“I mox daf,” she says around the food.
“I know you locked it,” I reply, advancing on her. “I unlocked it.”
“Rude.”
“Yes, you are.” She smirks and is about to put the last bite in her mouth, but I catch her wrist in my fist and quickly take the bite instead. “You’re also a dessert hog.”
“It’s your fault for only getting one.”
She wipes her mouth on a towel, stands, and smooths her hands down her shirt and jeans. “I’ll be going home now.”
I simply grin at her prim declaration. “No. You won’t.”
“No?”
I shake my head.
“What am I going to do then?”
I take her hand, the grin still firmly on my face, toss her over my shoulder, and slap her ass with a loud whack.
“Hey!”
“Did that hurt?” I ask, carrying her down the stairs.
“No. Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
“You’re not taking me to bed?” I love that her voice sounds disappointed. I want her to crave me. To need me. Because I sure as fuck need to be inside her any chance I can get.
“Not yet.”
“Declan!” The frustration in her voice makes me laugh, and then she’s laughing with me. “You’re such an ass.”
“Yep.” I stop out on the back porch and set her down, then turn her to face the yard. “I wanted to show you this too.”
“Wow.” The yard isn’t huge, but the privacy fence keeps it quiet and free of prying eyes. “When did you do this?”
“I had it done last week while I was working on the music room. I’m not a landscaper, so I hired it out.”
She nods, steps off the porch and walks into the yard. She’s barefoot, and doesn’t even think twice about stepping into the grass. “I love the pond back here.”
“I’m going to stock it with koi,” I reply, walking a few steps behind her, my hands in my pockets. Why am I so nervous about this? Why do I so desperately want her approval? It’s not like I’m doing this for her. It’s for me, and, at some point, it might turn a nice profit.
Regardless of the reasons, I do want her to like it.
“It’s really beautiful, Declan. The crew you hired did a great job.” To my utter surprise, she sits down, right on the bare grass. “Sit with me.”
“Whatever the lady wants,” I reply and sit next to her, leaning back on my hands. We’re both looking up at the sky. “Even with the light noise of the city, you can see the Big Dipper.”
“I bet the stars are amazing out at the inn,” she murmurs. I glance over at her and take in the angle of her jaw, the curve of her neck as she continues to look up. Her shoulders are hunched up from leaning back on her arms. “I’ve never experienced a family like yours, Declan.”
Her voice is suddenly soft, and not a little sad. I want to wrap her up in my arms, but I also don’t want her to stop talking. “Most families aren’t like mine,” I murmur, eyes trained on the skies above.
“I didn’t think they really existed,” she says and I feel her turn her blue eyes to me. “I don’t know what it’s like to have that many people love me. And I don’t say that to sound pathetic, it’s just an anomaly to me.”
“I get it.” I shrug and pull my knees up, rest my elbows on them. “Having a big family is both a blessing and a curse.”
“How so?”
“There’s always someone else to blame when Mama gets mad,” I say with a grin and tug on a piece of her soft blonde hair. “The bad thing is, you can’t get away with anything. People are always telling on you.”
“When you were kids?”
I smirk and shake my head. “All the time. They’re all a bunch of pests.”
“And you love them.”
“Every last one,” I agree and sigh. “I’m sorry that you didn’t have the comfort of a loving family, Callie.”
“My dad loved me,” she says, carefully choosing her words. “And Mom did too, but when she passed away, Dad just couldn’t deal with it.”
“So you became the parent,” I say softly, and she simply nods. “You have Adam.”
“I do, and he couldn’t be more of a brother to me if we shared blood. I’m loved, Declan, I’ve just never seen the Waltons up close and in person.”
I laugh at the comparison and decide she isn’t far off.
“I didn’t know you were a twin,” she says.
“We are three minutes apart,” I reply, thinking of Van. “She’s older.”
“And you’re close.”
“We are,” I reply, nodding. “We were even roommates in college, along with Kate.”
“Eli’s Kate?” she asks, surprised.
“She was our Kate first,” I say and play with a strand of her hair. “She’s one of my closest friends.”
She’s staring at the sky again. The pulse in her throat is steady and delicate, and I can’t help but trace my finger over it softly, just to feel her skin.
“You’re beautiful.”
She rolls her head over to look at me with soft blue eyes. “You’re not too shabby yourself.”
“I want to fuck you, right here, under the stars, but I don’t have any condoms on me.”
She frowns. “I have the birth control covered,” she replies, still looking me in the eye.
“Do we trust each other?” I ask. I’ve never, ever, had sex without a condom, and the thought of doing this with Callie… well, it would knock me off my feet if I were standing up.
She nods, a smile teasing her mouth.
“So, can I fuck you, here under the stars?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
***
She’s still sleeping. She’s warm and sweet, and snores like a lumberjack.
Bless her heart.
The sheets have slipped down to her waist, leaving me with a gorgeous view of her chest. Her breasts aren’t large, but they’re firm, and the nipples are small and pink. I brush my thumb over the tip and watch in fascination as it tightens.
Callie’s legs shift, she rubs her nose and opens one ocean blue eye. “’Mornin,” she mumbles.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
“Did I snore?” she asks right away.
“Not bad,” I lie easily. “And even if you did, it just means that you slept well, and that’s good.”
She frowns, her eyes still closed, and rolls toward me. “Need a shower,” she murmurs.
“Let me hold you for a minute first,” I whisper and wrap my arms around her, hugging her close. Her legs scissor between mine as she holds on, her nose buried in my chest. “You feel good.”
“Mmm,” she purrs. God, that purr of hers almost undoes me. “You’re warm.”
“Are you cold?”
“No, you’re just warm.”
I grin and plant my lips on her head, breathing her in. This not-so-little moment is one that I was talking to her about before. This is when I feel the most settled, where my spirit is calm, and the chaos of life is outside.
It’s the closest thing to bliss I’ve ever experienced. It’s even better than performing, and I didn’t know that was possible.
“Hungry,” she says against my skin.
“Get in the shower,” I say, pulling back. “You’re covered in grass stains.”
A slow, satisfied smile spreads over her gorgeous face, and I’m tempted to roll on top of her and take her again.
Jesus, I can’t get enough of her.
“I didn’t mind getting the stains,” she says, then rolls away and gives me a prime view of her naked ass as she saunters into the bathroom. “Find me food!”
“Yes, ma’am,” I reply and pull on a pair of basketball shorts before padding downstairs to the kitchen. I really am a shitty cook, so it looks like we’ll be eating cold cereal again, which she doesn’t seem to mind, but it still feels lame. I should be able to provide a heartier breakfast than this.
As I move about the kitchen, the melody of the Adele song that Callie played on my piano last night is stuck in my head, so I decide to go play it. It’s a beautiful ballad about being in love, and making the one you love feel it. It makes me think of Callie every time I play it.
The music room is washed in rich, gold sunlight this morning. I love this room. I sit on the bench and begin to play, and when the song is over, I start at the beginning and play it all over again.