Camp Jameson (36 page)

The crowd went berserk. Everyone
was closing in on me, congratulating me and cheering my name over and over.
Sara scooped me up and spun me around. She pulled away giggling. Now we were
both covered in Jello.

Sara grinned devilishly, leaned
down, and sucked one of my exposed nipples into her mouth. Then she switched to
the other one, licked her lips, and drew back to look at me.

“Yum,” she said, then led me over
to the edge of the water.

We both jumped in to wash off. I
could see Avery standing by the shore watching Sara and me splash around. I
suddenly felt shy and I put my bikini top back in place and climbed back out.
Caitlyn had already rinsed off and stood off to the side looking defeated. I
walked past Avery towards her and waited for her to look at me. When she
finally did I spoke.

“Dip a washcloth in white
vinegar and scrub, scrub, scrub.” She raised her eyebrows in confusion.

“That’s how you get rid of the
blue dye from your skin,” I added.

Her eyes widened then she nodded
and went back to pouting. I jogged back to Avery, feeling my heartbeat pick up
the closer I got toward him. I knew we needed to talk. But with all these
people around, I knew that was next to impossible. Once again, it would have to
wait.

DAY FORTY-ONE:

SATURDAY EVENING

ALL HAIL THE KITTEN
QUEEN

I
t
was Saturday evening and the Island Beach/Farewell theme party was rocketing
full blast. The torches were lit and glowing brightly around the beach, waiting
for dusk to come. Fires blazed in the multiple fire pits and more lined the
shoreline. Tonight was our last night here. The camp was winding down and
Avery, as usual, was busy with final preparations so I still hadn’t had a
chance to talk with him.

I had showered and changed into
a sundress and wedge sandals. My hair was pulled to a low side ponytail that
lay over my left shoulder. I stood amongst my friends sipping on a frozen
Hurricane as I watched Avery take the stage for the final time.

The crowd was chattering low and
everyone seemed to be savoring the last moments of camp. Colt and Sara stepped up
to join us and everyone seemed to talk amongst themselves while I plotted a way
to get Avery alone.

Avery stepped to the center
stage microphone and cleared his throat. The crowd quieted and all eyes were on
him.

“I wanted to thank you all for
coming to Camp Jameson this summer. It has been fascinating to see each and
every one of you grow sexually. It is with my dearest hope that each of you
found what you were looking for. Tonight is the conclusion ceremony and our
last hoorah so please enjoy yourselves. Oh, and tonight, there are no rules
except the obvious one; no means no.”

Everyone cheered as Avery nodded
to Pierce, standing on the side of the stage, to come forward.

“Our final ceremony includes one
last award, the crowning of our Kitten Queen.” His eyes landed on me. “Ladies
and Gentlemen, may I introduce to you our Kitten Queen, winner of Camp
Olympics, and the trip to Hawaii, Miss Arabella Mason,” Avery’s velvet voice
echoed out into the camp.

I smiled nervously while I
climbed the stairs to the stage. Pierce handed the four-inch rhinestone crown
to Avery and he lowered it onto my head. As I stepped beside him, cheers of
‘Aria’ broke out from the crowd. It was deafening. I realized then how much I
missed him. I took a deep breath of Avery’s cologne into my lungs. I fought
against my heart pounding in my chest. He pulled away just enough for me to see
his wolfish grin appear and I wanted to melt right there. Avery stepped up to
me and cupped the back of my neck with his hand. I scanned his face.

“Avery, what are you doing?”

He smirked. “I’m risking it
all,” he said with a glow in his eyes. 
I sucked in a breath just before
his lips crushed to mine. I felt us both shudder as the crowd cheered
bombastically. He growled possessively, pulled me closer, as I threaded my hands
into his hair and pressed harder against him. We were breathless, but neither
one of us wanted to pull away. I felt Avery grip my hips and pick me up and I
instinctively wrapped my legs around him. His desire pressed between my thighs.
I leaned my head back and held my crown as he moved to my neck. My surroundings
dropped away.
God, I could get lost in him so easily
.

The applause filled every part
of the beach. Everyone was cheering, whistling, and catcalling. We pulled away
from each other to see the onlookers. I can honestly say it was the first time
I ever saw Avery blush.

Sara, Colt, Sienna, Sean, and
Pierce stood near the stage with big smiles plastered on their faces. Sean
whistled loudly. The crowd joined us in the celebration.

I turned my head into Avery’s
shoulder and hid my face. Avery chuckled and kissed my forehead.

