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Alina’s eyes ogled my body. Her eyebrow quirked up as she stared at my cock. “Why, Callum McArthur, you have nothing to be shy about either.” She threw her head back and giggled, a full belly laugh at the top of her lungs.
I wanted to stifle her laughter with my hand but was more desperate to conceal myself from her stare.
Grabbing my pants, I did my best to tug them over my still-wet legs, fumbling while they made the ascent only as far as my knees before I was toppling over and earning another round of hysterical laughter. “Oh, fuck,” I spat out through my burning cheeks and embarrassment.
“Oh, Cal, I didn’t mean to laugh,” she choked out between giggles. I glared at her, not believing her words held even an element of truth in them. “I’m sorry. Let me help you.”
“Yeah, no thanks.”
* * *
I captured her chin with my fingers, her eyes fixed on mine as I felt almost powerless at the strength revealing itself from behind them. She took my breath away. Even soaked to the bone by the rain, I was captivated by the very thought of claiming her lips with mine. The desire was burning away inside me, the feeling so intense I was almost convinced the radiating heat could dry and warm us.
“Go get warm, Alina. I’ll take care of things here.”
I could fight my own chill, knowing it was for Alina’s benefit. I wanted to warm the house and have tea ready for her before she returned. It may be years too late, but I wanted to care for her like I should’ve so long ago. Maybe then she might understand why I did what I did.
ChapterTwenty-Two
Alina
There really was no escaping now. Backed into a corner, Callum and I needed to rehash the past, no matter how painful it might be. We were going to need armor and battle lines if we were planning on taking on the war of our past.
I’d known the people in town said things about my mother, and she’d told me I was strong enough to ignore them, but I hadn’t known they were saying I was the guilty one. Is that what Callum thought as well? Did he believe them? The thought that he might twisted my stomach into a knot, causing my fists to clench.
Focusing on my breathing, I tried to calm myself. Then, like I’d been encouraged to do, I inhaled deeply for the count of three and out for the count of three.
When I propped myself up against the edge of the bath, the porcelain felt cool, even against my already freezing body. As the unshed tears stung the back of my eyes, I sat breathing in and out until the tension eased and my resolve returned.
My palms met the varnished floor with determination, then a slight slap as I pushed up. I would allow myself to wallow further in my misery for only one moment.
I was home with Callum in my house, and we had the time to work through things. I wouldn’t run away again. I was a grown woman, not some child who’d been told they couldn’t get their way. It was time to face what we’d done and lower the presumptuous walls constructed around as protection.
With a new determination, I quickly undressed and stepped under the spray. The water stung like hundreds of needles on my flesh, searing to the bones and opening old wounds to be cleaned for healing.
Squeezing my eyes shut, driven by pure lust, I let my hand wander with the lather across my body, imagining it was Callum’s hand paying expert attention to each curve and valley of my body. I’d missed his touch the most, a gentle touch with the special ability to set my body ablaze.
I never stopped wanting him.
Not entirely.
I wanted to hide under the water with my fantasy of Callum and keep my imagination running wild with possibilities of what the future could have looked like. This town had poisoned my relationship with him, and it hurt to think that he only ended up destroying me in his own way of trying to protect me. I had to make peace because no amount of wishful thinking or prayer could change the past.
Twisting the taps, the water slowed to a trickle, and immediately the cooler air wrapped around my body. Without clothes to change into, I could only hitch the towel around me and leave the solitude of the bathroom.
Stepping into the hall, I hadn’t expected to see Callum waiting for me, seated on the floor with his back against the opposite wall. His head was back, and his eyes were closed, fluttering open at the sound of the door.
“I left you some hot water,” I told him shyly, holding the towel tighter around me.
As his eyes traveled up my body, I felt every inch of his scrutiny.
“Can I trust you will not take off again while I’m in there?” He gestured toward the bathroom.
I had created the doubt on my own, but the desire to get away had faded to a whisper of a niggle in my head.
“I won’t be going anywhere dressed in only a towel, Callum.”
Without provocation, he stood, stepping closer to me, causing my cheeks to heat. In contradiction, my skin broke out in goose bumps all over again. The hint of my remembrance from a moment ago did nothing to subdue my flushed skin. Even after the drenching of the downpour, the scent of his aftershave still lingered on his skin. I wanted to breathe him in, hold the memory of the mixture that was all him and the fragrance in my senses and lungs so as never to forget.
