Chapter 2

Clarissa ran her hand over her daughter's bright head, pressing a kiss on her cheek. "You go sit down and I'm going to make you some soup," she said.

Cameron laughed and patted her mother on the back as she hugged her tight. "Mom, chicken and noodles don't cure everything."

"Yeah, but it never hurts either. Don't argue with me, go sit down with DJ and Dan and I'll be right out." Clarissa gently pushed her toward the living room, watching with worried eyes as she walked with a limping gait through the archway that separated the living room from the hall.

DJ stood when she came in, walking over and swooping her up in his arms to carry her over to the couch and then propped her foot up with pillows. "You shouldn't be walking on that. As a matter of fact, you should be in the hospital right now."

"I hate hospitals," Cameron said, her eyes still wide from the suddenness of his move.

Dan started to laugh. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard. You hate hospitals but you want to be a doctor, how is that supposed to make sense."

"It makes perfect sense," Cami said, smiling at Dan. "Doctors make the worst patients."

DJ shook his head. "That doesn't matter, you could have broken something or they could have seriously hurt you. You should be looked at."

"God, DJ, quit being such a woman," Cami said, looking up at him since he still stood over her. "And stop hovering, I'm fine. I'm a hell of a lot tougher than I look."

"Fine, I'll stop hovering. As a matter of fact, I'll just get out of here all together." He started towards the door, stopping only when Clarissa called his name. He kissed her cheek, giving her a loose hug.

"She's fine, Clarissa. I'm going before I say something that we both regret."

"Like telling her you love her?" Clarissa asked, smiling with that serene smile that only mothers can perfect. She chuckled softly as she looked into his startled face, patting his cheek. "Don't worry, DJ, I don't think she's figured it out yet. And I promise not to tell her either, but I think you should."

"Yeah, like that'll work out. She hates me, Clarissa. She's hated me since the first day you introduced us. She'd laugh in my face if I told her how I feel." His head dropped and then he heard Cami's bright laughter. "I've got to go," he said, summoning up a half smile and turning to hurry out the door.

Clarissa sighed and shook her head, closing the door after him and locking it tightly. Then she walked to the living room to cluck over her daughter.

DJ stared up at her window in the darkness. He couldn't believe he was standing here contemplating what he was. He was crazy, he had to be.

After driving around town, a feat which didn't take as long as he wished it would, he'd driven back to the beach, staring at the fireworks that blazed across the sky from his car window. His mind was in such turmoil that he couldn't appreciate the beauty in those flashes of red and blue, silver and gold, green and purple. Even the more elaborate designs that shot across the sky, living and dying in that one bright burst of colorful light couldn't interest him. All he kept seeing was the welts and bruises on Cami's body.

They'd done a job on her, leaving bruises and bite marks that would take a while to heal. And how long would it take for the scars on her psyche to heal as well? He didn't know but he wanted to be able to do something for her, to help somehow.

But nothing seemed right. How did he overcome her hatred of him?

Starting the car, he left the beach without even seeing the big finale of color that exploded over the lake rivaling even the sunset he'd seen earlier. And then he found himself here. Now he leaned against his car, staring up at her bedroom window with a frown on his handsome face.

He was crazy. She was probably sleeping and here he was contemplating climbing that rickety wooden trellis to get up to her room. He'd probably break his damn neck. With a sigh, he started across the yard and grabbed a hold of the old wood, praying it would hold is weight.

Half way up it creaked and he heard the wood splinter. With a muffled curse, he threw himself forward, grabbing the ledge outside her window and pulling himself up. He managed to get his foot jammed against the brick and hauled himself up.

He knocked on the window, peering inside the dark room. The light turned on and he saw Cami, fear easily seen on her face until she saw him looking inside her room. Shocked, she slid out of bed and hurried to the window, opening it and helping him inside.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed as he fell inside the window, rolling to his feet as she stumbled back.

"I was worried about you," he said, rubbing his elbow where it had connected against the hard floor, hitting his funny bone and making it tingle.

"You were worried about me?" She laughed, sitting on the side of her mussed bed.

"Yeah, what's so hard to believe about that? I can't be worried about you after you've almost been raped and maybe killed?" His eyes roamed over her, enjoying how she looked in a thin tank top that followed the lines of her body with the faithfulness of a lover's hand and the short shorts that hugged her ass and left all of her long curvy legs bare to his eyes.

"It's hard to believe because you've never worried about me before, why should you start now?" She crossed her arms, the movement causing her breasts to jiggle enticingly.

