4
The morning sun peeks through the blinds and I can hear the birds chirping outside our window. The room is semi-dark, and the sound of Cam’s breathing as he sleeps is the only things to be heard. I hold out my hand and stare at the engagement ring on my finger, a broad smile crossing my face.
I can’t believe it.
I actually cannot believe it.
I’m getting married, and not married to just anybody—I’m getting married to Cameron Stanton, the man of my dreams—the man of every woman’s dreams.
How did I ever score this? I thought I was simply getting a slutty, hot hookup in Vegas and I somehow ended up pregnant... to someone who turned out to be the perfect male specimen.
What were the chances?
How in the heck has everything that was once so wrong turned out to be so right?
It’s been a week today since Cam asked me to marry him with the perfect Vegas proposal, in the same place, at the same time, in the same scenario as we first met. I have floated through seven blissful days, and even though Cam and I are always tight, and things are normally pretty great between us, I feel like this week has been a turning point.
We can’t get enough of each other.
Literally.
We kiss in the car like school kids. I don’t want to go anywhere without him and he has been looking at me like I’m the only woman in the world. It’s as if a new, deeper level of intimacy has been reached between us. He was so proud this week to tell everyone that we are getting married. I can’t wait to be his wife.
We’re getting married!
It feels like now we know that this really is forever, everything has changed and somehow become deeper.
I bring my hand closer to my face, study my ring, and I smile. It’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Exactly what I would have picked, even if it is a bit big. Cameron was concerned it wasn’t big enough.
Typical Cameron.
“Will you stop looking at that ring?” Cameron whispers huskily.
I turn and softly kiss him on the lips. “I can’t.” I turn back and study it again. “I still can’t believe you asked me to marry you.”
“Hmm,” he hums sleepily with his eyes closed. “How else am I ever going to get you to grant me anal sex?”
My mouth falls open in shock and I burst out laughing. “Every single time your romance score rises, you open your stupid big mouth and crash-tackle it back to zero.”
He smiles with his eyes still closed. “Well...” He brings his hand up to behind his head. “You did say that you were saving your ass for your husband.”
I giggle and kiss his big, stupid lips.
He raises his eyebrow. “And I am a goal-orientated man, you know.”
I laugh. “I think you told me about your goals on the first night you met me.” I smile and look back at my ring. “When you wanted to consummate our fake marriage.”
He rolls over quickly so that he’s on top of me. “That’s when you told me you were saving yourself for your husband.” His dark eyes drop to my lips.
“You’re not my husband yet,” I whisper.
He bends and catches my bottom lip between his teeth, pulling it to him. “I’m going to be your husband very soon.” He reaches down and circles his fingers over my clitoris, and then as his eyes hold mine he slides two fingers deep into my sex. My back arches off the bed in approval.
I watch him watching me.
He slowly pulses his thick fingers in and out as he watches my face in wonder. His lips move to my ear and he bites down hard. I wince at the feel of his teeth on my skin.
“When I’m your wife you can do whatever you want with me,” I breathe.
His eyes flicker with arousal. “I intend to,” he whispers. “And you’re going to love every fucking hard inch of it.” He pushes three fingers in aggressively, and I moan in pleasure. He starts to work me hard, then harder, and the bed is rocking as I ride his thick, strong fingers.
“Do you like that, Bloss?” he whispers as he watches my face. “My dirty little fiancée.”
I smile and close my eyes. God, he’s so good at this.
G spot… every damn time.
He strokes it, pumps it and stretches me wide, causing my mouth to drop open from the pleasure. “Oh...” I moan, my legs opening farther without instruction. I need him deeper. “God,” I whimper. He’s been touching me for all of two minutes and I already can’t take a second more.
I need him now.
He slides beneath the blankets and my eyes fall to the open door. “Cam, the door,” I breathe.
He goes lower and lower, and he nips my hipbones with his teeth. I jump off the bed and bring my hands to the back of his head. He throws my legs over his broad shoulders and drops his lips to my sex. I hear him inhale deeply and my eyes roll back in my head. Fuck, he’s so damn hot. Then he really starts to go to town. Long, deep licks tease me, followed by a slow suck and then a nibble of my clitoris... the perfect trifecta.
Again and again.
Cameron Stanton is the king of oral.
There isn’t a woman on Earth who wouldn’t orgasm within one-minute-flat with this technique, and I’m no different.
My breath begins to quiver as my body loses control, and my fingers instinctively run through his hair.
He adds his fingers in time with his tongue and that’s it.
I can’t hold it.
I bring my legs up as I try to deal with the sensory overload. “Open your fucking legs!” he growls as he slams them back against the mattress.
One more deep lick, and my whole body convulses forward as an orgasm rips through me. Before I can react, he has my legs lifted over his shoulders and he slams into me.
“Fuck, yeah,” he whispers in my ear.
