Apparently, he wasn’t seeing the long-term implications. “Do you remember Olson Chadwick?” she asked.
“No.”
Typical. He rarely remembered people unless they registered on his radar somehow. “The fox who used to work at the center. The one Bailey’s mamba once chased around the gymnasium.”
“That I remember.”
“Do you also remember why he stopped working there?”
Camden raked his teeth over her shoulder. “I can’t say I took much notice.”
“He and Ada from the center were best friends. They decided to try the whole friends with benefits thing. He came to want more. She didn’t. They stopped sleeping together, but they couldn’t get their friendship back on track. He quit his job so they could have a little ‘space.’ Ada says they rarely see each other anymore. He claims it’s too hard to be around her. She gets it. She also hates herself for being the reason he’s hurting so badly.”
“That’s what you’re afraid of? That we’d part ways at some point?” he asked, disbelief in his tone. “You could never lose me.”
“You say that now—”
“Because it’s true. You’re … part of me. The best part. There is no way I could exist in this world and not be wherever you are.”
A lump thickened her throat. “But—”
“No, there are no buts.” Kissing her neck, he smoothed his hand down her body. “I said it, I meant it. No matter what happens, I’ll always be right here. With you.”
She gasped as he cupped her pussy hard. “Wait, we need to talk about this.”
“Why? This isn’t a complicated situation, Aspen. You want me. I want you.” He slid one finger through her folds and rolled the tip around her clit. “We’ve already crossed these lines you’re so worried about. What difference does it make if we do it again?”
Well, she supposed that was one way to look at it—Havana had said something similar. But there were other viewpoints. Plenty, in fact. She just couldn’t actually verbalize them right then, because it was hard to get her thoughts straight when he was playing with her clit.
“You know, the only time you’re not overthinking this is when I’m inside you.” He hiked up her thigh and slipped his hard, fat cock into her pussy, stretching her until it burned. And since she was sore from last night, the burn was a little more intense than usual. But having him buried deep in her body felt too good for her to care about the small hurt.
He slowly drove in and out of her, a punishing grip on her thigh. “We can both agree to keep things platonic from now on, but we won’t manage it in the long-run, Aspen. We can’t even manage it now.”
That wasn’t something she could argue with.
“I don’t think you want to fight this anyway. I know I don’t. So if neither of us actually wants to fight it, why bother?” Camden rolled her onto her stomach, keeping his cock snug inside her. He didn’t pull her to her knees, though, as she’d expected. He kept her flat against the bed as he sank into her over and over, making her clit rub against the mattress each time.
He put his mouth to her ear. “This won’t be the last time I have you, will it?” He gave her an extra hard thrust. “Will it?”
She fisted the bedsheet. “No.”
His growl was one of approval. He upped the pace of his thrusts and bit her earlobe. “You’re going to stop overthinking this. You’re going to stop complicating it.” He traced the shell of her ear with his tongue. “You’re going to keep taking my cock, wearing my marks, and sleeping in my bed. It’s what we both want, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” She reached back and fisted his hair with a snarl. “But if you act like a shithead when you get bored and end this, or if you let this taint our friendship in any way, I will slice off your dick and fuck you in the ass with it.”
He smiled against the side of her face. “Love how vicious you are.” He curled his arm around her waist, dragged her to her knees, and began pounding into her pussy. It wasn’t long before she came, and he was right there with her.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Stepping out of the elevator of their complex, Camden sighed. “What is it with these people? Yesterday, they barely acknowledged my existence. Today, they’re nodding and calling out ‘hey.’ Shouldn’t they hate me for pummeling Grant?”
“I kind of thought they would,” said Aspen, thoroughly relieved that that wasn’t the case.
Bailey flicked her hand. “Nah, pallas cats like and respect ‘brutal.’ And you, my dear Camden, were beyond brutal last night. Plenty will try pulling you fully into the fold now.”
“Ah, Bailey makes a good point.” Aspen pushed open the main door of the complex. “You’ll probably have tons of buddies before you know it,” she told him.