Before You(20)

Unable to speak, she closed her eyes, trying to regain her senses, but it was hard when she could feel his heated gaze and his warm bourbon breath tickling her face. She knew the rational thing to do was push him away, but she didn’t want to. His lips brushed hers, moving slowly, causing a tingling sensation that she suspected wasn’t a figment of her imagination. “Hmmm…” she murmured, draping her arms carelessly over his shoulders, breathing in the smell of him, wanting to be closer to him, wanting more of him, wanting to forget everything but him.

As he wrapped his arms around her waist, his tongue caressed hers once, then twice, and then his fingers began tracing the skin on her thigh just below her hemline at an indecently slow pace. Just as he started lowering her to the floor, inching his body between her legs, she heard laughter outside the still open door. Bre’s eyes popped open.

“Jax always hides out in his room when he gets in his moods.” Bre froze, recognizing Katie’s shrill voice.

“Maybe he knows where Bre is. I haven’t seen her for over three hours.”

“Probably not, you know how Jax is with his personal space.”

Bre’s eyes blinked in confusion. Then, suddenly she scrambled backwards and onto her feet, nearly tripping over the almost empty bottle of bourbon.

“It’s Cam,” she mouthed to Jax, bracing her hands on the footboard of his bed, completely shaken, but oddly disappointed by the loss of contact with him.

Jax nodded, pushing himself from the floor. He walked over to his guitar and started absently playing with the strings.

Cam and Katie walked through the door. Bre’s gaze drifted to Cam’s arm dangling from Katie’s shoulder. Cam stopped abruptly when he saw Bre. Then his eyes landed on Jax.

“Hey, what are you guys doing in here?” Cam questioned his eyes narrowing on the cards spread out on the floor.

“Not much, just leaving to join the party.” Jax’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Cam dropped his arm from Katie’s shoulder and walked toward Bre. “Hey, babe.” He kissed her quick and hard on her lips. Then he pulled back from her, his eyes searching hers. Bre had to force herself to remain still and not wipe her lips clean. Her lips felt dirty. She wanted the tingling sensation back. “What happened to you? I looked all over the house for you. Until I saw your bag in foyer, I started wondering if you went home.”

“Um…” Bre murmured, discomforted by the situation. “Well, I’m right here,” she finished weakly.

“Hey, Katie. Let’s give these two some privacy.” Jax laughed and then grabbed Katie’s hand, threading his fingers through hers and pulling her toward the door. Stopping at the entrance, he looked over his shoulder. “Your bedroom for the night is two doors down, so don’t get any ideas about making use of mine.”

Cam leaned into her, kissing her neck and running his hands up her sides. She couldn’t find the will or desire to respond. Instead, her eyes lingered on Jax’s back as he walked out of the room, hand in hand with Katie, laughing as if nothing happened between them a few minutes ago. Every second of shared laughter poured through her veins like a bucket of ice water. She couldn’t believe she had nearly thrown away her relationship with Cam for a passing moment that obviously meant nothing to Jax. With that thought, the giddiness from the shots of bourbon faded into something that vaguely resembled queasiness.

“How did you end up in Jax’s room?” Cam asked.

For a lingering moment, she didn’t answer. It was almost as if she couldn’t process Cam’s question. Guilt surged through her, and she placed her hands on his chest to get some space between their bodies. Her breath quickened when she came to terms with the fact that she had made an unforgivable mistake. “I was looking for the bathroom, and I ended up here by mistake.”

“What were you two doing?”

“Drinking, talking, nothing too exciting.” The minute she said it, she wished she could take it back. She didn’t want him to ask any questions.

“Really? Just the two of you? That doesn’t sound like something you would do.” Cam brushed her hair away from her face and she feared her cheeks were burning with guilt.

“I barged in on him, and he offered me a drink to be nice. I was only in here for a few minutes.”

“So you do want to check out our room?” Cam said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

She smacked Cam lightly on the arm. “No, I’m not hooking up in the middle of some party like two desperate teenagers.”

“Mmm,” Cam said, nuzzling her neck again. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with acting like two desperate teenagers. In fact, I think it’s an excellent idea.”