Chapter 23
Cameron
Two days have passed since we released Reyes, and true to his promise, there’s been no sign of him. “Honestly, it’s kind of creepy how well he hides himself.” Warm, crusty bread beckons me from the counter. Ronan just baked a few loaves, and I groan as I tear off a bite and shove it in my mouth. “Makes you wonder if he’s watching us right now.”
Half expecting him to say hello from underneath the floorboards, we both listen intently for a few seconds. When there’s nothing but the rhythmic click of Boomerang’s claws against the floor, I shrug. Ronan takes advantage of my distraction, stealing the bread from my hand and taking a giant bite. His exaggerated moan while chewing earns him a glare.
“It’s a good thing you’re cute,” I mutter as I grab myself another piece.
“Cute?” He wrinkles his nose, then somehow scrunches his entire face. “I’m not cute , I’m… manly. Rugged. ”
“Oh, yeah,” I say through a mouthful, “a walking skinsuit full of testosterone. You piss whiskey and sweat virility. I’m pretty sure I grew a few new chest hairs just from being in your presence.”
Ronan lets out a pleased little hum as he nods to himself, like any of that is remotely true. “Wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened.” He’s so satisfied with himself that I can’t help it as I laugh.
“So,” he says, dusting the crumbs from his fingers, “before the whole stabbing incident, I mentioned there was a second surprise. Are you in the mood to check that out?”
“Ooooh.” My eyes get wide as I bounce on my feet. “Somehow, I completely forgot about that.”
“ Somehow , you forgot” he mutters, rotating the shoulder that still has a thick bandage on it, and my mind rushes back to the stress of the past two days as we scrambled to coordinate our next moves. According to Reyes, there is no rhyme or reason to the timing of their visits. Once, two convoys passed through in a span of three weeks, but other times months have passed between their arrivals.
Ronan had wanted to pick up and drive away that same night, but with his injury and our supplies still a jumbled mess, we’d end up making a mistake. Carelessness isn’t something we can risk right now, although we’re both on edge, jumping at every rogue sound we hear.
He rubs his shoulder again, and I know he’s about to carry on about being stabbed. He’s already mostly healed, so I interrupt his dramatics before he can get started. “So… my surprise? ”
Ronan tugs his lips to the side, his jaw working as he chews on the inside of his cheek. “It was a lot more exciting before I realized I was stealing from Reyes.”
“Thought you didn’t like Reyes?”
“Of course I don’t,” he huffs, offended, “but it’s still strange to take things knowing they’re his, even if the cave troll has been holed up this entire time.”
Damn it, I want my surprise. “He said he doesn’t mind us taking supplies.”
“Yeah, but this is… different.” His eyes flick in my direction, and as soon as he spots the excited, borderline manic expression on my face, he says, “Alright, you convinced me,” which makes me laugh. “If he has anything to say about it, I’ll just tie him to another chair. Simple enough.”
“You had him bound up like a caterpillar in a strange rope cocoon.”
A heavy arm slings around my shoulders, hugging me against him as he leads me out the door, shooing Boomerang back inside when she tries to follow. “Need I remind you why I did that?”
“No, no,” I hurry to say, patting his stomach placatingly. “We don’t need to relive that again.”
“It’s a harrowing tale, filled with violence and gore, before ending with a heroic rescue.” A giant grin spreads across his face as he makes a sweeping, dramatic arc with his hand. Warm, tingly happiness blossoms in my chest at the sight of him so carefree and loose.
This is the Ronan the world has never known—the sweet, irritating goofball that wears his heart on his sleeve—and I’m honored he trusts me enough to let his guard down .
“Was I the heroic rescuer?” I tease, and he grins at me, dropping a kiss on the top of my head.
“Well, it obviously wasn’t me, because I was a lump on the ground.”
He leads me into the living room of a house we cleared several days before we discovered Reyes, and I hike a brow in question. Dusty, forgotten furniture sits undisturbed, while anything useful has been moved to the garage.
Ronan is so excited he’s almost vibrating as he pulls away to stand next to an empty bookshelf. “Watch this.” After another giant grin, he pushes a finger into the center of an embellishment on the lower wooden panel. The bookshelf swings in to reveal a hidden room, and my dramatic gasp only makes him smile wider.
“What’s in here?” I charge forward, accidentally bumping him with my shoulder and sending him stumbling off balance. Who could blame me? A secret room in a camp that’s loaded full of luxuries?
It must be spectacular inside.
“There you go, running in without checking for danger first,” he scolds as I skid to a stop. “What if there were snakes in here?”
“This isn’t snakes,” I whisper, the warmth of his body pressing against my back as his arms encircle me, his chin finding a comfortable spot on my shoulder.
