CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The black hallway gave way to brilliant daylight, and cold air rushed over Amelia’s face like a menthol balm.
Fresh air had been so desperately needed that she almost pushed past Beth as they exited the warehouse.
Amelia’s cheeks and neck were hot.
Her thoughts were unsteady.
Perhaps she was embarrassed, but more than that, she was na?ve and suddenly in a world that she’d only read about in sexy books.
A headache lingered at her temples.
They traipsed across the well-kept parking lot—which made sense if rich people had their sex parties on site—and slid into the back seat of Beth’s Lexus.
If only she could hide there.
Please, please don’t let anyone talk to me.
Camden and Beth chatted as though they hadn’t been inside Esme’s house of sex.
Their voices faded away until all she could focus on was the box Esme had given them.
Yes, of course she enjoyed her private time with Camden.
And, yes, she’d been the one to initiate the conversation, to ask for what she wanted.
But Amelia was a vanilla, lights-off kind of girl, except for that time she asked him for what she wanted and that other time he’d pinned her to the wall and dropped between her legs.
But all that was in the realm of standard sexiness.
Blindfolds and feathers were simple but very much out of her comfort zone.
Did Beth know what was in the box?
Amelia couldn’t even see it.
Camden had tucked it safely out of view in the front passenger seat.
“Do you have a designer you like?” Beth asked.
Amelia jumped. “Uh.” She caught Beth glancing at her in the rearview mirror.
“Me?” She wore a lot of department-store dresses that blended into the background of events.
Her look was professional and unremarkable.
No one was supposed to notice her at work.
“No.”
“What about you?” Beth asked Camden.
He chuckled, seemingly unaffected by the mask and feather they’d been charged with exploring.
“I wear whatever is provided for the job and don’t care who makes it.”
“Oh, come on. You two aren’t any fun.”
“I think we’re plenty of fun,” Camden drawled.
“This might be the best gig I’ve ever had.” He glanced over his shoulder and winked.
“You having fun?”
An instantaneous heat rocketed down her spine and into her cheeks.
He must’ve noticed her blush and took it for an answer.
They were going to attend a party at which clothing was optional.
How would this help her find Hailey?
Simple: Hailey attended clothing-optional parties.
Her sweet, introverted sister and responsible and quiet brother-in-law worked with a dominatrix.
They’d partied and played, and now Jonathan was dead.
Was this a good idea?
The Lexus accelerated onto a highway.
Camden messed with Beth’s dashboard until music flowed from the speakers.
He was at ease everywhere.
Every person and conversation was effortless.
He would probably take his clothes off at a party if the situation worked for him.
Maybe he’d done so for work in the past.
She wanted to take her clothes off with him alone .
She needed to feel his arms around her again.
His touch erased the worries and grounded Amelia in a way she’d never known possible.
She felt as if she could breathe in a new, better way.
Going to bed with Camden was more than she could have hoped for.
Now, they had a blindfold and feather to play with.
Chill bumps rushed down her back.
He would know what to do.
She could close her eyes and let him work his magic.
Even better, they could both be active participants.
Again, he would know what to do.
Warm thoughts rolled deep into her stomach, tightening desire in her core.
“Do you like full-length gowns or short and strappy?” Beth asked.
Amelia blinked hard.
Beth checked the rearview mirror expectantly, waiting impatiently for her to answer.
Dress discussions were the business at hand.
They had an assignment—sort of.
And Beth was ready to talk business.
Amelia had to be too.
“I usually dress to blend in.”
“Doubt that’s possible, babe,” Camden tossed out as though Beth weren’t sitting next to him.
Her eyes flashed to him.
“I work in event planning.” Fire ignited in her cheeks for the hundredth time.
“I probably have a dress that would work if you can share details.”
Beth laughed.
“ Nothing will work if you try to blend in.” She glanced at her again in the mirror.
“Do you like your hair better in updos or down?”
“Up and out of the way.”
Beth bobbed her head back and forth, contemplating options as she hummed.
“Up and sexy. I have ideas.”
