"We will, sweetheart," he promises, leaning down to capture my lips with his. "Not gonna let her get away with hurting you. No way in hell does she get to go free, not if I have anything to say about it."
chapter fifteen
dangerous woman
"You're sure?" I ask, glancing out of the window of his SUV at the crowded restaurant. "I mean…can't we just eat at the hotel like we have been?" Until now, we haven't left at all since Friday afternoon. We've stayed wrapped up in each other, ignoring the world outside and opting for room service instead.
"No," he says, reaching over to massage the back of my neck. "I'm not gonna keep you hidden away like a secret, kitten."
"But―"
"No." He narrows his eyes at me, a frown playing at his lips.
"Fine," I say with a sigh, knowing damn well arguing isn't going to get me anywhere. Not with that scowl on his face. He'll toss me over his shoulder and carry me inside if he has to do it. I unlatch my seatbelt with trembling fingers and take a breath. "Let's do this."
"Look at me first," he says, stilling me with a hand when I reach for the handle of the door.
I turn to glare at him. "What?"
"Stop," he murmurs, his voice soft and his gaze softer. "You don't have anything to be afraid of, sweetheart. No one is going to pick up their pitchforks or torches while we're eating dinner."
"I'm not worried about me," I mutter.
"What'd I tell you?" he asks, arching a brow. "I make my own choices."
I bite my lip to keep myself from telling him that I think this particular choice of his sucks. Saying it won't get me anywhere, expect maybe spanked. As fun as it is to have his hand on my ass, I'd rather not have it happen in the SUV in front of God and everybody.
"So fucking stubborn," he mutters with a shake of his head as if he knows exactly what I'm thinking about him and his insane decision to be seen with me in public. "Get your sexy ass out of the car so I can feed you something more than my cock, kitten."
"Fine," I say, shooting him another glare. Before I lose the nerve, I push open the door and hop out onto the sidewalk. A few people seated at tables on the patio glance in my direction. I straighten my dress and hold my breath until they turn back to their food.
Cam climbs out and circles around to me, sliding an arm around my waist.
I jump when he pulls me into his side.
"Relax. No one knows who you are," he leans in to whisper in my ear before guiding me toward the front doors of the trendy French restaurant on La Brea Avenue.
"Bonjour, and welcome to Noir," a pretty brunette says as soon as we walk inside, Cam's fingers splayed across my hip. The hostess smiles at us, her gaze lingering on Cam for just a beat before respectfully moving along. "Just two?"
"Yes."
"Would you like to dine inside or out?"
"Kitten?" Cam asks, looking at me.
"Inside, please," I decide quickly.
"Of course." The hostess gathers two menus and slips from behind the booth. "If you'll follow me," she murmurs politely and begins to weave her way through the dining room. The place is packed, diners filling most of the tables available. The smell of fresh baked bread and seafood fills the air, making my mouth water.
Cam stays right beside me as the hostess makes her way toward the back of the dining room and shows us to a booth. It's not exactly private, but this section of the dining room is separated from the larger section by a massive aquarium, leaving those on this side more or less obscured from the other side of the room.
"This is perfect," I say, slipping into the booth.
Cam surprises me by sliding in right beside me.
Our hostess lays the menus on the table. "Your server will be with you shortly. Bon appétit."
"Thank you," Cam murmurs and then lays a hand on my thigh, making me jump again. "Easy, kitten."
"Sorry."
We spend a few minutes looking over a menu together before setting it aside, our choices made.
Cam leans in like he's going to whisper in my ear, but he inhales instead. "You smell like me," he says so only I can hear. "Like I've been all over you."
He has been all over me. I can't count how many times he's slipped inside of me in the last twenty-four hours. He's taken me hard and fast in the shower, and then slow and easy against the wall. He's made me sit on his face until I screamed, and then flipped me over and spanked me while fucking me from behind. My body is littered with his marks, and every single one just serves to make me burn hotter for more.
