At first Cameron just wanted to know what Vala had discovered that would help find Kaminsky and Bishop – and he was both excited and disappointed that the attempt to contact the slavers was going to have to wait until morning. Dusk was already settling in, and like any city, it would get more dangerous when dark finally settled.
But then Cameron saw the sack full of coin that she dropped onto a chair and he was stunned to speechlessness for a moment before he blurted, "What did you do? Rob a bank? Do they have banks?"
"No, I didn't rob anything. I just collected on an old – very old – debt. This should help us along the rest of the time we're here."
She took in his appearance and realized that he had bathed while she was gone. His hair was ruffled and spiky and he hadn't shaved but his scruff looked neater. He was wearing only loose trousers. Everything else was bare skin.
Sweeping him with a critical gaze Vala couldn't discover any serious looking injuries, cuts, bruises or lash marks. There was a minor ring of chafing around his right wrist – no doubt from Cameron trying to get out of the iron cuff – but it appeared to be healing.
When her eyes roved back up it was for simple enjoyment. She sauntered forward, rolling her hips seductively.
"At least this time you went for stealing it and not asking me if I earned it on my back," she said.
Cameron winced. "I apologized for that. I won't do it again."
"You can't assume that every man who sees me wants me, Mitchell," she said, moving into his body space and walking around him in a circle, trailing a fingernail across his back and shoulders. His answering shiver was barely contained, though he tried.
"Of course every man who sees you wants you," he said, dismissively, "unless they're dead or castrated."
"Really?" She paused just before leaning in to kiss the back of his neck.
"Oh, come on," Cameron said, turning around and putting his arms around her. "You know perfectly well how men react to you. Hell, half the time women react the same way, at least the ones who don't look jealous. People look at you like they've never seen a stunningly beautiful woman before."
Vala considered that and privately acknowledged it. She was blessed by the friendship she had found with Sam and Jillian, since neither of them saw her as anything but a friend. Of course, by the time Vala had met them, they had both been utterly convinced of the devotion of the men they loved – and with good reason.
"As long as you're still looking, I don't care," she admitted. "Now shut up and be grateful for this bounty of riches I've brought us."
"Oh, I'm very grateful," he said, putting his hands on her hips and pulling her closer. "How about we get into bed and I'll show you just how grateful."
"In bed?" she laughed. "How big of you."
"Yes," Cameron said, solemnly, pressing his groin against her, "very big. Very big."
She laughed again even while trying to glare at him disapprovingly. Mitchell stared back, grinning without repentance.
"What about Brady?" she asked.
"He's asleep on the other side of that door," Cameron said, nodding towards it for emphasis. "Cleaned, fed, medicated and sound asleep. I don't know what it was you said to give him but it knocked him on his ass about ten minutes after he drank it."
"They're serving food in the tavern downstairs. We should get some dinner." But she was brushing closer, running her hands down his back and over the thin cotton trousers covering his delicious posterior.
"It's not food I want at the moment," Cam murmured, his mouth centimeters from hers, so close he could feel the smug smile playing on her lips.
Her chuckle was deep in her chest, sexy and pleased. She took two fistfuls of fabric from around his hips and pushed him backwards towards the bed. She kissed him as she pushed him along, a tried and true way of shutting him up and getting him to focus. It was as effective as always, reducing him to happy little grunts as he ran his hands over her, helping her shed clothing as they went. She had to let go to get her tunic over her head but his smile of appreciation and the glazed look coming into his eyes were worth it. She continued, kicking off suede desert boots and shimmying out of her pants in rapid succession, all while trying to keep her lips pressed against Cameron's.
Vala fell onto the bed first, scooting backwards while shoving the thin blanket out of the way. The mattress was uneven, rough fabric tightly packed with straw, and it was unlikely to provide a comfortable place to sleep. But at the moment none of that mattered to her. All that mattered was what they were about to do.
Cameron stood there, looking down at her and running a hand over his own chest thoughtfully.
"Is there some reason you aren't naked yet?" Vala asked.
"Just appreciating the view," he answered.
"Well get over here and appreciate it from close up," she suggested.
Cameron smirked a little and finally slipped his thumbs under his waistband to push his trousers down, letting them puddle at his feet and stepping out of them. He continued to stand there in all his aroused glory, looking smug, before sauntering over to the bed.
Vala glared at him. "Get. In. Bed. Now."
