Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
~MAGGIE~
H e’s trying to kill me. That’s the only explanation for the no-talking, no-seeing, no-moving stuff.
Because it’s hot as hell. Figuratively and literally, and I don’t want him to stop.
Does this mean I’m submissive? I don’t even know. I’ve only read books and watched movies about this stuff, and I always rolled my eyes. I would have said that I’d punch any man who dared to tell me whether or not I could speak.
But when it comes from Cam, a man that I trust—hell, love —it’s the hottest thing I’ve ever heard.
Not to mention, the way he growls, “Good girl,” makes me want to be a good girl. And that’s ludicrous. But true.
Good God, I’m losing my mi-i-ind. “Shit!”
Cam laughs, the sadistic jerk, as he taps on my clit, and I see stars. It doesn’t matter that I’m not allowed to talk. I couldn’t form a sentence to save my life anyway.
My hips move in invitation, my heels digging into the mattress, and my hands white-knuckled on the pillow as Cam does intoxicating things to me. I’ve never had a man pay so much attention to the details.
“You have a little freckle right…here.” He presses a kiss right next to my labia. “And one here.” Another kiss on the other side.
I want to remind him that I have freckles everywhere , but I hold the words in and sigh in delight when his mouth covers me, and he really gets down to business.
Who knew how satisfying sex could be? Not me. Not until Cameron. I didn’t know that electricity could shoot through me with just one touch or that memories of these moments could do the same days later.
Even when he’s not touching me!
How is that even possible?
“Cam!” I reach out for him blindly, but he takes my hand, kisses it, and returns it to the pillow.
“Keep your hands up here,” he says sternly.
“Or what?” I whisper, then bite my lip in the silence that follows.
Shit.
“Or we stop.”
I immediately clamp my hand back onto the pillow and shut my big mouth because I do not want him to stop.
“Is that what you want?” he murmurs in my ear.
I shake my head no.
“You can use your words to answer.”
“No. I don’t want you to stop.” I swallow hard. “Sir.”
Cameron laughs— laughs! —and then gets back to work. How does he know that I like to be touched just like that? That I need to be caressed, right there ?
How does he know me so well?
These are questions to file away for later.
Finally, I hear his clothes rustling as he strips out of them, and then the bed dips between my legs as Cam kneels there. God, I want to see him. I want to watch his blue eyes darken as he slips inside of me, and I want to see them close because he’s overcome from the sensation of us joining.
I want to watch everything.
And he must agree because with the head of his cock poised at my opening, he tugs my sweater over my head so I can see him.
With that dark blue gaze locked on mine, he pushes inside of me and stops when he’s balls-deep.
“You’re everything.”
Two words that hold more meaning than anything I’ve ever been told in my life.
“Please, can I touch you?”
He narrows his eyes, but I shake my head. “Please. I need to.”
Cam’s expression softens, and then he takes one hand off the pillow and kisses it. “Touch me, babe. Anywhere you want.”
And so, I do. His chest, down that tight stomach, and when I brush my fingertips over his shaft as he moves in and out of me, he mutters, “Christ.”
Emboldened, I do it again, and when he falls over me, resting on his elbows, I grip on to his firm ass.
He brushes his thumb over my lower lip, and I stick my tongue out to lick it, then bite the pad.
“Fuck, Mary Margaret.” His voice is thick and raspy.
“Yes, you are.”
He tips his forehead to mine, and we’re lost, falling into an abyss that isn’t dark at all but rather bursting with light and sound.
Later, when our skin and the sheets have cooled, and our heartbeats return to normal, I look over at him in the dark and see that his eyes are open and on me.
“Do I need a safe word?” I blurt out.
He raises an eyebrow again. “If you feel like you do, then we should have one. Did you feel like you needed to use one just now?”
He scoots closer and pulls me to him, brushing his hand through my hair.
“No, I didn’t. But I never expected you to be so…assertive in bed, either.”
“Let’s clear some things up,” he says quietly. “You don’t have to call me sir. I’m not a Dominant.”
