An hour and a half later, the dinner dishes were in the dishwasher and a sleepy Jake was tucked into bed.
Cameron tugged Julia’s hand and they tiptoed out of the baby’s room. He led her into the living room where he’d left their half-full wineglasses and a small plate of her homemade cookies. “Let’s sit here and talk.”
“Okay,” she said, visibly nervous. He wasn’t sure why. She held all the cards in this transaction, didn’t she know that?
When the idea had first occurred to him to have Julia and Jake move in, the thought of asking her to marry him was the furthest thing from his mind. After all, from the time he was eight years old, he had vowed never to get married, ever. Of course, he’d also vowed never to have children. So much for the vows of an eight-year-old boy. Now, not only did he have a kid, but he fully intended to move that kid into his home and marry his mother-if that’s what it took to get them there.
He hoped he’d made the case last night, that their marriage would be built on respect and a mutual desire to raise Jake in a two-parent home. And lots of hot sex, of course. That was a key point of the negotiations.
And that was a hell of a lot more than most people started with.
“Cameron, I’ve-”
“Sweetheart, just-”
She laughed self-consciously, and Cameron said, “Go ahead. Tell me what you were going to say.”
“Okay,” she said with a nod as she brushed her hair away from her face.
“Here, let me do that,” Cameron murmured, and ran his fingers through her thick, luxurious strands, lifting and pushing them back. He used the movement to come closer and breathe in her feminine scent.
“That feels good,” she whispered.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he said, clutching her hair lightly in his hands as he stared into her vivid blue eyes. A few errant wisps of hair got loose and he smoothed them back behind her ears. “Your hair is every color of the rainbow.”
“I know,” she said shyly. “It’s so odd.”
“It’s lovely.” He bent to kiss her neck. “And it always smells great.”
“Thank you,” she said. Her eyelids fluttered closed and she moaned as he kissed her once more. “You’re distracting me, you know.”
“I know,” he said, as he nuzzled her neck. “Give me a minute.”
She touched his cheek. “Cameron, I’ll never say what I need to say if I don’t do it right now.”
“All right,” he said in resignation, and sat back against the cushions. “Go ahead.”
She took a deep breath, looked him directly in the eyes and said, “Okay. It’s just that I…I’ve decided that, yes, I’ll marry you.”
He’d always known-hoped-he’d be able to talk her into it, but he hadn’t realized until that moment how immensely important it was that she agree. He felt himself loosen up as his muscles relaxed and his chest lightened, making him realize he’d been tense enough to crack in half.
“Did you just say you’ll marry me?” he said, checking to make sure he’d heard her correctly.
“Yes,” she said, smiling tentatively. “Yes, Cameron. I’ll marry you.”
“Good. That’s settled.” He swooped her off the couch and onto his lap, then cut off her next sentence by kissing her deeply. His hands traced the length of her spine as his mouth claimed her as his own. His body absorbed the waves of shivers radiating off her as she met his fervor wholeheartedly, opening for him in a charged meeting of lips and tongues and anticipation.
He savored the taste of her and wanted to feel her skin against his. Now.
Julia must’ve had the same thought because she wriggled off his lap and turned to straddle him. “Touch me,” she demanded.
“Great minds think alike,” he murmured, as he slid his hands under her sweater. Lifting it up and off her in one movement, he inhaled sharply at the sight before him. She was braless. Her breasts were exposed and they were perfect. Fuller than he remembered, ripe and round, her dusky pink nipples erect as if waiting for his touch.
With both hands, he cupped her breasts, using his thumbs to tease her nipples until she moaned and pressed her hands over his. He gave in to temptation and moved to take first one breast, then the other into his mouth, licking, sucking and nibbling as she whispered words of urgent need.
Delicious, was all he could think. His senses were spinning out of control. Her skin was silken. She smelled like a field of delicate flowers and tasted like the sweetest sin.
Julia’s hands moved to his head and clutched him to her breasts, urging him to indulge more.
Any thoughts of taking things slowly disappeared as he drank her in, moving back to her succulent mouth where she met him hungrily, opening for him to sweep in and take.
Scorching a path down her neck, he kissed his way across her shoulders and back to her breasts, which demanded more attention from him. She moaned as her hips moved back and forth, pressing against him insistently. His erection strained for release. He was dangerously close to losing it and she and her sexy body weren’t helping matters.
“You’re killing me,” he growled. “Wrap your arms around my neck.” Gripping her bottom with both hands, he levered himself off the couch and stormed down the hall to the master bedroom where he laid her on the bed.
She leaned up on her elbows and watched as he rapidly stripped off his clothing. Her eyebrows rose as his erection was unfurled. He could see the hunger in her eyes and it empowered him. He prowled closer, naked and rigid, until he stood between her legs. Bending over her, he unzipped her pants and pulled them off, leaving her in nothing but an incredibly hot, black lace thong.
“Is it my birthday?” he wondered aloud.
“Did you make a wish?” she asked, her eyes twinkling with promise.
“Yeah. It just came true.”
She licked her lips in an unconscious move that almost undid him. Then she blinked in surprise as he knelt at the end of the bed and shifted her legs onto his shoulders.
“I have to taste you,” he muttered, and kissed her most delectable spot. When he thrust his tongue into her, she arched off the bed with a feral cry.
“You’re mine now,” he murmured, and proceeded to brand her, licking and plunging over and over until she was writhing on the bed. He used one finger to enter her moist core and she groaned with pleasure.
“Now, Cameron,” she cried. “I need you inside me now.”
He lowered her legs carefully, then stood and walked across the room, leaving her moaning in protest until she noticed him putting on a condom. Then he was back. He knelt on the bed and stroked her again with his fingers to assure himself she was truly hot, moist and ready for him.
“Please, now,” she whispered, pulling him closer.
“Yes, now,” he said and entered her swiftly and completely. She gasped and he planted his mouth on hers and kissed her fully, swallowing her cries, sweeping within, his tongue matching his own surging thrusts as he buried himself within her.
She drove him to the edge, but his innate self-control pushed back from the brink. Pumping harder, faster, he moved deeply into her, so deep that he might’ve lost himself in her. It didn’t matter. Pulling his head back, he watched the storm gather in her eyes as he stroked again, craving more, demanding all. When at last he saw her head whipping back and forth in surrender and heard her cry out his name, he buried his face in her neck and kissed her skin. Gathering the last of his strength, he thrust again, then again, and finally gave himself up to the abyss and tumbled, free-falling, into her arms.
They were married three days later on the cliffs of the Monarch Dunes resort, overlooking the ocean. The day was sunny and bright, the ocean was a calm, deep blue, and the grass was sparkling green after an overnight light spring rain.
All in all, it was impossibly romantic, or it would’ve been, if not for the fact that the groom didn’t love the bride. And the lawyers on both sides who’d insisted on drawing up a prenuptial agreement. Cameron and she had signed the final documents that morning.
But Julia refused to dwell on the gnawing details as she listened to her new husband declare, “I do.” A minute later, he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her senseless in front of the small crowd of well wishers, and all seemed right with the world.
