Page 25 of Savage Lust

“Riley?” His voice was sultry, sleepy.

I died on the spot, my legs weak and my stomach heavy.

“Um, yeah, it’s nothing.” I clung to the vest and jogged down a few more.

“Wait a damn minute.” The wood of the deck groaned a little as he walked out.

But I wasn’t stopping. “No, it’s cool. No big deal. I’ll talk to you about it tomorrow.”

“Darlin,stop.” His exasperated demand rolled through me like a thunderclap.

I stopped and turned, clutching Archer’s vest to my chest.

Cam was already coming down the stairs, shirtless, in a pair of jeans, his hair tousled. It was unfair that he looked that good, even right now. Or maybe what he’d been up to had been the reason he looked so soft and sexy.

Damn. My cheeks heated and my tongue got thick. I was an idiot. I thrust the leather at him when he was only a few steps above me.

With a confused look, he examined Archer’s cut.

“It’s yours, not mine. I was thinking about it and… yeah. This should have never been given to me. Anyway, have a good night.” I spun and tried not to speed walk like the elderly at the mall.

“For fucks’ sake.” He wrapped his long fingers around my elbow and jerked me to a stop on the concrete.

When I turned, his face was set in an almost painfully earnest expression, which somehow made the entire situation more embarrassing. Especially when a bleached blond with more fake lashes than good sense leaned over the rail.

“You coming back, Cam baby? I wasn’t done yet.” She giggled and gave me a mean snarl behind his back.

“Nah, we’re done, Krystal. You can go.” He watched me, studying me with such intensity I wiggled free from his graspand tugged on the hem of my shirt. The childhood nervous habit coming back with such ferocity, I wanted to puke.

I couldn’t figure out if he was waiting for her to leave before he said anything to me or if he wanted my reaction to her. Which embarrassed me more.

I gave him nothing. Mostly because I felt like a fish washed up on the beach. Every part of me was itchy, and I was floundering internally.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” She rounded the corner of the railing, looking like she was about to explode. She’d turned red, even the cleavage her push-up bra was tossing over the neckline of her shirt.

“No.” He glanced back at her and jerked his chin toward the driveway. “Kick rocks.”

My gasp of shock was quickly swallowed by a laugh I covered with my hand. She glared down at me before stomping back inside.

“I’m going inside.” I tried to pull away, but he held fast to my arm.

“Please don’t.” He loosened his grip until it wasn’t tight, but warm. If I’d really tried to pull free, he would have released me. I wasn’t sure I wanted to, so I didn’t. And the please had probably cost him more than he would admit.

Krystal wasn’t the only woman to exit his apartment. Another one, looking far more sheepish with her arms full of clothes and her bag, followed with her head down. Krystal, though, was fuming and practically hissed at me as she stormed by us.

“Two of them?” I coughed out before I could stop myself. “Wow.”

As they disappeared around the house, one side of his upper lip curled up and he gave a mischievous lift of his brow.

I was absolutely out of my league with this guy.

“Hot, right?” He was still grinning.

“Excessive,” I responded, deadpan.

The momentary apprehension on his face was new, and I relished it with a disinterested shrug. Waiting on Krystal and her friend to leave had given me time to find stable ground and steady myself.

He frowned, glanced down at the vest in his hand, and opened his mouth, but no sound came out. When he looked back at me, I was reminded of what made walking up those steps so nerve-wracking. He wasn’t just attractive. Every part of him appealed to me on a level I’d never experienced. There wasn’t a man anywhere that had heated me right down to the soles of my feet like one look from Cam Savage could.

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