Calla's Corner

The fact he felt safe enough to reveal this tiny flaw to you only endeared him more to you.

Made you truly believe that you'd made the right decision only mere months before.

Curtis Everett had been an acquaintance of your brother, a man you'd only ever seen in rare passings between the deals your brother made with others. A hired man, you eventually realized, who did what was needed for the right price and not a penny less. The same man you'd been forced to seek out to save your brother from another with more power and money. The same man who'd taken your sacrifice as payment with a small nod and a promise to see it done.

He'd kept his promise, and you kept yours.

All these months later, you'd grown attached to Curtis in a way you never thought possible. He hadn't promised you much when you accepted his terms, but his actions had always spoken louder than his words.

He'd brought you to this villa somewhere along the coast of Italy. A place of pure luxury and peaceful existence. It'd been a far cry from what you'd grown up around with both your father and eventually your brother. The villa was a safe haven that allowed you to pursue any of your favorite hobbies. A secret place that still allowed you face-timing and lengthy phone calls over secure lines and networks.

And all you had to do in return was occasionally entertain Curtis with your company and your body.

Such a small pittance really from your point of view.

If you were being honest, you wished he demanded a bit more for himself.

Because if he commanded it, you knew you'd happily hand over your heart to him.

A man who considered himself too scary and damaged but has shown you more softness and downright sweetness than you ever thought possible for yourself. A man who learned to read you in every mood you've exhibited and did what he needed just to see a smile grace your lips once more. It was like it physically pained him to see you unhappy, or worse, angry at him for even the tiniest of discomforts.

Then again, he hadn't really done anything to make you truly angry in a while. Not since that first (and last) time he'd come back from an assignment with a few scrapes and bruises. Ones you'd been quick to address before pressing the quickest, softest kiss to his lips, whispering, "So you'll heal faster."

That had been the day his walls had crumbled and you got the chance to glimpse it all: the good, the bad, and the ugly. He'd broken down and told you some of the worst things he'd done while admitting, "I never thought I'd have someone so sweet, so innocent, as you in my life. I'd only corrupt them, bring them down to my level."

His voice shook with each word as it fell from his lips.

When you would've reached for him, he backed away, his eyes meeting yours briefly before falling to his hands. The same hands that had taken so many lives yet had learned every part of your body intimately. The ones that had learned to make your body sing for him as he brought you to heights of pleasure you hadn't known existed before him. Hands of a man that had put your pleasure above his own more times than you cared to count by that point.

A rough breath escaped him, his voice growing quieter still as he admitted, "I wanna be better. I wanna be…"

His hands had clenched into fists before they released just as fast, his palms open and stretched towards you.

You stood frozen, waiting to hear him finish his thought. You knew he needed that moment despite your short acquaintance before you'd pledged yourself to him. The same as you knew that you'd do it all again, finding no regret in your decision as you watched and waited.

"Someone worthy of you," he finally finished.

This time, you didn't hesitate in reaching out and grabbing his hands, lacing your fingers with his. It helped he didn't fight you, either, because he could've if he really wanted. You'd stared so long at his hands before finally bringing them to your lips and pressing kiss after kiss along his fingertips. These hands might've held a lifetime of blood on them, but they'd never been anything but gentle with you.

A deep shudder rocked his body even as a wrecked sound escaped him.

Daring to look into his eyes, you saw how you affected him. His desire to fight had all but disappeared as he stared down at you, wonderment lurking in the deep blue depths of his gaze. The fight to stay in control of himself had fled as you continued your gentle ministrations of his hands. The man had become literal putty in your hands, almost eagerly awaiting whatever fate you had planned for him.

It was the moment you knew you held all the power.

For once in your life, you could bring a man to his knees in a way that your status as a mafia princess never could before.

Yet, you didn't want to because you wanted the same thing he did. You who yearned to find someone who'd be willing to fight at your side. For someone who'd stick with you until the end.

And you'd found that.

With Curtis.

As your thoughts remained fixed on that night, your hands began to wander over your still-sleeping mercenary. From his short-cropped hair to his fuller beard, your hands lingered a moment as they traced along his jawline until you could run a finger along his slightly parted lips. It was a path they'd learned the night everything had changed for you both as you'd turned the tables and worshipped Curtis in the very ways he'd been worshipping you.

Your fingers continued their leisurely tracing of his lips while your mind replayed every memory from that night. Slowly stripping Curtis of his clothes while pressing kisses to every new bit of skin you bared for your eyes alone. You didn't leave a single inch untouched, either. Oh, how you reveled in the shaky breaths and soft moans that escaped him every so often. His body hadn't disappointed, either, as it responded to your almost leisurely exploration.