He kisses me, and I can taste my own salty arousal on his lips, feel it in his stubble and, holy fuck, this man is off the charts.
Then he’s riding me hard. Deep, punishing hits. All I can do is cling to him as his body takes what it needs from mine. Perspiration dusts his skin and his hair falls over his forehead as he concentrates.
He widens his knees to give himself better control and really lets me have it.
Ah, shit, the door. I glance over at it again. “The door, Cam,” I whisper.
“Shut up and fuck me,” he growls. He turns his head to kiss my ankle and the sight of him tenderly caressing my foot as his cock near rips me in half is a sensory overload. I close my eyes to try and hold it off.
“Look at me,” he whispers as he grabs my jaw and drags my face to his. “Do you feel that, Ash?” He pumps me hard. “This is the only cock you’re going to feel ever again.” He kisses my ankle softly once more.
Oh, God...
I can’t hold it. I lurch forward as my orgasm rips through me, and he holds deep as his body empties itself into mine.
He falls onto me and I stare at the ceiling. We’re both covered in perspiration and breathing heavily. “I can’t wait to fuck your ass that hard.” He smiles sarcastically against my shoulder.
My eyes widen. “For the record, Cameron Stanton, you are never fucking my ass that hard,” I mutter dryly.
He lifts himself up onto his elbow and looks down at me. “My wife. My ass. My way.” He raises his eyebrow in a silent challenge.
I widen my eyes and shake my head. “You do know that your romantic score is now sitting at negative two, right?”
He kisses me on the lips, tenderly. “I don’t need a romantic score because I know I can give you a ten right here.” He flexes his dick inside of me. “I also know that you are a sex maniac.” He winks cheekily. “So, that works in my favor.”
“You’re off the scale between the sheets.” I smirk, because he really is ridiculously good in bed. “It’s immeasurable, actually.”
He slowly pulls out of me as he laughs that beautiful carefree laugh before he falls beside me on the mattress. He slides his arm under my head and pulls my body half over his. “Well, then… Seeing that my life’s goal has always been to have an immeasurable cock…” He kisses my forehead. “My work here is done.”
“Negative five,” I reply flatly.
He laughs out loud and I feel it all the way to my bones. “Shut up or I’ll fuck you again, Tucker.”
“How much farther?” Owen whines from the back seat.
“Not long, buddy,” Cam replies as he glances at the Google Maps on the dashboard. We seem to have been travelling through the countryside for a long, long time, pastures new for as far as our eyes can see.
It’s Saturday and we’re on our way to San Diego to see the property I inherited from Gloria. Well, the property we inherited.
We haven’t had time to look at the other house in town yet, but for some reason this is the one I’m dying to see the most.
“So, tomorrow?” Cam says.
“Yes?” I reply.
“I thought we might go and look at a few wedding reception venues.”
“We have heaps of time to do that.”
His eyes flicker to me. “Well, not really. We’re going to have trouble getting in somewhere as it is.”
I look over at him. “What? They don’t have one booking available next year?” I roll my eyes. Him and this damn organization fetish.
“What are you talking about? Next year? I want to get married next month.”
I scrunch up my face. “What? That’s ridiculous.”
“When were you thinking?” He frowns.
“Not next month, for God’s sake,” I mutter. “I want to lose at least five kilos before I get married. I haven’t got a dress or anything.”
He shakes his head in disgust. “You are not losing any weight. Wake up to yourself, woman. You’re perfect just the way you are.”
That’s a bit cute. I smile at him and he reaches over to take my hand in his, placing it on his lap as he thinks.
“I need at least twelve months, Cam.”
“No.”
“What do you mean no?” I ask.
“I want to be married now. Why on Earth would you need twelve months?”
“I need to get a dress, find a venue, organize everything.” I shake my head. “This is overwhelming, and you know how time-poor I am already.”
He thinks for a moment. “Well.” He shrugs. “I’ll organize it. You just need to pick the venue and your dress. I’ll do everything else.”
He’ll do everything else? As if!
I know for a fact that he has already lined Adrian up for the job. Adrian rang me on the Monday morning we got back from Vegas to discuss color palettes. “Don’t you mean Adrian will do everything else?” I ask.
He shrugs. “You know Murph loves weddings and shit.”
“Don’t say shit, Dad,” Owen calls from the backseat.
“Sorry,” he replies with a roll of his eyes. “Fucking shit,” he mouths so Owen can’t hear.
I smirk. Watching him getting his language picked up by his goody two-shoes son really is amusing.
We drive for a moment and I can see his brain ticking at a million miles a minute. “Just pick the venue and Adrian and I will organize everything.” His eyes find mine. “All you have to do is buy a dress and show up on the day. I know how busy you are.”
“What’s the rush?” I ask.
His eyes continually flicker between the road and me. “Well, I’ve done it now. As far as I’m concerned we’re already married.”