I can still feel him inside of me, like he's imprinted himself there. I love it.
"I like having you all over me," I whisper back.
"Yeah?" He grins at me, giving me that dimple again.
I nod, blushing.
"So innocent," he murmurs before straightening up to give our waiter his attention.
"Bonjour. Comment allez-vous?" the man asks, glancing between the two of us. He's young, my age or a few years younger. With shaggy hair and blue eyes, he's handsome. His gaze lingers on my face for a moment before roving across my chest, the blue of his irises darkening as if he likes what he sees.
"Bonjour," Cam says, his accent perfect and his expression hard. He splays his hand across my shoulder, making it clear he's with me without being threatening or over-the-top about it. "Nous faisons bien. Et toi?"
Our waiter blinks and then laughs ruefully and holds his hands up. "You got me," he says to Cam. "My knowledge of French ends at 'how are you'."
Cam nods once, accepting the guy's surrender, and then he turns to me, his gaze softening. "What do you want to eat, kitten?" he asks me.
I place my order and then wait for Cam to do the same.
"I'll get it right out to you," our waiter says and then nods at us before moving along.
"I didn't know you speak French," I say when he's gone.
"Just a little, but I speak Spanish fluently."
"Really?" My eyes widen.
"Sí, senorita," he says and then leans in, pitching his voice low. "Desde que te conocí no hago nada más que pensar en ti. Tú eres la mujer más bella que he visto. No puedo vivir sin ti. Estoy desesperadamente enamorado de ti."
I have no idea what he just said, but judging from the way he's looking at me―like I'm the center of his world, his gaze soft and open ―he means every word. That look sends butterflies into flight in my stomach.
"What did you say?" I whisper, my voice shaking a little.
"I said that you're all I think about since I met you." He nuzzles his face into my neck, placing a kiss against my pulse. "That you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." His lips drift across my cheek towards my ear. "That I can't live without you." He nips my lobe before pressing his lips to the shell of my ear. "I said that I'm hopelessly in love with you."
"Cam," I gasp as soon as the words leave his lips, my heart stalling in my chest for a moment before racing away.
"I am," he says before I can say anything else. He pulls back, cupping my face between his palms. "You can say it's too soon or that I'm crazy, I don't give a shit. I'm in love with you, kitten. Have been since the first time you fell asleep in my arms. That's not gonna change, so you're going to have to find a way to accept it." He tugs my hand up, placing it over his heart again. "This is yours, sweetheart."
For a moment, I don't know how to respond. I'm stunned, unable to think of a single word as he stares at me, letting me see for myself that he means what he's saying. The truth is right there in his eyes, on his face…in the reverent way he holds my face between his palms.
He loves me.
Oh my god.
He loves me.
"I love―"
I crush my lips to his, cutting him off before he can say it again. He groans into my mouth and then kisses me back like a man on a mission, not giving a crap who is watching us. I don't care either, not when he tangles his fingers in my hair and angles my head so he can slip his tongue into my mouth.
When h
e pulls back, I'm breathless, dizzy with desire.
"You don't have to say it until you're ready," he murmurs, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "But I couldn't look at you for another minute without telling you how I feel about you. You own me, sweetheart. You have since the moment you opened your smart mouth and sang that damn song to me."
"I―"
He places a hand over my mouth to cut me off before I can find the words to say it back. "Not until you're ready."
I nod against his hand, watching him over his fingertips. He gives me another smile before pressing his lips to my forehead and then leaning back against the booth. He twines our fingers together, placing our hands on top of his thigh.
I want to say the words, right here and now…but I don't. Because I'm going to jail at any moment, and I'm suddenly more terrified than I have ever been in my entire life.
Dinner is quiet, enjoyable. Cam laughs and teases me throughout the meal, and then sweeps me up to take me back to the hotel, desire in his gaze. He holds my hand on the drive back to the hotel, sweeping his thumb back and forth across my knuckles, seemingly content.
