“Left.” I managed weakly. He turned left at the top of the stairs, kicking the door closed behind us. He gently laid me on my bed, took off his boots and laid down next to me. He pulled me to him, so that my head was on his chest as he gently rubbed my back. He kissed my forehead, until I tilted my face up to his again.
Our lips met, as I moved so that I was laying on top of him. “Anna, now is not the time. You need rest babe. I promise I’ll make it up to you, but right now you need rest.” He whispered against my lips. “Your mom could come up to check on you any minute. You asked me to hold you, so I’m going to do just that until you fall asleep.”
I slipped back to the bed wrapping my arm around his chest to hold him as he rubbed my arm and back. The strokes of his hand were so soothing, I was almost asleep when my bedroom door opened briskly. “Charlie, I can take care of my daughter now. Thank you for your help young man.” My mom said flatly. Her tone was brisk and it made me want to defend him, but I was so tired. I could barely keep my eyes open, never mind yell at her.
“Yes, ma’am.” Charlie replied untangling from me. He quickly pulled his boots back on, as I watched his back muscles with every movement. I wanted to beg him to stay, but my mom seemed upset with him. “Bye Anne. I’ll talk to you later. Feel better.” Charlie said on his way out the door. I wanted him to come back and kiss me, to help keep me afloat in my misery a little longer.
My mom moved over to my bed, set a cup of tea on the nightstand before sitting in the spot Charlie just was. I rolled over to face my wall. She was just so mean to Charlie, and I don’t understand why. “Annie, honey. I’m so sorry about your dad. I called your Aunt Carol after Charlie brought you in.” Just hearing his name, made me cry. What was it about Charlie that had me so attached to him? “Annie, please talk to me.” She gently rubbed my hair, but her touch didn’t soothe me like Charlie’s did.
“Why were you so mean to Charlie?” I asked, having more anger in my voice then I wanted. “He was only helping me, and I asked him to hold me.”
“Annie, I am your mother. It is my job to take care of you, not Charlie’s.” My mom replied in a calm soothing voice. She clearly ignored my tone.
I shrugged off her touch as she began to rub my back. I heard her sob a little when I rejected her comfort. I pulled my pillow closer as I curled up in a ball. The only person I wanted to touch me was Charlie. How did this man have such an effect on me? “Please, leave me alone. I need to grieve in private.” I told her without looking at her.
My mom sighed as she got out of the bed and left my room. She quietly pulled the door closed behind her leaving me alone in my room. The sun was still shining as my heavy eyes began to close.
**********************************************
I woke up to my mom knocking on my door as she entered. “Sweetheart, it’s time for dinner.”
I rolled over to look out my window and noted that the sun was slowly setting. “I’m not hungry. I just want to be alone.” I groaned. She quietly closed the door again, leaving me alone in my room again. I got up to use the bathroom, then drank the now very cold honey and lavender tea, before curling back up on my bed.
Today started out so good; I woke up, had breakfast. Talked to my dad, then sat down to do my homework. Sent a reply text to Billy, got a call from Debbie… and then my aunt called… How could this be possible? I talked to him four hours prior.
When my door opened without a knock, I sat straight up. I was ready to scream at whoever came in to just leave me alone. Charlie came strolling in with a bowl of chicken stew, my anger dissipated. “You need to eat and stop giving your mom a cold shoulder.” He explained as he sat down on my bed. “I’m not leaving until you eat something.”
“I don’t want you to leave.” I admitted. He set the bowl of stew on the nightstand next to the empty cup, pulled me into his lap and held me close.
“I need to go home, but I need to know you’re going to take care of yourself when I’m not here. Trust me babe, I don’t want to leave you either, but I have things at home I need to tend to. Please eat.” He pleaded with me. I nodded, causing him to smile at me, before pressing his lips to mine. “I’m falling for you Anna. It’s getting harder to stay away so much.” He confessed against my lips. I kissed him some more, feeling like he was my light.
He reached for the bowl, while keeping me on his lap. He carefully handed it to me, with a smile. I ate the stew in silence, leaning my head against his chest. When I was finished, I turned to face him again. “Happy now?”