“Surprise!” he whisper-shouts, voice barely audible even from this miniscule distance, and I twist in his arms. My windpipe becomes tangled and tight, choking me, as my eyes dart between his. “What do you think? ”
“Why are you doing this to me?” I croak, the balled-up emotion cracking right through the words as they leave my throat. “Why are you making it hurt so much?”
His brows pinch, lips parting as his tongue swipes between them. “Hurt? I don’t—”
“Every time you do something amazing, this ache shoots through my chest like my fucking heart is on fire, and it hurts , Ronan. It hurts wanting you this much.”
A soft smile crosses his face. “Should I be mean to make it better?”
“It would probably help,” I sniffle, my back finding the solid comfort of his body as I turn and survey the room.
No more than twelve feet square, the walls are lined with floor-to-ceiling shelves. Colorful books line almost every inch—some old and leather-bound, others a rainbow of worn spines and fantastical titles. Two dusty, overstuffed reading chairs sit in the middle with a table and lamp between them.
“Alright,” he says, dropping a kiss behind my ear as I tilt my head to give him access. “Now that I’ve shown you, I plan to secure the door so you can never come in again.”
“Evil.” A wobbly grin spreads across my face. “More.”
“I’m going to make you sit and watch as I dog-ear all the pages and write sloppy notes in the margins.”
“Ghastly!” My hand slaps over my mouth dramatically as Ronan laughs. His arms tighten around my middle, and I hug them against me. “This is incredible, even if we won’t be here much longer. Can we bring some with us? ”
“You can bring as many as I’m able to carry,” he whispers, nipping at my ear. “Even if it means I have to break my back to move them for you.”
“Stop,” I whine, clutching my heart with my hand. “It just stopped hurting.”
His hand lifts to mine, covering it with his much larger one. “You have to get used to it, mo’sziv.”
“Yeah… I know.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
I force another swallow as my throat swells. “I know that, too.”
“My Cameron,” he purrs, nuzzling his nose along my neck, dropping soft kisses over every exposed inch. I gasp when the point of his teeth scrapes over my skin. “You are mine… only mine. Always mine.”
“Yes,” I whisper as his hand drifts lower, coming to rest over my stomach. That ball of tension in my chest drops deeper, a low, delicious swoop in my gut that makes everything go tingly.
“Say it.” Warm hands slide under my shirt as he nips me again, the very edge of his fingertips sneaking under the waist of my jeans. “Let me hear it from those pretty pink lips.”
I bite at my lip, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth as he presses against me, his cock thick against my lower back. “And if I don’t?”
His hand dips further, and a quiet moan sneaks from my throat as he teases the hair at the base of my cock. “If you won’t use that mouth to admit you’re mine, then we’ll just have to find a different use for it.” Fingers wrap around my length, swallowing me whole as he gives a slow stroke. “It’s your choice. ”
Teeth scrape along the curve of my neck, harder this time, and my hips jerk forward with a gasp. “Mmm, someone liked that,” he murmurs, closing his fist tighter.
“Did not,” I lie as he bites me again, and my head thuds back on his shoulder, whining when he releases me. The zipper of my pants drops with a whir and my button pops open as he shoves my jeans to the ground.
Ever so slowly, he walks around my front, eyes hooded, and drops to his knees. “Oh, fuck,” I whimper as he inches closer, never breaking eye contact as he slips my shoes off and drags my pants off my legs into a forgotten pile.
“Such a pretty little cock.” His tongue pushes out, letting the underside of my length rub along the wet warmth. My lips separate as my breathing comes out in puffs, and I can’t tear my eyes away as he closes his mouth around me.
A pitiful, desperate whine leaves me as he swirls over the tip of my cock, tasting and teasing like he can’t get enough. Hands land on my ass and tug me forward, and he takes me so deep his nose pushes into my skin.
“Ro,” I whimper, weaving my hand through his hair and giving my hips a tentative thrust. The pleasure that jettisons through my body makes my eyes roll into my head, and just when I think nothing could ever feel as good as this, Ronan starts to suck.
“Oh, god, oh, fuck,” I whine as hot, wet pressure draws on my cock. His cheeks hollow as he pulls his head back, dragging the ring of his lips until only the head remains in his mouth. Again and again, he takes me in, tongue swirling as my balls draw embarrassingly tight.
He worships me .
This giant, powerful warrior of a man is on his knees for me.
A low, rumbling growl vibrates up my length as I tense, a dull pulse forming in my core. “Ronan,” I gasp as my hips snap forward, but he pulls away, leaving me slick and glistening.
“So eager,” he purrs, licking his swollen lips as he uses his thumb to wipe the spit from his chin. Gods, that’s just as sexy as seeing my cock in his mouth. “You’re so fucking perfect when you’re desperate, Cam… but as much as I want to taste you, I can’t allow you to finish yet.”
