His Hollow Heart (Fallen Kingdom Book 1)
His Hollow Heart: Chapter 29

Callum

Bella asked if she could sleep in my room tonight. Before the complete sentence left her mouth, I was immediately hit with a rush of panic. She slept in here before, but I stayed awake the entire time. A handful of caffeine pills and a book and I stayed awake with no problem. Although, I did pay for it the next day.

Tonight, I have to sleep. If I’m not at my best tomorrow, things could go very bad. I need to be alert and focused and make sure my plans are made clear at my meeting.

Bella comes out wearing nothing but the white tee shirt I gave her. If I thought she was beautiful before, then there is no word for the way she looks right now. She’s a mixture of terms rolled into one perfect body. Stunning, alluring, bewitching, and beddable. The way her wet hair hangs down, dampening the shirt until it’s see-through. Her perky tits look at me like a delectable dinner waiting to be devoured. And don’t get me started on those long legs. They’re squeezable, bitable, and fuck if I’m not rock-hard.

She walks toward the bed and I straighten my back against the headboard. My book slowly closes and drops to my side. I clear my throat. “Feeling better?”

She shrugs a shoulder and sits down in the same spot she claimed last time she slept in my bed. “Little bit. I think my nerves are just shot for the night. Hopefully sleep will help.”

I wanna grab her and claim her. Pull her on my lap and let her ride my cock. But, it’s not the right time. She’s depleted and she’s right, she needs sleep, as do I.

Her head rests against the pillow and her eyes close. Sitting there beside her, I watch her, wondering what thoughts are circulating through her mind right now. Is she remembering the attack of that sadistic man? His body falling lifelessly on hers? Is she thinking about marrying me? Or running away somewhere I’ll never replace her?

That last thought is like a knife to the chest and I think I’d take the knife over the possibility of never seeing her again. I know things can get dangerous here but I’m fixing it. I’ll make it safe. I’ll protect her at all costs.

Minutes later, she’s fast asleep. I slide down on my side and lie there, watching her. Until I can no longer keep my eyes open, and she drifts into my dream.

“No!” I scream at the top of my lungs. “Put it down. That’s mine!”

Vincent holds up the picture and shreds it, piece by piece by piece. I watch as fragments of my picture fall slowly to the ground.

“You’re delusional if you think any girl will ever love you. You’re unlovable. But mostly, you’re nothing but a fuck-up. You can’t even follow one goddamn rule, Caden!”

“My name isn’t Caden. I’m Callum.”

“You’re Caden Ellis,” he shouts so loudly his voice echoes through my head, leaving me with a splitting headache.

My head wobbles as I try to brace it on my neck and I realize the pain isn’t from his screams, it’s from the punches he’s laying on my skull.

“You’re worthless. Scum. A piece of rotten shit. Now pull yourself together and get your ass downstairs. Your mom wants to have dinner with you.”

“Cal,” I hear Bella say, “Cal, please. Stop.”

I blink a few times, adjusting my eyes to the light she must have turned on. “I’m awake,” I spit out. “It’s okay. I’m awake.”

“What just happened?”

I can see her chest heaving and it tells me all I need to know. She just witnessed me at my worst.

“It was just a bad dream.” I take her hand and lead her back to the bed.

Instead of lying down, she sits, so I do the same. “Dreams happen when you’re sleeping. You were not sleeping. You were scrambling through the room like you were trying to get away from someone. You were crying, Cal.” I notice a tear slide down her cheek and I sweep it away with my thumb.

Cupping her face, I look into her eyes. “I was sleeping.”

She shakes her head, not buying it. I was sleeping, though.

“I have night terrors,” I tell her. “It’s happened every night since I killed Vincent. Nothing I do makes them stop.” Bella throws herself into my arms and begins sobbing. “Hey, it’s okay.”

“No,” her head rests on my chest, “it’s not okay. It’s all my fault. If I’d never left, you wouldn’t have endured all this pain. He destroyed you.”

I tip her chin up until she’s looking at me. “He broke me, but I’m putting myself back together now that I have you.”

Bella presses her lips to mine. The taste of her salty tears seeps into my mouth and I welcome them because they’re hers. I welcome all of her as her hand slides down my pants, grabbing hold of my cock.

Then I remember what she went through tonight, what she just witnessed. “Are you sure?”

