by Cara North
He walked to the bathtub and pulled his phone from his hip. Preston was gone. He couldn’t feel his presence anywhere. The woman’s eyes opened, and he realized they were green not blue. Terrified he realized it was Charlie, not Michael in the tub. Ayden dropped the phone and grabbed her. It had to be Michael. He had been through this before, all of it. Except, he was there, Preston, behind him.
Ayden stood to block her from him. In such a panic, he couldn’t react, couldn’t move, scream, fight. He was frozen helpless.
“Michael,” he screamed. “It’s Michael.” It can’t be Charlie.
* * *
Charlie awoke when Ayden called her sister’s name in a gruff mumble in his sleep. Then he called it again. She stared into the darkness toward him. Was this a nightmare or something else? Had Ayden known Michael before? He now called her name, almost moaning it, low and guttural. Charlie’s stomach turned at the thoughts she was having. Surely, Ayden wasn’t dreaming about them both. That would be sick. However, she knew many men who had done it before. When she and Michael worked together at the casino, they were the stars of the show. Even at seventeen, they were made offers.
“Ayden?” she whispered.
“Don’t you fucking touch her. I’ll Kill You I Swear It!” Ayden growled out through his teeth.
Charlie had her answer right then and there. It was the nightmares again. Not a sexual fantasy. She should have known better. Now she was just glad she was awake. His hand was reaching for her, and she pushed him hard to get away. “Ayden!”
His eyes opened as he lost balance and began slipping off the edge of the bed. Charlie had practically kicked him out of it, and he didn’t know why. Like an animal, he landed on his feet and hands then surveyed the room. Nothing.
“What is it?” he whispered, just in case she could see something he couldn’t. His head was fogged from the nightmare.
“You.” Charlie turned on the light. She jumped at the sight of him. He had a nine millimeter in hand and was crouched at the foot of the bed. “Ayden, you are going to kill me one of these nights.”
He drew his brows together and stood. He hovered over her and popped the magazine from the gun then cleared the round in the chamber. He replaced the magazine and set the weapon on the foot of the bed.
“You?” He gave her a mean look. “You scared the shit out of me. I thought someone was trying to get you.”
“Someone was, you, you tried to choke me again.” Charlie was in awe of him. Here he was ready to kill for her, but at the moment the only one trying to kill her was him. “If I hadn’t pushed you, you would have gotten a hold on me for sure.”
Ayden couldn’t take those words any easier than he had taken Noel’s this morning. He sat facing away from her at the foot of the bed. He had heard about this before. He knew other Seals who had gone through it, knew other agents. Part of the reason he didn’t want a woman at home to possibly flip out on in the middle of the night. Now he was doing exactly that. Had he always acted out when he had nightmares? He had no idea. No one was ever around to tell him.
Charlie cautiously crawled to the foot of the bed and placed her hand on his back. He was again drenched in sweat, and his muscles bunched as though he was in battle. She didn’t mean to yell at him or upset him, but a man of Ayden’s skill was dangerous to sleep with when he had nightmares. The only time he had nightmares apparently was when she was around.
“I’m sorry.” Charlie settled in behind him and stroked his wet hair.
“You can’t sleep with me anymore.” Ayden was definitive in his statement. Here just hours earlier, he was planning a proposal and now he was kicking her out of bed.
“I can’t sleep without you anymore.” Charlie knew he felt bad. She knew he would beat himself with guilt over it, but not sleeping with him was not an option. She would have to become a light sleeper. She had heard him call Michael’s name. That alone was what woke her, and thank God for that.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“NO.”
“Do you want me to choke you?” Charlie shook him at the shoulders.
“What?” Ayden readjusted his shoulder blades not fazed by her shaking at all.
“Ayden Wolf, you listen here. I didn’t come all the way to Tennessee to sleep on the couch.” Charlie barked like his mother and sister would have. Maybe women had to boss Ayden around.
“You’re right.” Ayden pulled from her grasp, picked up the gun, and placed it back in the nightstand drawer. He looked at her for a long silent moment then walked out the bedroom door.
