by Snow Novels
Cameron was waiting on the bed when I walked in. His eyes lit up when he saw me. "Abbey," he said, standing, then quickly sitting back down. "I'm sorry." It was a simple apology, but it warmed my heart.
I locked his wrists in the cuffs and his liquid eyes watched me move around the room, checking everything.
"Is someone here with you?"
I hesitated. "Yes. You won't let me leave, so I brought my date home. Do you have a problem with that?" I dared him to tell me he did, but he only hung his head. My heart sunk deep into my chest seeing him so sad, but I pushed it away. I hadn't done anything wrong.
"I'll be back at six," I said, shutting the door. When I got back to Richard, he'd already picked out a movie and popped it into the Blu-ray player. "Rambo?" I asked, scrunching my face.
"Sure," he said. He was already doing me a favor by coming back here in the middle of our date, the least I could do was let him pick the movie. I leaned my back against the couch and he pushed closer against me. It was sweet but I wished it was Cameron here with me instead. Halfway through the movie, his hand slid onto my knee and started massaging it. It was annoying. He'd shown zero interest in me up till this point. I brushed it off. He moved his hand to my thigh instead.
"Stop it," I said.
"Why?"
"Why? Because I said so, that's why?"
He muttered something under his breath and I stopped the film. "What did you just say?"
He turned and stared at me. "I called you a tease."
"A tease? How am I a tease?"
"You make a date with me, bring me back you your place, then when I show you a little affection you freak out."
I laughed. "That's crazy. First of all, you asked me out. Then you didn't even seem like you wanted to do anything except walk around town all night. Some date."
"Yeah, well I'm not rich like your boyfriend."
My face turned beet red. "He's not my boyfriend, he's my boss."
"Yeah right, like some rich asshole is gonna hire a fat chick because she's fun to be around?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, standing up, my voice rising.
"I don't know why you're being so difficult. Usually girls like you put it up easy. I don't even have to spend any money."
Oh my God. "Are you saying that... that we walked around the city all night... that you asked me out in the first place... because I'm fat and you thought I would put out for you?"
He shrugged and I pushed him towards the door. I'd never been so insulted in my life. His response was to punch the side of my head. My face stung and my ear started bleeding. I was too stunned to move until he smacked me again. Blood poured from my nose and this time my fight or flight sense triggered and I turned to run.
He pulled my hair and yanked me back so hard I felt my neck crack in five places. "Stop it!" I screamed. "You're hurting me!"
My head was spinning. I must have hit it when he pushed me to the ground. He was on top of me now, ripping my shirt open, trying to get my pants off. I kicked and screamed but he was too strong for me. I couldn't get him off.
"Heeeelllp!"
There was a loud ripping noise from the other side of the room. My vision was cloudy and I couldn't see what was happening. Suddenly Richard was pulled backwards. Giant arms covered in thick black fur wrapped around his torso, squeezing the breath out of him. I was too awed to scream.
I sat up, terrified, watching as a giant gorilla that spanned the room from floor to ceiling bashed Richard over the head before throwing him against the wall. Richard's body fell limp to the ground as blood trickled from his eyes. The gorilla turned to me and roared.
I would have screamed, but my throat was too dry for sound to come out. The eyes that stared at me—the eyes of a giant gorilla that I was sure I must be imagining, because creatures this size didn't exist in real life—were the same eyes that I'd seen every night for the last two weeks. They were Cameron's eyes.
Chapter 10
I woke up and for a second wasn't sure where I was at. The room was different from mine. It was darker and the ceiling was a different color. I blinked and things began to clear. Cameron lay on the bed next to me. We were in his lockdown room. He was wrapped in a blanket and when I shook him he opened his eyes and stared at me. He was shirtless but wore light pajama bottoms. I had on the same clothes from my date with Richard. I looked for a window then remembered there were none in this room.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi." I paused, trying to remember the events of last night. "What am I doing here?" I asked. "What time is it?"
