Chapter 09 BELLA
Normally, talking to someone new about things so—intimate—would make me freak out a little, but talking to Cam didn’t make me feel that way at all. If anything, her presence did the opposite. She calmed me down. She made me feel safe, despite only meeting her an hour or so ago.
“Tell me about living in Monticello,“
Cam said. “Do you like it there so far?”
We had naturally moved so that we were sitting in front of one another, both of our legs crisscrossed. My knees bumped up against hers. A gush of wind swirled around us, and I shivered. I had a feeling it would be a while before I was fully warm again, but I didn’t mind so much. Cam was a good distraction from my soaked clothes and sticky skin.
“Well, I like the town. It’s small, but kind of charming, you know?“
Cam nodded in agreement. As a Tallahassee local, I was sure she’d been to Monticello before. It wasn’t a far drive. “But it’s kind of lonely. I don’t have any family around and I have like, one person at work who I’m friendly with, but not friends with quite yet, you know?”
Cam hummed sadly. “That does sound lonely.”
“And before I lost my job back home, I also went through a nasty breakup. So… being in a new place, not knowing anyone, getting over that… the last half year or so has been kind of a dark time for me.”
Cam leaned forward and brought me into her arms. It felt more than natural to hug her back, so I did. I held her close, and held on tight. “Well, now you know me,“
Cam murmured in my ear. She pulled away and smiled.
I laughed. “You’re such a kind person, Cam.”
She stuck her tongue out at me. “You don’t know that. I could be a secret meanie!”
I arched my brow. “Are you, though?”
“Pffft. No.”
Even in the dark, Cam was stunning. Despite not being able to have a clear picture of her, I’d looked at her so much during our photoshoot that her eyes and her smile shined bright enough in my memory for me to imagine her perfectly in the darkness. I felt kind of vulnerable sitting there with her. No lights, soaking wet. It was a comfortable kind of vulnerability, though. Almost as though I’d been waiting for her my entire life without even realizing it, and now that she was there, I could finally settle down in my own skin.
The rain began to ease, and the pounding on the roof died down significantly. It smelled like fresh rain and wet grass and dirt. I took a deep breath in as the smell brought me back to summers getting rained out at camp, sitting underneath porches and listening to the rain as we waited for the sun to come back through the clouds. “This is weirdly kind of romantic,“
I noted after a while.
Cam snorted. “Despite being cold and wet? Absolutely.”
“Maybe we can warm each other up?“
I asked hesitantly.
I could feel Cam grin at me. “I like the way you think.”
Her hands found my thighs, and suddenly my skin warmed up despite the drenched jeans that were glued to my legs. Anticipation bloomed within my chest and expanded down to my belly and up into my throat. Nerves erupted like thorns, but I welcomed them when I realized they were due to diving into unknown territory, but territory I had wanted to explore ever since my adolescence and had yet to have the chance to.
I was ready.
My dominant hand reached out and traced Cam’s collarbone underneath her shirt, and I swore I could hear her inhale at my gentle touch. Our knees knocked together sharply, so I decided to be bold. Cam likes when I’m bold. I straddled her lap and sat down on top of her, which made her hands move from my thighs to the small of my waist.
“That’s my girl,“
Cam breathed roughly against my neck.
“Am I?“
I teased back.
Instead of answering me, Cam’s lips hovered above the base of my throat. She exhaled roughly against my chilled skin and then lightly licked me. A shiver ran down the length of my spine and my head fell back on its own accord.
“You taste like rain,“
Cam purred against me.
A moan escaped me as she licked up and down my neck. She then took time leaving kisses over every inch she had licked. My stomach flipped and my skin burned with each touch. When I couldn’t take any more, I leaned back into her, cupped her jaw in my dominant hand, and tilted her face up to meet mine. Without a second thought, I bent down and kissed her. Unlike our kisses during the photoshoot, this kiss was full of hunger and need. Our lips crashed together in a frenzy. In seconds, our tongues were lapping each other up and getting better acquainted.
Cam tasted like mint and faintly of coffee, and I wanted to taste her on my tongue and my lips forever. Eventually, I realized I was no longer sitting on top of her. At some point, we had laid down, right there on the porch of the McIntyre Mansion, side by side. Our legs were intertwined as we devoured each other. Light rain droplets and our heavy breaths filled the air, and I didn’t know how long we stayed like that, lost in one another’s warmth in the dark.
