Chapter 9 #2
He glanced at their untouched glasses of wine.
‘How about something stronger? Single malt?’ he asked, going to get two glasses and a bottle before pouring them both three fingers.
He was pleased to take a quick break, wasn’t sure how long it would be before his body gave him away.
He handed her one of the glasses and she took it in her right hand, clenching her left.
He watched her swig the lot in one gulp before placing it on the table and wincing.
‘I hate whisky,’ she muttered, smiling. ‘But I think that might have helped. You can do the last two now.’ She swallowed and watched him ease closer. He took her hand again, feeling the warmth of it. ‘If it still hurts, maybe you can kiss it better.’
The words were probably meant as a joke, but Cameron paused and looked up, met her eyes. He saw that the moment she realised what she’d said, a new, much darker flush stained her cheeks. ‘I’m sorry, I’m not sure why I said that…’ she croaked, widening her eyes.
He cleared his throat. He was on a precipice now.
One move and he was going to topple all the way over, straight into madness.
The trouble was he didn’t want to step back, he wanted to tumble – he just didn’t want to think about the consequences.
‘Think it’ll work?’ he asked, hearing the strain in his voice.
‘Well—’ Her eyes darkened and her lips pursed in surprise. She didn’t pull her hand away which meant she wasn’t planning on running for her cabin, so he’d been reading her right. He guessed she was just as tempted as he was, only…
‘You could try it,’ she finished in a rush, and Cameron felt his stomach somersault. So he didn’t think, he just raised her palm and put his lips to it, placed a gentle kiss in the centre and heard Izzi moan low in her throat. Had to fight a corresponding groan in his.
He looked up: she was glowing. ‘Any good?’ he whispered.
‘Um.’ She pressed her teeth into her bottom lip. ‘I’m not sure – you might have to try again.’ She stared at him like she couldn’t quite believe this was happening. In truth, Cameron couldn’t either. ‘Please…’ she whispered.
The gentle plea was all he needed to throw caution to the wind, to ignore all the lessons he’d spent a lifetime learning.
He pressed his lips to the palm of her hand again, then dabbed gentle kisses upwards, following the path to her index finger before he drew it into his mouth like she’d been doing in the car.
Because he’d wanted to taste her since their moment at the castle.
He met her eyes and saw them widen, saw her moisten her lips as he sucked and then lapped it with his tongue.
She did taste good, sweet – and it wasn’t just the caramel apple bubble bath, this was all Izzi. Would she taste the same all over?
She sighed and dropped her eyes to his mouth, trembling slightly as he released her finger and pressed another kiss to her palm, then he reached up and cupped her cheek. Saw her swallow.
‘Is it okay if I kiss you?’ he rasped, even as every sensible part of his brain screamed at him to stop.
He hardly knew this woman; she could be anyone. She was definitely a temptress, a siren who’d been sent to beguile him, but in this moment, he couldn’t bring himself to care. He wanted her with a force so strong he could barely hold a sensible thought in his mind.
So he kissed her, softly at first, pressing his mouth to the edge of her heart-shaped jaw, following it until he reached her chin and then lips.
He felt her clasp his shoulder and tug him closer, felt her open her legs creating space between them.
She was still sitting and he was standing, so he shifted into the gap and pressed closer until he was in exactly the right place. God, she felt incredible…
He moved his hand to her thigh, brushing aside the plush dressing gown, and traced the edge of it to the tip of her hips.
He hadn’t known if she was wearing underwear – but the feel of warm bare skin told him she was completely naked.
His body throbbed, telling him to hurry, but he held back.
He didn’t want to scare her – he was scared enough for both of them.
He could hardly believe this was happening.
How in just a few days he’d gone from glaring at Izzi to wanting to be inside her.
She deepened the kiss and shifted a little on the barstool pressing herself closer until he was so hard he felt like he was going to shatter.
Her hands were still gripping his shoulders, her nails digging in.
Cameron wondered if Izzi realised she was gasping.
Wondered if he was doing the same because he was so far gone, he barely knew.
He wanted to devour her, to lay claim. He’d never reacted to anyone like this.
He’d always been in control – but a powerful need was ripping at his natural restraint, telling him to strip her bare, to ravage her, telling him to carry her to his bedroom.
To make this good for both of them. But to get on with it before one or both of them changed their minds.
She tasted like one of her cupcakes when they’d just come out of the oven, sweet and hot and like she was melting on his tongue. Delicious and impossible to resist.
She began to tug his shirt from the waistband of his work trousers and slid her hot hand onto his stomach, dipping a finger into the space underneath his waistband, trying to touch the part of him that was straining for attention.
He moaned and sucked in his stomach, eager to feel her touch, and pressed his trembling fingertips to her collarbone, gripping the edge of the fleecy dressing gown before starting to tug it aside.
This was happening too fast – he knew that – but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. Couldn’t stop Izzi either it seemed, because suddenly she wrapped her legs around him, squeezing herself closer and pushing him close to the edge.
‘We should probably move somewhere more comfortable.’ He broke off the kiss momentarily to speak just as he heard Cupcake barking from somewhere far, far away.
He was going to ignore it – maybe if he did, his dog would find a bone and go to his bed. That way, he could get on with kissing Izzi. But the barks intensified until he felt the brush of Cupcake’s fur against his leg and suddenly Izzi was pulling away.
She looked up into his eyes, her mouth red, her eyes dark and round. He could see the top of one pink nipple puckering in the air from the corner of his eye. He had to drag his eyes up to meet hers before he tried to smother her whole body with kisses.
‘Cupcake,’ she said, swallowing. ‘I think he might need you.’ Her voice was strained and she slowly dropped her legs from around his hips making him want to curse.
‘I’m not sure how that happened,’ she said vaguely, tugging her hand from where it was still pressed against his stomach and scootching backwards on the stool away from him, effectively breaking contact and whatever spell they’d been caught up in.
‘What’s wrong, boy?’ He glanced down – the dog was carrying an envelope between his teeth and Cameron took it and frowned as he read the name scrawled on the front. ‘It’s addressed to you. It says private and confidential,’ he said, surprised. ‘How did they know you’d be here?’
Then again, word travelled in Honey Haven. But what was in this letter that only Izzi could read? What was she keeping from him – was she keeping something from him? The thought was like being doused in cold water and he frowned.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, taking the envelope.
‘I’m not expecting anything.’ She gazed at the writing, and he waited for her to open it, desperate to know who was contacting her here.
She’d told him she didn’t know anyone local, but someone had posted this through his door. Was it a man – was she seeing someone?
‘Um.’ Izzi cleared her throat as she pulled his dressing gown up and over her shoulders.
‘I think maybe I should go back to the cabin and get dressed.’ She shoved the envelope into the pocket of his dressing gown, and he stepped away so she could hop to the ground.
‘I’ll see you in ten minutes,’ she said without looking at him.
‘Maybe we could sort out the other splinters, then I’ll make us something to eat. ’
He jerked his chin – because he knew if he tried to speak, he’d say the wrong thing – and then he watched as she made her way to the hallway.
Cameron continued to stare at the empty space long after Izzi had gone, until he heard the door that led into the garden open and shut. Then he closed his eyes and shook his head, before opening them again and looking down.
‘What the hell just happened, Cupcake? What’s Izzi keeping from me?’ he asked, but the dog just growled.