Читать книгу The Dare Collection July 2019 - Nicola Marsh, Katee Robert, Katee Robert - Страница 21

“THAT WAS THE biggest load of shit.”

Trish laughed and slipped her hand into the crook of Cameron’s arm. The wind had kicked up during the last half hour, and it cut through her thin jacket as if it wasn’t there. She was self-aware enough to admit that craving warmth wasn’t the only reason she wanted to touch him. He might be a human-shaped furnace, but being this close to him just felt good in general.

He absently rearranged her, tucking her against his body and wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he turned so his big body took the brunt of the wind chill. Cameron shook his head. “He wooed at one point.” His voice kicked up a register as he mimicked their hapless guide. “Wooooooo.”

“Oh stop.” She playfully smacked his chest. “He knew his history. It was very educational.” Her heart felt like it was two sizes too big after seeing places she’d only read about. The extra flavor from having a haunted tour only made the whole experience that much better.

That, and being with Cameron.

“The information was good. The delivery was off.” He turned and guided them in the direction of their rooms, still grumbling about the guide. He cut himself off and shot her a look. “I had fun.”

“I can tell.”

“No, I’m serious. It was nice spending time with you.”

Warmth blossomed in her chest, and no amount of reasoning could dispel it. She’d had fun with Cameron this evening, too. And last night. And this morning. Reminding herself that it was going to end—and probably end poorly—didn’t make a difference. This runaway train was out of her control and it would keep going until they ran out of tracks. It didn’t matter that she wouldn’t be staying with Tandem indefinitely, or that Aaron would be furious when he found out how they’d crossed the line. Nothing mattered but how much she enjoyed being with Cameron. “What’s your story?”

“What do you mean?”

She shot him a look. “Well, you didn’t just pop into existence in your current form. I’m assuming you were a child at some point, probably had a parent or two in one form or another. Siblings? I mean, let’s just start with the basics.”

“I think I can do that.” He squeezed her shoulders and nudged her to turn right at the street corner. “My parents live in California. My mother is a teacher, and my dad is military—retired now. No siblings to speak of. Apparently I was a difficult child, and—”

“Imagine that.”

He continued without missing a beat. “They decided I was enough and didn’t have any more kids. We weren’t in one place for more than a few years, but they were a solid foundation while I was growing up. They’re good people.”

Trish had been born and raised in the same place as a long line of Livingstons had. Their roots went core deep in town, and she’d grown up knowing exactly what her place was, whether she wanted it or not. She couldn’t imagine switching schools every few years and having to face dealing with figuring out her place in the pecking order... Makes a lot more sense why he can be so damn standoffish. Easier not to play the game or get close to people when he’d just inevitably move on. “You met my brother in college.”

“More like he adopted me as his pet project in college,” Cameron grumbled. “We were lab partners and he decided I just needed a little more structure in my life. Look where that got him.”

“Mmm, yeah, terrible life you’re both living.” She laughed. “You’re rich as sin and running a successful company together, and for all of both of your bitching, you never actually fight. Must be terrible.” In truth, she envied them their friendship a bit. Trish had friends, but when it became clear she wasn’t going to follow the ascending path to her dream career within the corporate fashion industry like she’d always planned, she withdrew more and more. One friend had scored an internship with her dream clothing designer, a position destined to shoot her into greatness if she survived it. Another had secured a junior position in a prestigious law firm.

Trish?

Trish had failed to find even an entrance-level job in her field of choice, and mounting student loan bills had forced her to move back into her parents’ place to try to stem the hemorrhaging of her minuscule bank account. It turned out that her chosen field didn’t have much in the way of entrance-level jobs, and securing one in their competitive industry had turned into an impossible task.

“Where are you headed?”

She started, belatedly realizing she had dropped her sunny persona and he’d picked up on it. Damn it, she kept doing that more and more as time went on. She wished she could blame it on Cameron’s grumpiness rubbing off on her, but it wasn’t the truth. Life weighed her down. Or, rather, the truth about life weighed her down.

Not everyone got a happy ending, no matter how many stars they wished on.

Some people had to settle on the mediocre instead of aspiring for greatness.

She just never thought she’d be part of either group.

With a sigh, she tried to focus on Cameron. “I’m sorry, I missed that last bit.”

“In life.” They turned another corner, and she started to recognize shops from the next street up from their hotel. “I had reservations when Aaron decided to bring you in, but you’re good at handling people and situations.”

“Yeah, I’m a great glorified secretary.” Managing her mother’s moods had given her plenty of people skills, though they mostly meant she gave excellent customer service no matter what her personal level of frustration was.

“Trish.”

Oh no. She knew that tone of voice. It meant nothing good for the conversation. Cameron obviously wasn’t pleased with her blasé comment, and he just as obviously intended to sit her down and...

Well, she didn’t know what. A come-to-Jesus talk about knowing her worth? Or maybe one where he pointed out that she wasn’t a glorified anything—she was literally their secretary.

No matter which way he was headed, she wanted no part of it. They would have their talk when they got back to New York. It could sure as hell wait until then. If this was an escape, she wanted to get her money’s worth, so to speak.

Trish turned into him, grabbing the front of his jacket and leveraging herself up to take his mouth. His surprise only lasted a second, and then his hands were on her hips and he guided her several steps until her back hit the wall. Cameron dug his big hands into her hair and tilted her head back to get a better angle. He moved away long enough to say, “I know you’re trying to distract me.”

