Chapter 25

W hether it was lingerie or eveningwear, Cameron had a knack for making me into some otherworldly beautiful alternate version of myself. She took me out to a studio she liked in the area while Anya was doing the alterations, and she got my makeup done professionally. I'd have felt bad for how much this trip must have been costing her, but as I watched the makeup artist touch me up in the mirror, I somehow had a sneaking suspicion having me in a tailored dress and professional makeup was… maybe not exactly a sacrifice from Cameron's point of view.

Once we were back at Anya's shop, I barely got time to say a word before I was whisked into the back, put into a dress so Anya could make the final adjustments, tugging here and poking there. Even with just me and Anya in the back, my mind was so occupied thinking of Cameron that it caught me by surprise when Anya spoke, her voice low while she focused on a stitch.

"Eight years now," she said, and I gave her a look.

"Are you talking to me?"

"Who else? You think I'm a senile lady who talks to herself in the back?" She shook her head. "Eight years I've known Cameron, back when she was a young upstart. Had to watch Kevin drain the life out of her."

Something drew tighter in my chest at the mention of him. "So, not a fan of his."

"He took a young woman with big dreams—" She tugged something too tight, pulling hard with a bitter tone in her voice, and she relaxed it with a sigh. "You know how rare it is to see a woman in today's world who gets to dream that big? And she puts in the work to realize it, too. And this man comes in and cuts it all down. Wants to mold her into his happy image of a wife. Makes me sick."

I swallowed, my heart beating faster now. "You and me both, Anya. A little too much in my case. I broke character when he was talking to me one time and accidentally—"

"Told him not to throw away anything he wants to keep."

I lurched, a dizzy sensation in my head. "She… told you?"

She smiled, drily, just to herself, as she closed off a stitch and set down her tools. "She's quite taken with you. Just promise me you won't do the same as he did to her."

I'd been hoping maybe I could get here, that maybe I could do this—that I could reach Cameron's orbit—but now that I was here, it felt so surreal, like I'd never really had a chance and persevered anyway.

But I sure as hell wasn't letting the opportunity go now.

"I promise," I said. "Just, uh… just so happens those dreams are what I like most about her."

"Hm." She tried to sound unconvinced, but she couldn't fight the smile at the corners of her lips. She turned me around, facing me towards the mirror, and it felt like I got the wind knocked out of me. "Here you are. This is the best I'm getting you in one evening. I'll have you know, I don't do requests like this for just anyone, so you'd better be grateful."

I looked like I should have been on the red carpet. Was it strange to take my own breath away with how I looked? "It's gorgeous," I said quietly. "Thank you, Anya."

She got a wicked smile. "Now, let's go see how your girlfriend reacts."

"She's not my—"

"Will be, if you keep looking like that for her. Get to it." She clapped me lightly on the back, guiding me towards the door. The dress was even comfortable to move in—the fabric was softer against my skin than I'd expected, and it didn't strain or tug anywhere. I felt like I was gliding on a cloud as I pushed through the door, and out to where Cameron sat on a faded old stool by the register. The way her eyes flared looking at me, rising slowly—drinking me in—I couldn't get enough of it, not in a lifetime.

"Anya's not bad," I said casually. "Best tailor I've been to in Miami."

Anya swatted my arm. "Oh, you're no better than Cameron, all the smart comments."

"She is good, though," Cameron said, moving towards me like in a dream. "Turn around for me."

I got a shudder down my spine at the gently commanding tone, and I hoped I wasn't blushing again as I turned, slowly, arms out showing her the dress from all sides.

"Opera-ready, I'd say," she said, eyes gleaming as I met her again. "What do you think?"

I thought a lot of things I wasn't about to start saying in front of Anya. "I think it's gorgeous. And I think… thank you. This is the best gift I've ever gotten. Not even a close contest."

Cameron took one last long look at me before she turned back to Anya. "Invoice me the amount, Anya, I'll have it handled once I'm back in the office."

"Deciding the payment terms, I see," Anya said, shaking her head with a smile. "All right, you. Get on out of here. You can't be late to an opera."

I laughed nervously as we left the shop, sticking close together on the walk back to her car. "I feel like we stand out."

"I think you've always stood out," she said lightly. I nudged her in the side.

"Such a flirt today."

"I mean it," she laughed, eyes sparkling as she stopped at the passenger-side door on her car, holding it open for me. "You have a presence. It's hard not to notice you. Now… are you getting in the car, or will I have to make you?"

"As exciting as that sounds…" I sank into the seat, and she shut the door behind me, coming around to join me. I took the moment to shamelessly stare at her as she did.

