Delirium (Captive Love: Forced Proximity Standalones #4)

Chapter 14

Chapter

Fourteen

NASH

T he only thing taking my eyes away from Scarlett, walking toward us in her bra and panties, was noticing the way James stared at her as she left him behind.

I knew that expression. I’d seen it on his face way too often when we were younger. It was the look of him knowing he was going to have something. He wasn’t sure how, but he was going to make it happen. When we were younger, if I saw that look, I’d stay out of his way. James had a way of burning hot, and then flaming out, a supernova of a human being.

But we weren’t kids anymore, chasing after the girls we saw at university. I had no reason to stay away from James. And to be completely honest, he deserved to be knocked down a few pegs. It didn’t hurt for him to want after something he couldn’t have, and the way Scarlett sauntered away from him told me she agreed.

I wiped the water from my eyes, feet firmly on the sandy bottom. Scarlett smiled at me from the bank.

“Are you sure I’m not going to kill myself jumping in here?” She looked warily at the water, and not for the first time, I realized how cautious she was about everything. Everything was a process for her, steps to be taken in order, not skipped or rushed.

What the hell she was doing on my boat, I really couldn’t fathom.

I grinned back at her. “Sweetheart, if you don’t get your ass in this water in the next two seconds, I swear I’ll drag you in myself.”

She laughed, squeezed her eyes shut, and jumped in.

Beside me, Camp had gone still. Shit . Had I been too forward in how I spoke to Scarlett? I really couldn’t help myself. I found myself sliding into flirting, calling her sweet names, checking in on her, those kinds of things—because I wanted to.

It wasn’t an act. Wasn’t some kind of weird pissing contest, although I was sure James would think otherwise.

It didn’t mean Camp would see it the same way. At the end of the day, I only wanted Scarlett to be happy.

She emerged from beneath the surface with a smile on her face, dark hair glistening. “Oh my God, you didn’t tell me it was cold!”

Finally, Camp laughed next to me. “I’m pretty sure I said just that, sweet girl. ”

Ah. There was the pissing contest I was expecting. All the while, James just watched us from the shore.

Scarlett screwed up her full lips, looking from me to Camp, and back again, solving a puzzle in her head.

I expected her to say something, to call us out on the elephant in the room, the tension filling the air between the three of us. Instead she grinned. “Last one to the waterfall and back has dinner duty tonight. I’m tired of cooking.”

“Is that a challenge you’re willing to wager?” I laughed. “I swam varsity in high school.”

“Well then, let’s see what you’ve got.” She waited until Camp and I framed either side of her, both of us a full head taller than her. “On your marks…get set…”

“Go!” Camp shouted. He took off through the water before either of us could even start. To her credit, Scarlett kept pace with me for the most part—she had to have been a swimmer herself. Camp started out strong, but fell off as we reached the thundering waterfall. I turned, flipping in the water, Scarlett close on my heels. By the time we neared the bank once more, Scarlett was just behind me, with Camp trailing her.

“Ha!” she crowed, pulling herself to sit on one of the rocks that lodged itself half in and half out of the water. “No cooking for me tonight.”

I laughed, jerking my thumb toward Camp. “Okay, but are you really sure you want him cooking you dinner?”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Camp muttered.

He was saying something else, but I couldn’t make it out over the throbbing of my heartbeat in my ears. Scarlett looked like a goddess sitting on the rock, dark nipples pebbled beneath the thin fabric outline of her pale sports bra. Water dripped off her freckled skin, trails I wanted to trace with my fingers and my tongue. I needed to snap out of it. I couldn’t be thinking about her like this, not while she was exploring things with Camp.

Her laugh brought me back to the present. “Don’t pout,” she said to Camp. “Do you need a consolation prize?”

“Depends on what it is. Do I still have to cook dinner?”

“Yes.” Scarlett slid off the rock, wrapping her arms around Camp’s neck. “But I can try and make it a bit better.”

My heart sank to my stomach, a rotting pit of jealousy. I couldn’t breathe as she locked eyes with me over Camp’s shoulder, never once looking away as she pressed her lips to his.

Fuck. Me. I had never been harder than I was at this minute. Camp lifted her so she wrapped her legs around his waist. He deepened the kiss, and her eyelids threatened to close, and still…

she held my stare.

Watch me , her eyes said. Watch me and imagine this was you. Imagine your hands holding my waist. Your mouth on mine.

Watch me. Want me.

Own me .

For a moment, it worked.

Until Camp’s moan tore through me, a reminder that I wasn’t him. I wasn’t the one touching her.

But what if I could be?

I let my body guide me, ignoring my brain shouting at me that this was a terrible idea, sure to end in heartbreak for all involved.

