Daniel

Although it still felt a little bit awkward living in someone else’s house, especially a lavish and amazing penthouse, I was feeling more and more comfortable in my new home every day. Maggie was a big part of that. I looked forward to seeing her every morning. Her bright, shining smile and infectious excitement about life were things I’d been craving for a long time. My entire life, really. And even though I was technically and adult now, I felt like I finally had the playmate that I’d always wanted when I was a kid.

But Cameron was another story. I had no way to describe how he made me feel. Not even to myself.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like being around him. His scent always put me at ease and sent surges of pleasure throughout my body. He was incredibly nice to look at, and, from what I could see underneath the suits he always wore, he had a great body. He was friendly and welcoming and had started telling me more about his past, but I always felt a little uneasy when he looked at me.

It was almost like he wanted to devour me whole. And it wasn’t just once or twice, it was every single time my eyes met his. He would look away quickly, but my heart always stopped in that split second when my eyes caught his. There were even times when I was in a room alone, sitting on the couch reading and I would look up to find his eyes on me. And when that happened, I felt like a little rabbit caught in an open field.

But that wasn’t what confused me. What I didn’t understand was why I liked it so much. Why I wanted him to watch me. I liked the idea of Cameron wanting to devour me. It made me scared, but it was the kind of scared that sent shock waves straight to my cock. And when I thought about Janine’s words, that my heat was intensified by someone with compatible hormones, I would start to swoon.

I just wished I knew if he was feeling the same way as I was. If he thought we were compatible.

It would be one thing if I knew what he wanted, but he never said a word. As far as I knew, I was here for Maggie, and I would never in a million years do anything to ruin that. There was no way in hell I could make any kind of first move, not with someone like Cameron Styles. I would rather die.

The funny thing was, if it were anyone else—if anyone had acted like that back at the group home where I lived—I would have immediately bought another deadbolt and would have stayed hidden in my room.

But I didn’t feel that way here at all. From the moment I laid eyes on Cameron he completely took my breath away, and every time I saw him I felt the same.

I would lie in bed at night fantasizing about him standing in my doorway, those hypnotic eyes of his fixed on me. In my fantasy, I wouldn’t be able to move a muscle and Cameron would approach the bed slowly. It would drive me crazy, how long it took him to reach my side. But I would watch him every step of the way, knowing that when he got there, when he had finally closed the space between us, that there would be nothing that I could do to stop him from having his way with me.

And that knowledge made every single one of my cells burn with desire for him.

In my fantasy, he wouldn’t even have to tell me what to do. I could see in his eyes what he wanted, and I would obey immediately. There was nothing I wouldn’t give him in those long sleepless nights when I was alone in my bed.

One night, not long after I’d moved in, I was in the living room while Cameron put Maggie to bed. I had been reading a book on my tablet and didn’t need much light around me, so the room was fairly dark. I also really liked standing at the huge window in the dim room, looking out at the lights of the city. It was so peaceful and serene and made me feel like I was on top of the world.

That’s where I was when Cameron came into the room. I didn’t hear him at first. He walked like a panther, and the dark clothes he was wearing blended in with the shadows.

I smiled when I saw that he had taken off his suit. He had become more relaxed over the last few days and tonight he was wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and a black long-sleeved T-shirt that showed off his muscular chest and arms.

I had a hard time tearing my eyes away from his body as he walked up next to me, holding a glass of dark liquid in one hand. His scent snuck up on me. I’d gotten somewhat used to being surrounded by it now, but when he was standing so near, it became intoxicating.

“Is Maggie asleep?” I asked. "She had a pretty big day at the park."

“Yeah,” Cameron said. “She conked out halfway through Pete the Cat. What are you doing?”

It seemed like the way Cameron talked was more relaxed in the last day or two as well. That made me smile. “I don’t know,” I said. “Just thinking about how small everything out there looks. And how far away. It feels like nothing can hurt me up here."

“You’re afraid of being hurt?” he asked. “That surprises me.”

"Isn't that what everybody’s afraid of?” I asked.

I could feel Cameron getting closer to me. Not just his voice in my ear, but the energy emanating from his body. And that energy was telling me that something was about to happen. I had a hard time believing it, and I wasn’t sure what could possible happen between us. I still couldn’t fathom that a man who was as sophisticated and sexy as Cameron Styles would want to have anything to do with the scrawny street kid like me.

"Yeah, I suppose. I know that’s why I’ve hidden myself away up here for some so long. But you seem so different, Daniel.”