“A little. I know this is hurting you, and that doesn’t sit well with me. I want to help you, and protect you, but I can’t do any of that from this pain. I need you to promise me that you will eat when your mom brings you food tomorrow. She’s grieving too, babe.”
“She stopped loving him years ago.” I said. “I don’t want her to touch me, I only want to be with you right now.”
“You know that can’t be.” He began but I kissed his lips to stop the words.
“Take me home with you, Charlie. I want to be with only you right now.” I begged.
“I don’t live alone babe. I live with a few friends in a big house.”
“I don’t care, I want to be anywhere but here.” I pleaded. He wrapped his arms around me, gently rocking us as tears began to roll down my cheeks. I felt him press his lips to the top of my head before laying his head in their place. I could melt into him. Feeling his arms around me felt so calming, so safe. I didn’t want to move.
When someone knocked on my open door, Charlie turned his head to look. “How’s she doing?” My mom asked, concerned.
Charlie looked down at me as I held him close. “As good as she can be doing right now.” Charlie’s voice sounded like he was in pain. “This is overwhelming for her.” He tipped his head to press his lips into my hair again. “I know she’s your daughter Pam, but I’ve fallen in love with her. She’s just got such a genuine personality that you can’t help to gravitate towards. I need to be with her right now.” If I didn’t need him as my life preserver, I’d probably kill him for saying that to my mom. He had just told me he’s falling in love with me, why is he telling my mom about it?
“I thought I saw that recently. You just look at her in such a special way. Clearly, she only wants you right now. I’ll talk to Bo and you can stay with her.” My mom reluctantly said with a sigh.
“Ma’am, I need to go home. Can I take her home with me? I promise I’m not looking to take advantage of her in any way. I’m just worried if I’m at home tomorrow, she’s going to sit here shutting down and not eat. I have work I need to get done at home, and can only do it on Sundays.” Charlie explained. How is it they were having a conversation about me, in front of me but I wasn’t even phased by it? Am I really in that bad shape, that I don’t have a voice anymore?
“Annie honey, do you want to go with Charlie?” My mom asked as she moved around the bed to look at me. I know my face was still streaked in tears, and I can imagine I look like shit, but I didn’t care about my appearance at this moment.
“Please.” I whimpered, wrapping my arms tighter around Charlie.
“As much as I don’t want to allow or condone this; my hands are tied. I know if I say ‘no’ she’ll shut down or lash out at me. So, for my daughter and I’s relationship I will allow it. Annie, when I call you tomorrow, you better answer, understand?” She reasoned. I nodded against Charlie’s chest. “Very well. Bo went out to tend to the tractor’s oil change. You should get moving before he comes back in for the night. Otherwise, he’ll over rule my decision.” She told us as she walked out of the room.
Charlie gently pulled me off his lap before standing up. “We need to pack you some clothes.” He commented as he grabbed a canvas bag I had on the floor of the closet, and selected two dresses, before moving to my dresser. There he pulled out a couple pairs of panties, a night gown, a pair of pajama pants, and a cotton t-shirt, plus a pair of my fuzzy socks. He went down the hall to the
bathroom and grabbed my toothbrush and hair brush. When he returned, I had managed to pull my boots back on. He took my hand and together we walked down the stairs. My mom met us at the door, giving me a tight hug.
“I love you Annie. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” She sounded so small and defeated as she talked to me. She looked at Charlie with a cold stare. “Young man, you and I will have a chat on Monday morning when you come to work.”
“Yes, ma’am I understand. I have a lot to talk to you about.” Charlie admitted. What the hell was he doing? Part of me wants to scream at him for confessing our private emotions to my mother, but the other part of me is dying inside from the loss of my most favorite person in my life. Charlie led me out of the house and into his truck. He opened and closed my door for me as I climbed in. He set my bag on the backseat, then climbed into the driver’s seat. He started the engine and put the truck in gear. He backed it down the driveway to the road. “Why do I feel like we’re running away together?” Charlie chuckled as he drove.