Amelia’s nerves skyrocketed and stayed stratospheric as Beth and Camden chatted calmly on the way back to their new safe house.
He pointed at a highway exit advertising every store under the sun.
“We need to make a pit stop.”
Amelia spotted the sporting goods store and understood where they were going.
Knowing what had caught his eye made her smile.
Twenty minutes later, he returned to their idling car with a football under his arm and a plastic bag in hand.
“Hungry?” He offered Beth a drink and a granola bar then handed Amelia the bag, which was filled with snack options.
“Take this.”
Hunger wasn’t anywhere on her mind, but they hadn’t eaten in a while.
She peeked at the options.
He’d raided the shelves by the checkout area and, by the looks of it, bought one of everything.
“You need to eat, Amelia.”
He liked taking care of her.
That made her insides feel gooey.
She decided on a chocolate peanut butter protein bar and bottled lemonade.
The first bite was unappetizing, or so she thought.
The truth was she was famished.
By the time Beth dropped them off at their one-bedroom condo, Amelia had uttered a grand total of no more than ten words, but her blood sugar and sanity were within normal ranges.
Camden set Esme’s gift box on the coffee table.
Just as in the car, no matter where in the small condo she walked, the box had her attention.
“You doing okay?” He tossed the football to himself and dropped onto the couch.
“You’ve been pretty quiet.”
She side-eyed the box and tilted her head toward it.
“You don’t feel like that thing is sucking the oxygen out of the room?”
His smile reached his eyes.
Camden lofted the ball.
She caught it and tossed it back with far less amusement.
“How did she know we slept together?”
“You’re gorgeous. How could I resist?”
God, could she stop blushing?
His dark eyes burned as hot as she felt.
Camden rolled the football between his hands then tossed it aside.
“Amelia, come here.”
His voice rolled over her skin like the silk ties hidden in the box might.
She shivered and moved to his side.
Camden took her hand and tugged her gently onto his lap.
“If you don’t want to, all you have to say is no.”
“I know.”
Camden brushed her hair off her shoulder and, with the tips of two fingers, gently touched her chin and directed her toward his face.
His eyes warmed her insides.
“You’re in control of everything. Dealing with Beth. Searching for your sister. Sleeping with me.”
Her heartbeat rushed.
“I know—”
His finger caressed her bottom lip.
“You’re in complete control.”
But she didn’t control the erratic drive of her heart, nor the way her insides came to life when he barely touched her.
Existing in the same space as him was an aphrodisiac.
Amelia let her eyes slip shut.
His fingers drifted down.
Breathing became a chore.
Her lips parted with a gasping exhalation, and pinpricks of shivers cascaded across her neck as he caressed her sensitive skin with fingertips down, down, down her neck—and pulling away.
“Anytime you want to stop, sweetheart, you tell me. It’s that simple. Do you understand?”
Yeah, she understood.
Would he get back to business?
She didn’t want to think about anything other than the way he made her come alive.
“Tell me with your words.”
“I understand,” she whispered.
“I promise.” Could he please touch her again?
Camden inched back. The space between them grew as quickly as her desperation.
But he melted her with that trademark smoldering gaze, reached for her, and pulled her down until they lay on the couch, face-to-face.
Amelia was a perfect fit against his body, as though they’d been sculpted to cradle one another.
His hand rested on her hip.
Her leg rested on top of his.
His palm explored from her hip to her thigh, massaging and stroking the back of her leg.
His lips took hers and nipped the bottom one.
Shooting stars of need blazed a path through her insides.
She wanted his teasing kiss all over her body just like the night before.
She pressed herself closer.
He kissed along her jaw and nuzzled against her neck.
“If you could do this,” she whispered, “until I forget everything, that would be amazing.”
His smile curved against her skin.
Camden skirted his hand under the hem of her shirt.
Goose bumps jumped, and a moan caught in her throat.
“Cam, the way you touch me…” So good.
So right. He was so everything without trying to be.
