Charlotte felt her fingers tugging at the fabric of his shirt to pull it free of the trousers he’d worn tonight. She wanted to touch the skin of his chest and run her fingertips along the lines of his chest and stomach. To tell the truth, she wanted a lot more contact between their bodies than that, but she was going to start with baby steps.
“So, how should I show you, Sweetheart?”
Normally Charlotte would have felt shy right about now, but with the way things had been going between the two of them she suddenly felt bold. Twisting her fingers into the belt loops of his pants, she pulled his body more firmly against hers and mumbled against his lips.
“I want you to take me, Preston. Right here and now, and don’t hold back, not even a little bit. I need you.”
Preston pulled in a deep breath, and she could feel his body shift against hers perceptibly, grinding his rigid member against her in a gentle undulating pattern that drew a soft whimper from between her lips.
“If you insist.” His lips curled up into a dark grin as he moved to shove her skirt up around her waist and peel the white cotton panties she’d been wearing down her legs and thighs, pausing in his motions for only a moment to drop them to the floor before he kissed a line along her inner thigh.
Charlotte threaded her fingers into his hair as he bit down gently on the soft skin he found there before using his tongue to dive deeply into her core. Preston learned quickly how to pleasure her, the way he lapped at her as if he were a starving man was erotic. She enjoyed watching him get lost in her taste. She could feel every muscle in her body tense and then relax as the pleasure of his mouth against her center washed over her. Charlotte let out a wanton moan when his fingers replaced his tongue and he kissed his way up her body to hover over her while his free hand tugged roughly at her blouse.
“And who do you belong to, pretty girl?”
“You, Preston. I’m all yours.” She let out a soft sigh, knowing the words were true and loving the sound of them.
“That’s right. All mine.” He crawled off of her to a standing position as he worked himself free of his pants quickly, though she was so impatient that Charlotte grabbed his button and worked it and his zipper free in one fevered motion that left them falling to the floor in a puddle. Charlotte instinctively reached out to stroke him. She had never taken a man in her mouth before but the sudden urge was overwhelming. She watched her hand pump up and down his shaft as his breathing became more erratic. Looking up at him her eyes met his as she slowly leaned forward and brought the tip of his cock to her lips. He inhaled sharply as her tongue darted out, licking off the bead of precum that had formed.
He had not been expecting her to be so bold in this moment and truthfully neither had she. His reaction spurred her on as she dipped the tip further into her mouth, relishing in the groans that rumbled in his throat. She was lost in the moment as she bobbed her mouth up and down his length, allowing her hand to move with the motion of her mouth. Preston couldn’t take it anymore, he hooked a hand under her arm as he pulled her up and tossed her back onto the bed.
He crawled up her body, using his fingers to warm her up as his tongue delved into her mouth. It wasn’t long before her hips were moving in time with his fingers as they plunged in and out of her, he could feel her walls tightening as she grew closer and closer to the edge. He withdrew his fingers before she cold climax and licked them clean.
He didn’t even bother with fully removing her clothes before he centered himself between her legs, grabbing them to push them up between their bodies and wedge her into a contorted eve shape just before he pushed his full length inside her.
Charlotte let out a small yelp at the sharp pain, her nails dragged along his bare skin, leaving soft red marks in their wake and pulling a deep groan from his throat when he found himself fully seated inside of her. Charlotte loved the feeling of this, more than she’d ever thought possible. Once upon a time, the thought of being with a man scared the life out of her. Now, all she wanted was to have Preston so close to her that she couldn’t tell where his body ended and her body began, and even that wasn’t close enough. Her fingers curled around his hip to pull him in further as she cried out.
“Please, Preston.” She let out the hungry cry as he pulled his hips back, nearly removing his entire length from her body.
“Please what, Charlotte.” His voice was gravelly and deep with need, though he was holding himself back from moving until she replied.
“Please fuck me…” The words normally felt strange in her mouth, but in this moment there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do or say to have what her whole body was screaming for.
In response, he pushed his hips in hard and quickly, slamming himself deep inside her until her eyes were rolling back in her head. She didn’t care that her skirt was getting wrinkled as it fell over the upper part of her torso, or the fact that her blouse was half on and half off exposing her breasts to his hands as he ran them over every part of her body.
She loved the way it felt to belong to him, and it didn’t take long before she was panting and almost screaming out his name into the close air of the darkened bedroom. The sound echoed off the walls and hit both their ears as she fell apart, her body spasming around his until the two of them were left panting and tangled up in each other’s arms in the bed.
The two of them had barely caught their breath when Preston moved to pull her into his arms. His shirt was still draped over his shoulders just like Charlotte was still half dressed as the two of them wrapped around each other and he leaned in to steal a kiss.
“I love you, Charlotte.” The words were a heated whisper against her ear, meant for her and her alone.
