“I’m super,” he replied a bit sourly. “Super duper.”
He handled the car with confidence, moving into traffic with ease. The area from Santa Monica to Malibu flowed with cars, so conversation was stilted between them until they reached the northern tip of Malibu, near Pepperdine, and suddenly the moonlight night stretched endlessly before them.
“Brave move inviting me out on a date with Jonas there,” he finally managed to say in a calm, rational tone. “Aren’t you afraid he’ll be gone when we get back?”
“Consider this the ultimate test,” she replied. “He, himself, said he didn’t know if he could handle the jealousy. Best to find out that now before I get my heart broken.”
“I think it’s too late for that,” he murmured.
He could feel the startled look she shot his way.
“You may be right,” she replied softly.
“And if that happens,” he continued, “if you have to choose one of us, which one will you pick?”
He didn’t want to hold his breath as he waited for her answer but damned if he didn’t.
“Don’t ask me that.”
“I’m asking.”
“Damn it, Nash, why do you always have to push my buttons?”
“Because relationships aren’t about being easy,” he retorted. “They’re hard work and they ask hard questions. They make you think and realize that sometimes what may be best for you isn’t what you need.”
“And what’s best for you, Nash?”
He sighed. You, he wanted to say.
“You know I was in the military,” he said instead. “I planned to make it my career until an IED blew up my convoy. Although I was one of the lucky ones, in the fact that I kept all my limbs, I still got a medical discharge and an offer of work from Alastair. I’ve been with HS ever since and I thought it was more than enough. But then I met you, followed by that damn email and suddenly I wanted…more.”
“More?”
How can I explain this? He ran a hand through his hair. “Everything got jumbled around in my head and those two weeks we dated I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Up was down, down was sideways and all I kept visualizing was my head exploding. I no longer knew what it was I was searching for.”
“I remember those two weeks,” she said. “Vividly.”
He grimaced. “I’m sorry about the words I said. After you were gone, I realized I couldn’t get you out of my head and after one particular night of partying with Jack Daniels, it suddenly dawned on me.”
“What did?”
“I wanted that family that was yanked from me.” He gave a rueful chuckle. “I’ve never had a family, you see. It wasn’t something I could articulate. Until I met you. And then you were gone, my child was gone, and I’ve been wishing ever since for a second chance.”
They fell silent. He hoped like hell he hadn’t pushed her too far with that revelation. He’d lost so much in his life that now, when she was so close to being his, it almost seemed surreal and he knew, instinctively, that tonight was a night of truths and confessions. Charlotte had invited him for a reason, more than just testing Jonas’s jealousy, and he knew that it was time to lay himself bare to her.
“Life with you would never be dull,” she finally murmured in the silence. “For a long time I thought you were shallow and stubborn, but every now and then there’s a ribbon of vulnerability that takes my breath away. You know what I think?”
Christ, did he want to know what she thought? “What?”
“I think there’s a soft side inside you that no one, maybe not even you, knows about.”
It was getting too deep for him, too intense. It might make him a pussy but he had to lighten the mood.
“Sweetheart, after this evening you’ll discover there’s nothing soft about me.” He briefly turned to her and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
She didn’t say anything or respond to his suggestive humor, but he could feel her gaze like an electric wire zapping his skin. He was glad when the turn off he wanted appeared, taking his mind temporarily off Charlotte and how she twisted him up inside.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
The narrow dirt road he drove down hadn’t changed all that much as they headed toward the ocean.
“I have a confession,” he said. “This is not my first trip to LA. I was here a few years ago, on vacation, learning how to surf. Some of my surf buddies brought me to this section of beach. I thought it might be a nice place for a stroll along the tide.”
He parked the car at the end of the road, right where the dirt turned into sand, and shut off the engine. Without the artificial lights of the city, the night was dark yet soothing. The gentle lapping of the water, as well as the moon shining down upon them, turned the small section of beach into a magical glade.
He exited the car and walked around to her side to open the door. He held out his hand and she took it, gripping his tightly. They walked hand in hand for a bit and he couldn’t help but feel as if they were the only two people on earth.
“This is very romantic,” she murmured.
“I’m a romantic man.”
She gave him a suspicious glance. “I’m going to need more proof.”
“Ah. A hard woman to please.”
He drew her around and she fit neatly into his arms. He wondered if she could feel his heart beating or how feverish his skin felt. He was almost light-headed at breathing so shallowly. She looked up at him with those big brown eyes of hers and he could no longer hold back. He bent his head and fit his mouth over hers, tracing the lower lip with his tongue. She didn’t even hesitate. She parted her lips and his tongue surged forward into her warmth, twining with hers. A salacious moan rumbled from her as he plunged in and out, exploring all the delicious hidden corners. He raised his left hand to hold her head immobile while his right hand swept around her rib cage to pull her closer to his chest.
He kept kissing her deeper, hotter, wetter. Her hand ran down his chest and over the smooth line of his ass. All coherent thought fled. The two other times he’d kissed her, touched her, had left him aching and yearning for more and now, finally, he’d been given the opportunity to be with her. The crash of the waves, the smell of the salt air, just the thought of being out in public, revved him up even more.