Charlie looked at the clock. Six a.m. They had to be up in a couple hours anyways. They planned to be at Graceland by ten. Charlie rolled her head to the left then the right, cracking her neck as though she were about to go into the arena and take on a gladiator. Instead she was about to go into the den and pull out the Wolf.
Ayden had just settled on the couch in the family room on the lower level when Charlie crossed the room and pulled at his blanket. He pulled back. She had a look about her that reminded him of a wild animal. She looped the little bit of blanket she had around her fist and pulled again. The tug of war ensued.
Charlie wasn’t giving up and neither was Ayden. He stared at her speechless, almost amused as she fought to get the blanket from him. She wanted him to get back up those stairs and back into bed with her. Instead, he had pulled her and the blanket back to the couch.
“What are you doing, darlin’?” All of his ill temperament had left him, mainly because Charlie was infused with it. She was strong. He gave her credit for that, but still no match for him.
“Losing.” Charlie let go of the blanket and started to walk off.
“Giving up so easy?” Ayden asked the question, but they both knew he wasn’t talking about the blanket.
“No.” Charlie went to the old wooden chest and pulled out her own blanket. If she had to sleep in the Wolf’s den, she would. Returning to the couch, she squeezed herself onto it. They were lying in opposite directions, both of their bodies too long to be sleeping on the couch.
Ayden bit her foot and then released it. Charlie didn’t know what to make of that reaction, but he didn’t leave and he didn’t kick her off the couch. Sleep would be impossible. Conversation was out of the question. She was aggravated and he seemed happy.
“You wanna watch T.V.?” Ayden reached for the remote and turned it on not waiting for her answer. She was still wiggling to get comfortable.
“Guess so.” She huffed.
“Anything particular?” Ayden shrugged as he flipped through the channels.
“OH. Go back.” If he wanted to play it like this, that was fine by her. “There. Yes.”
“What the hell is this?” Ayden sat up, and Charlie just stretched her feet to his lap. He looked at her and then returned the favor. She gave him a glare that let him know she was not happy about that. He wiggled his big toes in delight.
“Sex and the City.” Charlie tilted her head with a forced smile.
“They don’t show adult movies on TBS, try again.” Ayden smirked.
“It’s a series, originally on HBO, not porn.” Charlie was affronted on her own behalf.
“Oh God, her clothes hurt my eyes.” Ayden physically drew his head back and winced.
“Ayden.” Charlie said the name at the same time Carrie, the character on the screen did. He looked at her then to the screen then back again. Charlie shrugged. It was a coincidence this was the season of the show they were showing, nothing more. “This is my favorite show.”
“Because they end up together?” Ayden smiled. Charlie was such a romantic. He really loved that about her. The fact that she could withstand his stubbornness and push through his walls was a little frightening.
“Uh.” Charlie reached for the remote.
“They don’t?” He shook his head. “And here I thought you were all about the girl getting the guy in the end.”
“She does get her guy in the end.” Charlie fi
dgeted with the blanket. “But her man’s not Ayden.”
“So who is?” Ayden felt a pang in his gut that wrenched at him. Was she going to tell him he was second on her list? After all, she had done to chase him down? Had she really left someone in Vegas?
“Big,” Charlie whispered. Ayden had pulled his feet from her lap and settled a serious look on her that chilled her blood. Did he know she was running now? Her last attempt to get his attention had backfired. She had set everything up counting on Ayden to be there that day.
“So who am I, Charlie?” Ayden spoke through his teeth. Graceland was out of the question if she gave him any response other than what he wanted to hear.
“The only man I have ever loved. I’m not going to lie to you, Ayden. I did try to date someone this year.” Charlie swallowed hard. “But only to get to you. I thought if he showed up at the coffee shop and you saw me with him, you would snap out of it.”
Ayden muted the television and snarled at her. It felt like she had kicked him in the chest. Just thinking of another man near her made him twitch with anger.
