Chapter 20 - Camden
As days passed and no news came from outside the pack, Camden felt a mixture of relief and trepidation.
He wanted to believe that the Ironbrand alpha had given up on his quest to get Flora back after hearing that she was mated, but in the back of his mind, he knew he couldn’t be that lucky.
Sier had been made a fool when he had sent his warriors into Silverrose, and they had been sent packing without retrieving their target.
Alphas didn’t tend to enjoy being put in the position of appearing weak or ineffective.
What worried him most was that Demetrius Sier was biding his time, waiting for an opportunity to strike again.
He was confident in his squad’s ability to keep Flora and Sofia safe.
They had continued their rotating schedule to keep extra eyes on the house, the coffee shop, and Sofia’s care provider at all times.
That, in addition to the doubled security around the entire territory, and Camden’s own hypervigilance, would be difficult for Sier to bypass.
But the longer they went without word from Ironbrand, the more on edge Camden became.
Flora had done what she could to reassure him, but Camden couldn’t escape the feeling that something bad was about to happen.
He and Flora were finally in a good place, and his relationship with Sofia was flourishing.
He finally had the family he had always dreamed of, and he didn’t want to lose them now.
Camden was distracted by these thoughts as he helped clear out the damage from one of the buildings that had been burned in the fire.
He had been true to his word to Harold and shown up every day, toiling side by side with other members of the pack to put to right what the Ironbrand wolves had destroyed.
As he removed a singed chair from the house a block away from his own home, his childhood friends Aidan, Thatcher, and Scott sauntered up to him.
They hadn’t been involved in the repair work yet, and Camden’s face brightened as they rounded the walkway and came toward the porch steps.
“Good to see you!” he said happily. “You here to lend a hand?”
“Absolutely not,” Thatcher said with a sneer. “You and your mate caused this mess. I’m not wasting my time fixing what you broke.”
“We’re just here to see the damage,” Scott said dismissively.
“And to point out how stupid it was for you to get mixed up in this mess,” Aidan added. “What the hell were you thinking, bringing that human back here?”
Camden was taken aback by their harshness. They may have grown apart, but he could hardly believe the venom he was hearing from his friends’ mouths.
“I was thinking about helping my mate,” he replied. “It isn’t my fault—or hers—that Alpha Sier is a demented monster.”
“That’s not the mess we’re talking about,” Scott said.
“Well, that’s a problem, too. But the real problem is this whole ‘training women’ thing you have going on,” Thatcher said. “When did you become a bona fide feminist?”
“You’ve gone soft, man,” Aiden said.
“The way Alpha Hughes has been doing things has always worked fine,” Scott said. “You’re trying to fix something that isn’t broken, and it’s just making things worse.”
Camden was about to fire back a retort when he saw that Flora had appeared in the yard.
He didn’t know how long she had been standing there because he’d been so distracted by what his old friends were saying, but from the look on her face, it had been long enough to get the gist of the conversation.
Her eyes were narrowed at them, and she looked as if she was about to spit fire.
If she had been a wolf, he would have been worried she would attack them outright.
“Camden is a better man than any of you ever will be,” she spat at them.
They whirled around, none of them having noticed she was there, either. The shock on their faces was priceless. “It takes a real man to do what he has done for the pack. If you weren’t such spineless nitwits, you might understand that.”
All three men began to back away from Camden, not turning their backs on Flora. The conviction in her voice and the fierceness in her demeanor seemed to terrify them. Camden wondered if any woman had ever stood up to them like this, let alone a human one.
“Hey, we didn’t mean to—”
“Yes, you did,” Flora said, interrupting Scott’s backpedaling. “I’m sure you can think of something better to do for your pack than harassing the one person who is doing everything he can to help. You should leave. Now.”
The last word was a growl—an order they dared not refuse.
They were obviously unused to seeing this side of her.
Up until recently, Camden knew she had been placid and downtrodden when faced with abuse and teasing.
She had rarely stood up for herself, but clearly she had changed.