"You've just been through a really bad experience."

"Oh, it's a bad experience that has you here, so if I flunk my chem final, are you going to climb up the trellis and wake me up in the middle of the night too?" She stared up at him, still in shock that he was here, especially after the dream he'd woke her out of.

He'd been in her room then too, but he hadn't been wearing the cut off shorts and polo shirt he was wearing now. He'd been naked and in her bed, his body tangled with hers, between her thighs, making love to her with such intense passion that when he had knocked on her window, she'd had problems figuring out what was reality and what was dream.

And now he was in her room and she was still trying to get her mind out of that dream and back into the here and now.

"If you needed me here if you flunked your chem final, you'd only have to ask." He stepped forward, sinking down next to her on the bed. "I'd be here for you, Cami." He pushed a lock of her hair back off of her forehead.

"Okay," she said, pushing his hand away. "What did you do with DJ? Is he in the mother ship?"

"Funny," he said, letting his hand drop into his lap. "I try to be sensitive and understanding and I get lip from you."

She stared at him like he was insane, a feeling he was beginning to empathize with. He felt insane, sitting in her bedroom, staring at the trappings of her youth from the china dolls sitting on the shelf on her wall to the pom poms that were hanging crossed on her wall. Even her diploma, framed prettily, was hung on her wall along with all her numerous awards from high school and college.

There was a picture of her from prom with her date, a tall gangly guy who seemed more than nervous as he posed with a younger Cami who looked radiant in a turquoise blue long dress, a sparkling tiara in her red hair. She looked so gorgeous and even a little shy in the picture, a look he'd never seen when she was around him.

"I'm sorry," Cami said, surprising him. "I shouldn't make fun of you, especially after you saved me earlier today. " She paused, looking at him as if a thought just hit her, a thought that screamed that something was wrong. "How did you come to be where I needed you today? Why weren't you at the party?"

DJ stared at her, his mind racing. The moment of truth was at hand and he found he couldn't tell her. "Uh, ESP?" he stuttered.

"That's very funny, DJ," she said with absolutely no humor in her voice. "Now what's the real reason?"

"I got bored and decided baiting you would be more fun than the beach."

"I'm sorry, I find that hard to believe." She turned, scooting sideways on the bed until she faced him, her knee brushing against his bare thigh.

Her skin felt warm and smooth against his, soft as he'd always known she'd be. He couldn't help but remember the way she'd felt in his arms, clinging to him, her nude body pressed against him. DJ couldn't help but wish that she hadn't turned to him in fear but rather in passion and want. His eyes traveled over the shorts and top she had worn to bed, wondering what she would look like in satins and laces and felt his cock stir at the image his mind conjured up of her slender pale body dressed in black satin. Cami would be magnificent in black satin.

"Earth to DJ? Hey, DJ are you in there?" Cami waved her hands in front of his face, drawing him from his fantasy of slowly stripping the black satin from her skin.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. What were you saying?" His cheeks flushed in embarrassment as she gave him a calculating look. She must know what he'd been thinking; she was looking at him suspiciously.

"Have you been drinking?"

"Drinking? No, I only had a couple of beers in the beer tent at the beach, nothing since I left here. Why?"

"Well something's got you acting weird."

She shrugged and he watched as the strap from her tank top fell from her shoulder, catching against her arm, exposing the upper curve of her plump breast. He knew from earlier that she was gorgeous with a set of tits that could stop traffic, and this teasing glimpse had him squirming next to her, a light sheen of sweat breaking out on his upper lip. God he wanted her.

"Did it ever occur to you that you have me weird?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"Huh?" Cami's eyes grew hard. "What do you mean by that? Are you implying that what happened to me earlier is my fault?"

The shocked expression on his face would have placated Cami but she was seeing red. "Don't be dumb, Cami. I know you didn't ask for it?"

"Yeah, right, I know what you're thinking. I was outside sunbathing nude and those guys saw me and knew I must be a slut because who else but a slut runs around outside naked. I must want to be fucked and fucked hard. So yeah, let's give her what she's asking for even though she's screaming no and fighting... mmph."

His lips were hard on hers stopping her words. His arms wrapped around her body, yanking her over and onto his lap, letting her feel the hard length of his cock against her hip.

DJ felt her hands, balled into fists, pushing against his shoulder for a moment then they opened, her palms running over his shoulders and around his neck, one hand twining in his dark hair. Her mouth opened under his, her tongue coming out to play and tangle with his, gentling his kiss into one that no longer punished but gave.

