Chapter 21 #2
Thomas carried his day clothes over to his luggage and folded them. “How do you sleep, Cameron?”
“Usually in darkness. But if that’s uncomfortable for you, I’m okay with lamp light?”
Finished with his task, Thomas turned. “I tend to sleep with the curtains in my room open, so if there’s moonlight, it serves as a natural night light. Can we leave one of the curtains over the balcony pulled back? Is that a fair compromise?”
Cameron nodded. “That works for me.” He twisted toward the nightstand, set his book down and clicked off the lamp as Thomas went to draw one of the long curtains away from the window.
The moon was bright in its half-shape, suspended high in the dark sky and reflecting on the black mirror of the sea.
Thomas walked to the opposite side of the bed. “Dawn and I think Wyatt may have been the one to inform my family of the elopement. Do you remember him?”
“That obscenely chatty man from Rachelle’s party?”
Thomas climbed into bed. “You have an excellent memory. Yes, him. I think I should confront him about it.”
“Agreed… What if he is, in fact, the one who betrayed you? Shall we plot his murder as well? It is a widely accepted truth that snitches end up in ditches.”
Still sitting upright, Thomas barked a laugh. His chest rattled with his amusement, and he had to catch his breath. He wiped discreet tears from the corners of his eyes. “May I just say, I absolutely love that you have no qualms about my predilection for vigilante justice.”
“I think it’s more that we both have a rather macabre sense of humor.”
“What?” Thomas said in mock offense. “You wouldn’t actually help me execute a murder? You tease.”
“I already told you I’d rather pay someone. I stand by that.”
Thomas chuckled again. Cameron never failed to surprise him, always in a good way. He settled down onto his back. “You’re not going to demand that we construct some kind of pillow barrier between us to ensure I remain on my own side for the night?”
Cameron turned his head against the pillow. “You’re the one who will be crushed if you come over here. I’m not in any danger, I don’t think. You can erect one for your own safety, if you wish?”
Thomas turned to his side, facing him. “Being crushed by a bear of a vampire sounds like a lovely way to go, honestly. I can think of much, much worse ways to die.”
Cameron huffed, then shifted his head back to the ceiling. “Macabre.”
Throughout the night, Thomas dreamt the sweetest dreams. His mind invoked sensations of being wrapped in heat, power and love. The taste of spicy-sweet ginger filled his every sense and comforted him deeply. He slept like he had never done so before. Heavily and peacefully.
He shifted, sighing and humming contentedly against the firm and warm body pressed against him.
The physical contact was so satisfying and good—for once, he didn’t feel like an abandoned island floating in an infinite sea.
His fist gripped a soft, cottony material and his head was rested upon something much harder than the pillow he’d fallen asleep on.
He opened his eyes.
The room was no longer cool and dark but drenched in pale morning light. And the body… it wasn’t pressed against him. He was pressed against it. Cameron. Cameron’s body.
Thomas lifted and gasped, realizing he was practically glued to the poor man’s side and halfway atop his frame. He’d even had the audacity to tangle his leg over Cameron’s thigh. Thomas slipped it away now, sheepish as Cameron stared up at him, still lying on his back.
Thomas unclenched his hand from the material at Cameron’s chest. “I’ve migrated.”
“To put it mildly.”
“I’m very sorry. You should have woken me.”
Cameron stretched the length of his spine and raised his free arm up, groaning in a yawn. When he finished, he slipped his palm behind his head and his eyes fluttered closed. “It’s fine.”
It took Thomas a moment to realize that Cameron’s other arm was lightly wrapped around his torso, his hand resting just below Thomas’s hip. The revelation warmed him. He’d assumed that this migration was probably largely unwelcome. But maybe…
Timidly, Thomas rested back down at his side, watching Cameron’s expression the entire time. The man didn’t open his eyes. Thomas didn’t dare lift his leg back over Cameron’s thigh, but he straightened his own beside his so that they touched. He spoke quietly. “Did you sleep well?”
“Mm. You?”
“Very well.” He snuggled closer, reveling in the feel and heat and scent of Cameron.
Thomas felt a little like a thief pushing his luck.
At any given moment, he’d be found out and the heist would be over.
When he hadn’t been conscious and awake to restrain it, his body and nature had taken advantage and guided him closer to what it wanted.
He felt grateful for it. He was also hungry.
“Cameron?”
“Yes?”
“Should we… not play chess?”
With his eyes still closed, Cameron laughed in a hearty humming, vibrating sound from his throat and chest. “Yes, you can feed if you need to.”
Thomas’s eyes warmed and glowed as he sat up. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
This time, Thomas didn’t hesitate to tuck his leg back over Cameron’s as he shifted himself further atop his body. He angled his frame so that his groin rested at Cameron’s hip. He leaned down toward his chest, slipping his hand past Cameron’s face to urge and remove his arm from behind his head.
