Page 129 of Stolen Voices

All my previous relationships—if you can even call them that—have been about sex. I’m past that point in my life, and the woman I want to spend the rest of it with deserves so much more.

Callie is so fucking special. She deserves a proper date. I want to show up at her door with a bouquet of her favorite flowers, and then take her to a fancy dinner with good food and conversation. A date where at the end of the meal I ask her to be mine, and only after she says yes would I take her home and peel her out of whatever sexy little dress she’s wearing and worship every inch of her body.

How the hell do you expect to do that when you’re supposed to keep Callie out of sight and safe from the people trying to hurt her?

I place the bag and drinks on the counter, planting my hands on the cool granite, and drop my chin to my chest as disappointment hits me like a punch to the gut. My head is jumping miles ahead.

What the fuck am I going to do?

Callie’s safety means everything to me. I don’t know how long it’s going to take to flush out the people who hurt her and have them put away, but I can’t wait months to make us official.

Felt pretty fucking official last night.

Callie places her hand on my back and rubs soothing circles between my shoulder blades, pulling me out of my spiraling thoughts. “Hey, are you okay?” Every spec of humor from before is gone from her voice as she comforts me.

I turn around and grasp her wrist, bringing her hand to my lips, and press a soft kiss to the silky skin on the back of her hand before threading our fingers together. Her cheeks blush as a soft smile spreads across her face. The organ in my chest squeezes at the sight of her beautiful, shy smile.

She’s so gorgeous it hurts.

“I’m good, princess.” I cup her cheek with my other hand and lean forward, trapping her lips in a soft kiss. She tastes minty sweet.

As she melts into me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders with a sigh, I feel like the luckiest bastard alive. I get to hold her in my arms. No one else.

I break the kiss and place my forehead on hers. Fuck, I want to kiss her all day, but first, I need to feed her.

On cue, Callie’s stomach growls, making me chuckle. She dips her head under my chin, tucking her face into my chest. “Oh my god, that was so embarrassing.”

I wrap my arms around her back and kiss the top of her head. “I’m hungry too.”

Guiding her to the stools, I pull one out and slide into the seat before tugging her onto my lap, where she belongs. Gripping her hips in my palms, I lean down and kiss her neck. She shivers as my breath hits her skin.

Two can play your game, princess.

“I didn’t know what you wanted, so I got a few different things. I made sure everything is nut free.”

Callie looks over her shoulder and smiles at me. “That’s so sweet. Thank you.”

“Anything for you, Cal,” I admit.

Her smile widens and her dark, abyss-like eyes sparkle. She looks so fucking happy sitting here on my lap.

“What did you get?” She shifts back and grinds her ass into my cock, waking him up.

My dick is going to turn to stone and stay that way if she keeps it up. Not that it’s a hard thing for her to do—pun not intended—since I’ve been walking around with a hard-on for her for the last two years.

I ignore the way Callie wiggles again, pressing into my growing length in the phony attempt to get comfortable. The little minx is doing it on purpose. She thinks I don’t know what she’s doing, but I fucking know. Callie is determined to prove she’s not hurting so I’d break and fuck her.

Believe me when I say I want to fuck her—raw and dirty—until she comes so many times she passes out on my cock from exhaustion, and even then, I’m going to wake her up so I can fuck her some more.

Just not yet.

I’ve never been with someone who makes me want to be romantic and do more than just fuck for a night. I want everything with this woman, and I’ll be damned if I rush it.

She sighs in frustration when I twist her sideways off my cock and reach for the food, pulling out the containers of pastries, fruit, and foil-wrapped sandwiches. I explain what each of the dishes are before pointing out the different tea options I brought back since it’s her preferred drink and better for her voice.

“Eat up, princess.”

Callie picks a cup of mixed berries, a plain egg croissant sandwich, and the herbal jasmine-mandarin tea with honey. Entranced, I watch her eat and soak up each melodic hum of approval she makes with every bite of food and lick of her finger.