by Marie Force
“Wait, what? I never told her I was moving to Vermont. Where did that come from?”
Cameron glanced at Will, who scratched Tanner’s ears as he stared into the fire. She wished the house were bigger so she could talk to Troy without him hearing her.
“You told her you dig the guy you met there.”
“I do, but I never said I was moving.”
“So you’re not?”
The thought of Lucy panicking about the business cut Cameron to the core. They’d built that business from nothing and had worked so hard for so long. Something in her died as she took a deep breath, and said, “No, I’m not.”
“Oh, good. I gotta say, I was kinda melting down, too! What would we do without you? When will you be home?
“Tomorrow. Tell Lucy to stop panicking. Everything is fine.”
“Call me when you’re back.”
“I will.”
“I’ve missed you, kiddo. Nothing is the same without you here.”
“I’ve missed you, too. See you soon.”
“Everything all right?” Will asked when she returned to the sofa and curled up next to him.
“Yeah.” Troy’s call had started a storm of turmoil inside her as she tried to process Lucy’s reaction to their recent conversation. She’d said what she thought Cameron wanted to hear, but had apparently panicked at the possibility of her partner making some serious life changes.
Could she honestly deny that she’d entertained the secret fantasy of relocating to Vermont and working with Will and his wonderful family and continuing their relationship in the place where it had begun?
No, she couldn’t deny that the possibility had hovered at the edge of her subconscious, even more so as her departure drew closer. It pained her to realize that she’d been so caught up in her romance with Will that she’d given much less thought than she should have to how her decisions would affect the friends she loved like family—especially Lucy.
She felt sick when she thought about how she would’ve felt if Lucy had decided to leave their business to move somewhere else. Losing Lucy in her daily life would’ve been devastating, both personally and professionally. How could she think it would be any less so for Lucy if she were the one who left?
Will reached for her hand. “What’re you thinking about over there?”
With his warm hand curled around hers, Cameron was reminded of what she stood to lose if she couldn’t find a way to keep him in her life. “Work. And stuff.”
“What stuff?”
“You. Me. New York. Vermont. My company. Your company. Your family. My friends. That kind of stuff.”
“It’s a lot to consider.”
“Yeah.”
“What you said to your friend just now …”
Cameron winced, hating herself in hindsight for taking the call. But how could she have known what Troy would say about Lucy?
“If things between us were to continue, you wouldn’t consider moving here? Ever?”
“I don’t know,” Cameron said, filled with despair as she realized they could no longer postpone this conversation. “I love it here, and I love being with you. This has been such an amazing couple of weeks in so many ways.”
“But?”
“My whole life is there. My friends are so important to me, and I’m important to them. We’re a bunch of misfits who found something in each other that we’d never had before. It would be hard for me to leave them. And then there’s my dad … He is what he is, but he’s still my dad.”
“It’s okay. It would be really hard for me to pick up my whole life and move there, so I get it.”
“Where does this leave us?”
“I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”
“I knew this would be tough, but I didn’t expect to feel like my heart was being ripped out of my chest.”
Like he had so many times before, Will framed her face with his hands, looking at her as if she were the most precious thing in his world. “I didn’t expect any of this.” He bent his head to kiss her. “What do you say we pretend for a little while longer that you aren’t leaving tomorrow?”
“I say that sounds like a really good idea.” She didn’t want to think about what was waiting for her at home or how she would cope without Will now that she had found him. She wanted to enjoy him and this evening to the best of her ability. “Are you absolutely starving?”
“Not absolutely. Why?”
“I was thinking we might want to take a little rest before dinner.” She stretched dramatically. “I’m exhausted.”
“Are you now?” he asked, seeming to force a lighthearted tone when nothing about this situation was lighthearted. Not anymore.
“Uh-huh.” She got up and tugged him along with her to the bedroom.
The dogs whined when they were once again closed out.
Will began to unbutton his shirt, but Cameron pushed his hands out of the way. “Let me.”
Even though he stood perfectly still, she could feel the tension coming from him as she unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders. A thermal T-shirt joined the pile on the floor, leaving his chest bare. She nuzzled his chest hair, leaving a trail of kisses along his collarbone.
His arms came around her, tight and fierce, and she turned her face into his desperate kiss. Everything was different tonight, more fraught with emotion, more passionate. It was just more.
Cameron broke the kiss and buried her face in his chest, breathing in his familiar scent and trembling from the onslaught of emotions that gripped her. That he seemed to be grappling with the same emotions made her feel less alone with the agony of knowing their lovely time together was coming to an end—at least for now.
“You’re trembling, sweetheart,” he said as he lowered them onto the bed and hovered above her.
“I’m hanging on to my sanity by a very fine thread.” Why pretend otherwise?
“It’s going to be okay. We’ll figure this out.”
“Promise?”
He nodded solemnly, his eyes darkening when she tugged on the button to his jeans.