Cameron smiled at me. It was warm and inviting. "It's late. Almost two. The sun won't be up for hours yet." His eyes drew me towards him and I wondered how I could have ever thought of leaving this place. "I placed you here. I was worried. I wanted to make sure you were alright."
I felt my head nod but wasn't sure I understood what he was saying. "Okay... um... my memory's a little foggy I think. I seem to remember..." I started laughing and couldn't stop. "I remember you being a gorilla. A giant gorilla, and you killed my date." The words came out through gasps of hysterical laughter. My eyes turned up, waiting for Cameron to join me. Only Cameron wasn't laughing.
I looked down at my shirt and saw where Richard had torn it open. "It wasn't a dream?" I asked.
Cameron shook his head. "But how... that's not possible." I reached out and placed a tentative hand on his bare chest. Cameron touched his hand to my face and sharp sparks of electricity reached through my skin and to my brain.
"I was born this way," he said. His voice was hard and soft at the same time. He was so strong, yet he sounded close to tears. "I used to be able to control it, but the last year or so, I've lost the ability. It's like..." he searched his mind for the words. "It's like I have no power over my own body anymore. No power over my life."
His voice broke and the tears that had welled there creeped over his rims. I brushed them away, and when I did he pulled me to him with an urgency I almost couldn't fathom, except that I felt it too. His lips were warm and wet against mine. I pressed my hand to his back and he shivered against my touch. His skin was hot. I imagined that was how it felt on the surface of the sun. His hands moved over my clothes, then under my clothes, and I didn't try to stop him.
His sweat was the sweet scent of violets and eucalyptus, and my shirt peeled off my body as I lay trembling under him. This was what I had imagined since coming here. This was what I had wanted.
"But I don't understand," I whispered as I felt my body relent and press against him. My core was burning against his as I caressed his neck with my tongue. His chest was the wall of muscles I had longed to touch and fondle. I ran my fingers over his body, stopping at his waist band.
"I don't understand either," he whispered. "But I've felt it since you came here. The very first day I knew I wanted you. I've tried to fight it, but I don't care anymore. When that guy tonight tried to do... I never want you in danger again."
His mouth was fire on my skin. My bra fell to the floor and Cameron explored my breasts with his tongue, new terrain for the unending appetite he'd developed for me. My thighs tightened as his hand slid over them, his tongue flicking my hard, pink nipples. "You taste like a flower," he murmured before pushing my pants off and descending into my sex.
His tongue moved with swift dexterity and I quivered against him as his nuzzled my soft mound. "Don't stop," I begged. He obeyed, and moved his thick pink tongue deeper into me. Finally, I thought I might explode and pulled him up close to my face. I tasted myself on him and felt my devotion to him magnify. I kicked his pants to the floor without another thought, and when his hard mass pressed against me I saw stars on the ceiling.
"Please," I whispered.
A roguish smile played across his lips as he teased my sex with his manhood. The tip of him circled around me until I felt my body convulse. Finally, he pushed into me with the driving force of someone consumed with passion and I felt myself seize. His hips moved ag
ainst mine and I wrapped my legs around him, pulling him deeper into me. I was the wishing well he sunk deeper into until finally he found the bottom of the hole and rooted himself to it.
My heart hammered against my chest and I heard Cameron's breath increase; his body trembled against mine. The air around us shimmered and the lights swirled. My back arched and his body hardened as time stopped around us. The world exploded into a cluster of white lights and sunbursts, and when Cameron fell on top of me, it was like our bodies were one.
Chapter 11
We laid wrapped in each other's arms for what felt like hours. His breath was even and steady. We seemed to feed off each other.
"I've never experienced that before," he murmured.
"Me neither." The pain that I'd seen in his eyes earlier was diminished, almost gone. I nuzzled my head into the crook of his neck, draping my body over his, and began to sing. I'd never felt so free with my voice or heard such strong melodies rise from my throat. It was like Cameron had instilled me with some new strength that had laid dormant until now.
