Just For You (20 page)

"You scared me," she breathed, laughing the tiniest bit.

"Sorry."

She wore light blue cotton pajama pants which draped loosely from her hips and a silky pink top which was more clingy than draping. He averted his eyes out of politeness.

"Don't apologize, you didn't mean it." She pointed toward the bathroom. For the first time Cameron noticed the toothbrush and tube of toothpaste in her hand. "I was just going to go to the bathroom."

Cameron smiled. "You told Alex to go to a girl's house with a boombox over his head."

Imogen's mouth dropped, one hand burying itself deep in her hair. "I believe that's the best way to ask someone out."

"I asked Charlotte out that way, you know. Except I wasn't at her house. I pulled up next to her in my car while she was walking home with that song
Wonderwall
by Oasis blaring on the stereo. She stopped, I stopped, and it went from there."

Imogen laughed, slapping her hand over her mouth when it tore through the sleepy silence like a knife. Still she laughed, trying to gain her bearings. "That's adorable."

The last word hitched in her throat when she caught Cameron's gaze. There was something in it which took the words out of her mouth and made her entire body freeze. His eyes were dark and dilated, with an intensity in them which she might have called passion. He was looking through her, into her, and he was hungry.

"What?" She meant to say the word forcefully but it came out as a whisper. Electricity ran up her spine, tingling throughout her body as it traveled through her veins.

Courage, infatuation, recognition or something else writhing inside of him… whatever it was, it allowed Cameron to act with bravery he never before experienced. There was nothing to hold him back, nothing to tell him to think twice before acting. Impulse made him wrap his fingers around her wrist. Impulse made him take those steps toward her, forcing Imogen to move backward into the room lest she be ran over. Impulse made him kick the door shut behind him.

His hands moved up her arms and came to rest on her cheeks, cupping her face between his palms. They were so close that they were breathing each other's air, feeling the wet condensation of breath that wasn't theirs settle on their mouths.

"Cameron." Her voice was trembling as she said his name, her eyes fluttering delicately before they closed, the toothbrush and paste she carried forgotten as they dropped to the floor with a light thud.

A jolt ran through him when she said his name. This time it was seductive and spine-tingling, completely different from any other time she might have spoken the word. The meaning was no longer the same. It was heavy and romantic and the way she said it told him all he needed to know: she wanted him, too.

He wasn't crazy. Half an hour before, when he kissed her cheek, it sparked something in the both of them. They remembered that they were human. They remembered what it felt like to reach out and grab someone. They remembered how it felt to desire and be desired.

Cameron continued to move forward, turning Imogen at the last moment so that her back was flush against the wall. His fingers ran over her neck, feeling her pulse quicken and then catch, quicken and then catch…

She made a small noise and he nearly fell apart. Mouth open, he brushed his lips against hers, ever so slightly. She opened her mouth in return, begging and hoping for sweet collision.

It had been so long since she'd been this close to someone. Too long.

"I want to know you, Imogen," he exhaled, skimming the tip of his nose against her cheek. She tasted his breath against her tongue. "Inside and out."

"Yes," she said.

No other response from her was necessary. His mouth enveloped her own and he trapped her between himself and the wall. The taste of her was enough to drive him wild and he couldn't get enough. They roamed the dark, unexplored crevices of their mouths, teeth nipping and tongues sliding against each other at different intervals. Finally Cameron utilized the wall, using it for leverage to push Imogen up from the ground and wrap her around his waist. She dug her fingers into the fabric of his shirt, holding on for dear life.

For the both of them, the world melted away and disappeared. Everything and everyone no longer existed in this new world they traveled together. There was only him, and there was only her, and there was only breath, and there was only warmth.

Cameron moved to the bed, lying Imogen gently down on her back. He pulled away to watch her face, making sure it was okay that he tugged her shirt over her head. Her eyes sparkled with fire when she allowed it.

She was more beautiful than he ever imagined she could be. Her soft, creamy skin beckoned to him to touch, and he obliged with no hesitation.

Her body awakened under his caress, like a flower that unfolds itself under the sun's warm, golden rays. Her back arched off the bed, pushing into him, begging for more contact. Cameron's hands were soft and steady as he ran them over her collarbone, through the valley between her breasts, and came to rest over her bellybutton. There he could feel her pulse throbbing under his wide, warm palm, her heart was beating so hard.

She was trembling underneath him, with anticipation, with want, with need.

Cameron was able to retain control over himself, but his knees were weak and his stomach light as he hooked his thumbs into the sides of her bottoms and pulled them down the long length of her smooth legs.

Imogen blushed and, feeling over exposed, covered herself. But Cameron placed a hand on her wrist, pulling her hands away from her chest.

"No. Please don't hide from me."

She swallowed the lump in her throat and took a deep breath to calm herself. Cameron's jaw ticked as he pulled his own shirt over his head. Imogen propped herself up on her elbows, watching as Cameron stripped himself next of his pants.

The clothes fell heavily to the ground.

