‘I feel awful.’

‘I can see that.’

‘I never slept with him.’

His jaw clenched and then relaxed enough for him to reply, ‘I know. You’re not that kind of girl.’

Fingers quaking, I pushed up the sleeve on my jacket and unfastened the Omega watch he’d given me for Christmas. When he made no move to take it, I lifted his hand and placed the gift in the palm of it, curling his fingers around it. ‘Thank you for everything, Malcolm.’

When he looked up from the watch, a piercing ache emanated from my chest at the dejection I saw in his face. ‘He’s just a kid who doesn’t know what the hell kind of gift he’s getting in you, and when he’s done, when he makes the mistake of throwing you away, I hope you’ll come back to me.’ He stepped towards me and I froze as he dipped his head to press a sweet kiss against my cold lips. ‘We could be really happy.’

I didn’t take a breath until he put some distance between us. He threw up a hand and I turned to see he was flagging down a taxi. It did a U-turn and pulled up at the kerb. Malcolm opened the door for me. ‘I’ll be here when he’s done with you.’

I left him standing on the street, as the taxi took me back to London Road.

I’d broken up with Malcolm.

Oh, my God.

I felt heavyhearted. I felt remorseful. I was worried I wasn’t doing the right thing. However, overriding all of that was this desperation to find Cam, to tell him I did feel what he felt. For the first time in as long as I could remember I was going after what I really wanted. Perhaps tomorrow I would lament the decision, but tonight I just wanted a taste of something really good and pure for once.

I almost threw the fare at the taxi driver, then rushed into the building, my boots slapping carelessly against the concrete as I hurried up the stairs. I was just rounding the stairwell to Cam’s landing when I heard a door open. As I reached the top of the stairs, he came into view, standing barefoot in his doorway, waiting for me.

Overwhelmed that just the sight of him made my chest so full of emotion that it hurt, I stumbled a little towards him, my boots just clipping the doorstep.

Cam didn’t say anything. Every inch of him was solid with tension as he looked at me.

‘Cam –’

My words were swallowed by motion as his hand clamped around my wrist, wrenching me hard against his body, his mouth slamming down on mine. I instantly wrapped myself around him, and my fingers curled in the hair at the back of his neck as I licked and sucked and flicked my tongue against his, our kiss so deep I didn’t even realize I was inside his flat until the door crashed shut behind us.

Cam broke the kiss to pull back, his hands shoving my jacket off my shoulders. I let it drop to the floor, exhilarated in feeling – my breasts were swollen, my skin burned, and I was surprised once more to realize I was already wet for him from just a kiss and anticipation. ‘Cam …’ I whispered urgently, needing some part of me touching him at all times. I slid my hand up under the bottom of his tee, feeling silken, hard, hot skin against my palm. ‘I broke up with him.’

He nodded, his hands on my waist as he yanked me to him, my breasts brushing his chest deliciously. I shivered and Cam smiled, fully aware of the power he had over me. In reaction to his cockiness, my hand glided back down his six-pack and out from under his shirt and didn’t stop its descent. He sucked in his breath as I rubbed him through his jeans, watching the colour on his cheekbones rise. ‘I got that, baby,’ he said with a groan. ‘You wouldn’t be here otherwise.’

‘Are we really doing this?’ I whispered against his mouth.

His hands squeezed my waist, and I looked up into his eyes. They were almost navy with scorching heat. ‘We’re really doing this. No backing out.’ His lips skimmed my jaw until his mouth stopped at my ear. ‘I’m going to fuck you so hard, sink so deep inside of you, you’ll never work me out from under your skin. Never.’

Tingles exploded all over my body at his words.

I reached for his mouth. I loved the taste of him, the feel, the way he kissed, like I hoped he screwed. I sucked his tongue hard and he shuddered, his growl urging me on, until it descended into the wettest, dirtiest kiss I’d ever experienced.

My back slammed up against the wall as he crashed us into it. ‘I can’t wait,’ he told me breathlessly.

I shook my head, my chest heaving against his, telling him silently I couldn’t wait either.

I felt his warm, rough hands on my outer thighs as they brushed my skin, pushing my skirt up to my waist. With an almost animalistic grunt, Cam curled his hands around the fabric of my knickers and tugged, the sound of it tearing away from my body and the sudden air between my legs increasing the heat between us to a combustible level. He’d just ripped my underwear off! Holy hell!

That was seriously hot.

I thought I would feel exposed, uncomfortable, standing there with my skirt at my waist, the most private part of me on display for him. I felt neither.

All I felt was urgency.