It wasn't a long drive to the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, and the sun was just a dim glow behind the horizon once we stepped out of the car, Cameron leading me towards the opulent stylings of the front of the opera house, tall lines of silver and glass standing over the meeting of brick plaza and palm trees that swayed in a warm nighttime breeze. We weren't the odd ones out anymore—with the staff at the front ushering everyone through dressed up prim and proper, we were surrounded by people in neat suits and stunning dresses, but we still got quick looks from the people around us, Cameron's two gorgeous dresses between the two of us turning heads. Almost possessively, I stuck closer to Cameron's side as we went up the stone steps into the entrance.

"Frequent visitor here?" I said, my voice low, close to her ear. "Should we expect to run into your old opera-going friends here?"

She laughed, keeping her gaze straight ahead as we filtered through the crowd, squeezing into a dimly lit hallway towards the theater. "It's my first time."

"Really?"

She looked away. "It's a bit living like royalty, wouldn't you say?"

Something surged in me, a complex mixture of sympathy and something angrier, but above all else it was kind of… I got to bear witness to Cameron living like she wanted. And I got to be a part of it.

Against all my better judgment, I slipped my hand into hers. She flinched a little, eyes going wide, but when I gave her a light squeeze, she returned it, hesitantly, nervously, and she didn't let go. "Well," I said, "this will shock you, but it's my first time, too."

She smiled wider. "How about that?"

"By the way, will I… understand this opera?"

"?a dépend. Parles-tu fran?ais ou non ?"

Where she'd just pulled that from, I didn't know—come to think of it, Kevin had said her family came from Provence. Either way, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a little sexy… "Uh—juste un peu. J'ai… étudie quand j'étais petite."

She laughed, giving my hand an affectionate squeeze. "Not bad. It's Carmen, a classic. I only ever spoke French with my grandparents, so I was hardly ever fluent… we'll see how much I understand. Either way, they give you the translation."

"I had no idea you spoke French."

"Could it be you're a fan?"

I laughed awkwardly, following her through a door and into the wide, echoing space of the theater. "What would be the point in denying it?" I said, and she gave me another affectionate squeeze before she led me towards the front.

"For the record," she said, taking me down the third row—because apparently just attending an opera in our fine tailored dresses wasn't enough unless we watched from the front block. "I definitely don't mind hearing you speak it either. Even if it is only a little."

Maybe I'd put French on my personal itinerary. Was I being a stereotypical lesbian, wanting to learn French suddenly for a girl?

I didn't mind.

It had my heart pounding, the way she casually held onto my hand the whole time—never addressing it, but as the lights darkened and the theater fell into a hush, and spotlights shone down illuminating the stage as the curtains drew back, quietly in the darkness, she still held firmly onto my hand. And as the singers' vocals filled the space with aching for a tragic, beautiful love story, I wondered what it meant to fall in love. What it was supposed to feel like.

It didn't matter. What mattered was right now, I was sitting next to Cameron, her hand in mine. And I couldn't afford to overthink a thing.

∞∞∞

It was a magical high once we were heading back out of the theater, riding the emotions of the play until we were sitting there side-by-side in her car, which was when we finally stopped to breathe. The moment settled in over us as we stared straight ahead through the windshield, the parking lot lit only by streetlamps and the light from other people's cars.

"So?" I said, after a pause that felt like it stretched until the end of time. "Enjoyed your first opera?"

"I did," she said, not looking at me. I glanced over at her.

"That's a lot of reservations for a yes."

A faint smile passed over her lips as she turned the other way. "I don't know if the opera itself was really the only reason I enjoyed it…"

My throat tightened, and I found myself slipping a hand to her arm, the soft fabric of her dress silky under my fingertips. "Et… pour moi, c'est la même."

She turned to me with an impossibly sweet smile, her eyes sparkling. "Now you're playing dirty."

"Mm. Salesperson's job."

She moved fiercely, furiously, across the center console and into me for a kiss, her lips crashing against mine so hard it knocked me breathless. I felt myself reeling, head spinning briefly, but Cameron didn't let up—she slipped her hands to the back of my head, pulling me into her, kissing me, and I didn't think anything in the world could ever be so perfect. I moved my hand to the back of her neck, shifting awkwardly in the confines of the car, and I kissed her, not giving a damn how many people were around the car.

We kissed hot and fiery, moving against one another, her lips silken soft slipping between mine and nipping at me with broken gasps in between, grabbing at one another, moving like we'd suffocate without this—I was willing to believe we would . I would, at least. Cameron's soft gasps and quiet murmurs against my lips, her hands gripping at my hair, my head, my sides, all of me—like a dam had burst—it was a delirious dream I was getting high on and never wanted to come down from, and I felt the loss achingly when she pulled back, even though the heat in her eyes didn't die down a fraction.

"I can't shake you, can I?" she said, her voice a husky growl. I shook my head.

