Craving Redemption (26 page)

His eyes met mine as he glided back and forth, and I didn’t look away, even as he picked up speed and our headboard started slamming against the wall.

“Tell me you love me,” he growled, before leaning down to suck hard on the side of my breast. “Tell me you’re mine.”

“I love you,” I sobbed back, wrapping my fists in his hair.

His hips paused, leaving him only halfway inside me before he ordered again, “Tell me you’re mine.”

“I’m yours. I’m yours!” I pleaded, sliding one hand to his shoulder and digging my nails into his back until he slammed back inside me.

“That’s right, baby. You’re mine and I’m yours.” He leaned down and kissed me deeply while one of his hands slid between us to pinch and pull at my clit.

“Okay,” I responded, and then my voice broke as I moaned deep and long as I came.

“So beautiful,” he rasped as he sped up inside me.

I lay there in a daze and watched him, the veins in his neck bulging and his thrusts becoming short as he reached his own orgasm.

He was the beautiful one.

Chapter 41

Grease

If she only knew what I’d been through over the past few months, I think things would’ve been different. Shit was happening in the club that I couldn’t tell her about because I was scared as hell that it would push her right back to where she’d been when I’d met her—scared of her own shadow. So I’d been pissed as hell I couldn’t see her, making the long-ass drive when I could—but it didn’t seem to matter. She’d still seen it as abandonment, growing angrier with me at every visit, and I’d had to just take it because I wasn’t willing to explain it to her.

She didn’t know that being away from her had been like needles constantly stinging under my skin, and I’d had to work out like crazy so I could actually fall asleep at night.

I swallowed hard past my tight throat as Callie curled into my chest. For the first time in months, her whole body was relaxed against mine.

Thank fuck.

I had my girl back.

Chapter 42

Callie

We barely made it out of the bedroom that night. I didn’t want to move away from him for a second—I was feeling too raw—but eventually we had to make an appearance. It was my birthday party, after all.

My face flamed in embarrassment as Farrah hooted with glee, but thankfully Echo said something into her ear that made her straighten her shoulders and glare at him, ending her amusement. I wondered what exactly they’d heard. I was strangely unembarrassed about the spanking and more concerned with the fact that they may have heard Asa tell me he loved me for the first time. Out of the entire episode, that was the one thing I fiercely wanted to keep private. Only one person made a comment after that, something about the thumping of the headboard, but the look Asa gave him was enough to make him stop mid-sentence.

The only people left in the house were Aces and their women, and I was glad that I didn’t have to worry about socializing with a bunch of people I barely knew. I couldn’t make myself leave Asa’s side, and it reminded me of the needy girl I’d been the year before, but I refused to stop. I needed to touch him, and if his arm wrapped tightly around my shoulders was any indication, he was feeling that need, too.

I watched Farrah and Echo argue quietly for a while before she headed toward me, pulling me away from Asa as she marched into the kitchen. I didn’t have a chance to say a word before she started speaking fast, almost manically.

“Are you okay? He did
not
seem happy. I couldn’t believe that chick. What a whore. I can’t believe he was pissed about that. I mean—she was all over his ass. I swear guys are such idiots sometimes—”

“Whoa! Slow down,” I interrupted her, pulling her in for a hug. “It’s all good. We had some other shit to work out—but it’s all good now.”

She dropped her head on my shoulder and her arms tightened around my waist.

“Hey, you okay?” I asked gently, rubbing my hand down the back of her hair.

“Yeah. I’m sorry.” She tried to pull away, but I held on tight, refusing to let her go.

“Something’s up,” I whispered in her ear. “You’ve been arguing with Echo since we got out here. What aren’t you telling me?”

“It’s nothing,” she sniffled, pulling her head back and giving me a bright smile that looked gut-wrenching when paired with the sheen in her eyes. “Stupid drama. You know I don’t have time for that shit.”

She patted me on the back a few times before pulling away again, and that time I let her. I watched her closely as she walked to the fridge and opened it as if looking for something, but never grabbed anything before swinging it shut again.

