Page 21 of Reign
Chase
I could lay on a dirt-cold stone ground with Callie for decades, taking the aches and pains as a natural consequence to her warmth, but our circumstances could never allow for such an escape.
Even hidden behind walls and down secret staircases, we can’t avoid danger.
“Is this why you brought me down here?” she murmurs as she plays with pieces of my hair.
I kiss the top of her head, her vanilla scent a welcome substitute to the dirt and grime of Noble deeds. “No, but it came as a welcome surprise.”
She’s molded to my side with the artistry of a Renaissance painting, her milk-white thigh curving over my tanned skin and her hair luscious and streaming across age-old floors.
If anyone deserves an imperial title, it’s her. And she has it.
“Will anyone walk in on us?” she asks. “I hear this is a place James likes to frequent.”
My lip quirks. Yet another detail she’s uncovered on her own. “James hasn’t convinced a girl to descend to his level in quite some time.” I roll until I’m on top of her, bussing her nose. “And you’re never to use yourself in the same sentence as that fucktard again.”
“He’s your friend.”
“Allegedly.”
Sadly, the sparkling amnesia of sex fades. There’s nothing quite like the mention of James to give me a flaccid cock.
I push up, then flop into a sit beside her, my forearms resting on my knees.
It’s almost non-existent, but I catch the stiffening of her joints as she senses the growing distance between us.
“Chase, have I done something?”
“Nah.” I rub my hand across my mouth, staring at the back wall. “It’s me that’s the bad guy.”
“How do you mean?”
Callie doesn’t ask the question with surprise, likely because I’ve proven many times over that I’m not the hero of her story.
But I’ve yet to explain just how much of a villain I have to become.
She rises up to her elbows, her tits covered with black, sexy lace. I’m itching to squeeze them, pinching her nipples underneath the scant fabric and soaking the peaks with my tongue. It’s a much better vision than the future I’m about to give her.
“I brought you down here so we could find the privacy we lack above ground.”
“Okay.” She sits cautiously.
I stare at my hands, dangling as uselessly as the fucker I feel like I am. “You know we can’t do this anymore.”
“I’m aware.” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, a surprisingly enticing movement that I follow. “I’m having issues resisting you, though.”
She tries to curve her lips, but her smile hasn’t reached her eyes in a long time.
I put my hand to good use and touch her too-soft skin, scraping my thumb down her cheek. “Baby, I couldn’t resist you the second I saw you. It’s why what I’m going to say next is so hard.”
“Tell me.” She holds my wrist, pausing my movements. “Just get it over with.”
I hate being responsible for capturing the light in her eyes between my fingers and snuffing it out. “I’m no good for you. Look at me, I’ve taken advantage of you when your friend just died. In front of us. Murdered.”
Callie closes her eyes. “You gave me a burst of happiness in an otherwise awful existence. I can’t regret something like that, especially when the force of her loss came back the minute we finished.” She presses her free hand to her heart. “I feel emptiness, right here, all the time.” She lowers her eyes, then whispers, “Except when you fill me.”
I stare hard at the top of her head. “Say that again.”