Chapter 14

“Thank you again for a lovely evening,” Cameron said. “I always have such a good time with you and your family.” It was just about midnight. After the fireworks were over and the bonfire was extinguished, Val had walked her back to the piers, where her car was parked. He was holding her hand—he hadn’t relinquished it since they’d started their walk—and it felt good. She was slowly growing used to the heat that licked at her whenever they touched, and she had stopped thinking about it as disconcerting and instead focused on how whenever he was near, warmth pooled in her belly … and lower. Always lower.

And no wonder—with his burn-you-up-from-the-inside gaze that never failed to make her heart pound. The way he was looking at her right now. She’d brought a sweater for the evening, but she still felt chilly, so he wrapped her up in his thick barn jacket. She could tell he liked the way his utilitarian, masculine jacket looked on her. When she put it on, something dangerous flared in his eyes, and never left. Maybe he thought he was marking her as his. His! The thought thrilled her.

She was still wearing it, the big coat hanging off her slim shoulders, her long black hair spilling out over the collar. Val still didn’t speak; he just pulled away and stared at her, his eyes drinking her in, sizing her up. Weighing. Assessing.

She cleared her throat. “Shall I get your jacket back to you tomorrow?”

He stepped toward her, reached out, and grabbed the lapels of his barn jacket, one in each hand. Then, slowly, he pulled, waiting for the resistance, the hesitation. She didn’t give him any. Every tiny step she took was one step closer to his lean, hard body. A body she fantasized about in the dark of the night, alone in her room. This man wanted her in a way she could never have fathomed. And she wanted him right back.

She was trapped against him now, inside his jacket, chest to chest. Her heart was pounding so hard, he had to feel it. When she lifted her gaze, he was staring at her with a disarming intensity.

“Keep the damn jacket,” he growled, before sealing his mouth to hers.

Heat flashed through her, head to toe, and she closed her eyes. Behind her lids, stars burst, little fireworks going off again and again.

She was officially burning up now, and when he slipped a hand inside the jacket, cupped her breast and ran his thumb over her nipple, she almost ignited. Want, need, desire … it all swelled up, threatening to swallow her whole. He was kissing her deeply now, stroking his tongue against hers in a mesmerizing rhythm.

Just as she started to sink into him, he wrenched his hand and mouth away.

“Wha—” He’d scooped her in his arms and was striding toward his boat.

“I think I need to get you inside,” he said, shoes making a hollow sound on the damp pier.

“I think I know why,” she murmured, kissing him everywhere she could reach. Somehow he got them onboard, but that was as far as they got. He put her down on deck, and she didn’t even blink before he’d pressed her up against the side of the cabin, right underneath a string of Christmas lights. Then, he simply devoured her, his mouth hot and dark. And his big hands—oh God, they were everywhere, stroking and smoothing her heated flesh, his lean body one big promise.

He was being gentle now, and that just made her hotter. She thought he’d pick up the pace. Thought things would be as wild and heated as they were last night. But she was wrong. Oh, was she wrong!

He instead slowed his pace, kissing her so thoroughly and deeply, that when he pulled away she was dizzy. Carefully, he led her below deck and laid her on his bed. Slowly, he undressed her, peeling off her clothing layer by layer until she lay naked before him. And then, he worshipped her body, first with his fingers, trailing over every inch of her skin—and finally with his mouth. She was sensitized, every nerve ending a little electric current of need. When he spread her and licked the insides of her thighs, she started to quiver. And when he used his tongue to lap between her legs she thought she was going to die.

No … that came when he slid a finger inside her body and coaxed one shuddering climax out of her. It was so easy, so smooth, that she barely felt herself slip over. One moment she was shaking with desire and the next, she was on the other side, having fallen off the cliff.

“I want you,” she said, her voice sounding throatier than it ever had.

He lay back, eyes glowing in the darkened room. His lip curled up. “Show me,” he said.

