River's Destiny (River's End Series, #8)

by Leanne Davis

  “What a coincidence. I thought the same thing.” She grinned. “And wow, this friend from high school wants me to come over tonight.”

  His fingers flexed on her waist. “This almost makes the time we spent apart all worth it.” His gaze kept scanning her as if he wanted to memorize everything about her. “God, you are so beautiful. I feel like I almost forgot how much so.”

  She shook her head in denial. “I’m just ordinary. But I was afraid we would feel weird or different. And that you’d changed and outgrown me.”

  “And?”

  She rose up on her tiptoes, setting a kiss on his mouth. “And it feels better than ever.”

  He grinned and pulled her until they were torso-to-torso. “I haven’t outgrown you. There is nothing more I want in the world than you. I told you I love you, Cami. That won’t ever change for me,” he whispered in her ear. His lips hovered over hers. The cold made his breath look like smoke and her heart swelled and tilted in response at the rich meaning of his words.

  The propane heater finally started to blast away the lung-shattering cold from the air. She pressed her mouth on his as he hovered over hers. Her tongue came out, sliding over his lips and she licked his lower lip before pushing her tongue into his mouth. He slid her coat off and his hands came back to her waist. Getting restless now, he fidgeted with her shirt.

  “We’re ready for this now, aren’t we?” she whispered as her tongue came out and touched his lips before slipping into his mouth again.

  He pulled back to say, “We’re definitely ready,” and he leaned down to kiss her again. “You can’t imagine how good you feel. I missed you so much.”

  His hands followed the line of her sweater and he pulled upwards slowly, watching the reveal of her small stomach, ribcage and black bra, then up to her collarbone. He carefully flipped the bulky top over her head and out of the way. His gaze poured over her and his eyes sparked with untamed lust. The tone of his voice and the way his eyes devoured her convinced her he meant it. Sometimes Charlie sounded way too fine about their long-distance separation. He would robotically list off all the assignments he needed to work on. There was an inherent busy-ness just living in the dorm, from getting his meals to showering. Time for him was flying by, and she well saw it. Yes, he missed her, but not like she missed him.

  Eventually, she felt his need and appreciation for her and she knew Charlie well enough to know he wouldn’t pretend or try to fake it. He only showed her his sincerest intentions. He didn’t bother with fake comments or false reassurance.

  His hands slid to the back of her bra and he unclasped the eyelet hooks and it opened. He grasped her slim shoulder to slip the delicate straps off and pull them down. His gaze was riveted on her as he felt her up. He’d seen her breasts before, but now they seemed more like two surprising, new objects he’d never beheld before. Small, round, and perky in his hands, he covered both of them and she sighed at the abrasion of his coarse palms over her rigid, pointy nipples. So pert and upright, it was almost a tug-of-war between pleasure and pain when his fingers began to pull on them. Twisting and turning, then kneading and rubbing. They sent shooting jabs straight into her core as his mouth pressed harder against hers.

  She pushed down his jacket while their mouths were still connected. He had to let go of her to allow her to stand on her tiptoes in order to work his coat off. He wore a sweater that she had to tug over his head and a long-sleeved t-shirt underneath that she had to remove. Frustrated, he finally started to laugh as he took the edge of it in his hands and yanked it upwards until they were facing each other, both naked from the waist up. He had a long, thin torso with skin tightly drawn over his subtle muscles. His skin was shiny white and pale. His jeans were low, hanging off his slim hips and she slid her hands to his waist and tugged him closer before dipping down below his waistband. He returned the favor, holding her the same way as he bent down. Sliding his mouth from her chin, he moved further down her neck and finally found her nipple before his tongue came out to loop and twirl around her hard, pebbled, completely turned-on tip. Her head fell back, jutting her breast further into his mouth. Her hair, thick and dark, rested on her shoulders and tickled her as she leaned back.

