The Redemption of Callie & Kayden

takes me in with her eyes and then she fiddles with the diamond stud above her upper lip. “Do you two ever take a break?”
    I roll the paper in my hand, making a cylinder as I shake my head and shrug. “Nope, not really.”
    She rolls her eyes and then steps back to let me in. I wipe my wet boots on the rug in front of the door and then stand in the center of the narrow room between their beds. Instead of closing the door behind us, Violets leans over and grabs her jacket and bag off the chair next to her bed and then heads out the door.
    “You don’t have to leave.” I turn to her. “I just need to talk to her.”
    She raises an eyebrow, looking at me and then at Callie, who’s sleeping on her bed. “Yes, I do… You two are a little too much for me.” She walks out and slams the door. The whiteboard on it falls to the carpet and I pick it up. It’s Callie and Seth’s list of things they have to do before they die.
    I’m surprised at how many have been crossed off, especially number eleven: do a dance in your underwear. Laughing underneath my breath, I hook the board back onto the door and then stand next to Callie’s bed. She’s lying on her back, with her arm draped over her stomach and her shirt folding up at the hem so I can see a sliver of her soft pale skin. She’s wearing the necklace I gave her—she always wears it—and it makes me smile every time I see it because it makes me feel like she’s mine. Her journal lays open beside her head and there’s box of chocolates next to her. Somehow she’s managed to fall asleep with a chocolate in her hand. She’s put on a little weight since Christmas break and seems to me to be doing better. I think it might be her therapist. She’s always a little happier when she comes back from her sessions. It hurts, though, sometimes, thinking about what was done to her and all those years she spent in solitude. It’s probably the biggest regret of my life. That I didn’t
see
who she really was back when we were kids. Maybe if I had, then her life wouldn’t have been so hard.
    I drum my fingers on the side of my leg, deciding the best way to wake her up. There are tons of ways, from using my fingers to my tongue, but I know I have to be careful. She sometimes still has nightmares and if I surprise her in her sleep, it could upset her.
    Kneeling down on the bed, the mattress caves beneath me. I set the paper down on the nightstand beside the bed and the lean over her, resting one of my arms next to her head. With my other hand, I trace her temple, the one with her birthmark, a small brown spot beside her eye that makes her even more perfect.
    Her eyelids flutter and she lets out this cute little moan that gets me a little too excited. Grinning, I slant closer to her and brush my lips across her forehead.
    “Kayden,” she murmurs, not fully awake, and yet somehow she knows it’s me.
    I’m enjoying this way, way too fucking much, my cock instantly getting hard. But oh well. Moving my lips down to her temple, I lightly kiss the birthmark I’d just been tracing with my finger, and then I move to the side and place a gentle kiss on her fluttering eyelids. Her body shivers beneath me and she lifts her chest and presses it against mine. My mouth travels down her nose to her mouth, where I part her lips with my tongue, delving it into her mouth and licking a path to the inside. Her eyelids lift up and her massive blue eyes catch in the light flowing into the room and they sparkle. She sucks in a sharp breath through her nose and I straighten my arm, putting a little distance between our bodies so she can regain her breath.
    She glances around the room and then directs her attention back at me and the sleepiness in her eyes starts to dissipate as she blinks up at me. “How did you get in here?”
    “Violet let me in,” I say and lean down to kiss her. She responds instantly, opening her jaw and letting my tongue deep into her mouth. She taste like chocolate and smells like strawberries as my tongue explores every inch of her mouth.
    By the time I pull away, we’re both panting, with fire scorching in our eyes, and I’ve got my hand up her shirt. Keeping my fingers near the bottom of her bra, I roll off her and lie beside her on my hip. She glances down in her hand at the piece of chocolate melting in her palm and then her face contorts with disgust. She puts it on the nightstand and then wipes her palm on the side of her jeans.
    “Okay, that’s