Authors: Mallory Hart
Chapter Seven
Callum
The single thought of seeing her in a pencil skirt was why I came back the next week. If I was going to be forced to see a shrink, I was damn sure going to see all I could.
She looked sexy as hell, hair down with glasses on when she came to fetch me from among the other screwed up lot in the waiting room. I watched her ass as she moved in front of me into the office. No pencil skirt, but the slacks that hugged her tight ass would do for me.
Her eyes were tired, though. I spotted the uncertainty spinning within those blue stunners before I even settled onto the couch. She had her shield of a clipboard in front of her. With a serious face, she glanced at me over the edge of it, pen poised in her long fingers.
“How are you today, Callum?”
Phone sex would’ve been a much better calling for her, I reasoned. Men would pay thousands to hear her ask questions in that husky voice.
“I showed up for another day of mushy healing,” I replied with a shrug. She frowned. “Isn’t that enough?”
It seemed like she was holding back a sigh or a cuss word. “Callum,” she began.
“I’m fine.” My answer sounded snappy even to me.
“Great,” she said, but her teeth are gritted. Her eyes drilled into me. “Let’s talk about your last tour.”
I stifled a groan because she didn’t appear like she was going to crack as easily as I thought. My naughty antics last time had earned me blushes from her, but she was ready for me this time.
“I missed fucking you in the parking lot,” I said with a grin.
The blush wasn’t as noticeable now. “Fascinating. What was your role on your last tour?”
“Touching myself.”
“Callum.”
“Well, there weren’t any hot mamas like you around to relieve my stress. Imagine my regret that you weren’t out there with me.”
Her eyes narrowed, but her mouth had dropped open. “Tell me about Will Downing.”
My face dropped as a sharp sting pierced me in my chest. “There’s nothing to say. He was a good man.” The half-truth tasted sour in my mouth. My throat begged for the burn of alcohol.
“A good man,” she noted. “How so?”
“Will loved his family and having a family. He was the opposite of me,” I said, and her eagerness sprung up–just in time for me to douse it. “I’m only interested in pleasuring beautiful women.”
It was hard to tell what she was frustrated about. She shifted in her seat. I admired the pull of the fabric around her curves, thought about how she groaned that night outside the bar. How it had felt like no rush I’d ever had before.
“Callum.”
The way she said my name made me want to beg her to say it over and over. It was better than a fine whiskey.
“What’s upsetting you?” Her question hung in the air. Silence washed over us as my eyes dragged to her mouth, ruby red lips begging for a reintroduction.
“You want to know?”
She leaned forward with an excited beat. “I do.”
I met her gaze with a fierce look and she nearly drew back.
“What’s driving me crazy is that I can’t be inside you right now.”
Her face twisted, and I didn’t have to wonder why now. She threw up her hands with a huff and shook her head vigorously.
“End of session,” she snapped.
“Doc?”
“End of session. It’s time for you to leave, Callum. I’ll see you next week.” The last part she added more softly as she showed me to the door, but the glowering look didn’t leave her eyes–a look of disdain.
I headed to the parking lot, chest burning. Fuck. That hadn’t felt as good as I thought it was going to. I scowled as I jumped on my bike.
Her angry dismissal haunted me all the way home.
Chapter Eight
Samantha
Military guys weren’t foreign to me, but Callum Hall wasn’t an average man among the enlisted.
His torn look made me regret my haughty reaction, but a fire was eating me up when he left. I seethed in my chair, staring at the closed door.
He must’ve thought he’d upset me beyond belief. I snorted and let out a dark laugh. Right. If only he’d known that was mostly sexual frustration, but we couldn’t do that. Not again. I sank bank into the chair with a groan.
I’d be lying to myself if I said that I didn’t want him again–to feel his body and his hands on me. Shivers ran through me at the thought of our hot outdoor rendezvous. To think that I’d been so cocky on my ride back home, only to find him walking into my office the next day…
The hospital didn’t hire me to drop the first case they’d assigned to me. I was getting other clients after impressing them with how brave I seemed to be with Callum’s case. If they only knew.
My head warned of an oncoming migraine; a tiny throb started at the front of my forehead. I groaned as I massaged my temples and wished the day were over already when a knock sounded on my door. Just my luck.
One of the front desk clerks popped her head in for a signature on a document. Before she scurried off, I called after her.
“Do you know where I can I find commanding officers at this hour?”
The drive over to the base sent electricity surging through my body. What if I bumped into Callum on my way over? I tried to push the thought from my mind, revving my bike up to greet the security checkpoint. After showing them my identification, I finally found the office of a man I’d seen listed in Callum’s files.
He was a giant of a man with a kind tanned face. When he heard my name, his face flashed with recognition.
