Chapter 33 Emily
EMILY
Itossed a backup phone charger into the overnight bag and zipped it shut with way more force than necessary. Maya, lying on her side on my bed, scrolling on her phone, lifted her head to watch me.
“You know you’re literally going next door, right?” Her smile was pure mischief. “You could walk back here in thirty seconds if you forgot something.”
“I know that.” I grabbed my bag off the bed.
“And yet here you are, packing like you’re going away for a month to the other side of the world. It’s cute. You’re cute.”
Before I could answer, my phone buzzed. Then again. And again. I grabbed it off my dresser and scrolled through the group chat explosion.
Hannah: TONIGHT’S THE NIGHT
Poppy: Have a good one! We love you!
Hannah: Oh yeah, she’s gonna have a good one!
Mia: HANNAH
Hannah: WHAT? I’m being supportive
Samara: You’re being inappropriate
Hannah: potato potahto
Annie: Emily we’re so happy for you
Cassidy: Make sure you stay hydrated.
Maya: Hydrated? WTF?
Cassidy: Someone has to be practical. I’ve seen the way Cam looks at her. She’s in for a big night.
Hannah: Big, you say?
Poppy: Ignore them Em. Just be present and enjoy yourself. You’ve earned this.
Hannah: oh she’s gonna be present alright
Hannah: VERY present
Hannah: if you know what I mean
Mia: WE ALL KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN. But for real, Em, if you’re smart, you’ll go commando. It’ll drive him wild.
Cassidy: Facts.
Maya: And for the love of god, turn your phone off so you don’t hear from these weirdos.
Annie: Excellent idea.
Me: Thanks, guys.
Hannah: You can pay us back with a play-by-play description of your weekend.
Me: No, you creep.
Hannah: You love me.
Me: I do, but I’m going now.
“Our friends are insane,” I said, but I was smiling.
“They really are,” Maya agreed. “And Poppy’s right. You’ve earned this.”
I had earned this. After weeks of slow burn tension, of fleeting touches and stolen glances, of all that making out until we were both breathless and desperate, I was about ready to combust.
I grabbed my bag and headed for the door.
“Wait!”
I turned back to Maya with a raised brow.
“Panties off.”
“Oh, right.” I quickly took them off and shoved them in a side pocket of my overnight bag and started for the door again. “See you on Sunday.”
“Text me when you get there, so I know you arrived safe!” Maya called after me.
“Har har,” I shot back over my shoulder.
My heart thudded against my ribs as I crossed through the back gate into Cam’s yard, but it wasn’t nerves. Not anymore. It was anticipation, hot and liquid in my veins. I wanted this. Wanted him. More than I’d ever wanted anything in my life.
He was waiting on the back porch, leaning against the railing in jeans and a faded gray t-shirt. No shoes. Something about his bare feet on the wooden planks made my breath catch. He looked relaxed, casual, but his eyes tracked my every movement as I climbed the steps.
“Hey.” The roughness of his voice had goosebumps rippling over my skin.
“Hey yourself.”
He pushed off the railing and crossed to me in two long strides. He reached up, thumb brushing over my cheekbone as he pressed a featherlight kiss to my lips. “Dinner’s ready. Wine’s breathing. I was thinking we could eat on the porch, maybe put on some music—”
I dropped my bag and kissed him properly.
For a second he went still, surprised, but then his arms came around me and he kissed me back. Slow at first, sweet, but I didn’t want slow. I’d had enough slow. I’d had years of telling myself I couldn’t have this, that I wasn’t allowed to want it. I was done with that.
I pressed closer, my hands sliding up into his hair, and felt his sharp inhale against my mouth. His grip tightened on my waist, fingers digging in through the thin fabric of my dress.
“Emily.” He pulled back slightly. His eyes were dark, pupils blown wide. “What about dinner?”
“What about dinner?” I kissed along his jaw, feeling the scratch of stubble against my lips.
His chest rose and fell hard beneath my palms. “I had a whole plan. I was going to wine and dine you, be a gentleman—”
“You are a gentleman.” I bit his earlobe gently and felt him shudder. “But…” I pulled back to meet his eyes. “I’m done waiting, Cam.”
The careful control he’d been maintaining cracked, and heat flooded in to replace it. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, then.”
He kissed me again, harder this time, walking me backward until my shoulders hit the porch post. The wood was solid against my back as he pressed into me, one hand sliding up my rib cage while the other gripped my hip.
I could feel how hard he was through his jeans and I rolled my hips against him, needing the friction.
He groaned into my mouth. “Jesus, Em.”
