Twelve Truths and a Lie (18 page)

W
e’d just returned
from an afternoon drive to a bulldog rescue center. Aurora had found her pup and would be returning the next day, after she completed the paperwork and bought supplies—carrier, food, and toys.

I loved seeing that light in her eyes. It was mixed with trepidation, but she was a compassionate person, and that dog would have the best kind of home.

We had devoured our Chinese takeout and were lying naked on her bed after I’d been between her legs, licking her senseless until she moaned my name.

Now she knelt on the sheets in front of me, her fingers gripping my thighs and her slick tongue sliding lower on my shaft heading for my balls. Before she could make me lose my mind, along with my load, I snatched her arms and hauled her body up to mine.

I spun her to the mattress, my lips claiming her mouth in a bruising kiss. I could still taste her on my tongue and that flavor mixing with the pre-come from her lips made me groan out loud. “You drive me crazy, Aurora.”

My fingers braced the nape of her neck, drawing her forehead to rest against mine. I needed that constant connection with her. It helped me feel calm, grounded, at peace.

“Now, Cameron,” she said against my mouth, her teeth nibbling at my bottom lip. “Please. I want you so much.”

The rawness of her request was evident in her glossy eyes, her weighty breaths. The naked desire escaped from her flushed lips and stirred beneath her stormy indigo eyes.

“You know what that will mean, right?” I said against her ear as I licked and sucked on the lobe.

“What?” she asked, breathless, as her hands burrowed in my hair. She loved to tighten her fingers and tug at my unruly waves, begging me never to cut it. I loved it best when she scraped her nails along my scalp. It made me purr like a damn cat.

“It’ll mean that you’re mine,” I said, in a playful tone. I knew that she despised any alpha male language, so I was liable to get kneed in the nuts. But I was deadly serious in that moment. I wanted Aurora and me to belong to each other in a way that meant something only to us.

I licked a stripe across her neck and she shivered. “Nobody else can have you, Aurora.”

Her fingers stilled and I figured I had gone too far. She tugged on my head so that I would meet her gaze. My eyes slid deliberately up to hers, expecting to find her lips twisted with sarcasm.

Instead, I found tenderness in her features, the gravity in her gaze making my breath catch and my throat thicken with emotion. She knew what those words meant to me, given my recent betrayal.

“I don’t want anybody else,” she whispered. “Only you. I promise to make you feel that every single day.”

The way she looked at me, like I was responsible for hanging the moon, made my chest ache and swell. This girl was it for me. My confidante, my best friend. She had become my everything.

“Are you sure?” I mumbled, searching for the stark truth in her eyes.

As her hands groped my neck, she dragged my mouth to hers in a hungry kiss, telling me how certain she was.

This meeting of our lips wasn’t nearly as greedy as the others before it, instead replaced by a skin-tingling gentleness. We kept our eyes open as we kissed and licked and tenderly bit each other’s lips and jaws and ears.

As if we both wanted to be wholly present, fully aware, as we made this heady decision together—to give ourselves to each other in the ultimate way.

“Cameron, inside me.
Now
.” She teased my bottom lip with her tongue, smoothly sweeping across it, urging me on.

My hands roved over her body, mesmerized by her opaque skin, before I reached for a condom on her nightstand and rolled it quickly down my stiff erection.

I arched over her and when my cock met her heat, I held her gaze as steady as the passion that bonded us together. Her eyes flickered closed as she sucked in a breath and moaned.

I grew motionless, allowing her to adjust to my girth after having abstained for so many months. I was suddenly so damn glad we had waited, because being inside the person you were head over heels in love with was way different—more profound, awe-inspiring, more
everything
.

I waited for her gaze to focus on me and when her hands braced my thighs, I surged forward, entering her partway.

A sound—half hiss, half groan—burst from my lips at the sensation of finally being connected with her in this way.

“God.” The words tumbled from her mouth before her hands reached around to my ass. Her fingers gripped my flesh as she dragged me flush against her so that I was buried to the hilt. “Oh, that’s—”

She adjusted her legs to rest comfortably across my back, so that I could plunge even deeper in her wet and addicting passage.

I rocked in and out, setting a mind-blowing, drugging rhythm. I clenched my teeth, barely hanging on, the feeling and the responsiveness too damn incredible.

“Fuck, Aurora.” My voice sounded husky, as I was overcome with so many emotions at once. “So amazing. I want to stay buried inside you like this all night.”

