Page 118 of 'Til All the Seas Run Dry

It was the animal smell that threw him. It was subtle. A human wouldn’t pick up on it. But it also wasn’t a human smell. Which was preposterous. Because Robbie was human.

It bothered him, and he remained bothered as they pulled up in front of the cabin. They went inside, and Callum took their luggage downstairs to the vault. When he reappeared upstairs, he found Robbie sitting at the island with a full feast spread out in front of him, leftover Chinese takeout containers littering the counter. Jory was eating cold lo mein directly out of a paper carton.

Callum leaned against the counter and watched as Robbie ate like a linebacker before clearing the empty cartons and throwing them in the trash. Walter never left his shoulder.

After washing his fork and plate, he turned and said, “Well, I’m actually feeling really tired after that. I think I’ll turn in. See you tomorrow, lovebirds,” before disappearing down the hall and closing the bedroom door behind him.

Callum was restless himself. How had Robbie described it? Itchy. He paced around the kitchen, his hands stuffed deep in his pockets, feeling his shoulders become boulder-like with tension.

“Hey,” Jory said, still sitting at the island.

He stopped and turned to her.

“What’s wrong?”

He raked a hand through his hair. “He’s not okay.”

“He’s fine,” Jory said. “He’s anxious. God knows I’ve been there.”

“It’s more than that.”

Jory slid off the stool and walked toward him, into him, pressing her hands against his chest and looking up into his eyes. “He’s a big boy, Callum. But if you’re really worried, you can talk to him tomorrow about making a doctor’s appointment. Okay?”

He closed his eyes and dropped his head, resting his forehead against hers.

“Come to bed,” she whispered.

“It’s the middle of the night,” he said, the way most people said it was the middle of the afternoon. Which, for him, it was. He had wanted to drive out to the site of the bottling plant to see what progress had been made in the three weeks they’d been gone. He needed to talk to Nat. He needed to?—

“Come to bed,” she whispered again, pressing her body against his, and he felt himself sag into that touch, his arms coming around her warm, solid form.

“Take me,” he murmured into her hair.

She grabbed his hand and led him to the broom closet, and he followed her as docile as a lamb, letting her lead him down the stairs, letting her guide him to sit on the bed, letting her kneel on the floor and untie his shoes, slipping them off one at a time. She rose higher on her knees, unbuckling his belt then unbuttoning his pants, drawing down the zipper, and coaxing him to shift his hips so that she could slide them, along with his boxer briefs, over his knees, pulling them off slowly before folding them with care and placing them on the floor beside her.

She stood, taking the hem of his sweater in careful fingers. He lifted his arms overhead like a child as she carefully drew it up and off, repeating the action with his T-shirt underneath.

Jory stood between his knees, fully clothed, while he was entirely naked. Almost.

“Ye forgot the socks,” he teased.

“No, I didn’t,” she breathed, leaning close. “Your feet are cold.”

As he barked a laugh, she pushed him backward on the bed and straddled his pelvis, leaning down and kissing him properly.

“I’m so glad to be home,” she said against his mouth, and he groaned before rolling her off and then under him, kissing her breathless.

In the aftermath, Callum lay on his back, Jory tucked close against him with her head on his shoulder. He stared up at the popcorn ceiling and relished her warmth against him, the feeling of her panting chest pressed against his.

“Do you want to stay here?”

She lifted her head to look at him, her dark waves in a wild tangle. “You’ve been building a factory here. I thought we?—”

“Nay. Do you want to stayhere? In this cabin? Or would you like something else?”

“Oh,” she said, laying her head back down, her fingers playing delicately with the scattering of hair across his chest. “I haven’t really thought about it.”

He grunted.