She absolutely adored the rippling muscles that covered his belly, the soft dusting of golden blond hair that led into denim so faded it was nearly white. Cameron wanted to kiss him and touch him everywhere. “Turn over.”
Rather than follow her order, though, he flexed his hips and pushed his hardness against her core, drawing a sharp gasp from her.
“Don’t try to distract me from what I want,” she said sternly.
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“I’m right here.”
“My way.” She slid her hands up to cup his pectorals, intentionally dragging her fingernails over his nipples. Pressing her lips to his throat, she took a nibble that made him groan. “Turn. Over.”
He flopped onto his back and let his arms fall to his sides. “Happy now?”
“Uh-huh.” She set out to drive him mad with her lips and tongue and hands. Feeling particularly brazen, she bit down gently on his nipple.
“Christ,” he said, the word escaping in an exaggerated hiss from between clenched teeth as he tugged urgently on the zipper to his jeans.
Cameron dragged her tongue over the fine hair covering his lower belly. “Getting tight in there?”
“Getting goddamned unbearable.”
“Hmm, that sounds uncomfortable.”
“Just a little.”
Cameron cupped him through the soft cotton, stroking from root to tip. “There’s nothing little about it.”
“Cameron, you’re driving me insane.”
She’d never seen him look or sound so tense, and the realization that she was truly getting to him truly got to her. “Maybe we should get these jeans out of the way so you can be more comfortable.”
His movements were jerky and rushed as he pushed his pants and boxers over his hips.
Laughing at his urgency, Cameron helped him get them off and threw them over her sh
oulder to the floor. Then she took a moment to appreciate what she’d uncovered, licking her lips as she tried to decide where she wanted to begin. With her hands on his thighs, she bent forward, letting her hair fall over his straining erection.
He grasped handfuls of her hair, almost demanding she focus on the part of him that most wanted her attention.
She bit her lip and smiled when she saw his eyes were closed, his lips parted and his breath raspy. Time to truly blow his mind, she thought as she ran her tongue over his full length, loving his tortured gasp and the tightening grip on her hair. Even the slight bite of pain was pleasurable.
All at once it became critically important to show him how much he’d come to mean to her. With love on her mind and filling her heart, she wrapped her hand around him and took him into her mouth.
Judging from the subtle lift of his hips and the fingers that delved into her hair, he liked what she was doing. “Mmm,” she said, letting her lips vibrate against his hard shaft, which surged and got even harder when she stroked him with her tongue.
“Cam …”
She pretended like she hadn’t heard him or the warning in his tone as she continued to lick and stroke and suck on the very tip.
“Baby,” he gasped. “I can’t …”
“Don’t,” she whispered. “Don’t hold back.” She took him deep again, squeezing with her hand and lips at the same time, keeping it up until he exploded into her mouth, thrusting deeper than she thought she could take him.
He released his tight hold on her hair and brought his hands up to cover his face. His chest heaved and a light sheen of perspiration coated his skin.
Cameron slid her hands up over his chest, kissing her way to his lips. Under her belly, his cock continued to pulsate.
Keeping one forearm over his eyes, he wrapped an arm around her.
She nudged at the arm that covered his eyes. “Are you in there?”
“I’m here, baby. You wiped me out. That was amazing. I’ve never felt anything like what you make me feel.”
She took great pleasure in knowing she’d pleased him. “You haven’t?”
“Not even close.”
“Look at me.”
He moved his arm off his face and met her gaze.
“I wanted to see your eyes. I love your eyes. They’re the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen. Your license probably says they’re brown, but that’s not giving them enough credit. They’re gold, especially when you’re turned on.”
“They must be really gold right now.” He caressed his way down her back, tugging at her jeans. “Can we get rid of these?”
“Absolutely.” Cameron scooted out of her jeans and panties and returned to her position on top of him, shivering at the sweet sensation of her skin encountering his.
“Are you cold?”
“No.”
“Then why are you shivering?”
“It’s you and us and knowing this is our last night. All of it.” Cameron felt him surge and harden under her belly.
With his arms around her, he turned them so he was on top, looking down at her with such tenderness and sincerity. He took her lips with the same tenderness, and she shivered again. Wrapping her legs around his hips she lost herself in the sensual kiss, the soft strokes of his tongue, the gentle caress of his hand on her breast.
She wanted to hold on tight to him and never let go, a feeling that was so new and so powerful she could barely process it.
“Hold that thought,” he said as he disentangled himself to get a condom.
He couldn’t have known what she was thinking when he said that, but the coincidence made her smile just the same.
“What?” he asked when he returned to find her grinning like a loon.
“I was holding my thought as directed.”
“And your thought made you smile like that?”
“It was a very good thought.” She stretched her arms above her head, loosening muscles that had gone tight with tension and desire.
He watched her intently. “Leave them there,” he said, curling her hands around the slats that made up his headboard.
As she gripped the cool wood, her entire body ignited and her nipples tightened from the way he looked at her. She watched as his gaze was drawn to her nipples.