Already married.
I smile broadly. Well, if that isn’t the most perfect piece of information I have ever heard.
“We’re not married, Cam.” I smile.
His hand slides up my thigh and under my dress. “It can’t come soon enough for me, Bloss.”
“You do know I love you, right?” I smile broadly.
He smiles sarcastically as he looks at his son in the rearview mirror. “Yes. Everyone in the car loves me. I’m a rock star.
“Oh, man.” Owen sighs. “He’s doing that great thing again, Mom.”
I laugh. “Yes, he is Owen.”
“Destination is on your left,” our map lady tells us, and Cameron brings the car down to a slow roll.
“Is this it?” Cam frowns as he looks up the long driveway.
I shuffle through the papers and retrieve the address to read it out.
“Yes, this is it.” He frowns as he looks around.
A long pebble driveway that disappears into the paddocks is in front of us, and it has an old letterbox with a little plaque hanging down.
Pemberley
“What’s Pemberley?” Cameron frowns.
I scramble through the papers. “I don’t know.” I read the paperwork again. “Oh, look, it’s the name of the property.” I bunch my shoulders up excitedly and Cam raises his eyebrows in surprise.
My mouth falls open in surprise. “Oh, Cam. That’s the name of Mr. Darcy’s property.”
“Pretty cool,” he mutters under his breath. We turn in to the driveway and start up the long pebble driveway that disappears up into the distance. There’re green fields for as far as we can see with huge oak trees sporadically planted throughout the property.
“This is beautiful.” I smile in wonder as I look around at the lush, green countryside.
“Oh look, Mom,” Owen calls excitedly. “Look at that huge climbing tree.”
I laugh as we keep going. “This is a super-long driveway.”
“Sure is!” he yells.
We keep going and going and going, and I feel like a little kid on Christmas morning. I grab Cameron’s hand and hold it in mine. “This is so exciting, Cam.”
He smiles and kisses the back of my hand. He’s loving this. Owen and I are literally bouncing in our seats.
Finally, a house comes into view, but it’s hard to make out from a distance. “Is that the house?” I crane my neck as I try to see.
“I think so,” Cam mutters as he concentrates.
“I can’t see it. I can’t see it,” Owen calls from the backseat.
“We’ll be there soon, buddy and you can see it then,” Cam replies.
As it gets closer, coming more into focus, the car falls silent. It’s white with a green tin roof, two stories with a big wrap-around veranda. It looks like it would have been a stately home back in its day. I say back in its day because in the present time it looks absolutely dilapidated.
Cam pulls the car to a stop and we all sit and stare at it for a moment.
Wow.
Cam’s eyes flicker over to me as if scared to say anything. I swallow the lump in my throat and slowly open the car door.
I take the keys and Owen climbs out of the car, bouncing toward the tree.
“Owen. Stay with me, please,” Cam calls.
The veranda has wide floorboards that have worn through in some places. The posts have no paint left on them, and you can’t see through the windows because they’re so dirty.
“Is this safe to go in?” Cam frowns.
I shrug. “She did say that nobody has been here for ten years,” I reply as I peer in through the window. I shrug. “Come on.” I grab the keys and try to open the door, but the key doesn’t fit. I try another and another, having no luck.
“Here, give them to me. “Cam takes the keys and shuffles through them as he tries to unlock the door. I pick up Owen and put him on my hip. We turn back to look out over the property and my breath catches. It has the most beautiful view I have ever seen, with green rolling hills and mountains in the distance. There’re so many beautiful oak trees and a tranquility that I don’t think I’ve ever felt. “Gosh, it’s so beautiful here,” I whisper.
“Glad you think so,” Cam mutters as he bangs the door. It opens with a loud creak. The three of us peer in like scared children.
Cameron’s eyes widen in horror and I break into a stupid smile. The foyer is grand and leads onto a huge family room, and the stairs are up in front. It’s bad... like really bad. The floorboards are all caving in and the walls are all bowed. In the middle of the family room, it looks as though a part of the ceiling has fallen and crashed onto the floor. Luckily, there’s no furniture. It’s empty apart from the plasterboard everywhere.
Cameron takes Owen from me immediately. “I don’t think this is safe to go farther into,” he whispers.
I walk in and around through the family room. There’s a formal dining room and another room—I’m not sure what this is. The kitchen is at the back and I smile broadly. It’s bright green and horrible. I imagine Gloria back in her day cooking in here. Another three rooms are over to the left behind the staircase, although I have no idea what they would have been used for.
“It’s big.” I frown.
Cameron follows me in silence with Owen on his hip.
“This is sick,” Owen calls.
“Yes, Owen, this is sick,” Cameron mutters dryly. “This is one of those vomit-inducing, sick places. It smells old and musty.”
