Camden

by Xio Axelrod

  "Hey," she spoke quietly as she removed her sunglasses. It was just after three o'clock and the pub was quiet.

  The sun poured through the glass behind her, framing her in gold.

  "Hi." Cam leaned on the bar as Yara walked over, a guitar case in her hand. She looked rested. Happy, though a little unsure.

  He was in the same boat.

  Yara glanced around. "Looks like I missed the lunch rush."

  "Yeah."

  She set the guitar down and climbed on a stool directly in front of him. Eighteen inches of polished oak separated them, but Camden could still feel her pull.

  "I thought you were in Miami."

  "I was," she replied. "All packed up and moved out."

  "And where will you live now?" He tried to keep the suggestion out of his voice, but she smiled anyway.

  "I'm considering my options."

  "I see."

  They stood there grinning at each other, and Cam was content to do just that. But...

  "I got a call from Warner Brothers. They..." Yara dropped her gaze to the bar top. Tracing the woodgrain with a fingertip, she seemed to be gathering the strength to say something. Something Cam would like hate to hear.

  "Good news or bad?" He prodded, needing to be put out of his fucking misery.

  Yara looked up at him from under her lashes.

  The need to kiss her was almost overwhelming.

  "They offered me a deal," she said, almost apologetically. "They bought out my contract from Kaine's label, and they want to support the new record with a worldwide tour."

  "Oh." Shit. Fuck. Damn. "That's...that's good, right? Or...?"

  She nodded. "It's amazing."

  "You don't sound like it."

  Another small smile. "I told them I'd think about it. The truth is, I don't want to have anything to do with that record."

  "The multi-platinum album that everyone's in love with?"

  "It's not me, Cam. Not the kind of music I want to make." She shook her head, rolling her eyes. "I sound so ungrateful right now."

  "No."

  Camden jogged to the end of the bar and around to where she was.

  "Not ungrateful. You sound like someone who knows who they are."

  Yara nodded, but she didn't look convinced. "They know I'm not happy with the record, which is why they've given me the option. Really, they don't have to. Not the way the original contract is worded."

  "It wouldn't look good if they forced you to tour, after everything you just went through with the, you know, accident, and with Kaine."

  "Yeah," she said in a small voice.

  "What do you want, Yara? Do you even know?"

  She sighed heavily and ran a hand through her hair. It moved like water atop her head, inviting him to dive in deep.

  "I know what I want. I just...I don't know how to want what I want. I don't know how to make what I want okay to want."

  She smiled. It was his smile.

  "What would make it okay to want what you want?"

  Her eyes, those mesmerizing eyes, they shined for him. “If you wanted it too."

  Well, damn.

  "I do." His hand shook as he brushed the hair out of her face. "I do, love."

  Hope sat on his shoulders like morning mist waiting to dissipate. Love was never easy. It was never, ever this easy.

  "What could we really have, though?" She asked, his hope reflected in those gemstone eyes. "The way we began, we can't expect this to last."

  "You're wrong, lass."

  Camden took her face into his hands, gently caressing her cheekbones with his thumbs. Yara felt like home to him. She had since the night they met.

  "We've had the kind of beginning that makes it impossible to see the end."

  Her mouth was on his before he could draw another breath. Cam sank into the kiss, pulled her roughly against him and she came willingly.

  He was desperate. Too desperate. Needed her too much.

  And Yara shivered in his hands.

  "Cam..."

  "I know. Fuck..."

  Grabbing her hand, he pulled her toward the back.

  "Wait," she wriggled away and picked up her guitar. "This is my baby, I can't leave it."

  She smiled, and Camden laughed.

  "Can't leave your baby."

  They stumbled through the office door, lips locked together, banging into everything along the way. Yara set the guitar down on the floor and then jumped into Camden's waiting arms.

  He kicked the door shut behind them.

  "What about the bar?"

  "Kitchen staff is here," he answered between bites and nibbles. "And Kris will be in soon."

  Long legs wrapped around his waist. Her jeans were so tight, Cam thought he might need to take a pair of scissors to them. There was no way he wasn't going to have her. No way.

  Not when she was panting and mewling and whispering his name like a prayer. Already.

  He managed to make it over to the small sofa before tripping over his own feet.

  Yara stretched out beneath him, her eyes dark and hooded.

  Cam lowered himself over her and was rewarded with a soft sigh as delicate arms circled his back. His lips found their way behind Yara's ear, and her breath hitched.

  Her hips grew more insistent as his cock rose to full attention behind the zipper of his suddenly too tight jeans. Yara ground up against him, and, yeah. Yeah. This was good.

  "Have you ever christened this love seat?" Her voice was low. Husky.

  "No. Never."

  Camden found himself staring down at two glistening jewels set into a face so beautiful he could only just stare sometimes. Yara was everything he wanted.

  Just fucking everything.