“More sure than I’ve ever been about anything.” She presses her lips to mine again, chastising my mouth like it’s not meant to speak. As if it’s only meant for her to kiss.

Slowly, I lie her back, blanketing her body with mine. Her hips buck upward, seeking friction from me as I rest between her legs.

“Yes,” she says. I pull back and look at her with questioning eyes. “I’ll marry you, Cal.”

Every thought escapes me as I fall into her.

I’m not even sure when I got rid of our clothes. Lying there on top of her, naked and hungry, I need to give her something she should have gotten the first time. As rough as I’d like this to be, as much as I want to sink my claws into her flawless skin, she deserves to have what she should have gotten her first time.

Her legs are bent at her knees around me, arms draped at her sides. I pick one up and press my lips to her wrist while watching her. Curious eyes stare back at me as I softly kiss my way up her arm.

Bella sucks in her bottom lip. “What are you doing?”

“Shh,” I say, pressing a gentle finger to her lips.

I’m not sure if I know how to be tender, but since I am the only man Bella will ever be with and she didn’t get sweet her first time, I’m going to try like hell for her.

My mouth glides to the shell of her ear. I set her arm back down then move to the next one. Sliding up and down, my cock rubs against her. My attention is all on her—on us.

I don’t want her to be miserable. I need her to take me out of my own misery. I set her other arm down and draw in a deep breath, filling my lungs with her scent, then I exhale into her mouth. She reciprocates the kiss, sliding her tongue in and tangling it in a web of desire with mine.

Sliding down her body, I kiss every inch in a trail down to the parted lips of her pussy. Sucking hard on her clit, I don’t stop as she cries out in moans of pleasure. Her fingers tangle in my hair, tugging and pulling as I push two fingers inside of her.

She’s so wet for me. Just for me. Only ever for me. Mine.

My tongue sweeps up and down, my taste buds smoothing against the sensitive skin.

Her back lifts off the bed and she pushes my face further into her. My fingers move faster, pumping in and out, and I let out a low growl when I feel her clench around them. I catch myself grinding my dick against the mattress, but it’s not enough. I need to be inside of her.

“Come for me, baby.”

And she does, proof of her orgasm spilling out of her. I keep my fingers moving and she keeps riding my face as I lick up her sweet juices.

Once I pull them out, I slide up her moistened body and give her a taste of herself. She takes what’s given to her and pulls my head closer, tangling her tongue with mine.

My hand moves up her side sluggishly, her skin shivering beneath my touch. “Fuck me, Cal,” her words whisper against my lips.

My hand keeps moving until I’m cradling her head in my palm. With my other hand pressed to the mattress, I line my cock with her entrance and slide in.

I move in slowly and subtly. Taking in every second of the warmth surrounding me. Moving in and out, up and down, circling my hips and letting her pussy engulf me.

“Fuck, Bella.”

My senses become keen. Every touch is like fireworks igniting inside of me. Every taste is like a gourmet meal after starving for weeks. She’s inevitably the most perfect, most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.

Our sweaty bodies meld together as we move from the bed to the floor until she’s pressed against the wall and I’m behind her naked body. My hands lay over hers on the wall as I slide out, slow and steady, then fill her back up. Her head drops back onto my shoulder and I suck at the thin skin of her neck.

“Cal,” she groans when I fist her hair and pick up my pace.

My entire body fills up, ready to combust, and we release together.

Slowing my movements, until we’re both standing still with me inside of her, it hits me that she said yes. It might not be for love, yet. But one day, Bella will love me the way a woman loves her husband. She will give me kids and I’ll give her an heir to a billion-dollar fortune. They will never want for anything.

“So, we’re getting married?” I smile through a kiss on her shoulder.

I pull out and Bella turns around to face me while my hands rest on her hips. “It seems I don’t have much choice. I’ll help you free yourself from Byron’s chains, under one condition. You have to tell me everything. About your family, about my family, about Mrs. Webster. I need to know where Trent is. I don’t like him, but I want to know he’s not dead. I need you to tell me what you meant when you said Mark and Trent were the reason we weren’t together.”

I kiss her again and again, speaking against her mouth. “I’ll tell you everything you need to know tomorrow. I have to take a short trip to the main island in the morning, and when I return, we will talk. Right now, you need sleep.”

She nods in agreement.

I will tell her everything. Tomorrow.

That night, I fell asleep and slept through the night for the first time in eight years.