by Tara Sivec
Red, purple, and green decorations brighten every inch of the tent, magnolia blossoms sit on every table, people walk by with plates heaping with barbecued brisket, and going by the mouthwatering smell alone, I know it’s from Lewis’s. The band that’s been playing at the far end of the tent suddenly catches my eye, and my hands start to shake when I realize who it is that’s playing.
“Like I said, you’ve got a lot of groveling to do,” Amelia reminds me. “The last thing Cameron said before she walked out of here was something about how you once told her you’d never bring a girl here who wasn’t as special to you as this camp was. I’ve forgiven you now that I know she wasn’t your date, but Cameron is going to be a whole other story. I’m not kidding you when I say I’ve never seen that woman so devastated.”
She filled this place with everything I told her I’d missed when I was overseas. She did this for me, and I devastated her.
Jesus, I’m a fucking idiot.
“She went that way, heading towards the stables,” Amelia tells me, pointing behind her to the opening of the tent.
I don’t even take the time to thank her. I take off running out into the rain, splashing through puddles, moving as quickly as I can across the lawn until I get to the stables. Shaking the rain off of me as I walk inside, my eyes roam around the dimly lit area in search of Cameron. The main overhead lights have been shut off for the night, and the only lights to see by are the strands of large lightbulbs hung from the rafters above my head.
Moving quickly down the long hallway, I pass by all of the horse stalls until the hallway opens up into a large tack room. My feet come to a stop when I see Cameron. Her back is to me and she’s leaning her elbows on the railing of the gate that leads into the indoor arena, staring at the huge, empty room.
I watch her head drop forward and I hear her let out a sigh before she turns around to face me, and I realize she must have heard my footsteps pounding against the concrete as I made my way to her.
Nothing prepares me for what I see when she turns around. The green dress she’s wearing is the most stunning thing I’ve ever seen, even though it’s wet from the rain and the skirt is clinging to her thighs. Wet pieces of her long blond hair are stuck to her neck and her shoulders, and even though she’s so beautiful standing here fresh from the rain, that’s not what makes it so hard for me to breathe right now. Seeing the devastation Amelia told me about written all over her face, and the tears streaming down her cheeks, mixing with the splatters of rain that fell down on her, is what stabs a knife right through my heart.
Neither one of us says a word as I continue walking toward her and then stop again a few feet away.
“You were never in love with Aiden,” I state in a low voice.
She looks at me like I’m insane before angrily swiping the tears off her cheeks.
“What? No. Of course I was never in love with Aiden. Are you serious right now?”
I nod, taking another step forward.
“Did you really mean it when you said you didn’t know how to be happy without me here? That you didn’t know how to live without me?” I ask.
Her eyes narrow and she crosses her arms in irritation in front of her.
“You’re an asshole. I can’t believe you’re asking me this. I can’t believe what an idiot I was,” she complains.
“Just answer the question. Did you mean it?”
She just shakes her head at me and I watch her cheeks flush with anger.
“Cameron, did you mean it?”
“OF COURSE I MEANT IT!” she finally shouts, throwing her hands up in the air.
I take another step toward her.
“But it doesn’t matter, does it? None of it matters,” she continues, the anger in her voice quickly replaced with a small sob that breaks my heart. “I asked you to give me a reason. Four years ago, I asked you to give me a reason and you didn’t. You pushed me away and you left. And here we are, back where we started, and it’s happening all over again. I’m making a fool of myself and making wishes that will never come true. You took yourself out of the game five years ago and now you’re doing it again. I can’t do this anymore, Everett. I can’t play these games anymore.”
I stare into her eyes. I watch the tears fall down her cheeks, and I know after this moment, there will never be any going back. I can’t do this anymore either.
“It was never a game for me. Ever.”
With one final step, I close the distance between us. In one quick move, I grab her face in my hands, pull her toward me, and slam my mouth against hers.
Chapter 31
Cameron
I’ve seen my share of romantic movies. Read my fill of romantic books. I’ve heard the phrase He devoured me at least a hundred times, and I never understood it.
Until now.
Until the moment Everett grabs my face and crashes his lips against mine.
Until I open my mouth on a gasp and his tongue immediately pushes inside.
He completely devours me, pushing his tongue harder against mine, forcing my head to change position so he can deepen the kiss. He breathes me in and I let him. I give him everything I have because this moment…this moment is everything. This kiss is everything.
I clutch the front of his shirt in my fists and pull his body closer, needing more. Needing the heat of him to warm me from the outside in. I know I should push him away. I know I should question why the hell he suddenly decided to kiss me and I know I should ask him about the woman he brought with him tonight. I’ve been cold for so long, I’ve been wanting this for so long, it almost feels like a dream, and right now, I just don’t care about anything else. I don’t have space in my head to think about anything else but finally feeling Everett’s mouth on mine.
When he drops one hand from the side of my face and wraps it around my waist, yanking me roughly against him, I stop thinking altogether. His arm tightens around me and my feet suddenly leave the ground. I throw my arms over his shoulders and cling to him as I feel myself being turned, my tongue swirling around his. My back hits the wall next to us and he pushes his body against mine until I can feel every inch of him from chest to stomach to thigh, pressing into me as he continues punishing me with his lips and tongue.
