BONUS: Unedited Cam and Avery Anniversary

March 16, 2020

Fingers glided lazily from the nape of my neck, down to the base of my spine and then lower, over the curve of my bottom. A wash of cool air moved over my exposed skin. My lips curved into a smile as I blinked open my eyes. I wiggled my toes, which turned out to be the only part of me that was still covered since Cam had a habit of waking me everything morning like this, leaving absolutely no room for modesty. But I still folded my arms over my breasts, more out of habit than anything. And seriously, Cam could stroll through our entire apartment complex buck ass naked and it wouldn’t faze him. He’d probably do it carrying a plate of homemade cookies or pumpkin bread.  

Random acts of nudity were still something I was getting used to.  

“Morning,” came the sleep rough voice.  

I shivered at the sound of his voice and mumbled back, “Morning.” 

His hand spread across my behind, turning that shiver into something deeper. “What do you have planned for today?” 

Snuggling deeper into the warm bed, I wetted my lips. “It’s Sunday. I have no papers due. Or exams to study for. I think I’m just going to stay in bed.” 

“The whole weekend?” 

“Maybe.” 

He chuckled as he squeezed my behind. “I kind of like the sound of that.” 

“I bet you do,” I replied dryly.  

His warm breath kissed the back of my neck. “But…” 

“But what?” 

Since his hand was on my butt, I expected him to say something relevant to that, but he didn’t answer as he gave my behind a little tap and then his hand was sliding up over my hip, following the curve of my waist. A trail of tiny bumps followed his hand as it folded over my upper arm.  

“I have plans today,” he announced as he pulled my arm away, exposing my breasts. “Big plans.” 

My brow puckered. “You do?” He hadn’t mentioned plans, and that was odd, because Cam always kept me in the know.  

Once he had my arm where he wanted, he continued on his path of waking me up. His hand closed over my right breast, causing me to suck in a sharp breath. “It’s a secret plan,” he murmured into my ear as he shifted closer, pressing his front to my back.  

He was most definitely awake.  

Secret plans were nice. Usually I was about seven kinds of curious when it came to Cam’s secret plans, but the feel of him resting against the curve of my behind totally obliterated my train of thought.  

I was a little awed, like I was every time we were in a position like this, by how far I’d come in a year—how far we’d come in a year. I never thought I could be comfortable in any intimate position, let alone one like this that would’ve sparked horrifying memories of the night so many years ago. Hell, there was a time that having a guy just brush against me caused those terrifying images to resurface, but not when I was with Cam. Not anymore. That didn’t mean I still didn’t have moments of blind panic for no reason or the bitter bite of depression didn’t come out of nowhere, but that’s why I was therapy and that didn’t mean that one day I wouldn’t be completely free of my past.  

Cam dropped a kiss on my right shoulder as his thumb swept over the sensitive tip. “You don’t want to know about my plans?” 

“I do—” My breath caught at his thumb and finger tightened around my nipple. My back arched, pushing my behind into him. 

A deep sound rumbled from his chest as his hips pushed forward out of response. “So you’re just too distracted to wonder about my secret and awesome plans?” 

“Yeah,” I gasped out. My chest was achy, heavy. “But that plans are also awesome?” 

“Totally fucking awesome,” he growled as his fingers tugged gently.“So you should be wondering about them.” 

“I am.” 

That wasn’t a complete lie. There was a little part of my brain that was mulling over what kind of plans he had in store for us, but the rest, somewhere around ninety percent was focused on what he was doing.  

His hand had left my breast as he rose up on his other arm so that he was hovering slightly over my body as I rested on my side. He skimmed his hand down my stomach, below my belly button and lower. I tensed, even my toes curled, as his fingers reached the apex of my thighs, but then he smoothed over my upper thigh.  

God, he was such a damn tease. 

As his fingers curled around my knee, he lifted my leg as he eased his in-between my thighs. “The secret and awesome plans involve a car ride,” he announced. 

I looked up at him, smiling softly. Even in the bedroom, with his hair going in every which direction and the shadow of stubble across his strong jaw, he caused my heart to jump in my chest. Those bright, blue eyes were fixed on mine, and the rush of warmth invading every vein and cell had more to do with what I felt for him than what he was doing at the current moment. 

Not that what he was doing wasn’t great. It was amazing, but it was the love I felt for Cam that stayed long after the bliss he created faded. Things were perfectly imperfect. Every day wasn’t puppy dog tails and roses between us. Just a month ago, we’d gotten into this huge fight over something stupid. I couldn’t even remember what it was about, but it had been horrible. I’d been yelling and screaming like a banshee on crack and he’d lost his cool, which took a lot, and he left to retreat into his apartment and I had gotten into bed and cried like a fat baby. But in the middle of the night, Cam had used his key and let himself in. Not only that, he’d climbed into bed and had wrapped his arms around me, and he’d said, “We don’t go bed to angry with another, sweetheart.” And when he’d said that, I’d seriously forgotten what I’d been pissed at him over.  

