“So, how was last night?” Chloe asks, looking over her mug.
Perfect. Amazing. Freeing.
“Mmhmm. Sure, keep all the good secrets to yourself,” she adds before I have time to even open my mouth.
“It was better than good. It was the best sex I have ever had,” I whisper to her across the table.
“Ooh … so, like, how big?” she asks, setting her mug down and guessing his size with her hands. “Bigger than this?”
I hear the door to my loft open and give Chloe the don’t say a fucking word stare. She gives me an evil grin.
“Hi, sleepyhead,” Chloe says as Cam walks over to us, wearing joggers and a hoodie.
Come to think of it, besides his hockey jersey, I don’t know if I’ve seen him in a different outfit than these two things.
“Good morning,” he says, his voice raspy from sleep.
Why is bedhead so sexy?
He rubs his eyes and meets mine, and I’m helpless in fighting the blush that creeps onto my cheeks.
“Good morning, Cameron.” I smile. “Sleep okay?”
He sits down beside me and grabs my chair, pulling it toward him. “Best sleep ever.” He steals my water and takes a sip. “Why on earth are you guys up this early? It’s barely six a.m.”
He tips his head back and closes his eyes while I say, “I’m just used to it, I guess. I have to bake and get everything ready super early so it’s done by the time we open.”
“Are you guys opening today?” His head snaps up.
“No. Definitely not,” I say. “I have enough to worry about without stressing about this place.”
As I look around my empty shop, sadness crushes my chest. This has been my safe haven, and because of Trey, I can’t open today and see my customers. But that day will come again.
“Let’s go back to bed then. I’m so tired,” Cam groans, drinking a third of my water.
“Did you want some of that?” I ask him, laughing.
“I’m sorry. I’ll fill it back up for you,” Cam says, attempting to contain his smile.
“You guys are adorable,” she chimes. “I’m going to go get a couple of things done and grab lunch with my dad. Meet back up afterward?” She pauses, and I nod. “I really think you guys should come to my house. It’s safer.”
I twist my cup in my hand as swirling fear and anger slice into my chest from the thought of Cam or her not being safe and potentially getting hurt. Cam’s fingers grab my thigh and press my foot down. I didn’t realize I had been tapping it so aggressively.
“Cam should go. I don’t want to be near you two when he shows up,” I mumble, my voice shaky. “You don’t know what he’s capable of.”
Cam’s thumb caresses the top of my thigh. “I’m not going anywhere, Morgan.”
Sighing, I take a drink of my almost-empty water. “Chloe, please, can you stay at your house after your lunch with your dad? I need to know you’ll be safe.”
“If you come with me,” she argues.
When I say Trey won’t stop until he finds me, I mean it. Chloe’s guarded house won’t change that. He’s a cop. He’s smart and patient. He’ll wait as long as he has to. I can’t keep Cam here forever, and knowing Trey, he would use Cam to draw me out. It would work too.
Which means that, very soon, I’ll be seeing Trey again, face-to-face. A nightmare that I was hoping would never come true.
I don’t know what will happen when we come together again. Will he kill me for leaving him? Will he touch me? Will he torture me? Will he see me and let me go?
The gun sitting next to me knows the answer to those questions. He wants to bring me back to his domain. He wants me to be his again. But I won’t let that happen. I won’t go back to him alive.
“Okay, fine. I’ll meet you at your house after lunch,” I lie to her.
She smiles. “Good. I’ll see you then.” She downs her coffee. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I tell her as she walks to the door and leaves, locking up behind her and getting into the back of a black SUV.
I feel Cam’s eyes on me.
He studies me for a moment before he asks, “You’re not going over there, are you?”
“No,” I answer flatly.
“Are you sure we shouldn’t join her?” Cam asks hesitantly.
Leaning my head against his shoulder, I tell him, “I’m sure. But I meant what I said about you going.”
He takes a deep breath and says, “Get it out of your head, Little Dove. You’re stuck with me. Now, do you want to hang out down here or go upstairs?”
