Fear's Whisper (Club Risque Book 2)

by Poppy Flynn

  Jake laughed quietly but deprecatingly as Charlotte gave a delicate little snuffle. Regardless of how his body stirred, his unexpected new sub was out for the count.

  Jake sighed and climbed off the bed, collecting up the empty crockery and stacking it in the dishwasher before he shut everything down for the night and switched off the lights.

  Returning to her bedroom, Jake pulled the coverlet over Charlotte's prone form and moved the bottle of water to where she could reach it in the night before he shucked out of his jeans and climbed in next to her.

  Lying on his back, his hands clasped under his head, Jake stared sightlessly at the dark ceiling and considered the evening's events. From discovering that Micah's much vaunted sub was Charlotte, to witnessing the stir she caused, to scening with her, to losing control in the aftercare room. He'd run the gamut of emotions from one end of the night to the other, himself, so it was little wonder that Charlotte was worn out.

  Shock and jealousy at realising her identity, anger and retribution at the lads who had mistreated her and then bone deep envy at witnessing how in sync she'd been with Micah during the aftermath. Overwhelming passion and carnality when they'd played together, followed by resentment and a surprisingly deep hurt, when she'd abandoned him for Micah. And finally, a devastating possessiveness and an overpowering elation when Micah had offered her into his care. His feelings had been so consuming that he had completely lost it, taking her without restraint, without the careful scrutiny of a DM, without the courtesy of negotiation and without a bloody condom!

  And damn, if he wasn't the least bit unrepentant. Sure, he'd been a bit quiet and withdrawn with her on the drive back to her place, and he knew she'd picked up on that, but it was more because of his overriding fear that she might pull the plug on their fledgling agreement. He had bundled her out of the club just as fast as he could, before she could stop and talk to Micah, before she could take issue with how he'd failed her. Guilt had eaten at him as soon as he'd gotten her into the bath and he knew he needed to get back on track, to give her the aftercare she deserved. He still didn't feel like he'd made up for his actions in the slightest, but at least he'd come to his senses long enough to pull his head out of his ass, before he messed things up completely, and had managed to take care of her immediate physical needs. And he vowed he'd be there for her throughout the night in case she woke, so he could take care of any emotional needs that might surface.

  So far, she'd said nothing about his failure to use protection. She must know club rules meant they were both clean. Or maybe she was just too fatigued to consider the consequences. Hell, perhaps she was on the pill and that was why the thought didn't bother her.

  Somehow, that idea didn't bring the relief Jake imagined it should. In fact, it left him oddly disappointed.

  Rolling over in her sleep, Charlotte snuggled up next to him, burrowing into his warmth. Unhooking his arm from behind his head, Jake pulled her close. He felt an overwhelming sense of rightness when she was in his arms. She had always tempted him, but now that they could genuinely explore this lifestyle together, maybe there could be a chance for them, after all.

  Jake found that just the thought left him oddly breathless.

  Charlotte woke the next morning, conscious that her head was on a warm, comfortable, but uncommonly hard pillow. As her mind kicked into awareness, she acknowledged the unusual stiffness deep in her bones. Sprawling to stretch the kinks out of her joints, her mind slowly verified the presence of a solid mass of seemingly immoveable heat with a surprisingly coarse texture. With her brain still in a drowsy fog, she felt it with her leg, then stretched out her hand to explore and felt it again. Following the texture down what appeared to be its natural path, Charlotte's hand encountered something hard and smooth. Curious fingers wrapped around velvet over steel, then stopped in their tracks as realisation dawned, and she suddenly came wide awake with a quiet gasp. About to snatch her hand away, the comfortable pillow rumbled underneath her ear and another hand covered hers, preventing her from pulling away as a deep chuckle filled the quiet.

  "Feel free to carry on, angel." Jake laughed. "I'm not in any hurry to stop those inquisitive fingers."

