Chapter 13 - Flora
Something about the music and the atmosphere of the club had made Flora feel freer with herself than usual. If she was being honest with herself, it was the freest she had felt in her entire life. Of course, Camden was a huge part of that. And the tequila. But mostly Cam.
The way he had been dancing with her had unlocked a part that had been hidden for a long time.
Flora remembered how much fun the two of them used to have, sneaking away to be together under the bridge.
Once upon a time, they had listened to music, laughed, talked, and leaned on each other.
It was there that they had finally kissed, and where she had lost her virginity.
Even though the rest of the story hadn’t turned out well for her, she couldn’t deny the way he had once made her feel.
And now, he was doing it again. The difference was that this time, she knew he wasn’t going to reject her.
He had stood up for her in the restaurant and done everything in his power to make her feel safe and wanted.
She didn’t want to ignore her feelings for him any longer, especially since he was making his own intentions known.
Even now, his hand was traveling up under her dress.
She inhaled sharply and shivered as she felt his fingers slip inside her underwear and tease her opening.
She was aware, in the back of her mind, that there were others in the room, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.
All she cared about was Camden’s fingers against her skin, his face pressed close to hers.
His lips were still on her neck, adorning her skin with kisses everywhere he could reach.
She let out a low moan that was lost in the bass drum beating through the air of the club.
Flora parted her legs wider, allowing him access to her slit. His finger slid backward and forward, drawing the wetness from her opening to her clitoris. With each slow, delicate movement, her breathing became more shallow and the feeling between her legs more urgent.
“I love how wet you are,” Camden whispered gruffly.
She bit her lip and moaned into his ear as he pressed gently against her clitoris and then released, edging her toward an orgasm she knew was fast approaching.
When it finally overcame her, Flora felt her legs shudder beneath her.
She clasped her hands around Camden to hold herself steady and quickly clamped his shirt between her teeth to muffle the sounds of her completion as he held her in his powerful grasp and allowed her to ride his hand as she finished.
With a satisfied moan, she eased away from him, sweaty and breathless.
When she looked into his eyes, she saw a wildness in them she hadn’t seen before.
The wolf was near the surface, excited by what they had just done. And what they wanted to do.
“We’re going home,” Camden said. “Right now.”
Flora didn’t complain as Camden grabbed her hand and led her quickly through the crowd of dancing patrons, out the front door, and into the car.
The journey home was a fast one. Neither of them wanted to wait any longer before ripping their clothes off.
Their short tryst in the darkness of the bar had been merely an appetizer, and their appetites were not yet satiated.
After sending the babysitter home and peeking in to make sure that Sofia was asleep, Flora tiptoed back down the stairs and practically skipped into Camden’s bedroom.
Flora knew that sleeping together was going to complicate things. She knew that she should stop and think things through before following her instincts, but she also knew that she couldn’t resist him anymore. She didn’t want to resist him anymore.
“You came back,” Camden said. The words from his lips were almost like a prayer, as if he had been unsure that she would, and grateful that she had.
Flora didn’t miss a beat. She unzipped her dress and let it fall to the floor.
Her nipples hardened as the cold air reached her breasts.
Flora didn’t know if it was only the temperature of the room or if her body was responding to the look on Camden’s face.
His eyes immediately dropped to them, his mouth hanging open slightly.
He shut it quickly, and his light eyes darkened, his clear, bright blue irises turning hazy with desire.
With a swift movement, he shut the door behind her and turned the lock, ensuring they wouldn’t be interrupted.
For all the waiting they had gone through to get to this point, Flora felt like they deserved to enjoy it together in peace.
“I’m going to kiss every inch of your skin,” he promised her as he towered over her, leaning one forearm against the doorframe. “And when I’m done, I’m going to make you cum so hard that you’ll forget your own name.”
It was Flora’s turn to be dumbstruck as she took in his words.
With deliberate movements, Camden backed away slowly and removed his clothes, tossing them aside.