I'm not, though. The words I want to say are a pressure on my chest, constantly building. By the time we make it inside, I'm ready to explode, but I still can't seem to say them.
What if I say them out loud, and everything comes crashing down around me?
What if I spend the next twenty years of my life in prison, locked away from him?
"C'mere," he says, inclining his head when the elevator doors close, shutting us away from the rest of the world.
I launch myself at him, kissing him desperately.
He grunts, and then he's kissing me back, his hands on my ass, pulling me into his erection. I rake my nails down his arms, pull his hair, and try to climb his body. I'm frantic with the need to feel him inside me again, here and now.
"Slow down, kitten," he says against my lips.
I ignore him, palming his cock through his pants.
"Fuck." His head hits the wall with a thump. "We gotta stop before the doors open."
"You don't want me to stop," I tell him, daring him to deny me.
He doesn't. I rub his length, and he still doesn't stop me. Not even when I unzip his pants and slip my hand inside, wrapping my fingers around him, does he stop what I'm doing to him. A low moan rumbles in his throat as he watches me through heavy lids as I pump and twist, my fingertips grazing his balls.
"It's my turn to fuck you, Cam," I say, getting up on my tiptoes to whisper the words in his ear. "It's my turn to take what I want from you."
He grunts again, an unintelligible sound that isn't a denial.
The elevator shudders to a stop and then dings.
I squeeze the head of his cock and then slip my hand from his pants. He doesn't try to zip them up, not even when the doors slide open. I walk backwards out of the elevator and he follows, his gray eyes locked on mine.
"Open the door," I demand, reaching out for him again when we stop outside his room. My knuckles graze across his erection before I pull his shirt out of his pants and go to work on the buttons.
He does as told, inserting the keycard into the lock and then jerking it out again.
The door opens behind me.
I step backward into the room, pulling him with me.
As soon as the door slams closed, I'm on him again, shoving him against the wall as I rip through his buttons. He shrugs the shirt off.
"Goddamn, kitten," he groans when I scratch down his abdomen, causing his stomach to contract beneath my hands. He likes it rough, too. I give him what we both want, delving one hand inside his pants again while digging my nails into his hip.
His pants hit the floor, and then he's in my mouth again. I take him deep, sucking hard. His hips move as if he's fighting to keep from thrusting into the heat of my mouth, but he stays still, letting me do what I want to him. I suck him in until he's hitting the back of my throat, and then I cup his balls in my hand, playing with him, driving him crazy this time.
"Fuck, kitten," he growls again, his jaw tight and his hands in fists against the wall. "Fuck."
"Give me what I want," I pull back to say before wrapping my lips around his length again. I use the flat of my tongue against the underside of his cock, dragging it across the veins until he's moaning. I rake my teeth gently across the tip and then plunge down, taking him deep again. Over and over, until he's the one writhing this time, desperate for relief. I don't let him have it. When he's on the edge, so close his balls have drawn up, I pop off.
His eyes fly open, desire and fury peeking at me from stormy gray depths. He's pissed, like I took away his favorite toy. But he still doesn't stop me. He watches me silently as I rip my dress over my head and toss it to the floor. My bra and panties follow. My hand slides down my stomach before my fingers delve into my folds.
I play with myself while he watches, his eyes smoldering.
"Couch," I manage to say, gasping.
He moves that way, his gaze trained between my legs the entire time.
I straddle him when he sits, hovering over the tip of his cock.
Only when his gaze meets mine do I take him, slamming myself down to impale myself on him.
"Fuck!" he shouts, bucking upward.
I latch onto his shoulders and begin to move, taking him all the way in before pulling back to slam myself down again. He's so deep that he hits my cervix with every thrust, causing me to cry out as pain and pleasure suffuse my body, taking it over.
I ride him hard, fucking him with wild abandon. He lets me do it, his eyes trained between my legs so he can watch me fucking myself with his cock. Grunts and the slap of skin on skin fill the room. The smell of sex is overpowering. It makes me bolder, braver.