“But you are dominant,” I say with no censure in my voice. “And I don’t mind that, much to my surprise. In fact, I think it’s pretty hot. But what if there’s a moment when I want you to stop, but you’ve told me not to talk?”
“Then you say, ‘Stop, Cam.’ And I’ll stop. If you’re not feeling it, or if you’re uncomfortable, say so. We’re not in a club, we’re not in the middle of a scene. We’re making love, Mags.”
“True. Yeah, okay, I like that. You did listen when I said I needed to touch you.”
“Yes, exactly like that.” He kisses my fingertips. “Just tell me what you need, and we’ll make it happen. I’ll never hurt you.”
“I know. I know that. Have you always been this bossy? Wait.” I hold up a hand, shushing him. “I don’t want to know.”
He laughs and kisses my nose. “I don’t think anything in my life has been like what I feel when I’m with you, and that’s the truth.”
“Same.” That was the perfect answer. I lean in and kiss him softly. “Same here.”
“We should sleep,” he says. “Especially if we’re going to go shopping for a fridge before we pick up the car.”
“I’m begging you.” I cup his face in my hands and stare intently into his eyes. “Please, for the love of all that’s holy, will you do it? Will you just buy me a fridge? I’ll pay you back for it. I don’t want to pick it out, Cam. I don’t care as long as it’s big and has a freezer and an ice maker. Please. ”
He sighs but nods and kisses my lips once more. “Okay. I’ll pick one out and arrange for it to be delivered. But don’t complain about the one I choose, okay?”
“Deal. Absolutely. I will never, ever complain about it.”
“I should get that on video to show you later.”
“I have a better idea.”
I push him onto his back and straddle him, grinning when I feel him harden beneath me.
“That’s definitely a better idea.”
I love this car.
I might want to marry this car.
I didn’t even want to get out of it on the ferry while we rode over to the island.
I pull into my driveway just ahead of Cam with my music blaring. He parks behind me, and I push the button to turn off the engine, then hurry out of my brand-spanking-new vehicle and run to my man, jumping into his arms to hug him close.
“I listened to the music on my phone !” I inform him and kiss his cheek. “My ass was warm, and my hands were warm, and I could see the blue sky if I wanted to!”
“So, you like it then?”
“I love it. I’m not even mad anymore that it took another hour at the dealership this morning.”
“Good. Let’s go in and clean up the fridge mess. The new one will be here this afternoon.”
I frown as he sets me on my feet. “Wait. This afternoon?”
“Yes.”
He’s walking away from me, toward the front door, and I have to pick up the pace to keep up with him.
“How? We’ve been busy all day. How did you find the time to get me a fridge?”
I unlock the door, and when we step inside, I have to cover my nose with my hand.
“Oh, God. How did it get so smelly so fast?”
“Food goes bad,” Cam says grimly. “It’s called bacteria. Start opening windows, and I’ll get the trash bags.”
“We can’t open the door of that thing,” I protest, breathing into the sleeve of my sweater. “Cam, can’t we just throw it all away in one fell swoop?”
“I don’t think the appliance company will haul it away with the food still inside,” he says. “Unfortunately, we have to clear it out. You can do it. I’m sure you’ve seen worse.”
“I work in a bar. Of course, I’ve seen worse. Maybe.”
I hurry around the house, opening all the windows and doors, flipping on overhead fans. I even drag out the big box fan I use in the summertime.
I don’t have A/C.
With the fan on full blast and with both of us wearing gloves and armed with trash bags, Cam and I hurry to empty the fridge and freezer of all their contents.
“I’ll never look at turkey the same again,” I say as I try to breathe through my mouth.
“I don’t think I’ll eat stew anytime soon, either,” Cam agrees as we hurry out to the dumpster with the first few bags, then rush back inside to fill two more. “That’s it. Let’s haul these out, and then we’ll muscle this thing out to the porch.”
I hurry behind him and toss away the food. When we’re back inside, Cam and I manage to work the fridge out of its space between the wall and my kitchen counter and get it out onto the front porch.
