Page 14 of Pucking Possessive (Kings of Castlebrook #2)

CALLUM

I ’ve never felt fury like this.

Not when my old man used to beat the shit out of me. Not when I had to stab him to save my own life. I was ten years old, and I still have the scars from that bastard. But this? Finding my girl drenched in someone else’s blood, her hands shaking, her lips quivering, eyes wide and terrified?

This rage is something else. It's in my teeth. My throat. My fucking bones.

Lilac’s scream. The blood. The panic. I’ll never get that out of my mind.

Whoever did this wants us scared. Wants her scared.

This was a message. I’m just not sure what the message is, though.

It doesn’t matter, because I already know that this sick, brutal warning is just the beginning.

I don’t give a fuck who I have to bury along the way, but I’m going to find out every single fucker that is behind this.

My girl is curled against me like I’m the only person who has ever made her feel safe.

Lilac never leans on anyone. Never asks for help. She’s the girl who never flinches, never cries, never lets anyone close enough to see her break.

Except with me now.

With me, she clings.

I get her upstairs and into my bedroom. I breeze right past everyone in the house because I need to get her cleaned up. I know Tristan and Hayden are wondering what I saw, but I’ll have to fill them in later.

I try to lay Lilac down on my bed, fully prepared to just let her rest while I get the shower running for her. I don’t get that far because she tightens her grip on my neck, whispering, "Please don’t go."

My throat burns. I tuck her closer.

"I’ll stay with you forever," I murmur against her temple.

I carry her straight into the bathroom, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other under her knees. I set her on the counter while I turn on the shower, steam rising fast as the water heats.

She’s starting to come down from the panic attack she had, but she’s still shaken. I’m glad to see her breaths are steadier now. Her eyes roam the bathroom like she’s just realizing where she is.

"You’ve never been in here before," I say softly, brushing her hair back.

She shakes her head in the negative, agreeing with me.

I cup her cheek, rubbing my thumb down the side of her neck. "You’re okay, baby. I’ve got the shower running for you, and I’m staying with you all night. I’m not going anywhere."

Her eyes lift to mine. "Who do you think is doing all of this?"

I exhale slowly. "I don’t know yet. But I’m going to find out. And when I do, I’ll end them. No one will ever touch you. Do you hear me? I will never let anyone hurt you."

She leans forward and wraps her arms around my neck, pressing her face there like she belongs to me. Her voice is muffled when she says, "Thank you. I can’t thank you enough for everything you’re doing for me."

I rub her back gently, kissing the side of her head. "I’d do anything for you, bambi. Anything."

But she’s still trembling, but I can tell she’s still trying to keep it all together.

"You’ve been through hell, and I need you to know I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I have people watching you every single moment. Even when you don’t realize it. If something ever happened to me, you’d still be protected."

She lets out a nervous laugh that cracks in the middle of my chest. "Please don’t die. I don’t think I’ll survive with Hayden and Tristan looking after me."

I chuckle and rub her back again. "They’d do it for me. Just like I’d do it for them."

She takes a deep breath, but it shakes. "I’m sorry. I’m just really freaked out. I can’t believe Lexi..."

She cuts herself off, her eyes falling to her hands.

She gasps at the dried blood still there, and her breathing kicks up again.

"That’s three people that are dead. What if you’re next? I can't…I can't bear that."

She’s shaking again, and I pull into my chest, trying to shield her from her own thoughts.

"Hey, hey, look at me. I’m not going anywhere, okay? You’ll never be alone again. I’ve got you. I’ll always be with you."

"Do you promise? Promise me, Callum."

I hook our pinkies together just like when we were kids. "Promise."

I press a kiss to the side of her head and she exhales shakily, curling against me. Her phone starts ringing, and she flinches.

It’s her mother.

"I can’t talk to her right now."

I swipe the phone and answer it. "She’s fine, Mrs. Fairbanks," I say calmly. "I’m taking care of her."

She screeches through the phone, demanding to speak to her daughter. Lilac looks at me, eyes wide and begging. She shakes her head no, and I’d never force her to do something she doesn’t want to.

"She’s resting," I tell her mother. "She’ll call you when she’s ready."

"I’m not dealing with you, Callum. You’re a nice boy, but you’re overstepping. Lilac needs to come home immediately." I thought maybe she heard about the deaths on campus, but it’s clear to me that she’s only calling because she’s still trying to get Lilac to conform to her wishes.