I wrap one of my legs around the back of his, using the muscles in my thigh to pull him closer. He bends his knees and pushes up, and I tighten my arms around his shoulders to bring my other leg up around his waist. I moan around his tongue when I feel him between my thighs, so hard and full of need for me. Both of his hands move to my bare thighs, sliding up under the damp skirt of my dress until he’s clutching my ass in his hands, pulling me harder against his cock straining inside his pants. I move my hips, sliding myself against him, needing to feel more…so much more.
He suddenly tears his mouth away from mine, and I let out a little whimper, not ready for this to be over. I don’t want him to stop. I don’t want him to think about all the reasons why this could be a bad idea. I don’t want to give him one second to regret what’s happening between us.
Everett pulls his head back from mine just far enough to look into my eyes. I’m panting and out of breath, my heart is beating out of my chest, and I just want more. I don’t care about breathing. I don’t care about anything but having his lips back on mine.
One of his hands lets go of my ass and he brings it up between us, brushing away a few strands of wet hair that got stuck on my cheek during our kissing. He cups the side of my face in his warm palm, his thumb sliding back and forth over my cheek.
“She wasn’t my date, she was Jason’s,” he says in a low voice, his eyes never leaving mine. “There has never, nor will there ever be, any other woman in this world more special to me than you.”
The breath I was holding, waiting to see if he’d tell me this was a mistake, comes out in a flutter of air.
“I have never wanted any woman more than you. I have never needed any woman more than you. If you don’t want this, if you don’t feel the
same, tell me right now and I’ll walk away. Nothing will change between us, I promise. I don’t want to lose you, Cameron, no matter what.” He swallows thickly, his voice lowering to a whisper. “I can’t lose you. Not again.”
I just nod at him, afraid that if I open my mouth and speak, all of the emotions I’m feeling will turn me into a crying mess. Instead, I give him my answer by wrapping my hands around the back of his head and yanking his lips back to mine.
He groans into my mouth, and I can tell it’s one filled with relief. I tighten my legs around his waist when he wraps both of his arms around me, lifting me up higher to walk us into a smaller tack room right next to the wall where we were leaning.
As soon as we get into the room, he kicks the door closed and my back is pressed up against hard wood once again. Our hands are everywhere all at once. With the lower half of his body pinning me to the door, his hands are free to roam. He pulls his mouth away from mine to watch himself touch me. He runs his hands over my bare shoulders and down over my breasts, cupping them in his hands and pushing them up, molding them his palms. I grab his suspenders and yank them off of his shoulders, before clutching the front of his white dress shirt and ripping it open, buttons popping off and pinging to the floor all around us.
I run my palms down the sides of his neck and shoulders, pushing his shirt off and down his arms until it falls to the floor. I move my hands over his pecs, feeling his heart thundering under my hand against the heat from his skin. His hands slide off my breasts and around to the back of my shoulders, clutching the thick straps of my dress in his fists.
“Are you attached to this dress?” he asks.
“Not at all.”
The words barely leave my mouth when I hear a rip, and he tears the dress off me, splitting it right down the back until the straps fall off my shoulders and it drops down to my waist, leaving me completely bare to him from the waist up.
He quickly grabs the demolished dress, yanks it out from between us, and tosses it to the side.
“Jesus, Cameron. You’re so fucking beautiful,” he whispers as his eyes trail over my naked breasts and back up to my face.
He rests one of his hands flat against the door next to my head, and I watch his eyes, staring down as his other hand presses against my chest bone. He slowly drags it down until he’s cupping the weight of my naked breast in his hand, rubbing his thumb back and forth over my nipple.
A low moan escapes me as I continue watching him stare at what he’s doing to me. His eyes darken and his lips part with a sigh and I feel pulsing, wet heat between my thighs as he gently rubs his thumb over my hardened nipple.
I’ve never felt need this strong. I’ve never wanted to come with just a man’s hand on my breast, but I know it has everything to do with Everett. With the way he’s looking at me and the way I’ve dreamed about this moment almost my entire life.
Reaching between our bodies, I quickly unbuckle his belt and unzip his pants, needing more. Needing to touch him and feel him in my hand. Needing everything this man can give me.
“Bed,” he mutters, looking away from me long enough to glance over his shoulder at the small, twin-sized bed in the corner of the room, used for stable hands in case of an emergency with a sick horse or a mare about ready to give birth.
I push my hand inside the elastic waistband of his boxer briefs and wrap my fingers around his hardness, squeezing it before sliding my palm up and down his length.
“Fuck,” he groans, his forehead dropping forward against mine and his hips jerking as I continue pumping my hand up and down him.
Moving my head to the side, I press my cheek against his and my lips by his ear.
“I don’t need a bed. I just need you. Right here, right now,” I whisper, rubbing my thumb over the wetness that has gathered on the tip of him.
