Chapter 70
1758words
If I could live the rest of my life with my hands never leaving Camila's body, I would. The space between us—tiny as it is—is pure agony. It leaves me feeling cold, as if I'm being covered in black frost. But I have to endure the distance for a few seconds longer, just enough time that I can slip the prayer beads onto her wrist again.
Camila lifts her arm and looks at the wooden beads with an inscrutable expression in her eyes. Seeing them on her wrist again slows my heartbeat somewhat. It looks right. It feels right. And I can't help feeling the same thought that rushed through my head during our wedding:
Somewhere along the way, Camila became mine.
Not just as something to possess, but as someone to treasure.
To shield.
To protect.
To love.
The thought goads me to action. I close the tiny gap between us, positioning myself over her on the bed. As soon as I do, I embrace her again, tightening my grip around her back and waist.
'God, I missed you," I whisper into her hair.
Her thick strands tickle my nose, and I inhale deeply at her familiar scent until I'm lightheaded. She whimpers in response. It's a small sound, yet to me it might as well as be a clap of thunder. It sends my blood singing, and I feel my cock stirring to life in response.
I'm overwhelmed by love, but my desire isn't far behind.
The frost around my heart begins to chip away. Camila's mere presence is waking up all of me. With a deft motion, I tug aside the loops of her robe to reveal her belly. I gasp when I see the tiny bump that's taking shape where there was once flatness.
Our baby. The words rise and echo like a liturgy in my head. Our baby.
My fingers gently brush over the tiny rise, marveling at the life budding inside of her. It's gorgeous. Miraculous, even. The two of us created life—innocent and pure—despite our own faults and secrets.
Sliding down, I plant a kiss on her stomach. She shifts on the blanket with a gasp.
'You are beautiful," I tell her.
'Even if my body is changing?" she asks, her voice soft like bells.
I level a serious stare at her. 'Always."
Her mouth slips into a stunned circle, and then she does something unexpected. Her hand grips the back of my head and drags me upward until my lips crash against hers.
Her tongue pushes into my lips, and mine moves forward to meet hers. The kiss deepens, and my heart races at her urging. Her hands tug at my shirt, deftly unbuttoning it so that she might feel me, skin to skin. I push closer, swallowing the tiny moans bursting from her throat. My tongue swipes against hers as her fingers dig against my head, pulling me closer. She writhes beneath me, her warm body rising to meet mine as she slowly comes back to life by the second.
It's a challenge to take my time, but I'm determined to savor this—to burn this moment into my mind forever. My fingers entwine in her hair, tugging at those silken strands as I keep her locked to me. Reluctantly, I break the kiss, only to trail my lips across her face until I nibble at the lobe of her ear. Her breath quickens at the touch, and her body trembles against mine.
I dip my head lower until I'm grazing at her tender throat.
She gasps at the touch as I plant one kiss after another down her elegant neck. Her free hand tugs insistently at my belt.
'Asher," she whispers.
'I missed you," I reply as I savor the feel of her skin, kiss away the beads of sweat dotting it, and intoxicate myself with the taste of her. 'I've missed you so much."
'Asher," she says again, gripping the back of my neck. 'I missed you too."
Fire swells through my heart at the sound of her voice calling my name. There's nothing better than this. How could there be? I'd trade all my wealth in a heartbeat for a lifetime with Camila.
My lips part her robe all the way until her naked breasts gleam in the soft light. They seem rounder and fuller. Eagerly, I heft one, eliciting another appreciative moan from her lips. Her skin feels as soft as a rose petal under my touch.
Gingerly, I tug at her nipple, rolling it between my fingers, and she gasps again. She's beautiful. Now, tomorrow, decades from this moment; it doesn't matter.
'More," she begs, arching upward to push her breast into my palm. My cock strains painfully against the confines of my pants, demanding that it be let loose to enjoy all the unparalleled delights Camila's body promises.
Growling, I reach down and loosen my pants, easing some of the pressure but refusing to let myself out.
Not yet.
I don't want this moment to end just yet.
