by Max Monroe
He made it so easy for me to beat around the truth bush. Probably too easy, in fact.
But my hands felt tied, and my mind warred over the idea of telling him everything. I was tempted to lay it all out there and let him know the truth behind my Trixie persona.
The admission even sat on my lips, ready and waiting to be released, but I just couldn’t let it go.
I knew Cam was a good guy. But he also scared the shit out of me.
He held more power than any man I’d ever been with. The strength of my feelings for him made me impulsive and irrational, and I needed to tread carefully on exposing all of the true details of my life. Although the way I felt for him was undeniable, I’d only known him for such a short time in comparison to the years I’d spent working my way up in my detective career.
Over the past seven-plus years, I’d put everything into my work. Blood, sweat, tears—I’d worked so hard to get where I was. I’d sacrificed so much. I’d dedicated everything to my career.
Not to mention, I’d been working on this one single, yet extremely important case for longer than I’d actually known him.
It felt a little too quick—too fucking fast—to just up and tell him something that was so top secret, so important.
If my mind was an arcade game, my thoughts were a fucking pinball bouncing around at a chaotic pace.
All I could do was focus on the now. While I tried to find my footing and understand the whirlwind of it all, the only thing I could do was reassure him the feelings that flowed between us were one hundred percent mutual. And real.
I reached up to rest my hand against the firm lines of his face. The days’ old scruff of his beard brushed across my palm, and I smiled. “I’m happy I’m here, Cam.” And I was. That was an unquestionable truth.
“Me too,” he grinned and leaned forward again to press a soft peck of a kiss to my lips.
My eyes fluttered closed when his mouth touched mine and the urge to fall back asleep became another undeniable truth. So much so that it took a little more strength than usual to open my eyes back up again.
“What time is it?” I asked, and my voice was still raspy and thick with sleep.
“A little after eight.”
Holy moly. No wonder I felt so tired.
We’d spent most of the night losing ourselves in one another, and it wasn’t until just before the sun started to make its debut on the horizon that we’d both managed to fall asleep.
“It’s eight in the morning?” I asked, and he nodded. “Oh, do you have practice or something?”
He shook his head.
“Somewhere important to be?”
“Nope.” He shook his head again and added, “Do you have somewhere important to be?”
I didn’t have to be at the club today or tonight.
And, technically speaking, I had absolutely nothing to do—not even a trip to the station—and for once in my life, I felt like capitalizing on the opportunity.
“So, let me get this straight,” I said and narrowed my eyes. “You don’t have anywhere to be, and I don’t have anywhere to be…so why exactly are we awake this early?”
“What’s wrong with getting up this early?” A hint of a smile kissed his lips. “Sunny summer mornings are meant for enjoying.”
I loved sunny days as much as the next gal, but Lord Almighty, I also enjoyed sleeping in. Especially when I’d spent the night prior engaging in a sex marathon that lasted until the wee hours of the morning.
“I’ve got an idea,” I said, and he quirked a curious brow. “How about you enjoy the rest of this glorious morning, and I’ll catch a few more hours of shut-eye?”
I didn’t give him any time to respond.
“Okay, perfect.” I blew him a kiss, but when I attempted to turn on my side, he laughed and thwarted my attempts.
I wasn’t normally one to sleep the day away, but God, he’d worn me out last night. Plus, Cam’s bed was really fucking cozy. The epitome of luxury. It made me question if I needed to invest in a new mattress and high-thread-count sheets.
“I know you’re enjoying my bed, but it’s time to wake up,” he said and pressed another kiss to my lips. “You wouldn’t happen to have a change of clothes in your car, would you? I mean, I won’t mind if you wore what you had on last night, but I was kind of hoping you had something a little more substantial than those flip-flops to cover your feet.”
I might’ve gone to Cam’s house last night on an impulsive, emotional-fueled whim, but generally speaking, I was a cop through and through. Always prepared and thinking two steps ahead, a spare change of clothes and shoes were a constant in my trunk.
“Yeah…” I tilted my head to the side. “Why?”
“Because I want to enjoy another ride with you.” He ran his index finger up my cheek. “And take you somewhere special today.”
Take me somewhere special? Like, somewhere out in public?
A hint of panic started to seep into my bones, and my mind raced with the possible worst-case scenarios that being spotted in public with a sports celebrity like Cam could create.
It wasn’t a risk I really wanted to take.
Not for him. Not for me. Not for my career.
Which meant it definitely wasn’t a risk I should take.
“Where exactly are you planning to take me?” I regained my focus and forced myself to play it cool.
He smiled his perfect smile. “Somewhere no one else but you and I will be,” he explained, and his vagueness urged a little laugh from my lungs.
“I’m not sure if that sounds like the best thing ever or the kind of situation that will end up with my picture on Dateline.”
It was his turn to laugh. “It’s the former.”
“Are you sure?” I narrowed my eyes and made a show of scrutinizing his face. “I mean, I took self-defense classes in high school. And the most important rule was to never let them take you to a second location.”
“Trust me, you’ll love this second location.”