So yeah, we had our moments when I was sure I was going to kick his head like soccer ball and he was going to be done with my hang-ups, but we never went to bed angry at one another, which meant we never stayed anger at each other for very long.  

No one was perfect, but to me, Cam was the closest thing to perfect in my life.   

“I love you,” I blurted out. 

His expression softened and then he dipped his mouth to mine. He kissed me softly and even when it deepened, there was a tenderness that tugged at my heart. “I love you too, sweetheart.” 

Maybe it was too early and I was feeling overly emotional, because tears swelled in my eyes, and I counted whatever formation of lucky stars in the sky I didn’t see. 

His mouth played over mine as he slid his hand back up the inside of my thigh, and when he kept going, I gasped against his lips. His fingers moved over the tight bundle of nerves. Tension balled in the pit of my stomach as his tongue twisted with mine. He shifted his hand, pressing his palm down in a way that caused my entire body to jerk against his. 

He groaned against my mouth, and then I was making those noises as he slowly slipped a finger inside me. His mouth left mine and he trailed tiny, hot kisses along the curve of my cheekbone, to my ear, where he whispered something about how I felt around his finger that scorched my cheeks.  

Cam chuckled, nipped and my earlobe and then soothed the minor sting with his tongue. He’d started a slow, torturous pace and then added another finger, and I wasn’t thinking anymore.  

I reached down, folding my hand over his as my eyes fell shut. There was something wholly intimate about that—about feeling the tendons in his hands as he worked me over.  

“Beautiful,” he said. “So fucking beautiful.” 

I was getting so close with just his hand that when he pulled away, I almost elbowed him in his hard stomach. “Hey,” I grumbled. 

“You’re impatient.” His hand clapped onto my hip.  

“You’re a vagina tease.” 

A deep, husky laugh erupted from him and my giggle ended abruptly in a breathy moan as he used his thigh to spread mine. I could feel him prodding and I spread my leg further. From behind me, on his side, he slid in inch by slow inch.  

“God, Cam…” 

He kissed the spot below my ear. “Am I still a vagina tease?” 

“Shut up.” 

I could feel him smile against my skin and then he started moving, slowly rolling his hips, and then he shifted me onto my belly. With one hand on my hip and the other arm planted on the bed beside my head, he lifted my hips until he was able to slide his arm under my waist. This position… well, it was simply amazing. He went deeper with each thrust.  

“So you really don’t know what today is?” His voice was rougher than before, thick with need and hard with restraint.  

“No,” I whispered, pressing my cheek against the pillow as I pushed my hips back against him. His arm slipped down, stilling me, and I whimpered as the pressure continued to build but go nowhere. “Cam…” 

He kissed my cheek as he slipped his arm out from under me. He reached up finding my hand that was curled into the sheet. He threaded his fingers through mine, causing my heart to squeeze into gooey mush.  

And then Cam really started moving behind me. I tipped my hips up, rocking them back to meet him, but soon our pace became frenzied and the wildness to how we moved heightened the arousal until I couldn’t hold back any longer, not that I was seriously trying to.  

“Cam,” I cried out as release whipped through me, starting at my core and spreading throughout every limb in tight blasts of pleasure and sensation. It went on, even as he loss complete rhythm and the other noises in the room were my cries and the sounds of our bodies moving and meeting. 

“Fuck, Avery,” he groaned out at his hips grinded down and then stilled. His release extended mine, sending little bites of aftershocks throughout my system. “Sweetheart.” 

We stayed like that until our heart slowed along with our breathing, and I wasn’t sure how long it was, but it felt like hours by the time he eased out and kissed the center of my back.   

“Stay there,” he ordered. 

I mumbled something along the lines of ‘okay,’ because I was incapable of moving. But I did look over my shoulder when I felt the bed dip with his weight. I cracked open my eyes and got an eyeful of the firm globes of his butt as he—buck ass naked—opened my bedroom door and headed down the hall. 

I had no idea what he was doing. I didn’t hear him in the bathroom, but he returned a few moments later, carrying a square pink box.  

Curious, I sat up and reached for the blanket that was somewhere around the foot of the bed and pulled it under my armpits. 

He arched a brow. 

I stuck my tongue out of him. “What’s in the box?” The moment that question left my mouth I had visions of Brad Pitt screaming What’s in the box, man?  I needed to get out more.  

