‘I guess you get that, from what I wrote in the screenplay and everything.’ He shakes his head. ‘What a fucking jumble that all is, still.Here, you know?’ he says, pointing to the centre of his chest, then to his temple, one cluster of fingers on each. Then, slowly, so slowly, the glimmer of a smile twinkles in his narrowed eyes in the dim light. ‘But there are other moments, too. Like when it was just the two of us in that little room earlier that night.’ He ponders, shaking his head again at the wooden floor beneath their feet. ‘I try to cling on to those moments for dear life.’ He huffs a wry laugh at the last words. ‘The way I tried to play off that kiss after it happened …’ His grin diffuses some of the tautness in the atmosphere. Not all, but some. ‘Man’s heart was doing the can-can, the bogle, shaku, everything.’
They both laugh more. Cam leans one arm on the fireplace that they’ve drifted over to and Anika cocks one hip in a challenge as he tilts his head again, watching her.
‘The “we’re just friends” chat afterwards stung, though,’ she tells him offhandedly.
Cam reaches towards her face, one finger tracing the curls that lurk above one ear. ‘Wearestill friends, though, yeah?’
She just nods. His whole palm moves to rest against her jaw, cupping it. His eyelids are still lowered as he examines her lips. Anika tries to seize the moment, rising up on her tiptoes to the height she’s just forgone, ready to push her mouth against his once more, but Cam holds her away. Their eyes connect – hers almost indignant, his steely in a way that she’s never seen before.
‘The thing is … I want to do things to you that aren’t that friendly.’ His fingertips move, tightening slightly against the back of her neck. ‘We’ll be OK if we do that, yes? I don’t want to lose you again, Anika Lapo.’
‘Yes.’ She licks her lips. ‘We will.’
Cam’s fingers twist slowly into the hair at the nape of her neck and pull just enough to tilt her head back. Her mouth opensinto a gasp and he covers it, hungry, his tongue delving straight towards the waiting wetness of hers. She sucks in air and reaches up to grip his biceps as they flex, his hand still in her hair directing the movement of her head. At her touch Cam relents, and Anika regrets it.I want more.They’re both silent, panting hard. There’s a question in his expression again, one that Anika answers with a single nod.
‘Turn around,’ he says, his voice sounding impossibly deep. He moves to stand behind Anika, gently taking each of her hands and splaying them on the mirror nailed in above his fireplace. She looks into her own face, her eyes and hair still as wild as he told her she was earlier. Even in the warmth of the room in the late summer night, bursts of her breath fog against the mirror’s surface, and her gaze strays to Cam in its reflection. His body is cocooned over her, his hands pressing hers lightly into the cool glass to hold them there. She shuts her eyes as he takes the two tiny gold hoops in her earlobe into his mouth, sucking until she whimpers. Then his tongue moves to trace the shell of her ear and she shivers, rising up again onto her tiptoes. The action forces her bottom into Cam’s groin and she gyrates, feeling his solidness against her, desire enflaming. He grunts, one hand moving down to grip and still her waist’s movements. Cam begins to kiss her neck, now controlling the movement of her hips by ever-so-fractionally grinding his into hers. Then his hand moves from her waist slowly around to her stomach, his palm flat against it. He caresses her at the spot she indicated to him earlier, when she told him about what happened. As he does, Cam kisses her cheek deliberately, holding his hand still and communicating without words an emotion that makes tears begin to form along Anika’s lower lashes.
Their eyes meet again in the mirror and he waits for a moment before moving her backwards even more so she’s flush against him. His fingers find the buckle of the belt she’s used to cinch inher waist and he deftly undoes it, all the while making his way down her neck with his lips, pulling aside the neck of her T-shirt dress with his teeth to gain better access to her shoulder, biting along it with tight little nips. The sensation makes another gasp escape Anika’s lips. Cam kisses her skin more softly. The hand on her stomach inches lower, lower, and Anika tries to tilt her pelvis towards the promise of his fingertips, but his movements pause again as he gathers her gaze in the mirror. She sees his eyes glint with intention.
