by Rina Kent
His mouth was on me a moment later. I inhaled a sharp breath before gripping his hair and pulling. His tongue teased my nipple for a few moments, then he moved on to the next, sliding his tongue across my chest until he reached it.
“This isn’t the scenario you described,” I said, my voice shallow and filled with more amusement. My lips were parted, and my legs shook. Suddenly, the only thing I wanted was to bring that picture in his head to life. To let him fuck me in all the ways I knew I shouldn’t.
Old Me would’ve shook her head, but this was New Me. And New Me didn’t give a shit what Old Me thought.
All I wanted was Camden.
He stood and kissed my lips before urging me back onto the bed. I sat, but then bit my lip and smiled as I flipped over. He yanked my hips up and moved a pillow in front of me. He gripped my hair and lifted me, making me gasp, yet again, and squeeze my eyes shut. When he let go I fell into the pillow that he’d shifted—just as he’d promised.
“Which parts of what I mentioned are too far?”
His voice sounded behind me, and the air caressing my most sensitive area reminded me of how exposed I was to him. My thighs were spread and ass was in the air. All of me was visible.
I gnawed on my lower lip and focused on running through the things he’d said instead of imagining what he must’ve been seeing. My heart rate picked up, and I could feel each beat throbbing my ears.
“Nothing.”
Seconds passed without any reply, and I went to lift up to look behind me, but Camden pressed against my back to hold me down.
“Are you sure?” There was skepticism in his tone, but also excitement. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
This was what I wanted—for him not to hold back. I wanted to be the girl who gave him what he needed, and I wanted him to do the same. So far, he’d succeeded. Tonight, it was my turn.
“I’m sure.”
The clanking of his belt filled the room and caused my heart rate to speed up even more. My pussy clenched as if my body was anxious for what would come next. My mind, though? Still not fully on board. I wanted the pleasure and even the feeling of being dominated, but the pain he’d described was casting an ominous shadow over the desire.
But I was in control still. I could always tell him to stop if it was too much.
Camden urged my hands behind my back, more gentle than I would've expected, and guided them through a loop he’d made with his belt. Leather pressed into my wrists as he pulled it tighter, but it wasn’t painful. It certainly wouldn’t be leaving any marks.
“You good?” he asked, trailing his hands down my sides to rest on my hips.
I nodded into the pillow and shifted. In reality, I was in a little bit of a panic, but I wasn’t ready to stop it. Nothing bad had happened.
His zipper sounded behind me, and a few moments later, the head of Camden’s dick pressed against my opening.
I cringed and braced for pain.
“You sure there’s nothing I mentioned that might be too far?”
I nodded again.
I expected him to spear into me as he had the first time, but seconds passed with him only prodding against me. He’d pushed just the tip in and pulled out, rubbing it on my clit and repeating the motion.
Where was the pain?
“You’re perfect, Eden, you know that?”
I turned my head to the side to try and glance back at him when he thrust into me. All my muscles seemed to flex at the same time, and my movements halted. It hadn’t hurt like I’d expected, but it still robbed the air from my lungs.
I sucked in a breath and rested my cheek on the pillow. Camden moved out of me and back in slowly, guiding his hips to hit the spot he knew felt the best. His hands massaged my ass, and he lifted me up more before beginning to pump into me.
Waves of pleasure immediately began to crash over me, hitting me in the sweet spot with every jerk. I breathed in the fresh scent of the pillow and closed my eyes, letting the sensations take over.
“Is this good?” he asked, his voice gritty.
I groaned out a barely coherent ‘yes’ and met one of his thrusts. If anything, he was being gentler than usual, and I kept waiting for his movements to turn rough. He chuckled behind me and picked up the pace. His fingers dug into my hips, and his balls slapped against my thighs.
My mouth opened in another moan, and I turned my face into the pillow to muffle it. The fact that we were in Hunter’s house was floating around in the back of my mind, and I didn’t want anyone to hear us, even if it had been obvious what we’d been sneaking off to do.
