Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
So I must be mistaken.
In this same moment of realization, a soft snore comes from behind me.
This is when I turn and see Callistina asleep on the couch. All stretched out and feline-looking. Long legs going this way and that, accentuating her curvy hips. Her lips are slightly puckered and there are worry lines across her forehead, like she’s concentrating on something in her sleep.
The whole thing is just fuckin’ hot. She is once again tempting me with that languid, lazy posing she does, presumably by accident, and I am suddenly struck with a desire to sleep next to her.
But not on that couch.
So I cross the room, slip my hands underneath her body, and lift her up. She stirs as I do this, leaning into my chest, but also awakening. “What’s going on?”
“I’m taking you to bed, that’s what’s goin’ on.”
She sighs. And when I put her down on the bed, she curls up a little and opens her eyes. “Did you come up with a spelling?”
“Mostly,” I say, kicking off my boots and letting my pants fall to the floor at my feet. I climb in next to her and she scoots over to make room.
“What’s that mean, Eros? Was there a problem?”
“No. It all went fine. I just need to perfect the very last line. It’s got too many syllables.” I grab her and pull her close to me. For some reason I feel like she and I are a permanent thing now. It could be premature because it’s only been a couple of days since we walked through that door in the hallway. But seriously, the way time’s been running lately, it feels like I’ve spent my whole life with this woman.
And anyway, she doesn’t object to my possessiveness.
But she does turn in my embrace so she’s facing me. Her eyes are wide open now and she’s smiling. “Do you want to hear how it went for me?”
“Absolutely.”
She smiles bigger. Then takes a deep breath. “Well, I followed the recipe. It was very simple. The only hard part was that you had to heat it seven times.”
“Seven, huh?”
She nods, her yellow-brown eyes a little bit glow-y in the hazy moonlight that’s filtering in from the outside world. “Cook it, cool it, cook it, cool it. Seven whole times. And I had to stir it constantly. Even in the cooling part.”
“I don’t think I’d have the patience for that.”
“I really didn’t think I would either. But then,” she says, her face getting a little more animated, “then it started to smell so good, I couldn’t stop stirring.”
“Your bubble bath,” I say.
She almost sits up when I say this, that’s how surprised she is. “How did you know?”
This makes me laugh. “I could smell it, Callistina.”
“But I mean, how did you know it was the same scent as my bubble bath?”
“Are you kidding? You’ve been taking those fucking bubble baths for nearly two months while I’ve been sitting in the next room. How could I not recognize it?”
“Hmm.” She smiles and settles back down.
“What’s that ‘hmm’ mean?”
“It means I made an impression on you.”
I laugh out loud. “How the world could you not? You’re the former Queen of Vinca and you spent the last seven weeks demanding that I call you queen and dressing up like a crazy person with spray-painted antlers sittin’ atop your head, affixed with string.”
She laughs too, shaking her head a little. Like she can’t believe she did that.
“Really, though. That’s not why you made an impression.”
“No?” She lifts her chin up to look me in the eyes for this part.
“Nah.” Now it’s my turn to shake my head. “You’re once in a lifetime, Callistina. You’re a woman who only comes around once in a whole lifetime. And when your lifetime is eternal, that’s kind of a big deal.”
Her grin grows as her eyes close, which is a signal that she likes my answer. But then she opens them and the next thing I know, she’s removing herself from my embrace. But not to get away from me. She pushes me back onto the bed and hikes a leg over my hips so she’s straddling me.
The grin on her face is mischievous, but also a bit… shy, maybe. Like she’s not so sure of herself now that she’s taken some initiative. Like maybe she needs some reassurance.
Which I am happy to give in the form of sliding my fingertips up her golden velvet-covered stomach and taking her breasts in both hands. Our eyes are locked as I do this, but she bites her lip a little. Still a bit unsure. Which is a little bit surprising, but in a good way.
I like vulnerable Callistina. Not because it makes her weak, but because it makes me feel strong. Like she needs me and I am someone she counts on.