SHELBY WASN’T SURE if she was doing this more for Callen or herself. Maybe it was a tie. But she needed to do something to cool down this powder keg of anger and what faster way to do it than replacing it with a powder keg of lust.
Callen seemed to have some hesitation about that, though, and he pulled back from what she was certain was a darn good kiss to look at her.
“You don’t have to do soother sex for me,” he said.
She gave that a few seconds of thought. “Then we have to have soother sex for me. Because I need it.”
That rid him of the hesitation, but she might have helped that along with another kiss and by sliding her hand over his erection. Shelby had figured that was the fastest way to end this conversation, and she was right.
Callen made a manly sound of hunger and went after her. A full, long, deep kiss, complete with some quick grappling. This wouldn’t be finesse sex—which she knew he was really good at, too. No, this was fast, rough and completely satisfying. Along with an orgasm, it would exhaust them enough that they would be able to discuss Avis Odell without her using every word of profanity in her vocabulary.
“This feels like I’m using you,” Callen grumbled with his mouth against hers.
“No. I’m using you. Big difference.” She considered getting him out of his shirt, but no-finesse meant the removal of only the necessary clothing. Instead, she unzipped her own jeans. “And just to cover all the emotional bases, there are no strings attached to this. It’s just sex.”
Sex with the man she loved, but Shelby wisely omitted that part.
Good thing, too, because Callen accepted what she’d said and got right back into the swing of foreplay. He kissed her neck while he got her out of her boots and jeans. It felt strange since she was still wearing her coat and shirt, but the thought of “strange” went away when his hand got busy between their bodies. Shelby knew he was just getting unzipped and freed from his shorts, but his knuckles did some interesting bumps and brushes along the way.
That orgasm nearly happened right then, right there.
She was hot, ready, and she wanted him in her now.
However, the urges of fast, furious, grappling sex had to pause for a sec to consider the logistics of an office orgasm. The first obstacle came when Callen lifted her, wrapping her legs around him and trying to put her back against the door. That didn’t work because there were hooks and shelves there. She cursed the idiot who’d designed those obstacles.
Callen cursed, too, when he glanced around all the wall space. Again, idiot design because there was no space. Ditto for the floor, though Shelby didn’t figure that out until she had already started dragging Callen in that direction. He stopped her, glanced around again, his attention landing on the adjoining bathroom.
Also postage-stamp size.
He must have discarded that notion because Callen raked what appeared to be well-organized files, pens and such off the left side of his massive desk. The stuff tumbled onto the meager floor space.
Then, thanks to Callen, Shelby tumbled onto the desk.
If it was uncomfortable, she didn’t notice. That was because Callen tumbled onto her, and one of the most interesting parts of his body was aligned with the neediest one of hers.
“Condom,” he growled.
More profanity. More nudging and bumping while he grabbed one from his wallet. Thank goodness he’d replenished his stash, and this time she saw three of them in there.
His eyes were wild and stormy when he looked at her, and he had on his warrior face. She hadn’t needed anything else to get her to the flashpoint heat stage, but that alone would have done it.
He kissed her when he plunged into her, and she quickly realized that was to muffle the rather loud sound of pleasure that she made. He already knew her and probably didn’t want to alert Havana as to what they were doing.
Mercy, he was so good at this. Moving at just the right pace and hitting just the right spot. It was enough to make her crazy. Even better, it was enough to make her come.
Callen kissed her for that, too, covering her mouth with his when the orgasm roared through her. He didn’t stop kissing, either, until he probably thought it was safe. But he didn’t stop moving. He continued those deep thrusts, giving her every last bit of pleasure that she could get from the climax.
And because she knew him now, she could tell he was close to finding his release. So Shelby lifted her hips and helped him along with that. It worked. One last big push. He pulled her into his arms. His mouth pressed against her neck.
Only then did Shelby moan out his name.
He lifted his head, grinned, and he made the moment even more incredible by kissing her. Slow and gentle this time. Tender. With way more emotion than he’d probably intended.
It was perfect.
But it didn’t last.
All Shelby did was move to her left, and she felt the “thing” spring to life. Some kind of lopsided blob of pine needles. With a rattle of rolling eyes and a slitting mouth, it began to sing “Holly Jolly Christmas.”
* * *
CALLEN TRIED TO stand back and just watch the activity going on in the living room at Buck’s house. Something that Rosy and Shelby were doing, too, as Lucy and Mateo chatted with Sarah and Dan Millhouse and their daughter, Katie.
