Chapter 19
Anyone with two eyes could tell that Teresa and Cam were close and they really did care about each other. The two of them were insane together, constantly picking on one another and causing general trouble wherever they went.
Teresa was a female version of Cam—tall, strikingly beautiful with raven-colored hair and bright blue eyes. She had the body of well-disciplined dancer and was practically bubbling over with energy.
Much to my relief, Teresa was a sweetheart. I’d been afraid that she wouldn’t like me for some reason or another, but she hugged me.
The Hamilton family were a bunch of hugging folks.
I hung out with them in the basement until Teresa and I went upstairs to help her mom get the sides ready for dinner, which seemed like the perfect moment to get away, because Cam and his father started talking about hunting and my skin was beginning to crawl.
Seeing mother and daughter working together and laughing had a strange effect on me. They were almost like strange creatures to me; the kind of family you saw on evening sitcoms. I was envious of that relationship, but in the same respect I sort of accepted that this would never be my mom and I.
While we got the dinner ready, Teresa was glued to her cell phone, constantly texting someone, which carried over to the dinner table.
“Who do you keep texting?” Cam demanded as he slopped a second heaping of yams on his plate.
Teresa smirked. “That’s none of your business.”
“I’m your brother, it’s my business.”
Uh-oh. I glanced at them and saw Cam’s eyes narrowed on his younger sister as she texted someone.
“Mom, you should tell your daughter it’s rude to text at the table.”
Mrs. Hamilton arched a brow. “It’s not hurting anyone.”
Cam nudged me with his knee under the table, something he’d been doing every five minutes since we sat down. “It’s hurting my soul.”
I rolled my eyes as I knocked him back.
“That’s sad,” his sister commented, dropping her cell in her lap. “So, Avery, how did you end up in West Virginia.”
“I wanted to go some place different,” I said, digging into the mashed potatoes. “My family is originally from Ohio, so West Virginia seemed like a good place to go.”
“I have to be honest, I would’ve picked New York or Florida or Virginia or Maryland or—” Her phone chirped, drawing her attention like someone with ADD and a shiny object. She grabbed her cell and an immediate smile spread across her lips.
Cam knocked my knee as his eyes narrowed even further. He reached for more turkey, but suddenly veered off, snatching the cell from his sister’s fingers.
“Hey!” she shouted. “Give it back!”
Cam stretched into me, avoiding his sister’s flailing arms. He scowled. “Who’s Murphy?”
Mr. Hamilton shook his head.
“It’s none of your business! God,” Teresa snapped. “Give me back my phone.”
“I’ll give it back when you tell me who Murphy is? A boyfriend?”
Her cheeks flushed, and I figured Cam was a bit of the overprotective type. He held the phone away from her until she sat back, crossing her arms. “Mom.”
“Cam, give her back the phone.” When Cam still held it, his mother smiled. “We’ve met Murphy. He’s a really good boy.”
Cam didn’t look convinced, and I suddenly wondered if there was more to this. I looked over at Teresa and her eyes were starting to shine. I turned my attention back to my plate quickly.
“He’s really nice and I like him,” she said in a quiet voice.
Cam snorted. “That’s not a ringing—”
“He’s not Jeremy,” Mr. Hamilton said, suddenly very serious and somber. “Give her back the phone.”
He looked like he was going to hold onto that phone for the rest of his life and where there hadn’t been any tension in the house since I arrived, it was now very much in this room. I reached under the table and grabbed his upper thigh, startling him enough that he loosened his grip on her phone. I swiped it away from him.
“Hey!” His eyes narrowed. “That was so not fair.”
I grinned as I stretched behind him, handing the phone to his sister. “Sorry.”
“Thank you,” Teresa said, and I was sure I made a friend for life with that move.
Cam’s look said there’d be payback later before he turned to his sister. “I want to meet this Murphy.”
Teresa let out a loud sigh. “Okay. Let me know when.”
Shock flickered through me. I would not have expected her to relent that easily to his demand. My gaze shifted between them two and while Cam seemed to relax, there was a tension in his jaw that hadn’t been there before. Conversation picked back up, but there seemed to be something simmering behind it.
Or it could just be my paranoia.
After the feast, Cam and I were alone in the dining room, stacking the dishes. “Is everything okay with your sister?” I asked.
Cam laughed, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Everything is kosher. Let’s play,” he said, catching my hands and pulling me toward the stairs leading to the basement. “I bet you can beat me at pool.”
“I don’t know about that.” But I let him led me away.
“Oh, I suck ass at pool.”