“A surprise,” he answered, basically climbing onto the bed and then he dropped down beside me, shaking me. No modesty whatsoever. “It has to do with what today is.” 

Tucking back a strand of knotted hair, I shook my head as my gaze shifted from the pink box to his striking face. “What is today, Cam? Is it Raphael’s birthday?” 

He laughed under his breath. “No, sweetheart.” Turning the box around, he slid his finger under the tab. “Jase’s cousin—Jen—has this little cupcake store, and she makes some banging cupcakes. Way better than me.” 

“I don’t know about that,” I told him, my stomach coming alive at the thought of frosty goodness. “You make some good cupcakes.” 

“Thanks.” He flashed a grin. “But I wanted something different.” 

Still wondering what today was and it’s obviously significant meaning to Cam, I watched him carefully pull the tab out and open the lid. My eyes widened. 

What was inside the box was more of a work of art than a cupcake.  

It was large, easily the size of my hand and it was chocolate—my favorite. Red icing covered the top, it’s edges pink, and I had no idea how one got icing to do that, but it was the design in pink icing in the center of the red that caused my lips to spread in a wide smile. 

A heart made out of icing, designed so that it lay at an angle in a way that was vaguely familiar to me.  

“That’s so cute,” I said, lifting my lashes.  

His grin went up a notch. “I don’t know what flavor it is. I told Jase to tell his cousin to surprise us. Want to try it out?” 

I reached between us and into the box. I lifted the cupcake up, and with my eyes glued to what was most likely heaven in a mouthful, I almost missed it, but my gaze bounced back to the box.  

My mouth dropped open. 

Lying in the center of the box, hidden under the cupcake, was a thin white gold chain, and at the end, was a matching heart that rested at an angle. I almost dropped the cupcake. “Is that a…?” 

Cam just grinned at me. 

“It’s a Tiffany’s heart, isn’t it?” The kind of heart didn’t matter, not really, but I’d always loved the elegant design of their heart necklaces. “It’s for me?” 

“No, sweetheart, it’s for the cupcake.” 

I laughed and then rocked forward. Holding onto the cupcake with one hand, I cupped his cheek with my other and kissed him. “Thank you. It’s beautiful and I love it.” 

“You’re welcome,” he murmured, kissing me back. “Here, let me take this.” He deftly snatched the cupcake out of my hand and leading back, he placed it on the nightstand with the box as he plucked the necklace out. “Twist around.” 

I obediently twisted and grinned as I lifted my hair. The coolness of the necklace slipped around my neck as Cam clasped the hook closed. Once the necklace settled, the heart laid between my breasts. I picked it up, holding it tight in my hand as twisted back to him.  

“Thank you,” I said again. “Seriously. This is a surprise and I really do love it.” 

“I’m glad.” 

I bit down on my lower lip. “But I still have no idea what today is.” 

“I know.” Looping an arm around my waist, he stretched out on his back and dragged me over top of him. I let go of the necklace and the heart landed on his chest. “Something important happened a year ago today.” 

Starting to feel like a real douche, I shook my head again. “What?” 

Cam’s lips tipped up on one side as his blue eyes met and held mine. “A year ago, you went to a party—a Halloween party.” 

I stared at him for a beat and then I took a breath, but it got caught. Understanding started to seep in, but I couldn’t believe it. 

He lifted his hand, curving it around the back of my neck. “The party didn’t end well for you. You left earlier.” 

Oh. My. God. 

“And you came and found me,” I whispered, voice thready. 

“I did. I came to your apartment and after some not so great things, I asked you out,” he said.  

Emotion clogged my throat. “And I said yes.” 

He smiled. “Yeah, you finally said yes.” 

Cam actually remembered the date I agreed to go out with him! I stared at him for another moment and then I stretched up so we were eye to eye. “You seriously remembered the first time I said yes to you.” 

“Fuck yeah,” he said. “It took me months to get your ass to say yes to me. That date goes down in history. Like years from now, people will be talking about that.” 

I laughed, but it was shocked sounding—it was wowed sounding, because he seriously wowed me with that. For a long moment, I had no idea what to say because there was so much I wanted to say, so I went with the most important thing to say out of the thousand words I wanted to scream from the top of our apartment building. 

“I love you, Cameron Hamilton. I’m in love you with as much as I was then and more now. You know that, right?” 

“I know.” His voice was soft even as he shifted so that I was suddenly on my back and he was above me, his strong arms caging me in, his weight a delicious pressure. “But how about you show me just how much you’re in love with me.” 

Lifting my head, I kissed Cam with everything I had in me and then I got down to showing him exactly how very much I was in love with him.  

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