“Ye like that, luv?”
I quickly nodded.
“Ye want more?”
I reached around for his backside and dug my nails in as I tried to force him all the way back in, desperate to feel him inside me again, but he was a brick wall I couldn’t move.
When I looked up at him, I lost myself in the grin he wore. He knew where he had me. Enjoyed the frenzied state of need he’d worked me into, and just seeing the pleasure he got from it turned me on even more.
I was surprised when he kissed me, softly, and even more surprised when he slowly slid back inside me, pushing until he couldn’t go any further. It was torture. A perfectly timed dance of getting to know how each other felt. Savoring every movement as our bodies melded together. Until our brains couldn’t understand the word patience anymore.
I worked my hips against him, wanting to push him just as far as he pushed me. Wanting to see some of his control disappear.
And it did.
With a hearty growl, he flipped me over, cupping my breasts and working his hand between my legs as he took us both to the highest peak. Until I saw stars and he collapsed against my back, breathing heavily against me while I tried to catch my breath.
“I know I can’t right now, but damn if I don’t want to flip you back over and get right back to it again,” he said against my ear, his breath heaving in and out.
I knew the feeling. Every nerve ending was awake with need. Even though he had thoroughly pleased me, I still wanted… no, I needed more.
He moved to the seat of the hot tub, pulling me back in the water with him. It was warm against my chilled skin. I fit right on top of him, kissing him tenderly as his hands moved my hair back over my shoulder.
“You know, I’ve always had this fantasy of being taken like that. I kind of always imagined you would sort of… dominate me.”
“Into the kinky stuff, eh?” he asked with a wicked grin.
I was surprised I didn’t blush. “I am. Are you?” I asked, suddenly worried that maybe he didn’t enjoy it.
He gave me a silly look. “Luv, you were present during all that, right? And that was just scratching the surface of what I want to do with ye. If I hadn’t been so wound up already, you’d be riding me right now.”
I let out a small laugh as heat shot through me.
He put his hand behind his head and leaned back. After a few minutes of silence, I thought he was asleep. I poked at his chest until he cracked one eye open, and then the other.
“I thought you were sleeping,” I admitted, trying not to let the air turn awkward.
“Just taking a small rest to build my stamina back up,” he said, looking at me in a way that had heat building between my legs.
“Should we go inside?” I asked, imagining myself using the bed posts in my room.
“We can if that’s what ye want,” he said, watching me.
“Well…” I said as I put my finger to my lips and bit down. “I was thinking. I have a four-poster bed and some comfortable silk scarves that could make really great—”
With a jolt, he was on his feet. After hopping over the edge of the hot tub, he held his hand out to me. I started laughing as he said, “Well, why didn’t you say so, luv? Shall we?”
I WASN’T SURE I REMEMBERED the last time I slept in as late as I had. Or as deeply.
The clock read eleven in the morning as I rolled over to find an empty bed. My heart dropped as I looked around the room, but then the faint scent of bacon wafted through the air. Butterflies flapped their wings in my belly, lifting my heart back up.
I certainly couldn’t recall a time a guy had made breakfast for me.
I slid into my awesome, unicorn-horn house slippers while I pulled on a robe littered with patterns of cotton candy and rainbows before making my way down the hallway and into the kitchen as quietly as I could. His back was to me as I snuck behind him and tickled his side, laughing when he seemed to jump a mile in his shoes.
“Jesus,” he called out as he spun around. The tongs in his hand snapped closed with a click like a crab craw ready to strike.
After a few deep breaths, he said, “Guess I should get used to ye scaring the living daylights out of me.”
“Can’t let you have all the fun,” I said, leaning in for a kiss.
He kissed me back, and then turned to the stove, putting the bacon on a napkin. I headed for the table, grabbing the orange juice he had out and pouring myself a glass.
He chuckled. “You seem to be exceptionally horny this morning, luv.”
Caught up thinking about how he could tell exactly how horny any part of my body was left me a little startled as I asked in a breathless voice, “What?”
He pointed at my feet, wiggled his eyebrows at me, and then went back to dishing out our breakfast.
My slippers. He’d only been talking about my slippers. Get a damn grip on your hormones, Charlotte, I berated myself as the sizzle and pop of grease filled the silence.
“You know, I’ve never had a guy cook for me before,” I said, feeling like a cloud floating higher than all the rest.
He threw a disbelieving look over his shoulder. “Never?”
“Nope,” I declared, pulling my knee up to my chest as I scooted back in the chair.
He turned back to the stove, shut the burner off, and then carried over two plates with bacon and eggs. “Well, I can tell ye I’ve never actually cooked breakfast for a lass before, unless you count me mum.”
My heart went all liquid and warm, like melted butter, as I watched him take his seat across from me.
“I didn’t know what you liked, so I figured I’d play it safe and make something easy,” he said as he handed me a plate.
I took it and smiled, saying, “It smells amazing. Thank you, Charlie. Really.”
His eyes caught mine for a moment and held them as we shared a smile.
“So, uh, what did you have in mind for today? Skydiving? Bungee jumping?” he asked, shifting the subject to something easier.