“I think I’m gonna head home,” she told me nonchalantly. “You had a hell of a party, even though you weren’t there to witness it, and I’m tired as hell.”

She looked tired. She also looked haunted, and I noticed for the first time how dark the circles under her eyes were.

“I’m sorry for not hanging out more,” I replied, looking around at the drooping balloons and streamers. “You did an awesome job.”

“No worries, sister. Anything for you.” She walked over and gave me a sloppy kiss on the cheek, paired with a fake smile, before heading for the front door.

She hadn’t been through it for two seconds before Echo was following, looking both pissed and worried.

It wasn’t long before the others followed them out and we finally had the apartment to ourselves. If I hadn’t come home to an apartment full of people, we would have stayed curled together in bed from the moment I got there. The minute the last person walked out the door that was exactly what we did.

Asa stripped me as we walked down the hall, and only seconds after I’d climbed into bed, he was climbing in behind me, naked.

“You have a good party?” he asked me quietly, his hand rubbing lightly over my belly.

“Yeah…Well, what was left of it,” I sighed back with a smile.

His breath huffed against my neck and he gave me a squeeze, pulling my back tighter against his body. “I’ve missed you like hell, Calliope.”

“It’s been a long three months,” I agreed, finding his hand with mine and patting the back of it gently.

“Been longer than that, sweetheart,” he mumbled, lacing his fingers with mine.

“Yeah,” I answered, sniffling once as my eyes filled with tears.

“I want you to move with me, Callie,” he told me seriously, his arm tightening to keep me from bolting. “I want you with me. I wanna see you every day and start a family at some point. It’s not gonna happen if we aren’t in the same place. This shit is fuckin’ with both of us.”

“Okay,” I whispered back.

I was startled when he pulled away and pushed me to my back so he could loom over me.

“What did you say?”

“Um… okay?” I replied, confused.

“Is that a question?”

“No, it’s my answer,” I snapped, exasperated with talking in circles. “You asked me to move with you and I answered yes!”

His face lit up with a smile so big it made my breath catch in my throat.

“I have to take care of things around here,” I told him softly as he dropped down beside me so we were lying face to face. “I have to give notice at my job and have Gram to visit one more time.”

“Okay, sweetheart. We’ll make it work.”

“I don’t know how long it’s going to take,” I warned, “I need you to be patient with me and—”

“As long as you’re making the move, I can be patient.”

“—and I need you to come see me more often. I can’t keep waiting on you for three months at a time.”

“I’ll do my best, sweetheart,” he promised immediately, leaning in for a kiss.

We lay there a while, just watching each other. It had been so long since we’d done that, just spending time soaking each other in without arguments or sex between us. It was soothing in a way that I couldn’t have imagined.

“You want to start a family?” I asked him quietly, reaching up to run my fingers lightly over his lips.

“Yeah,” he cleared his throat, but his voice was still husky as he continued. “Doesn’t have to happen tomorrow, or even in the next few years. But, yeah, I wanna see my babies growing in your belly.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

And that was that.

Apparently, I was moving to Oregon.

Chapter 43

Callie

It was almost four months after my birthday and there was no move in sight.

I’d started the process, giving notice at my job and packing boxes of little-used items in the apartment, but it seemed that one thing after another delayed my plans.

When I’d talked to my boss at the restaurant, he’d seemed sad to let me go but willing to give a good reference whenever I found a new job. Unfortunately, he’d asked me to take over hiring and training my replacement first. For a variety of reasons, I didn’t feel like I could say no. He’d not only trusted me when he hired a kid with little experience to manage his restaurant, but he’d also been really good about giving me time off when I’d needed it during Gram’s and Asa’s visits. I felt like I owed him.

The applications didn’t come flooding in. They came in more of a trickle, and it was three weeks before we had a pool of applicants large enough to start the interview process. Most of them had little experience and a few didn’t even realize what the job was. It was a nightmare.

