Page 70 of Hawthorne

I can’t think about anything else.

All be damned. “No.”

“You might still be king one day, and even if you’re not, Eleanor is your betrothed, and I can’t—”

“I don’t fucking care about any of that.”

Silence.

It’s a thick tension-filled silence, heavy on my shoulders as the truth of my words settles around us. I don’t want Eleanor.

Fuck it, I don’t want any of it. All I want is her.

Camilla.

My hands spread around her butt. and I hoist her up in my arms, wrapping her legs around my hips and turning around, setting her on top of my desk. She doesn’t put up a fight, holding onto my shoulders.

“I do not want to marry Eleanor, and I won’t. That’s all in my mother’s head,” I sigh. “I have been busying myself to figure out how to…”

“How to...what?” Camilla peeks from underneath her thick lashes, with a shy and hopeful expression.

“I don’t know exactly. But I’ll figure it out—eventually.”

A strand of hair falls onto her face, and I automatically grab it and place it behind her ear. The skin is smooth all over, and on her neck, underneath her ear, is no exception. I trail her skin over her jawline until it reaches her chin, tilting it up.

Breaths mix with the proximity, but instead of kissing her right away, I hover.

She wanted to stop whatever this was just a few moments before. If Camilla wants to stop this, I want to make sure I give her enough time to think and refuse me. It’s the bare minimum.

But when time stretches, and she doesn’t move back or hesitate, with her dark eyes focused on mine, I get my answer. That hesitancy floating over her before is no more, and I dive in.

The welcoming lips are silky, warm, and wet, just like every other time we’ve kissed—a trail of fire surges everywhere, jolting my body awake and craving more.

“Do you feel this?” I pant into her mouth as my hand travels down her neck to her cleavage.

She gasps when my palm presses to the middle of her chest, feeling the frantic heartbeat. It’s not just one frantic heartbeat. It’s two.

Synced as if they were one. One and the same.

“You can’t deny this. Not when I can see and feel that you’re affected by me as much as I am by you.”

My fingers spread, and my thumb slides closer, over her nipple on her breast opposite the heart side.

From under my nose, I see her skin prickle, and I stretch my hand, sliding the thumb even lower, grazing her erect nipple.

“Vincent,” Camilla moans.

The sound travels straight to my dick, and I can’t help but gulp, my throat bobbing up and down in the process.

“This is not just physical anymore. You light my body on fire while my soul stays in this dormant and peaceful state. So relaxed and vulnerable, like I’ve never been with anyone else before. And the more I learn about you, the more I want to have you around.”

“I’m not that interesting,” she counters, and I shake my head, disagreeing.

“You are. And I want you now. I’ll still want you tomorrow, and I can bet my balls I will want you for a long time…As long as possible.”

“Are you s-sure?” Camilla stutters, and if I weren’t this turned on, I’d chuckle.

“I can show you just how sure I am.” My hands find her hips, pressing them against mine as I grind my hard dick against her warm core.

---