  Gorgeous, talented, smart. Smarter than him, that was for damned sure. And kind. She was so damn kind.

  "Cam?"

  He braced himself over her and dipped his head to claim that sinful mouth.

  Yara arched into him, giving as good as she got.

  Cam dropped kisses along the curve of her jaw, pecking her lips before making his way down her throat to heaving chest.

  He glanced up. "Yara?"

  "Want you."

  Her eyes in his, Yara took his hand and guided it to the button on her jeans. Together, they popped it and slid the zipper down. He was invited to touch her feverish skin, so soft.

  Cam slid his fingers down at her quiet insistence and found her hot, wet, ready for him. He slipped a finger between her slick folds and Yara's eyes snapped shut.

  He could feel her pulsing against his hand.

  "Fuck."

  The sound she made spurred him into action. Cam made quick work of her jeans.

  Yara, as eager, as desperate as he was, lifted her hips to help.

  Cam jumped up and lunged for the door, locking it, before stripping down and getting back to her faster than humanly possible.

  Yara was nude. A vision. Smooth, tan skin and curves for days. She smiled up at him, stretched her arms above her head and just smiled.

  Everything in his mind went quiet, and then there was nothing but skin-on-skin as he lowered to his knees, settling between her parted legs. Cam circled her waist with his hands, pulling her to him. He used his broad shoulders spread her trembling thighs.

  "Cam..."

  He paused. "Yara?"

  "Hurry."

  Twenty-Three

  Yara had traveled the globe. Had seen things she'd never thought she would. Had even seen the Northern Lights a few times, but never a shooting star.

  Camden Skinner showed her millions of them.

  His mouth was a menace, his hands those of a magician. The things he could make her feel with a flick of his tongue, a well-placed nibble, it almost broke her.

  By the time her first orgasm hit, she was out of her mind. Evaporating under him like an early morning fog burned away by the sun.

  While she lay panting, trying to catch her breath, she saw him fumbling with his jeans.

  "Y
es!"

  She giggled at his triumph when he produced a condom from his wallet.

  He turned smiling eyes on her. "What? I think I would have had a heart attack had I not had one of these."

  Cam stuck it in his teeth and crawled back over her.

  "Need inside you, lass."

  "Need you here," Yara replied, opening her arms to him. Opening her heart.

  Because who was she kidding? He had her.

  Things slowed to half-speed then. He ran his hands over her skin, and it felt like worship.

  "You're so fucking beautiful," he whispered into her skin, kissing the space between her breasts as he settled between her legs. "Just so fucking beautiful."

  Yara pulled him close, wrapped her legs around his hips, dragged her nails lightly over his skin. That earned her a shudder and a low, sexy groan that she felt in her belly.

  He sheathed himself quickly, and then...

  And then.

  And there, right there.

  "Fuck..."

  His breath was hot in her ear, humidity pooling in the curve of her shoulder where he breathed and grunted and groaned, rolling his hips.

  It was delicious. Divine. Deliberate.

  "You feel so good," she breathed into his hair.

  "Oh, baby," he sputtered, picking up the pace as he leaned up on his hands. Cam's gaze roamed the length of her, from her face down to where they were joined and back.

  He looked awestruck, and Yara could relate.

  They locked eyes and the world, the universe, fell away.

  Cam dipped his head and captured her lips, licking into her mouth in a way that stole every breath, every thought. He snapped his hips again and again, angling the assault just right.

  Yara thought she might drown in the pleasure. The wave hit her so hard, so suddenly, that she lost her breath.

  Cam's eyes widened. "Yes...fuck. Yes. Yes."

  She broke beneath him. Again. Held on for dear life.

  "Shit...Cam..."

  "Fuck, I'm gonna..."

  And then he was quaking, pulsing, moaning. It was the most amazing thing she'd ever seen or felt.

  This man. Camden.

  Yara pulled him down atop her.

  "I'll crush ye, lass."

  "No. You won't, just..." She needed to feel him, warm and solid. The weight of him anchored her. It had since their first time together. Yara had a feeling it always would.

  Scary.

  Exhilarating.

  "Don't go."

  The words, spoken quietly into her neck like a prayer, almost stopped her heart. Was he...was he asking her to stay? With him?

  "Sorry," he said, raising his head. Cam propped himself up on one elbow, just to her side. They were still glued together, from shoulder to toes, but he'd shifted enough to let her fully see his face.

  To see the want there. The fear. The hope.

  He was in just as deep, which made her smile.

  "Ignore me." He tried for a laugh. Ducked his pretty eyes with their enviable lashes.

  "I finished your song."

  His brow arched. "My song?"

  Yara nodded. "Move."

  He did, frowning.

  She slid from the sofa and reached for her guitar case, drawing out her brand new Martin acoustic with its dark, moody, carbon fiber body and slim contour. She adored the instrument. It reminded her a little of Cam himself.

