Riley
Camden held my hand all the way to the new house, and I was glad for it because I wanted as much contact as possible. We’d only been apart for two days, but they were significant days and things had happened that made me want him close in every way. It was weird seeing him drive my car, but we needed the back seat for my dress.
I’d never felt maternal toward anyone in my whole life, but I was having some serious mother-hen feelings about my dress. I worried throughout the entire flight that something terrible would happen to it and I wouldn’t know until I opened the overhead compartment to pull it out. I’d boarded the plane close to last with a plan. I’d found an overhead bin that was pretty full but had enough space above the bags to lay my dress flat across them. The entire flight I worried that someone had smuggled on a bottle of red wine and that it would explode all over my dress from a change in cabin pressure or some other ridiculous nonsense.
Even during the car ride home I must have turned around to check on the dress at least a dozen times. And I might have scolded Camden in my mind for braking too quickly and almost causing my dress to ruffle.
But one gentle squeeze from Camden and I was pulled back into the crazy lust that had been building since I got off that plane and saw him waiting with peonies.
He looked damn good waiting for me too. He was wearing my favorite pair of jeans that hugged his thighs just right and a green polo shirt that showed off his biceps. He was entirely lickable, which was probably why I jumped him as soon as I saw him.
My eyes darted down to his thighs as he drove. It was so stupid how my body reacted to just looking at his.
He pulled into the driveway of the new house and I took a moment to inwardly gasp at its beauty, still trying to grasp the fact that the house belonged to Camden and me.
He kissed the back of my hand and then released it, climbing out of the car to get my suitcase from the trunk. I stepped out of the car and absently thought about how much cooler it was in Portland than Paradise Valley when Camden came up behind me and handed me my dress.
“Thanks,” I said in almost a whisper.
“Come on,” he urged, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and leading me inside.
The house looked much the same as it did when I left. There were big pieces of furniture in the space, but boxes were still pushed up against walls and there was nothing out that made it feel like a home yet. We needed to unpack all our things, put our art on the walls, and make it our own for that to happen, and I was kind of glad he hadn’t accomplished too much of that while I was away. I wanted to help turn it from a house to a home.
“Where do you want to hang up your dress?” he asked softly.
“Well, honestly, I think I’ll worry too much if it’s not in our bedroom, but I just need you to promise me you won’t look again.”
He drew a giant X over his chest above his heart, saying, “Cross my heart and hope to die. Stick a needle in my eye.”
I laughed. “Ew.”
“Come on.”
He led me up the stairs and into our bedroom, which looked pretty much the same as before, though some of Camden’s clothes were on the floor. I was happy he hadn’t unpacked the downstairs, but I was even more ecstatic he hadn’t tackled the bedroom without me.
I headed to the closet and made sure there was enough room for the dress and that nothing was within a two-foot radius of the garment bag. Before I could close the door, I felt Camden behind me and his hands came to rest on my hips.
“God, I missed you,” he whispered right against my ear just before he pressed his mouth to my neck, kissing me there and making every single hair on my body stand on end.
I leaned back against him, letting him take my weight, my hands searching for his. The kiss on my neck turned deep, his mouth hungrily searching for something there, and every press of his lips against my thundering pulse sent another wave of lust straight between my legs.
Suddenly, he turned me around, his eyes looking deep into mine.
“You were so stressed before you left and I was trying so hard to think of anything I could do to help you, to make you understand that you could lean on me.”
“I know,” I said, my voice soft and gentle, emotion taking over. I moved my hands to his face, my belly fluttering when he flipped one of my hands over and kissed the palm. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“The smile on your face as you got off that plane, Riley… I want to see you smile like that all the time.”
“You make me so happy. I just had to realize that it wasn’t the wedding I needed to worry about, it was the marriage. And I don’t have anything to worry about when it comes to being married to you. Our marriage will be the best, easiest, hardest, and most important thing I ever do.” His eyes were still searching mine, still looking so deep into mine, but finally he kissed me again.
“I want you happy,” he said against my lips. “I’ll spend my whole life just making sure you’re happy.”
“I want that for you too.”
He walked me backward until we both fell to the bed, which was just a box spring and mattress on the floor. As soon as we were both horizontal, his hands were all over me and my clothes were disappearing rapidly.