“How much will I love it?”
He winked. “Almost as much as you loved having my cock inside of you last night.”
“You’re such an arrogant ass,” I said and reached across to playfully slap his shoulder, but he took that as an opening to pull my body directly over his as he readjusted himself to his back.
“An arrogant ass who can’t seem to ever get enough of you,” he whispered with a devious little smirk on his lips. His big hands cupped my ass, and I had to swallow back the moan that threatened to escape my throat.
Well, this sure has some wonderful possibilities…
I was still sore in all the right places, but God, the idea of feeling him inside of me again was too damn tempting to pass up.
“You trying to have your way with me?” I asked and teased him by moving my hips and rubbing myself against his now growing arousal.
It didn’t take long before he was hard and thick between my thighs.
“Pretty sure I should be the one asking you that question,” he retorted, and I just smiled innocently.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I swear to God, playing coy could be your superhero strength,” he said and slid his thick arousal against the oh so perfect spot that urged a wave of excitement to roll up my spine.
I couldn’t hold back my responding moan. It left my lungs on a rush, and by the heat that had now taken up residence in his brown eyes, appeared to be music to his ears.
“I’m glad I woke you up early,” he whispered.
He snagged a condom from the bedside table and quickly sheathed himself. And slowly, oh so fucking slowly, he slid himself inside of me, giving me far too much time to adjust to each and every inch.
By the time he filled me completely, I felt like I’d go insane if he didn’t increase his pace.
“More,” I begged, but he was all about taking his time.
With his cock buried inside of me, he shook his head and moved his mouth to my bare breasts,
sucking one pert nipple into his mouth.
I moaned my arousal, and his lips curved up into a smile.
He flicked his tongue against my nipple before sucking it back into his mouth.
And when he released it with a delicious pop, he focused his attention on the other breast, placing openmouthed kisses across my chest until his mouth was full again.
Fuck, it felt good. He felt good.
I moved my hips against him, but he didn’t respond, merely content with feasting on my breasts while his cock never budged an inch.
“You’re driving me crazy,” I moaned.
“Likewise, sweetheart,” he whispered and lifted his face back to mine. “I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you.”
He kissed me, teasing his tongue against mine until he deepened the kiss on a raspy growl. For a long moment, I lost myself to his lips, his tongue, his wicked talented mouth. But, eventually, my underlying need to feel him moving inside of me hopped back into the driver’s seat.
“Please, Cam,” I begged.
“You want more of my cock?”
“God, yes.”
“You want it all?”
I nodded and moaned and wiggled my hips to punctuate my nonverbal response.
He eased my body up until I was vertical, and my eyes practically rolled to the back of my head when I felt his thick shaft inch a little deeper inside of me.
“Ride me, baby,” he said. “I want you to take as much of my cock as you need. And I don’t want you to stop until I hear your sweet moans and feel that tight little cunt of yours clenching around me.”
Yes, please.
He didn’t have to tell me twice.
I placed my hands on the firm muscles of his chest and braced myself as I moved my hips up and down.
My movements started out slow, but my pace grew with the pleasure. Building and building and growing deeper and faster until I couldn’t hold myself up any longer.
“Fuck, I think I’m addicted to you,” he said on a deep moan, and his hands cupped my ass again, urging me harder and more possessively. “Yeah, I’m definitely addicted to you.”
Me too.
Brown and gold, his eyes stared up at me like I was the most beautiful woman on the planet. Fuck, I felt heady from it. I felt sexy and wanted and so damn turned on that I couldn’t not lose myself to the feel of him. To the feel of us together.
I wanted everything he could give me and then some.
Attraction, want, need, it wasn’t rational. These were matters of the heart.
And you know what they say about the heart: it wants what it wants.
There was no denying I wanted Cam.
Hell, it had started to feel like I more than just wanted him.
I felt like I needed him too.
Wind whipped and the sun shone in the salty early June air. The open road had never felt as good as it did right now with Lana on the back of my bike and my beach house waiting for us on the other end of the drive.
It’d taken us three hours to find the willpower to stop kissing one another and get dressed. And another hour or so to actually leave the house.
But the wait had been worth every second.
I knew she didn’t know what to expect, and I still chuckled inside at the teasing fear that I might be taking her to a secluded location and she’d end up on Dateline.
I doubted she’d keep feeling that way, though, as we neared the coast and the crowds picked up.
I had a house in Manasquan, a little beach town in New Jersey with some of the best the Shore had to offer. It was less popular than nearby Point Pleasant but had everything I needed in a vacation home.
It’d cost a couple million to get the house I wanted right on the water, but I didn’t splurge on much and I hadn’t regretted the purchase for even a second since I’d made it.
Even Hurricane Sandy in 2012 hadn’t dampened my spirits. If anything, it’d shown me the spirit of everyone in town and the willingness of all of my neighbors to lend a hand or help in any way they could.
Two years ago, I’d raised the house onto stilts to avoid the flood damage of any future major storms, and if anything, it’d only improved my view.
