Page 13 of Ravage (Dark Desires #1)

I DIDN'T SAY I HAD AN ISSUE WITH BOOBS BEING ON DISPLAY

CAM

Thursday afternoon, I drag my exhausted arse to the gym. Another three nights of night shift has seriously kicked my arse, and I can't wait til next week when I start a month of day shifts.

I've managed to push aside most of the unease I'd been feeling over the weekend, determined to move on from the whole Dark Desires fiasco. If Imogen isn't interested in seeing me again, then I just have to accept it and put the memories of her out of my mind.

I pull my car up in front of the twenty-four hour gym I joined a few months ago.

I used to go to a private gym with my ex, but when I found her giving the trainer a blow-job in the back room a year ago, we decided it was best we parted ways.

Last I heard, she'd shacked up with him and I eventually found a new workout place.

I nod to the young woman manning the desk and head towards the weights area. Getting myself set up with a little circuit of weights, I put my ear buds in and hit play on my workout playlist, determined to just switch off from everything for a while, until it's time to go to work again.

Half an hour later, I move on to the leg press, sliding the weight plates into place before easing into the low seat. As I'm about to start my first set, a figure steps into my line of sight. A figure with curves for days, long brown hair and plump, red lips.

Sighing, I pull out my ear buds and look up at her. "Hi, Annika."

She grins at me, popping her hip out. "Hey, hot stuff."

After spending an hour with her on Friday night, I worked out she communicates purely through flirting.

She's obviously friendly, and under normal circumstances, I'd flirt back, but there is absolutely no way that her presence here is by chance, and I'm tired of people from Dark Desires surprising me constantly.

"To what do I owe this massive coincidence?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

She's dressed in activewear, so at least she's giving the illusion of working out.

Her clothes leave absolutely nothing to the imagination, though.

Her round arse fits snuggly in the short shorts that match the low-cut crop top to shows off her ample cleavage.

I never even knew they made workout gear like that.

I'd blush, but I've seen her in lingerie... and she was completely naked when I said my goodbyes on Friday night.

She mock pouts. "Can't a girl just randomly show up at the same gym as the hot paramedic that fucked her best friend's brains out and turned her into mush?"

That gets my full attention. "What?"

She smiles. "Yeah, I thought you'd find that interesting." She moves to sit gracefully beside me with her legs crossed, so that I don't have to keep looking up at her from the low seat of the leg press.

"Okay, you have my attention, Annika... How did you know I was here, by the way? And don't tell me it was Sebastian, cause that's just too fucking creepy."

She laughs, a low, throaty laugh that would normally have shot straight to my dick, if I wasn't so hung up on her best friend.

"I peeked in your file and was delighted to discover we use the same gym chain. This isn't my usual club, and I usually prefer to work out on site at DD, but after a little sleuthing, based on the last three days, I worked out you'd be here around now."

Well... at least she was honest about stalking me.

"How did you see my file? No, wait. Why do I even have a file?"

She rolls her eyes. "Connell is halfway in love with me, so it wasn't hard to get him to look the other way when I had questions. And of course you have a file. Sebastian has a file on everyone who comes to the club."

I open my mouth to say how fucked up that is, but she puts her finger to my lips, silencing me.

"You are focusing on the wrong part here, Cameron Peter Collins.

" I glare at her, and she laughs again. "What you should be focusing on is the fact that Imogen is a complete catch, and apparently you rocked her world so hard she didn't know which way was up by the time you were done giving her a ridiculous amount of orgasms."

My inner caveman roars in triumph, but I keep my expression neutral and study her closely.

"Does she know you're here spilling all her secrets?"

She grimaces. "Abso-fucking-lutely not. And it will stay that way.

But I get the feeling, based on the way you were devouring her with your eyes when I fucked her with my fingers on Friday night, that you have some fairly indecent thoughts about her, too.

" She doesn't lower her voice, and I glance around to make sure no one heard her.

Thank god most of the other patrons are wearing headphones.

Guess the way I'd watched the pair of them together hadn't escaped the pretty brunette's attention, even when I thought she'd been preoccupied with getting Imogen to come.

