7. Dante

Chapter 7

Dante

I jiggled the doorknob. Locked.

My heart pounded in my ears. “Camille, I’m coming in.”

I didn’t wait for permission. Grabbing the doorknob with both hands, I shoved my shoulder against the door. It gave after a couple of hard hits, the wood splintering around the lock.

I expected to feel the steam of a hot shower, but the air hit me like a slap. Cold. I barely had time to process before I saw Camille, fully clothed, sitting on the shower floor, knees pulled to her chest, water flowing over her. Her hair clung to her face, wet and heavy, the tears blending with the cold stream.

I felt a stab of panic as I rushed over, yanking the shower door open and reaching for her. But she didn’t even look at me. Not a flinch. Not a word. Nothing.

When the water hit me it was ice cold. I recoiled, shaking the shock off, and immediately turned the knob to shut it off. "Camille," I said gently, my hand coming to her face. “You’re freezing. We need to get you out of here.”

No response. Nothing.

I scooped her into my arms, my heart cracking as I felt her weight, small and fragile. Guilt twisted my insides, tighter than I wanted to admit. I should’ve seen this coming. I should’ve pushed her. I should’ve made her talk, scream, cry—anything to break through whatever this was.

Her teeth were chattering so hard, I thought she might break in my arms. I stripped her clothes off, feeling the chill of her skin against mine, pulling off the sodden fabric as carefully as I could. I grabbed the towel from the bathroom door, rubbing her hair and skin, trying to warm her up.

When I finally wrapped her in the towel, I lifted her again, carrying her to the bedroom. Her body felt like ice against me. I set her on the bed, running my hands over her arms, her back, trying to generate some heat, anything to bring her back from wherever she’d gone.

“You’re in pain, Peaches. I get it. But you have to take care of yourself. If you need to scream, cry, curl up and lose it, do it while I’m here.”

Nothing.

I shook her a little, frustration clawing at me. “Baby, answer me.”

Her eyes flickered, and for a moment, I didn’t know if she even recognized where she was. "Dante?" she whispered, her voice raw, confused.

"I’ve got you," I assured her, brushing a strand of hair from her face, feeling like I had to hold it all together for both of us.

"Dante, I..." Her voice cracked, and then she broke. She choked, her breath hitching before the sobs started, harsh and unrelenting. Thank God. She needed this.

“That’s it, baby. Get it out. Let me carry it for you.”

She clung to me, her nails digging into my skin as she sobbed. She beat at my chest at one point, and I didn’t stop her. I knew what she was really hitting. It wasn’t me— it was Kage.

And then she screamed. It was raw, painful, like a wound being torn open.

I held her tight, whispering soothing words, though I knew they couldn’t stop the flood of emotion she was drowning in. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you…”

Her grip tightened, her body shaking as her sobs grew harder. “Fuck, Dante,” she gasped, her voice barely a whisper as she buried her face against my chest. “Kage…he became a part of me. Who am I now? What should I do? I... I just don’t know.”

"You don’t have to know," I told her, pulling back just enough to look her in the eyes. “You don’t have to know, Peaches. Not now. I’ll take care of us for now.”

I kissed her forehead, then her cheek, my hand on the small of her back, pressed against the fabric of the towel. A surge of protectiveness rushed through me. I would do anything to keep this girl safe, anything in the world. There wasn’t a soul on earth I wouldn’t take on to stop her tears...

She lifted her head, turning her face to meet mine so that she could kiss me. I tasted the saltiness of her tears on her lips as she sank her mouth into mine, her hands grasping my shoulders and pulling me close. I couldn’t help it – my body responded to her, need throbbing through me as she pushed me down on the bed and moved on top of me.

Her hands in my hair, she kissed me hard – kissed me like our mouths pressed together was her only sanity and salvation. I gripped on to her waist, holding her close, needing her to know that I was there. To my surprise, she slid a hand down my body, fingers grazing across my stomach and moving towards my cock. I groaned.

"Make it all go away, Dante," she breathed against my lips. “Please. Fuck me.”

I groaned again. I had longed to hear those words for so long, but there was no way I was going to take advantage of her in the state she was in right now. I wanted her to beg me to fuck her because she truly desired me, not because she was doing everything she could to blot out the pain of everything she had been through.