It was her turn to play. She shucked off his jacket and shirt, then pushed him back on the bed. Sliding up beside him, she placed her palm on his cheek and turned his face toward hers. Then she kissed him the way he’d kissed her, undulating her tongue against his in a seductive rhythm, and ran her hand down his arm. His bare skin was hot to the touch. He’d given her tacit permission to do anything she wanted, so she slid her palm up his chest and ran it over his nipple. He shuddered and all of a sudden, the gesture seemed more intimate. She scraped her teeth over the tip and he hissed.

“Did that hurt?”

“No,” he said gruffly. “Do it again.”

So she did, and he hissed again and kissed her more deeply. Emboldened by this newfound power, Cameron repeated the gesture with his other nipple, eliciting the same response. She undid his belt and tugged his jeans and boxers down his legs before pushing him back down. He was watching her, a slight smile on his face.

Then she bent her head and replaced her mouth on first one nipple, then the other, lightly flicking her tongue. Val groaned and captured her head in his hand, burying his fingers in her long strands.

She wanted him to touch her, too, so she shoved his hand from where it was resting on her hip up to her breast. He laughed a little and obliged her, plucking and stroking in time with the rhythm of her mouth.

By the time she’d taken the length of him in her hand, he wasn’t laughing anymore. As she regarded his powerful beauty, he became deadly serious. She could see the way his jaw was clenching—the way it always did when he was holding himself back.

His hand stilled on her breast. “Cam—baby—you don’t have to.”

“I want to,” she said, just before she closed her mouth over his tip. He shuddered and groaned. She blew on him, her hot breath warming his already heated flesh. He groaned again. A wave of satisfaction washed over her. She was doing this to him, making him moan and shake. Then she took as much of him in her mouth as she could.

“Aw, Cam, that’s just … damn!”

She licked her way from root to tip and went back for more. The feel of him in her mouth was the ultimate aphrodisiac—she was powerful. Beautiful. Sexy. She would have tried to swallow him whole, but all of a sudden she was on her back, with Val between her knees. And then he had a condom on and was pushing into her, and God, nothing had a right to feel this good.

When he was fully seated, he slipped an arm under her neck and smiled.

“My turn,” he said, and when he began to move slowly—ever so slowly—her world just fell apart. The heat built and built along with the pleasure, until the pressure bore down on her so hard she could barely breathe. Her nails clawed at his back, but he didn’t even flinch. Just kept up the same slow, artful pace. Made her feel every nuance, the sensations amplified in a way she could never have believed was possible.

And when she thought she couldn’t stand another minute, with a flick and a twist of his fingers, she went over, falling, gasping his name, barely aware that he was right behind her.

Afterward, she lay on the bed, breathless, wrapped up in Val’s strong arms. He kissed her once, on the mouth.

“You good?” he asked.

She couldn’t speak, so she nodded. Yes, she was good. More than good.

Val was unlike anyone else she’d ever been involved with. He wasn’t afraid to touch her, to show her how much he wanted her. Instinctively, he knew exactly how far to push her, and when to back off. He understood her—could read her the way others couldn’t. All at once, everything she’d been missing in her life up until this point … passion, desire, and yes, even love … came rushing over her in a wave of emotions. Had it always been like that? Her, living in a little bubble, not feeling, not even living?

With his straightforward, even manner, he’d unlocked all of the emotion, all of the passion she’d been keeping under wraps. It had taken a man—this man, not of her world—to show her what it was like to really live. That familiar tingling in her tear ducts threatened once again. One of the perils of being a Stahl—when the emotion came, it came hard, a gift from her dad’s side of the family, who were notoriously easy criers. She blinked fast to keep her tears at bay.

“You sure you’re good?” he said.

“Yes,” she responded, her voice thick with emotion.

He studied her some more, his clear blue eyes flicking over her face. Then he kissed her again, this time more deeply. “No guilt, Cam.”

“Never with you,” she said.

He nodded once, and brushed a stray tear from the corner of her eye. “No regrets, either.”

“No regrets.”

Val watched her for another long minute.

“Go wash up,” he said.

She went to the small washroom and scrubbed her face, afraid to look at herself in the mirror. Val followed shortly after, and then they both got back in bed. He looked at her again, eyes searching her face. Seemingly satisfied by what he saw, he covered her up, tucked her against him, and kissed the top of her head.

In no time at all, she was asleep.