Reese couldn’t quite recall when she’d had so many butterflies fluttering about inside of her. There had been many kisses and couplings in the past, but even just thinking about Callum made her a little exhilarated, anxious to see him, and a little warm around the edges besides. It was like she was being chased by a sunburst of color that looked something like Katie’s colors; rosy pinks, vivid fire reds and oranges, and something a little darker and heavier, an earthy reddish brown that was like the pulsating heart of the earth. If it had sound, Reese was sure it would beat in time with deep beat of a hand drum.

He hadn’t done more than kiss her though. He had kissed her lips, her face, her lids, her neck. He’d pet down her back, skin brushing skin, had held her close enough that she could still recall the feel of him. If she thought on it too hard just before sleep claimed her at night, it made her warm all over again, and shiver in memory.

She had been with many men - women too - and she had loved Beckett, but none that she recalled had ever occupied her thoughts in quite this way. Perhaps it was because she was more grounded than she had ever been and that just made every experience more visceral and real. Whatever it was, just the decision to go visit Callum had Reese aflutter. She could never be sure if there would be kisses as there’d been the last few times he’d come to visit the cottage she was letting, but if the adrenalin buzzing through her was any indication, she definitely hoped he would want to map out their constellations.

It wasn’t the reason she appeared with a soft ‘pop’ of Apparation in the entryway of the Broadlands, but it still tinted her thoughts of him.

Reese heard the tap of nails as the dogs came to greet her, but she navigated slowly through the darkened hallways. The sun was just going down in Cornwall, but inland it was already full night and Callum’s home would only be lit in the rooms where he had settled for the evening - if he was even in. Reese pet a hand through Kiss’s curls, but the sleeping toddler didn’t stir, and a tiny smile curled her lips when Bjorn bumped gently at her side.

“Is he here?” she asked the husky, voice soft in respect for the darkness settling over Callum’s lands and in the shadows of his home.

“He is,” Callum answered from further in the darkness before illuminating the space with a flick of his wand.

He hadn’t been expecting Reese tonight, but she’d been in his thoughts most of the day. Attempting to put the team of sled dogs through their paces earlier had proved a fruitless effort as memories of her soft mouth and featherlight touches pulled at his focus and made it difficult to concentrate. His fey friend was a quiet presence even when they were together, but lately it was as if she was dancing on the breeze that swirled around him even when they were apart physically. Callum found he didn’t mind it a bit.

As he reached his visitors, he slid an arm around Reese’s waist, then bent to catch her lips. A small hand fisted in his shirt and Callum smiled. He loved that she was affected, that she was as eager for him as he was for her. Pulling back, his eyes moved to the child sleeping against Reese’s chest, watching Kiss fondly for a moment before sliding back to her mother. “Did you feel me wishing for you? You’ve been on my mind all day.”

Reese’s lashes fluttered, and green eyes met his. “Dancing like butterflies in and out of sight?” she asked softly, lips curling up when the haziness receded from her vision. “They do for me,” she added. “Thoughts of you, and wishes for kisses.”

“Just like that,” Callum agreed, his hand resting lightly on her hip. Leading her down the hall to the living room, he felt serene and happy. He liked having Reese close by. In particular he liked having her close enough to touch and breathe her in. “And you know,” he continued as he settled them on the sofa, “you don’t have to just wish for kisses. Whenever you want them, you can just come and have some.”

She was settling her sleeping toddler into the cushions, but Callum’s words had Reese’s eyes darting to his. “Whenever, wherever, any time at all?” The very thought made her pulse race and had her normal grassy-green gaze darkening to something closer to emerald. She had come for a reason other than kisses, though now that she was actually with Callum, Reese was finding it difficult to remember exactly what that had been. “Right now?”

Callum couldn’t help but to chuckle at the very intent look on Reese’s face. He couldn’t deny that her reaction was a probably unnecessary boost to his ego, but neither could he deny that ‘right now’ was his favorite time to kiss his fey lady friend.

As Kiss was now tucked safely amongst the pillows, snoozing contentedly, Callum tugged Reese into his lap. His breath fanned across her skin as he trailed his lips down her neck to press a kiss at its base. “Whenever,” he breathed, moving to match his kiss on the other side. “Wherever.” She was still, her eyes half shut as he lifted his head and smiled, letting the heat within him warm his eyes and expression. “And most especially right now,” he murmured as at last he captured her mouth.

Reese met his kiss boldly, bid to a firmer press of lips and little nips to ask for more by his invitation. There was no hesitation in her when her hands came up to cup his face, tried to pull him closer, or perhaps pull herself more firmly to him. She felt bright and strong, fearless to ask with lips and hands, with the press of her body to his.

Reese had never felt so very alive, so here. So often in her life she drifted to and fro, afraid of so many things - herself, what might become of her, and what other, darker people might do to her. So often she had felt powerless in her life, even nearly losing the very bits that made her, her, almost lost in the recesses of her own mind.

Not now though. Right now with Callum’s hands holding her close and his lips on hers, with the warmth of him and the strength he radiated - Reese felt safe. She felt safe to ask, and to take, and wriggle closer and to let her nails drag against his skin as her hands skimmed down to find the collar of his shirt, to pull him towards her.

A low growl rose in his throat at the passion in the way she met him, demanding in a way he’d never seen from Reese before. It emboldened him. Where before he’d held back, gone slowly to give her time to object if he pushed too far, Callum let the fire he felt burn hot as he slid a hand under the light sundress she wore to smooth over her back and pull her closer while the other tangled in long blonde locks.

The little hands pulling at him, scraping across his skin had his blood speeding. Callum lived life in search of the rush of adventure, but with Reese in his arms, all soft sounds and needy nips, there was no greater source of adrenaline than her touch. It resonated through him, gave rise to a hunger he couldn’t suppress.

