The phone only rings twice before Calum’s image appears on my screen. I can see his sleek kitchen in the background.
“Hey,” he says, frowning a little. “I have Lucas here with me.”
He swings his phone around to show Lucas sitting at the kitchen island, sipping a coffee. I blush for no real reason. Suddenly it seems like my relationship with Calum is serious enough that he would just casually mention that I’m calling rather than just silence a call in front of his brother.
It feels a little weird, I guess.
I smile at Lucas. “Hey…’
Calum moves his phone so that he is facing the camera again. “Just wanted to give you a heads up. You know, in case this was a booty call.”
My cheeks grow even warmer. Even though his humor is disarming, I won’t let him distract me from my mission. “Calum, I have to tell you something serious.”
His eyebrows rise. “Yeah? What’s that?”
“There is a story about us in the arts section of the Times. We’re not mentioned by name… a blind item, I guess you could call it. But the article doesn’t portray our… relationship… in a particularly flattering light.”
He turns to Lucas. “Pull the Times arts section up on your phone.”
Calum moves over to where Lucas is looking at his screen. “Way ahead of you, brother.”
“Are we protecting our ballerinas?” Calum reads over his shoulder. “Who the fuck even told anyone about this?”
“It looks like they have Emma on record…” Lucas says, his eyes narrowing on his screen.
“And Basil,” I chime in.
Calum’s expression is thunderous. “And they say what? That I’m taking advantage of you?”
I shrug a shoulder. “They say that someone close to the dancers is sleeping with them. And they have Emma on record saying that the stage manager before you left because he was involved in a similar scandal.”
Lucas chuckles. “Well, they aren’t exactly wrong about that.”
I grimace. “I thought you should know.”
Calum growls. “I practically singlehandedly support the New York Ballet. I can’t believe that anyone has the nerve to fucking talk to a reporter about me.”
I squint. “Well, you did just fire Emma.”
“For blackmailing me! It shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone involved.”
“Let’s talk about what this means for your career as stage manager. I think that’s the most important part, don’t you?”
Calum shoots his brother a black look. “No. I can walk away at any time.”
“Who is going to run the NYB without you?” I ask. “You would basically be putting the whole company in Basil’s hands. Nothing against him, but I can’t see that working out.”
“Fuck,” Calum mutters. “Emma has really kneecapped us. I actually admire it even though I’m going to make sure that no one of note ever hires her again. She’s done in this town and with ballet.”
I scrunch up my face. “Calum?”
He looks at me, his expression fierce. “Yes?”
“I don’t want you to take the article too much to heart. I don’t feel unprotected.”
He darts a gaze at his brother, a guilty note rippling across his face. “Beauty…” He sucks in a breath. “We should talk about that later.”
My lips curve up. “No need. I just wanted you to know that I am fine.”
Calum exhales, shaking his head. “Heads are still going to roll over this article.”
“We should really talk about replacing Emma so that you can step down,” Lucas says.
Down the hallway, I hear the echo of voices. Probably other dancers starting to arrive. I bite my lip.
“I should go.”
Calum stares at me broodingly. “I’ll have a response to this by the time you get home. This will not go unanswered.”
I nod. “I never doubted you for a second.”
There is an awkward moment where I might have said, ‘I love you’ if Calum was alone. But I spend a few too many seconds thinking about it. I see similar discomfort on Calum’s face.
He clears his throat. “Bye, Kaia.”
He disconnects the call before I can even formulate a response. My shoulders droop just a bit.
Not that I should be surprised… Calum and I are still working out the finer bits of what being together and being in love mean. I make myself pause for long enough to take a full breath.
And then I head back into the studio, my mind full of Calum.
5
When we finally have sex three days later, it’s like a lightning strike. Hard, fast, and bright.
I can’t get enough of Calum.
I get home from dance practice a bit late and make my way to what I think of my apartment. When I step into my bedroom, he’s waiting for me. And he looks hungrier than I’ve ever seen him.
He stands up, arching a brow. “Come here, beauty. I can’t wait anymore.”
Dropping my bag on the floor, I practically race over and lift my face toward his, waiting to feel his sensuous kiss.
When his tongue slips between my lips, I let out a moan, meeting it with my own. My back arches, my chest presses up against him. He grips my tank top and explores the skin beneath, slipping his fingers beneath the waistband of my leggings. He drags out every moment, an exquisite torture.
He’s wearing a black t-shirt and oversized loose pants. I push him onto my bed and he pulls me down with him. He kisses me deeply as he pulls at my leggings.
I’m already toeing off my shoes and shoving the leggings off my body. He growls and grabs my thigh. Draping it across his lap, leaving me exposed. His hand drifts up toward my pussy, kneading and squeezing my thigh as he goes.
When his fingers brush the sensitive skin of my slit, he finds me dripping fucking wet.
“Oh, beauty,” he purrs, his voice gone to gravel. He teases my crevice again with the lightest of touches. “You’ve been such a good girl. Now relax and let me show you your reward.”
I can do nothing but gasp and nod.
He grins and squeezes my ass as he pulls me on top of his lap. As I straddle him, I can feel his cock between my legs, wrapped in his loose dark gray sweatpants. I’m already wet and I know what he likes; he likes knowing that he turns me on, that he makes me crazy. So I grind against him a little bit, unabashed.
“Fuck, baby,” he says. “Claim me. Show me how bad you want me.”
I bite my lip and make eye contact with him, easing my head back with a low moan.
“Calum,” I gasp. “You don’t know how much I have missed your incredible cock stretching out my tight little pussy.”
Even through his pants, I feel his heated weight, and I’m ready for him to tear off the rest of our clothes and fuck me right this second.
It’s never that easy or fast with Calum, though. He likes to take it slow, to tease and torture me.
His mouth moves from my lips to my jaw and travels to my neck. The light cotton of the tank top’s neckline stops him, and he growls. With one hand, he pulls the tank top up and over my head. He tosses it to the side, giving me an impatient look.
The only thing between him and my flesh is a frilly pink bralette.