Redeeming (Red Lips & White Lies Book 2)
Redeeming: Part 1 – Chapter 9

Not everyone is going to think you’re beautiful and perfect. They’re wrong though. Stupid twats.

—Caitlin’s Secret Thoughts

In the end, Callen and I compromised. He’s going to talk to Maddox when he gets home Friday. That gives me two more days before this whole thing gets a lot more complicated. But when Callen pulls his phone from his pocket as we walk into the condo later that night, it’s not relief I see. It’s torture.

“What’s wrong?”

He looks up from his phone but doesn’t make eye contact as he shoves it in his pocket. “Nothing.”

“Callen . . .” I run my thumb over his cheekbone and cup his cheek in my hand as a bad feeling washes over me. This isn’t about him and me. This isn’t Maddox. It’s something else. “The truth. Remember?”

He closes his eyes and sinks into my touch.

“Is it your dad?” I push, gently thinking back to what started everything yesterday. “You can tell me, you know? I won’t say a word. I promise.”

His eyes open, and this strong man . . . my strong man, seems nearly broken.

“I can’t Cait. We told him we wouldn’t say anything,” he groans painfully.

“We?” I push a little harder.

“My siblings.” He wraps his arms around me, dragging me to him.

“They each have a spouse to help them. Let me help you,” I sink into his chest as his chin rests on my head. “Is he sick?” I whisper the words, hoping they’re wrong.

“Yeah, he’s sick. It’s cancer. Multiple myeloma.” He forces out the words like a physical fist clenches his throat, and I can’t even imagine what that feels like. “We’re waiting for the test results so they can come up with a treatment plan. That was Mom letting me know he has an appointment tomorrow after practice.”

“Callen . . .” I tip my chin up to look at his face, and the pain in those green eyes is crushing as I press my lips to his jaw. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere, and I can handle anything you throw my way. Promise me you won’t forget that.”

“I promise,” he whispers as his fingers tangle in my hair. “I’m going to take the dogs out. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“You sure?” I press up on my toes and ghost my mouth over his. “I can take them out.”

The look he gives me speaks volumes and yet manages to tell me nothing new.

This man is protective of everyone in his circle.

His family. His friends. Me . . .

He kisses my forehead and smiles against my skin. “Go upstairs, kitten. I’ll be back in, in a few minutes.”

“Yes, sir,” I whisper and bite down on my lip to hide the grin that immediately springs to my face when his eyes flood with desire.

I watch as Cupcake and Meatball trot over to their leashes, knowing what’s coming and waiting with their non-existent tails wagging a mile a minute. I’m not sure whether to breathe a sigh of relief or hold my breath waiting for the next big hit.

Callen

“Caitlin . . .” I reach over her the next morning and hit snooze on her cellphone, silencing the alarm that’s been going off for the past five minutes. “Kitten . . . it’s time to wake up.”

“Hmm . . . no,” she mumbles, so fucking pretty, it almost hurts to look at her.

I slide her wild hair away from her face and skim my lips over her temple as she lies draped across my chest, her legs tangled with mine. Her body is cold, like a tiny freezer I wish didn’t have to wake so soon.

I spent half the night watching her sleep, wondering how the hell we got here. Trying to figure out the best way to get to the next place with the least amount of damage. Because I know at the end of the day, there’s going to be damage. And whether she wants to think about it or not, we’ll both be the ones dealing with it.

The thing is, Caitlin Beneventi is worth it.

She’s worth it all.

The shit show that’s coming from Maddox.

Probably from our families.

Maybe from our friends.

She’s always been worth it. I was the one who never was.

I wasn’t enough. Wasn’t ready.

Not for what I knew came with being with her.

She’s not the girl you date—she’s the one you marry.

I smile, thinking about it because anyone else would say I was nuts even contemplating it.

Caitlin is loud. She’s a smart-ass. Her sarcasm knows no bounds, and her words are cutting like the sharpest knife.

You don’t look at her and see soft. You don’t see the girl next door who needs to be protected. None of the typical things guys see when they say they know their girl is the kind you make your wife. But she’s better than that. She’s strong and fierce and protective and fucking capable. She’s sexy without even trying. And when no one’s watching, she’s soft and sweet with the biggest damn heart.

I’m screwed because I’m pretty sure I’ve been in love with her for the better part of four goddamned years.

