ALWAYS (A Wolfe Brothers Novel) (9 page)

Maggie ran faster.

Aside from the crunch of the dry leaves
beneath their feet and the wheeze of their labored breaths, quiet
monopolized the forest.

When he neared, Maggie dashed around a
cluster of narrow trees. Cam circled to her, but she moved,
maintaining an equal distance between them.

Maggie struggled for a breath.
“Lesson’s over.”

Cam rounded the greenery. Maggie did
the same. Since all she’d eaten today was two of his energy bars,
he gambled she’d tire before him. “I’m getting dizzy.”

“
Then stop chasing me,”
she said, her tone matter-of-fact.

“
Nope.”

“
Am I amusing
you?”

“
Yup.”

From the ground, she snatched a branch
the size of a broom and held the make-shift weapon across her
chest. “Come and get me.”

Cam held up his hands, palms out. “I’m
not going to hurt you.”

She raised a brow. “Really?”

“
I’ve never hit a woman
out of anger,” he lied.

Although he never intended to put his
mother in a coma, he did hit her out of anger. He had woken with a
start and didn’t realize he was beating his own mother half to
death. She should’ve known better then to try and wake him from a
nightmare. He shook his head at the absurdity of his own line of
thought.

“
Then why would you say
that you did?” she asked.

“
I never actually said
that.” Cam changed direction and rounded the cluster of trees in
the opposite direction. “I just said that I could flatten you. Not
that I would flatten you.”

She jerked to the opposite direction,
whirled the branch down and whacked him across the hand.

“
Son of a bitch!” He
cradled his hand. “I think you broke my wrist.”

“
I’ll break more than that
if you come any closer. Go away.”

When Cam bent over and examined his
wrist, Maggie cracked the branch across the back of his knees. He
toppled forward, landing face first onto the dry grass. Cam rolled
to his side.

Maggie sprinted down the trail—exactly
what he’d waited for.

She didn’t get more than a few feet
before he tackled her –football style—to the ground. He positioned
himself over her hips and straddled her waist. Maggie slugged him
across the face. Blood trickled from the corner of his
mouth.

“
Ahhh!” She tucked her
hand into her chest.

Cam massaged each finger then her palm.
“I don’t think anything is broken.”

With her good hand she swung, but he
gripped both of her wrists with one hand and pinned them over her
head.

Leaning forward, he spoke against her
quivering lips. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Maggie struggled and clicked her teeth,
trying to bite him.

Cam clapped a hand over her mouth. “I
think you broke my wrist,” he hissed through gritted teeth. “I have
a gash across the back of my knees, and my tongue is bleeding. If I
was going to hurt you, I’d have done it by now.” He arched a
brow.

Maggie’s body stilled.

Cam waited.

He waited some more.

Sighing, he rolled off her and cupped
her chin. “Babe?”

Pushing him onto his back, Maggie
covered his body with hers, raining kisses over his closed eyes,
down the bridge of his nose and on his mouth.

Shoving her aside, he sat up. “Talk
about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” Cam wiped his mouth with the back
of his hand.

“
Me?” She sat back on her
haunches. “You’re the one who’s telling me you’re a monster one
minute, but when I kick the crap out of you, all evidence seems to
the contrary.”

Cam smirked. “I let you beat on
me.”

Maggie cupped her ear. “Ssss. I hear it
again, except this time the testosterone is spraying from your
pores, not just leaking.”

Cam smiled.

Maggie pushed him to the ground and
positioned herself over his waist, just like he’d done to her. “Now
we make love and live happily ever after.” She pinned his hands
over his head. Her breasts brushed against his chin, her low-cut
tank top allowing him a delicious view.

Swallowing, Cam turned his head.
“Nope.”

“
What are you afraid
of?”

He shook his head. “Not the making love
part.”

“
Living happily ever
after? You think you’ll get bored with me?”

“
Nope.”

“
Then what?”

Cam’s cock pushed at the crotch of his
sweatpants. “I don’t want to hurt you.” Stretching his neck, he
focused on the trees behind her.

“
We’ve already established
that’s not going to happen.”

“
Things change.” He turned
his watery eyes toward the purple sky. “People change.”

“
Why would you say
that?”

Cam bit his tongue, resisting the urge
to thrust his hips into her groin. “My father’s blood flows through
my veins.”

Maggie laughed. “That’s what this is
all about?”

“
What the hell is so
funny?”

“
Silly.” She gave him a
quick kiss. “Silly.” She kissed him again. “Man.” Maggie flicked
her long hair to one side and kissed the side of his
neck.

She kissed his cheek.

She kissed the corner of his
mouth.

Cam’s breath caught in his
throat.

Maggie spoke against his lips. “You’re
not him.”

“
You’re sure?”

She frowned and sat up. “You’re
shaking.”

Looking to the left, he studied a red
bird perched atop a young oak tree. “I’m fine.”

“
People don’t shake when
they’re fine. What can I do?”

Fuck me!
“
Get off me before I hurt you.”

“
I just beat the crap out
of you, and you didn’t hurt me.”

“
But I’m really
mad.”

She turned his head, forcing him to
look at her. “So? Getting mad is not a crime.” Maggie kissed him,
slow and sweet. Cam’s body stiffened. A moan escaped his restraint,
betraying his virtuous intentions. When she drew his tongue into
her silky mouth, his cock nodded its approval. Cam sat up. He
braced her head between his hands. His tongue drove deep inside her
mouth.