“How?” I asked, turning to look into Cameron’s eyes. I felt my chest melting with each breath I took as I became caught in his stare.

"You don’t seem to me like you’re afraid of anything," he said.

“Oh?” I said, trying to laugh but only making some weird coughing noise. “No. That’s not true at all.”

Cameron was standing slightly behind me, less than a foot away. In the dim light of the cityscape that filtered in through the window, I could see the line of his jaw and his collarbone, and his ever-present blue eyes. The light reflected off of them like diamonds in a dark cave.

My brain kept telling me to look away. I was starting to feel that panic again. The feeling that I was about to be pounced on by a predator. But I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his. I wanted Cameron to pounce. I wanted to be taken by him so badly, every inch of my body was covered in tingles.

So I stood there, my breath shallow and my body trembling, while he held me in his stare like a prisoner.

My heart pounded in my chest as Cameron moved almost imperceptibly closer to me. Slowly and deliberately, just like in my fantasy. His eyes never left mine. He just watched me and waited. And when I thought I was going to completely lose my mind from wanting him so badly, his lips parted, and his tongue moved over the surface.

I stared at his now-shimmering lips for entirely too long before he spoke.

"Daniel." His voice was deep and strong and permeated my entire body.

My eyes moved back up to his and I was immediately lost in them. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know if Cameron wanted me to say anything. So, I just stood there like a limp noodle.

“I’m the one who’s afraid." I heard the words come out of his mouth, but my mind couldn’t comprehend what they meant. He didn’t look like he could possibly be afraid of anything. There was no fear in his eyes at all. They he knew exactly what they wanted, and they were looking right at me.

"Afraid of what?” I asked, finally able to get the words out.

Cameron paused for a long moment, and I swear a smile curled up on one edge of his mouth. “I’m afraid for you, Daniel.”

His words echoed in my head and pulsated through me, especially the way he said my name. It sounded like a rich, chocolate dessert melting off his tongue. I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "Don’t be.”

Cameron moved an inch closer to me, then brought his hand up to my face. I sucked my breath in when his fingers touched my cheek and his thumb ran across my lower lip. “You’re so innocent. I’m afraid of corrupting you. Of taking the sweetness away from your eyes.”

My heart sank. I didn’t want Cameron to know how inexperienced I was, and I quickly blurted out a complete lie. “I’m not innocent. I’ve been with other men.” It was partly true. I’d fooled around with one other guy, but we never went all the way. We were both too nervous. But now I wished we had, just so I didn’t have to lie to Cameron.

He paused for a long moment, like he was deciding if he believed me, then he smiled again. “Do you want this, Daniel?”

“Yes,” I said way too quickly and loudly, in a high-pitched voice that made me cringe. “I mean … yes … I do.”

“Do you even know what I’m asking?”

I was afraid now. Not because I thought Cameron would hurt me, but because his touch felt so incredible and I didn’t want him to take it away. I didn’t want him to know I was a virgin.

I could feel his intensity moving through me, even before his hand touch my face. But where his fingers brushed up against my skin, it was like nothing I’d ever felt before. “I want whatever you want,” I said, my voice shaking.

Suddenly everything fell away and all I could see was Cameron. I stopped being afraid and I stopped having to remind myself that this was actually happening. It was happening. Cameron’s hands were wrapped around my head and he was moving closer. His scent changing slightly and surrounding me like a warm cocoon.

When his lips finally met mine, my body melted against his. All my life I’d been waiting for a kiss like this. I’d lay in bed imagining what it would be like to see stars or experience what people meant when they said the earth moved.

But this was nothing close to what I’d imagined. Every cell in my body was buzzing. I felt like my insides were lighting up and crashing through me like waves. Every place where my body touched Cameron’s felt like it was pulsating until I couldn’t tell where I ended, and he began. And I had no idea if I was standing or laying down of flying through the air. I felt like the only thing holding me up was Cameron’s strong alpha body.

If this was what people referred to when they said they found their one true mate, then I finally knew what everyone was talking about. I wanted to stay like this in his arms forever, because I knew that nothing bad could ever happened to me again with him surrounding me.

I was afraid when Cameron pulled away, that the feeling would disappear but that was far from the case.

"Are you sure this is what you want?” Cameron asked, his eyes now back on mine, but his hands still cradling my head.

"Yes,” I whispered, and I meant it. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for Cameron. And nothing I wouldn’t let him do to me.

"I'm not sure you realize what you’re getting into,” he said, a concerned look filling his eyes.

"Then show me."