Only when he was standing at full mass and dripping with the very same need he often got from your own body did you finally relent. Guiding him back to the sofa in your spacious living room until he had no choice but to fall back into the cushions. The smallest of grunts escaped him, but you gave him no time to recover or recalibrate as you straddled his lap. Still fully clothed but just as aching, you settled yourself so he sat behind your clothed folds, promising some friction for you both.

You hadn't rushed, either, wanting to take this time with him just as he'd done on multiple occasions with you. Occasions that had bordered on torturous even as he made your body sing with pleasure.

Even as his hands not so subtly tugged at your clothing, he continued to let you set the pace. His eyes had become hooded yet never missed a single thing you did while filthy but sweet praise fell from his lips. It was his encouragement that kept you bold that night. Kept you teasing him with occasional yet almost perfectly timed grinds of against him, providing just enough friction to have you both hissing and sighing in equal measure. To his credit, he endured it for far longer than you usually did, but he ultimately succumbed, begging in a breathy whisper, "Wanna see you. Really feel you."

Only when he added a ragged 'please' did you finally give in.

Making quick work of your clothing, you returned to his lap but not quite the position you'd been in before. Instead, you took hold of his cock and pumped him a few times, earning the sweetest groan for your efforts.

A needy warmth settled deep in your core as the memories continued.

Your thighs squeezed as you recalled sinking down on Curtis's length, never having felt so full before him. A part of you wished you dared to wake your sleeping mercenary so he could fill you right then, but you knew he needed the rest.

So, your mind continued to wander through that night's steamy events. You'd ridden him until your thighs burned burned and shook with exhaustion, the friction and feeling of fullness too great to pass up.

Curtis's hands had kept a firm grip on you as you rode him, too, only helping you when he sensed your faltering. He didn't truly take over though until you whined softly, begging him for help. Hearing your soft plea had been enough to have his hooded eyes softening even as his hands picked up where you'd left off. He lifted and dropped you with ease, using but also helping to find that explosive conclusion you both needed.

And what an ending it had been, too, you recalled with a soft exhale.

Not only had you seen blinding flashes of stars, but you'd both made quite the mess in Curtis's lap and the sofa beneath him. A mess that you'd blushed over when asking the hired cleaning service to take care of it the following day, but it'd been worth it for the shift in your relationship with Curtis that night.

Quite lost in your memories and their phantom sensations, you didn't realize that some of them weren't quite so phantom.

At least not until you grew aware that your mercenary had woken in the middle and discovered you needy and wanting of his attention. You had missed the soft grin that had spread across his features even as he shifted down until his beard brushed against your inner thighs. His hands had gently pried them apart so he could settle between them and enjoy the show of your arousal from a night that he, too, often revisited himself.

It wasn't until his beard brushed against your aching, swollen pussy as his lips sealed around your equally aching clit and sucked hard that you returned to the present.

"Curtis," you breathed, lifting the sheets to find him in one of his favorite places. His hands bracing your thighs, anchoring you to the bed, made you melt even as you managed to admonish softly, "You should be sleeping."

He gave another hearty suck before he let go, his thumb replacing his lips and rubbing concentrated circles to keep you right where he wanted you. His eyes sparkled with mischief as they met yours. In a husky tone, he cheekily replied, "Can't sleep when my goddess is left wanting. Aching for me to take care of her."

"It's your fau—"

You sucked in a breath as he leaned down and licked a long stripe along your slit, ending with a flick against your already tormented clit.

Curtis dared to glance up at you with a smug smirk before he dived back in for another taste of you. He kept at it, too, until you were a writhing mess under him before coming away to say, "You were saying, my goddess?"

"Menace," you breathed, your hands fisting the sheets as he happily dived back into his task.

Your menace, my goddess, you silently supplied for him for he'd become quite engrossed in his task of taking you apart and putting you back together again.

His other hand had abandoned its position in holding your thighs open, allowing him to ease one, then two fingers into your sopping channel. He could easily add a third and has in the past, but your menace of a mercenary enjoyed bringing you to the brink over and over again, edging you until the only words left on your lips were please and Curtis. He could do that so easily with just the two that now sought out that soft, spongy spot within you that made you see stars.

When he found it, you nearly came off the bed with how quick your back bowed. Your toes curled even as the heat within you pooled until you could feel something tightening within you. It was so close and ready to snap. All you had to do was reach out and take that leap.

But, Curtis knew you too well and back off the spot just as quickly, dragging a whiny groan out of you. He showed you no pity though as he let you come down from the near high you wanted, teasing you with the softest of grazes against where you needed friction the most.