Our eyes remained fused to one another, and I stretched down to swipe my mouth against her pink and swollen lips. My stride remained deliberate and slow, memorizing every sound and expression, as I drove in and out of her.

When she thrust upward, her lips parted, her cheeks a rosy flush—something seemed to grasp an even firmer hold on my heart.

There was a tightness in my chest that I never felt with anybody before. Like I wanted to break down into tears and growl in triumph at the same time. Because I had handed this girl my heart—my trust—and I knew she’d be careful, she’d treat it as a treasure, she’d tuck it away for safekeeping. And that meant the world to me.

My thumb left her neck to loop lazily down her chest and over her tight buds.

“Oh,” she moaned, her head sinking against the pillow. “Feels so good.”

My mouth replaced my thumb and my tongue circled over her firm nipple, matching the slower pace of my thrusts. When I moved to her other breast, her fingers tightly gripped my hair, driving me wild.

She panted in shallow breaths, and I could feel the warm air caressing the back of my neck. My thumb trailed down to her very wet clit as she moaned and writhed beneath me.

My balls were slapping against her ass as I pumped more solidly, and her feet braced firmly against my waist. When her fingers reached up to outline my lips, her eyes blissed out, my balls drew up tight and I knew I was close.

“Cameron,” she cried out, her lips trembling. “I’m gonna come.”

I nodded and drove harder. “Let me see you, Aurora.”

She whimpered noisily before letting loose, her hand gripping my thigh forcefully.

And then she completely came apart at the seams, her chest a wash of color, her thighs quivering, and her eyelids fluttering.

I followed right behind, pants and curses flowing freely from my lips. I slowed to gentle but erratic thrusts as my orgasm swelled over me in pulsating surges, whiting out my brain for one magnificent moment. Everything became a blur in the background—except Aurora’s eyes, which had remained fixed on mine, staring at me in wonder.

I collapsed and then rolled, bringing Aurora with me. Still semi-hard inside her, we lay wrapped in her tangled sheets, as she placed a gentle kiss on my jaw.

How it was possible for one person to fulfill me in every way, I didn’t know, but I wasn’t about to let her go. I planted a soft kiss on her lips, on each of her cheeks, and then each of her eyelids—because fucking hell, I loved this girl.

Ours legs remained entwined and our arms clasped firmly, as we breathed into each other’s necks. So completely overwhelming. Yet so fucking right.

Neither one of us moved or even uttered a word for quite some time, completely sated and content, and I just wanted to remain that way, buried deep inside of her for as long as she’d let me.

W
ork had been
good this week. Darius was back in the classroom, and we were running a tight ship. The day he returned, we had taken the time to talk about what happened as a group. Sandy agreed the class felt more cohesive, the boys were even developing friendships, which would be crucial for their health and maturity in the long run.

Though my job was still up in the air, I officially turned down the suburban teaching position and the decision felt right. I was paving a future with Aurora and had I moved away, I would’ve regretted not giving us a shot every single day.

We walked hand in hand into Flanagan’s tonight and when Michael, Nicole, Maddie, and Sydney spotted us, they whooped and hollered, making Aurora’s cheeks brighten to a soft pink.

“What did I miss?” a guy who I recognized as Maddie’s co-worker asked.

“Long story,” Maddie said. “But these two belong together.”

It was such an uncharacteristic thing for Maddie to say, that my eyes darted to his as I pulled a couple of chairs from the next table over so that Aurora and I could sit down. But Maddie wouldn’t meet my gaze, focusing instead on the beer in front of him.

Michael poured Aurora and me our drinks from the pitcher on the table and we settled into our seats. It was strange to finally be here as a couple, but also so incredibly kick-ass to be able to hold her hand and touch her in public.

“Call me crazy but I kind of miss Chastity Club,” she whispered in my ear. “It was quieter and more intimate.”

“We could always change the name to the Sexy Times Club and invite
Richard
as an official member,” I whispered back. “
Member
, get it?”

Aurora’s shoulders shook with laughter, and she buried her head in my neck. I grinned over her hair at our friends, feeling lighter than I had in weeks.

“You look good being in the right relationship,” Nicole said, smiling at Aurora, who wiped at her eyes. “You’ve got a glow. Even kilt guy is checking you out.”

Sure enough, the bouncer at the door was giving us a sideways glance.

“He’d better keep his hands to himself,” I muttered into my beer glass.

Aurora snorted. “Okay, Tarzan, I didn’t think you had a jealous bone in your body.”