“Bed?” I managed between kisses.
“Too far.”
“Then here.”
He pulled back just enough to search my face. “You sure?”
I answered by kissing him again, pulling him closer, and that was apparently all the confirmation he needed. He spun us around and dropped into the recliner, pulling me down to straddle his lap.
He reached for the hem of my dress and paused. Our eyes met and I saw the question there. The careful concern. God, I was so grateful for that, but I didn’t need careful right now.
I reached down and tugged the fabric up myself, pulling it over my hips. His breath caught as his gaze dropped to my bare pussy. When he looked back up at me his eyes had gone almost black. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”
The words sent heat spiraling through me. “Touch me.”
His palms glided up my thighs. Slow. Deliberate. His thumbs traced dizzying patterns over my skin. The evening air felt cool against my flushed body, but his touch was searing heat as he gripped my waist to pull me closer.
“Come here.” He pulled me down to kiss me again and I melted into it, into him, into the feeling of his hands on my bare skin. One hand slid up my back to find the knot of my halter dress and he worked it loose without breaking the kiss.
The soft material pooled at my waist.
My breath trapped in my lungs. This was it. The moment I had been running from for years. The scars on my stomach and breasts seemed to burn under the porch light, exposed and jagged and impossible to hide.
I tensed, waiting for the flinch. Waiting for the look of disgust. Waiting for him to realize he was wrong the other night. That he couldn’t handle my worst.
It never came.
Cam didn’t even blink. His gaze devoured me with a reverence that made my knees weak.
“Cam...”
“I know,” he murmured against my skin. “I’ve got you.”
And he did. His mouth was hot and perfect on my breast, tongue swirling before he sucked hard enough to make me whimper. His other hand came up to palm my other breast, thumb brushing over the peak, and pleasure shot straight to my core.
I rolled my hips against him without thinking, seeking friction, and felt him hard and thick beneath his jeans. The knowledge that I was doing this to him, that he wanted me this much, made me bold. I reached between us for his belt, but I couldn’t make my fingers work properly.
“Cam, I need—” I couldn’t finish the sentence.
“I know, sweetheart. I know.” One hand left my hip to work his belt, the clink of metal loud in the quiet evening. He had his jeans open in seconds, lifting me just enough to shove them down his hips.
My breath came fast as he reached back to grab a condom from his back pocket.
He rolled it on and then his hands were back on my hips, positioning me over him. The blunt head of his cock pressed against me and I sank down slowly, my body stretching to accommodate him.
We both groaned as I took him deeper, inch by inch, until I was fully seated in his lap.
“Fuck.” The word came out strangled. His eyes had fallen closed, jaw clenched tight with restraint. “You feel so good.”
I rolled my hips experimentally and his eyes snapped open, pinning me with their intensity.
“Do that again.”
I did, finding a rhythm that had us both breathing hard. His hands gripped my hips hard enough to bruise but I didn’t care. I wanted to feel this tomorrow. Wanted to remember every second of finally letting myself have what I’d been denying for so long.
“Emily.” My name was a prayer and a curse on his lips. One hand slid between us, his thumb finding my clit, and I nearly came apart right then. “I want to feel you come around me.”
The combination of his words and his touch and the feeling of him thick and hard inside me pushed me right to the edge. I moved faster, chasing it, and he matched my pace. The chair squeaked in protest but neither of us cared.
“That’s it, sweetheart. Let go. I’ve got you.”
And I did. I let go of the fear. The shame. The doubt I had carried for years. It all shattered. There was only the weight of his hands on my body and the friction of him deep inside me. I was wanted. Beautiful. Completely myself.
My orgasm hit like a wave, pleasure crashing through me in rolling pulses. I cried out his name and felt him surge up into me harder, his own control finally breaking. He came with a groan that I felt vibrate through his chest, his fingers digging into my hips as he pulled me down hard against him.
We stayed like that for a long moment, both of us breathing hard, hearts racing in sync. Until the recliner creaked ominously.
“If we break this thing…”
“Worth it.” He pulled me in for a kiss, this one soft and sweet and full of promise. When he pulled back his eyes searched my face. “All good?”
I thought about it. Really thought about it. And realized that I was more than okay. I felt free in a way I hadn’t in years.
“Yeah.” I smiled against his lips. “I’m great.”
I settled into the dining chair, watching as Cam moved around his kitchen, trying not to wonder how I got so fucking lucky.
He set a plate in front of me, then grabbed two wine glasses and the bottle he’d mentioned earlier. Once he had his own plate, he sat down across from me and immediately reached for my feet, pulling them into his lap.