“It’s been quite the night,” Camille replied, tucking a strand of hair behind one ear. She clearly was too nervous to know what to do with her hands. Devin wanted to hold her in his arms again and give her a tight sensual hug, but she was keeping her distance. He wondered if she already regretted sleeping with him.
They started walking back along the length of the beach.
“I had a nice evening, Camille,” he said after several minutes of silence. Devin could sense now that there were questions that she wanted to ask him, but he didn’t want to hear them. He wouldn’t know how to explain his life to her, and he also didn’t want to involve her, she was too simple for it.
“I had a nice evening too, even though some parts of it left me confused.”
“Here, I’ll explain it to you. We got naked, ran into the ocean and fucked on the beach. You were on top of me until I made you cum a few times,” Devin said in all seriousness, and she finally laughed.
He realized that he enjoyed watching her laugh. Her teeth were small and neat, and her whole body shook when she was laughing. It was a pleasure to look at.
“No, you know what I mean,” she said when her laughter finally died. Devin remained silent. Here it comes, he thought.
“I still don’t understand why some biker guys would want to chase you, and why you were so afraid that you hid in my shop. The lying to me about your fans bit, I get. You didn’t know me; we were strangers. You had no reason to tell me the truth. But why were you being chased?” Camille asked with sincerity. They were walking slowly, but the restaurant was already in sight.
Devin took his time to reply and avoided looking at her directly. He couldn’t be sure what would be the best approach.
“Like I told you before, I’m an entrepreneur. I have a couple of businesses to run, and these guys have their own businesses, and sometimes there is conflict,” Devin told her, looking ahead. He could sense that Camille’s eyes were on him.
“What kind of businesses?”
He looked at her. She almost looked scared like she was afraid of what she might hear; what he might tell her. Devin smiled, trying to put her at ease. He reached for her face and gently ran one fingertip over her smudged red lips.
“You don’t have to worry, Camille. It’s not what you think. It’s not dangerous or illegal.” He watched as she parted her lips and fluttered her eyelids. He could feel himself stir too. How could a girl he had just fucked still have this reaction on him? How could he want her so badly and quickly again?
Camille opened her eyes wide and nodded.
“Sure,” she said and quickened her pace. He followed her until they walked around the restaurant to the parking lot where his Harley waited for them.
“Camille!” he called out to her as she walked ahead of him to his bike. She stopped and turned around to look at him, questioningly. She looked beautiful, even with her hair in disarray with sand stuck to the back, her lips red and smudged, her shoes in her hands and not on her feet… he couldn’t think of a woman more beautiful, more desirable and yet more innocent and good.
“I had a good time. I’m sorry about the disruption. I’m sorry if you felt scared because of those men,” he said, pushing his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he stood in front of her. Camille licked her lips and then shook her head; her smile was weak and forced. She was trying to be brave, trying to understand.
“I wasn’t scared, I knew you would kick their asses.”
Devin smiled and walked over to his bike. “Hop on, let’s get you home.” He put on his helmet and watched as Camille smoothly, like an expert, climbed on the seat behind him. She wrapped her arms around his abdomen, and he felt himself stir again. Behind his helmet, Devin grinned again. This was going to be a good ride.
***
Devin and Camille arrived on his Harley outside her apartment building fifteen minutes later. He parked his bike as he had done previously, and planted his feet on the ground as she began to get off.
He didn’t know why or how, but he didn’t want her to leave. He didn’t want to have to watch her walk away from him. He wasn’t even sure if she wanted to see him again or whether or not she had completely changed her mind about him, or if she had gone out with him only as part of a deal for the comics he bought.
“When will I see you again?” he blurted out as she steadied herself on her feet. Camille looked up at him with a jerk, and her curls shook slightly from the movement. She looked like she hadn’t been expecting that question.
“When… when do you… I’ll check my calendar.” She was fumbling with her words, and Devin took off his helmet so that she could see his face, and see that he meant what he said. It wasn’t just a line that he dished out to every woman he fucked.
“How about this weekend? Saturday night at eight?” he asked before she could continue. Camille blinked at him, surprised again. She clearly wasn’t expecting this either. It seemed that she was under the impression that they were never going to see each other again. That he had fucked her and now he was going to cut her loose.
“Saturday night? Yeah, sure, I think I’m free,” Camille replied, licking her lips and playing with her hair. She tried to act natural, but he could see that a million thoughts were racing through her brain. Devin smiled, she was irresistible.
“You can bring a friend if you like,” he added, and then he watched her face drop. He realized what she might have thought he meant by that and he shook his head and laughed.
“Don’t worry, it’s not what you’re thinking. We’re going to an art gallery, for a show. Some of my friends will be there, so I don’t want you to feel alienated,” he explained, and her expression changed again.