With the help of her training and the knowledge that she had a purpose and place in the pack and by Camden’s side, Flora was willing to stand up for herself. Camden had never been so proud.
With one last glance at Camden, the three men walked quickly away from the house and down the street out of sight.
Flora exhaled forcefully and gave her head a slight shake, dispelling the anger from her countenance before turning her attention to Camden.
When he saw that she was carrying a lunch box and a water bottle, he realized he hadn’t come home for lunch.
But faced with the choice between food and devouring the mate who had just stood up to her bullies, he knew which option he would rather have.
“That was the most attractive thing I have ever witnessed,” he told her honestly.
“Shut up,” she said with a laugh. “They deserved it.”
“They absolutely did,” Camden agreed, walking over to her and gently removing the lunch box and bottle from her hands.
“But I will not shut up. I wasn’t blowing smoke just now—seeing you stand up for me, and for yourself, makes me more proud of you than ever.
And when I feel proud, it makes me…stand at attention, if you will. ”
He waggled his eyebrows up and down at the innuendo and looked down at his trousers suggestively.
“Camden Hughes, are you flirting with me?” Flora teased back, placing her hand on his chest.
He had been waiting, after the reveal of Sofia’s parentage and their subsequent falling out and reconciliation, to make a move on Flora.
He didn’t want to break the trust they had built or make it seem like she owed him any part of herself that she wasn’t ready to give freely.
After seeing how she’d handled herself and the way she’d supported him, he felt confident that she was ready to take the next step in their relationship, but the only way to know for sure was to lay his cards on the table.
“I’m so sorry, Flora. Maybe I wasn’t being obvious enough,” Camden said, switching from playful to serious in an instant. “I am trying to tell you that I have never been more turned on than I am right now, and I would very much like to kiss you.”
Flora inhaled sharply at the pure desire in his eyes. A slight smile turned up the side of her mouth, and she leaned forward, placing both hands on his chest.
“Then kiss me,” she said, raising an eyebrow as if her words were a dare.
Camden didn’t need to be told twice. His lips met hers in a soft rush that slowly escalated.
He drew her closer to him, relishing the feeling of her soft body pressing against him.
She bit his lip, and a groan of desire echoed through him.
Her teeth released his lip as she kissed him again before pulling away and tilting her head back to look into his eyes.
“You have no idea what you’re doing to me,” Camden groaned.
“I know exactly what I’m doing,” Flora disagreed. “And I’m going to keep doing it, too.”
“Tease,” Camden said with a grin.
“Not at all. I never start something I don’t intend to finish.”
Her statement sent Camden over the edge. He had been aching for her for so long, doing his best to maintain boundaries, that the mere thought of being able to have her made his body pulsate with desire.
He looked toward his house a block away, remembering that Sofia wasn’t there, and swept Flora up into his arms. His mouth crashed down on hers, kissing her passionately as he turned and walked inside.
He kicked the door closed behind him and went to the master bedroom, where he tossed her onto the bed.
“I hope you meant that,” he said as he took off his clothes. “I’ve been struggling to keep my hands off you, and I’m done waiting.”
Flora removed her own clothes in a hurry, tossing them aside and kneeling on the bed.
Her eyes roved over his naked body hungrily, like a wolf in heat.
Camden didn’t know what had caused her to become so wild and passionate, and he couldn’t bring himself to ask.
All he knew was that their need for each other was mutual, and he couldn’t wait for the culmination of their desire.
“Lay down,” she ordered him.
Camden was surprised by how willing she was to take the lead, but he was pleased to obey his mate. Nothing would make him happier than fulfilling her every wish and desire.
Camden felt a tingle of excitement in his abdomen as he got onto the bed, and Flora straddled him eagerly.
He wanted more than anything to take her body and make it his own.
Clearly, she felt the same. She didn’t even wait for him to be in the prone position before she angled his erect cock inside her and thrust herself forward, melding their bodies together.
He moaned at the sudden sensation as he felt her warmth encase him.