By the time we’d finally hired someone, a month had gone by since we’d started the entire process. I was anxious to train him so I could finally move, and I’d gone to work with a spring in my step, thinking the end was in sight… and the new hire had never shown up. He literally never showed. Not that day
or
the week following. Because the new hire had been the only valid option in the slew of applicants, I had to start all over again.

Thankfully, the second hire turned out to be perfect. She was an older lady who seemed a little down on her luck, but anxious to work. I’d spent the last two weeks training her, had just finished my last day, and was feeling pretty damn happy that I could finally pack up the rest of my things and make my way to Asa. I missed the hell out of him.

I hadn’t seen Asa since my birthday, and I was trying not to resent the fact that he’d promised that he would visit and hadn’t. I knew he wasn’t staying away by choice. The same frustration I was feeling was in his voice every time we talked. We hadn’t planned for such a long delay, and it was wearing on both of us.

Work issues weren’t the only things that had me breaking out in hives on a daily basis. It seemed that everything was hitting me at once, and when Asa had opened the bottle of feelings that I’d closed up tight, I’d been unable to close it again.

Gram hadn’t been able to visit because she’d picked up some sort of virus and it was kicking her ass. I paced the floor every time I talked to her, the only outlet I had that wouldn’t make her worry, while she spoke to me in a raspy tone each night. She didn’t seem to be getting better fast enough, and while I knew it was because she was older and it really couldn’t keep her down for much longer, I still worried. I wanted to be able to take care of her, but it was impossible for her to drive, and even
more
impossible for me to go to her. For the first time in a long time, I hated the fact that I was no longer in San Diego.

Cody wasn’t helping my peace of mind, either. He’d begun calling me a couple times a week, and though I couldn’t put my finger on it, something was wrong. He never told me what was going on, but he wasn’t the happy and teasing brother I’d known all my life. He was moody and acted like he didn’t want to talk even though he was the one who made the call. I felt like I was walking on eggshells every time we spoke because anything could set him off, and when it did, he’d hang up and I’d have to wait almost a week for another call while he ignored all my attempts to contact him.

With both my remaining family members causing me to lose sleep at night, it took me a while before I noticed the change in Farrah. At first it was little things that could be easily overlooked—a day without makeup, or letting an extra week go by before she touched up the roots of her blonde hair. But soon, things were worse, and that’s when I began to worry. She was showing up at my house at all hours of the night, high as a kite, just to pass out on the couch. The bones in her chest were becoming more pronounced and her boobs became almost non-existent as she lost more and more weight. Even with fully fixed makeup, she couldn’t hide the dark sunken circles beneath her eyes.

She was scaring me, and she wouldn’t let me help her.

I was thinking of all those things, driving home, and trying to decide how I’d pack the house when Asa called me.

“Hey, baby.”

“Callie. How was your last day, sweetheart?” his voice never failed to cause a little dip in my belly.

“It went good! Rhonda seems to fit right in. Damn, I’m glad to be finally out of there.”

“You and me both, Sugar. I hated you working at that place.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I snickered, pulling into my apartment’s parking lot. “I’m not there anymore, so quit bitching.”

Whatever he said next was completely lost when I looked toward my building and the noise of my heartbeat started thrumming in my ears.

“Asa, I have to go,” I interrupted, slamming the car in park and fighting to get out of my seatbelt.

“The fuck is wrong, Callie?” he snapped frantically, his end of the line rustling with movement.

“Farrah,” I choked out before stuffing my phone into my pocket and jumping out of the car.

She was sitting awkwardly, halfway up the stairs to my apartment, cradling one arm and staring at me through two swollen black eyes. Her clothes were clean, but her shirt was hanging haphazardly across her chest, with one arm through the sleeve and the other sitting on her shoulder, and yoga pants that she’d sworn she’d never wear out of the house sagging at her skinny waist.

I stumbled toward her, willing myself not to cry as she tried to stand.

“I have my key but I couldn’t get up the stairs,” she lisped brokenly, her split lips tilting a little in a grimacing smile.