Only in that moment did she realize that in the past, she’d cued up a mental list of to-dos while in bed that went something like “First kiss. Then touch. Neck kiss. Throat kiss. Chest touch. Remove clothes. Get to the good stuff. Be done with it all.” That wasn’t the case anymore.
His hypnotic ability slowed her mind to everything except them.
His touch feathered over her breast. Heat followed in its wake, a tingling awareness blooming under his fingertips.
Her nipple beaded and pressed against his hand.
A soft gasp escaped her lips, her back arching instinctively, seeking more.
She squirmed. Her skin prickled, hyperaware of every nerve ending as need coiled low in her belly.
Her pulse quickened, racing faster as he sinfully played.
“Lift up,” he said.
He pulled her shirt over her head and dropped it off the couch.
Goose bumps erupted along her arms, the sudden rush of cool air contrasting sharply with the heat pooling inside her.
He unfastened the button at her waist and eased the zipper down.
Each slow, deliberate movement sent little shocks of anticipation skittering along her spine.
He removed her pants as easily as the shirt.
The thick length of his erection was pressed between them.
Amelia reached for the button of his jeans.
“Not yet.” He picked up the box on the coffee table.
The ache of denial throbbed between her thighs, frustration twisting in her stomach.
Anticipation stole her breath.
Amelia watched him open the box and remove the mask.
Her throat tightened, a delicious tension coiling in her chest. Her pulse raced.
A mix of excitement and hesitation warred within her, making her fingers twitch where they lay against the couch.
Camden laid the mask just above her head.
Out of sight but not out of mind.
The weight of the silky mask with its ties, the meaning of complete vulnerability, sent a tremble down her arms and legs.
Her muscles shivered.
Shyness begged her to retreat, but the molten need coursing through her veins secured Amelia next to Camden.
Awareness pounded in her pulse points and ignited an arousal so deep that it clouded her mind.
Yet it also sharpened her responsiveness—every breath, every brush of his skin against hers, every unspoken promise popped in the space between them.
She anticipated Camden’s next move.
As if the oxygen was slowly siphoned from the room, her chest rose and fell in shallow, rapid breaths, edging to the precipice of whatever came next.
Camden’s hand froze on her stomach.
“On second thought, we should go upstairs.”
No, no, no.
She didn’t want to move.
“Or we can stay right here.”
The corners of his lips twitched.
“I need more room to play.”
Her stomach leaped into her throat.
He boxed the mask and swept her into his arms.
“Cam—” Amelia laughed.
He liked carrying her.
“You’re going to give me whiplash.”
“I’m going to give you something. That’s for damn sure.” He bounded toward the bedroom.
The cool air rushed over her skin.
Camden laid her in the center of the bed.
“Better.”
Better… They had more room to play.
Excitement sparkled over her skin again.
He removed the feather and mask.
The bed dipped as his large body moved to her side.
He reached over her bare stomach and placed their gift from Esme next to her hip.
She grinned. “Maybe I am supposed to blindfold you .”
His chest rumbled.
“The world is full of endless and unlikely possibilities.”
“I don’t know that anything is completely unlikely these days.”
“We’ll see.” Camden took her hand in his and placed a chaste kiss on the inside of her wrist. The heaven-sent softness of his lips trailed up her forearm, eliciting an army of tremors.
“But for now, the mask goes on you.”
The full pout of his perfect lips made her stomach clench.
She wanted to hide her uneven breaths.
The dizzying way he turned her on was addictive, but it was disconcerting too.
He just had a way with women.
The man had probably gone his entire adult life making women wet and moving on to the next one.
How had she not thought about this before?
He was a perpetual bachelor, a man who proclaimed that he never settled down.
What did that say about her?
She was just one of a laundry list of people he could arouse that easily.
“What’s the matter?” He traced his fingers along her jaw and down to her collarbone.
Oh God. How had she not seen it?
That was what he’d warned her against. Camden probably didn’t even know the difference.
It had felt special.
She’d trusted him incredibly easily.
And it was easy for him because it wasn’t new or different.
She wasn’t special. Her cheeks flamed.
