10. Camille

Chapter 10

Camille

I came to consciousness slowly, blinking as light filtered through my lids. My body ached, but it wasn’t painful. It was that sweet ache that came from having multiple orgasms given to me by a man who’d do anything in his power to ease my pain.

Dante Morillo.

Bad ass biker and gold-hearted school counselor.

The man who’d momentarily yet still miraculously eased my heartbreak that Kage was engaged. Even now, with the knowledge of Kage’s betrayal threatening to overpower me again, Dante’s arms around me made me feel safe.

I shifted slightly, feeling the press of Dante's chest against my back. He stirred, his breath warm against my neck.

"Morning," he murmured, his voice rough with sleep.

I turned to face him. "Hey," I replied, my voice barely a whisper.

"You okay?"

The concern in his eyes made my heart twist. "Yeah, just... thinking about everything," I admitted. Then I winced. “I’m sorry if I worried you. If I pressured you to?—”

“To what?” he growled. “Touch you? Believe me, Peaches, I wanted to do more than finger you to orgasm. You didn’t pressure me to do shit.” Despite his rough words, he kissed my forehead, a gesture so tender it threatened to unravel me. "I’m yours, Camille.”

I closed my eyes. The wall I’d been building around my heart the past few days almost caved in and I didn’t rush to rebuild it.

Just because Kage had betrayed me didn’t mean Dante would. I had to believe that. Otherwise, I’d isolate myself completely, and Dante hadn’t done anything to make me doubt him.

“Kiss me?”

His fiery gaze homed in on my mouth as if he was starving for a taste. “And then what? Do you need me to make you forget about Kage again?”

He didn’t say it with a hint of bitterness or snark. It was an honest question, and he was willing and able to do exactly what he said, but this wasn’t about wiping away my hurt about Kage anymore. My heart was broken, yes, but I also felt Dante embedded into every shattered piece. It confirmed what I’d suspected all along—that even as Kage had made me fall in love with him, I’d been on the verge of falling in love with Dante, too.

My heart, it seemed, was a greedy bitch. It had held on to my love for Ty even after he’d betrayed me two years ago. It had gorged itself on everything that Kage had offered me. And it had quietly soaked in all that was Dante.

He was in my heart, and now I wanted the rest of him.

“I swear this is only about you and me, Dante,” I answered honestly. “And after you kiss me, I want you to take whatever you want from me. Because I want to give it to you. I need to give it to you.”

His jaw clenched. “Are you sure? Because you can’t ask me to fuck you, Camille, and not…”

“Not what?” I asked when he didn’t finish.

“And not love you. Not want you to love me someday. I know you love Kage, and I don’t expect you to love me the way you love him but?—”

I cupped his face in my hands and spoke fiercely. “Of course I won’t love you the way I love him, just like I’ll never love anyone the way I love you. I’m already falling, Dante. Given how many times you’ve already saved me, can I let myself fall completely and know you’ll catch me?”

“Yes. Because I’ll always catch you,” he swore.

“Then kiss me.”

He groaned then immediately covered my mouth with his.

Dante

I’m already falling, Dante.

Fuck.

The knowledge that Camille was falling in love with me obliterated everything else, including any hesitation I had about doing the honorable thing and not touching her so soon after she’d learned about Kage’s engagement. That probably had a lot to do with the fact that her eyes were clear, her expression earnest, her voice steady as she asked me to kiss her, but honestly, I’m not sure I would have been able to stop myself even if she was still out of it and crying out her grief. I’d come so close, so fucking close to losing her, and now she was begging me to take her. I had held back for so long, forced myself to stay in control when it came to her, but I no longer wanted to.

I was trying to be a better man, but I wasn’t perfect. Like I’d told her before, there was plenty of bad in me. And right now, I needed her, and she needed me. I was ready to be selfish and take all that Camille was offering.

I kissed her long and hard, sliding my tongue along hers. I devoured her, nipped at her lips, made us both breathless.

"Please, Dante," she gasped against my mouth. "Please, I need more..."

Desire ripped through me.