“Art gallery?” Camille asked, still appearing confused. “You’re going to take me to an art gallery? Where your friends will be? Are you an artist?” Her mouth hung open.
Devin laughed again, it was adorable to see her this confused. He wanted to kiss her, to knead her breasts with his hands, and lick her long slender neck. He could feel his dick throbbing, growing again.
“No, I’m not. It’s just an art gallery. One of my friends organized a show, and I thought you’d be interested since you’re an artist yourself.”
Camille blushed, nodded, and smiled. “Yes, that’ll be great. I’ll see you at eight on Saturday then,” she told him, still standing just a few feet away from him. Devin was straddling his bike.
“I’ll pick you up.” He smirked at her. “Kiss me before you go, Camille,” he said in a deep, gruff voice. He wanted to feel her lips again. She had no idea how desperately he was craving for her.
Camille stepped towards him gingerly, her face was still flushed, and she couldn’t meet his gaze. Then, she leaned in, and he grabbed her head with both hands. Their lips met; hers were soft and tasted of wine and vanilla. He kissed her strongly, feeling the inside of her mouth with his tongue. He held her face in place with his hands and kissed her for several minutes until he could tell that she was out of breath.
Camille turned from him when she pulled away, and then hurried towards the house without saying anything. Devin was smiling as he watched her walk away. Her butt swayed in her tight red dress, her hair was a mess, and she walked hurriedly to the front door. She stopped and gave him a shy smile before going inside.
Devin shook his head after she was gone. He was in disbelief of the effect she had on him. He had never felt this way before. He was resisting the urge; fighting against it to follow her in and fuck her again.
Instead, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number he knew by heart.
“Hi, it’s me,” he said when he heard her voice on the other end. She might have been sleeping because she sounded groggy.
“Hello, darling,” she replied, breathing heavily into the phone. Devin sighed, looking up at Camille’s apartment where the lights had just come on. He could see her shadow in the house, behind the lace curtains on her window.
“Add two more people to the guest lis
t for the show.”
Devin heard her sigh on the other end of the line. “Whatever you want darling.”
On another night, in any other circumstance, Devin would have been turned on by that voice. He would have remembered her naked body and zoomed over to her apartment in under ten minutes. He would have tied her hands with her silk underwear to the bedposts and fucked her hard, just the way she liked it. But tonight all he could do was think about Camille - her laugh, her body, and how she trusted him without admitting it.
“See you on Saturday,” he said and hung up before she could say anything else.
He waited for a few minutes longer; looking up at Camille’s lit window until she turned the lights off. She was going to bed, and Devin slowly put his helmet back on.
He forced himself to ride away. If he could, if he thought it wouldn’t spook her, he might have stayed all night outside her apartment building, waiting for her to wake up in the morning so that he could take her for coffee. But he knew it wasn’t appropriate.
He wondered if Camille was going to stay awake that night in bed thinking about him.
Chapter Seven
Camille
The comic bookstore was empty again, well nearly empty. There was one dorky guy in thick glasses who had been browsing through the racks of books for the past twenty minutes. Camille stood behind the desk twiddling her thumbs. The previous night was magical, thrilling, and confusing all at the same time. She couldn’t stop thinking of Devin; his rock solid abs, his large hands on her body, his tongue on her breasts…
“I’ll take this one.” The guy with the glasses had walked over and placed an old Marvel comic down on the counter.
“Sure, would you like a paper bag for it?” Camille zapped the book’s barcode through the system and waited for him to hand the money over to her.
“No, thanks,” the guy stuttered nervously, and she sensed that his eyes had traveled to the top of her cleavage. Camille shifted her feet and accepted the money he had stretched towards her.
She silently counted the change from the till, uncomfortable under his salivating creepy gaze. She thought of Devin and the way he had looked at her. What had made his lustful gaze so much more desirable than any other man?
The bell on top of the store door tinkled, and Camille looked up. Her hands froze as she handed the change back to the guy. There were three men at the door; all heavily tattooed, with piercings and leather jackets. It couldn’t have been a coincidence.
Suddenly, she didn’t want the dorky guy to go. She didn’t want to be alone with these three men in the store. She wanted to scream and call Devin. But she had no way to reach him.
The guy with the glasses took the change and scurried out of the shop, and Camille remained behind the counter, her heart beating fast, pearls of sweat appearing on her forehead. She hadn’t seen these three men before, but she knew exactly why they were here. They were walking towards her, and she felt her knees shake a little. She forced herself to lift up her chin and paste a fake smile on her face.