After a while, we broke apart for oxygen. Cam laughed in my ear, and my flesh erupted in goosebumps at the sound. “Do you want to stop? Do you want to leave?“
she asked.
I shook my head. “No. Not yet.”
“Good.“
Cam sat up abruptly. Dazed, I reached out for her to bring her back, but she wasn’t gone for long. She straddled my hips, similarly to how she’d done before we rolled down the hill earlier. “If you ever want to stop, just tell me, okay?”
“I’m not going to want to stop,“
I said with confidence, my voice unwavering.
She laughed. “Still.”
Her fingers traced my cheekbones and then the curve of my jaw. She moved slowly, with intention. I stopped breathing. My body was still as stone. I wanted to feel every caress she granted me. Her hand moved down my neck, down to my chest. She unbuttoned my blouse, and I gasped when her knuckles brushed up against my bare skin.
When all of the buttons were undone, Cam bent down and kissed the small swells of each of my breasts. Her touches felt like butterfly kisses, and made me lightheaded in the best possible way.
“Can I see more of you?“
I asked softly. I couldn’t see much, but the visibility was a little better now that the storm clouds had moved along.
“You can have whatever you like, Bella.”
In one swift motion, Cam pulled her shirt up and over her head. She was much bustier than I was, and I admired the way her breasts looked in her black bra—round and voluptuous. I reached out with both hands and touched them delicately. My face blazed and a scorching heat leaked into the pit of my stomach. Cam’s hands covered mine and pressed my palms harder into her.
“Ahh…” I moaned.
“Do you want to feel how good a woman’s tongue can be?“
Cam asked me, her voice laced with lust.
“God, yes,“
I said on a rough exhale. Cam was about to make all of my dreams come true, I just fucking knew it. “On one condition, though.”
“What’s that, Bella baby?”
Swoon.
“I get to take you out to dinner afterwards.”
Cam leaned down and kissed my cheek. “It’s a date.”
She moved so that she could kneel in between my legs, spreading me open so that she could access my jeans. I kicked off my shoes eagerly. Cam had no trouble unbuttoning and unzipping me, but the denim was practically part of my skin since I was still wet from the rain. After several failed attempts, we laughed uncontrollably. I sat up and we worked together to get the stubborn fabric off of me.
“So sexy,“
Cam said with a giggle once the jeans finally came off. She tossed them off to the side. “Now, where were we?”
I swallowed roughly and laid back down. Cam bent down and traced the seam of my panties with her wicked hot tongue. My hands found their way down to her damp hair as she lit all of my nerve endings on fire. She took her time, properly teasing me until I was squirming underneath her. I knew she could feel how wet I was for her through my panties when she ran her index and middle fingers across my clit through the thin fabric.
“Let’s get these pesky panties off of you,” Cam said.
Finally.
Thankfully, Cam had no issues ripping my underwear down my legs. She threw them over to where my jeans laid in a pile near the porch steps, then resumed her position in between my legs. Her hands gripped my hips and squeezed. My back arched back in impatient anticipation.
I felt like I was floating, and she hadn’t even touched me down there yet. At least not with my skin exposed. My cheeks tingled and my breath became ragged. Her warm breath fell against my heated flesh, and then she planted a tender kiss directly to my clit, and I yelped at the contact.
One of her hands reached up and massaged my breast as she planted more kisses on my clit and on the inside of my thighs. Eventually, her palm slid underneath my bra and one of her fingertips circled around my erect nipple. A gust of wind blew throughout the porch. It chilled my skin and made the tree branches outside dance and sway, composing an original song all their own. The perfect soundtrack to the perfect first date.
I couldn’t focus on the music of the trees for long, though. Cam’s tongue licked at the seam of my entrance and brought me fully back into her orbit. I pulled at her hair in response, and my thighs squeezed against her head, seeking more. She chuckled against my needy skin as she played with me more. She continued to lick me up, moaning as she got a good taste of me. Once my legs started to shake, she thrust the fingers of her free hand inside of me, curving them just right to hit the spot inside of me that made me see stars.
“Fuck, Cam!”
She didn’t stop. Didn’t break away from me. Instead, she continued her work, blessing me with her mouth, her tongue, and her fingers. She applied the perfect amount of pressure against my clit, swirling against my tender nerves in perfect rhythm with the finger that still played with my nipple. Both sensations combined left me gasping for air, and I knew it wouldn’t take me long to climax.