I laughed. “What about the dishes and—”
Cam stopped without any warning, causing me to crash into his chest. His hands fell to my hips as he lowered his forehead to mine. “Forget the dishes. Come play with me, sweetheart.”
Crap. He had me a sweetheart.
#
I’d just changed into my pajamas and slid my legs under the covers when there was a soft knock on the bedroom door. I rose onto my elbows. My heart jumped as Cam opened the door halfway.
“Hey,” he said, a slight grin on his face.
“Hi.” The one word came out a half whisper, half croak.
That lopsided grin spread an inch. “I wanted to say goodnight.”
A flutter took up residency deep inside my chest and my lower stomach. My hand clenched the edge of the down comforter. “You already told me goodnight.”
“I did.” He stepped into the room and my gaze slipped down the length of him. Cam made a gray shirt and flannel pajama bottoms look good. “But I didn’t. Not in the way I want to say goodnight.”
Oh dear sweet mercy me…
Cam quietly shut the door behind him. The click of the latch catching caused my heart to pound with him being in here, while I was in bed in nothing more than a thin, long sleeve shirt and cotton shorts. That was all.
I held my breath as I watched him make his way to the bed. He sat beside me, his hip resting against my leg. In the dim light of the room, his eyes shone like dark jewels as they moved over my face and down, to my chest. Under his intense gaze, my nipples immediately puckered against my shirt.
His gaze flicked up to my face, and I sucked in a soft breath. The nest of butterflies were back in my stomach, trying to make their way out. “I’m glad you decided to come here,” he said, voice gruff.
I shivered. “I am, too.”
“Really?” Cam planted a hand on the other side of my hip. “Did you just admit that?”
“Yeah, I sort of did.”
He leaned in so that his upper body hovered over mine. “I wish I had my phone to record this moment.”
My gaze dipped to his mouth. A witty retort slipped out of my grasp. I wetted my lower lip and his parted. My chest rose sharply as I forced my eyes up to meet his. “I’ve… had a wonderful time.”
“So have I.” The look in his eyes softened just a bit, but there was still a heated edge to his stare. “So what do you think you’re going to do for winter break?”
Knowing that he’d overheard the conversation I had with his mom, I didn’t lie. “I don’t know. I thought about taking off for D.C. one of the days. I want to see the Smithsonian and the National Mall. I’ve never been.”
“Hmm, that could be fun. I could be your tour guide.”
A small grin pulled at my lips. “That… that would be fun.”
“It would be,” he said, his voice warm on my cheek. “Pick a date.”
“Now?”
“Now.”
“January the second,” I said immediately, and then flushed. “Will you be available then?”
“I’ll be available whenever you want me to be.”
That delighted me to no end and my grin spread.
“Guess what, Avery?”
“What?” I wondered if he could see how fast my heart was beating beneath my shirt.
“Remember how you just said you were having a good time?” Cam lowered his head so that our mouths were scant inches apart. “It’s about to get better.”
“Is it?”
He shifted his head and his nose grazed mine. “Oh, yeah.”
“Are you not going to kiss me again?”
His lips tipped up. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Warmth slid through my veins as my body tensed in a welcomed, delicious way. My eyes fluttered shut as his lips brushed mine once and then twice, as if he was getting reacquainted with the feel of them. The slight, barely there touch was nerve racking.
Cam shifted his weight onto his left arm and with his other hand, he spread his fingers along my cheek. He placed a kiss to the corner of my lips and the other side before sliding his hand back around the nape of my neck. His lips moved along my jaw, trailing a fiery path to my ear. A shiver danced along my skin, eliciting a deep, husky chuckle from him. His lips pressed against the sensitive spot under my ear, and a moan crawled up my throat.
“Goodnight, Avery.”
And then he kissed me—kissed me like he’d had right before he’d left the night of our date. Kissed me like he was a man starving for oxygen and I was the only air he needed to breathe. The hand around my neck held me there, raised up on my elbows as his mouth devoured mine. And that was the only word I could use to accurately explained how he kissed me.
Cam devoured me.
My lips opened, needing almost no coaxing, and his tongue slipped in, teasing mine as his hand tightened behind my neck. He tasted like toothpaste and it had my senses spinning. A sound rumbled from deep inside his chest as he pushed back, sliding his hand out from under me.
The moment my head hit the pillow, a tiny burst of panic kicked the air out of my lungs. Where was this heading? I thought about his sister being down the hall and his parents sleeping on the floor above, but then he kissed me again, a sweet tender kiss as he cupped my cheek. The panic eased off, the thoughts slipped away.