As if she were sharing his thoughts, she practically clawed his suit jacket off his shoulders.
“Charlotte,” he moaned. “Here?”
“Oh yes,” she breathed and went after his tie. “I want you, Nash, and I’m so happy that I can admit that now.”
“Wait. I don’t have a condom, baby.”
“What? How is that possible? All men carry a condom in their wallets.”
“I thought we’ve established I’m not like other men.”
She quickly ran her hand over the front of his pants, brushing over his dick that gave a little jump at her touch. “I’m clean,” she told him.
“Me too.”
“Then take me, Nash. I need you.”
That was all he needed to hear. He bent and kissed her again, losing himself in her scent and the feel of her in his arms.
She pulled the tie off him and went to work on his buttons. He moved back far enough to allow her easy access, totally enjoying being disrobed by her. When he was bare from the waist up, he grabbed hold of her and laid her on the sand and came down on top of her, fitting all his hard places into her soft curves.
“I guess we’re destined to never do this the ordinary way,” he murmured as he kissed along her jaw line.
“What…ah, that feels good…what’s the ordinary way?”
“In a bed, or at least a place with a roof over our heads.”
He began kissing his way down her neck. She arched her body, trying to get closer.
The world simply disappeared around them. Nash reached with one hand and quickly started unbuttoning her shirt, working his way down her chest with each inch revealed. And she let him. She simply leaned back and let hi
m feast upon her flesh. The material was pulled aside and her bra melted off. A second later, his mouth sucked one of her rock-hard nipples and let out a small little moan. He licked and sucked, using tongue and teeth until she was thrashing under him.
He wanted more. He wanted to feel all of her against him. As he continued to lavish attention to her nipples, he unbuttoned her pants and she lifted her hips so he could push them down. Even with her pants restricting her legs, his fingers traced her slit against the seam of her panties.
“Love me, Nash,” she managed to moan.
“I do,” he answered. “God help me, but I do.”
He slipped his fingers inside, finding the nub drenched in moisture. With alternating sweeps of pressure he rubbed her clit, making her gasp and clench as desire pulsed through her.
“You’re so fucking wet,” he muttered. “So beautiful.”
He left her only long enough for them to finish undressing, tossing garments aside thoughtlessly, and then he kissed her flat stomach, easing his way down. He reached the apex of her thighs and grasped her hips, pulling her up to his mouth. She gave a breathless little hitch as his mouth latched onto her clit, rolling the nexus of nerves between his lips.
He loved how she responded to his touch. He brought her to the brink, retreated, and then danced with her again, the pattern repeated until he knew she hung perpetually on the edge.
“Please, Nash,” she begged.
“What, Charlotte?” he murmured as he kissed his way back up her body. “What do you want?”
“You,” she managed to say.
“How?” he asked between kisses. Up her belly, over her chest. He licked each nipple again, causing her to arch in pleasure. “Hard? Fast? Deep?”
“Yes! Yes!”
“Tell me, Charlotte.”
“Fuck me, Nash! Hard and fast and deep. Yes!”
He rose up and she looked up at him. The moonlight bathed her face in pale light, turning her ethereal. He settled between her thighs, rocking, banging his cock against her pussy. His hands moved down her body, caressing her leg, until he grabbed her knee and brought her leg up to grip him around his hip.
“Look at me, Charlotte,” he ordered in a passion-rough voice.
“Always,” she managed to rasp out.
“Do you want this? Want me? There’s no going back once I make you mine.”
“I love you, Nash.”
He held his cock and lined it up with her pussy entrance. He took her mouth in a kiss and surged forward, burying himself completely. God! She was tight! He held still for a moment, afraid he was going to blow too soon.
But then she lifted her legs to hug around him and crushed herself fully against him. He felt her heart thunder next to his own, her nipples digging like pebbles into his chest. She squeezed him with her walls, gently, letting him know she felt him deep inside.
He gave a fluid jerk with his hips and was lost.
“Ah!” he moaned.
He pushed himself up on his elbows and his mouth sought hers as he rocked, picking up speed as the ride continued. Her cunt made wet, slurping noises as he started to hammer her, stretching her pussy lips with wet, slurping sounds as he pumped in and out. In response she grabbed him with her vaginal walls, sucking him in more deeply and squeezing tight.
All she could do was cling to him as if he were a life preserver. Faster, harder, over and over. He could feel her body coiling, winding tighter, and he prayed that he could hold on until she climaxed. No sooner had the thought entered his mind when he felt her walls clamp against his cock like a vise.
“Ah!” she moaned as her orgasm crashed over her.
Holy fuck! Her heat clamped around him and it felt so fucking good!
He kissed her. “I want this to last all night,” he said against her lips.
“Nash, come in me,” she murmured back. “I want to feel you deep inside me.”
Her words made him lose control. His hips jerked once, then again, and his breath came in a hiss as the crest broke over him. He fell down, deep, endless, and then he collapsed on her, panting and sweaty. She hugged him and their hearts seemed to beat as one.