My lips met her ear. “Maybe I never had anything I wanted to protect so fiercely.”

My own words hit me in the gut, and as Aurora’s eyes rose to meet mine, I could tell she understood my meaning. We both had things we viciously wanted to guard.

For me, it was the sanctity of my relationship with Aurora, which was already special in more ways than ever before.

For Aurora, it was the independence and individuality from her year of being alone. Her twelve truths, she called it. I would never do anything to jeopardize the freedom she had found in becoming her authentic self. Besides, that was the woman I had fallen so helplessly for.

Flanagan’s had become packed, and as usual, the server was nowhere to be found, so Maddie offered to grab a couple of pitchers for the table. He jumped up without waiting for a response and as my gaze tracked him, I noticed how he headed the opposite direction of the bar, toward the restroom.

Sydney had gotten up a few minutes prior, and it was as if he was attempting to catch her at the pass.

I wasn’t stupid. I knew Maddie had a thing for her and I also figured out that the upset friend Aurora had mentioned at the reunion had been Sydney. I just didn’t know how it all fit together.

I hadn’t called Maddie on it yet. It was only a matter of time.

But as we talked for another hour at the table, those two remained planted against the back wall in what appeared to be a serious conversation. Maddie never did return with our beers, and Michael kept throwing me knowing glances.

It was the same with Nicole and Aurora, though their gazes were filled with apprehension, and I had a feeling I’d know the full story soon enough. Maddie had no business starting something up with Sydney, but I had a feeling he couldn’t help himself. There seemed to be a natural connection between them, and I figured things were about to get a whole lot messier.

A few minutes later, Aurora announced that she needed to go home and let out her new puppy. She had affectionately named her Gigi, which was completely girly and French, and I liked that she hadn’t even consulted me about it.

She had her on a tight schedule, and the puppy hadn’t had an accident in the house since those first few days.

“How domestic you’ve become,” Nicole said, smirking and waving goodbye.

I
woke
up the following morning with Cameron in my bed. His large, warm, and sleep-heavy body was planted firmly against mine, his arm wound tightly across my abdomen.

We hadn’t made his staying overnight a habit, even though it was becoming increasingly harder to be away from him for too many days in a row. So this was a novelty for the both of us.

Gigi was fast asleep on her dog bed in the corner of the room, but I knew as soon as I began stirring, the puppy would as well. She was totally in-tune to my every move.

I flipped to my back, careful not to wake anybody unintentionally. I watched Cameron sleep for a couple minutes more—his inky lashes fluttering over his smooth cheeks, his matching black hair spiking out in every direction.

I couldn’t help myself as my thumb reached out to trace over his plump bottom lip.

Heat washed across my face as I remembered how those same lips had licked practically every bare inch of my skin the night before. How they rested against my mouth as he professed his feelings. I might never tire of hearing him tell me he loved me and wanted to build a solid relationship with me.

We planned on road tripping it to North Carolina this summer so I could finally meet his family, though I’d already spoken to his parents by phone. Cameron claimed my natural charm came through and that they’d adore me just as much in person. It would probably be the same with my brother and sister-in-law, because Cameron was just that awesome. That perfect. For me.

Cameron blinked his eyes open, adjusting his groin against my hip, and I bit back a moan at the contact. Maybe he’d be up for that shower he’d mentioned last night. I nearly snorted out loud. What an insatiable horn dog I’d become.

“Hey,” he whispered, in that sleepy, groggy voice that I cherished. The covers had slipped below his waist, and my eyes mapped the smooth skin around his stomach.

“Hey yourself,” I replied, kissing his temple as he wrapped his arms tighter around me.

I stretched my arms in order to burrow my fingers in his hair. “I like having you here.”

“I like being here,” his voice rumbled. My chest thumped hard.

As I bit my lip, his sluggish eyes met mine. “Do you want to, um…hang out this weekend?”

I never took anything for granted when it came to Cameron, so any time he gave away freely, I accepted without reservation. “I would love nothing better than to hang out with my girl.”

I skimmed my mouth over his lips as my heart beat double time. “I like when you call me that.”

He clasped his fingers around my neck and pulled my mouth more firmly to his. “It’s an honor to call you mine, Aurora.”

I sighed as I wiggled my way further inside his warmth so we were hip-to-hip, chest-to-chest, heartbeat-to-heartbeat. And madly in love. That was a truth I would willingly tuck into the deepest pocket of my soul.