Her body was still warm from sleep, and soft under the light clothing she wore. He could feel the tips of her breasts as they hardened, pushing against the fabric that separated their skin, poking against his chest like little flames. Her thigh was against his cock, pressing with delicious intimacy that sent his desire flaming.

"Oh, God, Cami," he moaned against her mouth. "I want you."

He heard her breath catch, felt her hand grip his shoulder and then she was turning in his arms, her legs coming around to straddle him so that she faced him. Dragging her lips from his, she reached for his shirt, pulling it up and over his head until all that tanned hard skin was bare to her eyes and exploring hands. She stared at him a moment, enjoying the way her pale skin looked against his dark body as she stroked down his chest, stopping to investigate every place she thought would bring him pleasure.

When her hand brushed under the jean material at his waist, he thought he'd burst. He groaned his head falling back leaving his throat bared to her lips and teeth. Gritting his teeth, he felt her hot mouth against his skin, his hands coming up to her tank top, grabbing the material and pulling it over her head.

The thin material ripped as he dragged it from her arms. Cami laughed, wicked and soft, sending a shot of lust through his system that was hotter than anything he'd felt before. And then her breasts, bare and lush, were against his chest, their soft weight more delicious than anything he'd ever felt before.

He felt so good Cami felt the purr that came from her start at her toes and work its way up. Leaning against him, feeling his bare skin against hers was erotic and sensual torture of a kind she didn't want to give up. Her mouth sought his, hearing his breath catch, the sound like an intimate caress. She could feel herself growing wet and pressed her crotch against the hard bulge that pushed against the denim of his cut offs.

She teased him, undulating against him with tempting motions, each one ending with her pressed against him. DJ tore his mouth from the sweetness of hers, his breathing a ragged hiss between his teeth. "Where did you learn to move this way?" he croaked.

"Lap Dancing 101," she teased, circling her hips before grinding against him. "All the freshman girls have to take it, it's required."

"I need to go to college," he moaned, grabbing her hips and pulling her against him. "I wanna volunteer my time to the class. They can practice on me."

"Oh, sorry, they don't accept beach bums," she leaned over and kissed him, taking the rancor out of her words. "But I do," she whispered, leaning close to his ear. "You should see what we have to do to ace the exam."

He growled as her tongue teased the inside of his ear, slipping sensuously around the whorl until he grabbed her waist and flipped her over, pushing his weight between her thighs to hold her still. "You're enjoying yourself aren't you?" He pushed her hands above her head, and then slid his palms down her slender arms, enjoying the way she felt beneath him. His fingers trailed across her shoulder and over the slight hill of her collarbone slipping steadily downward until he could cup the roundness of her breast in his hand.

Cami felt a thrill of fear rush through her as he pinned her under him and for one moment DJ's tanned face changed to a dark mask and muddy brown eyes that gleamed with lust and malice. "No!" she cried, pushing her hands against his chest and knocking him backward to scramble up and cower by her pillows, grabbing one to cover her naked breasts. "Don't touch me!"

DJ slowly picked himself up from the floor where she'd knocked him, holding out his hand. "Cami," he said quietly, his voice soft and full of the pain he felt for her. "It's me, DJ. You're safe."

She looked up at him, the fear slowly draining from her face to be replaced by anger and embarrassment. "Oh, God. DJ, I'm sorry. I... You looked like that man that tried to..."

"Shh, baby, it's okay." He sat next to her, close but not touching. "It's to be expected, Cami, considering what you've been through."

"Do I disgust you?" she asked him suddenly. "I mean, you saw what he was doing to me. Does that make me... dirty to you?"

He stared at her in shock. "Cami how could you even think such a thing? None of that was your fault. None of it," he said, his voice strong.

Cami dropped the pillow and threw herself into his arms. She felt safe with him, with the way his arms enclosed her in his warmth, his head resting gently against her hair, his hand stroking over her back with comforting touches. "I've never been so scared in my entire life," she whispered as tears flowed down over her cheeks, wetting his shoulder.

"But it's over now, baby," he said, kissing her hair softly. He hated the fact that she had to go through this and wished he'd done more damage to the assholes who'd hurt her. "Shh," he whispered as she trembled against him.

Very slowly DJ twisted them both around and managed to lie back on the bed, Cami locked against his chest. Her sobs had dwindled to an occasionally hiccup by the time he pulled the blanket up and over the two of them, reaching over her to flick the switch on the bedside lamp. The darkness in the room seemed to cocoon the two of them, as if they were the only two people in the world.