"Got a case to close, you know—"

"Oh, stop it," she laughed. She leaned in again, but she went lower this time, pressing her lips lightly to my neck. "Come to my place," she whispered, her lips moving against my skin. I nodded without even processing it, the sense of her lips on my neck electric out to my fingertips.

"My place is closer…"

She laughed, low and murky against me. "Good point."

Sitting next to her in the car for the drive was maddening, feeling like I could explode in the loaded silence that settled between us, Cameron holding the wheel lightly but her gaze resolutely ahead. My heart pounded as we came up towards where the shape of my apartment complex cut lines against the sky, and pulling into the garage under the complex, parking in the open spot across from my car, it left me fluttering down to my core.

I unbuckled and went for the door, but Cameron didn't let me, catching me and pulling me into a kiss across the center console. We stayed like that for a minute longer, kissing slow and hot in the front seat, before she pulled away with a laugh sparkling in her eyes.

"Sorry," she said. "Couldn't help it."

"I can't either. But I, uh… don't want to go any further in a car."

She laughed. "Not into that?"

"I mean, not this time…"

She stepped out of the car, taking me by the hand as soon as I got out on my side and pulling me towards the elevators. With just the two of us in the elevator, she kissed me again the second the doors shut, her lips pressed into mine, and there was something intensely exciting about seeing our vague reflections in the metal elevator wall— me getting to kiss Cameron. Still, we managed to pull away from each other by the time we got to my floor, and we pretended to be decent all the way down the hall to my apartment, where I slotted the key in the lock and pushed the door open, only to have my heart stop at the sight of Ruth in the kitchen, making herself a cup of tea.

I fumbled, coming to a stop, and Cameron bumped into me from behind. Ruth flushed pink, looking between the two of us with her eyebrows raised.

"Oh… hi, Ruth," I said, burning with embarrassment and trying to play it cool. "Didn't think you'd be here right now."

Ruth cleared her throat. "I'll, uh, leave you to it."

Cameron laughed, and really, deeply, I envied how relaxed she was about this. "Pleasure to finally meet you, Ruth. Heard plenty about you."

Ruth pushed the cup of tea away. Guess it was my tea now. "Look forward to meeting you again under different circumstances sometime soon, Miss Mercier. Have a great night."

I was going to die. Or kill her. Or both. She was enjoying this way too much. I couldn't look at either of them right now, my face burning.

Ruth left the apartment, Cameron watching with a twinkle in her eyes, and she'd just shut the door when Cameron turned back to me, barely suppressing laughter.

"Your friend seems lovely."

"She… comes over to feed the cat when I'm out, and sometimes she gets stuck in a reality TV marathon sitting on my couch and stays here until midnight…"

"Well, it was a pleasure to meet her," she laughed, stepping closer to me, slipping her hands down my arms. "But now… I believe we were in the middle of something?"

"Something I'm never going to hear the end of from Ruth now, yes."

"Let her," she said lightly, stepping in and pressing a kiss against my neck. I arched against her with a soft moan, sinking into her as she kissed up my neck, down to my collar, walking me slowly backwards until she pressed me into the wall and captured my lips in hers. I let my hands fall to her back, holding her into me as she pressed her body up against mine, heat burning along my front even through the fabric of our dresses, and I surrendered to her.

It started slow, languid, kissing in long motions, before the hunger stirring between us drove us faster, harder, kissing fiercely, hands roaming and grabbing at every part of her, every part of me. She nipped at my bottom lip, tugging lightly as she slipped a hand down my dress, reaching under the hem and teasing along my inner thigh. I gasped against her, desire building like molten rock smoldering in my core, and I felt my thoughts melting away under the heat of it.

I didn't need to think, to reason, for anything tonight.

She undid the lacing at the back of my dress, opening the clasp and tugging it free, and I moved with her all too readily as she slipped the dress off, pulling it down my arms and dropping it around my ankles. I burned with a prickling heat over every inch of exposed skin—I'd dared to hope tonight, with a set of underwear that wasn't quite Cameron Mercier lingerie but definitely wasn't something I'd wear for practicality, lace finishings with ribbon accents all in that deep red that I knew Cameron liked on me, and it paid off with the way she looked at me, eyes roaming down over me with a deep hunger.

"I'd missed this," she said, dancing her fingertips over my skin, brushing down to my sides, up over the thin band of my underwear along the front of my hip. I bit my lip hard, arching into her, as she dragged her gaze back up to meet mine. "You're so damn beautiful… I can't help the things you keep stirring up in me."

"What, you think I want you to help it?"

She laughed. "No. I think you want to scream my name while I fuck you into your mattress. Is that about right?"

I felt my face burn, but I wasn't giving in that easily. I looked away. "Someone's quite confident making decisions tonight."

