Black Diamond (Obsidian 2)

Calloway sat on the couch beside me, reading a hardback while the TV was on. The volume was down so the basketball commentators couldn’t be heard over the speaker. The fire in the hearth crackled and popped, bringing warmth to the living room.

I was doing paperwork beside him, wanting to be on top of all my responsibilities so I could impress the others. The easiest way to be accepted into a new team was by doing good work and not cutting corners. I could get away with almost anything since Calloway was my boss, but that type of behavior didn’t interest me. The reason I took the job was so I could help people—not be lazy.

I became distracted when I noticed the knuckles of his hands. Veins ran over the back of his hands, protruding like thick ropes. They led up his forearm, which was chiseled with fine muscle. Every time he moved his fingers, they stretched and shifted under the skin. This man was so handsome that even his hands aroused me. They were so masculine, and I found myself wanting to kiss every knuckle.

Calloway noticed my stare, so he looked up, his beautiful eyes targeting me. In a black t-shirt and sweatpants that were loose around his hips, he looked like the cover of a GQ magazine. He didn’t ask what I was staring at—at least not verbally.

“I like your hands,” I explained.

“Thank you for the compliment,” he whispered.

“I like this.” I trailed my finger over a thick vein.

“Nurses like them too,” he said with a quiet chuckle.

I didn’t understand the comment, so I stared at him blankly.

“Easy to get in an IV,” he explained. He turned back to his novel, his eyes following the words from left to right.

I wondered if that meant he’d been in a hospital. Although, if his father used to beat him, that answer was obvious. I turned back to my notepad and made some notes. After a few minutes, I felt his gaze burning into my cheek. I answered his look with my own.

He placed the ribbon between the pages as a bookmark before he closed the book. “You liked it when I bound your wrists together.” He uncrossed his legs and spread his knees apart, his long legs stretched out onto the hardwood floor.

Since I couldn’t tell if it was a question or an answer, I didn’t respond.

“I’d like to do it again if you did.”

I’d never had a man bind my wrists together—at least not in that context. I’d never had a man go anywhere near my ass either. But I found myself doing unorthodox things with Calloway—and liking it. “I did.”

He moved his arm to the back of the couch and rested his fingers against the side of my neck. His fingertips touched strands of hair as he caressed me. “There are other things I’d like to try with you too—if you’re willing.”

“Like what?” I knew couples did kinky stuff, like tying each other to the headboard and eating stuff off one another. They were things I never cared about, but after I met Calloway, I understood their appeal. “You want to handcuff me to your bed? Eat stuff off me?”

His eyes darkened as they focused on my lips. “Yes, among other things.”

“I have an open mind.” But I also wasn’t that adventurous either. As long as it was tame, I’d be okay with it. It wasn’t like Calloway was into the shit Hank used to be into. We’d only been dating for a short time when he demanded sex from me. When I said I wasn’t ready, he tried to make it happen anyway. That was how I broke my arm—in two different places. Hank had specific interests sexually, like hurting me. I didn’t find out about his tastes until I was admitted to the hospital.

“Good,” he said. “I’m glad you finally trust me.”

I didn’t see what trust had to do with it. The moment I gave my virginity to him, my feelings were pretty clear. I knew Calloway was nothing like Hank or any of the evil men I’d encountered on my journey through life. I wouldn’t have been sitting there beside him in that very instant if my heart wasn’t already on the line. I was skeptical of a man this great, but my doubts went away long ago. “I trusted you a long time ago, Calloway. I know you would never hurt me, lie to me, or mislead me.”

His fingers paused on my neck, and his eyes softened in a way they never had before.

Sometimes I wondered if I loved him. We’d only been seeing each other for five months, and that seemed far too soon to develop those kinds of emotions. But on the other hand, I noticed the way my heart always quickened when he was near. I noticed how well I slept when his massive body was beside mine. I noticed how happy I was when I saw his face first thing in the morning. Maybe it was too good to be true.