  Sitting lotus style on the sofa, she brought the instrument to her lap. It was a little cold against her bare skin, but she welcomed the relief.

  Camden sat up, eyeing the long neck of the thing and adjusting to fit a pillow over his groin, the condom already discarded in the trash.

  Yara chuckled. "You're safe."

  "So you say," he retorted, smiling.

  The first chords rang out between them, effectively ending that part of the conversation. Yara had plenty to say, but let the lyrics speak for her.

  Don't let one mistake put doubt in your heart

  You will learn from this and make a brand new start

  "Are you trying to tell me something?" His smile was warm. Cam reached up and brushed a stray strand out of her eyes, something he did often. Yara loved it.

  "I was thinking."

  "About?"

  "Staying."

  She watched him swallow. Cam opened his mouth to speak. Shut it. He nodded once.

  "I'm in a unique position," she continued. "People know who I am, and they'll want to hear me even if it's just out of curiosity."

  "The pop star who returned from the dead?"

  She nodded. "Yeah. I can use that to my advantage. Talk to Warner Brothers about letting me reinvent myself. I think they'd be open to it. And if not..."

  "If not, they're a bunch of assholes, and you don't need them."

  Yara smiled. "Exactly."

  "You plan to live in Philly?"

  She met his eyes. "Was hoping to."

  "You'd need a place to stay."

  "I hear there are some nice B&Bs around here."

  Cam narrowed his eyes. "There are."

  "Or I could live with my parents."

  "You'd hate that," he said, smiling. "I know you love your parents, but that would drive you crazy."

  "Room with Siv?"

  Camden nodded. "An option, I suppose."

  Yara took a breath, letting it out slowly. "You have another?"

  The guitar was lifted out of her grasp and set gently on the floor. Yara then found herself in Camden's lap. She straddled his thighs, acutely aware of just how naked they still were.

  He was warm flesh and solid muscle. All man.

  "You could move in with me."

  Yara wanted to make a joke, but there was no humor in Camden's eyes.

  "You don't think that's fast?"

  He nodded. "It's very fast, doesn't make it wrong. You feel it too, don't you?"

  She had no argument against him. She did feel it.

  "Yes."

  "Then..." He pecked her lips. "Stay. With me."

  Yara took his face in her hands, searched his eyes, and smiled. Because it felt so right.

  "Okay."

  His eyes widened, a smile curving his full lips. "Okay?"

  She kissed him, soft and sweet. "Okay."

  "Love you. The song," he amended, a look of panic seeping into his expression.

  "Me too," she replied, knowing neither of them was talking about music.

  STRANGER available for download!

  Look for Yara’s song, STRANGER, performed by Sierra Hurtt on iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify!

  ©2012 Criatura Music (ASCAP)

  The Skin Agency

  The Skinner boys will return in early 2018 with…

  PIERCE

  Pierce Skinner loves his job and he’s the best at it, with clients around the globe desperate to hire him and the Skin Agency. But there’s competition in the form of his new partner. And she’s hell-bent on changing everything that’s made Skin sparkle. And filled his bank account.

  Tessa Takenawa was on the fast track at Mimic Inc. until her path to partnership went off the rails. When she learns that a chunk of the Skin Agency is up for grabs, she begs, borrows, and steals to put the cash together and buy her way in. Something she regrets when she realizes what a control freak Pierce Skinner is. And, oh yeah, he’s crazy hot. A distraction she doesn’t want or need when she’s on a mission to land the account that nearly cost her career.

  Tessa is the perfect match for Pierce in every way, but good luck getting him to admit it. He won’t. Can’t. He’s after the biggest account that Skin has ever had, and isn’t about to let Tessa swoop in and take the credit, no matter how he might want her to swoop down on him instead.

  Acknowledgments

  I need to send a big, huge, thank you to the amazing Stuart Reardon; my brother-from-another-mother. Without him, this book would not exist. I owe you a nice, smooth whisky, mate. Check out Stu’s incredible program at: Fear Nothing Fitness. He’ll get you in shape!
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  I also want to thank Voule Walker at Ladybug Author Services for all of her help as I navigate my career. She really is heaven-sent.

  As always, I have to thank my support system which includes the Romance Writers of America (RWA), the Philadelphia Romance Writers, The Erotic Authors Guild, and my brainstorming partner, Susan Scott Shelley.

  About the Author

  Xio Axelrod is a USA Today bestselling author of love stories, contemporary romance and (what she likes to call) strange, twisted tales.

  Xio grew up in the music industry and began recording at a young age. When she isn’t writing stories, she can be found in the studio, writing songs, or performing on international stages (under a different, not-so-secret name). She lives in Philadelphia with one full-time husband and one part-time cat.

  Where to find Xio…

  @xioaxelrod

  XioAxelrod

  www.xioaxelrod.com

  xio@xioaxelrod.com

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