AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pause for a moment, listening to the soft clink of silverware against her plate before I force myself to step into the dining room and face her. Her eyes lift to meet mine expectantly, fork and knife paused above her food.
“Are you joining me this morning?” Her gaze darts to the head of the table, to the chair I never sit in and hasn’t been used by anyone in years, and she raises a pale brow. “Or are you going to run away like you did last night?”
Fuck, I deserve that.
As soon as we both came down from our high and I was sure she could stand on her own two feet again, I tugged up my pants and hightailed it out of that library faster than I ever have in my life.
Because I couldn’t bear to look at her, couldn’t stand to see what I had done to her and know what a huge fucking mistake I had made. One she will pay the price for when I’m the one who should suffer.
Ignoring her very valid jibe, I move over to the chair, pull it back from the table, and slowly lower myself into it. It feels foreign, the leather hard and unyielding rather than soft and comfortable as it appears.
Dad always sat here like it was a throne, lording over his minions and controlling the Barker kingdom from its regal seat. I always envied him, how powerful he looked here, how relaxed he appeared at the helm of such a massive ship. But I had no idea what it took to navigate those waters, to keep people in line when human nature demands they rebel.
Which is exactly what I expect Callista to do when she hears what I have to say.
I lean back and watch her, but she feigns disinterest in me, her focus on her meal as she cuts a piece of French toast and pops it into her mouth. She chews and raises her gaze to watch me, waiting for me to say something. Perfectly content to eat in silence like she does every morning rather than initiate a conversation that she might not want to have.
When I don’t speak, she offers a slight shrug, then digs back in again, taking several more bites before she points to it with the tip of her fork. “This French toast is outstanding, probably one of the best things you’ve cooked for me.”
The compliment tightens my chest even more, making me shift in my seat.
I shouldn’t care so much that it pleases her, that I found something she enjoys so much, that after scouring all the cookbooks I could find in the library and making new recipes every morning for her, it brings her the same joy as opening those third-floor doors for her did. But the soft little moan of contentment she issues when she takes the next bite into her mouth makes my cock stir to life again.
Fucking hell.
Not what I need right now.
I was right about these feelings for Callista leading me to a dangerous place. For so long, I already thought I was in it, but I had no idea what Hell really felt like until I’d experienced the Heaven of having my cock deep inside Callista Fox and her unraveling in my arms.
That moment changed everything.
And now, I need to fix it.
She finishes eating in silence, then slowly pushes away her plate, wiping her mouth with her napkin before she sets it beside the empty cloches that kept the breakfast warm when I went out to try to work myself senseless.
Leaning back slightly in her chair, she rests her hands on her lap. “So, that’s it?”
I guess the floor is mine, as it should be.
I’m the one who owes her an apology, who owes her a thousand of them. I should shoulder the blame and take the heat for what happened. “We need to talk about last night.”
“What about it?”
Her casual response makes me stiffen in all the wrong places. “I need to apologize to you for letting it—”
“Apologize?” Her blond brows wing up. “What could you possibly have to apologize for, aside from leaving me barely able to stand?”
How about slinking away like some thief in the night who just stole something priceless and precious?
“For letting it happen at all, Callista, for touching you, for kissing you, for—”
Fuck.
I can’t even bring myself to say the words because as soon as they leave my mouth, those images will further invade my head, overtaking any ability to concentrate on what I have to do, distracted by the feel of being buried inside her.
She crosses her arms over her chest. “For fucking me senseless against a bookcase?”
I cringe, closing my eyes and resting my forehead in my palm.