Embarrassment doused the arousal because that was exactly what she’d asked for, not thinking that she would start to fall for this man, that she would want him to want her, that she would want to be different from other women before her.
Camden’s scrutiny increased when she didn’t share.
“This won’t be as good as it can be if you’re not one hundred percent with me.”
She didn’t know how to share how embarrassing it was that he could snap his finger and turn her on.
“I don’t know how to explain.” Because this was what she wanted!
“Do you want to stop?”
“ No .”
That heart-stopping smile curved over his face again.
“Then try to tell me.”
She pinched her eyes shut.
Even the words were mortifying.
She hadn’t had long enough to figure out her thoughts.
Was he attracted to her?
Obviously, they’d had amazing sex.
But would he have been interested if she hadn’t all but begged him to kiss her?
“Amelia.”
“Okay. All right.” She stared at the ceiling.
“I want you to want…” Her eyes pinched shut.
“I’m not saying this right.”
He inched back.
The growing space between them killed her.
“I want you to want me.” Shame sliced her throat with razor blades as she tried to swallow.
“Not just do what you think would comfort me.”
He blinked as though her words were gibberish.
“I have been thinking about the possibilities—about what I want to do to you, with you—every second since we woke up.”
Amelia’s pussy clenched.
One side of his smile hitched.
The corners of Camden’s eyes crinkled.
“And then Esme hands us a box of fun?” Heat flamed in his gaze.
“If I had driven us there, if Beth hadn’t been around, there’s a damn good chance I would have thrown you over my shoulder and found the closest hotel room. If not the back seat of the car.”
Throbbing need pulsed far below her stomach.
He licked his bottom lip.
“This—you and me—it’s a hell of a good time.”
“If you’re sure,” she managed.
Camden tipped his head back and laughed.
“I had you nearly naked on the couch within three seconds of walking through the door.”
Well, that was true.
“Remember?” he pressed.
She nodded. “I just…”
Camden pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Give me all the apprehension you’re hanging onto. Hand it over, and I’m going to throw it out the fucking window.”
“I don’t know why I got in my head all of a sudden.”
His smile quirked.
“You met a dominatrix who saw us clearly.”
Maybe that was it.
What had Esme seen? Camden was a walking, talking stud, and she was much simpler, plainer, the woman who disappeared at work and was an introvert.
The bigger problem was their unevenness.
Her stomach dropped.
That was what Camden had warned her about: their power dynamic.
“I can see the wheels spinning.” He took Esme’s box and placed it on the nightstand, almost out of reach.
Then Camden pulled the comforter over her semi-naked body.
“Whatever you’re scared of, whatever you need, Amelia, I’m going to give it to you. And I’m going to enjoy every fuckin’ second of it. Understood?”
Power dynamics existed in everything.
That didn’t make them unhealthy.
He was laying everything out for her.
He wasn’t toxic. He wasn’t dangerous.
She might have been falling for someone who was unavailable.
That was their inequity.
At least she could see the problem and gird herself for fallout.
Amelia reached for the box on the nightstand and pressed it into Camden’s hand.
She tossed the covers off.
“I understand, and I don’t want to stop.”
“You sure?”
“Positive. What about you?”
Camden licked his bottom lip and removed the mask from the box.
A fever rushed over her exposed skin again.
Their brief pause hadn’t diminished her body’s reaction, but the way he asked her questions had smothered her freak-out.
Nerves still danced in her chest, but they were the good kind.
He studied her face as though trying to decide if she was ready for more.
He was careful with her.
Her heart swelled.
“Sit up, sweetheart.”
She propped up for him and shut her eyes.
He tied the silk mask over her eyes.
“How’s that feel?”
She nodded.
“Good. I can’t see anything.”
Camden eased her back to the bed.
“You worried?”
Laughing, she cataloged her feelings.
Worried? No. Anticipating?
Absolutely. But her laughter fell away when he took the other wrist and kissed her palm.
No one had ever kissed her like that.
No one ever took the time to explore and check on her.
“Not worried,” she whispered.