My arms started to ache with them being held behind my back. I tugged on them to see if the belt would loosen, but it tightened instead.
I abandoned the effort and relaxed my face into the pillow, going back to focusing on the pleasure. It was almost like I was sinking in it. I could almost feel the chemicals swimming in my veins, taking over every one of my senses. The sound of skin slapping, the smell of lavender fabric softener on the pillowcase, the feel of my walls expanding each time his cock rutted into me. I was beginning to understand why he liked it this way. It was raw, primal. He seemed to be able to go even deeper, faster, and after some time, he went harder. I both ached and writhed in ecstasy, but it was such a gradual shift I barely even noticed. I’d stopped bracing for pain long before it actually came.
Camden slowed and tucked his hand beneath me to rub circles around my clit. It was the last bit of friction I needed to put me over the edge, and my mouth opened wide and my eyelids creased as my muscles spasmed with my release.
Camden’s thumb left my clit and he jerked his hips a few more times before stilling inside me. A warmth spread, but my mind was too foggy to tell what it was from. He undid the belt and let me collapse onto the bed before he shifted me so that I lay closer to the headboard.
My thighs were more wet than usual, and when I felt the liquid running across my thighs to the sheet, my eyes shot open. Camden was nuzzling himself behind me with his arms wrapped around me, and I turned my head to get a glimpse of him.
“What the hell, Camden? I said to use a condom.”
“You say a lot of things.” He kissed my shoulder, probably in an attempt to hide his smirk. “Get some sleep, baby.”
He moved his hand up and down my arm and trailed his kisses to the back of my neck, sending a flood of warmth through me yet again.
My eyes closed, despite my desire to whip around to tell him he was an asshole. But then again, I kind of loved it.
A faint smile lifted my lips and I snuggled into him more. Seconds passed, and I started to register his caresses less. My breathing grew heavy, and I drifted off into the hardest sleep of my life.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Cam
Holding the letter above my head, I ran my fingertips over the ink for the thousandth time.
Dear Camden Knight,
We are pleased to inform you…
I’d memorized the feel of each letter. Could recite the entire thing from memory.
MIT wanted an interview.
MI fucking T.
It arrived yesterday, and I still hadn’t told anyone the news, not even my parents. What would they think if I told them I’d applied? That I planned to blow off my scholarship to OU if I got in? Would they be happy, disappointed, proud? I didn’t have a clue, so instead I’d kept it to myself. Eden got back from her Berklee interview tonight, and I’d tell her then.
She would be happy. At least that made one person.
My phone buzzed and I sat down the letter before picking it up, expecting Eden. She should be texting me anytime now so we could celebrate with her family. Apparently, she’d kicked the interview’s ass, and her orchestra instructor had already written an impressive recommendation letter.
She was in, and she deserved it.
It wasn’t Eden who’d texted, though. It was Hunter.
Need to talk. Come to the football field?
I sighed an
d typed back that I was on my way. His dad probably flipped his shit again. Hunter and I had gone up to the school before for impromptu practices when his dad demanded he do better. It was so old, but Hunter was usually calmed down by the end of them.
I changed into sweats and a hoodie before leaving the house. It was only six thirty, but the sun had set. Crisp air sawed in and out of my lungs as I made my way to my Jeep parked in the driveway.
When I pulled up to the school, the stadium lights were on, but Hunter’s car wasn’t in the parking lot. I pulled out my phone and called him.
“Hey, you about here?” he asked.
“Yeah, I just pulled up. Where’s your car?”
“I parked it in a different lot. Wanted the walk.” His tone was tense. Angry. Normally, he did a decent job of containing it when his dad was being a dick.
“All right, I’ll be right there.”
The line went dead, and I pulled my phone back to look at the flashing screen. With a sigh, I stuffed my phone into my hoodie pocket and climbed out of the Jeep.