"Beautiful voice... like butterflies on the wind..." he murmured before his eyes closed and he fell into a restful sleep. I followed him a short time later, and dreamt of beautiful lands filled with giant, soft spoken gorillas who handed me flowers and told me I was beautiful.
When the morning sun hit my face, warming it from the inside out, I reached over to touch Cameron and realized he wasn't there. I opened my eyes and saw him huddled in the corner near the bed, staring at me. "Hi," I murmured, nuzzling his pillow.
He stood up, his face grave. "What's wrong?" I asked, sitting up alarmed.
"You need to leave."
"I need to... what? Why?" I would have thought he was joking if his face wasn't so pale.
He started pacing the room. "This was a mistake. This never should have happened. It's not right."
"What are you talking about?"
"Us. I'm a... it isn't right. I'm not meant to find happiness."
"How can you say that? Cameron, I've wanted this since I got here. I... I think I love you."
Those were the exact wrong words to say. All the blood drained from Cameron's face. He stormed to the bed and grabbed my arm, forcing me up.
"Go!" he said. "Leave, now! Get out of this house and don't come back!"
My heart stopped beating and tears streamed down my face. How could things have gone so wrong so quickly? I'd gone to sleep feeling happier than I could ever remember being, now my heart felt like someone had stabbed it with a knife.
"Please!" he said. The pain was back in his eyes.
"I don't think you want me to go," I said, but his face was red and his eyes glowed like a lantern. He glared at me and picked my clothes up, throwing them at me. A low snarl sprung from deep in his throat. I put my clothes on quickly, trying to maintain some sort of composure. I felt used and wished that I could take back everything about last night.
"I'm sorry," he said. The hurt and anger in his voice was directed at himself, not me, but that didn't stop me from hating him for what he was doing.
"I'm sorry too," I yelled. "I never should have come here. You're nothing but a rich bastard who uses people then throws them away. You deserve to be alone."
The words stung him and I was glad of it.
"I can give you whatever you want," he said now, trying to find a way to ease his guilt or my pain, or maybe both."An apartment. A house. Whatever it takes to make this right. Name it and it's yours."
I stared at him, not believing he could be so stupid. "What I want, Cameron, is you." Then I ran from the room and into the bright sunny day that mocked the darkness in my heart.
Chapter 12
The bus station seemed like a courthouse sending me home to prison. I had no choice. I'd given Emma all the money I'd made at Cameron's. I hadn't been there long enough to make anymore. I was broke and despite my strong desire not to go home, I realized that my desire not to sleep on a park bench was stronger.
The ticket in my hand felt like a weight. I stared at it, trying to think of some way out of this mess I'd gotten into. The announcer called my bus number. I only had the small bag I'd arrived at Cameron's with two weeks ago. It contained two pairs of jeans, a shirt, and a pair of sneakers. It was all I had in the world. The announcer called my bus again and I rose from my seat. My bag dragged across the floor. I didn't want to carry it with me. I didn't want to leave New York.
I pictured Emma and Deena laughing at me. My mom, telling me, I told you you'd never amount to anything. It would make her day when I showed up on her doorstep penniless and without a friend in the world.
I had one foot on the steps into the bus when I paused. I could have sworn I'd heard my name. I turned around and saw Cameron rushing towards me. He was waving his hands wildly in the air.
"On or off?" the bus driver snapped.
I looked at Cameron, his eyes were wide and shining, a huge smile splayed across his face. He was looking at me like I was an Olympic gold medal. "Off," I said.
I stood on the pavement, wanting to run but afraid my heart would only be broken again if I released it to Cameron too soon. He reached me and I opened my mouth to ask what he was doing here, but before I could he drew me into a great bear hug, lifting my feet off the ground and spinning me around. His arms squeezed me tight and I let myself relax against his grip.
"I'm such an idiot," he said, setting me down.
I laughed. "Well I know that. But what specifically are you referring to?"