“Come on, Cait. You’ve got to get up. You’ve got to go to work, and I have practice.” I flip her over to her back and take the tip of one nipple in my mouth.

Caitlin’s hands slide into my hair and tug as she cradles me between her legs. “Gotta wake up, baby.”

“This is so much better than the alarm clock though,” she murmurs softly as she wraps a leg around my hips and rubs herself along the length of my morning wood. “I think you should fuck me first thing every morning.”

“Oh, kitten, I love the way your mind works.” I move my mouth down her chest and over her ribs, dragging my tongue around her belly button. “How about I wake you up with my mouth between your legs, feasting on this pretty cunt every day?”

Caitlin drags her nails over my scalp and pushes my head down, eager for me to make good on my offer.

“Fuck, Cait. Why the hell did we wait so damn long?” I spread her thighs, settling in, and then lick her hot pussy through damp, silk panties.

So fucking pretty.

My kitten purrs beneath me as her tart taste coats my tongue.

“Callen,” she moans without a care in the world. “I think we need to make up for lost time.”

“Such a greedy girl. I need to get you ready for me, Caitie.” I graze my teeth along her sex, and my girl squirms against the bed.

Her breath comes out in sharp pants as she quivers beneath me. “I’ve been ready for fucking years, Callen. I want it now. I want you.”

Pushing aside the soft silk, I drag my finger through her drenched sex, then push inside as she moans.

I suck her swollen clit into my mouth, and growl against her pussy as her juices coat my face.

Caitlin’s knees snap up around my shoulders as she rocks her hips up, fucking my face.

Tugging my hair and pulling me closer until she’s coming.

I pull back and look up at this beautiful woman in my bed.

Fuck . . . She’s. Mine. She’s all fucking mine.

“That’s one, kitten. You ready for two?” I ask as I roll a condom down my fisted cock and drop a knee on the bed.

“Fuck, yes, Callen.”

I flip her over to her knees and smack her ass, leaving a bright-red handprint on her perfect porcelain skin. My chest rumbles as I drag my tongue along the mark. “Fucking love seeing my hands on your perfect skin.”

Caitlin cries out and throws her head back as she leans her ass into me. “Fuck, yes . . . More, Callen. I want more.”

“Gonna take this ass one day too, kitten.”

I drag a thumb through the cum dripping down the inside of her creamy thighs, then up around the tight ring of her ass, running it around the puckered skin, and she pushes back against me. “Promise?” she moans, and I push in just a tiny bit.

“Has anyone ever had your ass, Caitie?” I growl and pull my thumb out.

She thrashes against the bed, shaking her head. “No.”

“Gonna have to fix that, baby.”

Caitlin’s forehead falls to the bed as a scream rips from her throat, and I plunge my cock into her pretty pussy and my thumb into her tight, perfect little ass.

Fuck me . . . My cock weeps from the hot, wet, tight grip of her pussy as I set a punishing rhythm, fucking desperate to get us there.

Her black hair falls around her face as she lifts her head to watch me fuck her before I wrap it around my fist and pound into her, tugging her up.

Her back arches as her pussy pulses, and my girl meets me thrust for fucking thrust. “Fuck, Caitie. You’re taking me so good. Tell me how it feels.”

She drops her head to my shoulder and crashes her lips over mine, pushing her tongue into my mouth between pants. “So fucking good.”

She bounces on my cock.

“So fucking full,” she mewls and drops down again, her breath catching in her throat.

I grab her face and hold her to me as we kiss hard and hungry.

Desperate for each other.

Caitlin’s cunt milks my cock as her body vibrates. “So close, Callen.”

I snap my hips against hers, over and over, until she’s crying out and shaking.

Fucking her hard and fast until my muscles burn and her body screams.

Caitlin’s orgasm is explosive when I finally let her come on my cock.

Red-hot heat tugs at the base of my spine as my orgasm barrels through me, so intense, so fucking perfect, I wonder how I ever went without this woman.

I take her mouth one more time before we both fall to the bed, covered in a sheen of sweat and tangled limbs.

“My God, Callen. Maybe you shouldn’t wake me up for work like that every day,” she whispered with a raw voice.

I drag her mouth back to mine and lick into it over and over, not willing to let go.

“Why the fuck not, kitten?” I ask when we’re both out of breath.

“Because I’m totally calling out of work today so we can do that again.”