When I was almost to the football stadium, my phone buzzed again. This time it was Eden.
Finally home. So much jetlag. Ugh, come over?
I started to type that I’d be late, but Hunter entered my line of sight. His face and eyes were hard as granite, and his hands were shoved in his jean pockets. He didn’t look like he was ready to practice. He just looked pissed.
I slipped my phone back in my hoodie and continued toward him. Whatever his dad had done, it was bad. And honestly, it was about damn time. My veins throbbed and I readied myself for whatever he was about to tell me. This time, we’d get revenge. We’d get Sherry to report him, we’d fuck up his business, something. I was sick of this asshole.
“What did he do?” I made it to Hunter, and he turned and gestured for us to head to the field.
“I assume your parents don’t know where you are?” he asked, ignoring my question. His tone was as hard as the rest of him.
“No, why?”
“What about Eden?”
“Hunter, your business is your business. I don’t tell people about it, and you know that.”
He was walking ahead of me, but he paused and looked back. I came up beside him, and he put a hand on my shoulder. “Good, Cam. I’m glad I have such a great friend.”
He continued toward the field, and I walked with him, but a sickening feeling came over me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and my gut churned.
Something was wrong.
“Hunter, what’s up?”
Hunter slid his hand off my shoulder and walked ahead of me, ignoring my question yet again. I glanced around, sensing something but having no idea what it was. My steps were slow, but I continued to follow Hunter. We rounded the corner of the stadium, revealing several of our friends waiting for us. Trey, Nathan, and Zac stood in front. Joshua and Kyle stood above us, leaning on the railing of the bleachers, but they weren’t alone. Eden’s friend, Sebastian, was with them. Joshua and Kyle slid beneath the railing and landed on the ground behind me, while Sebastian took the stairs to join the group.
Sweat coated the hairs still sticking up on my neck, and I darted my eyes to the circle forming around me, with Hunter and me in the middle. Hunter’s arms were crossed over his chest, and his eyes were narrowed. I glanced at everyone’s faces… they were all like that.
“Kay, so what the fuck’s going on?” I asked, a laugh crawling up my throat and coming out with no trace of humor.
“You don’t already know, Cam?” Hunter asked, his eyebrows raising. “I find that hard to believe.”
I pointed to Sebastian. “What’s he doing here?”
‘We’ll get to that in a minute. The guys have something they’d like to say.”
“Did you set Jade up to tell Paige that I cheated on her?” Trey asked, his giant form seeming even bigger with the way his chest expanded.
“What?”
“Last year, when I was dating Natalie,” Zac interjected. “You fucked her, didn’t you?”
My eyes snapped to Hunter. He’d been the only one who knew about that.
“She dumped me the next day, and you told me she wasn’t worth it, anyway. Do you remember that?”
“Zac I—”
“What about my sister,” Nathan said before I could think through the lie I was about to tell.
I turned to face him. “All right, I’m sensing a pattern here, and if you want to believe whatever bullshit Hunter’s decided to tell you, then fine, but I’m already done with this.”
I took a step toward a hole in the half circle, but Nathan and Trey moved in to block me.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
An ache spread over every muscle in my body, and I closed my eyes in preparation for what I knew was coming.
“Sebastian, why don’t you tell Cam what you told me,” Hunter said.
I opened my eyes and turned to him, not bothering to hide the regret from my expression. “That’s not necessary.”
“Oh, so you’d like to just admit it yourself? Did you grow a pair of balls since thirty seconds ago?”
“Listen.” I held up my hands to him. My eyes darted around the group before settling on Hunter. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes.”
“Sebastian, spill it,” Hunter called over his shoulder. He turned back to me, rage burning underneath the surface.
He knew.
“Eden told me she walked in on you and Hunter’s mom having sex the same night she walked in on Jade and Hunter.”
