The Resolution of Callie & Kayden(65)

‘Until we’re done with this.’ He gives me a wicked smile as he flicks my button undone.

‘That feels like blackmail …’ My back arches as his knuckles graze my stomach. ‘Good thing I like being blackmailed by you.’

‘God, I love that look in your eyes when I touch you,’ he says softly against my ear before nipping at my lobe.

I’m about to get lost inside him when I remember something. ‘Wait.’ I put a hand against his chest, pushing him back a little, causing him to give a sexy, frustrated growl that makes the area between my lips tingle. ‘Don’t you want your present?’

He pushes back from me and arches his brow. ‘What? I thought that sweater was from all of you.’ He’s totally amused with himself.

I glare at him. ‘You did not. I would never, ever be a part of giving you a sweater with an elf knitted on it.’

‘Hey, I like the sweater,’ he insists, actually being genuine. ‘No one has ever given me a sweater. Fuck, no one has ever given me a present before.’

Wow, I can feel the pressure. Maybe I should have gotten something better than I did.

‘Well, don’t get too excited,’ I say, scooting out from under him and rolling off the mattress. ‘It’s not much.’ I reach into my duffel bag to get his present.

He sits up on the mattress, looking about as eager as a kid sitting in front of a Christmas tree. ‘I’ll be happy with whatever you give me.’

I know he’s telling the truth, but still, when I hand him the small, rectangular present, I feel like it’s not enough. I hold my breath in anticipation and sit down beside him as he tears the paper off and chucks it aside. I wait for his reaction, but he just sits there, frozen, staring at it.

He stares.

And stares.

And stares.

With his head is tucked down and I can’t read him at all.

‘I told you I took pictures of us.’ I tap the frame that’s around the picture of Kayden and me kissing at the carnival we went to this summer. It’s actually a really pretty picture, the flashing neon lights and shapes of the rides behind us contrasting perfectly with the starry night above us. ‘Well, Seth actually took this one with my phone, but it’s a gorgeous photo of us. Totally wall worthy, I think.’

He just keeps staring at the photo and I feel like I’m about to lose my mind as I think of all the things that could be wrong. Maybe I’m reminding him of his past too much. Maybe I’m reminding him of everything he didn’t have.

But when I finally work up the courage to say something, a tear slips from his eye.

He’s crying and I’m afraid.

Maybe this was too emotional.

Maybe it was the wrong thing.

As my self-doubts wash over me, he lifts his gaze to meet mine and I realize that I was wrong.

He’s not crying because he’s sad.

He’s crying because he feels loved.

And good God do I love him. More than anything else in the world.

He doesn’t say anything. He just attacks me, his lips crashing into mine and stealing the breath right out of my lungs. But that’s okay; I’ll give him my air, my heart, my soul, whatever he wants. The only thing that matters is that he wants it.

‘You remember the last time we were in this room,’ he says through his panting as we finally come up for air.

I nod, gazing up at his swollen lips before allowing my eyes to rest on his. ‘I do.’ It was the first time we made love.

‘It was one of the most amazing moments of my life,’ he says softly, his body heat warming every inch of me. ‘Did you know that?’ he asks. When I shake my head, he whispers, ‘Well, it was. And even though I didn’t know it at the time, it was the moment I fell in love with you.’

His words sink through my skin and shoot straight to my heart. ‘I think it was when I feel in love with you, too,’ I whisper.

There’s a pause. A silent exchange that words can’t express.

Then we start ripping off each other’s clothes. Buttons fly. Fabric gets thrown. We’re laughing and smiling and he’s crying and so am I for reasons I can’t even understand. It’s like I’m feeling everything all at once and it’s so overwhelming and powerful, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. And when he slips inside me, his body over mine, all I can think of is how safe I feel in a place that once felt like it was surrounded by thorns and vines. A place that felt so unsafe. A place where I lost it all, but now I’m being given it all back and more.