She felt her pulse quicken on the thought that Callum thought her bedroom was somewhere he wanted to stay awhile.
However, he probably wanted to do it in someone else’s company.
She decided to let him in just a little bit in order to get this over with.
“Gregor can be…” she tried to find the word, “daunting and he has a lot of opinions that he doesn’t mind sharing.”
“What’s that got to do with your house?”
“He didn’t like me buying that house so, to shut him up, I decorated it in a way he’d like,” she answered. “But my bedroom is mine. It’s my private space, a space where I can be who I’m meant to be.”
His arm curled tighter around her belly and she felt his face in her hair.
“You can be who you’re meant to be everywhere, honey. Just do it. Who gives a fuck about Gregor’s opinion?”
“I do. He raised me. I owe him,” she replied.
Callum’s face came out of her hair and he said firmly, “You don’t owe that man dick.”
“I know you don’t like him,” she whispered, finding it bizarre in the extreme he knew so much about her and that their lives had been intermingled for so long and in different ways, none of which she knew about. “Your Mom told me your Dad didn’t get along with him. But, for all this time, he was all I had. And he wasn’t great at it, but I knew he tried hard and he took care of me. You might not like him, Callum, but he means something to me, he took care of me and he did the best he could.”
There was silence then she felt his face burrow back into her hair and he thankfully let it go.
“Your bedroom reminds me of this cabin when I first bought it,” he told her.
“I’m not surprised.” She was still whispering. “I always thought of this place as home. I guess, with my bedroom, I was trying to recreate a little bit of home.”
He pulled her ever deeper into his body but lifted his head to nuzzle her with his temple.
When he stopped, he muttered in her ear, “You’re home now.” Then he kissed her neck softly which made a happy shiver run from her neck, down her spine.
She was far from home, she knew.
She’d never be home again, she knew that too.
But, as ever, this was as good as it was going to get.
On that thought, she relaxed into him. He read her mood, stopped talking and, shortly after, with the Christmas lights twinkling, she fell asleep in Callum’s arms.
Chapter Eight
Wolf
Sonia heard a strange noise like claws clicking on wood floors and her eyes opened.
She was in the cabin, the green, red and white Christmas lights twinkling from the mantel in front of her casting a cheerful glow to the dark room.
Her puppy was wandering across the room. He stopped and shook his massive body as if shaking off wet or cold. Then he started to lean back on his powerfully muscled haunches as if preparing to sit.
Or leap.
But he didn’t when she whispered, “Puppy.”
His body stopped its movement, he came alert and his massive head swung to face her.
This was a dream, she knew.
Her father told her that wounded or sick animals often disappeared in order to die with dignity.
Her puppy had been filled with dignity.
And she’d known, the moment he looked in her eyes that night, if he didn’t have to, he’d never leave her.
But he’d been bleeding.
So when Gregor gently shook her awake that Christmas morning after her parents died and she found her puppy gone, she knew he’d stolen away in order to die.
Even if he hadn’t, that was over thirty years ago. He’d been a full grown wolf then. He couldn’t have survived thirty years.
Therefore, this was definitely a dream.
Sleepily, her arm fell toward him and she whispered, “Come here, handsome.”
More than half asleep, her eyelids slowly lowered but she felt the thick, soft fur of his muzzle glide almost lovingly along her fingertips. It was cold and damp, as if he’d just come in from a run in the snow.
“My puppy,” she sighed drowsily and moved her fingers over his muzzle to his head in a loving caress.
Eyes still closed, she finished her stroke before she tucked her hand under her cheek.
“I wish you’d bring me my handsome wolf. I miss him,” she murmured as slumber started to invade.
She did wish that. Her dream Callum loved her, her. He didn’t simply feel a duty to his queen and if she couldn’t have him in the real world, she’d take what she could get in her dreams.
She felt the bed depress on either side of her just as she smelled an attractive, musky scent the likes of which she’d never smelled. She fought the permeating sleep and her eyes fluttered open.
Callum was there, not King Callum, her handsome wolf. He was leaned over, hands in the bed on either side of her. She knew this Callum was hers because his beautiful face in the twinkling lights showed a mixture of tenderness and desire, a look he’d given her many times before.
“There you are,” she whispered, her hand drifting to his sinewy forearm, finding his skin cold under her light touch.
“Sonia,” he murmured.
Still closer to asleep than awake, she shifted the covers off her body and invited, “Let’s get you warm.”
Her eyes drifted closed again as he hesitated then she felt him move into the bed. She fell to her back as he put a knee to her opposite side, shifted over her body and settled mostly along her length, flicking the covers back over them when he was done.
She turned into him, wrapping her arms around him and hooking her thigh over his hip.
“You’re so cold,” she muttered, snuggling into his body which was so cool it felt almost moist.
“Sonia.”
She nuzzled closer, seduced at the same time calmed by that beautiful aroma and she muttered a drowsy, “Mm?”
His arms slid around her as he said, “Baby doll, I’m not your dream.”
Sonia didn’t answer because that was silly.
This was her dream. Even if it was in the cabin, it started with her puppy visiting her, always.
