Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 116535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Camden hadn’t yet sifted through the bag of his father’s possessions that Judith gave him. From what Aspen could tell, it wasn’t anger or spite that held him back. He simply didn’t really see the point. In his mind, they were “just things.” But he hadn’t trashed the bag, so maybe he’d look through it one day in the future. Maybe not. She saw no need to push him in either direction.
Camden put his empty can on the ground and patted his thighs. “Come here.”
Aspen straddled him and looped her arms around his neck. “How’s that?”
“Perfect.” Camden smoothed his hands down her back and palmed her butt. “Just like this ass. I highly enjoyed fucking it the other night.”
“I’ll admit, I liked it more than I thought I would. Then again, I was plastered.”
Camden felt his mouth tip up. She’d been slightly drunk, but not totaled. “I like having the tipsy version of you in my bed. She’s delightfully filthy. And very experimental. I’m pretty sure a few of the things we did are illegal in some places.”
“We said we wouldn’t talk about that stuff,” she said.
“You weren’t so blitzed that you didn’t know what you were doing. But we can pretend you were if it’ll make you feel better about caving.”
“Much obliged,” she said, her voice bone dry. She kissed him, as if to shut him up.
Camden went with it, savoring her taste, drawing her closer. His beast rubbed up against her with a contented rumble. Despite that the danger to her had passed, the cat was still on edge and hyper-vigilant a lot of the time. Camden supposed it would take a while for his beast to completely settle—the tiger observed the world through suspicious, distrustful lenses. The only thing he saw clearly was Aspen.
Camden ended the kiss with a nip to her mouth. “I need to go answer a call of nature. I’ll be right back.”
She slid her gaze to the tent. “I’ll lay out the blankets and stuff.”
“All right.” He gave her one last kiss and then wandered into the trees. He quickly did his business and then zipped up his fly. It was that very moment when he sensed others approaching. Their scents drifted his way, and he couldn’t help but sigh.
He stepped into their line of sight, knowing his expression had to be anything but welcoming. That didn’t stop either Havana or Bailey from beaming at him. Behind the females, Tate and Luke and Farrell shot him apologetic looks that held a hint of humor.
“Hey, Camden,” Bailey fairly chirped. “The mating ceremony was beautiful, right?”
“Even James and Isaak’s bickering couldn’t spoil it,” said Havana.
He licked his front teeth. “There’d better be a real good reason why you’re here.”
“There is, I swear.” Bailey flicked her gaze around. “Hey, where’s Aspen?”
“Tent,” he bit out, to which the mamba gave him another smile before heading to the clearing.
Havana raised her hands in a placatory gesture. “We’ll leave soon, I promise. When you didn’t turn up at the party, people got worried that they’d overwhelmed you or something. Several started talking about tracking you both down to check on you. To stop that from happening, I said I’d do it.”
Tate sighed. “You know how nosy Havana and Bailey are, Camden. Did you really think they wouldn’t be intent on seeing what they were missing out on?”
Havana shot her mate a glare. “That’s not why we’re here.”
“Well I don’t buy that you came all this way just so you could reassure everyone that me and Aspen are good.” Camden began retracing his steps back to the clearing.
“Okay, fine,” said Havana, trailing after him. “Bailey and I aren’t so comfortable these days when Aspen’s out of our sight.”
Yeah, Camden had noticed. Aside from during the night, he was lucky to get her alone for more than a few hours at a time. There’d been a few occasions when he’d come home to find them waiting in the apartment for Aspen to return. She never berated them, since she and Bailey had repeatedly turned up at Havana’s house uninvited when they first joined the pride.
“Ooh, nice spot,” said Havana as they entered the clearing. She sighed when he only stared at her. “Don’t be mad. I know I’m overprotective, but I can’t help it.”
Camden grunted.
“I need to get a handle on it, I know. She has you to protect her—I know that, too. It’s just that I’m still super mad at myself for falling for Wayland’s trick and leaving her mostly unprotected. I could have lost her if she wasn’t such a badass. It plays on my mind far too often. Bailey took it just as hard. She finds it really difficult to be away from—”
A loud serpentine hiss came from within the tent. A bearcat yowl quickly followed it. The sides of the tent flapped as some sort of struggle began.