  Moments, long, endless, restless moments passed, and he kissed her. He slid his hands under her dark leggings, groaning when he found a half bare butt cheek to grab. His fingers hovered as he kneaded and pushed on her butt cheeks, making her groan at the delightful sensations. He pressed her against his crotch, holding her there as his lips and tongue aggressively worked on her breast. The contact seemed to inflame him. His skin warmed to her touch and his mouth moved furiously over her. Her groans grew louder and came more often as her breathing increased with his movements.

  Between her legs, she grew swollen and tender and wet. His fingers teased her, nearly making her scissor her legs in order to draw him closer. Inside her. On her. Something to ease the increasingly sharp ache burning inside her.

  His hands and mouth pulled away all at once. Her eyes blinked open at the loss of contact. Taking her hand, he pulled her towards the bed at the front of the trailer. It was all neat and tidy. He wrapped her up in his arms, hugging her almost platonically for a long moment. “You always doubted me, but there is no one else in the world I would ever want like this.”

  “You say that because I’m shirtless and you’ve never had sex before.” Her tone was light and her smile teasing.

  His was not. He leaned forward, cupping the side of her chin in his hands. “No. I wouldn’t. It’s because it’s you. I waited for you, always. That’s why it’s always so crazy to me when you doubt it.”

  A multitude of voices reared up, ready to spill out of her mouth to answer why she doubted him and them. The distance. The new life he was exploring. All the things she wasn’t included in and didn’t even know about or understand. It stemmed from a deep insecurity because she never felt she deserved the life she received when she moved in with AJ and Kate. Not to mention, Charlie and his family and this place. It was more like a kingdom to her, one they owned and operated and allowed her to live in. A place Charlie fled without totally appreciating what he’d always had access to.

  There were times when she called him or Facetimed him and she saw several strangers going in and out of his dorm room. They were always chatting with him about things that had nothing to do with her. She also observed a few attractive, young freshman girls who were exiting or entering Charlie’s dorm, mostly thanks to his football-playing roommate, but also, she suspected, because of him. Charlie was the type of guy high school girls couldn’t appreciate, but she believed, the older he got, the more attractive he became, and his quiet sense of self-confidence would have surely drawn lots of women to him. She knew what it did for her.

  Cami, however, didn’t occupy a huge chunk of his life and would not anytime soon. For years. Years. That was the part that so frustrated her. How could she go on like this for years? It intimidated her and made her feel like an outcast. She suffered the pangs of anxiety all the time inside her chest whenever she thought about Charlie.

  But not when they spoke or touched or smiled or gazed at each other.

  Those times were sacred. The world melted away and nothing but Cami and Charlie mattered. She knew with unfamiliar certainty at those times that they were the real thing. Their feelings were deep, endless, and the same between them.

  Having him standing before her right here and now thrilled her like nothing else could. If only they could make it until they were old enough to live together and Charlie didn’t want to go away to prove himself or expand his horizons. She believed she’d have to accept waiting for him to find what she already had: a safe place to belong. She found it there. Right there in River’s End. She wanted Charlie to feel it there too. It was desperately important to her that he did. But he didn’t. He needed to go away and find new things and opportunities. She needed to stay there.

  So, she decided to wait as best she could. Biding her time until
they could finally be together for good. It was a hard, excruciating sacrifice for her to make and so unnatural too. But she was determined to do it. Let him be whatever he needed to be now, as long as someday, he would be content to simply be with her.

  She tilted her head and he glanced down to catch her eye before he smiled. She smiled back up at him as all the mental voices that often spoke to her stopped. They hushed and faded. Only his smile remained as the center of her life and thoughts and ideas. “I love you.”

  “I love you,” he answered, bending down to kiss her and start warming her body, thoughts and skin all over again. He kissed and touched and rubbed and enticed. There was no hurrying or groping or any sense that Charlie hadn’t done this before. No, it was controlled and generous and passionate and exciting.

  He turned and gently touched her shoulders to indicate that she sit down. She did, and he followed her as she lay back on the bed, lying down beside her. He kissed her and pushed his hands into her hair and along her torso, gently rubbing her bare skin until goose bumps appeared. The sensations were so soft, she moved towards him in her need to have him. He was expertly strumming her to a slow, perfect build-up.