He growls into her ear. ‘Do you want this?’
Anika nods, huffing in frustration but loving every moment of it.
‘Can’t hear you.’
For all her boldness in the diary, Anika can’t maintain eye contact. Smiling a little, she lets her eyelids lower. ‘I want … I want you to touch me,’ she says, her skin on fire. A second later, she moans as his fingers scramble slowly against her abdomen, pulling the fabric of her dress up to allow him access. They inch down over her cotton pants, circling right where she needs them to. The pressure is totally different to Hattie’s slim, precise touch, but that is barely a memory in Anika’s head right now. She moans louder, leaning back against Cam – it feels like he’s all that’s holding her up. His erection pushes against her and his groan, an octave lower, echoes hers. His fingers increase in pace, moving in circles that grow more rapid with each squirm she makes against him. She’s on the edge of an orgasm when he pulls his fingers away and steps back. Anika’s eyes fling open and she frowns. He chuckles at her clear irritation.
‘What—’
‘Stay right there, baby girl.’ Anika huffs and Cam raises an eyebrow at her, still smiling. ‘Hands back where they were.’ She complies grudgingly, but shakes her arse tauntingly. He emits his staccato laugh, walking back to his jacket where it hangson the dining chair. She turns her head and sees him fishing his wallet out of the inside pocket, pulling something out of it. The slap of the leather wallet hitting the wooden table when he throws it down makes her jolt in anticipation.
He comes back over, moving to stand back behind her. In the mirror, Anika sees Cam fold his arms, a free hand tapping his chin like he’s pondering her. She’s still leaning over the fireplace with her dress bunched up around her waist. There’s the glint of a foil package between his fingers. He takes a languid step closer. Anika tries to move her hands from the mirror but he shakes his head slowly at her. Her heart feels like it’s pumping lava around her veins, the pulse between her legs the most acute.
‘Impatient?’ he murmurs and Anika nods, biting the inside of her cheek. Cam laughs softly. ‘Well, if it’s OK with you …’ One hand smooths up over her arse, his mouth next to her ear as he speaks. ‘I’d like to fuck you.’ Anika shudders. He lifts his head so they’re both looking at one another again in the mirror, his forehead wrinkling earnestly in inquiry even as the words make Anika’s blood surge hotter.
‘That is more than OK.’
Cam’s gaze moves down between their bodies, then back up to meet her eyes. ‘Good.’ She feels his hand snake between her legs from behind, underneath, moving her pants aside to gain an access that makes her moan. ‘Mm. Is that for me?’ His fingers slip against her easily, sliding inside and out again.
‘Mmhmm …’
She’s just edging towards release again when he stops his movements once more. ‘Not yet, baby girl.’ The words make another needy whimper emerge from her throat and he chuckles. The casual sound of it makes her dizzy. Hazily, she thinks that this is already the sexiest thing that’s ever happened to her – him controlling her pleasure.I trust him.
‘Please,’ she whispers, her face flushed with desire.
‘These need to come off now, I think,’ Cam says. His fingers pull at the elastic waist of her panties, then his eyes flick to hers, always checking it’s OK. She nods and he crouches as he pulls them down her legs, gently holding each of her ankles to let her step out of them. Anika turns a little and reaches a hand down to balance on his shoulder as he does so. Even through his T-shirt, she feels his skin is on fire. He looks up at her. ‘Now, where should your hands be?’ She reverts back to her original stance and bites her lip when he pauses to dust some kisses against the roundness of her naked bottom. A moment later he stands again and she hears him unzip his trousers. He moves closer, reaching into his pocket to pull out the condom. She hears rustling as he opens the shining packet.
‘Mm. You’re a sight to behold, Ms Lapo. Ready?’
Are you kidding?Anika almost laughs again and she sees his eyes twinkle in the glass.
‘Please.’
She sees him shrug. ‘Please what?’
‘Cam. Please fuck me now.’
He growls low in his throat, his jaw tightening at her words, pushing inside her achingly slow. It feels like eternity until he’s flush against her back again, and they both groan loudly at the sensation.