Huffing at him only earned you another flash of that smug smirk he wore far too often during these times.

"What's wrong, my goddess? Am I not bringing you pleasure?"

You shot him the best glare you could.

It lasted only a moment as he'd quirked his brow before diving once more between your folds. His tongue lapped at your fluttering hole while his thumb resumed its concentrated circles around your clit, quickly building you back to the very point where he'd deprived you before. Then, he'd stopped once more, getting you so close but keeping you from that leap you desperately wanted.

Again and again, he kept up his torturously sinful ministrations until you finally whimpered, "Curtis, please, I need to cum. Please, my love, let me cum."

Curtis stilled between your thighs. His head popped up to better see, the sheets long tossed away while he teased you up to this moment. While his eyes remained dark with want and possession, his features had softened. His lips took on an almost awed-like grin, glistening as they were with your slick, as he rasped, "What did you call me?"

It took you far longer than you'd ever admit aloud to recall what exactly you'd said in the moment. And even then, it'd taken you another long moment before you figured out why he'd stopped so suddenly, why his body looked almost ready to pounce on you and claim you in a way he never had before.

When it finally hit you, you couldn't help the soft smile that spread across your lips as you whispered, "My love."

Curtis's eyes closed briefly as a low growl escaped him.

When they opened, his deep blue eyes had blown fully black. His voice came out rough as he murmured, "Don't say it, my goddess, if you don't mean it."

Your hands moved from the sheets you'd been fisting until you could settle them against his jaw. As your fingers ran along his cheekbones, your smile stretched impossibly wider, realizing you'd meant the words the moment they left your lips. Your lips spread impossibly wider even as your eyes grew a bit misty. "I mean it with all my heart. How could I not with all you've done for me?"

Pressing a kiss to your inner thigh, he met your gaze once more, a quiet conviction taking over the black briefly. There was a promise in his words when he said, "I've barely started, my precious love, in spoiling you."

A final kiss to seal his promise to your inner thigh came before his fingers moved to tease along your dripping folds. It didn't take much before he had three fingers stretching you in the way only he could and finding that spot within you. His lisp returned to your neglected clit, licking and sucking for all he was worth.

Your mercenary was on a mission, and he wouldn't be denied what he wanted.

Not after the gift you've given him. Not when he held the most precious thing in his grasp and never intended on letting go.

No, your mercenary brought you back to the brink with a precision and quickness that had you gasping his name and 'my love' in equal measure. Unlike before, he didn't back off when he sensed you growing closer. He helped push you over with the promise of catching you on the way down. All it'd taken was a final flick of his tongue and his fingers working in unison to have you cumming harder than even you expected.

"I've got you," Curtis murmured over and over, his touch soothing against your skin. His fingers continued to work you through the final aftershocks and only easing from your sensitive hole when they'd stopped. His lips continued to graze your skin with every affirmation he whispered against it. "So beautiful like this. My own sweet goddess. My precious, precious love."

Reaching for him, you beckoned him up until you could properly see him leaning over you. Your fingers traced along his cheekbones, contentment seeping into your very being, as you said, "You're really pretty."

His cheeks warmed with your praise. He would've ducked his head if not for the fact you held him still, your fingers too content with their tracing of his features to quit then. Not even the remnants of your slick in his beard could get you stop as you continued murmuring praises for him.

"Keep this up, my sweet love, and you'll be getting a second round. I'm trying to be a gentleman here," he huffed at you. His eyes shone with such adoration, and dare you say it, love that you almost missed the way they'd darkened with his sinful promise.

A promise you wholeheartedly wanted to take on as you murmured, "Maybe I don't want a gentleman. Maybe I want to be stuffed so full that I'm leaking for days. Mark me so I know that I'll forever and always be yours, my loving mercenary."

You didn't miss the way his eyes darkened until the blue disappeared and his grin grew downright sly.

You were, however, unprepared for how quickly he'd flipped you over. A high-pitched gasp escaped as he manhandled you into place, his body draping over yours. His still hard cock nestled between your ass cheeks while his fingers laced with yours above your head. Effectively trapped, he pressed kiss after kiss across the back of your neck. Eventually, he nipped at the spot behind your ear, pulling a moan from you. As he kept it up, you couldn't help wriggling beneath him, eager to work his cock towards your weeping entrance where you wanted him most.

While he soothed the spot he'd nipped, he draped himself over you more, forcing you still beneath him.

A whine escaped you as you realized you wouldn't get your prize so easily this second time, either.

"Patience, my goddess," he breathed into your ear, nuzzling against you. "You'll get my cock once I'm done marking you. After I'm through with you, everyone will know that you're mine as much as I've always been yours."