by Marcel, Zoey
“Thank you for that,” he breathed with a toothy grin that made her melt.
“I only did that to repay you for telling Callie I invited you to be our playmate and not telling her I abducted you.”
“You can’t stop me from being grateful.”
“Don’t expect anything more than that.” She headed toward the door, feeling suddenly naked in her underthings.
“Can I hope?”
“You’re a fool if you do.”
“I’ll take my chances. Hilary, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” His expression seemed genuine. They always did—manipulative swine.
“You are only saying that to get into my bed.”
His tone became firm and his countenance hardened, eyes blazing with ardor. “I’m saying it because I mean it.”
“Nothing romantic will ever happen between us. None of this means anything.”
His face softened. “It does to me and your eyes say it means something to you too.”
Her eyes closed briefly, either to hide their depth from him or to escape his probing gaze. “You are mistaken.”
“Am I?”
“Wash your member off,” she snapped, leaving the bathroom. She had to get away from him.
Chapter Six:
Breakthrough
Cameron hated being confined in the cage when the girls were at work. He just knew Hilary would turn his shop into some pagan voodoo place. He had told her she could order some new items if she must, but he practically pleaded with her not to throw out the magic-trick stuff, since many of the kids in Temptation and even some of the adults were regular customers who were into that sort of thing. He wanted them to have some place local they could shop for it. She told him she was the boss now and could make no guarantees what would happen to his shop, but it wasn’t his concern. He could only hope she gave him a break.
It had been two weeks since she kidnapped him. Whenever Callie had the day off, she would let him out of the cage and they would talk while she scrapbooked. Sometimes they played cards or a board game or watched a movie together on the couch.
It was different from the times Hilary was home. She let him out of his cage and made him cook and clean while she relaxed. She had him paint her toes and let him massage her a few times, but she wouldn’t engage him physically except to paddle him when he misbehaved or his work wasn’t done to her satisfaction.
The tiny, adoring glances the women stole at each other when the other’s head was turned didn’t escape his notice. He would love to see them get dirty with each other, but those subtle, longing glances seemed to be the extent of their surrender to temptation. He wished they would take advantage of him. He could learn to please them in bed if they would just give him a chance.
At night he slept in the cage on a pile of blankets in Hilary’s room. Sometimes he went right to sleep and other times he just lay there and watched her sleep, listening to her breathe. She looked so peaceful and extraordinary, like an angel at rest. He wished she would let him sleep with her.
Hilary had been having nightmares for the past couple of nights. The first time she mentioned something about a tiger and flew awake. This time she tossed and turned and the word Nex came out. What the heck was Nex? She seemed to be talking to someone. A muffled cry sounded before she sat up in bed, breathing heavily.
“Are you all right?” Cameron asked.
“Nex, is he here?” She sounded afraid.
“Nobody’s here but me. Who’s Nex?”
She let out a deep, weighty exhale. “It’s getting worse.”
“What is—the nightmares?”
She didn’t answer.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No. I have to get up early tomorrow. I need sleep.” She lay back down.
“Hilary, you don’t have to do this on your own, any of it. I can help out at the store so you’re not so overworked and underrested.”
“Perhaps, but I want you working with me for the first few times. I won’t have you altering my changes to your store—my store.”
“I’m not going to mess anything up. I just want to help. If you let me out of here I can hold you.”
There was a long, telling silence that gave him hope before she shot him down. “No.”
“Ah, come on. You don’t have to do anything to me, just let me make you happy. It might take your mind off your problems.” He wasn’t sure if she smiled at this, but somehow he felt it in the warm darkness.
“Good night, Cameron.”
She called him by name. That was a change from the typical pet, slave, fool, knave, or any other nicknames she contrived for him. He wished more than anything she would let him hold her and rock her cares away. He could do it too. He just needed her to trust him enough to open up to him.
Callie had. After all the small talk and laughter, their friendship had developed enough that she confided to him that she had been raped by her ex. He embraced her tightly and tried to reaffirm the worth she seemed convinced she no longer had.
They eventually got onto the subject about how much they adored Hilary and for some reason this led to them making out all over the couch. They agreed they got a little carried away, but the next day they were at it again.
Cameron asked Callie if she would teach him how to please a woman and she agreed to it as long they kept the majority of their clothes on and he taught her how to please a man in return. It was awkward at first and a little funny at times, but once they learned the other’s body, it became heaven. He didn’t penetrate her, though. They agreed to stick with making out, hand jobs and oral sex. Both felt penetration was something that should be discussed with Hilary first, since she was a take-charge kind of woman.
Still, Cameron had wanted to practice on Callie in order to learn how to bring Hilary pleasure if she ever let him touch her again. He spoke frankly of this when they made their little arrangement, but Callie didn’t seem to mind and rather enjoyed being his guinea pig, but something happened that neither one expected. He started to have feelings for Callie as well. It began during their chats and time together and only deepened when they started touching. He knew anyone would probably call him a pig for wanting two women at once, but this was so much more than that. He genuinely cared about both women and would do anything to protect them. This town would understand that. He wondered if these women would too.