They lay like that until their skin cooled. He was reluctant to leave their little cove but as the night progressed he knew their interlude would have to end.
He kissed her forehead. “That was amazing.”
“You’re amazing.”
He chuckled. “You can stroke my ego anytime.”
“I’d rather be stroking something else.”
“The right bit of naughty and demure. The perfect woman.”
She shifted a bit. “Sand. It’s very annoying.”
“I know,” he agreed. “I’d always fantasized about having sex in the sand but I didn’t realize it gets up all in there.”
“That’s what I told Jonas!”
“Speaking of party killer, I guess we’d better be getting back.”
“You better be nice. You never know how you’ll end up with him.”
“Good god, woman. Don’t make it sound like he and are going to start humping each other’s brains out. I have no desire to look at his junk.”
“Really?”
He raised a brow and studied her for a moment. “Okay, maybe I do. But for measurement purposes only. I wouldn’t want you to find us…lacking.”
She squeezed his cock, which was still lodged inside her. “Believe me, I have no complaints.”
* * * *
She encouraged Nash to drop her off at the house, since she saw Jonas’s rental still parked out front. At the door she waved good-bye and entered the dark living room. She saw him sitting at the table.
“Do you always sit in the dark?” she asked.
“Only when I have to contemplate my girlfriend out on a date with her other boyfriend.”
This was it. This is the moment. She held her breath.
He stood and walked toward her. She stared at him even though she could only see shadows over the planes of his face. He cupped her face and bent and kissed her.
“I love you, Charlotte. I’m still here.”
The breath whooshed out of her lungs forcibly, leaving her light-headed.
“Whatever this relationship holds for us,” he continued. “I discovered, as I sat here thinking, that if you’re with Nash, then I know you’re safe. He loves you and because of that I don’t have to worry so much.”
She threw her arms around him and squeezed tightly. Her world was all right.
Chapter Nine
The next morning brought a rush of memories and feelings she wasn’t expecting and Charlotte wasn’t quite sure how she was going to handle seeing Nash in the cold light of day. Delia stood at the stove, flipping pancakes. Annie had left early for her spin class and James had gone for his walk. Charlotte sat with Holly, sipping coffee, the screw in her nerves twisting with every passing minute, stringing her tighter and tighter.
And when Jonas and Nash finally showed up, Alastair led the charge, barging into the house carrying a large folder, which he thunked down between the turkey sausage and buttered toast. As he stomped to the coffee pot, Charlotte looked between her two men. Each gave her an intimate smile and suddenly her nerves loosened while the bubbling in her stomach eased.
The morning after wasn’t so bad.
“Got some light reading?” she teased Alastair as he sat down next to Holly. He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss before opening the folder. The first thing Charlotte saw was a crime scene photo of Brandy Hamlet lying beside the pool. It was a profile picture and Brandy’s right eye was open, staring slightly crossways in death. Her skin had a washed-out paleness that contrasted to the light tan she sported. Her lips were lightly blue.
“The autopsy report on Brandy Hamlet,” he answered rather grimly. “Technically, her death hasn’t been ruled a homicide so I wanted to read through this myself and see if there was anything the LAPD missed.”
Delia squealed and dropped her spatula to rush over to the f
older. “May I?” she asked. Holly raised an eyebrow and then got up from the table to turn off the stove, shoveling the last pancake off the griddle.
Alastair nudged the folder in her direction and Delia dropped down into Holly’s vacant seat to start reading. The first thing she did was lay photographs over the table, even over the food. It was enough to ruin Charlotte’s appetite.
“At first I wanted to work in the Coroner’s office,” Delia stated as she lifted the neatly typed report. “I even visited the gift shop. But somehow I went into pediatrics.”
“That’s a wide gap between specialties,” Jonas murmured.
Delia shrugged. “Eh. Sometimes I go down to the hospital morgue and have lunch down there.”
Charlotte stared at her, aghast. “With the dead people?”
Delia shot her a surprised look. “How is that any different than you seeing them?”
“I only spend a minute or so in a vision,” Charlotte said. “I don’t eat chicken salad around them. Ew. That can’t be hygienic. Don’t they have dead cootie bugs or something?”
Delia shot her a droll look. “Really? Dead cootie bugs?”
Jonas gave a small snort of amusement and she shot him a warning glance that he better not laugh. Instead, she turned toward Alastair. “Don’t you have an office to examine this in?”
“I haven’t let the LA Agents know why I’m here.”
She blinked. “So why do they think you’re here?”
“They were told I came for inspection. Which is why they’ve been calling me for every shit problem that’s arose. Damned annoying, I tell you.”
“This is interesting,” Delia murmured, her eyes focused on the report in her hands.
“What?” Alastair questioned sharply.
“She had petechiae in her eyes,” Delia said.
“Is that significant?” Nash asked.
Delia shrugged. “Not really. But petechial hemorrhage in the periorbital and conjunctival areas is very rare in drowning deaths. It’s only been noted in about ten to thirteen percent of cases. Usually, you’ll find that in the eyes of a hanging, strangulation, or smothering victim.”
Breathless [McKnight, Perth & Daire 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 8