“You’ve been expecting me?” I asked. He offered a half-smile.
“Hall is one of our best,” he said, a rumbling voice that nearly shook the walls of his office. “I don’t subscribe to the rumors if that’s what you’re after.”
“Gossip doesn’t interest me,” I said with a shrug. “I’ve seen his file and the notes, but I'm having a hard time understanding some things.”
He nodded. “He has a perfect record, maybe a minor issue or two back when he began. But he went in right out of high school, so that’s not uncommon. I can’t imagine him as the loose cannon he’s been painted as.”
I frowned. “That’s what I can’t understand either.”
“I’d trust him with my life. In fact, I have, dozens of times.”
I nod. “It just doesn’t add up.”
“Look, I’m no doc, doc, but if you ask me, there’s more to the story than what’s been reported. But I imagine Hall is about as willing to talk as a bull.” I snort at that.
“You’ve got some work cut out for you, but I promise you this–Hall is worth it. I’d like to see him climb out of this as much as anybody. He’s like family.”
I smile at him. “Thank you for talking with me.”
The sidewalk beneath me was sweltering when I walked out of his office. The sun was out. A group of soldiers passed me, eyeing me beneath their caps. I snorted as I climbed onto my bike and shook out my hair beneath my helmet. The feeling of my handles underneath my fingers calmed my nerves as I stared forward.
Callum Hall was unlike any man I’d ever met, military or not. I don’t usually let men get under my skin, but with him, it’s been different from the start. He’s unraveled me–shook me by every single nerve in my body. I couldn’t get his piercing green eyes out of my mind–the look that rocked me to my core the first time I’d spotted them. There was something there–as if he shared a secret with me. A secret with no words and it haunted me everywhere I went. Even sitting on my bike, I still felt him around me. I still wanted to feel more, wanted to remember his touch on my skin again.
The file had his address. I told myself this was purely out of professional concern.
It was a lie. I started the engine.
Chapter Nine
Callum
Three knocks. Someone had a death wish.
I pressed my hand into my head, steadying myself as I pulled myself off the couch. Being out of duty was making me lazy. I’d fallen asleep watching a sports documentary in the middle of the day.
Two more knocks.
“I’m coming!” I called, casting a hurried glance back at the house. The mess wasn’t that bad. It was probably someone from base coming to stop by. I tugged the door open.
Fuck.
Her eyes were cold. She held a box in her arms.
“Claire.”
Her shoulders stiffened as she looked at me over the box in her arms. She glanced down at it. “Can I come in?” Her question hovered before I could even process it.
“Of course, of course.” I stepped aside and waved her in. She took four slow and careful steps inside, casting a look around. Her eyes noticed the missing photos, but she said nothing. I felt a bead of sweat roll down my neck. Her frown seemed pointed. I’d give anything to be back in a warzone right about now, I thought.
“You look good.” It was a lie, but it was the least I could do. Her tight smile warned me not to press any more compliments on her. A tired look crossed her face as she stared at the box.
“I’ve been cleaning a lot in the past month. I was saving this to give you when you came by, but…you never did,” she said with curled eyebrows. Her eyes were still on the box as if it was the source of all her issues. She heaved a frustrated sigh and dropped it on my couch. It made a heavy smack.
“Look, Claire, I just–” I started, but she held up her hand, refusing to meet my eyes.
“I just thought you of all people…” Her words trailed off and then she shook her head, looking defeated. “Never mind, Callum. I should go.” In a rush of blonde hair, she was out the door with a huff. I heard the suburban start outside. Part of me wondered what would’ve happened if I had stopped to help her at the gas station. A heavy weight rested on my chest. My throat felt dry, begging for a drink.
The doorbell rang again, and my blood spiked. Claire. I should apologize this time. Even though it wasn’t enough, not for her, or for Will, or their family, she at least deserved that. It was all I could give her.
But it wasn’t her. There was a bike parked next to mine in the driveway. I saw brown hair before my eyes met her blue ones and nearly let out an amazed curse slip out.
“Hi,” she said.
“Are you doing home visits now?” I asked with a raised brow. Her cheeks grew a bit pink, such an odd combination of tight jeans on a Harley and modesty at times.
“I just happened to be passing by,” she muttered.
“In a suburb?”
She rolled her eyes. “Well then, I’ll leave. Geez, Callum.” She went to step away, but my hand shot out and stopped her.
“No, no,” I said quickly. The thought of the box sitting on my couch seemed like a time bomb waiting to go off. I needed to be out, somewhere–out with her. “Do you like guns?”
Her eyebrows nearly disappeared beneath her hair. “Depends. Am I being shot at?”