Cam hovered above me and I wanted to feel him on me, our bodies pressed together. Once that need took root, warring emotions rose inside me. Was this too much? Not enough? He caught my lower lip between his teeth, and a moan escaped me.
I was going to go with not enough.
In an act of supreme bravery fueled by desire, I reached down and slid my hands under the hem of his shirt. Cam jerked as my fingers grazed his bare, taut skin. He stilled for a moment and then he pulled away. I almost demanded to know why, because I’d come this far to actually touch him and he was leaving me? What in the holy hell was up with that?
Cam reached down and pulled his shirt off, over his head.
Oh.
Oh.
My breath hitched as I soaked him in. Cam’s body was gorgeous. All smooth, tight skin stretched over rock hard muscle. I wanted to ask about the tattoo and if it symbolized something to him, but couldn’t force the words from my mouth.
He yanked the comforter down, and my heart jumped. Immediately, I thought about what I had done in the bed. Our gazes locked and I couldn’t move or breathe. He climbed over me, his arms caging me in, surrounding me in a way that made me feel small… and safe. My hands went to his stomach, flattening against his skin. The muscles of his abs spasmed.
Cam dropped his forehead to mine. “You have no idea what you do to me.”
I didn’t, but as he lowered himself onto me, I started to get a good idea. I could feel him against my stomach, through our clothes, hard and thick. I thought that would pull me out of the heady haze of desire, but it didn’t. Heat flared between my thighs, my pulse pounded throughout my body. I shifted under him, bringing him closer to where I ached for him.
“Fuck,” he growled, his large body shaking.
He captured my lips in a searing kiss as he settled between my legs, muffling the pleasant groan that had worked its way up my throat. His hips rolled into mine, and my nerve endings were suddenly on fire. The thin material of my pajamas were nothing between the hard, hot skin of his chest and mine. His hips made another slow thrust that had my toes curling as I gripped his sides. His kiss turned deeper, more urgent as he slid his hand from my cheek, down my neck. His hand brushed the swell of my breast, so close to the sensitive bud before following the curve of my stomach to the flare of my hips. He curved his hand around my thigh, lifting my leg around his hip. He settled deeper, pressing against my sex in a way that thrilled me at the same time it stirred a conflicting emotion. When his hips rocked again, I whimpered against his lips.
“I like that sound,” he said, moving his hips. I made it again, flushing. “Correction. I love that fucking sound.”
Sensations raced across my skin, building into an ache in my core. It was like the night in my bed but much stronger, more intense and so very real. His hand was on the move again, trailing up my side, jumping to my hand. His fingers tangled with mine for a second and then drifted up, under my sleeves as his tongue danced with mine.
Suddenly, he stilled above me and lifted his head. I forced my eyes open as I dragged in a deep breath. The look on his face; I didn’t understand it.
“Cam?”
Without saying a word, he lifted my arm and turned it over. My heart dropped. No. No. It was like slow motion. His fingers moved, thumb sliding over the length of the deep scar that cut across my vein.
He looked.
I followed his gaze.
Disbelief exploded, suffocating all the wonderful feelings that had been building in me. His thumb moved again, as if he was trying to wipe the scar away and then when it remained, he shifted his gaze to mine. There was no mistaking it. He knew—he knew what the scar was.
“Avery…?” he whispered, brows furrowed and face taut. “Oh, Avery, what is this?”
Horror swept the disbelief away, like a rolling tide. The pained expression etched into his striking face reached down into me, sinking deep with razor sharp claws and tore me apart. The look on his face, it… it destroyed me in a way nothing else could since that night on Halloween.
The scar—I never wanted anyone to ever see it, to witness just how weak I’d been once upon a time. It went beyond humiliation.
Tearing my arm free, I scrambled out from underneath him. My body flashed between hot and cold as I yanked the sleeve down over my bare wrist.
“Avery…” He reached for me.
“Please,” I said, pushing myself to the edge of the bed. “Please leave.”
Cam pulled his hand back. “Avery, talk to me.”
I shook my head, lip trembling.
A muscle worked in his jaw. “Avery—”
“Leave!” I jumped from the bed, stumbling back a step. “Just leave.”
Cam froze for a second, as if he was about to say something else, but then he pushed off the bed. He backed toward the door as a deep shudder started working its way through my body. With his hand on the door knob, he stopped.
“Avery, we can talk—”
“Leave.” My voice broke. “Please.”
His shoulders stiffened and then he did as I asked. Cam left, closing the door quietly behind him.