There were no words and no pretenses. I needed him in that moment as much as he needed me. My hands pressed between us, searching for the closure on his jeans, pulling them open and then sliding them down his legs. He pulled back and ripped his shirt over his head, baring his beautiful chest to me, and I made a note somewhere in the back of my mind to admire it better later.
My shirt was soon gone, as were my pants, and everything else along with it. It was just him and me, our naked bodies pulsing with need and lust and love. I craved the warmth his body gave mine as he splayed over me, his hips fitting between my legs and his mouth coming over mine.
He kissed me roughly, groaning as our lips met. I arched into him as his hand snaked down my body and his fingers slid between the folds at my core. He’d find me wet and waiting.
“I promise I’ll give you more attention next time,” he said, pulling just far enough away from my mouth to utter the words. “But I can’t wait.”
I knew what he meant. This wasn’t about chasing orgasms, although I knew I would find one regardless; it was never a question of ‘if’ with Camden. But our haste to unite wasn’t about pleasure, it was simply about feeling each other, letting each other come home after being apart.
I didn’t have words for him, so instead I brought his mouth back to mine and tilted my hips up to meet his length. He slid in, filling me perfectly, and we both gasped at the sensation. He pulled out slowly, then sank back in and stilled, his mouth hovering over mine, both of us breathing each other in.
I was signing up for a lifetime of a lot of things with Camden. Ups and downs. Good times and bad. Births and deaths. Sadness, happiness, stress, joy, disappointment, anger, but most of all I signed up for a lifetime of love. I fucking loved him so much, and there were few times when I realized how much I loved him more than when we were together that way—naked and crazed for each other. Our relationship wasn’t all about sex, but that’s one way I knew he was the one, because sex with anyone else never made me feel so alive as it did with him. I’d never wanted a lifetime with anyone before, but the way Camden touched me and cherished me in all ways, especially physically, made me realize being with anyone else would be a terrible mistake.
He was mine.
And I was his.
“Riley,” he rasped, his forehead dropped to mine, his breaths just grunts and growls. “I can’t get deep enough. I can’t get close enough.”
“You’re everywhere,” I promised.
“Fuck,” he whispered as he pressed his face to my neck, his hands reaching down and pulling my ass up toward him, plunging deeper into me still.
“Yes,” I cried, wanting everything he had to give me. I wrapped my legs around his waist, hooking my ankles behind his back, and let him take me wherever he needed.
He was rutting against me and I could’ve sworn he was trying to crawl inside of me, to eliminate the boundaries where I ended and he began, to meld us into one. With each stroke I was pushed higher, closer to that euphoric cloud of bliss. The white-hot pleasure sparked in my core and grew wildly until the waves of heat were pulsing down my legs and causing my belly to flip and contract, my entire body shuddering under his, shaking with uncontrolled abandon.
“I love watching you come.” His voice was a harsh growl, low and gravelly, and it sent me over the edge.
I came hard, my entire body contracting, mouth gaping, cries echoing in the emptiness of the house. I thought perhaps I’d think about it later and be mortified, but in that moment, there was nothing in my mind except Camden and the way he was making me feel. The security he offered, the insatiable depth to which he hungered for me, and the blatant need he had for me. For some strange reason—which I was only starting to somewhat understand—the way he needed me made me feel safe.
I wanted so badly to give that same sense of security back to him too.
“Tell me what you need,” I whispered after I’d come down from my mega-orgasm, flutters of electricity still igniting from the rhythmic thrust he was consistently delivering.
“Just tell me you’re mine.” His words sent me down two paths simultaneously. My heart ached, hating that he needed the reassurance, but it also soared knowing he wanted me forever.
“Always,” I breathed against his neck. “I’ll always be yours.”
My words seemed to be his undoing as his thrusts quickened and his hands became rougher, grabbing me and putting me wherever he wanted, wherever felt best. I would let him use my body until the end of time if he’d let me.
I knew he was close when each time his hips plunged forward his grunts grew louder and longer, until eventually he stilled, seated fully inside me, straining with the exertion of pleasure. He collapsed but rolled to the side so as not to crush me, keeping his arms around me and pulling me toward him. We were both breathing heavily, a sheen of sweat coating our bodies, but I was content to let him hold me. Forever, even, if he’d have me.