“Let me make a quick call, and we can go back up,” I whisper to him as my heart jumps.
Cam chooses me every second of the day when it would be so much easier for him to run and forget about me. If I can’t force him away to keep him safe, I’ll have to find a way to keep him safe next to me.
The line rings twice before Bill picks up, and I speak before he can, setting the tone of our call immediately. “Don’t say my name or let her know I’m on the phone.”
“Good morning,” he answers.
“You want to keep Chloe safe, right? That’s your job?” I ask him, knowing what he’ll say next.
“Yes, sir,” Bill responds firmly.
Keeping my voice clear and concise, I tell him, “After lunch, she believes that I am coming over there. But I will not be doing that. My ex-boyfriend is coming here. He’s a dangerous man, and there is no telling what he’ll do to the people I love, if given the chance. After lunch, do not let her leave that house until you hear from me again. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Bill responds, a slight inflection in his tone.
“She might die if she leaves that house. I swear to God, if she gets hurt because you couldn’t keep her there—” My voice cracks, and Cam grabs my hand and places gentle kisses against my knuckles.
“I understand, sir. Thank you. You have nothing to worry about,” he tells me, and I know that he means it.
As hard as Chloe fights, her security team won’t let her leave.
Hanging up the phone, I’m rocked with the realization that if something happens to me, this morning might have been the last time I ever see her.
My best friend, her bright and bubbly face. The stranger who saved my life and gave me my new one. I can never repay her for what she has done for me. But I can make sure she is safe and untouchable from Trey.
“Are you okay?” Cam whispers, turning me toward him.
Nodding, I wipe away the tears building in my lower lashes. “I will be. When all of this is over.”
The overwhelming feeling of dread pushes down on my chest and shoulders. It’s a waiting game now. Going back to bed actually sounds amazing right now.
“Upstairs?” I lightly smile at him.
“Yes, please,” he says, yawning.
Intertwining our fingers, he leads me back to my bed and crawls in next to me, pulling me into his arms with my head on his chest.
“We could fly back to New York. I could keep you safe there.”
“What happens if a cop shows up and starts asking questions about me? Are they just going to force him away because I said so? He’s a cop, Cam. You know that his words mean more than mine,” I say, my voice muffled against his chest.
He sighs, and I know he’s frustrated. He wants to find a way to fix this. But he, of all people, understands how different this situation is because Trey’s a cop. Right now, it’s his word versus mine, and Cam and I both know how much higher valued the voice of a law enforcement worker is.
“Okay, I’ll do whatever you need me to do,” he says, rubbing my back. “Don’t want to go to New York? Fine, we’ll stay here. But we need a plan for when he shows up. I’m guessing a stern conversation isn’t going to send him walking? Should we try to involve the police? Or should I go out and buy a couple of shovels?”
I laugh. “The police? They are the ones protecting him. I can’t tell you how many times I went to the doctor or the ER, covered in bruises, getting X-rays on my wrists or ribs. They all saw what he had done to me, and yet nothing ever happened.”
If you think the first call I’d make when someone broke in is to the cops, you’re wrong. I would call Chloe. She would have a team with her, breaking down the door, before the cops were even close.
“So, are we going with the shovel option?” Cam genuinely asks.
Before Trey, I wasn’t sure I was capable of taking a human life—other than my own. He changed that in me. I know without a doubt that if Trey tried to harm me or Cam, I would put him down like the rabid dog he was.
“If it comes down to it, yes.”
Waking up, I have a sinking feeling in every cell of my body. In the blink of an eye, reality slaps me, and I’m reminded of why I feel this way.
Peeling Cam’s arm off of me, I roll over and check the time on my phone—12:42 p.m.
Holy shit, how in the hell did we sleep in this late?
I nudge Cam. “Hey, wake up. It’s almost one o’clock.”
“Five more minutes,” Cam pleads.
Laughing, I tickle his side and watch all of his muscles contract as he laughs.
