And this wasn’t, at all, what he’d determined they’d be like which was what they were like in his dream.
“Yes,” he said evenly. “Now.”
She pulled breath into her nostrils and walked to him.
The minute she was within arm’s reach, he hooked an arm around her hips and pulled her into his lap.
When she settled, he looked down at her and clipped, “Before you start your day, would you at least like to give your king a fucking good morning kiss?”
She stared at him in shock, like she’d never kissed a man before and the very idea was repugnant to her and she’d fucking kneeled between his legs and took his cock into her mouth not a week ago.
His temper disintegrated and he hissed, “What in the fuck?”
She looked into his eyes, her face paled and she declared loudly, “Callum, I’m freaking out!”
It was his turn to blink and he did it slowly.
“Sorry?”
“Today, I’m going to… there are going to be lots of your…” She swallowed then, her voice filled with panic, she cried, “What if I do something wrong?”
He stared at her a moment before he burst out laughing, pulling her close in his arms as he did so.
“This isn’t funny!” she wailed through his laughter. “I’m representing you and Regan and Caleb and Calder and you and Ryon and even your Dad!”
His fingers slid into her hair and he pulled her head back and brushed her mouth with his.
It was like he’d not moved when she stated, “I need a shower.”
“Honey, calm down.”
“Calm…” She shook her head as if clearing it. “No, really, Callum, I need a shower. I need to be alone, get my thoughts straight, sort my head out. I’ll be fine. I just need a long, hot shower.”
Callum grinned and informed her, “You can have your shower, little one, you just have to earn it.”
She went stiff in his arms and her face again paled. “Earn it?”
His grin deepened. “Yes. Earn it.”
“How do I…?” She paused, tested his arms by pushing against them. They tightened so she gave up and he tried not to laugh as she finished, “Earn it?”
“You can choose two of three things,” he stated.
“Two of three –”
“First,” he cut her off and dipped his head to mark her hair with his temple before he said at her ear, “You can tell me you love me again.”
She stilled in his arms.
He ignored it and went on, lifting his head to look at her. “Second, you can describe one of your dreams about me.”
She stared at him in horror.
He grinned and ignored that too.
“Third, you can kiss me.” He rested his forehead to hers and concluded, “Now, pick two.”
“Can I do one now and one –?”
He lifted his head then shook it. “Two.”
She glared at him.
Then she snapped, “Dream.”
When she said no more, he gave her a squeeze, bit back his smile and encouraged, “Go on.”
“Well, the last one I had,” she hesitated and revised, “the last real one went like this.” She sat up straighter in his lap and turned fully to him. “I was sleeping and my puppy, um… that would be my wolf. You know, the one I told you I met when I was a child?” She waited for him to nod. He did, his amusement diminishing and his mouth tightening about the fact that he still hadn’t told her he was her “puppy” as she went on, “Anyway, he always comes to me in the dreams first. So he came to me. I was sleeping. I woke up and he was beside the bed. I said hi to him and he sat down. I asked where you were and then closed my eyes. Then I opened them and my puppy was gone but you were there. I felt the covers slide down me and…”
Callum’s body tightened as she continued, explaining, to every last detail, the dream he’d had last night.
“Then you start to… you know and I woke up,” she finished.
Callum stared at her.
She stared back.
Then her brow furrowed and she whispered, “What?”
“That’s your dream?”
She bit her lip, released it and continued quietly, “I told you they weren’t actually sexual, as such. It probably doesn’t seem like very much to you but… you have to feel it.”
Oh, he’d felt it.
He’d fucking felt it.
“What about after we have sex?” he demanded to know.
Her brows drew together in confusion and she repeated, “What?”
“You never dream of us having sex. But what about when you dream about us after we’ve had sex?”
“I’ve never dreamed of that.”
He stared at her, trying to assess if she was lying.