Chapter Thirty-Two
Ryker
M y phone ringing startles me out of sleep.
Who the fuck is calling me in the middle of the night?
I roll over and grab my phone from the nightstand, cracking one eye open, but when I see the name on the screen, both widely fly open.
“Cami, what’s wrong?” My voice is breathless with panic.
“I’m so sorry to bug you this late, but I need you to come over. Something—”
“I’ll be there in twenty, baby.”
I cut her off because it doesn’t matter why. If she needs me, I’ll be there. Especially when she sounds as frantic as she did. Within twenty minutes, I’m there, knocking on her door. She opens it right away, stealing the breath from my lungs.
Camille’s in sleep shorts and a tank top, but what really gets me is how fucking pretty she is. My arms reach out, and I pull her into me. I cradle her head while we sway, her body tucked safely into mine. It’s my favorite place for her to be, right where I can keep her safe .
I kiss her hair and pull back so I can look into her eyes. “What happened?”
Her eyes cast downward as she gnaws on her bottom lip. “Maybe we should sit.”
Dread fills every crevice of my body because I know I’m not going to like whatever it is she’s about to say.
I nod, then pick her up, enjoying the squeal and giggle Camille emits as I carry her toward the couch and sit with her in my arms. Putting her in my arms is the only way I can trust myself to stay calm at whatever she’s about to say. She soothes me, something I never knew I needed to feel.
“I want to preface this by saying I’m perfectly fine, not a scratch or an—”
“Who the fuck put their hands on you?” My voice is cold, while white-hot anger brews in my stomach.
Camille runs her fingers through my hair, pushing a strand behind my ear. “I’m okay,” she reassures me, leaning down to give me a chaste kiss. “I was at the gym, hitting the bag because I needed to work some frustration out, when Travis approached me.”
Travis is fucking dead to me. That motherfucker.
“He was making comments about my body, and I ignored him, but he didn’t like it. So he followed me and grabbed my arm to make me stay and hear him out. Then he…” She inhales and exhales, her eyes apologetic. “He showed me a video he had, of us in the locker room showers.”
Scratch that, Travis is fucking dead.
“How—”
“Let me finish, then you can go off, okay?”
I nod, and she continues. “He said he forgot something in his locker, which is why he came back and heard us. He was using the video as blackmail to try to get me to sleep with him.”
My mind blanks as everything stills around me. He did what ?
She explains what happened, then shrugs nonchalantly. “So I’m fine. He didn’t hurt me. My brother’s PI team handled it. The video’s gone for good.” Her voice is calm as her fingers rake through my hair.
“Cami.” My voice cracks, so many differing emotions flowing through me at once.
Rage. Hurt. Protectiveness.
Travis not only watched us have sex, he recorded the damn thing. It’s utterly disgusting, and I’m distraught that she had to go through that. Not only that, he tried to hurt what’s mine, and it pisses me the fuck off.
Camille is mine . It doesn’t matter that she shouldn’t be because we’re graduating in a month and who knows where we’ll end up. Or that she could break my heart. Aurora’s words are finally making their way to my core, changing the roots that were wilted and needed to go. Filling me with new possibilities.
I shake my head. “I’m so fucking sorry. I should’ve been more careful.”
“We didn’t think anyone would be there, and even if someone was, we wouldn’t expect them to stop and record it. It’s gone now. Don’t blame yourself, please,” she pleads, stroking my beard in a comforting way.
“And that motherfucker. I’m going to lose it if I see him again. How dare he put his hands on you?”
“Ryker, don’t do that. He…he has something on you that he also threatened to expose if I didn’t follow his orders.” Her voice carries a twinge of worry as she bites on her lip.
“He told me a few weeks ago that he knew about it,” I admit as my hands begin to trace circles on her back, needing to feel her in order to keep me calm.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asks.
“It’s not something I’m proud of. The whole thing was an accident. We were fighting because he wouldn’t leave Theo’s sister alone, and when we fell, I accidentally fell on his arm at the wrong angle.”
“You can share all the parts of you, Ryker. The good and bad ones. I want them all. Not that this was bad, because it’s not. It was an accident, but you get my point, right?” She looks at me for confirmation and I give it with a nod.
“My brother’s head of PI, Idris, whom I have a lot to tell you about, by the way, thinks you should talk to your agent and get ahead of this, in case Travis does tell people. His team is going to get rid of any articles about it, shall they arise, but the best course of action is for you to tell them, spin the story your way.”
I blow out a breath as tension forms behind my neck. This is going to be a shitstorm, but I’d rather be ahead of it than in the midst of it. “You’re right. Thank you for looking out for me. You didn’t need to do that. I could’ve handled this on my own,” I tell her.
Camille shakes her head, then rests her forehead against mine. “It’s okay to have someone in your corner too, you know.”
“I’m glad I have you, Rocky ,” I tease, lightening the mood.
“What does that mean?” she asks, seemingly confused.
My mouth gapes at that. “You’ve never seen Rocky ?”
“Nope. I didn’t grow up watching American television. I’ve been catching up the last four years, but I haven’t seen everything yet.”
“Rocky is a boxer, and since you kicked Travis’s ass tonight, it felt fitting.” I smirk, earning myself a wide smile from her.