I walk over to the stairs. “I wonder what’s upstairs…”
“Ashley, I don’t think the stairs are safe,” Cameron calls. “Look, one is missing.”
The second step is missing the timber and I jump over it, taking them two at a time until I find a grand hallway, six bedrooms, and a broken-down bathroom. The roof obviously has a leak because there are brown stains that have marked the walls in the hall. The carpet is threadbare, and you can see the floorboards through it.
I walk into the master bedroom and look through the window out onto the beautiful meadows below, where I see a large, blue-stone barn out the back. “Cameron come up here. You have got to see this,” I call excitedly.
“I don’t think I want to,” he calls.
I hear him and Owen slowly make their way up the stairs, looking through the house before they come and find me in the master suite.
I smile as I stare out the window. “Look…” I point excitedly.
Cameron peers down at the barn and tries to force a smile. “The land is nice,” he murmurs. He looks around. “I think a bulldozer is the best thing for the house, though.”
I smile. “Are you kidding me? No way,” I whisper.
He frowns.
“We have to fix this house up. Bring it back to its former glory like Gloria and her husband had it.” I smile, filled with hope.
He shakes his head. “Ash, no building company would take this on. The job is too big.”
I peer through the window and grin. “No, Cam, we’re going to do everything ourselves.”
He looks at me blankly.
“Can you imagine the fun we would have? I want us to do this house up ourselves. Just me, you, and Owen.”
“That’s ridiculous.” He looks around in disgust. “I know nothing about anything like that.”
I smile and wrap my arms around him and Owen. “Oh, this is just perfect.”
He scowls as he looks around. “Ashley...” He stops himself as his eyes roam the room. “I’m sorry to say, but this house is appalling.”
“No. It’s the opposite, Cam; it’s so beautiful.” I smile as I hold my arms out wide. “Can you imagine how amazing we could make this house?”
He turns up his nose. “You have a perfect house in L.A. to call your own.”
“I don’t want a perfect house, Cam. I want one that I have to work for. One that I can bring back to life myself.”
Cameron’s eyes widen in horror. “No amount of renovating can fix this, Ash. I’m sorry. I know you were excited.”
I throw my hands in the air. “I’m thrilled.”
“With this?” He shakes his head. “Ash...” He puts Owen down and walks over to the door. When he pushes it back it falls from its hinges and drops with a loud crash, and he jumps back out of the way. “This place is so damn dangerous,” he cries.
Owen and I burst out laughing.
“You are such a snob.” I smile as I stare back out the window. “Come on, let’s go look at the barn.” I take off downstairs with them following me, and we walk out the back. About two-hundred meters from the house and across a green lush paddock sits the large, blue-stone barn. It’s locked with a big rusty padlock. “Where are the keys?” I ask.
Cameron frowns and digs them out of his pocket. He slowly begins to try all the keys, and when the last one works he slowly opens the doors.
The roof is open with big, dark, timber rafters, while the floor is stone. “Oh, this is amazing,” I gasp.
Cameron looks around the barn, deadpan. “This place is woeful.”
I laugh. “Oh, let’s go back to town, buy some camping supplies, and stay here tonight.” I smile hopefully.
“Yes!” Owen squeals.
“Let’s not,” Cameron mutters. “You couldn’t pay me enough to stay out here. God knows what could happen.” He kicks a rock that’s in front of his feet as he looks around. “This is not a fucking episode of the Amityville Horror House, you know.”
I laugh and put my hand over my mouth as I look around. He really is freaking out here.
“Dad…” Owen corrects him.
“Owen!” Cameron snaps as he loses his last inch of patience. “I am a grown man and I can swear when I want to. You are the only one not allowed to swear around here. Stop correcting me.”
Owen widens his eyes at me. “Jeez,” he whispers under his breath.
“Can we stay the night, Cam?” I smile hopefully.
“Absolutely not,” he replies as he leaves the barn and starts to walk back to the house.
“Why not?” I call.
He turns to face me and counts on his fingers. “Where do I start, Ashley? There’s no power, no running water, no bathroom. Things are falling off the hinges. This place is a death trap!”
I smile and shrug. “So?”
His eyes widen. “This is horrible. I can’t stay here, and I won’t have you two stay here, either.” He turns to walk back to the front. “This is worse than third-world.”
“Well, I’m coming back here next weekend,” I call.
“Great,” he shouts back as he opens the door to our car. “You do that while Owen and I arrange our wedding in L.A.” He rolls his eyes. “It’s not like we have nothing to do back home or anything.” He shakes his head in disgust.
“Okay.” I smile as I call after him. I look around the house once more before I lock it up and climb into the car.
Cameron looks at me blankly.
I smile at the big old house. “See you next weekend, Pemberley,” I call.
“Bye,” Owen cries.
“Good riddance,” Cameron mutters as he starts the car. “Let’s go find some coffee.”