"I thought I was in charge here."
Vala surged up, grabbed him by both arms and successfully flipped him onto the mattress. Mitchell landed with a sharp exhale but recovered quickly, pulling her into his arms and kissing her, demanding and warm. Vala curled her hand around his cock and pushed her hips up against his. Cam's mouth dropped to her neck, sucking, biting, leaving marks. Vala closed her eyes, writhed. In her present mood she was pretty willing to let Mitchell do whatever he wanted to her. She couldn't focus on anything but the way his hard, lean body felt, and he knew it. It was the way he touched her, warm hands pressed flat, roving over her skin, taking in every curve and muscle and bone, pausing to tease with gentle fingers over hot spots she hadn't known she possessed – the inside of her thigh, the soft skin of her biceps, her eyelids and temple and the skin between her shoulder blades.
Then she was flat on her back without knowing how she'd gotten that way, with Cameron crawling determinedly over her, worshipping every inch he could get to. Warm lips, wet tongue, a light scratch of stubble from his chin as he moved down to nuzzle her breasts and Vala squirmed with pleasure, hips lifting. Her fingers brushed his cheek and he turned his head to kiss them, licking gently, before returning his attention to her body.
When he raised up and nudged her legs apart so that he could kneel between them, his eyes were so intent that his gaze was like a physical force.
Cameron took her apart in ways she had never imagined were possible. He made love so that every gesture, every caress, every touch, every glance, made her body want to give up every secret it had; and then he treasured those secrets as if they were sacred.
When he brought them together with a long, slow, careful thrust Vala moaned as if she was dying even though she wasn't suffering at all. Cam watched her carefully. With her eyes closed and her head pushed back, her beautiful throat exposed with the pulse beating in it visibly, the muscles in her arms straining as she gripped his forearms, lost in the sensation. Cam was momentarily so caught up in how beautiful she was that he forgot he was supposed to be doing something.
"Cam," she groaned through clenched teeth. Opening her eyes she glared at him again.
He almost grinned. Naked, aroused and ticked off was a good look for her. He rocked his hips and nuzzled her neck when she groaned again in response.
"Like that?"
For some reason she liked his voice. She really liked it when he purred in her ear while having sex. But he was getting hungrier for her now that he was actually inside her. So he took her in his arms and got down to serious business.
Vala rarely spoke when they were being intimate. She occasionally said his name, as she had just done, but all her other utterances were gasps and groans and long shuddering sighs. Cameron had learned to read them like a secret language. So now when he moved with purpose, intending to bring her up and into ecstasy, he watched her carefully, watching the signs, knowing when she was close, knowing by the way she twisted and arched and clung to him and breathed in broken sobs.
"Cam." It was more a whispery pleading moan than a word and it was followed by a series of groans that were an inarticulate mix of encouragement and warning.
He thought he was paying close attention. One moment he was making sweet love to Vala and trying to ignore the fact that it felt fucking fantastic and trying not to lose it himself and the next she was crying out and bucking under him so hard he thought she'd throw him off. They were both ambushed by it. He felt her nails bite into the flesh on his arms in an attempt to anchor them both through the violence of it and it went from fantastic to oh-god-oh-god-come-right-now-goddammit. So he did. A single powerful orgasmic surge followed by one explosive burst after another. Cameron held onto Vala tightly. His head dropped onto her shoulder, smothered by her hair, and all he could do was come.
Mitchell felt his body slump, his arms and legs shaking as he tried not to crush Vala. He moved sideways and she had the presence of mind to move in the other direction. So at least when he collapsed he wasn't lying completely on top of her. They were forehead to forehead, panting in time with one another, tangled and damp. His thumb was stroking her hip and he could feel the shudders of receding pleasure and the way her skin was pebbled and shivering.
"Vala," he gasped, scrunching the fingers of his other hand into the hair on the back of her head. "Vala. God."
Another surge of pleasure shook her, more powerful than the usual aftershocks, triggered no doubt by the sound of his voice. He chuckled softly, pleased, and kissed her forehead, tasting salt. Vala didn't move, except her breasts and shoulders as she sighed a little. Cameron did all the work of cuddling, drawing her closer, throwing a leg over her hers, wrapping arms around her, brushing his foot against hers.
"We're not going down for dinner tonight are we?" Vala murmured, and then yawned.
Cameron closed his eyes and smiled as he whispered, "Maybe," into her ear.
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