He broke from the kiss, his trembling
hands framed around her face. “Fuck!” He hung his head and grunted.
“You don’t understand. The rage rides my veins like some kind of
fucking roller coaster.” He lifted his head. “It literally burns. I
break out in a sweat, and I—.”

Maggie pressed a finger against his
lips. “You won’t hurt me.”

“
You’re fucking killing
me!” Gripping her around the waist, Cam set her on the ground and
climbed to his feet. “You seem to have some subconscious death
wish, and I want no part of it.”

She scrambled to her feet. “That's
not—”

Cam held up his hand and folded his
fingertips to his thumb, giving her the universal sign for ‘shut
the hell up’.

“
Just—.”

He opened his hand and folded his
fingers, reiterating his message.

Maggie’s hands went to her hips. “Who
the hell do you—?”

Cam folded his hand for a third time.
“Friends. That’s the best I can do. No benefits. Take it or leave
it.”

Her shoulders slumped. “Take
it.”

Cam cupped his ear. “What?”

“
Take it!”

“
Good.” He slid her
backpack over his shoulder, grasped her hand and led her back up
the trail.

When they got back to camp, he pitched
both tents, lit a fire and grabbed two fat red bottles from his
back pack. He handed her one. “It’s a protein drink. Tastes like a
smoothie.”

“
Thanks.” She took the
drink. As he poked at the fire, she said, “I thought you said not
to make a fire because it would disturb nature.”

“
Yup.”

“
So why did you make a
fire?”

Because he had to keep busy and not
think about tearing her clothes from her body and fucking her until
morning. Cam sat beside her and twisted the cap off his own red
bottle. “Shut your trap.”

She laughed and sipped her
drink.

“
I have a surprise for
you.” Cam slid a stainless steel canister from under his leg. He
poured out the melted ice and pulled out two Hershey
bars.

“
No thanks.”

“
You don’t like
chocolate?”

“
Too
fattening.”

Cam shook his head. “Do you want to
sleep with me?”

Her hand splayed over her heart, she
leaned back. “You think?”

“
As thin as you are, I’m
afraid I’ll break you.”

She gave him a slow wink, licking her
bottom lip. “Let’s test that theory.”

Cam wrapped her fingers around the
brown wrapper. “You’re not eating enough calories. It’s why you
can’t keep up with me. You’re burning more calories than you’re
consuming.”

“
So I might’ve lost weight
over the past two days?”

He groaned. “That’s not a good
thing.”

Maggie chucked the chocolate. Cam
snatched the candy from the ground, broke off a square and pressed
it against her closed mouth. She thrashed and bucked until it fell
to the ground.

Cam positioned himself over her hips.
Holding the chocolate high, he broke off another square. She
squirmed, kicked and clawed.

He smiled. “Let me know when you’re
done.”

She looked away. “We’re not hiking so I
don’t need the damn calories, and I doubt I’m getting any other
action tonight so take your calories and shove ‘em.”

Damn.
If only her stubbornness wasn’t so damn sexy, he might be
able to resist fucking her right here, right now. He leaned down,
tilted his head, and grazed his lips across hers. “Open for me,
baby.”

She shook her head.

He spotted a gecko and snatched it up.
Dangling the tiny lizard by the tail, he held it over her face. Her
eyes widened, but she kept her composure and her mouth
closed.

Cam admired her determination. She
could definitely give him a headache or two. He’d have to remember
to send her potential future husband a sympathy card.

An image of Maggie on her back with
some nameless, faceless fuck wedged between her naked thighs
flashed in his mind. Heat rose from his neck and into his face. A
drop of sweat slid from his forehead. Cam pushed back the rage,
smiled and dropped the lizard on her nose.

“
Ahhh!”

In the chocolate went. He clamped his
hand over her mouth.

When she closed her eyes and let out a
soft whimper, he removed his hand. “Well?”

Maggie swallowed and licked her lips.
“More.”

Cam rolled off her and handed her the
rest. “No woman can refuse chocolate.”

Moaning, she licked her fingers. The
erotic sound, and the image of a single finger withdrawing from her
full lips shot to his groin. He grew hard. “Fuck.”

Her brows lowered. She shrugged and
asked, “You have any more?”

“
You can have mine.” As
she tore into the second chocolate bar, he said, “I’m going to wash
up.”

Cam went inside his tent and grabbed a
bottle of water.

As he strode toward the woods, she
said, “I thought water was for drinking, not bathing.”

Holy fucking shit!
She was killing him, slow and easy.
“
God help me.” He said
the words aloud, not blasphemy but a genuine cry for
help.

Chapter Eleven

When Cam returned, he rekindled the
fire. Maggie shivered and sat on the ground. With her hands up,
palms toward the flames, she warmed herself.

Laughing, Cam sat beside
her.

“
What’s so
funny?”

“
I keep seeing you holding
that branch like a sword. You got guts. I’ll give you that but I’m
surprised it hasn’t gotten you into trouble before now.”

“
Who says it
hasn’t?”

He shot her a look. “I’m
sure.”

Now that they’d crossed from combatants
to friends, maybe she’d have more luck striking up a conversation.
The crackle of the fire and the chirping of the crickets played a
symphony as she struggled for her next words.

“
So how did you get into
cooking?”

He glanced at her, skepticism evident
in his small smile. Turning his attention back to the fire, he
said, “I used to work at Copper Creek as a busboy before it closed.
Me and Mr. Moretti became good friends. I miss the hell out of that
old coot.”

“
Why didn’t you keep in
touch?”

Cam shook his head. “The man hates
me.”