It had been one of the hottest things I've ever seen in person, even though I'd literally been watching a woman getting railed by two guys on the bed seconds before.

I'm sure watching two women make out and turning hard as a rock makes me a fairly predictable red-blooded male.

Although, it turns out I'd also gotten hard watching a man get fucked by another guy, so I guess I have more layers than I thought.

"So, what are you telling me all this for?" I ask, clearing my throat as I try to dispel the lingering arousal that all of these memories are causing.

"Do you want to see her again?" she asks bluntly.

I blink. This all feels very high school right now, and as a thirty-five-year-old man, I don't do high school anymore.

"I wouldn't say no. But she made it pretty clear that she wasn't interested in it being more than that one time when she literally fled the room afterwards."

Annika sighs, shaking her head. "Look, Imogen is complicated. I mean, we all have our issues, but she doesn't do feelings. She likes to fuck hard and often, without forming attachments. But you, Cam... You made her feel things. And that's why she ran."

"Okay... That still doesn't answer my question about why you're telling me this? I get the feeling if she knew you were here, spilling her secrets, she would lose her mind."

She smirks. "She would definitely kill me. But I want her to be happy. I'm not saying you guys will get married or anything like that. But she should explore why spending an hour with you left her reeling, when she fucks Sebastian and I with no such issues."

Her words conjure up so many images that I have to force myself to focus. "So, what are you proposing here, Annika? You gonna pass her a note and whisper "Cam thinks you're hot" in her ear?"

She laughs again, clapping her hands as she rocks back slightly. "Oh, you're fucking funny. I knew I liked you. No, sweet summer child. I'm here to invite you to a party. One that would be entirely normal for you to attend, because it's for your friend, Connell."

I raise an eyebrow. "Connell is having a party?"

"He is. It's his birthday, and we are forcing him to actually celebrate this year, because he usually refuses to acknowledge it, and we love a good party."

I grimace. "I don't know if I'm up for another Dark Desires party just yet."

She grins. "It's not that kind of party.

Connell doesn't fuck around with the staff or clients.

Sebastian has booked a venue for the night at one of the rooftop bars in the city.

It won't only be us there, but also people who know Connell from outside of work, so it will be very civilised, without a single boob on display," she says with a wink.

I can't help but smile back. "I didn't say I had an issue with boobs being on display."

"Oh, so you did enjoy yourself on Friday night? You were kind of hard to get a read on, but I figured you were just a little thrown off by everything."

I shrug. "I'd be lying if I said watching a bunch of strangers fuck all over the place wasn't a massive turn on. But with how things went with Imogen, it kind of felt a bit weird. Like I'd crossed some sort of line I wasn't even aware I had."

She considers me for a moment. "So... You'd never want to try a club night again?"

I don't reply immediately, because I honestly don't know the answer.

She waits patiently while I try to work out how I feel about the idea of going back. It wasn't that the experience had been bad. Just very different from the world I live in. They are surrounded by sex constantly. So much so that they don't seem to realise it's not normal.

But... is that so bad? Who decided that sex had to be hidden away, anyway?

"I'm going to take your confused look as 'I have no idea, Annika, but maybe I like to fuck more than I realised and I'm a bit confused about the feelings it stirred up inside me’. Which means you're on the same page that Imogen was on two years ago. "

"Well, as long as I'm only two years behind her," I reply with a wry smile.

"I get the impression you're not as conservative as you think, Cameron Collins.

And if things are going to happen between you and Imogen, you're going to need to tap into that wilder side.

Cause she isn't conservative. Not by a long shot.

So give it some thought. And if you think you're up to the challenge of wooing our girl.

.. I'll see you on Saturday night." She gets up, rising from the ground without putting a hand down to steady herself.

It's impressive, and I can't help but admire her body as she sashays away.

"Wait. Where is this party?" I call after her.

A second later, my phone dings. I glance at it to see a message from an unknown number, showing me the time and location of Connell's party.

"That's not creepy at all, Annika!"

She throws me a smirk over her shoulder before walking out the door.

I shake my head, slip my phone back into my pocket, and finally start my set. But the whole time, all I can think about is seeing Imogen again.

And wondering if I could ever be enough for someone like her.