I ignored my heart demanding me to step away.

I paid no attention to James taking us in, eyes unblinking, observing the scene before him unfold.

I stepped forward until I was behind Scarlett, brushing my hands over skin softer than I’d ever imagined. She shivered, breaking her kiss to watch me run my hands over her body, over her waist I’d dreamed of touching, across her delicate collarbone, up her neck, making her tilt her head back toward me.

I leaned forward, pressing my lips against her neck, against the fragile skin, where the blood pumped dangerously close to the surface. Scarlett sighed, her hips moving against Camp’s body.

Camp. Funny how your mind tends to forget the most important things. I locked eyes with him, waiting for him to say stop, or push me away altogether.

Neither happened. His eyes held a mix of jealousy and understanding, of seeing the beauty of witnessing the object of your affections finding pleasure in another at the same time.

I said it myself earlier today. I only wanted her to be happy. And maybe this was how everyone won.

Scarlett pulled away from me gently, stroking a hand across Camp’s chin, her lips a whisper away. “I want to try something.”

He gave her a slight nod, and she kissed him, deeply. As close as I was, I could see their lips moving in sync, a dance.

She moved away with a gasp, then twisted toward me. Still in Camp’s arms, she rested her cool hand on my chest. “Is this okay?”

“Darling, I’m about to pass out right about now. Yes, it’s okay. More than.” The words spilled from my lips, my tongue moving faster than my short-circuiting brain.

Scarlett smiled and leaned over to kiss me.

Her lips on mine were soft, smoother than silk, softer than butter. I couldn’t stop the groan from escaping, or my arms from wrapping around her body.

Camp and I were touching now, our skin pressed against each other with Scarlett acting as a bridge between us.

Scarlett was kissing me, a goddamn dream come true. Camp pulled her face away from me, meeting my eyes with an acknowledgement. He was okay sharing, but he needed his time, too.

I watched, wild and giddy. I still held her in my arms, her body rocking against mine, looking for some kind of friction or release, but her hands rested on Camp’s face, sweetly sighing into his mouth as she kissed him.

“Fuck,” I cursed. I was uncomfortably hard, my erection pressing painfully against the seam of my boxers.

Camp met my eyes over Scarlett’s shoulder, pulling away from her as she protested softly. “Follow me,” he said.

He led us to the edge of the lake, where the water was barely calf deep, and smooth rocks formed a seamless boundary between water and earth. I followed his train of thought immediately, laying Scarlett back on the smooth surface. She was absolutely radiant, sunshine in human form, and I wanted to just bask in her, reclining on the rock in only her thin bra and panties, the throbbing in my cock an urgent reminder.

Camp sank to his knees, spreading Scarlett’s legs as he kissed his way up the inside of her thighs. “Tell us if it’s too much.”

Scarlett mumbled something incoherent back, and I realized Camp was actually full on smiling as he kissed a little bit higher.

God. I wanted to be the one there, touching her skin. I wanted my lips on her smooth flesh. I wanted to consume her moans, the sighs, I wanted everything she was willing to give me for the rest of eternity.

As if he heard the insistent thoughts in my head, Camp shuffled back, motioning me forward. “Come here. I don’t have all day.”

With Camp out of the way, I fell to my knees in front of Scarlett, the only appropriate place for me to be. He reappeared next to me, trailing his fingers up Scarlett’s leg as she trembled.

“Watch,” he murmured. “She likes this.”

And I did. I watched, captivated, as Camp’s fingers drifted up and over Scarlett’s clit, swirling a light circle through her panties, blood rushing to my head when I realized the direct line his fingers had to her moans and cries.

“Make her come.” Camp’s fingers left her. He moved up to her head, kissing her deeply once again.

I didn’t have to be told twice. I moved in closer, peeling her soaking underwear down her legs until she was completely exposed to me, an honor I didn’t lose sight of. She trusted me, and I wasn’t about to let her down.

My fingers found her clit, softly, tentatively, but with the first low moan that tore from her mouth my nerves evaporated. My fingers moved for her pleasure and her pleasure alone, swirling, teasing. Each arch of her back and quiet cry for “more” told me I was on the right path.

Camp kissed her while I focused between her legs, lost to my task at hand. At some point I looked up and realized he lost both his boxers and her bra. Her hand was wrapped around his cock, swiping up and down, and I couldn’t even find it in myself to be jealous in my current position.

Scarlett’s moans were honey-sweet, and I wanted more of them. Her thighs were beginning to clench, so I pushed them apart again, sliding my finger down through her desire to her soaked core.

