The Forgotten Claim (The Claim: Book 1)

Chapter 18 - Cameron

Cameron couldn't get enough of her. The more she relaxed, the more her scent enveloped him in comfort and they were able to talk with ease and flirt a little without it overpowering them.

He dreaded their parting, holding tight to her hand and urging the conversation forward, never giving her a chance to glance at the time.

When she checked the time, she looked regretful but they both knew the evening had to come to a close. She had to get back to Chloe and he had to get back to Sam and the pack.

He walked her out and all the way to her car in the apartment complex she had parked in—hand in hand.

He kissed her, lingering longer than intended as he knew it would be hard to pull away. Even more so when she leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She moaned when his hands slid down to her voluptuous ass, making him hard as a rock, but he forced himself to release her and drag himself away.

Goddess, it was torture. Pure, sweet, agonizing torture.

"Call me, whenever you're free," he rasped, kissing her lips chastely once more.

"Okay," she whispered, slipping free from his hold. Her face flushed with warmth. The sweet, tantalizing aroma of her own need swirled around her and he couldn't help but wonder if she could smell his own too.

What were her human senses like? Could she smell him? Smell his hunger for her seeping out of his pores like an aphrodisiac? Could she hear his heart thundering in his chest? His deep inhalations in to fill breathless lungs and pump blood to his racing heart?

He opened her door for her and waited for her to climb in, start her car, and back out. Watched her drive away from him and disappear around the corner.

Then, the crushing pain of loneliness seeped into his bones. The ache of missing her, needing her, was crippling until he took a few deep breaths to refresh his senses. Her scent faded before him. The last thing she left him with.

One step before the other carried him back to his motorcycle parked in a narrow lot. A heavy hazy set in and pressed down on his shoulders that had nothing to do with the gray clouds overhead. He started up his motorcycle and set out for the apartment. Fat raindrops splattered down for a few minutes before he pulled into the apartment's underground parking. By the time he got up to his unit, it was pouring rain outside and Sam looked less than amused by both Cameron's lateness and the rain.

Once they had all their things packed, the rain had let up, though it looked as though it could resume at any time. Darkness was descending and it would take them an hour and a half to reach the main packhouse outside the city.

Pain still filled his soul at Olivia's departure, but he knew it had to be this way for now.

It didn't rain again until he had settled into bed in his cabin on the pack lands. Forest surrounded him in a welcome embrace as the symphony of falling rain lightly struck each leaf and tumbled over his roof.

He had a missed call from her fifteen minutes before he and Sam pulled their motorcycles up to the main packhouse and returned the bikes.

Since it was almost midnight, he sent her a text, apologizing for missing her call and that he was afraid to wake her if he called back. He bid her goodnight and that he'd talk to her tomorrow if she didn't call back.

She didn't and he struggled to fall asleep. He tossed and turned from one cold spot on the bed to the next, longing for her presence, her touch, and her warmth.

The next morning, he hauled his sorry-ass out of bed and went for a quick run to wake up before meeting with Alpha and Luna about his duties. They agreed to give him daytime patrol so his evenings were free to talk with Olivia on the phone if she called.