Or even a little of what they had.
Not knowing her thoughts, at her words, he released her hair and his arms wound around her. For the first time since she was injured, they did this powerfully, crushing her to him and making that twinge of pain in her back magnify.
“I’m glad,” he said and his voice sounded strangely hoarse.
“Callum, my back,” she whispered.
His hold loosened and he slid her off his side but kept her close with an arm about her waist. He reached and turned out the light, settled her with her cheek on his shoulder and he pulled her arm around his stomach.
“Sleep,” he murmured.
“Okay,” she murmured back.
He gave her a squeeze.
Her sinuses started stinging again because it hurt so much, more than she thought she could endure, wanting him to be real and knowing he was not.
But, somehow, she fell asleep.
Much later, she woke sensing him gone. She laid awake until he returned and he slid into bed at her side, his skin cold when he tucked her into him but he, again, smelled of sex.
And her broken heart broke just that little bit more.
* * * * *
The next two weeks Callum’s patience waned considerably, more and more each day.
First, he wasn’t Gregor’s biggest fan and Gregor had made it a habit to monopolize any time not taken by Regan, Ryon, Caleb, Mara, Callista and wolves from town who had, at Regan, Mara and Callista’s invitations, begun to drop by to meet and get to know Sonia.
Therefore, Sonia didn’t spend hardly any time in Callum’s lap in his study or with Callum anywhere. Practically the minute she sat there, Gregor was at the door asking if she wanted to go into town, if she wanted to go for a walk, telling her Yuri was on the phone and wanted to speak to her and the like.
Second, Callum wasn’t buying the “I’m in pain” excuse anymore considering she was going into town and taking walks but also he was seeing firsthand that her wounds were healing well. Even if he hadn’t seen it, Orphenon popping by to have a look deep into week three and announcing they were healing surprisingly rapidly gave it away. Sonia had always been a quick healer and she had the freakish capacity never to scar and she wondered if this was part of her gifts but she never mentioned it to anyone and didn’t, for obvious reasons, then either. In fact, Orphenon had clipped away the stitches which kind of hurt and left her feeling a bit raw which Callum, upon examining her face closely, believed because she was for once telling the truth.
Third, because Callum was beginning to get frustrated that Sonia was finding the willpower to fight back the urge.
Deep into the second week he made it obvious he wanted “to play”. But why he wanted to play when two or three times a week he disappeared from their bed in the middle of the night and came back obviously having been outside and smelling of that intense and beautiful musk he always smelled like after they’d finished, she would never know.
Sonia had put him off both morning and night and some afternoons besides with a variety of excuses which were wearing thin.
He started to get suspicious then he started to get dubious and this melted straight into extremely annoyed.
Luckily Calder turned up the third week and Callum lost interest in her as he holed himself up with the boys in his study. But this still left the nights for Sonia to find ways to fend off his hands, his mouth and his quiet, gentle, sweet bedtime interrogations (but getting less gentle and less quiet and definitely less sweet).
Just last night, quiet, gentle and sweet went out the window.
Sonia was in bed reading (again) when Callum hit the room.
He didn’t smile at her when he walked in.
Considering it was 8:30, he stopped two feet in, crossed his arms on his chest, frowned ominously and stared at her in bed.
“It’s 8:30,” he informed her.
Sonia tensed and decided not to look at him anymore because he was freaking her out. Therefore, she looked back at her book.
“This is a really good book,” she told him (though it wasn’t). “I’ve been waiting all day for an excuse to get back to it.” (Though she hadn’t).
Suddenly her book was pulled from her hands and her eyes automatically and irritably shot back to him.
“There’s the small matter of your injection,” he clipped and she closed her eyes and looked away.
She hated those injections always but told herself they were a necessary evil.
Now, they were pure torture with Callum giving them to her and Sonia emerging from the burn always wrapped lovingly (but insincerely) in his arms.
She opened her eyes when she felt the bed depress with his weight, his fingers sliding into the side of her hair and she saw him sitting beside her on the bed.
His anger was gone, the gentle look was back and he murmured, “Two minutes, baby doll, then it’s done.”