Deep in the Heart Read online

  He switched to my other breast, sucking hard enough to hollow out his cheeks, his eyes never leaving mine. The sensation was too great and I threw my head back.

  “We’re just getting started, sugar.” His voice held promises no one else could ever match. Cam proved more sensitive to my needs than any of my previous lovers. My passion seemed to stoke his.

  That’s why I loved him.

  My breath hitched. Was I ready for opening myself up that much to him?

  He fingered the bow along my spine. “I wanted to untie this the moment I saw it.” With a strong tug, my top fell, floating in the swirling current.

  He ran his hands up my ribs back to my aching breasts. My breathing ramped up again as desire pooled, heating my belly. I took the opportunity to bring my hands back up to his hair, fisting them there as I leaned in and kissed him.

  This kiss wasn’t gentle. My lips slammed against his as my mouth opened, my tongue already dueling with his. His hips thrust upward against my wet center as his tongue slid over mine. I liked that. A lot. So, I rubbed against his hard erection while my lips sealed to his and my tongue plundered the warmth of his mouth.

  On and on I kissed him—I’d nibble, then lick, suckle on his lower lip before thrusting my tongue back into his mouth. And each change was more glorious, bringing me higher and closer to the ultimate pleasure I needed. Each kiss, each touch of his hands against my overheated skin caused the throb between my legs to build.

  I tore my mouth from his when his fingertips drifted up my thigh to the edge of my bikini bottoms, liking his slumberous eyes and his red, plumped lips.

  “I’m going to touch you now, Jenna.”

  I leaned back in close enough to take his lips but instead I laid my cheek against his. “Yes.”

  His fingers dipped under the elastic and he palmed my hot, needy flesh. I moaned as he pressed the heel of his hand against my pubic bone, causing the bundle of nerves hidden there to flash with desire.

  “Cam.”

  “I got you, sugar. Just enjoy.”

  He slid a finger inside me and I shuddered, my fingernails biting into his shoulders. I was desperate and wet and so close to losing my mind. When he added another finger, I forced my hips down, taking him even deeper into my body, needing him to understand how much I desired his touch.

  He grunted. I hoped in appreciation. Then his thumb found my clit and my eyes slammed closed on the sparks shooting behind those lids. One soft pump out with his fingers, then three were in me, pushing in toward that…oh, please, yes, that perfect spot…as his thumb pressed harder, and I brought my head forward on the deep cry that ripped from my lips as my body clenched tight, hard, around his fingers.

  Cam rode out each shudder, holding me with his free arm, keeping me as safe as he’d promised. I collapsed, sprawled over his chest as my breathing slowed.

  With gentle care, he eased his fingers from my tender flesh as he kissed my temple.

  “Cam?”

  “Yeah?”

  I ran my hand up and over his thick, hard erection. “I want you inside me.”

  “You can enjoy your…”

  “One way or another, I’m going to make you come, and I’d really like to feel you inside me when it happens.”

  He gritted his teeth even as he looked with sheepish concern at his straining board shorts. “I don’t have a condom. That’s not why I brought you down here.”

  I shivered as a softer breeze slid through the thick, humid summer air.

  “It’s unlikely I’ll get pregnant. That time I bled? It was a cyst. When it ruptured, it damaged my ovary.” I shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal, but it was. Another reason I’d felt so useless and unneeded at the ripe old age of eighteen.

  Cam must have heard something in my voice or maybe it was just how well he already knew me. He tipped my head down and forced me to meet his gaze.

  “I’m clean. I had my physical a few months ago and haven’t been with anyone but you since.”

  I shuddered, not liking the idea of Cam touching and loving another woman, but then, I’d let Charles use my body, so how could I be upset with him for his past?

  “I’m good, too.” I didn’t want to say I’d gotten a clean sexual bill of health after my last hospitalization, worried it’d kill the mood. So, instead. I ran my hand up and down his erection, my body once again enjoying the idea of more intimacy with Cam.

  I leaned in closer and brushed my lips over his in a soft, teasing caress. I followed that with a warm glide of my breasts across his chest. His eyes darkened and his hands dropped to my hips, cupping my bottom.