“Oh my God, don’t do that. I hate being tickled.”
Tickling him again, I giggle. “Well, we’ve got a problem then because this is way too much fun to never do again.”
He rolls over and on top of me, pinning me to the bed. His hair falls down, framing his face as he stares at me.
“You are such a brat, Little Dove.” He squints his eyes at me and lowers his hips down onto mine.
Biting my bottom lip, I whisper, “What are you going to do about it?”
His eyes darken as he hardens against me. “I have a lot of things I could do about that attitude, including a really quick solution to get that pretty mouth to stop being so bratty.”
“And what’s that?” I challenge.
“Sliding my cock down your throat until gagging is the only sound you can make,” he growls.
Sucking in a sharp breath, I wriggle beneath him, feeling his growing bulge press into me.
His stomach growls, breaking the silence between us.
Giggling, I ask him, “Hungry?”
He chuckles, showing off those pearly whites. “Yes, I’m starving.”
Patting his chest, I say, “Come on. I’ll make you breakfast.”
We head downstairs, and I reheat a few muffins and brush them with melted butter.
“I hope blueberry muffins are okay,” I say, sliding the plate toward him.
“Mmm-mmm-mmm,” he hums. “Perfect.”
While Cam stuffs down the first muffin, I decide to check the voice mails for my shop.
Two voice mails.
I click the first one and listen to a woman’s voice.
“Hi. I was just wondering if you guys are open today. Give me a call back at …”
I click off since the voice mail is two days old. It would be almost rude to call back at this point.
I click the second voice mail and bring the phone back to my ear.
I hold my breath as a familiar voice on the other side says, “Hello, Honeybee. I’ve missed you. I’ll see you soon. Then, I can finally bring you home.”
Needles prick my body, and tears rapidly blur my vision.
My ears ring as my phone slips from my hand and crashes onto my floor.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Cam jumps off of the counter and is by my side in a second.
But nothing’s working—not my mouth, my brain, or my body. I’m frozen in place as his words play over and over in my head.
Honeybee.
How do I know he’s not outside right now, just waiting for me?
Cam rubs my shoulders. “Baby, what is it?”
I can’t find my words, so I grab my phone off of the floor and hand it to him.
He presses play and holds it to his ear, listening to the voice of the man who abused me for years.
He sets my phone down on the counter and kisses my forehead. “What do you want to do? Do you want to stay here? I really think we need to go someplace else.”
We need to not be in such a trapped space. The shop has two exits, but knowing Trey, he will block one somehow and corner us. I know just the place we’re going to.
“Grab your stuff. We’re going to the library,” I tell him as I throw the phone back on its charger.
“I want to support whatever your plan is, but is reading really the answer right now?” he asks nervously as I take off for the stairs and he follows behind me.
I roll my eyes at him and timidly chuckle. “I’m not going to read. The library is closed today and tomorrow. We’re going to camp out there. I know the ins and outs of that place like the back of my hand. If Trey doesn’t show up by the end of day tomorrow, maybe we can go to Chloe’s.”
He nods, trusting me fully. “All right, let’s do it.”
Quickly, I throw some clothes into my bag along with my charger, my toothbrush, my hairbrush, snacks for a couple of days, and my box of ammo. You know, all the essentials.
Cam waits for me by the door with his duffel bag on his shoulder.
“Hey, can you grab those blankets, please?” I ask, pointing to the stack in the basket by the couch.
Tossing my bag down, I rush to grab something I forgot. Sliding my arms through the sleeves, I pull Cam’s hoodie over my head and sigh at the happiness it brings me.
“Ready?” I say as I grab my bag and tuck my pistol into my hoodie in case we need it on the walk over.
Nodding, he opens the door for me, and I step outside first with my hand in my pocket. He shuts it, and I hastily secure a few of the locks behind me.
My ears listen for the smallest creak in a floorboard or a hinge opening on a door. But dead silence is all I hear.
