Forged Of Steele Bundle Part 84

"Cam?"

Cameron glanced up from the papers he'd been reading and saw both Xavier and Kurt standing in the doorway to his office. It was late afternoon and the three of them were working at his Austin home. So far, since his meeting with McMurray a few weeks ago, things had been running smoothly at Global Petroleum and he hoped they continued to do so.

"I thought the two of you were leaving to pick up dinner."

Kurt cleared his throat. "We were, but you got a visitor."

Cameron frowned, wondering who it could be. Very few people knew about the small ranch-style home he had inherited from his grandfather. He had to a.s.sume his visitor was one of the neighbors. Lately, more than one had come forth offering to buy his house mainly to get the land, which consisted of over ten acres. "Tell whoever it is that I'm busy."

"I don't think you want us to do that," Xavier said with a smirk on his face.

"Why not?" Cameron asked, not understanding just what was wrong with his two friends.

Kurt grinned. "Maybe you ought to see for yourself and then I think you'll understand."

"Fine," Cameron said angrily, tossing the report on his desk. He stood. "Where's this person?"

"In your living room."

Cameron left the office with Xavier and Kurt right on his heels. He'd taken a few steps and then turned around with an arched brow. "Just what the h.e.l.l has gotten into you two?"

Kurt gave a sly chuckle. "Ask us that after seeing your visitor."

Cameron frowned, thinking he really didn't have time for this.

He walked into the living room and stopped dead in his tracks. The first thought that came into his mind was that he did did have time for this. Vanessa was standing in the middle of his living room wearing that black skirt he didn't like, the one she had purchased in Jamaica. His throat went dry and his gaze traveled the full length of her, up and down her legs, her thighs...Speaking of her thighs, the skirt barely covered them. have time for this. Vanessa was standing in the middle of his living room wearing that black skirt he didn't like, the one she had purchased in Jamaica. His throat went dry and his gaze traveled the full length of her, up and down her legs, her thighs...Speaking of her thighs, the skirt barely covered them.

Their gazes connected. He felt the heat. It didn't matter why she had come, all he cared about was that the woman he loved was here in his place, invading his s.p.a.ce, affecting the very air he was breathing.

"Now you understand what we meant, Cam?"

He blinked, suddenly remembering Xavier and Kurt. He quickly turned to them. "Leave!"

Kurt, being the smart-a.s.s, said, "Are you sure? She could be an enemy. Maybe we ought to search her first."

"Touch her and I'll have to kill you," he said through clenched teeth. "Leave and don't come back."

Xavier raised a curious brow. "I thought we had a lot of work to do. You said we'd be working well into the night."

"Out!"

He watched the two men make a beeline for the door, and, as soon as the door shut behind them, Cameron turned his attention back to his visitor.

He took a couple of steps forward. "I never liked that skirt on you."

Vanessa met his heated gaze and said, "Then take it off me. But I need to warn you it's the only thing I have to wear."

He frowned. "You wore that all the way from Charlotte?"

She shook her head. "No, but I did wear it from the hotel in downtown Austin. I had that full-length raincoat over it," she said, indicating the yellow slicker tossed across a chair. "A lot of people stared since the sun was s.h.i.+ning outside."

He released a deep sigh. "Thank G.o.d for that."

"For what? That the sun was s.h.i.+ning outside?"

"No, for that full-length raincoat."

She nodded. "Aren't you going to ask why I'm here?"

He shook his head as he crossed the distance of the room to stand in front of her. "You can tell me later. Right now I can only concentrate on one thing."

"And what are you concentrating on?"

"Taking that d.a.m.n skirt off of you."

Vanessa's body reacted instantly to Cameron's words. Blood rushed through her veins, every cell seemed sensitive. The tips of her nipples beneath her top tightened and a warm pool settled between her thighs. He was the only man who had the ability to do this to her. With just words and an intense look, he could put an achy need within her so compelling and deep that she knew of only one way to soothe it.

"Don't concentrate too hard," she heard herself saying.

He didn't.

The next instant Cameron reached out and with a flick of his wrist he undid the fastener at her waist and the skirt dropped to her feet. Just that easy. Just that quick. She was left wearing her top and a silky strap of barely nothing that was meant to cover her feminine mound. He thought it wasn't doing a very good job and he licked his lips in antic.i.p.ation of tasting her. Without wasting any time, he removed her top and then got down on his knees and eased her thong down her legs.

He inhaled deeply, taking in her scent, and then he dipped his head and tasted her, right in the juncture of her thighs.

"Cameron."

He sucked in a deep breath when he rose to his feet. Every muscle in his body ached for her. G.o.d, he wanted her. He wanted to make love to her all day and all night. And he didn't intend to waste any time.

He swept her into his arms and strode quickly to the bedroom where he placed her on his bed. He drew back to remove his own clothes but she caught hold of his collar and pulled him back to her and began nipping at his bottom lip, licking it from corner to corner with the tip of her tongue.

Sensations within him intensified, making his need for her monumental, nearly insane. He was so fully aware of this woman-his woman-and he intended to leave his imprint all over her. He pulled back again and this time he swiftly removed his clothes, then rejoined her on the bed. He wanted to erase whatever doubts she had about him. He wanted to fill her with his love, so much that it would spread to her own heart. He had enough for both of them.

"Cameron."

When she opened her arms, he went into them, and when she captured his mouth, he surrendered all. Something akin to desperation swept through him, and he ran his hands everywhere on her body, needing the feel of her beneath his palms and fingers.