I stripped us both and grasped her wrists, pushing them above her head as I rolled on top of her. I pressed my cock against her pussy so she could feel how fucking hard I was for her.

"You want me?" I growled.

"Yes. So much," she breathed, her eyes not moving from mine. She was certain about this – and, fuck it, so was I. I’d thought I was going to lose her more than once, but now she was here, more alive than ever, blood rushing to her cheeks as she stared up at me. I needed to make her mine, once and for all.

I shifted my weight and reached into the nightstand to open a drawer. I kept her small wrists in my other hand while I expertly tore into the condom packet then rolled on the condom one-handed. I knew if her hands started to wander, this would all be over faster than I wanted it to be. No. I needed to fuck her – really fuck her, feel that tight, gorgeous pussy wrapped around my cock as she moaned beneath me. Nothing else was going to come close to satisfying me.

I took my sheathed cock in my hand and guided it towards her slit, planting it at her entrance. Her eyes softened, her head tilting back.

"Look at me," I ordered her, and she did, her eyes immediately meeting mine. I saw the want written all over her face as she stirred her hips against me, practically begging for my cock.

In one, long stroke, I pushed myself to the hilt inside of her. Her back arched from the bed, a throaty moan escaping her lips, and she hooked her feet around my calves as though on instinct, drawing me in closer.

She was so fucking wet, so tight, and I held myself deep inside her, grinding into her in slow circles. I needed to hear her beg for me. I needed to hear her tell me how badly she needed this.

She leaned up to kiss me, but I pulled back slightly.

"Tell me what you want," I commanded her.

"I want you to..." she breathed, her words failing her.

"Come on, Camille," I urged her. "Tell me. Use your words."

"I want you to fuck me hard.

She cried it out, and that was all the guidance I needed to finally give her what she so clearly wanted. I drew back and slammed my cock inside of her, her whole body spasming as the pleasure hit her hard.

Her arms were still pinned above her head as I fucked her, but my other hand moved greedily all over her body – groping at her tits, her waist, her ass, her thighs—committing every inch of her to memory. God, she felt so fucking good, her body more perfect than I even could have imagined it – her skin soft, her curves so tight. Even the lewd sound of my cock thrusting in and out of her was magic to my ears.

I shifted my hips slightly so that I was grinding against her clit with every thrust. Pulling back, I watched as her face registered the new shockwave of pleasure.

"Are you going to come around my cock, Camille?" I murmured, and she squirmed beneath me, shifting her legs so that her ankles were wrapped around my back, drawing me in even deeper. I traced my tongue around her ear and bit softly on her lobe as I continued to move inside of her. Sure enough, a few seconds later, I felt it – her pussy pulsating around my cock, her body spasming as the pleasure coursed through her. She cried out as she gave in to her orgasm, and it was that pretty sound that pushed me over the edge and into my own release.

With a deep groan, my cock pulsed as I filled the condom. I didn’t know what was going to happen after this, but in this moment, as she came around my cock, I knew we belonged to each other, and that was all that mattered.

I held myself inside her for a long time and she wrapped her arms around me, face in my neck, breathing hard.

"Dante," she whimpered, and I finally eased myself back.

“You’re incredible, Camille. So fucking perfect for me.”

“So good, Dante. You make me feel so good when I’ve been feeling so bad. Promise me you won’t stop. Promise me you’ll always care for me this way. Promise me that you won’t hurt me the way they have. Ty. Kage. Please.”

Her pleas were both music to my ears and a stain on my soul. I wished I could promise her all those things with the full intention of it being true. But I couldn’t. My life was a mess, and as soon as she found out why, I would hurt her. Still, a small part of me held on to hope that maybe she would understand. Maybe, if I embedded myself so deep inside her that I became part of her, she’d understand what motivated me to do what I do.

It was that lingering hope that made me do something I hated. I lied to her even as I told her the truth.

“I won’t ever hurt you, Peaches. I’m going to devote my life to your safety. Your happiness. Even if I can’t be with you, all you need to do is reach out, and I’ll be there, and I will fucking destroy anything and anyone who tries to get in my way.”