  For a moment, Charlotte didn't move. All their previous encounters had been incendiary and driven. There had never been any opportunity for exploration on her part and not that much on his. Things had always exploded in a flare of bright lights, noise, wonder and sparkle, like fireworks at a celebration. There had been no time for soft words, sensory forays and tender discoveries. More of a flash and burn wildfire that blazed hot but was then doused and extinguished with nothing left over but a soggy pile of wet ash and a vague sense of disappointment that, while the sex was phenomenal, there always seemed to be something missing. Was this it? This closeness and indulgence.

  Tentatively, Charlotte stroked her fingers down his rock-hard length. Jake's own hand fell away, leaving her free to chart her own passage. With a whisper light touch, she feathered her fingers across the heavy weight of his balls and drew them down his inner thigh, a slight smile curving her lips as she sensed, rather than heard, his indrawn breath. She couldn't help but wonder how often his dominant personality allowed him to delight in the charm of being indulged instead of always being in control. She had a feeling that it wasn't a common occurrence and vowed to treat him to the luxury of a more affectionate and sensual journey.

  Warming to her task, Charlotte leaned up and spread both hands across the indentation of his pelvis then swept them up over his hip bones, across his smooth sides and up to his well-defined pecs, gratified as she felt his body tense and then ease beneath her. Softening her touch, she sifted her fingers through the pelt of soft, springy hair on his chest until she found the small brown discs of his nipples and further delighted as she felt them harden and pebble just like her own did. Lowering herself, Charlotte touched her tongue to one of the tiny male nubs, laving it softly, then growing bolder and grazing it gently with her teeth. This time, Jake's small gasp was unmistakeable, and Charlotte couldn't help the grin that she hid as she pressed small suctioning kisses down his abdomen. Veering away from the hairline that charted his happy trail, Charlotte, instead, drew her tongue across his right hip and softly blew before nibbling down his leanly muscled thigh, gentle nips that moved inward but avoided the prize between his legs. She nuzzled her cheek against his pubic hair then lifted her head, dragging her fingertips down both thighs and scuffing him carefully with her short nails. A soft groan left Jake's lips and he arched underneath her in a blatant attempt to redirect her ministrations.

  Charlotte chuckled. "Not so patient with a taste of your own teasing…Sir?"

  Jake let out an audible breath. "Damn, you've got a boatload of brat hidden underneath all that perfect," he muttered.

  Charlotte's laugh tinkled through the room, unusually light-hearted. "Nobody's perfect, Jake, just especially compatible."

  Jake laughed out loud, then sighed as she tongued, then blew on the sensitive skin of his inner thigh, creeping towards where he was itching to bring her head and thrust his rock-hard cock into her warm mouth. He'd never allowed any woman this much freedom with his body before. It was…different. Good different.

  "It feels pretty damn perfect!" he sighed as her tongue flicked out and caught a drop of pre-cum that had seeped from the end of his shaft.

  "That's because you're thinking with your little head, instead of your big one," Charlotte snorted irreverently as she promptly sat up again and dug her gently massaging fingers down his calves.

  This relaxed banter was different, too, and surprisingly enjoyable. He wasn't sure he'd ever had a sexual encounter that was quite so carefree and frivolous. Normally, his unions were calculated, methodical and intense. There was never any room, or even the opportunity, for this kind of carefree exchange in the kind of scenes he set up at the clubs where he had sex. Outside the clubs…it stunned him momentarily to realise that, in the last ten years, there had only been Charlotte with whom
he'd indulged any kind of extra-curricular activity.

  Jake groaned as Charlotte shifted further away from the goal. "Damn it, woman, you're killing me!" he huffed.

  "Boot on the other foot, huh?" she snickered playfully, the sound doing strange things to his insides. He didn't have time to contemplate the feeling before she scored her nails down the soft underside of the sole of his foot. Jake yelped in response, bucking to a sitting position and Charlotte dissolved into fits of the giggles as she bounced backwards when both his body and the bed shifted.