His tongue traced the lines on her hand.
“Then what are you?”
Her eyes pinched shut despite the blindfold.
“Vulnerable.”
The soft kisses paused.
Camden squeezed her wrist possessively before his tongue rolled over her palm again.
Her long sigh was a mix of hunger and faith.
Her need roared louder than her uncertainties.
Trust was a drug.
He set her hand by her side.
She tried to guess what would come next.
He might remove her bra and underwear.
He might kiss her. The possibilities were endless.
The bed shifted under his weight.
Camden cupped his hands over her biceps, slid up to her shoulders and behind her back, and unfastened her bra.
The fabric loosened.
Her nipples perked with the chill of being exposed.
The wetness between her legs intensified.
She wanted his touch, his tongue.
She wanted to search his chiseled face for what he needed but could only lie at his mercy.
Camden palmed her breasts.
The symmetrical massage cleared her mind.
Intense sensations ricocheted through her.
Amelia arched for more.
“So fucking beautiful.” The rough pads of his thumbs teased her nipples.
“Perked and swollen, reaching for me.”
Her breath skittered.
His attention moved to her left breast, using one hand to play as the other slid south.
A rush of need trailed his touch.
Her hips wriggled. Camden hooked one side of her underwear and pulled it down her legs.
The soft fabric scratched her thighs and caught on her knees.
He snaked them away, then she was naked, blindfolded, and exposed.
Her toes pointed and flexed.
Amelia rocked her hips.
She could sense everything and still not have a clue what would happen next.
“Want to know what I see?” he asked.
She wasn’t sure of the answer, but she nodded.
“Please.”
“Blush-pinked cheeks and rosy lips the same color as your nipples.”
She sucked a sharp breath.
Her cheeks heated, surely making them a hundred times pinker.
Arousal tickled her sex.
She squirmed under his scrutiny.
Camden was so literal, so descriptive, so much more than she could have ever imagined.
“Relax, Amelia.”
“Easier said than done.”
The rumble of his quiet laughter made her smile.
His fingers ran down her sternum, down her stomach, as his hand turned over and trailed his knuckles over her belly button.
“I see a woman who has always controlled everything.” His knuckles grazed her flesh until he teased over her pubic hair.
“Giving herself to me.”
Her lips parted.
Tears pricked her eyes.
She nodded.
“Inch your legs apart.” She did.
His caress skimmed over her sex, focusing on one side of her folds and then the other, working his way closer and closer to her slit.
“You’re squirming.”
Amelia nodded.
“You’re making me.”
He chuckled.
“Sit still.”
“That’s not easy to do.”
“You can do hard things, babe.”
“There’s one hard thing I’d like to do…”
Camden laughed and covered her mouth with a kiss.
God. She needed him.
He was perfect. They weren’t following any rules.
She could freak out and make stupid jokes, and he didn’t leave her side.
He touched her again.
She wanted to keep his lips on her, but when his hand fanned over her belly, barely grazing her skin, she was more than content to let him call the shots.
His hand ran up her stomach, up her sternum, up until he reached her neck.
Her pulse strummed against his hold.
It wasn’t tight. He didn’t squeeze, just moved it to under her jaw—and a softness touched her lips.
The feather .
Her lips parted.
Its tip traced the outline of her mouth.
It almost tickled. He brushed her lips.
Her pulse punched against his fingers.
The feather traced her jawline.
The barely-there touch was like a kiss of air.
It trailed between her breasts.
Camden pulled the feather away.
Warmth teased her nipple before he gently sucked the perked tip in his mouth.
She moaned. Camden released her.
The feather outlined her breast and spiraled until his mouth took the other nipple.
Her mind raced to keep track of his movements.
A deep growl rumbled from his chest. The vibrations rocked her clenching body.
“Relax.” He nuzzled in the valley between the swell of her breasts.
“Can’t when you’re making me want to scream.”
He snickered, returned the feather to her stomach, and drew lines from the base of her breasts to the top of her thighs.
She squirmed. Camden teased one side then the other.
The touches drew closer together.