“It was stupid. I know. I didn’t do anything with him, I swear.” Charlie felt like she was drowning in a sea of lies and deceit. She should have told him. She should have told him everything. Now, he was starting to love her, starting to trust her, and she was hurting him.
“You were going to use him to get to me though?” Angel, ha! Charlie was no angel, and she wasn’t who he thought her to be either. A fragile and wounded woman, she was a predator, and he was her prey. He knew exactly how ruthless he could be. Never in a million years did he think she was capable of it.
“Yes.” Charlie lifted a shoulder. “I’m a classic stalker case actually.”
“A what?” Ayden crossed his arms. He couldn’t wait to hear this one. If Charlie was a stalker, what did that make him? He still had her file in his office at home. He had the Nevada agents checking up on her regularly. Of course, he wasn’t going to tell her that.
“I fit the profile.” Charlie looked at her hands in disgust. Should she tell him the rest?
“You…” Ayden scanned it through his head quickly. “Hold up, how do you know what profile you fit into?”
“What do you think I did all that time I was trapped in your apartment? I read all your books.” Charlie took a breath. “That’s how I knew how to get to you untraced. Only the FBI agents in Nevada have an idea of where I may be. But I was careful not to tell them I was coming after you. I just told them we were friends and you solved my sister’s case, and if they could contact you, I would appreciate it.”
Ayden sat there in wide- eyed wonder. “So what exactly did you do to get to me?”
“Nothing illegal.” Charlie didn’t want him to get the total wrong idea. He held his hands up and leaned back on the couch. “Well, first I sold or donated everything I didn’t bring. I told you that. I destroyed my computer, so nothing could be retrieved from it even if it was found… in the seven different trash cans I scattered the remains in.”
Charlie knew it sounded paranoid, but she was paranoid. Ayden rolled his hand as if urging her on. Leaning forward on his knees he was soaking in every word.
“Okay. I drove my car most of the ways, sold it for cash to a college student, bought a clunker that I drove until it gave out, and used a fake ID to get on the bus.” Charlie chewed her bottom lip.
“I made sure to visit my doctor before I left. That’s how I got the birth control, but I had used the fake ID there, too. The casino is the only place that may be worried about me.” Here was the real truth. “But, a few girls have dropped out suddenly over the past few months, and the new management doesn’t seem to care.”
“What are you running from?” Ayden knew now. She couldn’t hide it anymore. He was impressed as hell, yet somewhat unsettled by her abilities. Noel was right. Charlie was nothing like her file. She was strong and powerful when she set her mind to it.
“I don’t know,” Charlie said honestly. “I looked at it more as running to. I was running to you.”
“So this guy you had set up to make me jealous…” It worked like a charm, but he wasn’t going to admit that.
“He never showed either. I had only known him a couple days.” Charlie shrugged.
“So you were left completely alone that day.” Ayden realized the full impact. Neither of the men she had planned to show had been there. Leaving her confused, alone and afraid. She nodded. “Charlie.”
She looked up at him with unsure eyes.
“You ready?” Ayden kept his poker face.
She shrugged.
“Graceland, baby.” He kicked up a smile.
“Oh God.” It was then she remembered it was his birthday. Great she had confessed to stalking him on his birthday. “Ayden.”
“What?” He was unsure of her new mood.
“It’s your birthday.” Charlie covered her face with both hands. She had pushed him out of bed, chased him downstairs, and fought with him over the blankets. All of that before she confessed to stalking him and using another man to get his attention. Shit.
“Yeah so.” He hated birthday attention. It was just another day, nothing special. Charlie, now she was special. Just as sick and twisted, as he was, that he could deal with. The nightmares, he would work on. He never wanted to hurt her. Maybe he could prevent himself from falling into a sound sleep. Maybe once they were married, he wouldn’t be afraid of losing her. He wrapped his head around it. Yes, he was afraid of losing her. That’s it.She wasn’t going anywhere.
“What do you want for your birthday, Ayden?” Charlie slid close to him. “I’ve been terrible this morning, and I’ll do anything to make it up to you.”
