Page 39 of Power

She lifted her chin like a queen surveying her court, her lips curving into that confident half-smile.

The streetlight gilded her cheekbones. Her eyes, dark as obsidian, losing the green hue, shone with intention.

“I don’t want a bar,” she said, voice steady as silk. “I want you, Leon.”

Her words stole the breath from my lungs.

She was so fucking beautiful. So stunning, I couldn’t think when I was around her. And still she drew me, like a beacon of light in the darkness. It held a sensual promise, and a direct and unwavering pulse of desire and need shot through me.

“Rest assured, Leon, this choice is entirely mine. Clearly, you’re not forcing me in any manner. Do you want me as much as I want you?”

The question hung between us, soft and impossible to deny.

I closed the space and brushed my lips lightly over hers,tasting the sweetness of her breath. I held back the flood of desire that threatened to pull me under.

“There is nothing in the world I’d rather do than make love to you, Calista.”

She kissed me in return, her urgency reflecting my own. When she released me, her dilated pupils betrayed her desire, glowing like embers poised to spark. The car glided to a stop in the driveway of my Athens house.

We rushed from the car and into the house without uttering a word. The moment the lock clicked, shutting off the rest of the world, an untamed energy surrounded us. It was a tense, living, breathing thing. She positioned herself on the living room threshold and stared at me. Her face was flushed, and her eyes full of undisguised desire that matched the storm thundering through my brain.

Her silk dress clung to curves I was aching to discover with slow precision.

“Undress me,” she commanded, and I stepped closer, the final step toward the precipice of our future together.

Eleven

CALISTA

The surge of brazenness that coursed through my veins as soon as I heard the door lock was electrifying, as shocking as an unexpected thunderclap that left me breathless and disoriented.

The Cali who had always second-guessed herself, always hesitated, seemed to have vanished into thin air. The woman who had grown restrained and shut off from the world was eerily silent.

The layers of armor I had built around myself, the icy facade I presented to the world, the mask that whispered for me to shrink into the shadows—all seemed to dissolve in that instant.

The attack had reduced me to a mere shadow of my former self, so much so that most days, I stared at my reflection in the mirror and struggled to recognize the woman looking back at me.

The memory of the Cali I once was faded more with each passing day. That Cali, who had brimmed with confidence and self-assuredness, who knew exactly what she wanted both in life and in her intimate moments, felt like a distant ghost from a dream long forgotten.

She was bold, fearless, and embraced her sexuality with open arms and unabashed audacity.

I longed for her return.

I missed her presence.

Yet, despite the daring flicker of boldness I had shown tonight, I remained uncertain if that version of Cali was still alive within me.

I desperately hoped that she was merely buried beneath layers of fear and caution, waiting to be coaxed back to life so she could embrace herself again in all her radiant glory.

Was I deluding myself?

As I stood there, my heart pounding, daring Leon to undress me with a silent challenge, was I truly ready for her to roar back to life?

I was pleading for the spark within me to ignite into a blazing fire, but was I prepared for the intensity of the flames that would follow?

There was only one way to find out, and I found myself standing on the precipice of that very opportunity, hoping fervently that Leon wouldn’t falter.

By the way he fixed his gaze on me, like a wild animal contemplating the release of a caged beast, he seemed to be weighing the situation with careful consideration.

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