When he had finished, he bent down and placed an arm under her knees and stood up abruptly, sweeping her off her feet.
Her stomach lurched at the change, and she let out a laugh of surprise as she found herself in his arms. Gently, he laid her on the bed and removed her underwear, raking his hands gently down her thighs and calves until he reached her feet.
“Don’t move,” he said seriously.
For once, she had no desire to disobey his command.
She was like putty in his hands as he began to explore her body with his hands and lips, doing exactly what he told her he would do.
Camden’s hands made circles on her skin as they wandered, followed closely by his mouth.
She looked down at where he crouched by her knees, relishing the feeling of his skin touching parts of her body that she couldn’t remember anyone else ever paying attention to.
The backs of her knees, her hips, her ribs; nothing was ignored.
It was an odd sensation to be so doted on after years of neglect.
When he reached the fork between her legs, Flora’s breathing hitched, surprised at his willingness to give her pleasure so quickly. Her body twitched as his lips pressed against her, and Camden placed a hand on her abdomen.
“I told you not to move,” he said slowly, rubbing a gentle circle directly below her belly button.
Flora nodded, eyes wide, as his lips took over for his hands once more and he continued his way up her body. Not an inch of her skin went untended to, from her feet to her hair. By the time he was done, Flora was practically shaking with anticipation.
“Camden,” she gasped. “I can’t wait any longer.”
He kneeled between her legs and bent her knees, bringing her feet up to his shoulders.
He turned his head sideways and kissed the arch of her foot as he caressed the top of her shins with his muscular hands.
When he turned back to look at her, Camden placed his generous cock at the entrance between her folds, pressing inward gently.
As the tip crossed her threshold, she gasped, but he withdrew it again.
“Cam,” she begged, wriggling impatiently once more.
He entered her again and withdrew just as quickly. “You’ll get the whole thing soon,” he said teasingly, pressing back inside her. “Just be patient.”
He was warming her up, increasing her anticipation and her wetness with each thrust. She was already prepared for him, wondering when he would end her suffering, but Camden kept going.
Finally, when Flora thought that she couldn’t bear waiting any more, he entered her completely.
His length filled her, pressing against her G-spot as her back arched with pleasure.
“Oh, God!” she moaned as her eyes rolled back in her head.
She hadn’t known such a feeling was possible and that waiting would increase her enjoyment this much. His thumb found her clitoris as he withdrew again, rubbing against the bundle of nerves gently as he continued.
His foreplay had been so precise, so teasing, so mind-blowing, that Flora could already feel the precipice drawing nearer.
Each thrust brought her closer and closer to the edge until she finally felt herself reach the tipping point.
She didn’t want to give in. She was eager to continue savoring the experience, but once the floodgates were open, there was no stopping the orgasm that ripped through her.
Her abdomen flooded with heat, and her thighs clenched tightly as she finished, her body rocking against his pelvis without any input from her brain.
Only when she was done did Camden allow himself to experience his own orgasm. He looked into her eyes, mouth slightly ajar, as he gave a final thrust and spilled himself inside her. His breath came in heaving gasps as he leaned his forehead against hers, recovering from his efforts.
“Oh my God,” Flora exclaimed, out of breath. “That was….”
She had no words to describe the experience, so she let the sentence hang in midair as Camden lay down next to her in his bed.
“Agreed,” he said.
He sounded exhausted, and Flora didn’t blame him. He had done all of the work this evening, and she had been merely the beneficiary of his attentions. When he tossed a blanket over both of them and reached toward the nightstand to turn off the lamp, Flora was happy to allow him the rest.
“Should I go?” she asked hesitantly.
In the darkness, Flora felt him reach for her, pulling her onto his chest in a comfortable embrace. Her eyes closed as she listened to his heartbeat slow and felt the small circles his hand was making on her back.
“Not yet,” he whispered.
She relaxed onto his chest, feeling the heat from his arm surrounding her.