  Jake rolled them both, swiftly, and dived on top of her, pinning her under his weight and Charlotte inhaled softly at the banked fire burning in those bright blue eyes. But instead of escalating their passion, a wicked mirth suddenly filled them, giving him the look of a cheeky little boy.

  A second later, Charlotte tried vainly to defend herself, batting his hands away as his devilish fingers sought out all the ticklish spots on her abdomen. Her laughter pealed around the room as he found a particularly sensitive spot at the upper side of her waist and his busy digits wasted no time in wreaking havoc.

  Charlotte gulped for breath, but the giggles never stopped as Jake dodged her feeble defence and gleefully danced his wicked fingers wherever he thought he might provoke a response, while she did an admirable impression of 'the dying fly', her arms and feet flailing as she rolled around the bed trying to avoid his tickles.

  Jake's amused chuckles filled the air, along with her own gasps of hysterics until tears rolled down her cheeks and her sides hurt.

  "Un…cle, uncle!" Charlotte wheezed, flopping limply on the destroyed bed as she fought to suck air into her heaving lungs.

  Jake stilled but playfully bit at her shoulder. "Oh no, sweetness. I am definitely not your uncle," he sniggered, wrapping his arms around her and nuzzling into her neck, nipping boisterously at the tender flesh with his lips.

  He leaned back, content to continue his path, but Charlotte found her second wind and, catching him by surprise, rolled them over until she was straddling him again.

  "Uh-uh!" she denied. "I haven't finished having my wicked way with you yet," she admonished sunnily, pressing quick, impish kisses on every bit of skin she could get her lips on. "Now behave yourself, or I just might have to use handcuffs on you."

  Jake cocked an arrogant eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? You think you could be quick enough to get a pair on me, sweetness?"

  Charlotte smirked, and without moving from where she sat on top of him, she leaned over and grabbed a pair of metal 'trick' cuffs that Desi had given her as a joke, during their college days, from her bedside drawer.

  She had dug them out recently and spent an inordinate amount of time holding them, contemplating and weighing and considering them. Not for their use, but for what they represented, both in her past and for her future. They had become a kind of physical metaphor. Now, she grinned as she swung them from one finger.

  Jake feigned an overblown shock and fear, raising his hands as if to concede. "Apologies, oh powerful mistress; you clearly have the upper hand here, and I shall be your obedient slave," he spouted, tongue in cheek.

  Charlotte shook her head and chuckled at his antics, secretly pleased at how relaxed and playful he was being. It was a side of him she'd never seen before.

  "Everything I have is yours, your greatness, do with my body what you will, and I…"

  Wasting no more time, she scuttled backwards from her perch on his abdomen and silenced his babble as she sucked his cock deep into her mouth.

  It was almost lunchtime when they finally vacated the bedroom. They might even have stayed longer if it hadn't been for the rather loud grumbling from Charlotte's stomach making itself known.

  "Goddesses! I don't think I've ever had this much of an appetite." Charlotte patted her stomach as she puttered about her kitchen, pulling out the ingredients to make a couple of omelettes.

  "Must be all that exercise," Jake smirked, helping himself to a couple grapes from the fruit bowl on her breakfast bar. "Or were you suggesting that your appetite was for something other than food?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

  Charlotte threw a tea-towel at him. "Get your filthy mind out of the bedroom for five minutes!" she scolded.

  "I can't," he replied laconically. "Somebody closed the door and it got trapped in there."

  Charlotte's tummy gave another loud gurgle, making them both laugh.

  "Damn, what's going on in there?" Jake joked.

  Charlotte shook her head. "Wish I knew. It's not like I'm eating for tw…" she trailed off, wishing back the words as soon as they were out of mouth. Talk about a Freudian slip! Her gaze flew to Jake's face, the teasing mood of the morning instantly dissipated.

  "Forget I said that," she whispered, wanting the good-natured chit-chat back.

  Jake sighed. "We can't forget it, Charlotte. We've got to discuss it sometime. Might as well be now."

  Charlotte turned stiffly back to one of the kitchen cupboards and dug around for a mixing bowl. "What's to discuss?"