“About fucking time,” Pierce
called out to us. Avery touched his forehead to mine and I felt my heart
flutter.
God, he was beautiful when he smiled.

I didn’t realize how much I
missed his touch. His eyes held hope and something that I wasn’t sure that I’d
ever see. Love.

Avery cradled my face in his
hands and met my eyes. “Come home with me, Aria,” he breathed. “We have a lot
of time to make up for,” he added.

I nodded to him and grinned like
a Cheshire cat. Avery released my hips and my feet barely touched the ground
when he tucked me in to his side and guided me towards the courtyard.

When we got to the edge of the
beach, Ethan and Wren stopped us.

“Did you hear the good news?
Wren and I are coming back next session. We’re his new instructors,” Ethan
said.

“You are? That’s great.” I
stepped out from under Avery’s arm and pulled them into a big hug. A part of me
was sad to leave. The other part of me, the grown up part of me, told me I had
to go back to Ohio and start class in a couple weeks.

“We always knew you two would
hit it off,” they both said in unison.
They knew?

“What about the bar exam?” I
asked Ethan.

He chuckled. “I’ll study. I
promise. It’s not scheduled until December.” Ethan extended his hand to Avery
and Avery reached out and shook it. “Take care of our girl for us,” he added.

“Always,” Avery said.

“Bye, gorgeous. Come back and
see us soon,” Wren said, kissing my forehead. I remembered I still wore the
crown Avery had just given me and lifted it off my head.

“Can you do me a favor and give
this to Sara and tell her I left with Avery,” I asked Wren. He smiled widely
and nodded, then I waved goodbye as I made my way to the four-wheeler with
Avery.

My heart raced the closer we got
to his house. The sun was setting and the glorious sunset urged Avery to go
faster. I didn’t want to waste anymore time.

We raced into his drive, parked
in front of his house, and then he turned off the engine. I jumped from the
seat in time to see two grey and white husky wolf mixed breeds bound off the
front porch.

“Hey guys,” he said to the excited
dogs.

I smiled to them and ran my
hands through their soft coats. He smiled in awe like he was truly seeing me
for the first time.

“Meet Bo and Luke.”

I walked toward him. I quickly
remembered his biography in the manual and how it said he had two dogs but I had
never seen them until now.

“How have I never met them
before now?”

He shrugged. “Because I only let
them meet those I’m closest to.”

His eyes searched mine and then
looked to my lips. He closed the gap between us. His hard muscles pressed
against my chest. His lips hovered in front of mine.

“No, not like this.”

He pulled me across the
wraparound porch and we stepped down the path. My heart quickened as I realized
where we were going. My smile widened.

We barely made it to the
waterfall and his lips were melted to mine. My body fell into his, knocking him
backwards. We both stumbled to the outdoor mattress, laughing. His eyes danced
over me as he climbed on top of me.

“God, I missed that sound,” he
said brushing a strand of hair away from my face and tucking it behind my ear.
“There are so many things I want to tell you, but when I look at you…” Avery
struggled to get his words out. His eyes were ablaze as he ran his hand through
his hair. “Christ, Aria, you steal my breath away.”

I knew in that moment that he
needed to hear the words I had been longing to say for so long.

“Avery I…” I stumbled over my
words. I had to do this. This is why I came here with him. I had to say what
was in my heart. His eyes looked to me with hope, with love, with yearning. I
closed my eyes and steadied my breathing.

“I don’t want to be without you
anymore. Somewhere in the middle of this fantasy world you created, I fell in
love with you.”

He sucked in a breath. His gaze
fell to my lips then back to my eyes. His lips kissed me gently and he groaned
into my mouth. His lips sought out every inch of my body as he ravished me with
kisses. I let my hands trace the muscular curves of his body then I took his
face in my hands and drew him in front of me.

“Avery, don’t be afraid. Please
tell me what you’re thinking.” He smiled a crooked smile.

“I can’t seem to form a sentence
when you’re near me,” he said. I placed my hands over his eyelids and left them
there like a blindfold.

“Slow your breathing and clear
your head,” I said.

He smiled nervously but he
didn’t move. I watched as he took slow, deep breaths and relaxed his body. He let
his fingers find my hands.

“That really does help,” he said
pulling my hands away from his eyes. “No wonder you did it for so long.”

“Keeping tabs on me, were you?”

“You know I was.” He cleared his
throat. I could see him gathering his confidence. “I want to look at you when I
say this.” We were nose to nose with only a small distance between us.