A blissful eternity heightened her senses as each line crept closer and closer to her sex.
Camden moved on the bed again.
His hand touched the underside of one knee and lifted it, walking her heel back and leaving her exposed.
Then he repeated the movement.
Amelia wanted to slide her legs down again.
Then she tried to rationalize her level of unease.
Camden had been as up close as a person could get with her body, and she’d loved it.
But right then, he was at her side.
The feather outlined the sensitive flesh near the top of her legs.
She breathed deep.
“You doing okay, beautiful?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Tell me what you need.”
So many things.
Your fingers. Your lips.
Your kiss. But when it came down to it, all she could say was, “You.” Amelia reached out for him and found his hand.
“Please.”
Camden set her hand by her side.
His weight moved away from her as he stood.
She heard the metal rasp of his zipper sliding down.
Shivers ran down her arms. Her heart hammered.
Camden moved to the nightstand.
The drawer opened and closed, and the condom wrapper was torn.
“Can I take the blindfold off yet?”
“Nope.”
Her smile reached ear to ear, and she couldn’t explain why.
Seeing him was part of the fun.
Her head fell to one side as though she could see through the mask.
“That’s not fair.”
“But it’s entertaining.” He shoved a pillow under her ass, lifting her hips.
He hadn’t worked her open with his fingers or tongue, and she didn’t want him to.
Amelia wanted his thick cock to part her flesh.
She wanted him to thrust into her body and fill her completely.
He came closer. She could feel his warmth as his body caged over her.
Her arms moved, hands reaching for his back.
“Stay still. Not yet.”
Amelia froze.
He rubbed the hot length of his shaft over her slick folds.
“God, woman.”
She writhed.
The man had no idea.
“Stay still, Amelia.” Camden positioned the thick, blunt head of his cock against her tight opening.
The stretching heat was too much and not nearly enough.
She raised her hips, needing him to fill her.
“Easy, baby.”
Patience had never been her virtue, but, God, he was right.
She didn’t move. Every part of her needed to, but she simply experienced him taking her.
Camden inched inside her nice and slowly, drawing in and out with stilted breaths and groaning need until he seated himself completely inside her and held still.
“ Cam .”
His lips pressed to hers, and he pulled the blindfold free.
Amelia kept her eyes closed as he kissed her.
Their lips broke apart.
Her eyes opened.
His dark ones locked on her.
“Don’t ever question if I want you.”
“I won’t.”
His hips flexed.
“Good, baby.”
She gasped.
He shifted and eased out of her.
Amelia wrapped her arms around his neck.
“I didn’t know this could be so…” Good?
Creative? Intense? “Fun.”
His eyebrows lifted.
Camden dropped his mouth to her ear.
“More than I thought was possible. I can’t get enough of you.”
Well, damn.
Didn’t he go and make her fall even harder.
He rocked into her again and again and again.
Her legs climbed his, wrapping to his strength.
Camden flexed and fucked.
He drove her sky-high, to the brink of ecstasy.
Their need mixed with kisses.
Their gasps galloped.
His forehead touched hers, eyes holding hers as she came apart.
Amelia cried his name as the orgasm hit.
Every muscle in her body clenched, and hanging onto him, she felt his release as he strained into her body.
He collapsed, catching himself before he crushed Amelia on the bed.
Their breaths seesawed.
His chest hammered against her.
Finally, he carefully disentangled himself from her.
“Don’t move, sweetheart.”
Camden disposed of their protection and crawled back to her side.
He pulled her close, his big spoon to her little one, and folded the comforter over them.
She picked up the blindfold by the silk tie and dangled it in front of them.
This little bad boy had driven her to the edge of insanity.
“Where’s the feather?”
“In the nightstand.”
She let the blindfold drop on the bed.
“You’re going to look very handsome in a suit.”
He laughed against her neck.
“Glad you think so.” Camden turned her to face him.
“What happens between me and you has nothing to do with whatever Esme has in mind. Okay?”
She nodded.
“But when it comes to that, trust me, and I won’t let you down.”