“Thank you for tonight,” she whispered into the stillness.
“Thank you,” Camden repeated.
Flora could hear the tiredness in his voice, and a few minutes later, his hand stilled on her back.
He was nearly asleep. As much as she wished she could join him, she knew she needed to leave and go back to her own bed.
When she heard the shallow breathing of his sleeping form, she carefully extricated herself from his arm and the blankets, found her clothes, and unlocked the door.
The light from the hallway outside illuminated his face as she opened the door, and she took one last lingering look at him before closing it.
***
The next morning, Flora woke with a sinking feeling in her stomach.
She remembered every second of what she and Camden had done last night.
Every glorious, blissful moment. But in the harsh light of morning, she knew that it shouldn’t have happened like that.
There was too much baggage between them for either of them to expect this to turn out well.
They might be married and mated now, but she was still in danger from the Ironbrand pack, still under threat from her adoptive parents, and still the mother of a daughter who didn’t know she was living with her father.
Everything was a mess, and their coupling had only made it messier.
“Mom!” Sofia said, bounding into the room in her princess pajamas.
Her hair was wild and untamed from sleep as she barreled into Flora’s bed to give her a hug.
“Good morning, baby,” Flora said, wrapping her daughter in her arms. “You hungry?”
Sofia nodded, and they went downstairs to grab some cereal, only to find that Camden had cooked pancakes. She hadn’t been expecting him to be home this morning since training was scheduled for seven a.m. Flora was taking the day off, but hadn’t expected Camden to have the same idea.
“Jasper is leading training this morning, so I thought I’d cook,” he said, seemingly reading Flora’s mind.
“Is that blueberry syrup?” Sofia asked, eyeing a bottle of blue liquid with fascination.
“Sure is!” Camden said. “I got it just for you. Grab a fork.”
“Want me to cut your pancakes?” Flora asked her.
She helped Sofia with her plate, and the three of them sat down.
Flora was careful to avoid eye contact with Camden as they ate, which proved difficult because he seemed intent on catching her gaze.
All she wanted was to have a normal, nonconfrontational day.
She didn’t want Sofia to realize that anything had changed before she had the chance to talk to Camden about what last night meant for them.
When she finished eating, Flora got up from the table and began to clear the food and plates while Sofia finished eating her syrup-covered pancakes. As she walked past Camden’s chair, he stood up and grabbed the plate of pancakes from her.
“I’ll take that,” he said.
Not wanting a repeat of the plate-breaking incident, she relinquished it and turned back to grab the butter dish instead. At the kitchen counter, they both set down their dishes and bumped into one another in the narrow space between the kitchen island and the opposite counter.
“Sorry,” she said.
“My mistake,” Camden said at the same time.
He reached out to steady her, placing his hand on her waist, but instead of removing it as he normally would, he allowed his touch to linger. Flora felt her heart racing from the contact and from fear that Sofia would notice.
“Stop that,” she hissed, low enough that Sofia wouldn’t hear her. “Don’t do that in front of her.”
“Do what?” Camden asked in confusion, leaving his hand on her waist.
“Touch me,” she whispered back.
Camden drew his hand away immediately as if he had been burned.
Flora felt a moment of guilt at how harsh she had been.
She could see that he had taken her words badly and was visibly hurt by her desire for distance.
She wished they could have some space to talk so that she could explain herself and let him know that she wasn’t ashamed of sleeping with him last night.
But she also knew that even her explanation would be false.
What she really needed was time away from both Sofia and Camden, when she could decide what she wanted to happen next, but getting that space was going to be a struggle.
“Sorry,” Camden mumbled, backing away from her to finish breakfast cleanup.
She sighed regretfully, knowing this wasn’t a problem she could fix right now.
As much as she hated the idea, she knew the time for a serious conversation was fast approaching.
She wasn’t ready for the truth about their daughter to come out.
She had no idea how to even begin that conversation—with either of them.