I couldn’t wait for forever.
“An hour ago I would’ve said no more business trips because I miss you when you’re not around,” Camden said, still breathing a little heavy.
I turned to look up at him, wondering what his next words would be.
“But if the welcome home sex is always that good, I might reconsider my stance.”
“Hmm,” I said, half in agreement and half in jest. “Is the counselor willing to enter into negotiations?” I teased.
“Welcome home sex and hot lawyer talk? You’re too good to me, babe.” His arms wrapped tighter around me, pulling me closer, and he pressed a kiss to my forehead.
We fell quiet again and I began to drift off, completely sated and ready for a nap, when Camden suddenly jerked, his arm tightening around me.
“I totally forgot about your surprise.”
“My surprise?” My voice was groggy but I leaned up on one elbow as he jumped out of bed and pulled on his boxer briefs.
“Yeah, here,” he said, tossing me his T-shirt. “Put that on and come with me.”
I groaned and rolled out of bed, pulling the shirt over my head.
“Babe, I’m tired,” I complained as I pulled my panties back on.
“You’ll love it, I promise,” he said, taking me by the hand and pulling me out of the room.
“Will I love it more than welcome home sex?”
He stopped walking at my words and turned back toward me, his hand coming up to frame my cheek, a sexy smirk on his face.
“Nothing is better than welcome home sex.”
I couldn’t help but smile back at him.
“Okay, close your eyes.”
“Really?” I asked, cocking a hip and resting my hand on it.
“Requirement of receiving the surprise.”
I let out a dramatic sigh and rolled my eyes, but then I closed them. He took me by the hand and led me down the hallway, then turned, and I knew we were in the spare bedroom. I heard him position himself behind me and he placed his hands on my shoulders, aiming me in the direction he wanted.
“Okay, open up.”
When I opened my eyes, they darted all around at first, trying to land on whatever it was I was looking for, so it took a few moments for my brain to figure out what was going on. The first thing I latched onto was the new chair in the corner. It was oddly shaped, like a circle with a back. It was flat and pretty big. It could easily fit both of us. Then I caught a glimpse of the bookshelves. The next thing I noticed was the books on the shelves. My books. All of them.
“Did you make me a reading nook?” I turned to gasp at him, but then I swept my gaze back to the chair. I walked toward it and then noticed the table next to it with a new lamp that gave off a soft golden light.
“Do you like it?” He sounded shy, as if he was afraid I’d hate what he’d done for me.
“What? Are you kidding? When did you do this?”
He shrugged, and I swear if he’d been wearing pants he would have stuck his hands in the pockets. “While you were gone.”
“Babe,” I cried, drawing the name out. “Of course I like it. I love it. This is amazing.”
“You always used to cram yourself in that tiny chair in your apartment and read by the window. I thought it would be nice if you had a big comfy chair somewhere quiet.”
“You’re the absolute best,” I said as I wrapped my arms around his waist and stared up at him, more than likely with stars dancing in my eyes. I was stupidly in love with the man. He clasped his hands behind my back and rested them right above my ass.
Besides the things he’d put in the room for me, it was bare. “Will you put your desk in here?” I asked, snuggling in closer. “I’m imagining spending nights in here reading while you’re working at your desk.”
“That can be arranged.” He leaned down and kissed my forehead, then pulled back. I noticed the space between his eyebrows crinkled. “You’re not upset it won’t be a nursery?”
I couldn’t help the laugh that erupted from me. “No, I am definitely not upset you didn’t surprise me with a nursery.” I laughed some more and rested my face against his chest. “Why in the world would you even ask that?”
He shrugged again. “I’m just checking.”
“No babies,” I said, giving his ass a squeeze with both hands, trying to lighten the mood a little. “Not for a couple years, okay? Let’s get the house under our belt, get married, have a fantastic honeymoon where we can drink all we want and not have to worry about who will watch our child, and then we can start talking about kids.”
“Counselor is agreeing to revisit the procreation contract at a later date?” he asked and then winked.
“Sure,” I replied, feigning exasperation.
“But does the counselor agree to frequent and tedious rehearsal procreation activities?”
“Sure.” That time I was giggling as I said the word.