The Redemption of Callie & Kayden

everything is going to be okay. That this will be my life. Just her and me.
    Forever.
    And for a second, the thought doesn’t scare the shit out of me.
Callie
    I can tell I’m scaring him and I start to shy away, fearing rejection. But then I see something in his eyes put there by years of beatings and God knows what else. I suddenly get it. Kayden can’t love me because he doesn’t understand love. He understands pain and hurt and disappointment, but not love. I know right then that I can’t tell him how I’m feeling, but I can show him.
    Needing to be close to him, I gather every speck of courage I have inside me and kiss him. He kisses me back but then he’s pulling away. My insides wind into knots, but I don’t back down. I press my lips to his again and just like that, through a second chance, he’s kissing me back.
    At first he’s gentle, his tongue soft against mine as he holds me on his lap. But suddenly the gentleness turns desperate and the next thing I know we’re falling backward. I land on top of him, with our mouths sealed together and our bodies perfectly aligned. His hands are all over me, on my neck, my back. They glide down to my backside and then they’re slipping underneath my dress, digging roughly into my skin.
    I tense at the intimate touch, but then remember that he’s seen and felt all of me. I relax, letting his hands explore my body. Without warning he turns us to the side and pulls my leg up over his hip. His hand slides higher, leaving a path of heat along my skin, and I almost burst into flames as he inches his fingers beneath my panties.
    I start to shiver, from nerves, from the cold, from the anticipation, but each feeling leaves me when he slips his fingers inside me. I let out an embarrassing moan and my body arches into him. He starts to move his fingers and causes small whimpers to leave my lips. I feel myself verging toward the edge, about to break and be free. But he abruptly stops and then he’s pulling away again. The moment starts to dissipate and fall into the sand as he sits up, moving me with him.
    “What are you doing?” I stutter, feeling flushed. “Is something wrong?”
    His fingertips burrow into my waist and he holds me firmly as he stands. Sand showers from our bodies as he wraps his arms underneath me and he holds me against his body. He hikes across the beach and toward the house, with me attached to his front.
    “I’m taking you inside,” he says softly, kissing me and then pulling back. “Before things get too out of hand.” He presses his lips to mine and gives me a delicate kiss. “We don’t want to be out in the beach… out in the open.” He brings his lips to mine as his shoes scuff in the gravel of the driveway. He nips at my bottom and I shiver uncontrollably. When he pulls back, his lips quirk. “We don’t want to be in the sand… it can get messy.”
    I try not to blush, but I’ve never been good at suppressing my embarrassment, and my cheeks are fiery hot.
    He walks around Luke’s truck and trots up the steps, bringing us into the porch light. He smiles as he takes me in and then moves one arm away from me to touch his finger to my cheek. “I’ve missed that, you know—the blushing. It’s adorable.”
    I blush even more, but I let it be—there’s nothing I can do about it. Smiling, he shifts my weight to the side, and I overlap my fingers behind his neck as he maneuvers the door open without setting me down. We stumble into the kitchen and his lips come down on mine as soon as his feet make it over the threshold.
    His hand travels up into my hair as he kisses me and walks through the house, bumping into the corner of the countertop and knocking his elbow against the wall of the hallway. It’s dark, but there’s a lamp on in the living room and also in the bedroom and a soft trail of moonlight filters through the windows.
    Kayden’s hands run down my back and slip underneath my dress as he turns the corner and stumbles through the doorway into the room Seth and I are sleeping in.
    “What if they come back?” I ask, breathless, and my lips feel bruised from all the kissing.
    Kayden adjust his arm so it’s under my backside and I can feel his hardness pressing against me. All there is between us are his jeans and my panties. “We’ll lock the door… unless… unless you don’t want to do this.” Without letting me go, he reaches back with one arm, shuts the door, and pushes the lock in.
    I love that he asks. I