Page 153 of Callan

“I’m not scared.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Okay. Maybe I am a little.”

“Do you want to know how great it feels to be scared and experience pleasure?”

“I already know how it feels.”

“Good answer,” he says as we reach the upper floor.

He pushes the door to his bedroom open, lets go of my hand, and goes straight to the windows, where he pulls the curtains closed.

Later, he turns off the lights.

The room is dim, with only a narrow ribbon of dark grayish light sneaking in through the curtains.

“Do you like dark rooms?” I ask. “I thought it would set the mood.”

He lights a couple of candles and places them on the mantel of the stone fireplace before turning on a floor lamp.

The room is perfect.

You can’t tell whether it’s five in the afternoon or seven in the morning.

He turns to me.

“I’ll go to the bathroom first,” he says, walking to the one across the corridor.

I stroll to the nearest one and brush my teeth.

Moments later, I stand in the middle of the bedroom, a little nervous, my bathrobe hugging my body.

His steps trail across the corridor before entering the bedroom.

He's ditched the bathrobe for a towel that barely sits around his hips.

“Can we do something that I want?” I say, driving my gaze down and watching a few drops of water glistening on his pecs.

“Sure,” he says, inching closer and sliding his hands inside my robe.

The belt falls as the robe opens under his touch.

“What is it that you want?” he asks.

“A repeat of last night?” I say, standing naked in front of him.

His eyes narrow with a flicker of light.

“Is there anything in particular that you’d like me to do?”

I answer with a smile.

24

MACKENZIE

Let’s make something clear.I hate giving up control.

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