His hands drop from the door and my breast, and his slides his fingers into the edge of my lace thong at my hip. Another rip sounds in the room as he tears them off of me, chucking them to the side to land on top of my ruined dress.
We stare into each other’s eyes as we work together to push his pants and boxers down just far enough for him to pull his cock out, wrap his hand around the base, and line it up with my entrance.
He slides the tip of himself through my wetness, rubbing it against me until my eyelids flutter closed and my head thumps back against the door. I’m so wet for him, so full of anticipation and need that I feel crazy with it. My hands go back behind his head and I clutch a handful of his short hair. I rock my hips against him, the muscles in my thighs burning as I cling to him tighter and pull him in closer.
I feel his mouth close to mine, just a butterfly kiss of his lips barely touching mine.
“Open your eyes and look at me,” he demands, his warm breath skating over my lips.
I comply, and as soon as I do, as soon as I look into his eyes, he pulls his hips back and slams inside of me.
A strangled cry of pleasure flies from my mouth when I finally feel him inside of me, so hard and full, filling me so completely that I don’t know how I survived without him like this for so long.
His hands go back to my ass, clutching it tightly, pulling me against him as he starts to move, thrusting roughly in and out of me. I lock my ankles behind his back and rock my body with him, pulling him in deeper. His lips are still just a featherlight touch against my own, and it makes everything hotter that he’s not kissing me. That he’s just looking into my eyes as he takes me against the door. The deep thrusting of him in and out of me, and the way his groin smacks against me each time he pushes inside, makes my legs start to shake and my hips move erratically as I race toward the release that’s teetering right on the edge.
All of the blood in my body feels like it’s rushing through my veins and gathering between my legs. My clit pulses and throbs and aches with each slam of Everett’s body against mine. He fucks me like he can’t get enough of me, and I love that he doesn’t feel the need to be gentle with me. After years of buildup and weeks of sexual tension, neither one of us needs to take it slow. We’ve been taking it slow for over twenty years. I need fast and hard. I need the smacking sounds of our sweaty bodies coming together echoing in my ears. I need to hear his muttered curses as he pushes as deep inside me as he can and holds himself still.
“Everett,” I moan, my orgasm quickly working its way through me.
One of his hands moves from my ass and he cups my face in his palm as he starts moving again, making tight circles with his hips.
“Say it again. I need to hear you say my name when you come.”
His words and the rubbing of his groin against my clit make my release explode out of me so quickly it almost takes my breath away.
“Everett, Everett, Everett,” I pant with each breath I take as my body clenches around him, wave after wave of the most intense pleasure I’ve ever felt making me want to cling to him forever and never let go.
He growls against my mouth and starts moving again, thrusting and pumping roughly into me, chanting my name against my lips as he follows right behind me, slamming deep one last time as he comes.
I tighten my arms and legs around him as his body jerks against mine with the force of his release, until his body stills and he drops his head down to the crook of my neck. We stay like this for a long time, wrapped around each other, our chests pressed together as we try to catch our breath and slow down our racing hearts.
Everett was wrong when he said nothing will change between us.
This moment, right here…it changes everything.
And it’s about damn time.
Chapter 32
Everett
The morning sun starts to shine through the small window above the bed, and I realize I’ve been awake for hours, just lying on my side with my elbow on the mattress and my head in my hand, staring at the woman next to me.
After everything that happened between us last night, I wanted nothing more than to lock Cameron in this tack room and never
leave, but I knew she had responsibilities. Sneaking back to the guest house under the cover of night in the rain might have been the most fun I’ve had in the while. Listening to her curse at me as we dodged puddles and ran between trees and bushes so no one would see us while she unsuccessfully tried to keep her ripped dress around her body had me laughing at her expense more than once.
After she threw on a clean dress that wasn’t ripped to shreds, fixed her hair, and reapplied her makeup, we went back to the charity dinner, where we spent the night on opposite sides of the room, much to my disappointment. I wanted to drag her into a corner and make out with her or pull her out into the middle of the dance floor, wrap my arms around her as we swayed to the music and feel her body pressed up to mine, and reassure myself that this was real and not a dream.
Watching her walk around the room all night, smiling and talking to people, thanking them for their donations and for attending the dinner was almost as good. And she made it up to me as soon as the night was over by dragging me back here to this room and letting me rip the second dress of the night off of her in record time.
With my eyes still on Cameron as she sleeps, I wonder how in the hell I got here, and how I got so fucking lucky.
She’s on her stomach with her arms above her head, turned away from me, her blond hair spilling all around the pillow. I run the tips of my fingers gently down her spine, staring at the skin of her bare back as I move my fingers all the way down to her lower back, where the sheet pools around her waist.
I’ve been running everything that happened between us last night through my mind, and I still can’t believe it’s real. I can’t believe she didn’t push me away when I kissed her, I can’t believe she let me put my hands on her, I can’t believe she let me inside of her body, and I can’t believe I didn’t feel like I was finally home until she did.
Jesus, we wasted so much time. I wasted so much time with my head up my ass and jealousy coursing through me, when I should have just been honest with her from the very beginning.