Cam’s fingers swirled inside of me as her tongue picked up the pace. My body was more alive than ever, and I wished the sensation could last forever. Though her touches were softer than any man I’d ever been with, each one she made was practiced and purposeful. Her fingers and tongue knew exactly where to go, how to move, and how fast.
Though I wanted that moment to last, the combination of her hand on my breast, her tongue on my clit, and her fingers inside of me sent me fully over the edge. My vision popped with spots of black and white as I came for her with her name on my quivering lips. I fully bucked my hips up in the air and gripped at her hair without abandon as I rode out my orgasm. Slowly, I came down from the best high of my life.
When I finally came out of my haze, I looked down at Cam, and even in the dim light, I could see her grinning at me. “Yeah?“
she asked, cockily. She knew she was good at what she did, and I wasn’t mad about it. Not one bit.
“Holy shit.“
I gasped for air. “That was…everything I always wanted and more,“
I admitted with total honesty.
Cam laid down beside me as I caught my breath. “That was fun.”
Without any warning, I burst out into bubbly laughter. “I didn’t expect that when I pulled up to the mansion a couple hours ago.”
“The best things in life are unexpected, aren’t they?“
she asked softly.
I turned my face toward hers and kissed her deeply. “Yes. They are.”
We laid there for several moments without speaking. We kissed and held hands and smiled, and I wondered if this was the best dream I’d ever had or actually my reality.
“How do you feel about margaritas?“
Cam asked suddenly.
I snorted. “Margs? I love a good marg.”
“Good. I know a great Mexican place close to Monticello.”
I bit down on my lower lip and ran a hand through her crazy tousled hair. “Yeah? You planning on coming home with me after?”
She leaned in and kissed me on the forehead. “I think you’re going to have a hard time getting rid of me now, Bella.“
Cam paused for a beat. “You cool with that, Bella baby?”
I smiled so hard that my cheeks grew sore. “Is that a promise, or a threat?”
“Both. Now let’s see if we can get you back in those jeans…”
EPILOGUE: CAM
Two and a Half Months Later
“We’ll take another round, please.“
I pointed at mine and Bella’s empty margarita glasses on the table. “Oh! And another thing of chips and queso.”
Our waitress smiled and took our empty glasses with her as she walked away.
I stared at my beautiful girlfriend who sat across the table from me. Her cheeks were rosy from the tequila and her eyes were alive for me, as they always were. It was safe to say I was obsessed with Isabella Heather Strom. We’d dated for one whole month before she moved in with me—a total lesbian stereotype that I didn’t give a fuck about. She still taught in Monticello, but was working on getting a job in Tallahassee so she wouldn’t have to commute so far each day.
“You and your obsession with queso,“
Bella said with a sarcastic eye roll. “You have an addiction, babe. Seriously.”
I shrugged. “Queso is what makes me happiest in this life. Aside from you, obviously.”
Bella laughed just as my phone pinged. I checked it briefly, figuring I’d turn it on silent so we could finish our date in peace, but when I saw that I’d gotten an email from Sadie, I squealed and bounced in the booth.
“What is it?“
Bella asked.
“It’s the pictures from Sadie!”
“No way!“
Bella immediately got up from her side of the table and joined me on my side. “Show me, show me, show me!”
I pushed her playfully. “Working on it!”
First, we looked at the free downloads, and they took my breath away. One picture was of us on the steps of the porch of the mansion—our mansion as we referred to it now—sitting next to each other and laughing. Another photo was of us rolling down the hill, laughing our asses off. And the last two pictures were of our first kiss, a picture I knew I’d cherish forever. The last picture was of me dipping Bella down, huge grins on our faces, as we stood in the pond.
“There are fucking phenomenal,“
Bella whispered to me.
I locked my phone and placed it face down on the table. “Let’s look at the rest and order some prints when we get home?”
Bella blushed and nodded, then planted a tender kiss on my lips. “I love you, Camilla.”
“I love you, too, Bella baby.”
“Thank goodness for Sadie’s Strangers,“
Bella said after letting out a contented sigh. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
I squeezed her hand underneath the table. “You, Bella, would have been absolutely fine, no matter what.”
“Sure. But my life is a million times better with you in it, Cammy.”
“Mine, too. And you know what I’m looking forward to?” I asked.
“What?”
I grinned devilishly. “I cannot wait to show these photos off at our wedding someday.”
Bella’s eyes grew wide. “You so sure that’ll happen, Cam?”
I leaned into her and caressed her throat with my hand. “Absolutely.”