“Good morning, cupcake,” one of the men said, his eyes immediately dropping to her breasts. Camille wanted to run. She could see them all studying her - her cleavage, face, hands, and body. They were all undressing her with their eyes. She wished she could disappear.
“Morning,” Camille said nervously, retreating a little away from the counter. She knew it was a bad move to indicate how afraid of them she was, but she couldn’t stop herself. How had they even found her?
“How’s business?” another guy with blackened teeth asked, now leaning with his elbows on the counter so that he was even closer to her. They all smelt of beer and cigarettes, and Camille gulped, still trying hard to keep the smile on her face.
“Good. Thanks,” she replied, her eyes flitted from one face to another. One of them laughed and picked up a comic book from a nearby stand and turned the pages quickly.
“We were just in the neighborhood,” the guy with the bad teeth said with a wide sleazy smile. Camille shrugged her shoulders as if to say, so what? The guy with the comic book in his hand threw it on the floor casually and looked at her. He had a long gash across his cheek, and his eyes were the same color as Devin’s. But they looked evil, leery, and dirty.
“Is your friend Devin here?” the guy who had been silent all this while inquired. She turned to him; he had a red bandana around his head and no smile on his face. This guy had no time for anything else. He meant business.
“Devin?” She licked her lips.
“Yes, Devin. The guy you went for a walk with on the beach last night.” He placed both hands on the counter.
Camille shook her head slowly. “No, he’s not.”
The guy with the bad teeth laughed loudly. “Where is he then, sweetheart?”
Camille shook her head again. She really wished someone would come into the shop.
“I don’t know. I have no idea,” she insisted, taking a few steps back so that now her back was pressed against the wall. The three men exchanged looks and then turned to her again.
“Tell him The Choppers want to have a word with him okay, cupcake?” The guy who had thrown the comic book on the floor told her and picked up a pack of playing cards from the counter.
Camille nodded in silence. She just wanted them to leave.
“That’s a good girl.” He slipped the pack of cards into his jacket pocket.
“You have a good day, and stay safe,” the guy with the bad teeth said and straightened up. They all smiled at her, but it was a smile of warning before they turned around and walked out of the store.
It was only after they left that Camille realized she had been holding her breath. She was still scared and shaking. All she wanted was to feel Devin’s arms around her shoulders, to hear his voice, and for him to drive those men away.
But all she could do was lean silently on the counter and watch the men get on their bikes parked outside and ride noisily away.
Suddenly it felt like Camille’s whole life was changing. Something like this would never have happened before Devin Rock walked into her store and locked the door behind him. But curiously enough, she didn’t blame him; she just wanted to see him again.
***
“We haven’t worked on the next issue for the past ten days, Camille.” Shayna was sprawled on her couch, digging between her teeth with her long little fingernail.
“I know, I know. Just give me a few more days, please? I’m really distracted,” Camille said, bringing two mugs of tea to the coffee table in front of Shayna.
Shayna still remained sprawled, following Camille with her eyes.
“You’re not seriously going to go to the art gallery, are you Camille?” Shayna asked, straightening her neck and glaring at her. Camille sat down on the beanbag on the floor, across from Shayna and sighed.
“Camille, that man is trouble. Three big thugs came into your store yesterday and literally threatened you.” Shayna sat up on the couch now and folded her short legs. She was wearing torn fishnets again, her trademark look. Camille was in a pair of jeans and an old oversized t-shirt. She was in no mood for dressing up again.
“They didn’t threaten me. They were just looking for Devin, so they came to me.” Camille reached for her mug of tea, while Shayna continued glaring.
“Camille! They came to your store, stole a pack of cards, and basically commanded you to tell Devin they were there. Don’t be so naive. That was a threat.” Shayna’s voice was raised now; she sounded exasperated with Camille. Camille took a sip of her tea and gulped. Shayna was making sense, but she wanted to see Devin again, she needed to see him again.
“I can’t cancel now, I don’t have his phone number,” Camille told her, avoiding her friend’s eyes.
Shayna sighed loudly. “So just tell him you can’t go when he turns up here on Saturday.”
Camille remained silent, staring at her feet.
“I want to go, Shayna,” she said after a few seconds of silence.
Shayna flung herself back on the couch and covered her face with both her hands.
“Why, Camille, why?” Her voice indicated that she was not happy, but not quite angry either. Shayna wanted to understand what Devin’s pull was; what Camille saw in him.
“Because I want to see him again. I’m… attracted to him.” Camille dared to look at Shayna again.
“Because he has a big dick?” Shayna asked, half mockingly with an eyebrow raised.
Camille smiled embarrassedly and then shook her head. “It’s not just that, there’s something else about him.”
“He’s capable of putting your life in danger, Camille!”
BABY FOR A PRICE: Marino Crime Family Page 40