Page 280 of Now and Forever

Chapter 101

Callum

“Still am.”

Her breath caught as I softly blew air on her ear. I let my bottom lip caress the side of her neck. The weakening woman slightly shook, like unbidden prey, she anticipated my attack; to be wholly consumed by me, by my touch.

Clive Barrington. The name alone brought a bitter taste to my tongue. He had lured Zara once and I wasn’t going to let him do the same thing with Stella.

Two weeks.

It took everything in me not to contact her because I was busy trying to convince myself that she was young and thus needed to figure out her feelings for Derek. I was also constantly reminding myself that had her feelings changed, she was going to come to me. How wrong was I? Apparently, I was off by a long shot.

“How many men have you had since me, Stella?”

It was a crass question, but if she had been prancing around town with Barrington, which could mean only one thing, that she had gotten a healthy dose of exploration herself.

“Enlighten me, Callum. How many have you had since me? Then you might just get what you’re demanding from me.”

My nose flared. “What you witnessed was the only time.” Not that I wasn’t interested in sex because I surely was; the problem was the woman I was doing it with. The redhead had been a test I had to go through, to convince myself that I wasn’t losing my manhood over a virgin who no longer wanted or needed me. It was to show that I was in control.

When things started heating up, I was grateful that I still had it in me, but all those monumental emotions eroded the second my gaze caught hers. Until then, I was convinced that Stella didn’t fancy me, but when she came to visit in my home—though her excuse was plausible, for some reason, my gut feeling was telling me that there was more to it—Stella was lying about the real reason why she came to see me that night.

When I came after her and then went along with that strained goodbye, I knew I should let her go to live her life as she had planned it to be. I thought then that it was me being all magnanimous because I was not one to back down when I was being challenged by a woman. In fact, I thrived on the chase… Yet then life handed me Stella von Berg and now I knew nothing would ever be the same again.

Reluctant she may be, but I knew her body was responding to me. My problem now was how to grapple the situation without alarming her. Either way, I wasn’t leaving this office building without a successful result.

So, here we were, having a staring throw down.

Stormy gray eyes flashed at me. They were so clear that the gold around her pupil burned brighter. “Don’t tell me you never had the urge before that night. I won’t believe you!” Stella threw accusingly at me. Her will to fight me was admirable, but a wise person should know the most important thing when going in for a fight is always to know your opponent. Never take on someone who you could never win against.

At this point, I was willing to bet everything to get her. Anything, as long as it wasn’t falling in love. Apart from that one solid condition, everything else was on the table and I was willing to negotiate. After Zara, I wasn’t willing to break my six-week relationship mantra, however times were changing and I needed to re-strategize if I wanted a chance with her. If I hadn’t known better, she had possibly outsmarted me because I was like an addict, always craving her.

Had this happened to another woman, I could easily think that she had orchestrated to trap me efficiently, but this was Stella. Still, I was somewhat skeptical and a tad bitter that she was making me break my well-oriented plans. “Oh, I had. Trust me. But you…” I shook my head. “You’re a clever woman.” My forefinger reached out and traced the valley of her breasts, heatedly and repeatedly, as our eyes sparred war with each other. “You left me wanting, Stella. It was the oldest trick in the book, but it still worked.”

“Trust me, it was never like that.” She licked her lips, quivering. Her pebbled nipples outlined her dress shirt. “We exchanged favors. What you’re dealing with now is your own business. It’s your problem, not mine.”

Feisty, wasn’t she? I was seeing the real woman emerge amidst the calm, poised façade she always portrayed and I wanted it out.

True, she was right, this was my problem, but now I was bringing this problem to the surface, thus making it our problem. “You tricked me. That's my fucking problem!” I blazed on, accusing.

Stella gasped, looking offended. “Me? What have I done now?” She searched my eyes. “All because of sex? You’re blaming it all on me? If I recalled correctly, you were the one who kept seeking me out after we did it the first time. You brought it upon yourself.”

How right she was, but I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction.

I gave her a cutting glance before I responded to her, “You enticed me with your virgin pussy. Now every goddamn pussy is too fucking used for my taste because I only want yours.”

Her luscious, pink mouth opened. She shook her head before shutting it closed. “You're crazy!” She broke free of my arms and started to walk away, but I was right onto her. “You’re being childish.”

I yanked her arm and pressed her to the closest thing available, the glass window. “You’ve been running enough, cowering like a scared little fool. You should know better than to offer a man your body, let him taste heaven then easily take that away from him and pretend as if nothing happened.” My thumb pulled the V of the shirt lower, pressing the first button so that it widened and separated.

She fumed while I kept touching her supple breasts, leaving light, feathered caresses on her skin. “This fucking body is all I can think about.” When she tried to tap my hand away, I brazenly went further with my ministrations.

Stella tried to move away, but then something broke in me and I accidently popped a few of her shirt buttons, making them fly across the room, one after the other, leaving her chest unguarded and open to my perusal. “You don’t have to lie to me,” I murmured, noting her flushed cheeks and the heavy pants she was making. “Be mine and I will be yours.”

Surprise lit her eyes, wondering if she must have misheard me. “For six weeks?”

“For as long as we want. We could let it run its course.” This was stepping out of my comfort zone, however I was willing to risk it because she was driving me nuts.

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