I lead us down the stairs and out of the stairwell, walking on the balls of my feet across the sitting area of my shop.
Opening the front door, I throw my hood up and lock the door once Cam walks through.
“Take a breath for me, please,” Cam whispers into my ear.
Forcing the air I was holding through my teeth, I slowly exhale. Scanning the streets, I look for anything out of place. But everything seems as it should be.
We make the short walk to the library and are approaching the doors when Cam says, “How are we getting in? Is there a hidden key or something?”
Digging my keys out of my pocket, I slide one into the door until it clicks and unlocks.
“About a year ago, Susan was really sick and couldn’t run the library, so she asked me to watch over it while she was ill. I kept it in case I ever needed to get away or if she needed help again.” I push the door open and relock it behind us.
Once we get to Susan’s desk, I set my stuff down and turn to Cam. “Are you okay? With staying here, I mean.”
He grabs my jaw with one hand, and I lean into his touch. “Yes. I’m here until this is all over. I’m not letting anything happen to you.”
“But you have practice and a game coming up,” I say as anxiety wraps around my throat. “You can’t not go.”
He grabs my waist and lifts me up, setting me on the counter. “I already texted Kos, Brett, and Coach, telling them I needed a few days for a family emergency.” He grabs my face as my eyes well up with tears. “Get it through that beautiful, thick skull of yours.” He kisses me. “I”—kiss—“am not”—kiss—“going”—kiss—“anywhere.”
“Okay,” I whisper. “Thank you.”
“You are my family now, Morgan. We’re in this together,” he says against my lips. “No matter what.”
We spend the next hour meandering around the library. I show him all the books I have read in here, all of them being in the Romance section. Then, we watch two movies on Netflix, and before I know it, it’s six o’clock and pitch-black outside with no sign of Trey.
A sweet kiss presses onto my forehead before Cam whispers, “Hey. Sleep okay?”
Fluttering my eyes open, I take in my surroundings, staring up at the high shelves full of romance books that dream of what we have.
“I don’t know how I slept at all,” I grumble as I sit up from the hard ground.
“Because I’m here,” Cam says before kissing my temple and standing up.
He reaches up and stretches, exposing the lines of scars that cover every part of his back and shoulders.
“Do you ever talk about what happened?” I ask him and set my hands in my crisscrossed legs.
“About my dad?” he asks and slips the tank top on.
I nod.
He sits down across from me and leans back against the bookshelf. “Not really. But if you have questions, please, ask them.”
Grabbing my blanket, I pull it over my lap and lean back against the bookshelf behind me. “Was he always bad?”
Cam stares off, his mind going elsewhere. “He wasn’t always that bad. He would raise his voice and shout, but he wasn’t always physical.” He pauses. “I have a few good memories with him. But I don’t let myself think of them anymore. He deserves to be an evil man in my mind.”
“I understand that,” I tell him, feeling my heart ache for the pain he went through as a child.
He reaches up and pulls a book down from the shelf above him. One Hundred and One Ways to Please Your Partner.
Lowering the book, he raises an eyebrow at me, grinning. “I don’t need to read a book to know how to please you.”
“Oh, really? You’re an awfully confident man,” I tease him.
He sets the book down beside him. “I can show you one hundred and one ways I can make you come.”
I wait for him to laugh, but he doesn’t. He looks at me with a darkening stare.
Gulping, I ask, “What’s one you haven’t already done?”
Cam chuckles. “Little Dove, I could spend the rest of my life fucking you, and I would still find new things to try. There isn’t a limit if you’re imaginative enough.”
“What would you do right now?” I ask softly.
Cam licks his lips and rises to his knees, saying, “I’ll show you. Take your pants off.”
Giggling, I ask, “What? Cam, we can’t. There are cameras in here. No way am I making a sex tape with you for Susan to find one day.”
“None point into this section. I already looked. Stop arguing and take your pants off, Little Dove,” Cam orders.