  He used both of his hands to pull her waistband down and slipped her leggings off her hips along with her underwear. He slid them all the way down her legs and only paused at her feet. He had to tug her wool socks off before he could remove her leggings. The air was no longer freezing but still wasn’t warm. Her skin flushed at the sudden draft of cold air. His heated gaze drifted up her calves, her knees, and then her thighs, only stopping at her bare, naked pussy. His breathing escalated, and he froze for a moment. She sat up and leaned towards him, putting her hands behind his neck and pulling him forward until their foreheads touched and she kissed him. “Now you’re nervous?”

  His head slowly shook.

  “You never get nervous about anything.”

  “I am now. And…” He dipped his head to kiss her between his statements. She rose up on her knees and her hands dropped to his jeans again. Digging into his pocket, she pulled out the condom and dropped it beside them before she pulled on his pants snap.

  “And what?”

  He sucked in a breath as she undid his zipper, brushing her knuckles along the hard length of him, straining to be freed and inside her. “You’re blonde.” The words seemed to burst out of his mouth.

  She stopped what she was doing and glanced up at him, puzzled over what the big revelation could be. Then she glanced down. “You really didn’t know that? Yeah, I should be a golden-haired, natural blonde.”

  His head shook as he pointed at her head. “You’ve always kept it so black. I had no idea.”

  “Carpets don’t always match the drapes.” She grinned at his surprise and started on his zipper again. His attention dropped back to what her hands were doing.

  “Honestly, I really thought you were a natural brunette.”

  Releasing his pants at last, her hands slipped around the front, taking his hard, warm length in both of her hands. He gasped, and his eyes shut as his expression switched to ecstasy. “Don’t fantasize too hard on it. I will never be blonde upstairs.” She touched her head. Then she dropped her hand on him and put pressure in her fingertips as his hips jerked towards her.

  “Never?” he gasped. Her mouth tilted up at the twinge of disappointment in his tone.

  “Never.”

  He sighed and pulled her chest to his as his mouth slid into her hair and he kissed her. “I can fantasize about you with black hair, however, right?”

  “Yes. Only black.”

  Her last word went breathless because his hand dropped down and he cupped her, pressing into the swollen, wet-hot heat he felt there.

  They held each other and pressed their bodies together and their mutual sighs filled the room. The heat on their bodies nearly steamed off them. Their tongues meshed together in long, sloppy, hot, wet kisses that had them licking each other while their hands explored each other with an insatiable curiosity and thoroughness.

  She groped around until she found the condom. After she opened it, she slid it over his straining, engorged penis. She tucked it over him with a loving, warm embrace. His breath increased as his gaze stayed riveted on her. She smiled, because it was the first time she felt more comfortable and capable in a situation than he did. She pushed him to sit down as she climbed towards him, her knees splaying over him before she used his shoulders for leverage and handles.

  “Are you ready?” she asked softly, her eyes fastened on his. He clung to her as he nodded, for once at a loss for words.

  Sliding her crease over him, she let him rub against her several times as she sucked in a breath. All the nerve endings inside her were waking up, being bathed in warm sensations that soon became white hot. She rubbed herself over him until her body filled with the wetness that she craved.

  When she lowered her hips down on him, his breath caught as his eyes widened at all the new sensations filling him. She smiled and watched him, letting her body envelop him. He suddenly leaned forward, and his mouth took hers before he kissed her long and deep. She put her hands around his neck and held on, pushing down and pressing their joined bodies closer together, as much as nature would allow, and he gasped and groaned. His eyes shut, and he gritted his teeth. Probably to keep himself from coming. She wouldn’t have been surprised. She understood. Building up his stamina might take a few times. She was thrilled to see his pleasure and how much he enjoyed being inside her. It made her feel grown-up, beautiful, mature, and powerful.

