Love, Scars, & Shooting Stars

Chapter Fifty-Six

Cameron's mouth on hers was different this time, desirous and unrestrained, his arms a steel corset as he pulled her in close. Julie responded with her own voracious abandon, teasing his tongue with hers as she slipped her hands beneath his shirt and up to the middle of his back.

"Oh, my God," he moaned huskily, the words spilling from his lips to hers. "I want you, Julie...so badly..."

"You already have me," she panted in between kisses, lying back and pulling him down with her. "I'm yours...all yours...only yours."

Never taking his lips from hers, Cameron blanketed her body with his own and Julie exulted at the weight of his body atop hers, melted in the warmth of their combined heat. The swell of his manhood nudged rock-hard against her pelvis and her hips intuitively rose to meet it, her free leg wrapping around behind his. Cameron gave a savage groan and pressed harder, his upper body rising from hers as his arms protracted.

"Nonono," Julie pleaded nonsensically, pulling him back down. "Don't go... don't stop."

"I won't," he promised, burrowing his face against the side of her neck. "Ever..."

Julie sighed contentedly as he planted a trail of kisses down the length of her neck, his tongue sneaking out sporadically to sample the salt of her skin, her fingers winding through his hair. His lips lingered in the hollow at the base of her throat, and one hand slid down to cup her breast over the top of her t-shirt and bra.

"Yes," she breathed as his thumb skimmed the firm bud of her nipple. "Oh, yes."

"Yes," Cameron echoed, then abruptly stopped and sprang up to sitting. "I mean, no. Not here, not like this."

"But..." Julie sputtered as she sat up, quivering and half-crazed from sexual tension. "Why?"

"It's not right," he insisted, dragging a hand through his hair. "I haven't even taken you out on a date yet, and the house isn't finished, and"—he sank back against the sofa's padded armrest—"this couch is so fricking ugly!"

Julie laughed and crawled across the cushions to straddle his lap. Cupping his face in her hands, she kissed him on the lips and then smiled as she stared into his eyes.

"Cameron, I don't care about any of that," she assured him.

"Well, I do. You deserve better than this," he said, smacking the back of the sofa for emphasis.

Julie laughed and moved in to kiss him, but he held her off.

"I'm serious," he insisted. "I want to do this right... I don't want to rush things." He smiled then, his eyes dark and molten as he trailed a fingertip leisurely down the slope of her nose, over her lips, around the curve of her chin, and down the entire length of her neck. At the line of her t-shirt he stopped, casting out a wolfish grin that made Julie tremble. "I want to take my time with you."

"Oh," she said, a smile unfurling across her own lips. "Well, when you put it that way..."

Cameron laughed as he folded her into his arms, and Julie sank gratefully into his embrace. He resituated his body so that she could squeeze in beside him, her head on his chest and a tangle of arms and legs below.

"Your heart is beating so fast," she marveled.

"Yeah, these close calls we keep having are going to be the death of me," he kidded.