Charlotte couldn’t help but grin as she curled her body into his, knowing that the two of them were going to fall asleep right there twisted up in each other’s arms, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. They’d been falling asleep together every single night they possibly could since they’d found each other again.
Now that she thought about it that way, moving in together didn’t seem like such a daunting prospect. There was nowhere else that she was going to want to fall asleep other than in his arms, and if moving in with him meant that she got to fall asleep with him every single night then she was going to have to stop herself from moving in with him tomorrow.
“I love you too, Preston.”
“Marry me?” She grinned when she heard him ask the question again. She loved the sound of it, no matter how often he asked it like he was afraid she was going to say no, and there was only one answer for it.
“Every day.”
Chapter 12
Preston’s living room was filled with boxes. It felt like only a few days since he’d asked Charlotte to move in with him, but in reality, it had been almost a month. It had taken that long for everything to get lined up with a moving company and for her to pack up and decide what she was keeping and bringing with her and what she was getting rid of. Most of her furniture had been sold, but all of her clothes and personal items were in these boxes along with more baking gear than Preston had ever seen in his life.
In the meantime, he’d surprised her with a long weekend in Iowa where he got to meet her parents. Mister and Mrs. Fairweather had been amazing. It was clear that Charlotte took after both of them. She looked exactly like her mother, but she certainly had her father’s personality. It was an amazing experience to get to meet her immediate family and see the place where she’d grown up. Besides, he wanted the opportunity to tell them in person that he was going to marry their daughter.
Preston had worried that the two of them would have a similar reaction to Howard to the news that a man who was fifteen years older than their daughter and notorious for being a playboy billionaire was suddenly asking for their only child’s hand in marriage. Instead, they’d been overjoyed and they clearly meant it when they said it was just important to them that Charlotte was happy. They were simple people that didn’t care much for material possession
s, they realized the value and importance of love and finding the one person on earth that you can share your life with.
Being there reminded Preston of all the things that he’d missed. He’d grown up in a life where his parents did even less than the bare minimum. Both of them were dead by the time that he’d started college and he’d made it as far as he had on his own. On the other hand, Charlotte had been surrounded by love and support for everything she’d wanted to do her entire life. He couldn’t imagine what that was like or what his life might have been like if he’d had the same experience in his young life, but while he was there, they treated him like he was a member of the family already. It just gave him that much more to look forward to in bringing Charlotte in to be a huge part of his life, now.
Charlotte was slowly but surely taking over every corner of the penthouse and he had to admit that he loved it. This place had been his bachelor pad for far too long. He’d been the only one to ever live here, but he loved the touches of her that he found in various places around the apartment — her hairbrush on the dresser, her shampoo in the shower, her toothbrush in the holder by the sink. He was constantly finding those strawberry blonde hairs she left behind on the pillow every night. Her shoes were in his closet. Her clothes, too, and the smell of her was left behind on her side of the bed so deeply that he didn’t think it would ever wear off.
He wouldn’t have changed any of it. A year ago, he couldn’t have imagined he would be this in love with anyone, much less a young woman he met selling muffins on the ground floor of his own building. Getting married wasn’t anywhere on his radar back then and now here he was, moving Charlotte into his life and moving everything around to make room for her. It made him grin to sit back and look at it all.
Right now, Charlotte was in his kitchen rearranging his pots and pans to make room for the things she’d brought over from the apartment this afternoon. It was the last box she’d moved into the penthouse, and the only one she’d refused to let the movers touch. She said it was far too precious because there were dishes and pans that had belonged to her great-grandmother in there. All he could hear coming from the kitchen were the sounds of metal clanging on metal and muffled curses that Charlotte tried to keep under her breath. He wasn’t sure why he had so much in his kitchen considering he never cooked, but maybe some of that was about to change.
Charlotte was more than just a baker. She was good at pretty much everything in the kitchen and he was good with leaving that realm entirely up to her because he was pretty sure at some point in his cooking career that he’d managed to burn water. Not that she had to, he certainly didn’t subscribe to the notion that a woman belonged in the kitchen, they could go out every night as far as he was concerned. That wasn’t what he wanted to marry her for. He could hire a cook or have something delivered any time she wanted. He wanted her for the light she brought into his life.
Now, that light was permeating every part of his existence. She was invading every part of his life in the best way possible. He wanted her there, and he wanted her to be a part of everything that he did from now on, even if running her bakery was always going to be her first passion.
She emerged from the kitchen, wiping a hand across her brow and leaned on the doorframe to smile over at him.
“Hey there, Mr. Pierce.”
“Hello, future Mrs. Pierce. You have everything under control in there or do you need some help?” He took a step over towards her, slipping his arms around her waist to pull her into his chest as soon as he got close enough to put his hands on her.