I giggled. “Are those things you want to do?”
He laughed as he dug his fork into the eggs. “Absolutely not, but there’s no telling when it comes to the likes of you.”
I swallowed as I hitched a smile at him. “I was thinking we could take it easy today. Take a walk through town, and then maybe catch a movie or something?”
“A movie? I haven’t done that in, well, I can’t remember actually,” he said, biting a piece of bacon.
“Then consider it a date.” My heart picked up in pace as I looked up through my lashes at him, wondering if he was okay with the idea of it.
He smiled and said, “A date, eh? There you go, taking the gentlemanly duties from me.” He ruffled his hand through his hair, and I couldn’t help but swoon a little. The scruffiness of his face and the just-rolled-out-of-bed look was doing things to me it shouldn’t this early in the morning.
Being with him had woken something inside me. A need I’d been denying myself ever since I caught my last boyfriend cheating on me almost five years ago. I dated plenty of times after and fooled around, but nothing had ever gone as far as I went with Charlie.
And it certainly wasn’t anywhere near as good.
I had decided to keep things casual. To only have fun with the guys I dated until the right one came along. Until I had that special moment when my heart would go haywire and my brain wouldn’t make any sense. When my knees would melt and my body would cave.
I waited. And waited. And waited some more.
And then… Charlie showed up.
“I’ll let you pay. I’ll even let you hold the door open for me. Then your manly duties would be served,” I joked, wishing I could just shove everything off the table so he could take me.
God, what was wrong with me? Two times wasn’t enough last night?
His lips distracted me as he licked them. Holding a napkin to his mouth, he shielded them from me. What was happening? I was hyperaware of everything about him. The way
he shifted every so often in his seat, probably still sore from his fall. To the way his eyes would linger on mine, and then drift down to my lips and stay there for a while.
There was a small, almost unnoticeable dimple on his left cheek that came out of hiding every time he smiled. Really smiled. His chest, arms, and forearms were thick, but not too much so. Just enough man for me.
And his eyes.
Maple syrup. The highest-shelved whiskey. The purest gold you could find.
I wanted to float in them. Wanted them on every inch of my bare skin like they were last night, drinking me in again. Taking everything I offered.
“Yer blushing again, luv,” he said with a small smirk. “Penny for yer thoughts?”
I bit my bottom lip, trying to contain my smile. “I don’t know if you could handle these,” I said, pointing to my head.
“Try me,” he dared, the air between us heating up.
I looked down at the table and thought, To hell with it.
“How about I just show you?” I said as I stood from my chair. With a deep breath, I acted out my fantasy and shoved everything off the table. It was just as exciting and nerve-wracking as I imagined it would be. I crawled across it toward him as the dishes landed around us with a loud crash, heart hammering against my chest. As I pulled him by the shirt collar, it finally registered for him just what I wanted.
And he was all too willing to give it to me.
He was on his back a second later, and I was shucking out of my robe in a frenzy no sane person could ever relate to. I wanted more. Wanted him like nothing I’d ever wanted before in my life.
I kissed him long and deep, taking my time to taste him. To show him what he did to me. His deep groan told me exactly what I was doing to him.
Before I could get his shorts off, he stopped me, trying to catch his breath.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, suddenly unsure.
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” he said with a confident smile, eyes roaming over me exactly as I had wanted them to. He pulled my lips back to his and kissed me again. “Lass, yer gonna be the death of me.”
“Maybe not. Maybe we’ll be the life of each other,” I said before leaning down and taking exactly what I wanted.
“Come to me, my saving grace, and let me fill all yer aching parts with mine,” he said, igniting a frenzy.
WE NEVER MADE IT TO town. I wasn’t sure I could walk right even if I tried.
Thank God for Netflix and take out.
I wasn’t even sure how many hours we spent under the covers. Okay… maybe I was. Maybe I counted after we finally came up for air later that afternoon. I never knew someone could be such a patient, giving lover, and yet, so dominating and thrilling. That pleasure could be extended beyond the simple acts of joining.
Charlie was otherworldly.
Kind. Funny. Smart. Witty.
He was exactly what I’d been looking for. Yet, entirely complicated.
That was my luck though.
Of course I’d find myself a man I thought I could really see a future with, knowing that future wasn’t as easily attainable as the chemistry between us was. Even with the amazing sex and small moments of true connection, I still didn’t think I could pick up and leave. Not my shop. The Raven’s Den was everything to me.
“If I fall asleep, luv, my apologies,” he said as he moved closer to me, wrapping an arm around my waist. “I don’t think I can keep my eyes open much longer. Ye’ve worn me out.”
I snuggled against him, trying not to think about the future. Tried to enjoy the small moment of perfection. A marked day that was as rare as finding a living unicorn. Because those moments were quickly approaching their end, and I had a heart to prepare for when it came time for one of us to make a choice.
I just hope he was up for it.
I WASN’T ONE TO PUT much stock into fate. Nor was I one for reading into signs. All of it was pure and complete hooey to me. There was no impactful moment when a person looked into someone’s eyes and, BAM, that was it. That they were the one because something in the way they connected told a person they’d found it. Love. Or whatever it was that made two people decided to align themselves together, infuriating habits and all, for the rest of their lives.