I had done that. We had done that. Fuck . I pressed a kiss to the inside of her thigh as I slipped a finger inside her wet pussy. The reaction was instant, and Camp swallowed every sound she made with a glance in my direction.

Fucking her with my finger, I knew she was close by the way she tensed beneath me, and I loved knowing it was me that got her there. I leaned over, gripping her hips with my other hand and pressing my mouth to her clit, kissing lightly.

“You’re fucking delicious, darling.”

Scarlett shattered in my hands, her body tensing and pulsing around me. Camp made a choked sound in his throat.

I wanted to consume every ounce of her pleasure, but my cock was so hard it hurt. Slipping off my shorts, I fisted myself, hoping for an ounce of release.

Camp leaned over, swiping his finger through her drenched core with a hiss. “Shit, baby, you’re so fucking ready for him.” He sucked one of her perfect tits into his mouth.

Him . Me. Camp wanted me to fuck her while he watched. What if she didn’t want that?

But Camp was already whispering to her again. “Do you want Nash to fuck you, Scar? Do you want to show me how you come around his cock?”

I groaned. If I didn’t do something about this problem soon, I was going to explode.

Scarlett’s answer was loud and clear. “Please, Nash. Fuck, please.”

In seconds, I was positioning myself at her entrance, the rock the perfect height for me. Camp moved behind her head, stroking her hair. “Show him how good you take a cock, baby.”

I gripped her thighs, and pushed myself inside. God . She was so tight, so wet, and so goddamn perfect.

Scarlett wrapped her legs around me, rolling her hips, and taking me deeper. If there was a heaven, it was buried inside her.

If there was a hell, I wanted to stay na?ve for a few minutes longer.

“Darling, you’re going to make me lose my mind,” I groaned, gripping onto her smooth flesh for dear life as I thrust in and out of her.

She moaned in response, and when I looked up, I saw her perfect lips wrapped around Camp’s dick. His eyes closed as he stroked her hair.

This had to be a dream, right? Except it was real, and it was here, and I could already feel Scarlett tensing around me again, her pleasure building once more.

Camp’s thrusts into her mouth were becoming more erratic, and then his hips stilled. He cried out her name, spilling his release into her mouth.

I pushed my hand between us, finding her clit, pressing down with a gentle pressure. “Your turn,” I whispered.

I rolled my hips, keeping the pressure against her clit, and her thighs shook around me, her core clenching and gripping me tighter.

“Fuck, Nash!” she cried, as the orgasm rolled through her. “Holy fuck.”

I smiled, desperate to find my own release. Camp, back in his body once more, leaned over to kiss her again, giving her nipple a slight twist, and I lost it. I cried out her name, for gods and deities I didn’t believe in, and every curse word I knew under the sun as I came.

I fell forward keeping my weight on my arms so I didn’t crush her as I came back down from space.

I smiled down as she blinked up at me. “You’re something else, you know that?”

“I think the same could be said for you.” She pushed herself onto her elbows, giving me a quick kiss.

I helped her up, finding the bra and panties that had been drying on the rock, as well as my own shorts.

Once we were all dressed, and sitting on the rock once more, I laughed. “Well, that wasn’t how I saw today going.”

I was so caught up in Scarlett, in this moment, in everything and nothing all at once, that when I looked up and saw James, I swallowed hard. I knew he hadn’t gone far. He had seen everything. His eyes on us remained as real and tangible as my hand on Scarlett’s skin.

The same eyes that glared down at me now, burning with the heat of a hundred fires, a thousand doorways to Hell.

My stomach sank. I knew that look. I wished I didn’t, but I knew it all too well. “James,” I muttered. “Don’t.”

Scarlett turned in my arms, looking up at James with curiosity. “James. I figured you’d gone back to the boat.”

“Maybe I should’ve. Maybe that would’ve been the smart thing to do.” His eyes never left mine, his hand clenching into a tight fist. “But I guess none of us are really all that smart, are we? No matter how hard we try and convince ourselves. We can never be something we’re not. You can put on a different outfit, and call yourself by a new name, but your soul will still drag along behind you, a little dirtier and worse for the wear, but yours all the same.”

I couldn’t speak, and even if I could, there was nothing to say. Nothing would talk James off this ledge now—he was already halfway over, judging how far the fall was.

“What the fuck are you talking about, man?” Camp snapped from beside me.

Finally James looked away from me, staring instead at Scarlett. “What I’m talking about is the fact you haven’t bothered to ask Nash about his past. About what he did for my family when we were younger. Because if you had, I find it hard to believe you’d be letting a murderer pleasure you like that.”

Bomb dropped, James stalked off down the trail, leaving the aftermath of the explosion in his wake.