“You… wait, anything?” Ayden wasn’t stupid. The woman said anything, and though he felt better now she had talked to him about everything that led her to his door that day he wasn’t going to turn down that offer.
“Yes.” Charlie nodded. “Breakfast in bed, a massage, you name it.”
Ayden bit his lower lip and guided her hand to his lap. “A massage would be nice.”
Charlie gripped him under the blanket. His cock was already standing at attention through the boxer hole. “My, my, you do seem tense.”
“I’m under a terrible amount of stress these days.” Ayden groaned as she stroked him. His head fell back on the couch and all worries faded with her touch. She belonged to him, and no one else. That was all he really wanted anymore, her.
“I think I may need a closer look at this.” Charlie lifted the blanket and ducked under it. Ayden slid his hand down her back, and she knew the morning spat was over. Funny how they had to get so riled up to talk to each other about important things.
Ayden stroked her long back with his right hand until she parted her lips over him and consumed him whole. He felt his cock slide past her tongue and down her throat. Impossible, yet there he was. Charlie continued to amaze him.
Charlie was determined this time. She was going to get it all in if it was the last thing she did. Luckily, she had relaxed her throat enough to take it. Ayden moaned, groaned and flexed his fingers in her hair. She knew he was fighting the urge to push her head and control it. Then he grabbed her face and jerked her up and away from him, hard.
“Ayden, what the…?”
“Shh.” He covered her lips with his fingers.
Charlie now heard the footsteps on the floor upstairs. His parents were up. Charlie looked at Ayden. His face was pained and his breaths labored. He looked miserable, and she understood why.
“Come with me,” he whispered.
Charlie followed him to the bathroom, and once inside he shut the door, dropped the blanket, and grabbed her pajama bottoms pulling them to her ankles. Ayden had her bent over the sink the next instant.
“No, I don’t think so.” Charlie turned before he could gain entry. “I wasn’t finished.”
“Darlin’, this way will be faster.” Ayden rasped hooking her knees and pulling her legs apart.
“But it’s your birthday, Ayden.” Charlie was giving up the fight now that he was pressed against her entry. She was liquid fire at his touch, especially when he took control.
“And this is what I want.” He pushed past the folds into her. “Tell me this is mine, Charlie. All mine.”
“It’s yours, Ayden.” Charlie sucked in a breath. He was claiming her. She loved that. “I’m yours.”
“Yes, you are.” Ayden pulled her closer and lifted her from the sink with each thrust. Charlie surprised him again by looping her leg up over his shoulder giving him extremely deep access to her. “God, Charlie.”
“Come for me, Ayden. I love to watch you come.” Charlie rested her weight on her hands and looped her other leg over his other shoulder. His hands now held her ass suspended in air and swung her like a pendulum as he pounded into her.
Ayden silenced her with a kiss. If he didn’t stop her from talking, he would end up howling. The woman was flexible beyond his wildest dreams, and she could get him going with words enough to forget he was in the downstairs bathroom and stealing precious moments before they would be sought out. He pulled her onto him over and over then growled into her mouth as he came in long shuddering bursts.
“Damn it,” he cursed as Charlie unhooked her legs letting them wrap around him.
“What?” She kissed his lips and played with his hair since it was all mussed up anyways. “What’s wrong, baby?”
“I hoped you would…” Ayden was silenced this time by her lips.
“We have to get ready to go soon.” Charlie squeezed him from the inside and out.
* * *
Ayden sat at the breakfast table, and Charlie sat next to him. Lacy had made his favorites again. A plate full of pancakes, eggs and bacon, biscuits, and hash browns was placed in front of him. Ben sat across the table and nodded an acknowledgement as his own plate was placed in front of him. Lacy returned with Charlie’s plate and then her own. It was a traditional thing to feed the man first. Besides, she gave them hell regularly, the least she could do was feed them first.
“So, Charlie, is this your first trip to Graceland?” Lacy had to admit she was a little jealous that the first person Ayden decided to take to Graceland was someone other than his momma.