Flora whimpered slightly as she let out a breath and her eyebrows creased in relief.
“Oh, God, yes,” he panted.
It wasn’t just the feeling of their bodies joining together that had Camden close to rapture; it was the look of pure adoration and delight on Flora’s own face.
Her pupils were wide as her hands trembled against his chest. Camden reached up to caress her cheek and then brought his palm down over her neck, her breast, and down the length of her arm.
With every touch, Flora shivered with excitement, alive with electricity.
He gripped her hand tightly against his chest, steadying it as he stared deeply into her chocolate eyes.
“Keep looking at me,” he said deeply. “Don’t look away. I want to see every expression.”
His hands wrapped around her hips, rocking her body back and forth against his pelvis.
As she took over the tempo, Camden moved his hands down her thighs and back up to her stomach and breasts.
Her skin was soft and smooth under his fingertips, like satin warmed by sunlight.
With each movement of his hands against Flora’s skin and her hips rocking back and forth, Camden felt like their very souls were coming together as one.
Being with her felt like coming home and the greatest adventure all wrapped up in one.
“You feel so good,” Flora moaned, tossing her hair back over her shoulder as she braced her hands against Camden’s pecs.
For a while, Camden simply watched as Flora enjoyed herself, riding his cock with wild abandon.
His eyes roved over her body, taking in the curve of her waist, the gentle slope of her breasts, the erect nipples, and the way his member moved in and out of her opening with ease.
A more beautiful sight, he couldn’t remember.
She bit her lips as a low moan emanated from her throat and her nails dug into his skin.
It was Camden’s turn to bite his lip as excitement alighted inside him at the pressure, and he moved his hands back to her hips.
As their tempo increased, Flora’s breasts began to bounce more fervently, and Camden reached up to cup them.
He palmed her soft flesh, massaging them gently before trailing his fingers back down her abdomen.
Drops of sweat trickled down her torso from her exertions, but she didn’t break her steady rhythm against him.
A shudder ripped through her, and her breath came in quick bursts. He could see that she was about to come, and a look of pure adoration came across her face as she stared into Camden’s eyes.
“That’s right, baby,” he said hoarsely. “Good girl. Look right here.”
He grabbed her hands, holding them firmly so she could lean back slightly. Still, she didn’t look away from his eyes. He slid in and out of her, his erection pressing against the most sensitive area inside her.
Her thighs were shaking now as she began to tire.
Camden grabbed her by the waist and, with a quick turn, spun them on the bed so that he was on top.
Deftly, he maneuvered one of her legs around him and pressed her knees together.
Her opening tightened, and he moaned with pleasure as his erection entered her again.
Camden’s jaw dropped open as he struggled to hold off on his own release until Flora had the chance to finish. As much as he looked forward to spilling his seed, her enjoyment was paramount in his mind. She was nearly there. He just needed to keep going for a few more seconds.
“Yes, Flora,” he panted, desperate for her to feel the culmination of their passion. “Come for me. I want to feel you shake.”
She moaned and arched her back in exultation as she reached the pinnacle, and Camden felt her ride the wave of it as he thrust his hips forwards, pressing his swollen member inside her over and over again.
Her eyes were closed now as she focused on her own pleasure.
With a gasp, she finished. Camden felt her entire body relax beneath his as as her eyes met his again.
He gripped her hips tightly as he moaned, allowing himself to experience the culmination of their tryst himself.
The room was silent except for their labored breathing. Their eyes were locked on each other, as if neither of them wanted to risk looking away and breaking the moment they had just shared.
Camden reached up to place his hand against the side of Flora’s neck and cheek, cupping her gently and pulling her downward toward him.
“Flora, come here,” he whispered, bringing her lips to his.
He kissed her deeply and tenderly as their naked bodies pressed against each other.
What had begun as a frantic need between them had turned into a more intimate moment than Camden had thought possible.
He had always known that Flora was his true mate, but with each passing day, he came to understand just how much better life was with her in it.
He never could have imagined such a glorious day before now.