Chatted was a loose interpretation of what was going on, though.
Sarah and Dan were talking with regular input from Katie, and the conversation ranged from Santa to hobbies to their favorite subjects in school. But Lucy and Mateo were in their quiet, eyes-down mode that some might mistake for sullen. As opposed to just guarded.
Callen had to give it to the Millhouses, though. They didn’t give up. Sarah, who led the chatting charge, just continued on about how excited she was that Lucy and Mateo might come live with them. Katie piped in about wanting a brother and sister. Dan talked about them having their own rooms and their pet golden retriever named Jelly Beans.
Mateo and Lucy remained guarded.
“And here are some more cookies,” Rosy announced, coming to the rescue.
She breezed into the living room with a fresh plate of sugar cookies. All of them were in the shape of armadillos. Heaven knew where Rosy had found that particular cookie cutter, but anyone who’d ever seen the sweet treats probably wished that it would disappear.
It was the second round of cookies that Rosy had served. Along with hot chocolate, cider, homemade fudge, gingerbread men and green Rice Krispies treats in the shape of Christmas trees. It was enough food to give the entire town a sugar high along with extreme weight gain, and Callen was afraid there’d be even more if the guardedness continued. That was why he reluctantly decided to try to help.
He glanced at Shelby, a “go for it” look passing between them, and Callen strolled from the back of the room over to the sofas and chair where they all sat. He’d already introduced himself, of course, had already mentioned that he’d once been one of Buck’s foster kids, but now it was time for a deeper conversation.
And he could think of nothing.
He didn’t want to bring up Buck’s chemo or the hell that Mateo and Lucy had been through before they’d come here. Definitely no mention or thoughts of Avis Odell—though that was on his mind. Avis had threatened a Christmas Eve return, and that was only two days away. Still, he wouldn’t let the gut-twisting anger of that interfere with this.
“Did Lucy tell you she’s going to be a bridesmaid in Rosy and Buck’s wedding?” Callen threw out there. “It’s on Christmas Eve.”
Sarah and Dan smiled. “How wonderful,” Sarah gushed, turning to the girl. “What color is your dress?”
“Red,” Lucy answered, and for some reason she gave Shelby an uneasy glance. Something passed between them, too.
“I’m sure that color will look beautiful on you.” More gushing from Sarah.
Then silence.
“The three of you should come to the wedding, too,” Rosy insisted, and she hurried into the dining room and came back with an invitation. Sarah wasn’t so gushy when she saw the picture of Billy on the front, but she still smiled.
“I think we can manage that,” the woman said after getting the nod from her husband.
The gushing returned, all from Rosy now, who was thrilled they’d be coming, though Rosy did feel the need to tell them that they’d all be seeing the ceremony through video feed. That brought on a more detailed than necessary explanation about Buck.
Then the silence came again.
And lingered.
“Shelby can lift a hay bale all by herself,” Lucy said, her voice hardly louder than a whisper.
Callen barely bit off a laugh, but the comment got the attention off the kids and onto Shelby, who joined them in the living room. “I’m a woman of many talents,” Shelby joked.
Yes, she was. And Callen wasn’t joking about that. Nor was he just thinking about sex, either. She had a knack for lifting dark moods, and she even had Mateo and Lucy smiling a little.
“Lucy’s a wonderful cook,” Shelby offered. “And Mateo’s great with the horses.”
“Except for Sweet Caroline,” Mateo muttered.
Callen was about to say that nobody was good with that she-witch, but he thought of something else that might brighten the mood and stir some conversation. “I wanted to give Mateo and Lucy horses for Christmas.”
“For real?” Mateo asked.
“For real,” Callen assured him. “It’s the two horses that Shelby trained. A bay mare and a paint gelding.”
“And their temperaments are much different from Sweet Caroline,” Shelby added. “I’ll chip in my own gift of boarding them for as long as you need.”
“For real?” Lucy that time.
Callen expected questions or concerns about the logistics of horse ownership from the Millhouses, maybe even a couple more “for real?” questions. But he got more than concerns and questions. Lucy actually squealed, like a girl. Of course, considering she was a girl, that wasn’t a huge surprise. But the hug she gave him surprised the heck out of him. Ditto for the one that Mateo gave him after his sister had finished. Then the pair rushed to Shelby to hug her, too.
Apparently, his first attempt at Christmas shopping had been a success and an even-better one with Shelby’s offer of the boarding.