“Because we kind of are.” I answered looking out the window. “You’re taking me away from there like I asked. I know my mom loves me, but I haven’t been closed to her since I was 8. I have a lot of resentment towards her for leaving me like she did. She just recently came clean about why she left, but it took almost 9 years for her to explain. I had to ask, which pissed me off. Now, I have to turn to the one person who hurt me the most as a child to cope with the loss of my most favorite person, how is that logical? I’ve tried so hard to forgive her, but after today I feel like part of me is dying and you’re my lifeline. She pushed you out of my room, when you were only trying to help and then tried to comfort me halfheartedly. I was so angry at her for making you leave.”
“I told you that I’m here for you Anna. I’ll do what I can to help, and if you need me to hold you, then I will do just that, but I do need to do some things at home tomorrow. When you’re up to it, I’ll introduce you to everyone.” Charlie replied, taking my hand in his. As we pulled into a driveway I looked up at a huge ass house. Holy shit it looked like a damn mansion. Charlie’s phone began to ring and before he answered it, I saw it was Bo. I probably just got Charlie fired.
Guilt and regret filled me as he put the phone to his ear. I could only hear Charlie’s side of the conversation, which consisted of one- or two-word answers. Ugh, I hope Bo doesn’t fire him over me. I started all this with Charlie, I should have known that this would backfire on him. When he hung up, he said nothing to me. He got out of the truck, walked around to grab my bag and open my door for me. I slid out with a worried look.
“He wanted to check in to see how you’re doing. Him and your mom want to talk to me on Monday about us. Don’t worry, I don’t think they’ll fire me. The fact that you basically shunned your mom when she tried comforting you, just guaranteed they won’t fire me without fearing backlash from you. They know without your dad convincing you to stay there, you’d do what you want, which I’ve known all along.” He explained pulling me in for a kiss. “I should probably mention, I really don’t need the job. I just do it to keep busy, and to see you.”
“Judging by this house, you and your friends live the high life.” I commented as we walked up the steps.
“I’m going to bring you to my room. I have a private bathroom attached, so you can freshen up. I do need to tell my friends that you’re here.”
I nodded and silently followed him into the house. He led me down a hall, up a flight of stairs and into a large room. “Is this the master?”
Charlie chuckled. “No, that’s upstairs. This is just my room.” He pulled me close as he dropped my bag on the floor. “When I come back up, I want to make love to you if you’re up for it.” He kissed me gently as I wrapped my arms around his neck, lacing my fingers through his hair.
“I would like that, and I’ll do my best to be quiet.” I smiled against his lips. I pulled away, picked up my bag and moved across the room to his dresser. I carefully pulled out my clothes and placed them on top. “Can I use your closet?” I asked. He nodded before heading out of the room. I opened his closet to hang my dresses up and noted all the nice clothes he had hanging. A couple suits, and quite a bit of button-down dress shirts. I found myself wondering what he would look like in the different dressy clothes. Pull our mind out of the gutter Anastasia, I scolded myself.
Once my dresses were hung up, I stepped into the bathroom. It was a decent size bathroom with a double vanity, a walk-in shower stall, and a tub. I stripped out of my dirty clothes and gingerly stepped into the shower stall. I turned the water on and sighed as it splashed against my body. Somehow the warm water was actually soothing my aching heart. I heard a gentle knock on the bathroom door before it opened. “Hey, babe. Can I join you?” Charlie asked sheepishly.
“You better.” I retorted. He climbed into the shower stall with me, grabbing my hips he towed me in close. His lips came crashing down hungrily on mine as his hand snaked up my back from my hip, pulling me in closer to him.
He spun me around, before grabbing some shampoo and massaging it into my hair. I leaned my head back with a moan as he scraped his fingernails over my scalp. He started to chuckle as he moved his hands down my sides and around to the front of me. He rubbed his callused, soap covered hands over my stomach and up to my breasts, pulling another moan from my lips. “Sounds like you’re enjoying yourself.”
“I am. So much for you not trying to get laid.” I teased.
“I’m not. I’m pleasuring my girl the way she needs me to.” He whispered in my ear as his tongue flicked at my ear lobe. “Tell me what you like. I know how you like to fuck, but not what do you enjoy in the pleasure department?”