Of course he did. He wasn’t stupid. She forced an impish grin. “Are you complaining?”

“Not especially.” He reclaimed her mouth, but this time the pace slowed down. Cameron teased her with soft, barely there kisses until she growled in frustration, and only then did he set his teeth against her bottom lip and slip his tongue into her mouth.

The man kissed like a dream.

A really naughty one.

Give and take, advance and retreat. Over and over and over again, until she lost all comprehension of the other people on the street or the fact that they were most definitely in a public place with an audience.

Trish had only meant to keep him from his questions, from pulling her apart at the seams to satisfy his curiosity, from creating a foundation of trust that neither of them could follow through on.

It didn’t matter what she’d intended, only the end result.

And the result was that she wanted his hands all over her body, wanted him to stroke her just so, to send her hurtling over the edge. She wanted to take him into her body and ride him until they stopped worrying about the future, because the future was just a distant dream and they were here and now. That was the only thing that mattered.

He tore his mouth from hers. “Upstairs. Now.”

Incapable of words, she nodded. Cameron gave her a look like he wanted to throw her over his shoulder because she wouldn’t move fast enough on her own, but he settled with grabbing her hand and towing her behind him. The half a block back to the hotel passed in a blur, and she caught sight of the startled face of the front desk lady before the elevator doors closed between them and the lobby.

Cameron turned to her, but she was already moving. She hopped and he caught her just like she’d known he would. Her legs went around his waist and her back hit the wall as he took her mouth again.

Yes, this.

Yes, more.

He didn’t let her down as the elevator doors rattled open. Instead, Cameron walked them down the hallway. His dark eyes looked just as wild as she felt, as if he might take her right there in the hallway if they didn’t get through the door fast enough. Trying to anticipate, she dug into her purse for the hotel room key, barely getting it out before they reached the door. “Got it!”

He grabbed it out of her hand and then they were in the room. Cameron strode into the bedroom. “I need you.”

“Yes. Now. Hurry.” Making out on the street like a couple of teenagers had her so primed, she practically vibrated with it. He kept her pinned in place as she reached between them. Cameron used one hand to grab a condom and undid his pants. It didn’t take much to work them down his hips to free his cock, but even the two-second delay was too long without him inside her. “Hurry, hurry, hurry.”

He knocked her hand aside so he could roll on the condom and then he thrust, filling her completely, assuaging her empty ache. They froze, both breathing hard. Cameron leaned back enough to check her expression. “You good?”

As if she hadn’t been right there with him this whole time. Trish rolled her hips, taking him deeper yet. “Don’t stop.”

His grin made something in her chest twinge in a way that would have terrified her if not for the pleasure building with every beat of her heart. A tempo that reduced itself to one word. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Cameron lowered her to the bed and shoved her shirt up to bare her breasts. “I like you like this, Trish. It’s fucking indecent and I’m never going to be able to look at you in a pencil skirt without thinking about that skirt around your hips and my cock buried deep inside you.”

“Good,” she gasped. Something to remember her by, even after it was over.

The wildness trying to escape her seemed to translate to him, because there was no teasing, no driving her to distraction before taking what he wanted. No, there was just Cameron moving over her, driving into her again and again in the most delicious way possible. Every stroke hit the end of her, the pleasure-pain building to a desperation unlike anything she’d ever known.

She ran her hands down his strong back and grabbed his ass, pulling him closer yet. Deeper. Harder. “I never want this to end.”

His words were slightly muffled against her temple, but she could have sworn he said, “It doesn’t have to.”

Trish came between the space of one breath and the next. She could feel Cameron trying to pull back, to get enough distance to keep his own orgasm at bay, but she was having none of it. “Come with me, Cam. Come for me.”

He cursed and she knew she’d won. His strokes became rougher yet, driving them both up the bed until his entire body went tense and he clutched her to him as he came. He had the presence of mind to roll to the side, but he didn’t release her, so she ended up with one leg sprawled over his hip and his cock still buried inside her. Trish kissed the center of his chest and allowed herself to enjoy the feel of him holding her close.

So good...

So better than good...

She instinctively went tense, sure that he’d say something or she’d let her fear get away from her. But nothing happened. He just stroked a hand over her hair again and again until she finally relaxed. “What kind of movies do you like, Cam?”

“I’m more of a reader.”

She smiled sleepily against his chest. “Let me guess—John Grisham?”

“Occasionally, but I’m more of a fantasy fan.”

That got her attention. “Really? Like the farm boy is really the chosen one who has to save the universe and he’s probably really a king but he doesn’t know it... That sort of thing?”

His laugh rumbled through her. “Sometimes. Though there are a lot more stories within the genre than just that type.”

“Oh yeah?” She snuggled closer. “Tell me about them.” And she listened as he spun out teasers for tales that she’d never heard of. Cameron had a natural storytelling gift, yet she never would have guessed it before now. His low voice soothed the last of her fear away.

It would be okay.

They could have this week, and she could keep her issues at bay long enough to enjoy her time with him to its fullest. The only person standing in the way of that was Trish herself, and she didn’t want to do it anymore.

It helped that, for the first time in a very long time, she was well and truly happy and willing to take things one day at a time instead of looking years ahead and seeing only failure.