I’d never once looked at a woman and thought, “Hmmm, I could see us together fifty years down the road.”
In fact, I ran from those feelings. Ran from the C word. Shuddered every time I thought of it.
So why then, when Charlotte’s honeyed voice woke me up from a very deep sleep, did it feel completely and totally right? Like she’d always been there, and would always be there. A whisper… a touch away from making me feel utterly complete.
My eyes, heavy with sleep, blinked, bringing her into focus as she looked down at me. A slight smile curled the corner of her mouth. It disappeared when I focused on her face. Disappeared as if she didn’t want me to see she found some sort of pleasure while looking at me. Or maybe my sleep-addled brain just wanted it to be the reason for her smile.
I could feel my cheeks warming. Feel the fire igniting in me. What was it about her that threatened to sweep me away? And why wasn’t I running from it?
Mental. Ye’ve gone completely mental mate.
She spoke then. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
I thought of a thousand ways she could have woken me, and I knew I would have been okay with any one of them.
“S’okay. Everything all right then?” I asked, noticing the phone in her hand.
She reached over me to set it down on the nightstand, breasts brushing across my chest. “Yeah. Just wanted to check in with Cherry.”
I caught my arm around her waist and brought her down on top of me, rolling us over onto our sides before she could right herself.
She let out a squeak as she bounced against the mattress, sighing when she was tucked up nice and tight against my chest.
“Mmmm,” I hummed against her ear.
“Mmm-hmm.” She shivered, trying to turn over.
I just pulled her even tighter and curled my legs against the back of hers. “Never much thought I’d fancy spooning, but I’m not so opposed to it just now.”
She groaned.
I couldn’t help it. I chuckled. “Would ye like to swap then? You can hold onto me. I promise I won’t try to get away.”
She sighed, and then let out another huff of breath. “Charlie.”
“Mmm… I like the way ye say my name.”
My fingers sought her neck, thumb gliding down in smooth circles between her shoulders. She groaned, pushing back as if asking me to continue. There was nothing sexual about it… Okay, well, not completely, because I understood how shoulder tension could get so heavy that the simplest touch was almost euphoric.
I lost myself in giving her that. Took pleasure from knowing Charlotte melted under my touch.
My heart shattered, splintered into a million glittering fragments, all with her name etched upon them as they spun to reform the organ pumping madly in my chest.
The feeling overwhelmed me. It forced me to take a hard look at what was happening between the two of us. Space—I needed a little bit of space to figure out what it all meant and why, of all the women I’d ever had sex with, was Charlotte the one slipping past my defenses.
“As much as I’d love to stay right here with you, just like this,” I said, trailing my finger over the curve of her hip. Her sensitive skin’s response was thousands of goose bumps. “I’m in desperate need of food.”
We also needed to make a run to the store because we’d ran out of condoms. Even though we could bring each other to completion with lips and hands, it just wasn’t the same as being inside her. The feeling of her taking me into her body, as if it were my own home, was what made it complete.
I’d had my fair share of sexcapades. Had done some pretty intense things with complete strangers. But nothing… nothing compared to how it was with Charlotte. She’d turned me inside out and I wanted more, so muc
h more, that I’d give up eating, sleeping… hell, even breathing. And that scared the complete hell out of me.
She turned enough to look over her shoulder at me. “Food, is it?”
“Sustenance is much needed after the workout you’ve given me,” I said, slapping her bare backside only to rub the sting away.
“Keep that up, and we won’t leave this bed,” she said, arching into my hand as I smoothed it along her reddened skin.
“Food first, and then I’ll let you ravish me in the shower,” I said, forcing myself to let go of her and pull on my clothes.
AFTER AN UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO hunt up breakfast in Charlotte’s barren kitchen, we decided to pick up groceries and then headed back to the beach house.
Exhaustion marked us with heavy yawns. Instead of doing what my body wanted, which was leading Charlotte back to bed and curling up against her, I suggested we take a walk along the beach.
At that point, I was so far out of my normal mindset that I flung the rest of it out to the wind. Whatever would be would be. There was more to Charlotte than her body. She had a brilliant mind. She was passionate about her shop. She loved her friends, and she loved the derby team she sponsored. On and on we chatted as she opened up, giving me insight to all that was her.
“What about you? What makes Charlie tick?” she asked as we wandered back toward the cottage.
“I’m a simple man. Not much to be ticking about,” I answered, stopping to watch a sand piper run along the foamy edges of water coming up the sand.
She heaved a sigh and let go of my hand. I missed the connection immediately and wanted to kick myself in the ass because I felt that way.
I turned my face to the breeze coming off the water, hoping it would bring me some clarity. Hoped it would whisk away all the unimportant nonsense that always clouded my mind and leave me with answers instead.
There were no answers, as I knew there wouldn’t be.
“You don’t strike me as a simple man, Charlie,” she said after a few moments of silence. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone more complex.”
When Two Hearts Collide (Game of Hearts Novels Book 3) Page 11