"You! Us! You saved me and I didn't even realize it until after you'd left." He pressed his lips to mine and I drank him in, relishing the softness of his skin as he rubbed his face against mine.
"Do you know what happened last night?" he asked. I blushed, remembering the thrill of his touch over my skin. "I slept. I can't remember the last time I was able to sleep for more than ten minutes during the night. But you... you sang to me, and I didn't wake up again until after dawn. I didn't shift back to the gorilla."
"And you think that was me?"
"I know that was you."
"What are you saying Cameron? That you don't want me to go? That you want me to stay and sing you to sleep every night?" I was irritated at the idea of being nothing more than a relaxation tool for him.
He shook his head. "You don't understand. You said it yourself. Since you came into my life, I've been fighting the desire to make you mine. Now I know that we belong to each other. You're what I've been waiting for my whole life. I love you Abbey."
He drew me to him and held me against his chest. I heard his heart thumping, and when he kissed me my own heart joined his, until I couldn't tell them apart anymore.
***
"Did you see this?" Cameron asked, waving a paper at me. I grabbed it from him and scanned the headline:
NEW BROADWAY STAR ABBEY STERLING OPENS TO EXCITED CROWDS
I beamed and set the paper on the table. "It's the name," I said. "I couldn't land a spot to save my life when I was Abbey Greene, now that I'm Abbey Sterling they love me." I plopped onto Cameron's lap and kissed his mouth, still warm and wet from his shower.
"If we'd have gotten married when I suggested it, you'd have been a smash a lot sooner."
"Yeah, but I had to give my mom a few weeks to get used to the idea I wasn't a failure. I can't stand her but I didn't want her to have a heart attack."
"Not even a small one?" he asked.
I laughed. "I bet Emma's head is exploding right now. I wish I could see it."
He grinned at me. "You've got a real mean streak in you, you know that?"
I kissed his face again and ran a hand through his hair. "I've gotta run. You'll be there tonight, right?"
"Opening night? Wouldn't miss it for the world. The woman I love is in that show, you know."
"Oh yeah? I'll say hi when I see her." Then I kissed him once more before dashing out the door, happy to be in New York, and even happier to be living my life with Cameron.
; THE END
BONUS STORY 3
WIDE OPEN: THE GOOD GIRL'S BAD PLAY
Chapter One
“Can you please turn the music down?” I ask for what seems like the hundredth time, but Nicki Minaj keeps blaring as my roommate and her boyfriend pointedly ignore me. I’m pretty sure they should be studying (like I’m trying to) but they seem to find sticking their tongues down each other’s throats way more important than classes.
I’m in my second semester at USD, majoring in Psych. I wanted to go to Stanford, and I actually got accepted, but I didn’t get the scholarship I needed. My family is pretty traditional, and they don’t really get my dream of becoming a research psychologist. With me the eldest of six kids, there’s no way they could afford my tuition out of state, so I had to let Stanford go – for now. If Ideally stand out in my undergrad program I might stand a chance of getting into Stanford for my master’s, so I’m studying non-stop.
That’s why I moved on-campus this semester. I really needed some quiet space to focus - and quiet space just doesn’t exist in my house. But I didn’t count on getting Rachel “RaRa” Fischer as my roommate. Head cheerleader, with the stereotypical strawberry blonde pony and legs up to her armpits, the nickname RaRa describes her perfectly. She’s the center of every party, hell, she IS a walking party, always surrounded by adoring jocks and her gaggle of gorgeous cheerleader friends. She is the exact opposite of me, with my cropped black hair and short curvy figure. But who wants to be a skinny cheerleader anyway, right?
But I think I could deal with RaRa as a roomie, if it was just RaRa I had to deal with. But she’s dating Andre Foek, star quarterback and the dream hunk of 90% of the female students. I still blush when I remember the first morning I woke up and went drowsily to pee, only to find him standing naked in our bathroom. I think I muttered sorry or something equally dumb and scurried back into the room to find RaRa preening herself and looking extremely satisfied.