“Not laughing at you,” he commented, pulling my face up to his. “I’ve called you baby before, you crazy broad. Just call you Sugar more. You don’t want me to call you sweetheart, yeah?”

“No,” I said forcefully, the memory of Deke still making my skin crawl.

“Okay, then you get Sugar or baby when I’m loving on you. Callie when I need to say your name and Calliope when I need to make sure you’re paying attention,” he told me with a smile, leaning down to run his nose along mine.

“Okay,” I whispered into his mouth. “I love you. I’m sorry.”

“We’ve both been blaming ourselves for shit that has no blame,” he told me seriously. “No more telling me you’re sorry, Calliope.”

“I’m paying attention.”

“I know you are. No more telling me you’re sorry. No more saying sorry, period. You didn’t do anything wrong.” He leaned down a fraction of an inch to run his tongue lightly over my bottom lip. “We’re moving on from here.”

“Just like that?”

“I’ve been waiting for a year for you to come back to me. Not wasting any more time.”

“I’ve been waiting a year to come back to you, too.”

He groaned deep in his throat and kissed me hard, his tongue thrusting into my mouth.

“No more running, no more hiding,” he ordered as he pulled back and lifted my shirt over my head. “We’ll deal with shit as it comes—and you’re gonna find a shrink up here.”

“Okay,” I whimpered as he pulled off my bra. “I promise.”

He stood from the bed and ripped his cut and t-shirt off, throwing them across the room as he undid his belt buckle. “And you’re growing your hair back out,” he insisted, pointing his finger at me. “Your hair is goddamn shorter than mine.”

I laughed a little, feeling lighter than I could ever remember. “Farrah wanted to try something new.” I gasped as he pulled my pants and underwear down my legs, cursing when he couldn’t get them past my boots.

“Next time, tell Farrah to fuck off,” he mumbled as he tore at my boots, finally pulling them off my feet along with my pants.

“Fuck me, Calliope,” he swore and paused with his hands at the front of his pants, staring down at me. “It’s been so damn long.”

“Over three years,” I murmured back, scooting myself up the bed with a sultry smile on my face. “What are you waiting for?”

He was out of his pants and on top of me before I could stop giggling at the shock on his face.

“Your body’s so fuckin’ soft,” he murmured against my breast before pulling my nipple into his mouth. “Your tits are bigger.”

“Yeah, that and a few other things,” I moaned as his hand ran down between my legs.

“Oh yeah, what else?” he asked seriously, his hand stopping right above where I needed him.

“My ass, my thighs, my waist,” I answered in annoyance, moving my hips against his hand.

He leaned back on his heels between my legs, and I almost screamed in frustration at the break in contact.

“Don’t look any different here,” he murmured, running his fingers over my belly, “Except for these little marks that prove you carried my son.”

He scooted back even further as I watched his face go soft.

“These too?” he asked, wrapping his hands around my thighs. He glanced up at me, and at my nod, gave them a squeeze. “Can still almost wrap my hands around them, Sugar. And they’re unbelievable, because they point to my favorite place. You know where that is, yeah?”

I nodded again, my eyes blurry with tears as he catalogued my body with gentle hands and softer words. His hand ran up the inside of my thigh until his fingers were rubbing gently over my clit. “Favorite place,” he murmured again. “Where were we? Right, your ass.”

He pulled my leg over his lap and flipped me over before running his hands over my ass.

“Nah. You could never be too fat there,” he told me with a chuckle.

I pushed up on my hands, ready for battle, but paused when he pulled me up so my ass was resting against his hips. “Look at how much cushion I have there, Sugar. Big enough to fit my hands, soft enough that I can grab you like this—” he placed his hands on both cheeks, “and pull you apart if I need to.”

I moaned and dropped my head into his pillows, inhaling deeply as I smelled him there.

“You’re so fuckin’ sexy, Calliope.”

“I’m paying attention,” I muttered, pushing my hips against him.

“Yeah, baby, you are,” he groaned, running his fingers through the wetness between my thighs. “Wanna see your face, though.”

He turned me again, letting me bounce against the bed for a minute before coming back down until he was covering me completely.

“Wrap your legs around me, Callie.”

I did as he ordered, but the moment he started to push inside me, I stopped him.

“I need to know that you’ll put Will and me first,” I told him quietly. “I need to know that I can count on you to do what’s best for our family.”

He growled deep in his throat and plunged inside me, making me arch off the bed as his teeth clamped down on the side of my throat, and he began sucking hard. He pulled out slowly and slammed back in over and over, until both our bodies were covered in sweat and I had three different hickeys peppering my torso and neck, and then suddenly, he stopped.