  “You’re beautiful, Jenna Marie. The most beautiful water sprite I’ve ever seen.”

  I smiled at his words, thankful he was willing to keep us away from the thick, churning uncertainty just on the other side of this moment.

  I loosened his shorts. After running my hands over his hard, muscular stomach, I pushed my hand under his trunks and gripped him, hissing as I always did at his heat and girth. His fingers slid back under my bikini bottoms, easing them to the side so he had better access to my flesh.

  “Next time is in a bed where I can take my time with you,” Cam murmured against my neck. “I don’t like doing this too fast.” He moved down to my shoulder. “So much of you I like to savor.”

  He ran his fingers along my lips and my chest slid against his. I squeezed him just as his fingers brushed my inner lips, readying my body.

  When I couldn’t take the touches anymore, I wiggled out of my bikini bottoms and settled over him, guiding his thick shaft into my body.

  Cam’s arms tucked me tighter to his chest as his hips thrust upward. I bit my lip at the fullness of him. He was big and oh so hard. Perfect. And mine. Right now, this sexy man had eyes only for me. The crickets sang and the water swished around us as he let me set the pace.

  One breath turned to three, then mingled together as we moved, striving for fulfillment. He kissed the side of my neck, working back to my mouth.

  When he sealed his lips over mine, he was so gentle, tears formed in my eyes. Much as I wanted to believe he was telling me this moment meant something more than amazing sex of two people who had incredible chemistry, I couldn’t.

  He thrust into me again, and I let my head fall back, away from the overpowering emotion in that kiss. He followed, pressing his lips to the hollow of my throat as his pace quickened. His fingers found and plucked my nipples and the buzz of need built to a fever pitch.

  Faster and harder, he moved in my body. Deep…so deep inside me—showing me that he could take even as he gave greater pleasure. I loved how he gave, making sure my pleasure exploded before his.

  I collapsed against him with an exhausted sigh.

  Camden Grace might well be the best man I’d ever met. Too bad he’d never want to keep me and my level of crazy, especially now that my family blew apart.

  He woke me with kisses. I murmured against his mouth, stretching. Then, my eyes popped open. I’d had sex—amazing sex—outside. My grandfather was dead. My parents didn’t want to see me.

  “What time is it?” I asked, the panic snaking up my spine.

  “After ten.”

  I sat up and realized I was naked and in Cam’s bed. Heat blasted through my cheeks and chest. Well, that had to be one heck of a photo opportunity—Cam carrying me, asleep, from his river pool.

  “Oh, you don’t get to go all shy on me now.” He leaned down and kissed me again. Long and slow with lots of luscious nips and languid swipes of tongue. I melted in a puddle of need.

  Camden Grace’s sexuality might be the most potent drug I’d ever ingested. And, damn, if I didn’t want another hit.

  He looked me in the eyes for a long time before he bent down and placed a soft, sweet kiss on my lips. When he pulled back my eyes fluttered open, meeting his intense gaze.

  I edged in closer, my breath breaking on my lips even as my insides squirmed and I wanted to shy away from the big emotions he offered. �
��Cam—”

  I cupped his cheeks as his lips slid over my shoulder, sucking the skin there with gentle insistence.

  “I should call my family,” I managed to say, unscrambling my hazy brain. I took my phone from Cam’s hand. I played with the edge.

  “We can pick something up on the way to your folks’ place. Then, I’d like you to come back here for the week or whatever.”

  “You’re okay with that?” The butterflies in my stomach took off, sailing with delight.

  “I’d like nothing more than to spend more time with you.”

  I pressed my lips to his in thanks. After another long moment of losing myself in his mouth, I pulled back and picked up my phone.

  “Hey, Micah. How are Dad and Mom doing?”

  “Driving Jude and me crazy.”

  His sadness slid into the phone and wrapped around my skin. I blinked down, shocked to realize I was talking to my brother while sitting in Cam’s bed, naked. When I caught Cam’s gaze, he raised his eyebrow as if he knew what I was thinking.