“Sure you can,” I argue, and he laughs, his breath blowing across my overstimulated cock as my fingers tighten in his hair, trying to guide him forward.
“By the time we’re done, you’ll be begging me to let you come.”
“Can I beg you now and we skip the whole torture part?” He chuckles before he takes me in his mouth again, sucking harder and bobbing faster until I’m too close and he pulls away once more. My eyes fall to where his cock pushes down his pant leg, a dark spot forming at the end.
“Are you ready to say it yet? Ready to admit that you’re mine?” He stands and pulls his shirt off, which, frankly, is cheating. He clicks his tongue as I reach for his pants, knocking my hands aside. My shirt gets yanked over my head, leaving me naked as he grips my chin, tilting my face to his. “I asked you a question.”
I bite my lip to keep from blurting out every forbidden thought that dances on my tongue, loving the flare of his nostrils as I refuse to answer him. Fumbling to find his zipper, he doesn’t stop me this time as I tug it down. “ Can I?” My voice is rough as I work his pants over his legs. “I want to try. Please let me?”
His brow raises as he wets his lips, eyes so dilated I can’t tell the pupil from the dark brown of his iris. “That’s what you want, is it?”
“Please,” I breathe, knowing my own eyes are as wild as his. “Is it okay if you sit?” He nods, never taking his eyes off me as he backs up to one of the chairs. His pants and underwear hit the floor as he sinks onto the cushion, letting his legs fall apart as his cock stands proudly at attention.
Gods, he’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.
Nerves swimming, I sink to my knees between his legs and he purrs as I run my palms up his thighs. “I don’t know how to do this,” I whisper, and his expression softens as his thumb rubs over my cheek.
“You can’t do anything wrong, Cam. Don’t get stuck in your head and overthink it. Do what feels good to you, and I promise, it’ll feel good to me, too.” My fingers wrap around him as I nod, marveling at the difference in our size. Where his hand engulfs my entire cock, mine barely covers half of him. “Just like that,” he murmurs as I drag my fist up and swipe over the tip, cataloguing his every reaction. My grip expands as it slides over his knot, and a beautiful, helpless sound is wrenched from his throat.
Okay, don’t have to ask if he likes that, then.
Eyes closed, he lays his head back on the chair, understanding I’m too nervous for him to watch yet. Salty sweetness finds my tongue as I drag it across the tip of his cock, and his quiet grunt is strained. Another lick makes his hips shift before I wrap my lips around him and take him into my mouth .
“So good,” he murmurs, fingers flexing as they dig into the arms of the chair. My hand slides up his shaft, stroking as I inch further, and my eyes grow wide as a rush of warmth hits my tongue.
“Fuck, I’m sorry,” he mutters, lifting his head and staring as his slick leaks from the corners of my lips, and he swipes away the dampness as it drips down my chin. “Goddamn, you are perfect when you’re messy for me.” Cheeks indenting, I suck harder and swirl my tongue, and he chokes a groaning laugh as his hips shift. “It is so very hard to be still when you make me feel this good.”
The praise flutters in my chest, and I take a few more inches into my mouth before my gag reflex makes me cough. Tears leak from my eyes as I come back for more, licking and sucking as his thighs twitch and hips struggle not to move. Finally gathering the nerve to look at him, I peer over the top of my glasses.
“Fuck, that’s hot,” he mutters, reaching to adjust them on my face. “One of these days I’m going to come all over these.” My eyes get wide, but he grins and shakes his head. “Not today, Cam.”
Panting, I release him and wipe the back of my hand over my lips. “Where will you come today?” I ask, a flush burning on my cheeks as I hold his gaze.
“Get up here,” he says, hoisting me into his lap and letting my knees fall on either side of his hips. Our lips meet in an urgent kiss as I rock forward, my cock grinding against his abs and causing a shiver to travel up my spine. He coats his hand and moves to my ass, a gentle, slick finger pressing against my hole. Ronan growls when I clench, pulsing his fingertip until it slips past my rim.
“Ready to say it yet? ”
“Wh-what?” I ask, delirious as I push back, taking him deeper.
“Say you’re mine, Cam. Tell me you belong to me... yell it loud enough that the raiders come. Let them try and take you away from me.” Fire blazes in his gaze as my heart pounds, and I relish the way it flares when I don’t respond. A second slicked finger pushes at my hole, and my eyes widen at the stretch. “You’re going to make me claim you the old-fashioned way, huh?” His voice is low and rumbling as that second finger slips inside me, and I whimper as he moves them.