He got Callie to open up to him and feel good about herself again. Now he just had to find a way to reach Hilary.
* * * *
It had been a month since Cameron came to be with them. Hilary had permitted him to get his clothes during his first few days there, but only under her watchful eye. Callie finally convinced her to let Cameron walk around freely rather than locking him in the cage while they were gone. He seemed to revel in his freedom and it felt more like having another roommate rather than the pet Hilary insisted he was.
Callie went grocery shopping, remembering how good he always looked when they worked out at the gym together. She kicked the door closed behind her when she got home and then went into the kitchen and set the last grocery bag on the counter. She heard the door open and then close again and assumed either Hilary or Cameron had come home.
“How was your day?”
“Not bad. How was yours?”
The blood froze in her veins when she recognized the voice. It seemed out of place in this apartment, so it took her a second to assimilate where she’d heard it before. She turned, completely horrified when she saw Brent standing there.
“Did you miss me?” he asked.
“What are you doing here?”
“I just dropped by to thank you.”
“Thank me?” She swallowed, moving away from him when he stepped forward a few paces.
He wore a grin and let out a sardonic chuckle. “Yeah, for ruining my life.”
“I ruined your life? You raped me. You ruined mine.”
“No, no, no, baby. See, I was just trying to show
you a good time and broaden your mind, and what did you turn around and do? Report me to the police. Now I’ve got to constantly look over my shoulder in fear. Do you have any idea what that’s like?”
Callie tried to dash past him, but he slammed her against the counter and cupboard, making her squeal in fright.
“No, I don’t think you do,” Brent decided, roughly running his hand over her cheek and hair. “You’ve been so sheltered and spoiled your whole life you don’t know what fear is.”
His touch made her sick and scared the crap out of her. It wasn’t at all like Cameron’s loving, passionate touch. This felt violent and angry, evoking fear and loathing rather than tenderness and intimacy.
“Let me go.” Her voice came out shaky and terrified. Not like Hilary, who had authority when she spoke. She wished she had her bold confidence and Cameron’s strength. Why did she have to be the weak one? They never made her feel weak, but Brent did. It was a helpless, desolate feeling that made her sick to her stomach as her eyes stung.
“You see, what I don’t get is why you let some other guy touch you and not me. Explain that one, babe.”
Callie cringed when he grabbed her boobs. The thin tank top did little to fend off the feel of him. She tried to hit him only to have her head rammed back against the cupboard, provoking a twinge of pain.
“Remember that picture you sent me on your cell phone a while back of your new boyfriend’s dick? You said ‘now that’s a real penis.’”
She tried not to laugh. “We were a little tipsy when we sent you that.”
“So you’ve become a tramp now, is that it? Well, that’s good to hear.”
She tried to knee him in the crotch when he grabbed hers. “Don’t touch me!”
He slapped her and got a choking hold around her throat. “I’ll fucking touch you if I want to. If you scream, I’ll strangle you. Now you’re going to give me a good time and show me what you learned.”
Callie’s heart raced with joy when she saw Cameron walk in from outside. When he saw the threatening hold Brent had on her, he rushed over, tapped the man on the shoulder and punched him in the face when Brent released her and turned to see who touched him. A fight between the two guys started and when Callie tried to intervene, Brent backhanded her.
Cameron seemed enraged and knocked Brent onto his back, pounding him senseless in the face.
Hilary walked in a second later, gaping when she saw the violent brawl in session. She muttered some sort of foreign dialect and outstretched her arms like she was Moses calling on God to part the Red Sea. Cameron was hurled back against the wall by an invisible force and Brent jumped to his feet.
Hilary’s tone became the hiss of a serpent as she uttered a chant and turned Brent into stone.
Callie thought her eyes might pop out of her head from shock.
Hilary stared at the stone statue of Brent in hatred as if her gaze would kill him. “Are you both all right?”
“We’re fine. Thank you,” Callie assured her. “How did you do that?”
“How did he get in here?” Hilary demanded.
“The door was unlocked.”
“What the hell?” Cameron shrieked, appearing stunned.
Hilary folded her arms in disapproval. “Why was the door unlocked, Callie?”
“My arms were full of groceries. I was going to lock it after I put them away.”
“No. You lock it immediately and then put them away. It only takes a moment of carelessness for the enemy to strike.”
Callie lowered her gaze, ashamed she displeased her bestie. “Yes, Hilary. It won’t happen again.”
“See that it doesn’t. I’m glad you’re all right.”
“What the hell are you doing asking the questions when you just turned that asshole into a fucking rock?” Cameron shouted. “How did you do that?”
Hilary sighed, seeming reluctant to answer his question. “I’m a witch.”
“Well, I gathered as much,” he snorted.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Callie asked. “We wouldn’t have judged you.”
“I thought it would be better if you knew as little about me as possible.”
