that way. And as I straddled him, our gazes locking, it still was. I skated my fingers down his tight abs, lightly caressing the freshly marred skin.
“Do you find them unpleasant?” he asked. “My wounds.”
“You mean your scratches?” We shared a smile before I touched a jagged scar on his ribs. “I still think you’re beautiful, Cal. Maybe even more so. You got these protecting someone. The young knight in the Third Order wouldn’t be here if not for you.”
“He was just a boy, newly recruited,” he said with a slight tremor in his voice. “He reminded me of Gerard. I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.”
“I know you couldn’t.” I touched the bandage on his neck. “You really are a noble knight. Brave and loyal.”
“And as a knight…” Callum grabbed my hand and pressed it to his cheek. “I vow to always protect you. Not only because of whose blood runs through your veins, but because I can’t imagine a world without you in it.”
“Not only to protect me, I hope.” I smiled down at him. “I want you to love me too.”
Something achingly tender sparked in his eyes. “I already do.”
Our connection went beyond sex. Beyond anything I could put into words. That connection surged between us as I lowered my body and kissed down his chest, along his ribs, and across his toned stomach. The scarred skin was rough beneath my lips, but I didn’t mind.
And then, I traveled lower.