“You, beautiful Aria, exploded
into my heart from the very moment I saw you.” He kissed my lips tenderly.
“Maybe even before that when I heard you call out, ‘spill it Cox,’ that first
night in the ballroom. That was the sexiest thing I’d ever heard.”

I giggled. He chuckled with me.
I could feel his chest rumble with laughter. That was the most beautiful sound
in the world. I smiled widely.
God, I loved this man.

“It stirred something in me. I
know, I’m not explaining this right,” his voice shook. He closed his eyes a
moment then looked back to me. “The night of the ball, I got lost in you and
for most of the night, for the first time in a very long time, it was beyond
any of my fantasies. You were my paradise. You were what I have been searching
for…for so long,” he swallowed roughly. “You weren’t the only one that night to
let go. I saw the look in your eyes and how happy I made you. How the real part
of you actually worshipped the real part of me without you even knowing who I
was. And then we made love to that song and I realized that I haven’t felt
anything like that in so long.” He exhaled deeply. “I was falling for you and
suddenly I had no control of how I felt and my whole world crumbled like a
giant stone wall enveloped by a torrent of flood water. I couldn’t get my
bearings. I freaked out.” He swallowed hard.

“The more time I spent with you
the more I ached to be near you and it really scared me. But Jesus, Aria, I
want you to know, I wanted you so badly. But I couldn’t be that selfish. It was
the hardest thing for me not to tell everyone to back the fuck off and that you
were mine. I wanted to crush my lips to yours no matter who was watching. I
wanted to bust down your door and crawl into bed with you so many times that I
had to bury myself in work. But each time that I did, something or someone
would remind me of you. And I’d end up daydreaming about how you tasted. The
feel of your warm breath on my cheek. The feel of me buried deep inside of you.
The way your body quivered underneath mine when you came.” He brushed his hand
down my cheek as his eyes danced over me. “It was worth the risk.”

“What risk?” I asked.

“My heart,” he swallowed dryly.

“You’ll always have my heart,” I
said.

“Somehow deep down inside, beyond
anything I can ever understand, I just know.”

“Will you please tell me what
happened to you? I can’t help you heal if you don’t share with me what you’re
feeling,” I said.

“Are those the wise words of a
nurse?” he asked.

“You’re avoiding the question,”
I replied.

“Yes. Yes, I am.” He lowered his
head to my chest and wrapped his arms around me tighter. “I promise I will tell
you when I’m ready. But right now, I need to be close to you. I need to feel
you. I need to be buried deep inside you.” I nodded as he trailed his hand up
my sundress and lifted away my panties.

“You’re strong in so many ways.
You have held me together more than you realize,” he said, unzipping his pants
and freeing himself. “God, you have no idea how badly I need you. Not just your
body, but this,” he said pressing his hand over my heart. “It’s your heart that
made me realize there are people in this world that still care. I see so much
passion and love in you it took my breath away,” he rocked his pelvis against
mine. “I feel so drawn to you when you’re near. It still scares me,” he
whispered.

“Make love to me, please,” I
begged. He softly pressed his lips to mine. I kissed him harder and a deep moan
escaped the back of his throat as he sank into me.

“I want to see you all of you.”
With him still inside me, he stripped me from my sundress and bra then tugged
off his shirt and pushed his pants off with his feet. He ran his hand down the
middle of my chest as he memorized every inch of me. His eyes widened, then a
slow smile spread over his face.

“I love this,” he said, running
his hand next to my belly button piercing. “You have the most beautiful body.”

The sun had set now and it was
only us in the soft light of a solar lamp nearby. I unbuttoned his dress shirt
and smiled as his warm skin connected with mine. He was mine. All mine. And I
would forever cherish him.

He smiled triumphantly to me and
eased out slowly then delectably back in. We kept that pace for a while, a long
while, as our hands glided over each other as if at any moment one of us would
disappear. He threaded his hands through mine and drew them over my head. We
were lost in each other. Hand to hand, skin to skin, heart to heart, soul to
soul, surrounded by beautiful wild orchids. I had never felt so close to anyone
before and I knew just by his touch how much he loved me. Words would never be
able to describe what we felt. Only our bodies as one could ever come close.

“I love you, sweet Aria,” Avery
breathed.

When he whispered those words to
me, I knew I would be his forever. I would never forget the six weeks I spent
in Paradise Lake, Pennsylvania. Camp Jameson would always be a part of me. And
Avery, I knew, would forever be in my heart.

∞∞∞

5 days later…