“You’re our friend, Hilary. We want to know everything about you,” she insisted.
Cameron spoke up. “What else haven’t you told us?”
Her eyes warned him. “I have told you what you need to know. Call the police. I will turn this scoundrel back before they get here to arrest him.”
* * * *
Two weeks passed and the heat of August was the only thing cooking as far as Cameron could tell. Callie had closed up since her recent trauma with Brent and Hilary still treated him like a slave, though she let him come and go as he pleased. He wondered if it had something to do with the way he defended Callie from Brent. Hilary didn’t seem as quick to whip out the newspaper and whack his butt for things as she normally did. She even took him into the bathroom and gave him a hand job as reward for protecting Callie, he guessed. The release felt amazing, but he went too far when he tried to kiss her. She jerked back, appearing startled before she became cold and walked out, telling him to remember himself.
Cameron came home from doing errands and found Callie lying on her stomach in bed. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Come lie with me,” she said quietly, lifting the covers to reveal the flowered bra and panties she wore and a whole lot of gorgeous tan flesh.
His mouth watered, wanting more than anything to put his hands on her. “I was just out in the hot sun.”
“Then take your clothes off.”
That wasn’t a command she or Hilary would ever have to repeat to him. He stripped down to his underwear, knowing she wasn’t comfortable baring it all with him yet. He climbed into bed behind her and spooned her, trying to keep his touches comforting rather than wanton.
“I’m sorry we haven’t really cuddled these past couple of weeks,” Callie said sadly.
“It’s all right. You needed some time and space. I understand. I’ve missed you, though.”
“I missed you, too.” She held his hand in hers and clutched it to her chest. “Does the thought of anal sex gross you out?”
This was unexpected. “Well, with a sheep it does.”
She turned to glance back over her shoulder at him, appearing startled. “What?”
“Nothing. I was just kidding. I’m pretty neutral about the thought in general, but the thought of doing it with you excites me.” He could tell even from behind her that she smiled when he saw the gentle rise of her cheek.
“I was going to wait until I was married. I was going to save myself for a nice guy. Somebody like you.”
“You’re still a virgin, Callie. Purity has to be given freely, it can’t be taken. What he did to you doesn’t make you any less moral or valuable. It only makes him a good-for-nothing asshole.”
“It must frustrate you the way Hilary spurns you and I clam up over my stupid past,” she said numbly. “It would be so easy to just take what you wanted and leave.”
Startled, Cameron rolled her over and directed her face so she had eye contact with him. His tone sounded as firm as his eyes probably looked. “Why would you say something like that? If you need time to learn how to trust again that’s fine, but don’t ever think I’m him, because I’m not.”
Her soft brown eyes glistened with sorrow. “I know. It’s just sometimes you seem too good to be true.”
“Well, Callie, I can’t help it if I’m wonderful. You just have to learn to accept that.” He grinned, enjoying her endearing giggle. He ran his fingers through her sleek, blonde hair, relishing the coconut scent that floated from her silken strands. “If I was like that I wouldn’t still be around.”
“Don’t you ever wish you could have sex with us?”
“Yes! For crying out loud, what’s a guy got to do to show how interested he is? I really want to have sex. Pass it on to Hilary, too, while you’re at it.” He shook his head with a grin at her laughter. “I woul
d never assault you two, but I’m starting to wish you guys would attack me.”
Callie smiled and brushed his cheek. “That would be fun. Why do you stick around if we’re so hard to get?”
“Because I’d rather be at the feet of you ladies than in bed with someone else. I know it will be worth the wait.”
Her eyes welled. “You really mean that, don’t you?”
Cameron brushed her soft cheek with the back of his finger. “With all of my heart.”
She closed her eyes and kissed the top of his hand. “Thank you. You’re perfect.” She rolled onto her side again and pulled him into her so he spooned her. “I never told you what Brent said to me when he…”
Cameron grimaced, reminding himself not to clench his fists while he held this sweet woman. “You don’t have to tell me that.”
“I need you to know.”
He refrained from sighing, resolving to listen to the words that would break his heart and piss him off simultaneously if it was truly important to her to inform him of them. “Go ahead then.”
“It hurt really bad. He told me to quit whining and said it would hurt a lot worse if he took me in the butt. He threatened to if I didn’t stop screaming and crying.”
Cameron’s fingers tightened and he buried his nose in her summer-scented hair, stopping himself when he dug his nails into her skin lightly. He didn’t want to hurt her, but he would sell his soul for a few minutes alone with the son of a bitch who had hurt her.
Callie continued. “He stuck his fingers in my bottom while he had his way with me and said I would always remember him, even if I didn’t want to. He said we could have had a nice fling and then part ways with good memories, but because I was such a frigid good girl he claimed I left him no choice. He said somebody had to teach me about the real world and I deserved to be punished for pretending to care about him and denying him what was rightfully his. He said it was my fault that he lost control. If I had been a good girlfriend I would have shared that with him freely.”