"Oh, you don't want that? Well, please do accept my apologies. Let's just get that dress back on you, then."

"Okay. Okay. You win, Cameron."

She smiled wider, a lusty haze passing over her expression as she bent down and kissed at my collar. "That's what I thought," she said, putting her hands on my waist, roaming over my body. The soft, smooth texture of her fingers, expertly skilled, teasing over me, feeling over my body and mapping out every little sensitive spot and everything that made me strain against her tighter…

I'd never known I could need someone like I needed Cameron. She changed everything.

She pressed her lips back against mine, and when I reached around her back searching for the securement on her dress, she moved with me, guiding my hands to the hidden zipper at the back. I fumbled as I undid the clasp and zipped it down, tugging her dress up and moving with her to pull it off over her head. We barely broke off from the heated kissing as I slipped her dress off, and my bra came after, and my underwear too, dropping to the floor and leaving me standing naked against the wall as Cameron stepped back, looking me over, taking me in like I was the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen. I could have gotten used to that look.

"Bed," she said. Numbly, I nodded, stepping over my pile of clothes. She picked my dress up from the floor, laid it gently over where she'd draped hers on the back of a chair, and something about the tender reverence she handled the fabrics with just made the fire in my body burn hotter, until she gave me a stern smile. "I gave you a simple instruction, London. Be a good girl."

I swallowed, stepping back and fumbling through the door into the bedroom. She came in after me and closed the door behind her, her hands falling on my shoulders and pressing me backwards onto the bed, laying me down before she climbed on top of me, sultry and perfect in a silky black underwear set, straddling me on her knees in the bed above me, and I felt myself burn as she took me in—slowly, eyes roaming over me, like I was a feast and she was savoring me.

She could have all she wanted.

She put a finger to my chin, tilting me up to meet her eyes, and she licked her lips slowly before she said, "Tell me what you want, London."

I burned, my gaze breaking off, looking past her. "I… I want you."

"Look at me, London. Tell me exactly what you want. And I'll give it to you."

She was going to kill me. And I didn't want it any other way. I swallowed, looking back at her, and I took a long, shaky breath before I whispered, "I… I want you… inside me, Cameron."

She bit her lip, hard, a wild look crossing over her expression. "God, it's fucking hot hearing you say things like that."

She slipped her hand down between my legs, and I arched into her with a gasp, a cry that broke over my lips, as her fingers teased lightly, expertly over my clit. Slipping down through my folds, running through my wetness… I melted into her as she settled in over me, sinking down and pressing her lips against mine in a hot, open-mouth kiss as she worked her fingers into a steady rhythm over my clit. I felt pleasure mounting in me in thrumming waves, building higher, and I whimpered against her touch, against her lips as I hooked a leg over hers, holding her into me, desperate for more of her.

She didn't rush, taking plenty of time teasing over my clit, dancing along my inner thighs, never too fast or too hard, just taking me higher and lower, my body completely under her control. I heard myself gasping, letting out soft moans against her, and when she broke off from the kiss, I didn't even control it as I cried out her name, rocking my hips, gyrating against her hand.

"You want me to fuck you now?" she said, her voice deep, gravelly. I nodded, gasping, feeling sweat beading over my body.

"Please, Cameron— please. I need you to fuck me…"

She bit her lip. "Good girl. Who would I be to deny a request like that?"

Moving slowly, she dipped her hand down, pushing two fingers inside me. It felt like my body would burst, arching into her, gasping out her name as she pushed deeper inside me—filling me up, stretching me out, flooding me with pleasure as she sank deep inside me and crooked her fingers. Slowly, she pulled out and pumped back in, and again, moving harder, faster, picking me up in the rhythm of her movement as I felt my senses melt away into the feeling of her taking me, using me, fucking me like she would break me just for her pleasure. There was nothing I could want more.

She pumped harder, fucking in and out, and I gasped when she gripped at my hair, tugging lightly but just enough for me to feel it, and I couldn't control myself—she took me over the edge before long, crashing hard into an explosive orgasm that had me screaming her name, arching my back so high it felt like I'd lift clear off the bed. Pleasure thumped through me like a beating drum, drowning out the rest of the world until I came down, slowly, blissfully, my face numb, gasping for breath as Cameron pulled out of me and kissed gently over my breasts.

"God, I fucking love it," she whispered against me. "Seeing you squirm for me. Hearing you scream my name."

"As… as much as you… like, Cameron…"

She laughed, low and murky with her lips on my skin. "Don't tempt me. It's already too hard to wait for you to be ready before I grind myself on your face."

I felt my cheeks burn, and I looked down to meet where her eyes were darkened with pleasure. "I-I mean… you don't have to wait at all."

She bit her lip, coming up to straddle me again as she took her bra off. "You are such a perfect fucking fantasy, London."