I laughed–a real laugh. The way I used to back with Will when he cracked his smartass jokes.
“Can I take you to the range?”
Why she said yes and why I offered her to ride on the back of my bike were probably complete mysteries to both of us. I felt her hands squeezing me gently, just enough for support and safety as we roared off towards the range. I deliberately took the longer route, loving the feel of her body as it pressed against mine and the wind brushed past us, whipping her hair beneath her helmet.
I taught her to shoot. She was a good shot for her first try, and her natural, easy attitude seemed to help. By the end of an hour, her shots weren’t bad at all. She’d be even better if she had her own firearm, something suited to her size and fit.
“Shooting bullets makes me hungry,” she lamented.
I cracked a grin. “Let’s go fix that then.”
There was a burger joint nearby my place, fashioned as a retro diner. We talked about the gun range over some fries. In a way, it was the most normal I’d felt in a while. It was strange that I felt so comfortable. My muscles should’ve been tensing, but I felt relaxed in the red plastic booth.
When we got back to my place, the box was still there. I guided her into the kitchen and shoved it in the garage when she went to use the restroom. When I returned, she was cracking open a bottle of whiskey that she’d brought.
“For old time’s sake,” she joked.
A wicked smile crossed my lips. “Are we reliving everything from that night?”
Her cheeks went pink, but she moved over the comment. “I expected your place to be a pigsty, honestly.”
“Me?” I asked with feigned hurt. “My mother made me do all the chores in the house. She was too busy working on cars.”
“Your mom was a mechanic?”
“Sort of. She worked with my dad sometimes, and he taught her a lot.”
“Interesting,” she muttered with a little smile. “That’s cool.” Somehow, her finding my upbringing interesting caused a swell of pride to well up in me. She told me about her family, and I kept pouring our drinks.
By the fifth glass, we both knew what was happening.
My hands were in her hair before she could stand. We leaned into one another, devouring lips and nibbling with our teeth. She moaned when my tongue dipped down her neck and toyed with the plunging dip of her cleavage. My hands snaked down to cup her breasts. She arched back, pressing her body further into my touch. Underneath my fingers, I felt her nipples hardening. I rubbed circles, teasing them with firm pinches, and she writhed beneath me.
“Callum,” she breathed. Her hands wandered across my chest, snaking underneath my shirt to feel the muscles I worked hard for. She moaned in satisfaction and pressed her pelvis into my own. My member hardened at the slight movement, rubbing against her core through her tight jeans.
Her hands dipped down, and I gasped when her fingers slipped beneath the band of my sweatpants and cupped me. With a shudder, I leaned into her as her fingers swept up and down.
“You like that?” she asked. A mean tease. I moaned into her hair and grinded myself into her hand.
Her head ducked down as she sank to her knees in front of me. My tipsy mind hardly kept up until I felt her mouth around me. I bucked wildly into her, moaning her name. God, she felt amazing. My hands pressed against the back of her head.
“More.” I wasn’t opposed to begging. The more I pleaded, the more complex her touch became. I was nearing nirvana when I finally snapped out of my pleasured haze. “Not so fast.”
I dragged her up onto the cushions. She was pulling herself out of her jeans. A pair of lacy red panties greeted me. I sucked in a greedy sigh of appreciation and then cursed when I felt her clever hands wrapping around me again.
“Fuck me,” she said with a coy smile. The night from the bar came flooding back. This was the naughty Sam I met that night. Dr. Oliver was nowhere to be found here, and I wasn’t waiting for her to come back.
When I thrust into her slick entrance, it was heaven. Her muscles clenched around me from the start. When I rocked into her, she angled herself so that she squeezed me each time. I let out a labored groan as she bucked into me.
“Hard.”
I couldn’t argue with a woman’s needs. My thrusts burst into hard movements, plunging inside of her with no holding back. She screamed in pleasure, nails raking down my back. I moaned as I rocked inside of her, leaning down to capture those talented lips. My tongue slipped into her mouth, exploring every crevice, as I continued slamming into her, enjoying the soft grunts of pleasure coming from her throat. The sounds sent vibrations into my chest, hovering near her beautiful breasts.
“Fuck,” I muttered as I felt the climax coming. She dragged her legs around my waist and cried out in deafening ecstasy as her muscles tightened around me. Her release launched my own, and I felt white hot pleasure as we came together. Stars entered my eyes as I collapsed beside her, panting from exhaustion.
We didn’t make it to the bed the first time but managed on the second round. She bent over the bed and said to pretend it was my bike. I didn’t think there was a man alive who could resist that challenge. The third and the fourth times were just as good, just as mind-blowing.
Her heavy breathing and the soft skin underneath me were the only things I heard and felt all night. That was all right by me.