"I want you here next time," I tell him through panted breaths, dragging his hand around until his fingers rest against my back entrance.
"Fuck yes, kitten," he groans, the sound raw and wild. He presses against me, slipping a finger inside of me. He works it in and out, matching my rhythm, and then he adds another, stretching me.
I cry out, so full I can't think straight anymore.
He snatches control away in an instant as if he was just waiting for me to crumble. "Is this what you want?" he asks, his tone dark. He bucks upward and then leans in and sucks my nipple into his mouth. "You want me everywhere?"
"Yes," I sob, overwhelmed by the sheer pleasure raging through me.
"Then take it," he grunts, grasping my hip with his free hand. He holds me steady, thrusting upward into me, fucking me this time. And he's so good at it. He's like an animal, uncaged and raging out of control. His cock and fingers drag me to the edge as he fills me again and again, his pace brutal. He withdraws his fingers from my ass only to slip them back inside again when I cry out at the loss.
"Greedy girl," he snarls against my breast. "Always wanting more."
"Cam!" I scream as an orgasm slams into me out of nowhere, making me buck and writhe in his lap.
He jerks me off of him, putting me on my knees, my torso draped over the back of the couch.
"Come on my cock again, kitten," he demands, slamming back inside of me. His hand comes down on my ass hard once, and then again and again. He slams into me over and over, impaling me on his cock as he spanks me, punishing me for trying to top him, and then he soothes the sting, palming my cheek, rubbing away the sting. "Fucking come, kitten." He presses his finger into my ass again.
That's all it takes to send me over the edge. I come hard, my pussy convulsing around his cock.
"Yes," he shouts, holding me still as he drives into me without rhythm, chasing his own orgasm. His hand digs into my hip. "Kitten," he roars, and then he's coming too, filling me so full of him, he leaks out, dripping down my thighs. He collapses against me, his head against my back as I lay sprawled over the back of the couch, gasping for breath.
"Fucking hell, sweetheart," he groans, pressing kisses into my skin. "You okay?"
/> I can't find the words to answer him, so I just moan.
We stay just like that for a long moment before he pulls out. I immediately miss the feel of him inside me and the warmth of his body against mine.
"C'mere," he mumbles and picks me up, cuddling me to his chest. He carries me to the bed and sets me down before collapsing beside me.
I moan again, fighting to stay awake.
"I love you," he says against my forehead, pulling the blankets up over us and then tucking me against his big body.
I love you too, I think, and then I'm out cold.
"Everyone is staring at me," I whisper to Cam the next morning as we stand at the desk, trying to check out. There are a handful of people scattered around the foyer, and their eyes are on the two of us. They hurriedly look away when I glance up, but I'm not imagining their stares.
"So I've noticed," he murmurs, cocking a brow at an elderly couple who are whispering behind their hands. They stop whispering and drop their gazes, but only for a moment. Before we can even turn around, they're both casting furtive glances at me again.
The only person not staring is the clerk checking us out, and he's not looking at us at all, instead keeping his gaze glued to the computer screen in front of him.
Cam glances around again and then taps a hand on the counter. "You have a paper?" he asks.
"A paper?"
"Yeah, a newspaper."
"Oh. Uh…" The flustered clerk spins in a circle before snatching the paper off the counter beside the register. "Here you go."
Cam unfolds the paper, flipping right to the local section.
"Oh no," I mouth, horror washing through me when I see the headline. Arrest warrant issued for San Francisco area teacher in UCLA student's death is in bold lettering across the top of the page, followed by a picture of me they must have pulled from my Facebook page. There's one of his family beside it. They're holding up photographs of Rory and candles on the UCLA campus. My entire body begins to shake, fear pounding through me like a drum. I try to read the article beneath the photos, but I can't see through the tears swimming in my eyes.
All Over You (All Falls Down #3) Page 19