Cameron blinked his eyes open in confusion, but then followed Thomas’s lead and allowed him to guide his arm above the pillow. Thomas laced their fingers together, then gripped his palm as he leaned into Cameron’s neck.
Thomas inhaled deeply, brushing the tip of his nose along the curve and savoring the spicy heat pulsing off of Cameron’s beautiful skin.
He licked his flesh, slowly, then tilted and gently bit into him.
Thomas sighed and relaxed his lower body, desperately wanting to feel every inch of this large, muscled man and the sheer force of his presence as he fed.
Just like in his dreams, the taste of Cameron swirled deliciously on his tongue.
His blood flowed bright and smooth down his throat and into his body, healing and soothing and titillating all at once.
He allowed Cameron to see and feel the sheer pleasure he felt in his mind and heart as he fed, not holding any of it back from him.
The depth of Cameron’s nature pulled at Thomas, enticing and beckoning him in a challenge… no, a plea? A request. Thomas wanted to say yes to it, badly. To acquiesce and therefore satisfy his own ancient and instinctive needs.
Cameron’s body hitched beneath him in a subtle movement. An audible gasp escaped from between his lips, and he squeezed Thomas’s palm. Nervous, Thomas gently lifted from his neck to face him. Cameron’s eyes were closed, but his breathing was labored, his chest heaving up and down beneath him.
“Cameron?”
He opened his eyes, and they were alighted and slightly unfocused. Dreamy and distant as he stared up and past Thomas.
“Darling, are you alright?” Thomas asked, slipping his free hand from Cameron’s and placing it against his cheek.
Cameron’s eyes blinked and came into focus. He met Thomas’s. “I’m fine. Why… why did you stop?”
Thomas drew away slightly in surprise, but he smiled. “Because you squeezed my hand and made a sound—I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m alright. It felt nice and… I was enjoying it. I didn’t realize I—Oh God. Is it terribly awkward that I made a noise?”
Using his thumb, Thomas traced the soft curve of Cameron’s bottom lip. The man had beautiful lips and he wanted to kiss him so badly. He wanted to take his luscious bottom lip between his own and suck and pull.
“No, it isn’t awkward,” Thomas said, staring with his glowing eyes.
“I’m happy to know you were enjoying it.
If I had fed much deeper, I might have pulled your aura.
” He didn’t add that it felt as if Cameron’s nature was practically begging for him to do it.
What mattered was whether Cameron himself was ready for that.
Cameron parted his lips in a breath, like a wicked temptation. “What does it feel like? To have your aura pulled.”
“Hm, for me it is the most liberating, erotic and intimate sensation I’ve ever experienced. Like being flipped inside out but in an almost… therapeutic and sensual way, if that makes sense?”
Cameron stifled a smile. “It doesn’t.”
Thomas chuckled. He shifted and propped himself on his elbow at Cameron’s side, still halfway resting on his frame. “Words can’t describe the raw experience of it. Having your nature released is a vulnerable thing. It should only be done with someone in whom you have the utmost trust.”
Staring up at the ceiling, Cameron nodded against the pillow. When he didn’t respond, Thomas decided to take a chance. “Do you want to experience it?”
Cameron sighed. “Maybe…” He turned his head to look directly at him. “Am I someone who… no. Would you be willing to try it with me, someday?”
“Yes,” Thomas said, unabashed. “Absolutely I would. When you’re ready.”
Cameron shifted to face Thomas, and the abrupt movement made his intoxicating scent fan outward. Thomas jumped a little internally but didn’t move. Cameron was almost nose to nose with him, and it made Thomas’s entire body go rigid with warm arousal.
“Thank you for talking with me about these things,” Cameron said softly. “I… I appreciate that you never make me feel foolish. I know I’m too old and too big to still be ignorant about this subject matter. Like an oversized child.”
Thomas shook his head. “I’ve never once thought of you that way. If no one has ever talked to you about it, how would you know?”
“That’s what I’ve always thought, but it seems like everyone just knows.
Anyway…” Cameron reached for Thomas’s free hand at his hip and took it into his own.
Thomas watched, somewhat delirious, as Cameron brought his fingers to his lips, then kissed the backs of them in a sweet gesture.
His glowing emerald eyes flickered up. “Thank you for being so kind and patient, and… thank you for staying with me.”
As he stared, Thomas’s heart swelled as if it suddenly occupied the full cavity of his chest and ribs. Simultaneously, he felt as if a wild and hungry animal were gnashing and clawing around inside his nature. Thomas held it back with mere threads of self-control.
“There is nowhere else I’d rather be,” he said earnestly, wishing he could comfortably lean forward, close the few inches between them and kiss Cameron’s full lips. God, how he wanted to kiss this man.
But he didn’t. As always and out of careful respect, he resisted the urge.