I turned to fully face her. “It wouldn’t have mattered because there were no other options that made risking your happiness worth it. I don’t think you get it, Cammy. I have loved you since we were ten.” She stilled, and I proceeded carefully, knowing this would be a lot for her, but I’d waste no more time. Not when we had this opportunity, as dark as it was. “With you, I could be every part of who I was, and you never cared. I got sad, and you just hugged me. I got things wrong, and you didn’t call me stupid. You never used me like so many. Including my family. And you were so unapologetically you. So free spirited and kind, but headstrong. I cherished your presence. How could I not love you? And because of that, how could I subject you to a life of being married to a criminal? I’d have to lock you away. Cage you from harm. From the darkness that this life would drown you in. That would make me a monster. It’s what my dad did to my mother, and make no mistake, he would expect me to be the same with you. He would control you just like he did everyone else. Including your family. And if he hadn’t been killed, I think I would have fully become just like him in time. Especially if he were able to change you for the worse. So no, I declined any idea of being with you then because I had to protect you. From my family. From me. Your parents had no idea how dark my life was.”
Camilla shook her head, her eyes watery. Was I making her cry? That isn’t what I wanted. I just needed her to understand that my feelings for her weren’t new. “I knew it was rough. We heard enough stories. Maybe my parents were blinded by the access we got from being family friends. Or they were just so used to the life themselves that they thought I could as well.” She gulped back the rest of her drink. I watched her silently for a moment, allowing her to process all that I said. “All that time I thought I wasn’t your type, even if I did have a crush on you.”
Now that made me happy to hear. To know that I wasn’t alone in this. It gave me the confidence to say what I needed to say. I put my drink down on the counter and walked closer to her. I then placed my hands on either side of her, resting them on the counter and effectively trapping her closer to me. She looked up at me with wide eyes. “Camilla Robinson, you’ve always been my type. Do you know how fucking perfect you are? I never dated a woman who looked like you because they would never hold up, and it would be frustrating for me to be with anyone who remotely reminded me of you. Your gaze stirs my soul. Your lips tempt me. Every curve of you drives me to distraction. Your scent intoxicates me. The softness of your skin lingers on my fingertips.” I bent closer to her until I was inches from her, griping the counter. Tempting myself with the nearness of her. “I’ve wanted no one else but you. Ever. I belong to you.”
I then stepped back to watch her reaction. Her mouth dropped open, eyes widening. So much for baby steps, but I could not have her confusion linger. “Harris,” she breathed my name in a barely audible voice that made me shiver.
I took her almost finished drink from her and set it down on the counter. Then I placed her hands on my chest. “I know I said a lot. If you don’t have feelings for me, then push me away. This will be your only chance to do so. And it won’t change how much I will protect you.”
She smirked up at me. “You’re much bigger than me. I don’t think I can.”
I raised my hands in the air as if to surrender so she could move me, although it would break me if she did. “The slightest push and I’ll fall back. Are you going to push me away, baby?”
She looked at her hands on my chest and then slowly back up to me.
Then she shook her head.
Chapter Five
Camila
My mind was buzzing with thoughts and emotions. He’d professed to me and said things no man had ever told me before. All this time, he had wanted me. Cared for me in the same way I cared for him. He’d said he belonged to me. I could have melted right then and there. I could hardly breathe from his admission. I didn’t even know if there was a response I could give that would match anything he’d said to me. However, right now, all I wanted was for Harris to kiss me. To feel him after all these years and dreams. Was he possessive, calculating, and a bit too cocky? Yes. Did I care right now? Hell no.
As if reading my thoughts, Harris leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. The kiss was soft at first, and I got the chance to relish the warmth of his body as he surrounded me. However,he wasted no time in deepening the kiss, his tongue snaking into my mouth and dancing over my own. Just that connection went straight to my core, firing every nerve. Our first kiss, and I was flying. I moaned into his mouth without thinking, and he responded with a growl, lifting me and setting me on the bar so that I was almost level with him. He pushed my legs apart and moved in between them, pressing my chest to his, his lips barely leaving mine.
