Epilogue
THREE MONTHS LATER
As she slid the drawer closed with her hip, Cami allowed herself the indulgence of watching Des.
He stretched his arms above his head to slide a box marked Kitchen to the top of the fridge.
The hem of his shirt rode up, revealing a tempting glimpse of warm, dark skin and a dusting of black hair at his abdomen.
She leaned back against the console table they’d picked up at a garage sale and folded her arms across her ribcage.
When Des dropped his arms, he glanced over at her with an easy smile.
“You ready to call it quits for today?”
She nodded. “I think I’ve done all the unpacking I can stomach for now.
” Her back was sore from hunching over cardboard boxes all afternoon and she was eager to settle into the sofa Lenny had let her keep.
Eager to put on Netflix and order a pizza.
He spread his arms and she crossed the hall into the kitchen to lean back against his chest. The warmth of his body seeped into her.
He smelled like coffee and Pinesol—he’d been in her new apartment early that morning scrubbing down the kitchen while she finished loading boxes into the pick up truck they’d borrowed from his dad for the move.
“Moving is hard work.” He settled his hands on her shoulder blades and started to rub in gentle circles. She rolled her eyes. He thought he was so smooth, but she knew exactly what he was going to— “It’s too bad you’ll have to do it all again so soon.”
“Not that soon,” she countered. She slipped out of his arms to make her way to the living room. “I told you, I’m not moving in with you for at least a year.”
He followed after her. “I know, I know. You’re a strong, independent woman who don’t need no man.”
“And don’t you forget it.” She flopped onto the couch and scooped her phone up off the coffee table she’d also pilfered from Lenny.
Her new apartment was close to her school and affordable enough that she could rent it with only her freelance work and some funds Lenny had begun funneling her way that she got from the VA.
It was a one bedroom, as opposed to a studio, so Cami had needed to get some furniture of her own to make it more comfortable.
Lenny had offered her her pick of anything above the shop, since Sex on the Beach had gone fully online last week and the plaza itself was likely to be levelled and redevelopment started within the next few months.
Des had made a case for her moving right in with him, and while there were pros with that option—a beautiful home, nominal rent, a delightful woman who cleaned up after you, Des himself—Cami felt strongly that she needed a place that she picked out.
One that she paid for on her own, with her own credit rating, and the money she earned (or was entitled to as the child of a deceased veteran).
One she could decorate as she saw fit, where she could retreat once in a while as she and Des found their rhythm as a couple.
Once she graduated, they could discuss living together. One milestone at a time.
Des sank onto the other end of the sofa, lifting her feet onto his lap and idly cupping one hand around the arch of one. His own phone materialized in his hand and he swiped past the lock screen with his thumb. “Do you want me to order the pizza?”
“Sure.” She laid her phone back on the coffee table, having only dismissed a couple of boring email notifications, and turned her attention to studying Des’s profile.
He hadn’t shaved in a couple of days, and an appealing scruff smeared across his cheeks and jawline.
It was extremely inconvenient for him to be so attractive regardless of the state of his face.
When he was clean-shaven, he looked like a GQ model.
When he wasn’t, he looked like a scruffier GQ model.
That was why she had whisker burn on her thighs.
He lifted his hand from her foot so that he could have both thumbs to tap with.
Cami slid her toes gently along the inside of his thigh, following the inseam of his jeans.
His thumbs paused mid-tap for just a moment and his eyes flickered sideways at her before he resumed their order.
She pushed up onto her elbows and nudged at his crotch.
The denim of his jeans started to tighten across his lap, and she smothered a smirk.
A glance at his phone screen confirmed he was adding mushrooms to her side of their pizza.
In the three months since the scene they’d made in the hospital courtyard, their sex life had gotten even more mind-blowing than it had been. It turned out that regular orgasms just took a little practice once you found the right buttons to push.
That said, she still hadn’t managed to get herself off. All her orgasms so far had been attributed to Des and his toys. And his fingers. And occasionally his mouth.
Mostly just because she didn’t really feel the need to masturbate when she had him around. Why would she? He was more than happy to take credit for her climax.
She settled back against the arm of the couch once more and unbuttoned her jeans.
Then she lowered the zipper, watching Des carefully for a reaction.
He continued adding toppings to his side of the pizza.
Cami lifted her hips off the couch to shove her pants and underwear down to her knees and let her legs fall open as far as they could, the sensitive skin of her pussy immediately tingling at the contact with the cool living room air.
Des had stopped tapping. He turned toward her, the corner of his mouth twitching with amusement, and tracked her fingers with his eyes as they floated down to cup herself.
He stared for three long beats as she grew comfortable with him watching, and then turned back to his phone, tapped once, and laid it aside.
“The pizza will be here in 35 to 40 minutes.”
“Plenty of time, then.”
“For what?” he asked pointedly. He finally turned his attention to her completely, grey eyes turning dark with arousal as they slid down between her legs. As her fingers fell over the dampening folds of her pussy, Des licked his lips.
She didn’t bother answering him. Instead, she let his observation roll through her like a warm spotlight, heating her from the soul. “You’re only allowed to watch.”
His eyebrow quirked and she grew wetter. “Whatever you say,” he agreed, folding his fingers against his palms, as though leaving them free would be too much temptation to bear.
Cami got to work.
She hadn’t masturbated properly since...
well, since pre-Des. Like it was a different era of her life.
Before and After Des. Before and After Orgasms. She’d played with herself while they were intimate, had even pushed herself over that orgasmic cliff while Des was inside her, or licking her, devouring her.
But she hadn’t tried it all on her own. Des-free.
Maybe she’d been worried what it would mean, if she failed.
If Des knew her own body in a way she never could.
But with him watching her, his love dancing in his gorgeous, asymmetrical irises, it felt so easy. So attainable. Like his support was an aphrodisiac in itself, and all she needed was his presence to bring herself to orgasm.
To her surprise, she didn’t even need to work very hard.
Over her months with Des, she’d become intimately familiar with what did and didn’t work for her.
She massaged around her clit while her other hand dropped lower, the pad of her middle finger skirting around her entrance, where she was wet and open and wanting.
She caught the flash of need in Des’s eyes just as her own eyes fluttered closed.
She worked herself to the brink of orgasm in minutes, faster than she’d ever managed before. But she’d made it this far on her own. It was always that final stretch that she faltered, lost her way to the finish line.
Anxiety started to creep up through her veins, but she breathed and pushed it back, focusing on the luxurious summer heat of Des’s eyes on her.
She relaxed into it, became distantly aware of Des shifting, murmuring low something about how beautiful she was, how much he wanted her.
And as she plunged her fingers into herself, the first sparks of orgasm exploded on the backs of her eyelids.
It rocked through her. Her wrists moved in frantic, jerky motions, trying to prolong the delicious sensations that had her arcing up off the sofa.
When the clenching of her muscles eased, and she was left loose and sated, she rested her hands on her stomach and opened her eyes to find Des gazing at her with a heartwarming combination of admiration and unabated lust.
“Good?” he asked. She nodded sleepily, and he climbed up onto his knees so he could settle in on top of her. Then he brushed a kiss over the bridge of her nose. “You’re amazing, you know. Your determination blows me away.”
She snorted. “My determination to come?”
He made a noise of agreement, nuzzling down her jaw to burrow into the curve of her throat. His scruff tickled her neck and she pulled him in closer. “And now you know you don’t actually need me and my bag of tricks to pull it off.”
“You’re right.” Cami wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him tightly to her, and turned to press a kiss to the hinge of his jaw. She smiled into his skin. “I don’t need you to get me off. But it’s still more fun when you help.”