Kara I woke in the dark. For a moment I felt panic rise in my throat. I couldn't see anything and thought for a moment that I was going blind. What the hell? But my body recognized Cameron before my mind did. He was so warm, so hard, so damn solid plastered behind me. His thick arm possessively wrapped around my torso and his long legs tangled with mine. Comforted and reassured, I was sinking back into the bed before I knew it. Sinking back into Cameron. I had no idea when his embrace had started to feel familiar, but even now there was still a niggling part of me fighting the feeling of just giving into it completely. Fighting myself to stop expecting or needing his arms to catch me when I stumble. Some part of my brain told me I was fooling myself. He'd already infiltrated my heart. Thinking that I could still stop it, that I could still keep him at arm's length was just an epic pretense to satisfy my need to feel that I was still in control. You looked for him when everything around you was falling apart, didn't you? And he was right there. Looking for you. "I'm yours. If you need me," he'd said. Why did his words mean so much? Why was I wrapping them like a gift, storing them in my heart to keep? If you need me. Need? I needed a lot of things. Keep a roof over my family's head to start. Money to pay off my family's debts. A job that pays well so I could save up more and fast. But when did I ever need someone for myself? When did I ever allow myself to? It was scary to think that I could let myself depend on someone, but still I wondered. What would it be like to be with someone without holding anything back? My heart yearned, but something kept holding me back, warning me to stop. But maybe, just maybe, it was okay if it was...Cameron. Just for a little while. I slapped my hands on my mouth, nearly crying out in embarrassment as I remembered how I broke down in front of him earlier. I couldn't remember everything that happened, and my mind refused to replay all of it now, but I remembered Cameron was there for me. He had taken care of me like no one had before. He didn't abandon or push me away, didn't feel intimidated or put off by my weak side. I hated showing that side of me to anyone. Then why were you looking for him, running to him when you were at your weakest? Suddenly I had a strong yearning to see his face, to look into his eyes and be reassured that... That what? Painstakingly so as not to wake him, I untangled myself from his arm and legs. It wasn't easy. His arm was muscular and heavy, and his hook around me was possessively firm. Even in sleep, it felt like he didn't want to let me go. My eyes had adjusted in the dark and when I finally freed myself from his hold, I turned toward him. He was heartbreakingly beautiful. In sleep, in wakefulness, in the dark, in the light. His ink-dark, loosely curled hair had tumbled on his forehead. I wanted to reach out, smooth it away, feel how soft and silky it was, but I was afraid I'd wake him up. I wanted to trace the straight of his brows, the long line of his nose, the shallow dip on top of his sensual mouth, the fullness of his bottom lip. I wanted to stroke my fingers on his jaw, his throat. And place my mouth there. My eyes snapped up to his, checking if he caught me, but he was still asleep. He was so still, so quiet. If not for the gentle rise of his chest, I'd think he was a statue carved in marble. He must have removed his shirt sometime during the night. His body emanated so much heat I could imagine him feeling uncomfortable with clothes on. My gaze hungrily took in the broadness of his shoulders, the tight lines of his arms, the hard planes of his torso. I wished there was more light so I could see him. I must've made a sound or movement because his breathing changed. I held mine for a moment, afraid to wake him up, but I could tell that he already was. "Cameron?" He turned his head slightly. In the softness and intimacy of the dark, I could feel him looking at me. "Are you awake?" I asked quietly. "I'm awake," he said. His voice was low and husky from sleep. There was something about his rough voice, when he was soft and weak from sleep, that mesmerized me. I wanted his words, his lips, his hands on my skin. I closed my eyes as a sudden wave of desire sparked in my belly. "You said to me if I say the words...you'll show me. You said to tell you when I'm ready." My heart started to beat faster. "Cam." "Yeah?" "I'm ready now." Without giving us both time to think, I rose from the bed and straddled his hips. Beneath the robe I was naked. And beneath me he was already rock hard. I tamped down the nervousness I was feeling and straightened my back, lowered my eyes to look at him. Waiting. Wanting. Please touch me. He was so big, so muscular beneath me that I could feel the strength of his body even when he wasn't moving. Feel the power and pull of his gaze. He was the only man I ever wanted, and the only man whom I welcomed to want me back. The robe I was wearing opened with my abrupt movements. I held my breath as he slowly reached out, closed my eyes when the pad of his thumb grazed the tip of my nipple. Fire spread through my veins. I moaned. "Cameron. Please." "Please what, Kara?" His big hands framed the sides of my breasts, molding them in his palms before his fingers gently squeezed my nipples, then I cried out in shock as he squeezed a little harder. It wasn't very painful, but it was unexpected. When he released slowly, intense pleasure and need spread through my limbs like wildfire. "Tell me," he said. He hooked his finger underneath the belt of my robe and gently pulled. "What is it you want?" "You," I choked out. "I want you." His broad hands stroked down my torso, parting my robe slowly, as though I was a precious gift offered to him and he was unwrapping me. The texture of his hands was slightly rough, exciting me more, reminding me he was a man who laboured with his hands. Those wonderful hands caressed down my hips, my thighs, squeezing. And then he gripped my hips and dragged me toward him so that I was sitting on his hard stomach. I sucked in a breath, my palms landing on his chest to keep my balance. The feel of his warm naked skin between my legs was all I could take.