With both hands, I palm her chest. I press into her, then pull back, kneading the soft flesh until she's moaning. My head dips and I close my lips gingerly around her right nipple, suckling. She cups the back of my head to hold me steady as whimpers and moans mix. When I ease the pressure to breathe, she yanks me closer.
She doesn't want me to stop.
Rolling her onto her side, I line our bodies up from behind. I don't let my hands leave her breasts. The sensation of her in my palms is like a drug, and I'm hopelessly addicted. She covers my fingers with her own, encouraging me to grip tighter, firmer.
What I'm doing isn't enough now … not for either of us.
I'm reveling in her lust. Even as she pants helplessly, begging me for more without words, she's regal. The angle of her neck asks me to kiss it, so I do. The tip of her chin wants another kiss, and I go there. But she beats me to the punch. Winding around, her fingers catching in my hair as her face turns toward me. Our lips dance feverishly against each other.
I was sick without her. But this … this is something else.
Slipping my pants down to my ankles, I kick them off the bed. Camila's bathrobe is half-hanging onto her arms by now. With a gentle tug, it comes free and pools with my clothes out of the way. The smell of the bath clings to her skin—lavender and lemons and the scent that is uniquely her. I inhale deeply, letting every tiny particle of her settle deep into my lungs, where I will never get it out.
Camila rubs her hips backward against me, grinding lightly on my hard shaft.
'Not yet," I tell her. 'I'm not ready."
'I am," she argues. 'Don't make me wait anymore."
A possessive growl rumbles forth from the back of my throat. Snaking a hand around her curvaceous hip, I trace the skin above her wet crease. She parts her thighs, urging me on, but I don't take the bait. I take my time to feel her body, to retrace the familiar routes where I left my marks on her. My fingers stroke her inner thighs, along the gap that makes a heart when her knees press together, and dance across the familiar contours that will slowly grow more curvaceous with each passing day. I toy with her navel, her hip bones, before I finally return to her slick entrance.
Her body trembles, screaming that it craves mine as much as I crave hers. I clench my teeth to control the wild urge to spread her legs and enter her.
From the tops of her thighs to the lines of her ribs, my fingers move over her like it's our first and our last time together. I know it won't be the last—I'll make sure of that. I have plans to kill every hand that has raised itself to block us from being together.
They'll die.
HE will die ...
But for now, I want to memorize the shape and feel of Camila so that if this were to be my last moment on Earth, I would die happy and fulfilled. She trembles each time my hands roam her body, her throat bobbing with arousal. Kissing the side of her neck, then her shoulder blades, I release a gravelly growl.
'I can't wait anymore," I admit huskily.
The bed shifts. She turns around faster than I expected and pushes me back into the mattress. Her legs straddle me before I can react, and she rises above me like a goddess emerging from the sea. Her eyes are flashing with desire, and the only thing I see in her pupils is myself.
Her lips are slightly parted. Her breasts swaying above me are taut from desire.
'Then fuck me," she demands. 'Fuck me and hold nothing back?—"
I rise up on my elbows and kiss her before she can finish her sentence. When I pull back, she follows. Hiking her hips backward, she leans her full weight onto me. The plump roundness of her ass settles on my firm cock. I shut my eyes as I deepen our kiss before I whisper into her lips,
'We'll go at your pace."
'Is that right?" she asks lightly.
'Yes." My fingers explore her elbows, testing the hard edge before moving toward the soft skin of her wrists. Camila nibbles her bottom lip. I visualize her using her teeth on me and release a throaty hiss. 'I'm yours to do with what you want, ptichka."
Her fingers lace into mine, and she pushes them over my head. I know that there's no going back now. I know she's in control. Once upon a time, I might've tried to fight her for it. But now, it's the only thing I want.
The only thing I need.
She rises and falls, teasing my cock with her slick pussy until our arousal becomes indistinguishable. My heart pounds as my ears ring from the pleasure of her torturous teasing. The tightness in my core is enough to snap me in half, leaving me helpless under her touch.
'I think," she breathes, as she rises up one final time until a bead of nectar falls from her quivering pussy over the angry red head of my rock-hard cock, 'we've both waited plenty."
I can't disagree with that.
