The Redemption of Callie & Kayden

love it even more that I want to do it. I want to be with him. I can be with him. Only months ago, the idea seemed out of reach, nonexistent, impossible. But now, with him, everything inside me has changed and my heart and soul aren’t so shadowed anymore. He is my light and I hope one day that I can be his.
    I move my lips toward him. “I want to be with you.”
    He doesn’t say anything else. His lips collide with mine. He starts walking again as his hands stray to my waist, fingers dipped inward and leaving paths of sweltering heat on my skin. He lowers us onto the bed, sits up a little, and shoves Seth’s bag off the edge. Then he maneuvers his body over mine and our lips reconnect with a shock of static. When his tongue enters my mouth, I knot my fingers in his hair and steer his face closer, wanting all of him.
    “Callie,” he groans as his hands round to my stomach. His fingers graze along my skin and send a coil of heat down between my legs.
    My back bows up into him as I relish the feel of his tongue on mine. If I could wish for one thing, it would be that I could always feel this way, completely and blissfully consumed by someone else. No, not just by someone else. By Kayden. My legs move around his hips, so I’m opened up to him, and his weight bears down on me. He’s holding himself up with his arm propped to the side of my head and his other hand moves up the front of my dress until it reaches the edge of my bra. For a split second I feel uneasiness choke inside me, but I remind myself that this is Kayden and he would never hurt me—he’ll only ever protect me, no matter what it costs him.
    His fingers sneak under and cup my breast and my nipple promptly hardens. My knees constrict around his waist as the pad of his thumb grazes across my nipple. My head falls back as I let out a moan and Kayden begins grinding his hips against me. He does it over and over again, our bodies connecting and colliding. There’s undying passion in each movement and I forget where I am. I exist only in this moment and every other moment in my life is dead. My nails dig into his shoulder blades as I feel myself rising toward the stars outside the window and seconds later I fall back to earth. Panting loudly, I stretch my fingers out as he stills.
    Then he’s sitting up and grabbing my arm. Moving off the bed, he pulls me up so I’m sitting on the edge of the bed and he’s standing in front of me. He reaches for the bottom of my dress, and with one swift movement, he pulls it over my head. My heart jumps inside my chest as my hair falls to my shoulders. He leans over me and his hand slides up my back to the clasp of my bra. My chest rises and falls as he flicks the clasp open and my bra falls off my shoulders. I’m choking up again, but whisper at my heart to calm down as I reach for his shirt. His breathing becomes unsteady as I slip my hand up his chest and bring my body up, so I’m standing in front of him and his shirt is pulled up. One of my hands rests above his heart, beating unsteadily against my palm.
    I swallow hard as I take in the scar on his side, still healing, and I trace a path around it. Tears sting my eyes as I think about how it got there, what he went through, what he must be going through.
    “Callie…” Kayden says and he hooks a finger under my chin so I’ll look up at him. He lowers his hand and his fingers circle my wrist. Bringing my hand up to his lips, he kisses the inside of my wrist and I shudder from the delicate touch of his breath. “I’m okay.”
    No, you’re not.
I want to say.
Your father stabbed you and you took the full weight of it. You can’t be okay.
    He lets go of my hand and reaches behind his neck. With a soft tug, he slips his shirt off the rest of the way and drops it onto the floor beside my dress and bra. His hair is sticking up and his lips are red from kissing me so roughly. My gaze moves from his face to the scars. Most of them are small, but some aren’t. The largest one tracks up his chest and looks coarse.
    “I fell on a rake when my father hit me,” he explains in a solemn voice, like it means nothing. Like it’s something that just happens and he’s moved on and forgotten it.
    I want to cry for him. I trace my finger up the scar, feeling the bumps and imagining how painful it must have been. “Kayden, I—”
    He silences me with his lips as he falls down on me and lays us back onto the bed. After his tongue searches every inch of my mouth, he