All Chapters of Off Limits: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The late-night quiet of Callum's penthouse wraps around me like a second skin—the kind of silence that makes every breath sound loud, every shift of fabric a confession. I'm supposed to be asleep. I've been supposed to be asleep for two hours now, staring at the ceiling, counting the beats of my own restless heart.It's useless.My hand drifts down my stomach, fingers tracing the hem of my silk robe where it's ridden up my thigh. The fabric is cool against my overheated skin, and I bite my lip, hard, trying to think about anything else. The game tomorrow. The flight home next week. What I want for breakfast. Anything except the way Caleb's voice sounded earlier tonight, low and rough, laughing at something Callum said as they walked past my door.It doesn't work.Nothing ever works.I roll onto my back, letting the robe fall open, the air hitting my bare thighs, my stomach, the damp heat between my legs. I'm not even wearing anything underneath—I never do, not when I'm staying here, n

My fingers find the waistband of his sweats. The cotton is warm from his body, and I feel him go still above me—every muscle locked, his breath caught somewhere between his chest and his throat. I curl my fingertips under the elastic, just barely, and the air in the room changes.His hand catches my wrist.Gentle. Firm. His thumb presses against the inside of my arm, right where my pulse is hammering, and I know he can feel it. I know he can feel everything."Bella." My name sounds like a warning and a prayer all at once, and I watch the war play out across his face—want and guilt and something deeper, something that looks like fear. The kind of fear a man wears when he's about to get exactly what he's been denying himself. "If I stay in this bed tonight, I'm not going to be able to stop at just my mouth. I need you to know that."His eyes search mine, looking for a way out. Looking for me to give him one. But I don't.I pull his hand down, press it flat against my stomach, and hold h

I push open the door to the living room and the smell hits me first—butter and vanilla and something caramelizing. Pancakes. Normal. A Sunday morning like a hundred others I've spent in this penthouse, except my body still hums with the memory of his hands, his mouth, the weight of him beside me in the dark.I adjust the sash on my silk robe. The fabric feels thin. Almost see-through in the wrong light. I'd grab something else, change into jeans and a sweater, but Callum's voice floats out from the kitchen—"Bella? That you? Get your ass in here, these are getting cold."So I walk in.Callum's at the stove, spatula in hand, wearing that oversized NFL hoodie he never washes. His back is to me, broad and solid, and he's flipping a pancake with the kind of casual confidence that comes from years of feeding himself after practice. He doesn't turn around when I enter, just lifts the spatula in greeting. "Syrup's on the counter. Coffee's fresh."But Caleb—Caleb is already at the breakfast ba

Three hours until I'm supposed to meet Sasha at the coffee shop on Bleecker. She texted she has the dress and some news. I pace my room in nothing but a towel, hair still damp from a shower that wasn't cold enough to wash the memory of his hands off my skin. Every time I close my eyes I see Caleb's face at the breakfast table, casual as murder, telling Callum about Jade like I was already nothing.The intercom buzzes thirty minutes early. I wrap the towel tighter and press the speaker. "Yeah?""Get down here, I'm not dealing with your brother's security gauntlet." Sasha's voice crackles through the speaker, amused and impatient. "I have the dress and approximately fourteen minutes before my next fitting."I grab my keys and slip out the door before Callum can ask where I'm going. The elevator ride is six floors of watching the numbers change and feeling my stomach drop in a way that has nothing to do with motion.Sasha's parked illegally in the loading zone, a silver Mercedes with the

He looks up, follows my gaze. I feel the immediate tension in his muscles, the way his hips stop moving."Shit."We're frozen, tangled in each other, naked and wet, while my brother flirts with a stranger twenty feet below us."He can't see us," I whisper. "Right?""The glass is one-way." Caleb's voice is strained. "He can't see inside. But if he looks up—" He doesn't finish. "We need to get dressed."We scramble off the sofa, grabbing clothes, hands shaking. I pull the dress over my head, fastening the straps, smoothing the silk over my hips. Caleb tucks himself back into his pants, zipping his fly with a curse.He grabs my wrist, his eyes intense. "Bella. This isn't over. We'll talk. Tonight. After I get rid of him—" He nods toward the window, toward Callum. "Meet me at the coffee shop on the corner. Two blocks east. I'll be there as soon as I can."I nod. "I'll find Sasha."He kisses my forehead, quick and fierce. Then he straightens his shirt, checks the hallway through a crack in