“It already smells better in here,” I say with a sigh. “But it might take a day or two to get back to normal.”
“I bet it’s much better in a couple of hours. We’ll spray some air freshener.”
“Should we haul the garbage somewhere?” I ask. “It’s going to smell up the neighborhood.”
“When is your garbage day?”
“Not until Tuesday, and today’s Thursday.”
Cam cringes. “I’ll call the garbage company and ask if they’ll make a special trip over here in the morning.”
“They do stuff like that?”
“I don’t know. I’m going to ask them.”
Cam pulls out his phone to make the call, and I go hunt down the air freshener.
I spray every room. According to the bottle, my house is going to smell like a spring meadow. And it will if it’s the last thing I do.
“Good news,” Cam says when he finds me in the office, spraying. “They’ll come by today on their last route.”
“Well, that’s handy. Thanks.”
“I know you’ve been hard at work spraying that stuff, but now the house just smells like a rotten meadow.”
I sigh in defeat. “Yuck.”
“It’s okay. We’ll stay at my place tonight, and we’ll leave the windows open all night to air it out. It’s safe here, it’ll be okay.”
“Okay. That should work. Besides, maybe some of what we smell is coming from outside.”
“Very possible. I think I hear the delivery truck.”
By the time my new fridge is in and running, and the old one is long gone, I’ve almost forgotten about the smell.
“This is an expensive appliance,” I say as I turn to Cameron, who wears an expression of absolute innocence.
“You said you wouldn’t complain.”
“But did you have to get the most expensive one they had?”
“It’s not. They didn’t have that one in stock, and I knew you wouldn’t want to wait.”
“Ha-ha.” I open the stainless-steel appliance and sigh in happiness. “It is gorgeous. And it’ll hold so much stuff!”
“I know you love to cook, and you need a good fridge. You often cook for the pub ahead of time, so you should have an almost top-of-the-line appliance.”
“Yeah, okay. You’re right. So, I have a new car, a new fridge, and my hot water heater is fixed. I think, as long as I’m not about to jinx it, that things should go back to normal now.”
“That’s three things, so I think you’re safe.”
“Yeah, these things do happen in threes.” I walk to my bedroom and start packing a bag. “I’ll just bring enough stuff for overnight, and then we’ll reassess.”
“You can stay for as long as you need.”
“That’s really nice of you.” I grin when he hugs me from behind as I’ve learned he loves to do. “You’re so selfless.”
“That’s me. They call me Selfless Cameron .”
I snort and pluck my phone off the bed when it starts to ring. “Hello?”
“Hey, are you back?”
“I am, and I have a fancy new car,” I inform Maeve. “What are you doing?”
“We’re hosting family dinner tonight. Keegan’s even closing down the pub early so we can all get together at once.”
“Awesome. What can I bring?”
“Nothing, we have it handled. Oh, bring Cameron.”
“I already planned to.” I look at the man in question, who’s watching me from the doorway where he’s leaning on the doorjamb, looking all kinds of sexy. “What time?”
“Dinner’s at six, but you can come anytime. I think most of the guys are planning to play out in Hunter’s gym. He got some new toys. Oh, and Hunter’s parents are here, too.”
“You have a full house. We’ll head that way in just a few so I can help with everything.”
“Thanks. I want to see your new car, too.”
“I’ll be sure to drive it over so I can show it off. It’s shiny. And it heats my ass.”
“Fancy,” she says and then hangs up.
“How do you feel about family dinner at Maeve’s?” I ask Cam.
“I think it’s the perfect opportunity for you to show off your new wheels.”
“That’s what I said.” I zip my bag closed and turn to him. “Shall we go? I want to go over and help Maeve and Ma with dinner. I know the other girls are there, too, but it’s a lot of work. And, I’ll be honest, I just want to hang out with them.”
“At last, you tell me what you want. I’m ready. Let’s get out of this stinky house.”
I laugh and lead the way to the front, locking the door behind us. Cam stows my bag in my new car.
“Want me to follow you to your place so we can leave your car there and just take this one to Maeve’s?”
“Sounds like a plan.”