A distant part of his brain told him to take things slowly, but he couldn't. He needed this session to be fast and quick, deep and hard, and he needed it now. He eased his body into place over hers and entered her, and the moment she arched against him, he felt a climax coming on. But he held it back, needing the connection a little while longer.

It was a challenge when every cell in his body was electrified, every pore open to sensations he felt only when he was inside her. And when he felt her own o.r.g.a.s.m rip through her, his heartbeat accelerated and his pulse kicked up another notch. He was too far gone to hold on any longer and when the world seemed to explode all around them, he felt it. It seemed the bed rocked, the ground shook, the lights in the ceiling began falling....

"What the h.e.l.l!"

He jerked up. He was not imagining things. He pushed Vanessa out of the way before a layer of plaster fell down on her.

"Cameron, what's going on?"

Instead of answering her, he s.n.a.t.c.hed her wrist and handed her his s.h.i.+rt as he quickly slipped into his pants. "Hurry up and put it on so we can get the h.e.l.l out of here."

It didn't take long for him to figure out that someone was outside firing explosives into his home with the use of a handheld missile launcher. He dropped to the floor and pulled Vanessa down with him when all the walls seemed to start tumbling down.

When they crawled to the living room the place was in shambles, and he jerked her head down as a missile flew past her head. He cursed. The d.a.m.n thing had barely missed her. He knew whoever was on the outside expected him run out through either the front or the back entrance, thinking that they had him cornered.

"Cameron, what's going on? What are we going to do?" Vanessa whispered.

He glanced down at her. She didn't deserve to be involved in this. The person on the other side of that door had a beef with him and not her. He needed to get them to the part of the house that he knew was safe. The storm cellar his grandfather had built right after Hurricane Gilbert.

He glanced down at her. "I need you to trust me, Vanessa," he said meeting her gaze and gently rubbing her cheek. "I'm going to get us out of here."

She nodded. "I do trust you, Cameron, and I love you. That's why I came all the way to Texas. I couldn't wait to tell you."

Her words touched him and he wanted to kiss her, but time was not on their side. He needed to get them out of there. They made it to the kitchen and he pushed open the cellar door. It had been years since he'd been down there but this would be their refuge until help arrived. Someone had to have alerted the authorities by now that his ranch had become a war zone.

He led Vanessa down the stairs and except for a little dust and a few spiderwebs here and there, the place was okay. He took them as far back into the cellar as he could and then pulled her into his arms. This was a waiting game and he only hoped whoever was out there would eventually a.s.sume he had succeeded in what he came to do and haul a.s.s.

In the meantime...

He turned Vanessa to him and leaned down and kissed her, needing the taste of her, the a.s.surance she was all right and they were together. She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight.

Cameron wasn't sure how long they huddled down there before he heard someone call his name. He placed his fingers to Vanessa's lips, not yet certain whether the person beyond the cellar door was friend or foe.

A smile touched his lips when his name was called out again and he recognized Xavier's voice. "Stay put for a second while I let him know we're down here."

Vanessa watched as Cameron raced up the wooden stairs and responded to his friend's call through the door.

"Stand back, Cam!"

He did and then she saw the head of a huge ax slice through the door frame before it was kicked in. And then those two men stood there, the ones who had let her into Cameron's house earlier. The expressions on their faces showed they were relieved to see he was okay, but they were mad as h.e.l.l.

Cameron turned, opened his arms to her and she raced across the cement floor and up the stairs to him. And when he gathered her into his arms, she knew that everything would be all right.

Later that night, back in her hotel room, Vanessa cuddled close to Cameron in bed. "I'm sorry about your home, Cameron."

When Xavier and Kurt had pulled them out of the cellar and they'd had a chance to see the damage, her heart had ached for him. But then that same heart had filled with anger that someone had wanted to do that much harm to the man she loved. He was not intended to survive the attack.

"I was thinking of rebuilding anyway. I've received a number of offers to sell but couldn't bring myself to part with it. That land is where I spent some of the happiest days with my grandfather and I needed that link."

Vanessa nodded, then frowned. "Well, at least they caught those guys."

"Yes, and they're spilling their guts. I can't believe John McMurray would go that far. The man is truly demented." McMurray's arrest had made national news. The shame that had been brought on his family had come from his hands and not Cameron's.

"And how on earth were they able to get those types of weapons? Something like that could probably shoot a plane out the sky."

"It can, which is why in most states they're outlawed. I'm just glad that Kurt brought Xavier back here to get his car and saw what was happening."

Vanessa nodded. She was, too.

Cameron glanced down at her. "Did you mean what you said earlier, just before we made it to the cellar? That part about loving me?"

She smiled. "Yes, I meant every word. You're not only my s.e.x mate, you're my soul mate, as well. I do love you, Cameron."

"And I love you. Does this mean you'd consider marrying me?"

She grinned. "Yes, if you ask."

He turned toward her in bed, took her hand in his and gazed deep into her eyes. "Vanessa Steele, will you marry me? For better or for worse? Will you be my soul mate and my s.e.x mate? The mother of my children? My best friend? My-"

She placed her finger to his lips. "Cameron Cody, I will be your everything."

He leaned closer, and, right before he captured her lips with his, he whispered huskily, "You already are. You were definitely one risky pleasure worth taking."

Books by Brenda Jackson

Kimani Romance

*Solid Soul

*Night Heat

*Beyond Temptation

*Risky Pleasures

In Bed with the Boss

*Irresistible Forces