  I gripped the phone tighter and breathed through the rush of emotion. “Thank you. Is Dad…is he still mad at me?”

  “Yeah.” Jude practically snarled the word. “Won’t say why, just that he doesn’t want to see you.”

  My body curved in on itself. Crap on a stick—these emotions tearing through my chest hurt. “Oh.”

  He sighed. “Maybe…maybe it’s best if you wait it out, Jen. I don’t know what’s going on.”

  “Okay.”

  “Jude and I can come out to see you.”

  My brother always had an olive branch. I loved him for it. “I’ll see what Cam says.”

  I tossed my phone onto the bedside table and stared at it, wondering what I did to anger my father so much.

  Cam tugged me up and into the bathroom. He turned on the shower. Stepping into the shower, I started when he wrapped his arms around me.

  “I don’t think…” I stopped, unsure how to tell him that while I wanted him, the desire right now seemed wrong.

  “I’m just going to hold you, Jenna. Then, we’re going to get cleaned up and meet your family.”

  I tipped my head back, squinting as the fine mist caught in my lashes, a few droplets hitting me in the eye. “My dad doesn’t want to see me.”

  Cam narrowed his eyes, his mouth pulling in to a pinched line.

  “My brothers said they’d come to me. If…if that’s okay?”

  “I’d love to meet them.” He pressed a kiss to the tip of my nose. “Now, let’s wash your hair.”

  24

  Cam

  While Jenna finished getting ready, I called my brother, thrilling a little to be able to do so. Our relationship would take a while to rebuild—too many years passed for the ease we once had—but for the first time, confidence surged through me when I thought of my brother.

  “You had a bad night,” Carter said without preamble. “Bet it was worse than mine here, and the fireworks between Mom and Katie Rose lit the sky.”

  “Sorry to leave you with that.” I rubbed the back of my neck, chagrined.

  “Nah. Don’t be. I’m part of this family, whether I’ve been good about participating or not.”

  My heart warmed at the conviction in his words. “Thanks, C. What, exactly, is Katie Rose so mad about?”

  “The cheating. You know she thought her father hung the moon and the stars. Oh, and she’s upset for you, too, that Laurence stepped out with your wife. That’s really stuck in her craw.” He sighed. “But worst of it is she’s upset with Mama for lying.”

  “So’m I, if I’m honest.”

  “I’d be, too, but I lied to you as well. I thought I was helping. Now I see I just messed it up more.”

  “I’ll come down, see if I can diffuse the situation.”

  “If anyone can, it’s you, Cam. Cuz, damn, baby brother, you’re a bona fide rock star.”

  Heat crept up my cheeks. I wanted to shrug it off, but it felt good to have my twin complimenting me, especially with all that sincerity in his voice.

  “I’ll come down in a bit. I’d like you to meet Jenna.”

  “I’ll be here.” His voice was laconic but the words spread happiness through my chest.

  Jenna and I finished getting ready in an easy synchronicity we’d established over the last few weeks at her place. Jenna met me at the front door, her wet hair combed back from her face, in a pair of white cut-offs and a gauzy, oversized top. A tunic, Katie Rose called them. She liked that style, too.

  Chuck had the car out front, idling. We slid into the air-conditioned comfort of the back seat and Jenna and I buckled in before I took her hand in mine. Not far up the road, but we’d head to get some food after and I didn’t want Jenna to wilt in this heat wave.

  The front door opened and my mother stepped out onto the porch. She waved just as another figure darkened the door.

  “I can’t do this,” Jenna mumbled. Her breath escalated to harsh bursts.

  “It’s just my mom and sister.”

  She turned to look at me, eyes wild and lids red. She reminded me of a raging bull.

  “You don’t get to spring this on me!”

  “What’s got you in such a lather?”

  Jenna’s face crumpled, tears streaming down her cheeks, and my stomach iced over at the harsh sobs.

  “What’s wrong, sugar?”

  “I can’t meet your mother. My own father seems to hate me.”

  I cupped her cheek. “My mom won’t hate you.”