She burrowed deeper into his big body.
“Honey,” he called as she drifted back to sleep. “I want to make sure you know we’re not in one of your dreams.”
“Yes we are,” she told him. Sleep overcoming her, she finished on a whispered sigh, “My puppy always brings you to me.”
She was nearly asleep so didn’t register his body tightening.
One of her hands drifted up his back to rest between his shoulder blades. The other glided down to rest on his tight behind.
“I’m glad I’m still going to have my dreams,” she muttered as she pulled his hard hips to hers just as she fitted her soft ones to his.
She was skating on the edge of dreamland when she felt his body shaking and his deep voice filled with amusement murmuring, “I’m glad too.”
She slipped over the edge into sleep.
* * * * *
Sonia woke up in Callum’s arms, hers around him, her thigh hooked on his hip.
Taking in her position, the soft bed, the cocoon of warmth they made, his hard frame, her entire body melted.
“Morning, little one.”
Her head slowly tipped back and she looked into his sky blue eyes.
He was very awake and, for some reason, smiling at her.
“Morning,” she mumbled, immediately lost in the clear blue of his smiling eyes.
Then her gaze drifted down and she got lost in the beauty of his smiling lips framed by his dark, thick whiskers.
Those lips moved. “This isn’t a dream, baby doll.”
The residue of sleep vaporized, reality intruded and her eyes snapped back to his.
“I know that,” she lied.
“You didn’t last night,” he replied.
Sonia stared. Then the events of the night before came to her.
Ho
ly cow!
“Um…” she began, her thoughts awhirl but she stopped speaking when he rolled into her, mostly on top of her, his thigh now between hers and her thoughts focused on one thing. “Callum –” she started to protest.
He cut her off, saying casually but with a smile in his voice, “I’m curious about these dreams.”
Her eyes went wide before she could control her reaction and the smile in his voice hit his lips.
“You see, twice you thought you were in one and twice, when you thought you were, you came onto me,” he informed her.
Oh good goodness.
She decided instantly that she didn’t want to dream of him anymore. Never again. It was too confusing and it was going to get her into trouble.
She tried to slide away.
He rolled over her so he was now totally on top of her but he put his forearms into the bed beside her to take off some of his considerable weight.
Even so, he was close, his body covering hers. She could feel the hair on his chest grazing her nightgown.
Her breath started getting heavy as the realization dawned that maybe her dreams weren’t going to get her into trouble.
They might already have.
To her mortification, he went on as if he was musing, “The first time you came on strong.” His face came close but veered to her side. He didn’t rub his temple along hers. Instead, he brushed her earlobe with his nose. “And I liked it a lot,” he murmured in her ear.
“Callum –” she began.
He interrupted her again, his head lifting, the tawny spikes slowly invading the blue of his eyes. “The second time, you were sleepy and sweet.” His mouth descended and, against her lips, he declared, “I liked that too.” Sonia watched close up as his eyes turned fully golden. “A lot,” he finished.
“Callum –”
“So, tell me, baby doll, what do we do in your dreams?”
It was then she realized that, yes, she was seriously, deeply, in trouble.
“Callum –”
“Do we do this?” he asked, his lips leaving hers to slide across her cheek to her ear, down her jaw. She felt the shiver slither lazily along her skin as his lips came back to hers and brushed them softly.
“I think –” she started, her lips moving under his.
He cut her off again. “And do we do this?”
He came off his forearms and his big, warm hands glided down her sides and in, over the small of her back and then down over her bottom as he gave her more of his weight, something which her body adored and therefore it automatically melted under his.
Oh my lord, she thought and bit her lip
Then she tried again. “Callum, can I –?”
“And do we do this?” he repeated before his head slanted and his lips took hers in a sweet, light kiss.
She tried to move her head away but since it was resting on a pillow she had no room to move.
His mouth broke from hers briefly to mutter, “And this.”
“Cal –”
Tactical error. Opening her mouth was a very bad idea. For this time he didn’t give her a sweet, light kiss.
This time, his tongue invaded her mouth and he gave her a deep, searing kiss.
Regardless of what her body was coaxing her to do, Sonia managed to resist but without room for her head to move, her hands went to his shoulders and pushed.
Callum, on the other hand, managed to insist. He ignored her hands and gave her more of his weight, cupping her bottom and pulling her hips deeper to his.
She felt his hardness against her and the urge instantly came over her.
Primal, animal, an urge she felt sometimes in her dreams. An urge that she had often felt budding with other lovers and they liked it which meant they were always difficult to get rid of.
This one, though, didn’t bud, causing her to behave slightly shameless.
It bloomed, causing her to behave highly wanton.
It was so strong, even though she tried to fight it, even though she vaguely feared it, with Callum covering her, his hardness pressed against her, his talented tongue invading her mouth, she was no match.
With a whimper, she capitulated. Her hands stopped pushing at his shoulders and her arms curled around his neck, pulling him even closer.
Then her tongue tangled with his.
His head slanted further, he growled into her mouth and she felt it blister a path straight between her legs.
Her control annihilated and she gave into the urge.
