Bare Skin (Skin Deep 5)

Chapter 14

Dani

Ho. Ly. Fuck.

I burrowed into Calland, kissing his chest just simply because I couldn’t stop myself.

I let him hold me, and I held him, as I willed my pulse back to normal. My heart was pounding, and it wasn’t all from exertion.

My mind was going a mile a minute, no matter how soothing his fingertips were as they traced my skin. Thoughts jumbled together, and an endless parade of questions stomped through my brain.

What now?

What the fuck did I just do?

Can we do it again?

“Where’d you go?”

“Hmm?” I asked, tipping my head back so I could see his face.

He looked down at me. “You’re here with me, but your mind isn’t. What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” I answered, softly. “Just…thinking.”

His eyes searched mine, looking for what, I wasn’t sure.

“No regrets?” he whispered, his forehead furrowing with concern.

I shook my head immediately. “No! I just…I…where do we go from here?” I rolled to my back, not exactly moving away from him, but putting a little distance between us.

He hooked his hand around my hip and pulled me back into him so that he was leaning over me, chest pressed to my side, his head propped up on his hand, staring down at me. “What do you mean?”

I sighed. “I mean, what now? Do I keep trying, or at least pretending, to keep you at arm’s length after you just fucked me ten ways to Sunday…or do I just write it off as a one-time thing that can’t happen again because I’ve got too much going on that I need to focus on? Do you drop me and Kaden off at the hotel in the morning with a wave because I gave in and you finally got what you wanted and then never call me again? What?”

I was cringing on the inside as my mouth spewed the words rattling around in my thoughts, but I couldn’t reign them in. It was like I was set on self-destruct, and I had no idea how to turn it off. And honestly, I knew, if I really thought about it, that I didn’t mean any of it, that he wasn’t like that, despite his playboy reputation.

I chanced a peek at Calland to see him staring down at me, his face dark and scowling in the dim light spilling in from the hallway through the partially opened door. Before I could turn away again, he caught my chin in his fingers, forcing me to keep looking directly at him.

I could see the muscles ticking in his jaw and realized that he was angry. Scratch that, he looked fucking pissed, which definitely made me nervous. But it was justified.

I opened my mouth to speak, to try and defuse the situation but he cut me off.

“Don’t.”

His tone was harsh.

“Do not lie there and try to convince yourself that I’m that much of an asshole that I’d do something like that. I gave you the chance to tell me to leave, remember? You said fine, and I gave you the choice for that to mean me walking away and leaving you the hell alone, or for it to mean that you’d let me in, let me be your friend, maybe more, wherever that took us. Fuck! Do you think I would have taken you to my sister’s if all I wanted was to get in your fucking pants?”

I shook my head, my mouth opening and closing, but no words would come. Panic and shame washed over me and I rolled to my side, scrambling to get off the bed and away from him as tears welled in my eyes. But he grabbed for me, holding me down beside him.

“Dani, stop. Look at me.”

I blinked rapidly, trying to will the tears away from my eyes before I did as he asked. He stared down at me, and it took everything I had to not look away again.

“I wouldn’t. You know that. I know you do. I also know that you’re strong and independent, and you blow hot and cold quicker than Ohio’s weather.”

I scowled at him, unsure where he was going with this, but it sounded like it was headed more towards insulting than anything.

He continued, “You’re willful and sarcastic, secretive and sassy, and maddening as hell. But underneath all that, you’re sweet and soft, so giving and warm. And scared. Scared to let anyone in, and I don’t blame you for that, because I don’t know your past. Am I hoping to have the chance to know about it? For you to let me in and trust me with everything? Hell yes, I am. But I’m not going to push you, just like I told you before.”

I stayed silent, but my heart was pounding so hard I was sure he could hear it.

“Let me qualify that a bit. I won’t push you for your secrets. But, I’m done letting you push me away. You’ve gotten under my skin more in the past five days than anyone else I’ve ever known. And newsflash, Dani-girl, I’ve felt you writhing on my tongue and on my dick, and no way in hell am I finished with you. Got it?”

Heat curled through me at his words. I nodded, but he wasn’t done.

“For as long as you’re here, for as long as I can have you, you’re mine.”

When the silence stretched out between us, I realized that he was done speaking. I wasn’t sure how I felt about him staking his claim on me, but I did know that I was one hundred percent done fighting him on it. I’d told myself that before, but this time, I knew it was the truth.

“I’m sorry, Calland,” I whispered. “I know that’s not what would have happened, I just…” A short, helpless laugh broke free and I shrugged. “I’m sorry.”

He leaned down and brushed a gentle kiss on my lips before he rolled away and got up to turn the hall light out. He came back in, coming to stand beside the bed, reaching out to pat my hip. “Up. Get under the covers, Dani. You’re sleeping in here with me.”