Just a little farther peek at the horizon, a millisecond earlier glimpse of the sunrise.
Lana’s arms tightened around my waist reflexively as I took the final turn into the stone driveway, and I smiled.
I didn’t think I’d ever get used to the feel of her front pressed so close to my back, or the excitement of knowing she’d been the one to come to me the night before.
What we had wasn’t in my head. It wasn’t imagined out of longing, and it wasn’t a fluke.
She’d been drawn to me just as I’d been drawn to her, even if the circumstances were altogether inexplicable.
If you’d have asked me if I’d ever meet the woman of my future at a strip club, I’d have looked at you like you were crazy.
And yet…here we were.
I didn’t know that Lana was my future, but the basic, instinctive part of me sure was hoping.
The loud roar of the bike faded as I cut the engine, and the roar of the waves on the other side of the house got louder.
Lana climbed off the back first, pulling the helmet from her head and letting her hair spill down, and I turned to watch the show.
She laughed when she noticed and waved an impatient hand.
“Yeah, yeah, get moving, would you? I want to see the beach!”
Her excitement seemed excessive for a woman who lived within an hour of the Shore herself and threw up a red flag in my mind as I removed my helmet and climbed from the bike.
She practically bounced on her toes when I turned back around, and at the sight of her, I couldn’t not ask. “What’s up? Haven’t you been to the beach before?”
She bit her lip shyly and shrugged.
“Never?” I was floored.
She shook her head. “No, not never. Just…not since I was a kid.”
She was always so stingy with personal information that I was happy for a glimpse into any of her life, superficial as it was. Still, I figured I’d better tread lightly if I wanted to get any deeper.
I wasn’t always the most patient man in the world, but when it came to this woman, I apparently had an endless supply. She brought out something in me I couldn’t even formulate into words. Even during her difficult moments of uncertainty and the snaillike pace at which she offered insights into her life, being with her was better than anything else.
Lana just made everything better.
I took in her giddy face and impatient, bouncy feet, and my chest puffed out with pride. An elated smile followed, cresting my lips upward until it reached my cheeks.
I felt grateful I got to experience this moment with her. It seemed small, but God, it made me feel huge. It felt like a victory. Like we were headed in the right direction, whatever our path might have been.
“Wow,” I said with my smile still firmly intact. “You’ve been missing out. Living this close and not taking advantage? We better skip the tour of the house and go straight outside.”
Her responding smile was warm and her eyes were wide. She didn’t even have to say anything for me to know she agreed.
“Come on,” I said with a chuckle and grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”
“Eeep,” she squealed as I dragged her right into a jog, bypassed the garage, and walked right through the storage area located on the right side, below the newly placed stilts, and to the back of the house. The pool was blue and inviting, but she barely even glanced at it as the ocean spilled and ebbed in front of us.
At the edge of the sand, she skidded to a stop and pulled off her boots and socks with lightning speed.
“I knew you were a stripper,” I teased, “but I had no idea you could take your shoes off so quickly.”
She twisted her mouth in annoyance, but she recovered quickly, rolling her eyes. I wondered at the pause, but I didn’t focus on it long.
I stripped off my own boots quickly, watching with a smile as she took off toward the ocean at a run and went straight into it.
Chilly June water or not, she didn’t even pause before disappearing up to her thighs.
Her jeans soaked and sponged up the water eagerly, and I hurried my pace to get out there just in case the weight of them tried to pull her under.
“Oh my God,” she yelled, splashing at the water at her sides as I jogged toward her. “It’s fucking freezing!”
I laughed at how she could complain and be so happy all at once. It took skill to be that endearing.
Or natural talent.
I wasn’t sure which method she’d used, but damn, she had it mastered, and I was more than ensnared in her web of adorable and cute.
“Yeah,” I quipped, stepping into the edge of the spray and then jumping back at the chill. “You didn’t let me warn you.”
She eyed my hesitation and pounced with her teasing words. “Holy cow! You wimp! Supposedly a big, bad football player, and you’re scared of a little cold water?”
I smiled and smarted off. “Hey, I have delicate skin. Very temperature sensitive.”
“Get your ass in the water, Cam Mitchell!” she yelled, calling the attention of a few beachgoers several houses over.
I laughed at her enthusiasm and smirked. I’d planned on getting in the water all along, but now it was on.
Finally noticing the change in my face, she held up her hands and started to back away.
“Oh no,” she shrieked. “Don’t you dare!”
With an impassioned yell, I charged, grabbed her at the waist, and picked her up over my shoulder before dunking us underwater.
The shock of it was cold, but the look on her face when we surfaced… Good Lord, it was worth it.
“You are so dead!” she shouted and tried to slap me away with both hands.
“Hey,” I reasoned cheekily and didn’t let up, moving toward her with a smirk that matched my words. “You’re the one who wanted me in the water.”
One taunt after another, we splashed and dunked and teased until our limbs were numb and Lana’s lip quivered and turned adorably blue.
I wanted to kiss that perfect mouth of hers warm. Needed to, in fact.