“Your hands and lips.” I moaned as he began to slide his hand down between my legs. I whimper a little as he pushes two fingers into me. I knew I was soaked and not from the water. He groaned a little as he pulled me against him. He quickly shut the water off, grabbed two towels to dry us off with, and scooped me up before dropping me on the bed. I let out a giggle as I fell and bounced on the mattress.
Charlie joined me on the bed, pushing my shoulders back as he kissed me. He held his body over me as he carefully looked at my every curve, flaw, and everything in between. I’m not the skinniest girl, but I liked who I was and guys seemed to find me attractive, but something about his gaze moving over my body made me a bit self-conscious. He noticed that I shifted uneasily under his gaze, before flicking his eyes back to mine.
“You are absolutely gorgeous Anastasia. There is nothing about you to be ashamed of. I can hardly believe your mine.” Charlie commented before kissing my lips, then trailing his lips and hands over my body. I know I’ve had sex with this man like every day for a month, but something about his touch tonight sent chills down my spine. Maybe it was the idea that we didn’t need to hide this, or that it was the first time we were both completely naked laying in a bed, but something made tonight feel different.
When his mouth found its way between my legs, I couldn’t help but moan in pleasure. “Oh My God, Charlie!” I cried as he made me cum on his tongue. He continued to lick and suck for more, until he pulled himself back up to be, and gently buried himself deep in me. I let out a gasp as I adjusted to his size. “Charlie.” I called out in pleasure as he began to move his hips to set a pace. I moved my hips to keep pace with him as he pulled me legs onto his shoulders, causing my eyes to roll back into my head as the pleasure of him sliding deeper into me took over. As he moved his hips, thrusting in and out of me at an amazing pace, I could feel my orgasm building. When it exploded through me, I couldn’t help but cry out his name.
His orgasm followed mine with him singing my name, “Anna, oh Anna.” He felt so good inside me. Being with him like this made me feel alive again. How is it he has this effect over me? He pulled out and rolled onto his back panting for air. He pulled me over to him as he gently stroked my hair out of my face. “You are so fucking perfect babe.”
“I a messed-up
ball of complicated Charlie. You don’t understand that about me. I’m a go-getter, but I have a ton of flaws to accompany it. I resent my own mom, I was overly protective of my dad in an unhealthy way, to the point he sent me out of the house until curfew just so I could be a teen. He knew I was at the beach drinking, but he didn’t like that I was constantly worrying about him. He was a therapist, so he knew the importance of me socializing with my peers. When I met Sal, he was relieved that I met someone closer to my age to worry about. Truth be told, Sal is only four years older than me. Had I not been with Sal, you and I wouldn’t have ever happened, because I’ve never been that comfortable around guys. I know you wouldn’t know that looking at me now, but it’s true. I would have been too scared to talk to you, never mind make a move on you.” I confessed as I laid my head on his chest.
“I think we would have eventually. I would have still been friendly, maybe even friendlier. I felt drawn to you Anna, but I also know your only 17, which would have given me more time to get to know you better and eased us into a relationship differently.” Charlie explained. “There’s so much more I need to tell you about me, but not yet. We need to ease into it.” He gently rubbed my back, causing my whole body to relax. I never realized how heavy my eyelids were until they snapped shut, and I drifted off to sleep in his arms for the first time.
Chapter 6
I woke up in the early morning feeling like I was hit by a mack truck. As my eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room, the events of yesterday came crashing into me again. My dad died, from a blood clot that took a while to move. I still couldn’t believe it. I had spoken to him earlier on the phone, and now he’s gone. My tears started pooling in my eyes again as I took in a shaky breath trying to understand what this all means for my life now.
A hand on my shoulder, made me jump until I realized that the hand belonged to Charlie. He gently rubbed my shoulder and down my back as I relaxed. He pulled me to his chest, stroking my hair while I wept. He said nothing, just gave me his support as I cried my eyes out some more. When I was able to stop crying, he looked down at me as he spoke, “it’s going to be okay Anna. I’m here for you.” I leaned into his touch as he pulled me back down to the mattress with him. I had even noticed that I sat up in the bed. I laid back down, as Charlie wrapped both his arms around me, pulling me in tight to him, kissing my shoulder as I drifted back to sleep in his protective embrace.
The Beta's Mate Page 5