Every brain cell I had screamed at me to deny it. That Eden was jealous and making up crazy things. This moment was what I’d been trying to avoid all along. It’s the reason I set out to destroy her credibility in the first place… and then I’d restored it.
I thought she hadn’t told anyone.
A knife drove into my back, but I couldn’t bring myself to be angry with Eden. I did this. It was on me.
“I don’t know what to say to that.” I took a breath and took in the angry faces of my friends. The ones who now knew every last shitty thing I’d done to them over the years. I didn’t keep secrets from Hunter, except for the obvious one having to do with Sherry. In any case, there was one thing abundantly clear.
He was done keeping them for me.
“Is it true?” Hunter asked, his arms uncrossing. Pain flashed across his features, momentarily masking the rage. He’d expected me to deny it, and I should’ve. But I couldn’t do it anymore. I didn’t want to lie, to hide things, to pretend to be anything more or less than I was. I was a shitty fuckin’ friend, and he deserved better than me.
They all did.
Emotion clogged my throat, so I cleared it before speaking. “I know sorry doesn’t cut it. I know you want an explanation, but honestly, I don’t have one.” I shook my head and swallowed. “I’m so fuckin’ sorry, Hunter.”
The hurt vanished from his face, and I had a moment’s notice to brace for the fist flying through the air. I lifted my hands, but not fast enough to block the punch to my jaw. My teeth clamped down on my tongue and blood filled my mouth. It spilled to the ground as I bent over and cupped my face.
“You mother fucker!” Someone yelled before shoving me to the ground. The ringing in my ears was too loud for me to distinguish who it was. A shoe connected with my side and then another. Yells and curses flew through the air, aimed at me, all still muffled by the ringing.
“Enough!” Hunter’s voice cut through the noise, and the kicks stopped. I honestly didn’t want them too. I deserved this. I deserved so much worse, but nothing could mask the pain of losing my best friend.
What had I done?
Trey gripped my hoodie and pulled me up. He dragged me to the concrete wall the bleachers sat on and threw me against it. A sharp pang rang out in my head, and my skull felt like it’d cracked. I touched my hand to the back of my head and brought my dampened fingers back to peer at the blood.
They formed a half circle around me, and Trey pi
nned me to the wall, extending my right arm across it. Instincts kicked in, and I fought against Trey, but Nathan stepped up to help him. Trey clamped a hand over my mouth, while Nathan took over holding my arm out.
I’d gotten my wish. It wasn’t over.
My eyes locked onto Hunter’s, the pain I’d seen earlier long gone. Sebastian was to his right, looking nervous as hell. His eyes darted around like he was trying to decide if it was the right time to flee.
“You know, Cam. I think I speak for all of us when I say I’m sick of you being in the spotlight.”
He held out his hand and Zac pulled a hammer from the inside of his jacket, handing it to Hunter.
My eyes widened, and I struggled harder against them, eliciting Kyle to jump in and help hold me to the wall. My words were muffled against Trey’s hand.
Every muscle in my body contracted as he stepped closer to me.
“So how about we change that?”
Eden
Sorry babe. Having a rough night and can’t make it. Meet me at the football field?
I stared at Camden’s message, trying not to be angry.
“Is he on his way?” Mom asked, putting the last of the dishes in the sink. “We can put a piece of cake aside for him.”
“No, he uh... he’s busy.”
“Oh.” Mom’s lips pulled into a frown, and she turned to the sink.
I sat the phone on the table and took in a deep breath.
He said he was having a rough night. I didn’t know what that entailed, but maybe it really was bad enough that he needed to skip out on my celebratory dinner. So what if he waited an hour to text me back? So what if he didn’t let me know in advance so I didn’t stare at my phone like an idiot waiting for him to say he was on his way?
Rolling my eyes, I picked up the phone and punched in a text.
Me: Rough night? Are you okay?
Three dots popped up immediately like he’d been waiting for me to text back.
Camden: Will be. Just need to see you…
A few more seconds passed.
Camden: Please?