Chapter Thirty-Eight
Natalie
One Month Later
Cameron's parents’ house was incredible. I had slept over several times, but it still seemed every time I was here that there was more to see. He hadn't been kidding the times he had told me what a great childhood he’d had. I could only imagine it, Cameron, as a little boy, running around outside, losing himself in the multitude of rooms. Almost everything was still the same. The master had been largely cleared out so Cameron could use it, but he hadn't auctioned or given away the bulk of their old belongings.
A breeze coming in from outside had woken me. I stirred in bed, giving up on falling back to sleep. I sat up, feeling the bed for him. It was empty. I looked around, climbing out of the bed. The balcony’s French doors were open, but I didn't see him out there. He must have left them like that before leaving. I went over, shivering against the crisp wind to close it then slid a nightgown on to cover myself. I was still naked from the night before. We had wanted to go out on a date that night, but Cameron had gotten caught up in the office, so we settled for spending time together here.
He was busy. At first, I didn't think I realized just how busy his new job would keep him. Everything that had happened between us up to his moving back had moved at almost breakneck speed. It had almost been a weird fantasy, removed from both our real lives. When everything went back to normal, we had slowed all the way down too. It was nice. I liked not having to drive into the wilderness to see him. I liked being able to spend my weekends with him and sometimes hitching rides with each other to and from work. I liked everything. I loved the comfort of having someone; I hadn't realized that it was something I necessarily missed.
It helped that that someone was him, but still. I was happy, very happy, with how things had turned out. I walked down the stairs, looking for Cameron. That afternoon, he was busy. He had to drive out a couple hours to see some sites that the company was looking to develop. I had him ‘til he had to leave though, so I wasn't complaining. I walked into the kitchen, following the sounds. He was at the stove, in his underwear, making breakfast.
"I hope those eggs are cage-free," I said. He looked over his shoulders, smiling when he saw me.
"You're up."
"Because you left the balcony open," I said accusatorily, going over to the coffee maker. The wall clock in the kitchen said it wasn't even nine o'clock yet. Knowing Cameron, he had probably already squeezed in a workout in the home gym and gotten a look at his emails already.
"Oh, shit. Really?"
"You totally did that on purpose," I said, looking for a couple of mugs for us.
"I wouldn't have, knowing how grumpy you'd be this morning."
"I'm not grumpy."
"No, you'd just rather spend the whole morning in bed than with me."
"That's not true," I said, walking over to the breakfast table with our coffee. "What I wanted was for you to spend the morning in bed with me before you had to leave."
"Is that right?" he asked, bringing our loaded plates of food over. Hash browns, eggs, and turkey bacon. "If you had your way, I wouldn't see the light of day, would I?"
"No, you wouldn't," I laughed, “but I know that you'd obviously spend every waking moment with me if you weren't so busy. Right?" He grinned as he sat down.
"The correct answer to that question is 'of course, honey,' so I'll go with that." I laughed, appreciating his attempt at humoring me. I had adjusted to his new schedule, but that didn't mean it was ideal. It was working though. We were making it work. Him being busy meant Porter Holdings was doing great. After the lull it had experienced with the deaths of his parents and his departure, there were several new operations in various stages of development. He had picked up where his father had left off, so nobody had been laid off.
"I know you're busy," I said with an exaggerated sigh.
"Bet you regret handing me over to Brett now."
"No. You've been different since coming back."
"Yeah? How? Besides being swamped?"
"I don't know, more settled, I guess. Like there's a reason now, and you know why you're here. Why you're doing all of this."
"I'm glad it looks that way," he said with a small smile.
"The company's back on its feet, made a full recovery, and most likely going to exceed revenue records this year."
"I can't take credit for all that. I'm just doing my job."
"Well, you're good at it. Nothing wrong with being proud of that."
He shrugged. "I just want to do my best, make the most of everything, you know? My parents left this all to me; I want to make them proud. So that if they could ever see me again, they'd know they made the right decisions." I smiled.
"I think you're doing great."
"Thank you. I think you are too," he said.
"What? How?" I asked, taking his empty plate from in front of him with mine over to the sink.
"Because you're patient," he said, coming up behind me. "I know it's not fun canceling dates because of me." He wrapped his hands around my waist, hugging me to his chest.
"I understand. You have other commitments."
"It won't always be like this," he said. Yeah, they were still in a kind of transitory period, which meant a lot more direct involvement from him.
"It's okay," I reassured him. He held me tight to his body, kissing my temple.
"Thank you. You..." he trailed off. His hands were wrapped around me. "You're naked under this robe." His hand came up and pulled one side of my robe down, almost far enough to expose my breast.
"You got rid of my clothes last night, remember?" I said. He smoothly undid the sash around my waist and ran his hands over my skin, cupping my breasts.
"Mm," he said, pressing a kiss to the side of my neck. I turned the water off and turned my head to kiss him. He pulled my robe down off my shoulders, letting it drop to the floor. The fact that he'd been down here in his underwear told me we had the house to ourselves. Gina, his housekeeper, usually got weekends off. There was no danger of her walking in and seeing us.
One of his hands tweaked my nipple, while the other slid down between my legs to my clit. I sighed, clutching the edge of the sink as he touched me.
"Aren’t you going to be late?" I asked dreamily.
"We have all morning, babe," he said, his hands leaving my body briefly before holding me by the hip as he ran the engorged head of his dick against my folds. I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the sink's ledge and offering my rump to him. He entered me in one smooth thrust. My eyes fluttered shut as he rocked steadily in and out of me, grasping my hips to control our speed. He leaned his chest against my back, reaching back between my legs to touch me as we fucked.
I loved him feral and needy like this. It would cut through his now structured life, the side of himself that he saved for me. I cried out, shuddering as I came. He went harder, thrusting faster into me, cursing as I felt his release coating my walls. He kissed my shoulder and the back of my neck as he carefully withdrew. I turned to face him, and he kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing our bodies together.
"What?" he asked, as I cupped his face, running my thumb over his stubbled jaw. He hadn't shaved yet.
"I love you, Cameron," I said. I had never said it to him before. I had wanted to but never felt like I should have. Like I should wait longer before letting him know, not be in such a hurry and whatnot. He swallowed looking down at me.
"I love you too, babe," he said, kissing me again. No, we didn't have the whole day together, but there was tomorrow, and the next day, and the one after that. There were enough small close moments like this that made it worth it. Our timing from the start had been kind of off, but it had worked out. It was enough. Knowing I had him was enough.