This meeting was entirely different than any they'd experienced with each other before. This time, there were no more barriers. There were no more secrets. This time was different because they were utterly exposed to one another, and it was up to them to continue down this new, inevitable path with its one inevitable ending.

Imogen let her eyes meander over Cameron's body, from his strong legs up to his hips, over his stomach, up his chest and neck and finally to his face. She gave him an appreciative smile before he moved over her. Their mouths met again and he placed a hand on her forehead, pushing her head back onto the pillow.

Somewhere inside of her she had the feeling of courage, too. He was strong and large in her arms as she pulled him toward her, trying not to think about what would be said in the morning or even when they got back home to the city. All she wanted was to live in the moment, to enjoy the experience at hand.

His lips on her neck elicited a deep moan from her throat. After that it was all she could do to keep quiet for fear of raising any interest from the rest of the house to the goings on in her bedroom.

* * * *

Imogen knew she was in a predicament.

For a week the only thing she saw when she closed her eyes was the way Cameron looked at her that night and the good, wholesome way his hands felt when they were on her skin.

During the nights she would turn and expect to see Cameron's solid form there in her bed, the sheets rising and falling with his chest, but all that was there was emptiness.

They hadn't spoken in six days, since they'd come back to the city. Imogen's head was jumbled and her heart was confused. She thought it best to take some time out for herself, to retreat deep inside her conscious and figure out what the hell she got herself into. She went back to work at the small bookstore, but as she scanned books and looked up prices for customers, all she could think about was the way Cameron looked at her when he held her in his arms afterward and the smooth velvet of his fingertips when they pushed back the hair matted to her forehead by sweat.

No detail was left unscrutinized. Every millisecond of that night spent together, in a way which neither she nor he ever anticipated to spend, had been run through her mind in an infinitive loop that she couldn't escape. Now it felt as if everything changed. Everything
had
changed. Imogen couldn't decide whether it was for the better, or for the worse.

She was thinking all of this now as she made her way to Cameron's apartment. She wanted to stop at home to freshen up, but realized how absurd the idea was. It would only prove that she was interested in what he thought about the way she looked. Shaking her head, she decided against it, taking the shortest route to his place instead of hers.

He was home. She could hear the TV on the other side of the door.

Imogen raised her hand to knock, but stopped before her knuckles could make contact with the polished wood. Heaving a sigh, she stepped back until she was against the wall, using it as support. All she wanted to do was fall into a puddle right then and there, dry up, and disappear forever.

The thought occurred to her that she might walk away. He would never have to know that she was here. She could go back to her apartment, watch her own television, and pretend as if none of this ever happened, and that she and Cameron were still just friends.

It wasn't fair, she reasoned. He had to know. Imogen couldn't possibly string him along. Better to hurt him now than to hurt him later.

Gathering her wits about her, she swallowed the bile at the back of her throat and knocked on the door. The audio on the TV was gone. Padded footsteps came toward her. The hinges on the door squeaked when they opened.

Cameron wasn't exactly smiling, but it was one of the more friendly receptions he'd given her.

"Hi," she gushed. Her cheeks were hot and she mentally cursed herself. Suddenly she was sweating.

When he widened the door she took it as an invitation to come in, and so she did. Her knees were weak and unsteady. Her eyes locked on the chairs sitting around the table for two in the small kitchen and she went for them. Cameron stopped her before she got far.

"Hello," he said. He kissed her forehead and Imogen's heart exploded.

Her courage stuttered and stopped completely. It seemed to drain from her body all at once the moment his lips made contact with her skin. She wanted to run, run, run, and never look back. Thinking back to the bottle of Jack Daniels she'd bought the other day and stashed in her refrigerator for the specific purposes of drinking some of it before this exact moment- a moment she ran over in her head for exactly five days, 17 hours and 4 minutes- she wondered why she didn't stop at her apartment first just to take a shot. It might have made this a little bit easier.

She didn't say anything, only smiled half-heartedly. Her fingers trembled when she raised them to her face, where she pushed back the hair from her eyes. Imogen avoided Cameron's face, afraid that meeting his gaze would scare her even more out of doing what she came here to do.

Cameron's brows pulled down and his bottom lip jutted out in an almost-pout. "What's the matter, Imogen? Are you feeling well?"

She breathed in deeply, closing her eyes and focusing on the speech she'd prepared. None of it was coming back to her. Now that she was forced to say the words it was useless because she couldn't remember any of them.

She stuttered. "I. Cameron, I. We." Frustration took over and she dropped her arms to her sides.

"It's okay, take your time." His hands were on her shoulders, holding her up. "Oh!" his face lit up with some sort of realization. "Stay here, please. I'll be right back."

"O---" He was gone before she could finish the word. "---kay." The ticking of the clock in the kitchen told her she was wasting precious time. Every second counted.

Cameron rounded the corner of the hallway. He smiled at her and the air from his swift stride made his hair blow around his face and skim the tops of his cheeks, where she kissed him once before. Then she saw it. In his hand he held her journal.