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Her eyes closed as she lived the moment in her mind, and I drank in every detail of her—her lips, full and blush pink, her nose, dainty and perfect, and the tiny little lines from frowning. I wanted those lines to mean something different now she was here with me. I wanted them to be of only passion and happiness from now on. And pleasure, so much fucking pleasure.
There was a remarkable softness to Alina I’d never thought possible, not with the past, the complicated mess that it was.
“Alina, do you trust me?”
ChapterTwenty-Six
Alina
Slowly, my eyes fluttered open, taking a moment to refocus on his face as well as his words. His eyes were filled with unmasked desire. My story had affected him. His arousal pressed into me, and that simple detail shook my body with its own need.
“It’s me I don’t trust.”
The truth had never been so brutal. The feelings surfacing when I thought of Callum were like an old spark trying to reignite. His touch awakened me in ways I could never have expected, and that thought alone frightened me into wanting to run.
“Why?” His hands slid from mine, traveling down my arms until he cupped my cheeks. “I don’t understand, darlin’. Talk to me.”
His voice was so soft and filled with concern that my resolve broke. “I have a life in the city, one I have worked so hard for. I told you this. I can’t trust I will leave when it’s time if I fall back in love with you.”Not when I already am, I added in silence only to myself.
“Then stay. Fall and stay.” Callum lifted his head to brush his lips against mine—a sweet, barely-there kiss that set every fiber of my being on high alert.
“I can’t. It isn’t that simple. Everyone here hates me. Once this house is sold, there will be nothing left for me here, Callum.”
“I’ll be here.”
The shrill tone of Callum’s phone ringing startled us both, the sound radiating off all the walls, growing insistent as Callum cursed the interruption.
I moved, breaking his resistance to letting me climb off him.
Snatching up the phone from where it had been discarded and forgotten on the floor, Callum answered, barking into the handset after lifting it to his ear. “What?”
Leaving him to the call, I navigated into the kitchen for a glass of water and a moment alone to process what was happening between Callum and me.
I was playing with fire, and this time I knew the consequences. My eyes were wide open, with the scars still etched across my heart. When my heart ended up broken all over again, this time, I would only have myself to blame.
Was it worth the risk?
Washeworth the risk?
I wished the answer were a simple one.
Could I leave here when the house was completed and move comfortably back into my life in the city after filling my time and my bed with Callum while I was still here? No harm, no foul. I was stronger now than I had been at sixteen.
I had also gotten better at lying to myself, apparently.
I grabbed a second glass to fill it for Callum. Carrying it back to him, I found him still on the phone. His back was against the edge of the couch, his chest exposed, and his long legs laid out in front of him.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”
He ended the call as soon as his eyes found mine through the darkness. His beautiful mouth turned down at the sides, his expression no longer relaxed or carefree.
“Is something wrong?”
“Charlie said they’ve got an emergency service team clearing the bridge in the morning. So, he’ll be here by midafternoon.”
“Oh.”
I understood the disappointment washing across his face in evident waves.