In and out, pushing deeper with every thrust, and then scissoring back and forth as my body comes alive, nerve endings firing in pure electric bliss. “Here’s what’s going to happen…” My gasp interrupts him, his fingers hitting a spot that makes me see stars, and my mouth drops open as my head falls back.
“Pay attention, love,” he purrs, and my heavy head lifts and nods, drunk on the pleasure. “You’re going to ride my cock, and I’m going to come so deep inside you that every inch of your body smells like me. Anyone within a mile of you will know exactly who you belong to.”
Another finger, a third one, pushes at my rim and I whimper. “Too much.”
“You can take it, mo’sziv. You were made for taking me.” My breath comes in heavy puffs as the pressure builds, my cock leaking onto his stomach as he works me open. “I can’t wait to feel this tight little hole stretching to let me in, so pretty and pink, and all fucking mine.”
“Fuck!” I gasp as the third finger slips inside me. Teeth bared, he watches every expression on my face like it’s the most fascinating thing he’s ever seen. A loud, drawn- out moan bursts from my throat as he thrusts knuckle-deep, and I slam my lips into his as he swallows down the noises that are breaking free.
“Mine,” he growls, nipping at my bottom lip as he pulls his hand away, and I whine at the loss. Ronan’s tongue moves with mine, demanding and claiming as he lines us up. His slick cock pushes against my hole and I drop my hips, his mouth ripping from mine as our foreheads press together. “Bear down for me,” he commands, and I nod, desperate to be filled by him again.
Pressure ignites every one of my nerve endings as he slips inside me. “Ro,” I whimper, and he kisses me as he nods.
“I know, Cam, I know. Easy, okay?” My thighs quiver as I ease myself down, heavy breaths blowing through my lips as he stretches me. “Look at you, doing so good,” he whispers, sliding his palms along my spine before gripping my ass cheeks. He lifts me up by a few inches, then lets me sink back down, deeper this time.
Inch by inch, I take more of him until I reach his knot, and he shakes his head as I fight to take more. “Not tonight,” he says, and I pout as I lift off him again. A slow smile spreads across his face as he drags his thumb over my protruding lip. “Soon, I swear to you.”
Slowly building speed, he allows me to set the pace. Eyes never veering from mine, he tugs me closer, trapping my cock between us as we move as one. His hands are everywhere—tracing up my spine and gripping my ass. Wrapping around me and skating along my thighs and hipbones. White-hot pleasure, electric as lightning, courses through my veins as the tension in my belly coils tighter .
“Ro,” I whimper, taking him deeper until his knot starts to stretch me, mindlessly thrusting as the pleasure-pain flashes in spots behind my eyelids.
“Gods, that’s it,” he murmurs in my ear, tilting my head as he latches onto my neck. The tips of his teeth scrape me as he sucks the skin between his lips, hard enough to leave a mark. His arms bind around my middle, and he thrusts up, his knot pushing at my hole. “Can’t wait until you can take all of me. Can’t wait to breed you… swell that belly with my cum.”
“Ronan,” I cry, the throbbing in my core spreading down my limbs. It pulses in my cock as I move faster, rougher, and he matches my pace as he drives into me.
“You’re so fucking tight,” he rasps, and I can hear it as he loses control, his voice hitching and motions becoming jerky. “Hold on just a little longer.”
“I can’t,” I wail as my muscles wring, desperate to let go.
“You can,” he soothes, using his grip around my middle as he thrusts. Sweat beads on my forehead as I rut against him, bearing down and aching, wanting him inside me more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life. My name rips out of him on a growl, but I can’t tell if it’s encouragement or a warning.
“Yours… I’m yours. All yours, only yours,” I gasp, and his hands land on my arms, his mark covering mine. A ripple blasts through my body, a straight shot of adrenaline as my muscles clench and my toes curl. Pleasure like I’ve never known makes me fear I might explode with it.
He calls my name again in a broken shout, and his body jolts as his head throws back, tendons in his neck drawn taut. Heat floods inside me as his cock pulses, filling me until it runs out along my skin, soaking his lap. The hormones from his release hit me like a sledgehammer and catapult me over the edge.
My fingernails dig into his shoulders as I grind on him, my cock jerking between us as my cum shoots across his abs. He yanks me into a sloppy, passionate kiss as we both move in tandem, riding out the final waves of ecstasy.
“Mine,” he murmurs as I slump against him, tucking my face into his neck as our hearts pound.
“Yours,” I agree, taking a deep breath and smiling when he kisses the top of my head. We sit like this for a long time, curled up in one another as we float back to earth. “Ro?”
“Yeah, mo’sziv?”
“We should probably shower before we touch these books, unless we want the pages to be glued together.” His laughter is a low, happy sound, and he curls his arms around me and hugs me so tight, I believe he could single-handedly hold me together.