  "Are you on any kind of contraceptive?"

  "No."

  "Then you might be pregnant, angel," Jake said softly.

  "And I might not be, Jake. Is it really worth talking the situation to death before we even know one way or the other?"

  "There are things we need to consider, Charlotte."

  "Like what?" Charlotte knew she was being somewhat petulant, but she couldn't seem to help herself.

  "Like do you even want a baby, for a start?"

  Charlotte could hear the irritation in Jake's voice. Was it because of her attitude or because of the thought of her having his child?

  She threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "Yes, I would like to have children one day, and I'm definitely not getting any younger, but I had certainly considered that it might be under slightly different circumstances. Like with a husband, for starters."

  "We could get married," Jake suggested cautiously.

  "No!" Charlotte denied. "I am not having any kind of shotgun wedding, buster, so forget it!" she declared vehemently. She hadn't avoided one arranged marriage just to be presented with one in a slightly different guise. "If I'm pregnant, it's my problem; you don't even need to be involved."

  "Now wait a goddamn minute," Jake shouted. "If you're having my baby, you can put money on the fact that I am going to be involved. I will not be shut out, Charlotte," he insisted with a dangerous edge to his voice.

  Charlotte made a frustrated growling noise in her throat. "I didn't mean that I would shut you out, Jake. I just meant that it's my body, my womb, my decision…"

  "You'd get it aborted?" Jake whispered, sounding oddly aghast.

  "I didn't say that! Stop putting words into my mouth."

  "Well, would you?" he demanded.

  "I don't know!" Charlotte shouted back, even though her mind recoiled from the very idea. "Can't you understand? We're talking about a completely hypothetical situation. I don't know how I'm going to feel or what I might want to do until it becomes a reality. That's why I said there was no point in flogging the subject to death right now."

  Charlotte stabbed her finger in the air towards him. "This is exactly what I was trying to avoid. We're having a pointless argument about something that isn't even relevant just yet and may not ever even exist, so let's just table the 'discussions' until we actually have something to discuss."

  Charlotte spun around and kept her back to him as she started beating the eggs with undue force, even though she was no longer hungry, while Jake jammed his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and lifted his head to the ceiling, letting out a long breath.

  A moment later, she sensed his presence behind her a second before he slipped his arms around her and stilled her erratic hands, folding them away from the egg mixture and around her body, along with his own.

  "I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear. "I didn't mean to upset you."

  Charlotte drew in a breath and allowed the calm
to seep into her psyche. "I'm sorry, too. I wasn't trying to be a bitch. I just don't think we should borrow trouble until it's necessary."

  Jake winced. "Would it really be trouble?"

  "Jake!"

  "Sorry…again."

  "And there you go, twisting my words…again. It's just a figure of speech!" Charlotte sighed and turned in his arms, staring at the little tuft of hair that peeked out from the open neck of his shirt and rubbing her hands up his tense biceps. "Look, it's all very well debating the theory, but I happen to know from first-hand experience that hard reality has a way of changing your perspective, regardless of whatever intentions you may have started off with."

  Finally looking up, she stroked the tanned cheek that was sporting a second day of scruff. "All we're doing is pissing each other off over an argument that we might never need to have," she said bluntly.

  "And when I say 'argument,' I don't mean that we might necessarily argue about it," she clarified before he could jump in with another assumption.

  Jake covered her hand with his, screwed up his eyes, then relaxed and placed a soft kiss on her palm.

  "You're right, and I'm sorry again…again." His feeble attempt at levity had the desired effect and Charlotte gave a small half smile. It was a start.

  Chapter 13

  They managed an awkward truce for the remainder of the afternoon, which finally settled into an easier camaraderie come the evening.

  Jake announced that he was staying for the rest of the weekend, and Charlotte had to tamp down the exhilarating feeling of pure joy she experienced at his offhand words and remind herself that he was just fulfilling his aftercare duties as he'd promised Micah.