Intensity. It colored the air, tinted them in shades of pounding crimson and swirling, earthy umber. It was warm, a balmy thing Reese could feel it in his touches, his hand against her skin, the press of their bodies. It lit her from within, had little sounds spilling from her mouth to his, made her hands seek skin until a breathy moan slipped her lips. She needed something to hold onto, and her nails scraped over his skin to find a fisted grip in his shirt as a shiver went down her spine.

Reese wasn’t sure what it was about Callum that made everything so warm, made her so brave and daring. She had rarely been so assertive in the past. Perhaps it was that he’d given her permission, though her hazy mind thought it had more to do with all the good things in him. Being with Callum like this was like drowning in sunshine.

The sounds she was making, the tremor he felt shake her slight form all served to drive him to distraction. His fingers itched to explore where he hadn’t allowed himself before, to draw more of the airy moans, to make her tremble with release. He couldn’t get carried away here, though. Not with Kiss sleeping beside them. Much as he hated to break away, it had to be done.

“Reese,” he breathed against her lips, his hand cradling her face gently to draw her attention.

Lashes fluttered and hazy green eyes found Callum.

“I think we should put Kiss safely to bed, and then we should follow her example. Stay with me tonight?”

Little hands came up to cover Callum’s still cradling her face. Kisses. Kiss. Her gaze flicked over to her sleeping baby and she began to nod. “Yes,” she whispered, eyes coming back to his. They were clearer now, and a tiny smile curled her lips. “Those are good ideas.” And yet another one pinged at her, an idea that she’d come here for in the first place. “I had another idea. It wasn’t kisses, but I do want those,” she told him as her hands drifted down his arms with light butterfly touches. “And they made me forget what I came to ask. If I don’t ask now though, I think I might forget all over again.” She’d been perusing his features, but bright eyes found his again. “You’re very distracting.”

“I like distracting you,” Callum said softly, his eyes twinkling though he made no move to pull her off her train of thought just then. He was curious what she wanted to ask him. There was little he could think of that he’d deny Reese. “What was your idea, love?”

She smiled again. “To see if I could paint you like I wanted to all that time ago? But with Charlotte? She wants to see how I do my paintings and I think she’d like seeing your colors on a canvas,” she told him before nuzzling the hand still cupping her cheek. She still felt tingly and aware, but warm and ... happy, too.

He’d forgotten that she’d wanted to paint him, and Callum’s lips turned upward at Reese’s inclusion of his friend. Brushing her lips lightly with his own, he pulled back again before they were both distracted. It occurred to him that he’d yet to take Reese to the island. There was only one day a month it wasn’t safe for visitors, and it would serve for as good a painting spot as any. Reese and Kiss would love the water, too.

“I think Charlotte would enjoy that,” he replied, smoothing a hand idly over Reese’s blonde hair, “and I’m happy for any reason to spend time with you and Kiss.”

Another smile lit Reese’s features and moments later she pressed a light kiss to his lips. Little hands shifted to cup his face and she pressed another kiss to his mouth, and then another. Kissing Callum was so very easy to do, but then she smiled at him again before slipping off his lap and tugging at his hand. “Now bed things.”

Reese scooped up the still-sleeping toddler from the sofa’s cushions and nuzzled her nose into Kiss’s downy soft blond curls. She slept with her little girl in the room most every night, but tonight they would be separated – at least for a little while. It was a thought that alternately made her anxious and anticipatory. The former because of the separation itself, but the latter because of the reason - Callum. Something inside her fluttered again, and green eyes found Callum’s over her shoulder as she headed for the stairs.

A soft laugh escaped him as Reese led the way to ‘her’ bedroom, the one he’d outfitted with a crib for Kiss so that her mother could have her near in the early days when she would come to visit him. There were many things that Callum found pleasing in the little scene before him. The obvious, of course, was that Reese would be coming to his bed in a way she hadn’t before, but while he was certainly anticipating that, wanted to explore and know her in new and intimate ways, that was not at the forefront of his mind just then.

No, at the moment what was bringing the smile to Callum’s lips was the confidence and ease with which his fey friend navigated the halls of his home and the trust she placed in him that was evidenced in her willingness to leave Kiss to sleep in her bedroom while she was not. It was humbling to know that despite the difficulties Reese had known in her life, and the men that had not always been kind to her, she was comfortable and happy with him.

When they reached the bedroom, Callum watched from a few steps away as Reese tucked her child into bed, kissing the halo of blonde curls before she turned to him. He held out his hand.

“Now, the us things,” she said softly as she slipped her hand into his. It was only a simple touch, one that had happened thousands of times before, but the warmth of his skin and the knowledge that there would be more of that made Reese’s pulse flutter in anticipation.

She lifted her gaze to his, the green already going dark and hazy. “More than mapping constellations tonight.”

“Exploring the stars,” he returned, tipping her chin up with a finger to press a slow kiss to her lips. His always cloudy blue eyes were a storm as he they roamed over her face, pouring over every detail. “You shine like them, you know? Bright and beautiful.”

“In your eyes, I feel that way,” she told him, tingles from his kisses and touches already buzzing beneath her skin. “I’m lavender and the colors of the earliest dawn, but for you I shine at night, too.” Reese let herself slide tiny hands up his chest, more assertive with Callum than she had ever been with any other man in her past. There was no expectation in him but the desire for what was truly there, for herself as she was, and until these moments with him, Reese hadn’t known what it was like to be wanted that way. “I wonder if your ocean storm will take me though.”

One corner of Callum’s lip curled. “I wonder if it will ever let you go again.”


SUMMARY: Reese goes to ask Callum if she can do his portrait for Charlotte. They both get more than a little distracted.