Page 62 of Fallen Hero

She didn’t finish her sentence. She stood, putting me eye level with pink panties. There was nothing I could do to hide my erection, so I didn’t bother explaining the tenting in my track pants. But the longer she stood there staring down at me, the harder it became not to reach for her.

“That wasn’t fair. I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for.”

She swept her hand in the general vicinity of my hard-on.

“It’ll go down,” I told her.

After a cold shower and three jerk-off sessions.

“I should go to bed,” she declared.

Fuck.

I wanted to get up, or at least tell her to stay, but I hadn’t forgotten her telling me that men scared her. And while she said I didn’t, I wasn’t going to get up off the lounger while she was feeling vulnerable after she sort of kissed me. It was the softest, hardly there kiss I’d ever had, but it was sweet and sexy and all Calli.

“Night, Calli,” I called to her back, as she made her way to the slider.

She paused before she went in and looked over her shoulder. “I’m not like those other women.”

“What?”

“What happened just now, I wasn’t using you. I just wanted to know.”

Seriously, she was killing me. Calista was nothing like anyone I’d ever met, and she was nothing like some barfly who wanted nothing more than to get off.

“Know what?”

“What you tasted like.”

With that successful parting shot, she disappeared into her room.

No question, this had to be karma.

This was my punishment for being a royal asshole.

Not that Fallon or Pete or any of the guys would ever know about my balcony time with Calista, but if they did, they’d have a field day with my misery.

A barely there touch of tongues had me tied so tight, it was going to be a bitch to get untangled. The fuck of it was, I was beginning to wonder why I wanted to get free.

Chapter Fifteen

“Calli, your phone’s ringing,” Fallon yelled over the music.

Crap.

I stopped the heavy bag from swinging and was working off my gloves on the way across the gym.

Fallon met me in the doorway. “Want me to answer it on speaker?”

I blew out a breath to calm my heart rate. I didn’t need to sound like a sex worker while I took a call from Amir. “Yeah,” I wheezed out.

Fallon slid his finger over the screen and put the call on speaker.

“Hello?” I greeted cooly.

“Zara Hawthorne?” a woman with a British accent asked.