Chapter Twenty-Four #2
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.”