  She pulled herself upwards and slid down on him following several longer, slower pushes and pulls. Their bodies excited each other with excruciatingly erotic friction. He held her, and she pulled on his torso, leaning back to position him on top of her before she opened her legs wider. He let out a gasp as the sensations changed with her movement. Leaning over her, he finally moved his hips. Once, then twice and each time, she gasped out warm sighs. He seemed to gain more confidence in himself as he started moving inside her more. Slowly at first, half in and half out, until it was further in and out, and much harder and lasting longer. When she lifted her hips to smack into his, the sensations were explosive. She egged him on until he was pounding into her and she felt the warming sensations start to turn hotter. He came inside her with a forceful shove before collapsing onto her with a long, deep groan.

  She accepted him, although she wasn’t there yet. He slipped out of her and quietly fell to the side. She reached down and took his hand, showing him where she wanted him to touch her. Always a quick study, he immediately moved his fingers deftly and she leaned back against the pillow, arching her back and hips towards him until the delightful wave finally engulfed her and she screamed out when she climaxed.

  He leaned over her, his expression nothing less than stunned. Her eyelids eventually fluttered open only to find him staring at her. “Hey,” she said softly.

  He blinked, as if he were surprised she could speak. “That was…”

  She smiled and stretched before tucking her arms around his neck and pulling him down to kiss his lips. “Yes. It was.”

  His gaze traveled over her. “Was it at all… even close for you?”

  “So close. It’s good, Charlie. We were great. Trust me.”

  “You’re okay?” he seemed very concerned about how she rated his performance.

  She touched his cheek and lifted her head, so she could peck a kiss on his cheek. “I’m okay, Charlie. I loved it. I love you.”

  His expression wavered. “It’ll get better.”

  She shook her head. “Don’t do that. Don’t cheapen it as if you’re a stud service or you think I would compare you to others. It was strictly about us. Now. Here. Forever.”

  His head dropped down to rest on her neck. “Forever.”

  “And always,” she said as she hugged his body closer to her. She knew she would love him like this, how she felt at that moment, for the rest of her life.

  Chap
ter Six

  CHARLIE AND CAMI SPENT the night in the trailer and Cami snuck back to her home before dawn with the sheets of the bed in her arms. She intended to wash them and put them back on the bed when no one else was around. No one else ever used it, so she was sure they could get away with it. They tried it two more times and her body got so sore, it protested with aches and tenderness. It was lovely and sweet and hot and new. As Charlie walked her to her house, he stopped and kissed her half a dozen times. She had to laugh as she shooed him off.

  Then the thought drifted through her mind that, from now on, he’d want sex from her, and perhaps, it would make it easier for her to keep him. She instantly shunned the thought; she didn’t have to do that to keep Charlie. She also didn’t have to be manipulative or nasty or jealous. He was as true as the North Star and would have been so if she could simply trust him. She knew that in theory.

  Even though it was so hard for her to do in practice.

  But lying in her bed as the morning dawned, her body gleaming with the heightened sensations of love’s afterglow. She flopped down, wondering, for the thousandth time why just being there with her couldn’t be enough to satisfy Charlie? They were so good together and so much in love. Their sex was better and more fulfilling and genuine than she’d ever had before. Why did he have to go somewhere else to find whatever he still sought? Why not stay and work there? With a ton of different choices, why couldn’t he pick one? Why did he need to earn a stupid degree anyway? Just to return and do what he could be doing here now? He was the owner’s son and had all the choices in the world, yet he insisted on getting a college degree? It was mandatory, however, and non-negotiable with Charlie. She knew not to try to sway him, but it took considerable effort to keep her thoughts to herself forever.

  She had to be supportive. Cami knew if she didn’t support Charlie, she’d eventually lose him. When he left the first time for school, he wasn’t sad at all, but guilty. He felt terrible for upsetting her, but she also knew, he wasn’t broken up inside about it like her. No. Nope. Charlie was okay, he was fine being away from her. So, she had to be okay with that or she would have lost him. And the only thing she felt one hundred percent sure about was that she had to do anything in her power to keep him. She loved him way too much to risk losing him.