She smiled and leaned in to press a kiss to his lips, running her hands up his chest.
“I think I’ve got it all under control now. Have I told you how much I love it when you call me that?”
“Call you what?” He grinned mischievously, pretending not to know what she was talking about for the sake of teasing her alone.
“Future Mrs. Pierce.” Charlotte rolled her eyes a little at the response, knowing that he was teasing her.
“Well, I plan on calling you Mrs. Preston sooner rather than later.” Preston leaned in and stole another kiss as soon as he finished answering her, but Charlotte pulled away as soon as the kiss was over. Her expression changed to one that was entirely serious.
“Yeah, that’s something I’ve been planning on talking to you about.”
Preston’s first instinct was to worry that she was about to spring some kind of surprise about the wedding on him, and he felt himself panic a little at the prospect.
“Yes? Is there something that I need to be worried about?” He knit his brows together, pulling back to give her a little space to answer the question. He immediately regretted it when he saw the nervous look that flitted across her face.
“No, of course not. I just mean that we need to set a date.”
The sense of relief that flooded through him at that answer was tangible. If she wanted to set a date, then that meant she was ready to go ahead with the next step of their relationship. An exact date wasn’t something that either of them had talked about.
“Are there any that you had in mind?”
“How do you feel about June?”
It was just the end of April, which gave them a little more than two months depending on what date in June they decided on to get everything planned. Two months wasn’t much time to plan a wedding, but you’d be amazed at what throwing around a little money could accomplish.
“June is in two months. You certain about that?”
“Oh, I meant June next year. You mean this year?” She had been a little taken aback by the idea of planning a wedding in two months.
“Next year?!” Preston seemed appalled at the idea of waiting a year. “Charlotte I’ve waited almost forty years for you, I’m not waiting another year. Please? It would make me so happy to have you as my wife as soon as possible, Sweetheart.”
“Then let’s start planning for June. I’m beyond ready to be Mrs. Pierce.” Charlotte planted a small kiss on his lips as she saw his eyes soften.
Preston grinned. He loved hearing her talking about being his wife. This wasn’t where he’d imagined himself, but there wasn’t anywhere else he’d rather be than right here wrapped up in Charlotte.
“Then, I’ll have Sophie start looking for venues for June and you need to get a dress. Do you think your mother would want to come up and help shop next weekend?” Charlotte smiled, but her smile faded as she thought about what it would take to get her mother here.
“You know she would, and I’d love to see her, but you know she can’t afford to fly up here next weekend, Preston. And I have no idea where to start shopping for a dress.”
“Did you forget who you’re marrying, Sweetheart? I think I can manage to fly your mother up here for the weekend and back home again, and I’m certain that Sophie can get you an appointment at whatever the best bridal shop in the city is. Plus, you’ll need to start picking out bridesmaids and dresses for them as well. And before you say a damned word about any of it, I’m paying for everything. There’s no way you’re going to break me planning a wedding. I know you better than that.”
Charlotte laughed and blushed as she buried her face in his shoulder mumbling, “You know you don’t have to do all of that for me, Preston.” Charlotte was excited but could feel the anxious tension tightening in her chest at the thought of everything she would need to do between now and June.
“I don’t have to do anything. I want to. Now stop worrying about all of that and just have fun planning to become my wife.” He pulled her back in for another kiss, letting himself get lost in her lips one more time before he let her get back to work. There was time for everything they had planned, no matter when they decided to do it all, and Preston was going to make sure that whatever Charlotte wanted she got. He hadn’t worked this hard for this long just to go around denying the woman he was in love with whatever her heart desired.
They were going to have the rest of their lives together to do everything
and Preston, for the first time in his life, found himself wanting it all. He’d planned to be a solitary human for the rest of his days until she’d stumbled into his office and into his life and now there was someone else he was going to share all of that with. He hadn’t expected it to feel this good and he’d never known what it was going to be like to share everything he’d created with someone else. But now, here was Charlotte, the one thing he’d never seen coming. She might have scared him out of his mind, but now all he was able to imagine was doing all of this with her.
“I love you, Charlotte, more than I ever thought possible.” He pressed another kiss to her forehead and whispered to her one more time, “Marry me?”
Charlotte pulled back to look up into his face again, the grin on her face growing brighter with the question. He knew he’d already asked her, but he had gotten in the habit of asking her out of the blue and at random just to make sure that her answer was always the same. And it was most certainly always the same.
“Every day, Preston Pierce.” She grabbed his shirt, pulling him back in for another kiss that he found himself getting lost in. He wanted nothing more than this moment every day for the rest of his life.
Charlotte and Preston’s story isn’t over yet! Get ready for the conclusion to their love story in Sweet Indulgence, coming this September. Trust me, it gets a lot steamier!
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