She fully opened her legs in invitation and his hips fell through. She kissed him back as her hips lifted, pressing insistently against his hardness.
In return, he ground his hips against hers and another, sharper, whimper escaped her throat as her nails grazed down his back.
His mouth tore from hers but it didn’t leave her skin. It went down, over her jaw, down her neck, as his hand came up, sliding along her nightgown, up her side, her ribcage, covering her breast.
Sonia arched into it, searching, demanding.
His thumb slid over her nipple and her neck bowed, the whimper turning to a deep, hungry moan.
Callum came back, buried his face in her neck, his husky voice sounding at the skin below her ear.
“You like that?” he asked, his thumb repeating the gesture and Sonia repeated the moan. “You like it,” he muttered and his thumb was joined with a finger, giving her nipple a rough, glorious squeeze.
“Callum,” she breathed, fire racing from nipple to between her legs, her head twisting round, her mouth searching for his.
He didn’t disappoint. He gave her his mouth.
She gave him her kiss.
Planting a foot in the bed, she rolled him (and he let her) settling her body on his big one, she embarked on a frenzied discovery. The taste of his whiskered jaw, his neck, the feel of his chest under her hands. She couldn’t get enough in fast enough to suit and the more she had, the hungrier she became.
He allowed this then his hand twisted in her hair with a rough demanding pull that caused a delicious pain. He forced her mouth to his and gave her his kiss. Deeper, wetter, longer and Sonia couldn’t stop herself from rubbing her most sensitive part the length of his rigid shaft.
“Jesus, baby doll,” he groaned against her mouth, his hands coming to her hips, grasping her nightgown. She lifted up, wanting it to be gone, needing to feel his chest against her bared breasts.
He didn’t hesitate. He yanked it off and tossed it away. His heated, tawny eyes fell to her body straddling his, his hands drifting across her ribcage and up but she dropped her chest and pressed it to his. His rough hair teased her nipples and it felt so great, her hips reflexively ground into his.
His hands found her breasts, thumbs grazing her nipples, fingers joining for a heady roll. Then he pushed her back and up, one hand tormenting her nipple, the other cupping her breast and maneuvering her to his mouth where his lips closed over her nipple and pulled.
His mouth on her felt so good, her back arched to demand more but her head dropped down to watch him suckling as her arm flew out to the headboard to hold on.
Her body shuddered at the beauty of the sight and the sensations.
He switched breasts and she made a harsh noise as she ground deeper into his body. His hand left her breast and plunged into her panties, finding her and it was so fantastic, she bucked against his fingers.
The minute she did, she was flying through the air, landing on her back, Callum pressed to her. His hand went back in her panties, his fingers twitching, vibrating at the exact, perfect spot.
God, she’d never felt anything like that.
And it felt good.
Her arms circled him, her nails grazed his back, her hips undulated against his fingers, all the while her eyes were locked to his.
Her hand moved around, across his belly, down into his pajamas and she found him.
And he was huge, thick, long and beautiful.
She had to have him.
Now.
“Wolf,” she breathed her demand. “I want you inside me.”
His eyes flashed and he slid a finger inside.
She gasped and ground down on his hand.
“In heat,” he murmured, his voice guttural and supremely satisfied.
“Wolf…” A sliver of pleading pierced her tone as his words in her dream were uttered in real life.
His finger slid out of her but only to flick insistently against her sweet spot.
“You need to be ready for me.”
She knew she did. She’d felt him. He was not your average man in any sense.
“I’m ready,” she whispered.
“Little one –”
Her hand stroked then it fisted around him and she pulled him to her.
“Callum,” she insisted, “I’m ready.”
“Baby doll –”
Her hand tightened, he groaned, she stroked and tugged and he groaned again.
Her mouth went to his and she demanded, “Fuck me, wolf.”
Callum needed no further coaxing.
He moved and her panties were gone in a flash, whipped down her legs. His pajamas were pulled down his own.
Then he rolled into her, she wrapped her limbs around his massive body and felt the promise of him.
“Wolf…” Sonia breathed.
His hips reared back, her body tensed in delicious anticipation and then he thrust inside, impaling her, seating himself to the root, filling her so full, so deep, she could swear he touched her womb.
He stopped and dropped his forehead to hers, his breathing labored.
In a tone filled with marvel, he murmured, “You took all of me.”
She did and every inch of him was wonderful.
“I’m made for you,” she whispered back and watched up close as his golden eyes glittered.
Then his mouth captured hers and he kissed her wet and hot while he fucked her, deep, rough, fast and hard and she loved every stroke, every jolt. Her body, feeling right, feeling whole, gloried in it.
He rolled them until he was on his back, Sonia straddling him and she took over, riding him with abandon, back arched, hips wild.
Lost in what they were doing, lost in him, full of him.
He curled up. An arm going around her waist, taking her out of her rhythm and focusing her on the beauty that was him, his face hard with almost savage desire before she lost sight of him as he twisted his torso to the nightstand. She ground her hips into his and watched as he opened the drawer and pulled out a long, slim, blue, beaten-leather case. He flicked it open with his thumb and drew out a length of delicate gold chain.