Our lips collided, biting, nipping, licking, as we both reached for the closure on his jeans. He shoved them and his boxers down to his ankles, freeing his cock, and I watched as he took his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled a condom out of it. As he rolled it up his straining dick, I gasped. It was big, but I had had big before. That wasn’t what the gasp was for. The gasp was for the girth.

‘Oh, my,’ I breathed, feeling the trickle between my legs incite my already excited state.

‘Why, thank you.’ Cam flashed me a cocky grin that made me laugh – laughter that ended with a gasp as he gripped my legs, spread them, and thrust up into me.

‘Cam!’ I cried out in pleasured shock, his throbbing heat overwhelming me. Every feeling, thought, all my focus was on the sensation of his thickness inside me, and I struggled for breath as my body tried to adjust and relax. It was as if every nerve in my body was inflamed, and a minuscule shift between us sparked a tug of delicious tension I immediately sought more of.

Cam, however, held still against me, breathing heavily as though he was attempting to gain a little control. My body wasn’t for it. I wanted more and I wanted more now. I pushed my hips against him and his grip on my thighs became almost bruising. ‘Wait,’ he said hoarsely. ‘Give me a minute. I’ve wanted this for ages and you feel bloody amazing. Just give me a minute.’ As I heard this erotic confession, my inner muscles clamped around his cock and he inhaled sharply. His head drew back in surprise as his eyes collided with mine. ‘Baby, do that again and I’m not going to last.’

I shook my head, my fingers digging into the muscles of his back. ‘I don’t care. Just move, please just move. I need you.’

His control snapped.

As he hauled my legs up, my body took his lead and I wrapped my legs around him. Holding tight to him, I panted with excitement as he pounded us into the wall, thrusting into me hard, gliding in and out of my snug channel, the wet slap of flesh against flesh spurring us towards climax.

I felt his thumb press down on my clit and I blew apart, my cry of release triggering Cam’s. He threw his head back, his eyes on me, his muscles strained as he let out a guttural grunt, my sex pulsing around him as he shuddered inside me in climax.

He fell against me, his lips on my shoulder, his chest against mine, my arms still locked around him. He turned his head and kissed my neck. ‘Do you know how many times I’ve imagined these long, gorgeous legs wrapped around me as I fucked you?’

I shook my head, still not recovered enough to speak.

‘Every day. And none of the fantasies were as good as the real thing.’

I smiled softly at that as he raised his head to kiss me. He made to pull back, but I chased his mouth, my hands sliding up his back to his nape, holding him to me as I kissed him with an ardour that hopefully clued him in to the fact that I wasn’t nearly done. I leaned back and raised my eyes to his beautiful ones. Someone naughty and a little bit wicked had crept inside me. I wanted him again. And I wanted him just as raw and hard as I’d just had him. ‘Do you know how many times over the last few weeks I lay in my bed and touched myself thinking about you?’

His breath sputtered and I felt his dick twitch inside me. ‘Jesus,’ he breathed, his eyes dilating. ‘Keep talking and you’re not going be able to walk tomorrow.’

I grinned up at him, squeezing my inner muscles around him again. ‘That’s the plan.’

15

Cam pressed a soft kiss to my mouth before he leaned back and pulled out of me. The fever hadn’t quite left me, but I did feel the heated fog drift to the edges of my brain, allowing reality to settle in.

I’d dumped Malcolm tonight.

And then I’d had sex with Cam against his hallway wall.

Amazing sex.

Mind-blowing sex.

‘Going to be a difficult act to follow’ sex.

Cam-and-I-were-together-now sex.

The churning worry in my gut was overwhelmed for a moment by giddy butterflies. Weeks of daydreaming about him – and now it was no longer a fantasy. We were doing this.

All of a sudden I felt weirdly shy.

‘Keep thinking those thoughts, whatever they are.’ Cam grinned, reaching out to smooth my skirt down for me. His eyes remained trained on mine as he took off the used condom and pulled his jeans up. ‘Stay right there.’

Before I could reply, he wandered off down the hall, disappearing into the bathroom. I heard the flush and then he was sauntering back towards me with his jeans still unzipped, his eyes hot on me. ‘Is Cole staying at Jamie’s tonight?’

I nodded, my heart banging away in my chest.

When Cam drew to a stop before me, he held out his hand to me. ‘Good. You can stay the night, then.’

I’d never been turned on by a guy with tattoos, but as I drank in the sight of his arm, my eyes following the curling script of his BE CALEDONIA tattoo, I felt a rush of possessiveness over his ink – that one in particular. Somehow, it was mine too, and I wanted to follow every detail of it with my tongue, laying claim to it.