  She swiped at her runny nose, her eyes meeting mine through the deluge of tears. “I can’t deal with rejection right now,” she whispered.

  “She won’t. She and Katie Rose already love you. Promise.”

  Navigating Jenna’s mercurial mood switches might prove more difficult than I’d anticipated. And I wanted to get hold of her father to find out why he shut out his only daughter during such a rough time for her.

  Carter smiled and shook Jenna’s hand—sure not to touch her in any inappropriate manner. I appreciated his reticence though Jenna seemed concerned. No matter. I could tell Carter liked her. A lot.

  My mama did, too, just as I’d predicted. She even wrapped Jenna up in one of her big hugs that had Jenna sighing and snuggling in tighter. That made me happy.

  We decided to meet Jenna’s brothers at her condo since they’d asked to meet us there.

  Jenna’s silence on the way was a small price to pay for getting the meet-and-greet of her brothers out of the way.

  We’d picked up dinner from Torchy’s Tacos, which Jenna said was her brothers’ comfort food. Chuck and I carried it in while Jenna hugged her brothers.

  “You doing okay?” Chuck asked me.

  I considered his question, unwilling to give him anything less than the truth. “Not really. This whole situation blows.”

  Chuck thumped his fist on my shoulder. “Life can be a cruel, fickle beast.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “You going to mess this up with her cuz your head isn’t on straight?”

  I dropped my hands to the granite counter top and let my head fall forward between my raised shoulders. “I’m not sure she’s going to help me screw it on any better. And, anyway, she’s as messed up as I am.”

  At the slight gasp, I turned to see Jenna paused in the doorway, on her tiptoes as if she’d been about to step further into the room.

  Well, shit.

  The rest of the night fell apart from there.

  Micah, Jenna’s oldest brother, took her by the hands and led her over to the couch. My heart rate slowed and a thick heaviness lingered in the air.

  Micah edged his butt onto Jenna’s coffee table, keeping her small, pale hands in his. Jude came to sit next to her, his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders.

  Micah sucked in a big breath, his entire chest heaving. He must have drawn the short straw, the one who had to tell Jenna the reason her father was being such a dick. My fingers flicked against my jeans as the dread bu
ilt in my chest. I moved toward Jenna, instinct telling me these next words would shatter her.

  “Dad told us who hit Pop-pop,” Micah began.

  I settled onto the couch, my thigh touching Jenna’s.

  “It was Ben.”

  25

  Jenna

  I’d known. Some part of me guessed. When Dad hung up on me. Pop-pop had borrowed my car. My car. Ben knew it—I’d bet. I stood, the rush of emotion too big to hold in while I sat there.

  Cam stood, too.

  I tried to move around Jude, tried to get out, get to my room, shut the door. To process what my dad believed…what my brothers just told.

  I killed my grandfather.

  The best man I’d ever known was dead. Because of me.

  Cam met me before I reached my bedroom door. He locked his hands on my biceps. I shook my head. I needed space. I needed time. I needed to be alone.

  “No, you don’t,” Cam said, making me realize I’d spoken aloud. “You don’t. You need to breathe, sugar. Breathe through this blow. You can. Come on. Look at me and breathe.”

  As with any other time he used that tone, I obeyed. My eyes met his and I took a breath. I didn’t want him to have this power over me. At the same time, some of the tightness in my chest eased. My lips began to tremble.

  Cam settled me against his chest. The steady beat of his heart against my cheek soothed me.

  I stayed there for a long minute, maybe five. Finally, I raised my head. I looked at my silent brothers.

  “Do you believe that?” I asked, my voice choppy and clogged with emotion. If they did, I might not be able to hold in the sobs that kept trying to build in my throat.

  “Believe what?” Jude asked.

  “That I k-killed Pop-pop?” Those words were hard to speak but they needed to be said. Each tiny movement they made, I studied. If they believed that, then I had no family. No one. I wrapped my arms around my waist and Cam stepped back, giving me space. Leaving me in this moment when I desperately needed his warmth, his shoulder. His support.