Without touching her with anything other than his tongue and lips, he hovered over her, licking and tugging and sucking until her nipples ached, and still he didn’t touch her anywhere else. His biceps and triceps bulged from the effort to hold himself aloft over her.
She wanted to touch his arms and feel the strain of his muscles, but kept her hands wrapped around the posts. However, she couldn’t resist lifting her hips to press against the erection that hung heavy and hard between them.
“No cheating.” His lips skimmed her belly, making her quiver and strain to get closer.
Cameron wasn’t sure which was a bigger turn-on—his obvious strength or the soft brush of his lips over her sensitive skin.
“Open for me,” he whispered as he settled between her legs.
She edged her knees apart hesitantly, her muscles liquid and uncooperative as he eyed her core with barely restrained lust that made her burn. Knowing he wanted her so much was the biggest turn-on of all.
He dipped his head to tease her with his tongue, his broad shoulders forcing her legs farther apart. “Mmm, so sweet. I love how you taste.”
She was never going to survive this, she thought, and that was before he settled her legs on his shoulders and delved into her sex with his tongue and fingers, stroking her to a series of orgasms that had no beginning and no end. They rolled into each other like waves on a beach, growing in strength until she was on the verge of begging him to stop because she couldn’t take any more.
Seeming to sense that she’d reached her limit, he kissed his way up her body, lingering at her nipples and firing her up all over again like she hadn’t just experienced the first multiple orgasms of her life.
“Hey,” he whispered against her breast.
She forced her heavy eyelids open and focused on his unforgettable face.
“Still with me?” he asked, his lips stretching into a sexy grin full of male satisfaction.
“Barely.”
He nudged at her slickness with his hot, hard cock. “Is this okay?”
“Only if I can touch you, too.”
“Please do.”
Her arms ached from the tight grip she’d kept on the posts as she wrapped them around his neck and fell into a deep kiss as he entered her in tiny increments. He went slowly, giving her time to accommodate him as he devastated her with sexy kisses that had her squirming under him, looking for more.
She wouldn’t have thought she could come again, but when he reached down to where they were joined he proved her wrong with only the hard press of two fingers against her most sensitive place.
Riding the wave of her climax, he surged into her, hard and fast, exploding with a growl that vibrated against her neck when he collapsed into her waiting embrace.
Depleted, she dozed with him still inside her, her arms wrapped tight around him to ensure he couldn’t escape. After the most intense lovemaking she’d ever experienced, one thing was absolutely clear to her—this was it. He was it. The connection they shared was that thing people looked for their whole lives and often never found.
And if they had any prayer of making it work long-term, one of them would have to give up everything.
Long after Cameron drifted off, Will remained awake, watching her sleep and wishing things were different—or at the very least, less complicated. At some point during the last two weeks, he’d fallen in love and the idea of her leaving and maybe never coming back was flat-out unbearable.
He thought about the garment bag full of clothes Hunter had lent him and was glad now he’d left it in his truck. After hearing her side of the conversation with Troy, he’d decided it had been a foolhardy plan to think another week together would make some sort of differ
ence. What it would’ve done was make everything worse. Why put off the inevitable? Why make what was already painful even more excruciating a week from now?
As much as he’d come to love her, he couldn’t imagine ditching his life in Vermont, his job, his family, his home to move to a place he’d never even seen. Sure, she would be there, and it would be awesome to be with her without a time limit looming over their heads. But he knew himself well enough to be certain he’d also yearn for all the things he’d left behind in the only home he’d ever known.
She stirred in her sleep, her lips moving in that adorable pucker he’d become so fond of. He’d miss sleeping with her, waking with her, working with her, laughing with her, making love with her. He’d miss everything about her sweet vulnerability and the way she craved the kind of family he’d taken for granted most of his life.
She’d shown him how lucky he’d been to grow up in the midst of Abbott madness and to work with his family as an adult. What would it have been like to be as alone in the world as she had been? She was living proof that money couldn’t buy happiness.
He wanted to fill all those gaps for her, but there was no escaping the simple fact that they led separate lives in vastly different places. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and pressed a kiss to her forehead, torn and bleeding inside from the thought of her leaving in a few short hours.
She turned into his chest, sliding her arm around him like they’d been sleeping together for years rather than days. When she sighed, her breath made his chest hair flutter.
Moved by her very presence in a way he’d never been moved by any other woman, he was forced to admit that losing her was going to hurt like hell for a very long time. Sure, she’d be back in a month or so to report on website updates, but he couldn’t escape the overwhelming fact that after tonight, their personal fling might be over.
Unless … Was it possible that maybe she loved him, too? Did he dare risk telling her how he felt or would that only make the parting worse for both of them?
He wished he knew how best to play this. They ended up skipping dinner entirely, and as the hours ticked toward a dawn he’d been dreading for days, he was no closer to a plan. Will never slept that night. Rather, he spent the time enjoying the press of her warm skin against his. He breathed in her familiar scent and combed his fingers through her long hair.
