The house was pleasantly well presented and modern inside. The walls were mainly off white, with pale grey painted doors and dark wood floors. Directly off the entrance way was a living room with a large sectional couch in dark purple and a massive flat screen TV. The kitchen was further down the hallway and was done in pale cream gloss cabinets with the same dark wood flooring.
“Let me show you where you can sleep,” Liam said, pointing towards the stairs.
He and Callie followed, and she slipped her hand into his. He looked down but she was watching Liam. The gesture was unconscious, she was looking for comfort. The stairs weren’t wide enough for them to go side by side, so he moved behind her, and she still didn’t loosen her grip.
Liam showed them into a room with a double bed and a double wardrobe. The window faced over the back garden which was overgrown with weeds and needed to be mowed.
“You can sleep here.” Liam looked down at Callie with a look of concern he felt himself. She was pale and almost dead on her feet she was so tired. “Get some sleep and as soon as we know anything, we can wake you, flower.”
“Thanks, Liam,” she said offering his friend a small smile which for some odd reason made his jaw twitch. He wanted to be the one she smiled at.
Liam must have caught the tell-tale sign of his frustration and smiled. “My pleasure, gorgeous,” he said and dropped a kiss on her head, which made Reid growl in his chest.
“I’ll be down in a few minutes.”
Liam merely nodded and left, closing the door behind him.
Callie sat heavily on the bed and looked around the room. It was a quarter the size of her own bedroom and yet she looked lost.
Reid crouched down in front of her, laying his hands on either side of her knees. “How are you doing, sunshine?”
She cocked her head. “Been better, but I can hardly complain when the poor woman at my place…” She stopped her throat choking.
“Hey,” he said as he sat on the bed and dragged her close until she lay across his lap, his arms encompassing her.
The damn broke and Callie cried, sobbed as if her heart would break. He knew it was partly exhaustion and fear but also the realisation that this person wouldn’t stop. He held her as his shirt soaked through and she cried until there was nothing left.
“I know this is hard for you, sunshine, but we’ll catch this guy. I promise you that on my life. We’ll make him pay.”
He vowed silently that this mother fucker wouldn’t be breathing by the time he was finished with him. He’d always believed in the law, but some people deserved to be put down like the rabid animals they were.
“I know. I just hate that someone got hurt because of me.”
He felt her breath against his neck and fought the twitch of his inappropriate dick. “This is not on you, Callie. This is the work of a sick human being.”
He felt her pull away and look up at him, her eye lashes glistened with tears, her cheeks red with the spent pain and fear. She’d never been more beautiful to him and he knew in that moment he was completely fucked because despite every effort, he was falling for this woman.
“I know I’m not responsible, but that doesn’t stop the guilt.”
He couldn’t listen to her blame herself anymore and bending his head he silenced her with a kiss. He felt her mouth open in surprise and took the opportunity to slide his tongue into her sweet mouth and taste her. He groaned at her sweet sigh and the way she relaxed instantly into him. His hand threaded through her hair, gripping the back hard and she whimpered against him as she kissed him back with passion.
This woman was coming apart in his arms and he was two seconds away from stripping her naked and making her forget anything but the pleasure he could give her.
Chapter Eight
Callie’s body moulded into the hard strength of the man beneath her as he swept her away with his kiss. Every nerve in her body pulsed with the need for his touch as she ran her hands up his chest and felt the heat from his body.
He controlled the kiss like he did everything else until she was squirming with desire. His soft firm lips, the taste of his tongue on hers, the feel of his hands as they cupped her neck, stroking the smooth skin behind her ear, made for a heady combination.
She’d fought her attraction to him for two weeks, but she wanted him like nobody else before him. He was kind, considerate, protective, and so downright sexy she found him distracting. But more than that, she found herself watching for him, following him with her eyes wherever he was. She got a giddy feeling in her belly when he was around, and a smile from him made her feel as if she had won the lotto.
Reid pulled back, touching his lips to hers once, then twice, as if he couldn’t entirely stop from kissing her. She instantly regretted the loss of his lips, and a whimper slid up her throat.
Reid leaned his forehead against hers as he held her face in his big hands and growled, “Fuck me, sunshine. You pack a punch.”
Callie wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by that but didn’t ask, too lost in the swirling in her body. They drew apart, and she looked up, expecting to see regret from the kiss they had shared but was surprised to see his eyes heavy with need.
“Where did you come from, Callie East?” he asked, but she didn’t answer and thought he didn’t expect one either.
Callie pulled away as did Reid, but she didn’t get the sense he regretted anything. Something felt like it had shifted in their relationship, she couldn’t put a title on it for the life of her, but it had changed.
“Would you like me to stay while you fall asleep?” His words were sweet and full of intimacy.
Callie nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Reid lay back on the bed, pulling her so her head was resting on his chest, his arms around her back, holding her against him, secure and safe. It was a feeling she hadn’t felt since she was home with her family. With her mind on happier things and her body nestled against the man who had awoken something in her she hadn’t known she was craving; Callie felt her eyes flutter closed with the exhaustion of the last few weeks.
Reid lay still listening to the soft snores of the woman in his arms, her pliant, warm body snug against his. He could feel the delicate brush of her breath against his neck as she slept on him. He’d only planned to stay until she fell asleep, but now, an hour later, he couldn’t seem to drag himself away from her.
The kiss had been a mistake, but not one he regretted. It had felt more right than anything ever had. As if she’d been made for him, crafted solely with him in mind. He was starting to believe that Callie as a whole was perfect for him. From her lush body that made him mad with desire, to her sweet nature, to the sharp, intelligent business mind that lay beneath the beautiful veneer she showed the world, she was everything he’d ever wanted.
The fact someone had killed to get to her made his blood boil. His hands clenched involuntarily. The realisation it could have been her lying dead in her apartment if Clay hadn’t called him in was terrifying.
Guilt hit him as he thought of Clay as he lay with Callie having less than appropriate feelings, but was he guilty enough to walk away from everything she represented? That, he wasn’t sure about. The more significant deterrent was whether he could be what he knew she needed. Callie wasn’t a one and done kind of woman; she was an all-in relationship girl. And while he knew he wouldn’t be able to fuck this woman and walk away, he wasn’t sure if he could give her the happily ever after and white picket fence she deserved, either.