Her hand traced over the outline of my cock through my jeans, and I gripped her fingers tight before she could go any further.

"Not now," I growled, the surge of my arousal almost impossible to control. "Not like this."

"What?" she gasped.

"You know I want you, Camille," I assured her, sliding my hand to the back of her neck, pressing her forehead against mine. "But you’re vulnerable right now. I’m not going to take advantage of that."

She whimpered against my mouth, her neediness almost enough to make me change my mind. But I had to be strong. I had to do the right thing even though I knew how empty she must feel. Even though I knew how she was craving my touch and just a few moments of forgetfulness.

"But that doesn’t mean we have to stop everything," I murmured against her lips as I drew her into another kiss. I pulled the towel away and tossed it aside, rolling us so that she was on her back, and I hovered over her. I pushed my thigh between her legs, parting them easily as she moaned against my mouth.

This needed to be all about her. I wanted her to be able to lose herself, if just for a while, in the feeling of us together. Even as my cock throbbed painfully, I drew her bottom lip between my teeth and grazed my fingers up the inside of her thigh.

"Dante..." she breathed, and I sank my mouth to hers again. I teased my fingers along the crease in her thigh before I brushed them across her soft pussy lips. I felt her wetness smeared across her skin, her need for me written all over her.

I pushed her legs open a little further, my fingers dipping down to her slit. Fuck, she was so wet and so tight. I thrust two fingers inside of her.

"Oh," she gasped, her hips rising from the bed. I pressed my thumb against her clit, massaging her swollen nub in slow, soft circles as I began to move my fingers, thrusting them in and out of her.

She moaned against my mouth as I played with her, her hips moving in pace with my fingers as she pushed her hips toward me. Knowing how badly she wanted me, how much she craved something much thicker than my fingers inside her, was making it hard to think straight, but I just kissed her harder, pouring all my want and need into her.

Her thighs clamped around my hand, her body responding helplessly to the feel of my fingers. The stimulation on her clit and in her pussy was pushing her closer and closer to the edge, the emotion and adrenaline from the past few days welling up inside of her and translating into even more pleasure. Her breath was starting to come harder and faster, her belly rising and falling quickly.

Her cheeks flushed a deep red, her lips parted, her eyes half-closed but still fixed on me. She pulled me close, grinding her pussy against my hand until suddenly, she screamed.

Waves of climax flowed through her.

I held her tight even as I coaxed another orgasm out of her.

When she was done, I withdrew my hand, lifting it to her perfectly shaven mound and cupping her.

"You want another?" I asked her softly.

I knew she wasn’t ready to come back down to the real world just yet. And if that meant I got to make her come a few more times, if that meant I got to watch her give in to my touch and how much she craved me...fuck, I would be thrilled to do it.

“Yes,” she breathed out. “More.”

I glided my hand between her legs to pick up where I had left off, and, for the next half-hour or so, I took her over the edge again and again.

I poured every inch of my energy into her – all the fear I’d felt at the thought of losing her, all the helplessness I’d felt knowing I couldn’t undo the harm Kage had done to her, all of it. I pushed my needs aside and gave her everything I had, feeling her body rise and fall and contract and come for me repeatedly, until, at last, she sank her head to the side, exhausted, and her eyes fell shut.

I rested my hand on her belly as I listened to her breathing. I knew it was unlikely to be a restful sleep for her and more likely, with all the sleeping she’d done, she’d probably wake soon.

When she did, I’d be there.

I didn’t care what it took. I would get her through this. If I had to put my own needs aside to make it happen, that was a small price to pay. I’d quit work if I needed to. I’d disappear with her…

Shit, those thoughts were too fucking tempting. As tempting as they were unrealistic.

She’s hurting now from Kage’s betrayal. And she’ll hurt more when she finds out about mine.

I didn’t deserve her any more than Kage did.

The difference was she didn’t know it yet, and bastard that I was, I was going to take all the time with her I had left.

I pressed a kiss against her temple, and pulled her in close, inhaling the scent of her, her wetness still smeared on my hand. She’d wake soon enough to face her pain and whether she believed she could or not, she’d begin to pick up the shattered pieces of her heart. But for now, all I wanted was to hold her and listen to her breath as she slept, exhausted from the orgasms I’d given her.