AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Edwin’s face had turned puce. He was bucking viciously under Callum’s iron hold. I thought he was going to fight him or deny Callum’s demand, but slowly, his arms slackened and he started to sag into the bar.
“I hear you, asshole,” he muttered through a tightly clenched jaw. “Get the fuck off me. I hear you!”
With one last shove into the hard surface of the bar, Callum straightened and took a step back. Edwin immediately flipped around, hatred pouring from his black gaze. He stayed slumped back over the bar, scrubbing his flaming red face with his hand. Callum loomed over him as he rolled his shoulders and smoothed a hand over his hair, appearing completely unthreatened by the man shooting eye daggers at him.
A whimper climbed up my throat. Callum’s head jerked, and his eyes landed on mine. They were icy blue, colder than I’d ever seen, but he still looked like a life raft, even if he was made of stone. I lunged for him. Not on purpose, but because my legs weren’t working properly. He caught me easily in one arm, pressing me tightly to his side.
He didn’t speak or assure me everything was going to be okay. Vibrations rocked his muscles, but his hands were gentle where they touched me, soothing caresses up and down my arm and over my shoulder. It sort of felt like I should have been comforting him, but right now, he seemed untouchable.
Just as he started for the exit, Callum pushed me into the random bodies surrounding us and whipped around. Edwin charged him, growling with rage. He was nearly a foot shorter than Callum. If the situation were less fraught, I might have laughed. But Edwin had anger powering him and surprise on his side. He collided with Callum, wrapping his arms around his middle, and they both went crashing to the ground.
It was over in seconds. Callum rolled and locked his arm around Edwin’s throat. He whispered in Edwin’s ear with a dangerous gleam in his eye. Defeat filtered through Edwin’s limbs. Again, he slackened, training his gaze on the ceiling, most likely so he didn’t have to face everyone who’d watched him get taken down for the second time in minutes.
Callum shoved him away and hopped to his feet with more grace than he had any right to with his impossibly long limbs. Standing over Edwin’s prone form, he held his hand out to me, and I took it. I thought I heard Adelaide calling my name, but Callum swept me out of the bar before I could find my bearings or even think to turn around to tell her I was okay.
An SUV was waiting for us out front. Callum bundled me inside, following right behind me and slamming the door. The driver took off, putting distance between us and the bar. My hands were clutched in my lap, twisting the material of my dress. I was shivering so hard, my teeth clacked together.
“My coat.” I turned around, staring out the back window. “I don’t have my coat. We should go back. I have to have my coat.”
Callum wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his lap. Fingers stroked my hair, soothing and soft, until I tucked myself under his chin. Obviously, we weren’t going back. That had been stupid to suggest. Maybe I was in shock. I certainly didn’t feel normal.
“People were filming you,” I whispered.
“I’ll deal with it,” he murmured.
“I didn’t want him to touch me.”
His lips touched my crown. “I know.”
“Am I going home?”
“No.”
“Are you mad at me?”
“No.”
“Do you need a minute?”
“Please.”
Because I needed a minute too, I gave it to him. We rode in silence. Callum’s rhythmic stroking of my hair calmed my thrashing heart. His quiet breathing helped to bring my thoughts back in order. By the time his driver stopped at the curb outside his building, I had mostly calmed down. Well…I wasn’t on the verge of a panic attack anymore, at least.
He held me close through the lobby and inside the elevator. I willed him to speak. To tell me why he’d shown up tonight and what he’d seen before he went ballistic. He said he knew I didn’t want Edwin touching me, but was he being truthful? God, why did his silence make me feel like I’d done something wrong?
We stepped into his apartment, and Callum leaned his back on the door. Head tipped back, eyes closed, he exhaled a long, heavy breath. I kept twisting my dress on my fingers, watching him, unsure what to do or say.
“Please, Callum,” I pleaded.
His fingers clenched into fists at his sides. Eyes flying open, they locked on mine. Chest heaving, he took a great breath.
And then he came for me.