I felt the barest pressure from his tusks, but they were hardly distracting. In fact, they turned me on. I mostly focused on the softness of his full lips and what this kiss was doing to my psyche. His mouth was needy and possessive. As if he had been starved for me and couldn’t satisfy his hunger. And I felt the same. I couldn’t believe that this was happening. Decades of desire, culminating in something so passionate I could hardly breathe. And I didn’t want to breathe unless it was his scent. I needed him. All of him. I needed the brandy-laced flavor of his mouth to be all that I tasted.
I wrapped my legs around his waist and tried to scoot closer, but my chest was already smashed against his. Still, I wanted more of him. I moved my hands underneath his shirt until I touched the smoothness of his large back. My fingers played over the definition of his muscles, caressing the heat of his skin. I playfully bit his lower lip, desire forming the sweetest intoxication. He groaned into my mouth this time, his kiss stealing my very soul.
I could feel his excitement between my legs and sucked in a breath at the sheer size of him. What would that feel like in me?Couldit get in me? I knew orc anatomy was big, but damn. I was a little scared, okay, a lot scared, but also fully intrigued. I fought the urge to grab him and better assess, but I was still shocked that this was actually happening. It was safe to say, he really didn’t see me as a sister.
He tore his lips from mine, giving me an unrequested chance to breathe. He then moved to my earlobe, flicking his tongue over my skin before sucking. At the same time, one of his hands moved up my waist, brushing over my ribs and settling right under my breast. No, he couldn’t stop now. I needed to feel those large hands on me. I wiggled against his grasp until his hand found my breast, covering the entirety of it. He began to slowly massage it, hand moving in a circular motion over the hardened nipple as he moved his mouth to the tender skin of my neck.
The feel of his tongue on my skin was electric, and I burned for every bit of affection he would give me. He playfully nipped at my neck between swipes of his tongue, and I moved my hand to his head, removing his hair tie and threading my fingers through his silken strands. His fingers moved under my shirt, and he expertly unlatched the clasp of my bra in the back. He then quickly placed his hands over both of my breasts, kneading them and lightly tugging at my nipples. I tilted my head back, drifting into my rising lust as he began to sprinkle my collarbone with kisses. I was so damp for him as I squirmed underneath his grasp.
He suddenly pulled away, and I looked up, disappointed. His blue eyes twinkled under the dimly lit room. “Lift your hands, baby.”
As usual, I seemed to be powerless to his orders and obeyed. I mean, he wasn’t really controlling me, but something deep down liked giving him this control. Enjoyed the surrender to someone I trusted to take care of me. He lifted my shirt and bra off me and stared at me, mouth open as if he were amazed. I felt slightly self-conscious and lifted my hands to cover myself. I believed I had beautiful, full breasts, but it felt slightly awkward to bear this much to him after all this time of being just friends. However, the way he looked at me, as if he were deciding his plan of attack, gave me pause.
Before I could completely cover my breasts, he grabbed my hands and placed them on the bar on either side of me. “Don’t move,” he ordered. “I want to see all of you.”
I gave him a lackluster scowl. “Bossy.”
He smirked at me, and I swear my clit vibrated. Damn it, he was fine. He reached down to his crotch and adjusted himself, his face almost pained. I stared in fascination at that ridiculous length of him, almost mesmerized. “You fucking excite me, princess.”
I licked my lips, dry from kissing so hard, and I knew they were swollen. “Good.”
Without moving his hands, he lowered his head, eyes still on me as he twirled his tongue over my right nipple and then my left one. There was something almost possessive about the way he tasted my sensitive skin. Daring me to take away what he was claiming as his. Of course, I did nothing. I was becoming a puddle with everything he did. By now, I was so wet I was worried I was drenching his counter.
He lifted his hands off mine. “Don’t move your hands, baby. I want to see you fucking squirm.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but he shut me up with another life-snatching kiss before returning to my breasts. He sucked and nipped and tweaked, and I squirmed just as he expected. He spent so much time worshiping my breasts, I thought, perhaps, I would come. But I wanted more.
“Harris, please!” I moaned, not really knowing what I was trying to say.
He pulled away, straightening up. With his hair out, partially covering his face and draping over his shoulders, those intense eyes glazed over, hardness pressed against his pants, and muscular arms flexed on either side of me, he looked almost feral. I’d never seen him this way before. So undone. It was fucking sexy.
He ran a shaky hand through his hair, moving it from his beautiful face. He really was losing control. And I was making him that way. I felt a bit delighted by that thought. “Camilla,” he said, then paused, waiting for my response.
