My face heated. Painfully. Hot. “Calix,”
“Turn around.” He commanded. “I’ll get that.”
I turned around, thankful for an excuse to face away from Calix and all his naked glory. “Thank you.” I whispered as his hands grasped hold of the material to tie it around my neck.
“You can turn around now, love.” I could hear his teasing smirk in his tone and I had a thought to smack it from his face. Thankfully, it was only a thought. “It’s not like you haven’t seen it before.”
Blushing deeper, I gulped. “I’m not discussing this.” I said as I made a break for the closet door.
He caught my arm. “Do I get a kiss good morning?”
“I,” I stammered and my brow furrowed. “Do you want one?”
“I always want to kiss you, Nova. You know that.”
I didn’t reply and his hand moved from my arm, to my waist, where he pulled me into his hard front. His mouth came down on mine and he stepped back, pushing me until my back came into contact with the wall. His mouth on mine was rough and gentle and then rough again. And my brain was losing synapses by the second. Yes, they were burning up.
He pulled his mouth from mine on a growl. “Fuck,” I flinched, dazed and confused. “I want you so bad, love.”
I didn’t reply. I didn’t know what to say to him. All I knew was that I was never, ever, going to ask Calix McKnight to make love to me again. If that shit happened, it would be because he was steering the boat - because as far as I was concerned, that ship had sailed.
Calix leaned his forehead against mine. “One more day.” The words were nearly a whisper and I wondered if he was talking to me or to himself. Again, I didn’t reply and Calix’s hand drifted from my waist to the back of my neck. Cupping my neck, he tilted my head back to force my face up to his. Peering deeply into my eyes, he searched my face. “Tomorrow you will be mine, love. Completely. I’ll have you entirely. Forever.”
My breath caught and heat raced with chills through my body at his words. I was conflicted. There was no doubt in my mind I had feelings I shouldn’t have for Calix. He was the man who had captured me, threatened my family, pushed me past the sanity of my mind and broke my heart. Yet, he was the same man who held my hair back when I couldn’t stomach my situation - yes, I know he is the one who caused said situation, but still. He was also the same man who kissed my temples, my forehead, and the tip of my nose with a gentleness that made me feel hope. He was the man who knew me, in a way, better than I knew myself. He was the man whose body formed around mine each night and he was the man my body craved - the man my soul yearned for. He was also the man who took the time to learn my favorite color and my favorite treat. He might not be prince charming, and he definitely wasn’t a white knight, but he wasn’t the devil either.
Yes, I think it’s safe to say I’m feeling a little conflicted.
“Nova?” Calix’s voice brought me back to the here and now. “Your thoughts, love?”
I stammered. “I, we’re getting married tomorrow.”
Slowly, he nodded. “Yes. Tomorrow we are getting married.”
“Is it a big wedding?” I asked, finding myself wondering, for the first time, exactly how this fiasco would unfold.
Calix frowned. “The guest list consists of people I’ve done business with for years.”
“I don’t have a maid of honor.”
“You don’t need one.”
“But,” I shook my head, not understanding how a wedding could possibly proceed without the bride having a maid of honor.
“I will not be having anyone stand up with me, Nova. The wedding will be simple. It is happening because I want public record of your compliance to become my wife. If I thought eloping would give me what I want, we would be eloping. However, when you say ‘I do’ I want there to be multiple witnesses. When I kiss you for the first time as your husband, I want the pictures snapped to tell a story.”
“But what will I say when someone asks me where my family is?” I whispered, feeling stunned and confused.
“You will tell them that you are estranged from your family.” Calix stated matter of fact.
At his words, I felt tears mist my eyes and I pulled in a deep, shaky breath. “Are we going swimming?”
“If you still want to, love.”
I nodded. “I want to.”
“Then come.” Calix held his hand out and I placed mine in his without second thought. So much with Calix had begun to feel like second nature. In the beginning, when he touched me I’d been frightened and uncertain, but now, when he touched me I felt safe. And when he wasn’t touching me, I ached for him.