"The safest place for her is with me,” I say sternly.

Lilac’s father gets on the line next. "I don’t know what kind of prank you think you’re playing, Callum. You need to knock it off and bring my daughter home."

My voice turns to ice. "I would do anything for your daughter because I have never loved anything the way I love her. She doesn’t want to come home. She’s going to be my wife and I’m going to protect her. That means from everyone, including you, and that dipshit Vincent you sent down here."

The line goes quiet, but I can hear the annoyed breathing, so I don’t hang up.

Then her father speaks again. "If this is real and you’re intent on taking my daughter as your bride, then I think the least you can do is come to my home and look me in the eye after everything my family has done for you. "

They’ve done a lot for me. Helped me get into Castlebrook, but I’d give it all up for Lilac.

"I’ll speak with Lilac after she’s gotten some sleep," I say. "We’ll let you know when we can visit."

He doesn’t respond, so I end the call and glance down at Lilac.

She’s shaking, so I wrap her up in my arms again.

"You’re a good actor," she whispers. "Everything you said sounded so real. I think they believe you."

I just kiss the top of her head because now isn’t the time to tell her that I mean every single thing I just said to her father.

"Will you really come with me to my parents? If we can keep this up in front of them, they might just let it go and then we can figure out a break up once everything has cooled off."

My jaw clenches.

Break up?

There’s no breaking up. Not now. Not ever.

I’ll find a way to make her see it. To show her that I’m not the jokester. That I’m the boy who’s loved her since the very first moment I met her. “Of course I will.”

I don’t know what I expected to happen next, but it’s not Lilac lifting my shirt without warning.

I let her, and it’s a miracle that I don’t fall to my knees and beg her to keep touching me.

She slides it up over my head, her fingers ghosting across my ribs, my chest. I suck in a sharp breath, stomach tight with need for her.

The scars on my back are visible now. They’re angry, red, ruined patches of skin from when I was just a boy.

When my father used me as an ashtray. I know she can see them in the huge mirror behind me.

There’s no big story that goes along with it.

He was just an evil man doing evil things.

She looks. Really looks, and she doesn’t flinch.

Her fingers trace them gently, and for the first time in my life, I don’t want to hide.

Her hands slide up my chest and she whispers, "Shower with me."

My jaw tightens. My whole body tightens.

I cup her face, make her look at me. "You don’t know what you’re asking. You’re in shock, and you’re not prepared for what I’ll do if you’re naked and wet and pressed up against me."

She blushes, and fuck if that doesn’t make my cock throb.

She bites her lip, looking away. “Please? I wouldn’t ask anyone else, and…”

That hits me like a punch.

I step closer, tipping her chin back up. "I don’t want to hurt you, bambi."

She must understand the implication because her eyes widen.

I reach up and run my fingers through her hair, brushing it gently out of her face. I stroke her hair again, softer this time. I lean down, my forehead pressing gently against her.

Lilac sucks in a sharp breath. "What are you going to tell Dad when he asks you why you’re doing all of this for me?"

I hesitate, searching her face. Unsure how much of my cards to show.

Afraid of scaring her off with the depth of it.

Because I don’t feel like I deserve her.

But I whisper anyway—raw, honest. "That you’re the only person I’ve ever wanted to protect in my entire life.

And nothing, literally no one, will change that. "

She tilts her head, eyes glassy. "You’re different than I thought. You’re serious. You’ve barely made any jokes since all of this started."

My hand slides up her thigh, slow and absolutely reverent. “There’s nothing to joke about when your safety’s in question.”

Her breath catches, her thighs part slightly under my hand.

"I know we can’t keep the charade up forever," she says softly. "Eventually we have to break off the engagement. Eventually my parents will get their way. Maybe not with Vincent, but with someone, and I don’t want my first time to be with someone like that."

I trace her jaw with my thumb, voice low. "I will kill every last person who tries to force you to do anything you don’t want to. You don’t have to do this with me to prevent that."

She gives me a soft smile. "I just realized that I’ve imagined what my first time might be like, and I always pictured it with you. Even when I thought you only saw me as Adam’s little sister. I trust you."

I swear my heart caves in. I lean down and kiss her so gently, it should be considered a vow.

"I’ll make you a deal," I say against her lips. "I’ll shower with you if you sleep in my bed tonight."

She lifts her hand and hooks her pinky with mine. "Deal."