I stand up, my cheeks flushing, and I unbutton my jeans as my stomach flutters. Pushing them to my ankles, I kick them off.
“Now, your sweatshirt,” Cam says and runs his tongue across his bottom lip.
I take off my hoodie and shirt, leaving me naked, aside from my lacy bra and panties.
“Happy now?” I ask him sarcastically.
“Very,” he groans. “Turn around.”
Rolling my eyes, I turn around and face the bookshelf, waiting for his next move.
Warm breath sweeps across my bare ass, and I jump.
“Relax, baby,” Cam whispers and presses his nose between my legs. “Fuck, you smell so good.”
Grabbing my ankle, he lifts it up and places it a few shelves up from the ground, almost exposing me completely to him, sheer lace being the only barrier.
His rough thumb swipes my already-wet panties before pulling them to the side.
He doesn’t hesitate and latches on to me, his tongue plunging inside. His fingers circle my clit, and then a finger slides in, quickly joined by a second.
“Ahh, fuck, baby,” I moan, my hips bucking from the sensation.
Oh my God, I can’t believe we are doing this inside of the library right now.
He pulls away from me, but I don’t spin around. Instead, I rest my forehead against the books in front of me and try to calm my panting breaths.
“Do you think this is in that book?” Cam asks, standing at his full height behind me.
His cock slaps against my already-oversensitive center. I jump, and he does it again.
Oh my God, I need to feel him inside of me right now.
“No, probably not,” I answer him, pushing my ass out, opening myself more for him.
He quickly puts on a condom and I get butterflies at what is to come. Literally.
He grabs my panties, and before I realize what he is doing, I hear the rip.
“You didn’t need these anyway, right?”
“Cam!” I scold him and try to turn around, but his tip pushing into my entrance stops me in my tracks. “Fuck.”
Will my body ever be used to taking him?
Thankfully, he unhooks my bra instead of shredding it, like he did with my thong.
“Do you think fucking a tight pussy against bookshelves is in that book?” He bends down and kisses the top of my head. “We should make a book of our own. The Endless Ways Cam Can Make Morgan Come. What do you think?”
He pushes into me more, and I moan, saying, “It sounds a little lengthy.”
“That sounds fitting then.” He chuckles and reaches down, cupping my breast. “Fuck, you feel so good, wrapped around my cock,” Cam growls.
His control and patience snap, and he thrusts, sinking into me completely.
I cry out as he continues to thrust into me repeatedly, “Fuck!”
His hand shifts from my breast to my throat, but he doesn’t push down. He lifts my head up and leans it against his chest so I’m staring up at him.
“Tell me something that is more beautiful than this,” he says, rolling his hips and changing his rhythm, sending my eyes to the back of my head.
“Open your eyes, Little Dove. I want you looking at me when I make you come,” he demands.
Opening my eyes, I look up at him, feeling my core clench as my body starts to tingle.
He smirks, knowing that I’m about to come.
“My pretty Little Dove,” he hums.
My orgasm slams into me, but I keep my eyes locked on his as I cry out, “Cam! Fuck, Cam!”
He pumps into me furiously, faster and faster, until he goes still, twitching inside of me. “Perfection, baby. You are absolute perfection.”
After we clean ourselves up and get dressed, I sit between his legs with his arms around me.
His raven tattoo catches my eye, and I let curiosity get the best of me. “Does your tattoo have a meaning?”
He lifts his arm up, showing it off. “When I got this tattoo, I was in a very dark place. I needed something to remind me to push forward. Ravens are often thought to be an omen of death, and I thought, in a way, that could be beautiful. Not in the sense that death is coming and you don’t have a choice to escape it. But as a warning to either lie down and take it or fight to live. I figured my raven had been through a lot. It would have war wounds to show the times that I fought to live when death could have easily taken me. So, I thought this would be perfect—a one-eyed raven with missing feathers, emerging through the darkness.”
I wipe my wet eyes and whisper to the strongest man I know, “I love you.”