“That’s a wonderful gift,” Sarah exclaimed, and she went to Callen and Shelby and hugged them, as well. Dan shook their hands, pumping enthusiastically, and Katie wanted to know if she’d be able to ride them, too, and was assured that she could do that. And more. That maybe Shelby could sell a horse to Katie, too.
“Maybe we can get Lucy and Mateo saddles and tack for Christmas?” Sarah asked and got another nod from Dan.
Well, this just kept on rolling in the right direction, and there was suddenly no more silence to fill. The talk turned to a very happy conversation about horses, names, riding times and such. Callen got another hug from Mateo.
And then it happened.
Lucy and Mateo were on the couch, not hugging the Millhouses, but actually chatting. The ice had been broken, and Callen could see the beginnings of what might be a perfect fit.
For a moment, just a moment, it was bittersweet. The thought that the kids wouldn’t be here with Buck and Rosy. However, any trace of bitterness faded, leaving just the sweet. They’d still have Buck and Rosy. Shelby, too. But they’d also have a family. And Callen would be fulfilling the promise he’d made to Buck.
There couldn’t be anything bittersweet about that.
Couldn’t be.
The sound pulled Callen from his thoughts. A vehicle coming to a stop in front of the house. They’d had many visitors over the past couple of days, so it wasn’t a surprise that there’d be more. But the surprise came when Callen went to the door.
And saw Avis.
The man stepped out of an old pickup truck, and smiling, he started toward Callen. The rage came, the very stuff that Callen had been trying to punch deep down into his gut. He seriously doubted that he’d have much success punching it down right now.
“What the heck is he doing here?” Shelby mumbled, coming up behind Callen.
“Stay put,” Callen told her, and shutting the front door, he charged out toward Avis. “Get right back in your truck,” Callen warned him. “You’re not welcome here.”
“Now, is that any way to be?” His tone was smug. “I’m just here for a friendly reminder about that money you owe me.”
Callen heard the door open and close behind him, then the running footsteps. He didn’t even need to look back because he knew it was Shelby. Obviously, one of her many talents wasn’t listening when he told her to stay put. He expected her to try to pull him back so that he wouldn’t start a fight with this piece of shit.
But no. That didn’t happen.
It was Shelby who charged forward, and she balled her hand into a fist. A fist that she then rammed right into Avis’s jaw.
The man’s head snapped back, and the rage flared hot and red in his eyes. For a couple of seconds, anyway. Then he must have remembered that getting punched by a woman half his size wasn’t something a macho moron like him should be whining about. Plus, there was a better way for Avis to get Callen’s goat.
“You’re gonna just stand there and let your girlie punch me,” Avis asked. “Because she hits like a powder puff.”
Callen groaned. That was so the wrong thing to say, and he reached for Shelby, a little too late. Shelby slugged Avis again, and this time blood flew from the man’s nose. She followed it up with a kick to his balls.
Nothing tamped down the rage that time. It was there, in Avis’s suddenly watering eyes, but so were the weak whimpering moans he made while he cupped his nuts and dropped to his knees. Shelby would have gone after the man again, but this time Callen managed to snag her around her waist.
“I will not let that sack of turds come here and say anything,” she snarled. “And I don’t punch like a sonofabitching powder puff.”
Well, the “say anything” wasn’t going to happen in the next couple of minutes because Avis was still mute from the pain that Callen imagined was searing through him. He looked pale, clammy and ready to puke.
He puked.
Callen moved Shelby back even farther so it wouldn’t get on her boots.
As temper searing—and disgusting—as this encounter was, the puke and the pain actually helped Callen rein in his own rage.
The same could not be said of Shelby.
She was cursing and still trying to get at Avis, kicking and punching at him. Callen and she ended up spinning around a couple of times while he fought to keep a grip on her.
“You get out of here, you sonofabitch,” Shelby growled. And, yes, it was a growl.
The threat and accompanying growl must have put the fear of God—or in this case, the fear of Shelby—into Avis because the man managed to get to his feet. While still cupping his balls and hunched over in pain, he hobbled back to his truck and got in. The man gulped in some deep breaths, started the engine and then lowered his window.
“You’re gonna pay for this,” Avis snapped, the warning aimed at Callen. “You’re gonna pay big.”
The words and expression were mean enough, but when Shelby broke loose from Callen’s grip, the man’s mean expression turned to panic. Avis hit the accelerator and sped away.