It suddenly dawns on me that this was similar to what happened to her back home. “Are you okay?” I ask, and somehow she understands exactly what I’m asking.
“Yeah, I think it was healing for me in a way. To be able to protect myself when for so long I feared everyone around me. I’m sure I’ll still have nightmares from time to time, but it was liberating in a weird way.” She grins, looking pleased with herself.
“That’s my girl, but just know, I’m going to kick his ass too.”
“Ryker, don’t bother. He’s not worth getting suspended or ticking him off to share stories to the media,” she points out.
I groan, laying my head back on the couch. “I’ll agree, but I’m not happy about it.”
“Are we okay? I know we’re just friends with benefits and this caused a lot of issues you probably didn’t want to deal with,” she stammers, eyes filled with uncertainty.
I sit up straight as my hand strokes her cheek, my thumb rubbing gently under her eye. Fuck, I could get lost in those eyes and never look for directions back. While I want to tell her we’re far from just being friends with benefits, I don’t think it’s the right time after all that’s happened tonight.
We both need clearer headspaces and enough energy to have that conversation. It’s not something to breeze over. There’s too much to consider to do that.
“You and me, we’re always good, princess.” I nudge my nose against her, breathing in her cotton candy scent.
Camille takes the lead, her lips pressing against mine. Our kiss starts off sweet as we take our time. Her hands rest on my neck while mine tighten on her hips, grinding her against my growing erection.
“Ryker.” Her voice is breathy and needy, and it’s all for me. That fact alone makes me grow harder, and gone are the sweet kisses.
Our teeth clash as our kiss turns more heated. Her thin and barely there sleep shorts don’t do anything to hide how wet she is, and I can feel it on my sweats as she grinds that sweet little pussy all over me.
Our tongues enter a seductive dance as we suck and lavish each other’s mouths while our hips move, looking for any friction we can get.
“Take those shorts off, now, ” I growl.
Camille gets up and pulls down her shorts while I remove my sweats, freeing my aching cock. She returns to straddling my lap, resting her bare pussy on top of me, rubbing her arousal over me.
“Cami, fuck, I need to be inside of you.” My breath hitches, overcome with need for her.
She reaches between us, lines up the head of my cock with her entrance, and slowly sinks down my length. We both let out a breathy moan when she bottoms out as we clutch onto each other. Her hands are on my shoulders while mine are on her hips, waiting for her to adjust and move.
After a beat, she lifts up, then sinks back down, making my thighs tighten as I try not to come already.
Being inside of Camille is an experience like no other, our connection making everything more intense. Add in how sexy it is when she’s in control and on top? I stand no chance at lasting very long like this.
“Take those tits out, baby. Let me get a taste.”
As Camille moves up and down on my cock, she lowers her tank top straps, exposing her breasts to me. I instantly lean forward and bite one of her nipples, earning a yelp. I chuckle then wrap my lips around the same one as I toy with her piercing, then soothe the sting as I suck and lick along her breast.
“Oh, Ryker,” she moans, tightening around my cock.
“Be a good princess and come all over my cock,” I urge her, rolling her other nipple between my fingers as I return to her breasts, sucking on the skin hard enough to leave a mark. My free hand travels between our bodies to her clit, rubbing it exactly how she likes.
Within seconds, she explodes, her pussy constricting around my cock as she moans loudly. I pound up into her, loving how fucking tight she is. It sets me off, my own orgasm hitting me as I come inside of her.
We’re both breathing heavily as we attempt to catch our breaths, with her head resting on my shoulder. I stroke her hair, knowing she loves it when I do that. The little contented hum she releases tells me so.
Camille lifts her head, then rises, not enough that I slip out of her, but enough for us to see my cum seeping out of her and around my cock. She looks down at where I’m staring, then moans once more as she sinks back down onto me and begins riding me.
I harden immediately, which is no easy feat, but somehow she manages it.
“That turns you on, seeing my cum drip out of you?” I groan, her tits bouncing with each movement.
“Yes, so much,” she breathes, tightening around me already.
I stroke her clit again, feeling her thighs shake on either side of me as I do.
“Naughty little thing wants to be filled with my cum once again, doesn’t she?”
She nods, unable to form words as she loses herself to the pleasure our bodies create together. It’s fucking amazing, the best high I’ve ever felt in my life.
Within seconds, she goes off again, this time screaming my name as I clamp down on her nipple while she comes. Feeling her tighten and spasm around me is all it takes for me, and once again, I release inside her, relishing in the warmth of her around me.
This time, we get up and head for the shower where I clean her up, and then she does the same for me. By the time we get into bed, it’s nearing early morning, and we snuggle against one another.
My fingers sift through her hair as I whisper, “Don’t ever leave without telling me. ”
Ever since all of this went down with her family, I’ve had this intense fear of her just being gone one day. No explanation, no goodbye as she’s whisked away back to her country.
Camille nuzzles her face against my chest, her body fitting perfectly against mine. “I won’t, no bullshit.”
We both chuckle softly, caressing each other as we drift off to sleep. She’s safe and mine, something I don’t want to change. Ever.
I’ll do anything to keep her.