by A. K. Evans
“Sounds good. I’m going to head to bed now.”
“Yeah, me too. I’ll see ya in the morning. Good night, Em.”
“Night, Charley.”
As I carried my bags down the hall into my bedroom I heard my phone ding notifying me of a text. I dropped my bags on the bed and grabbed my phone out of my purse. Lighting up the display, I saw Wes had texted me.
You make it home yet, gorgeous?
He was always looking out for me. That made my belly warm.
Me: Emme and I just got in. Did you get your project finished?
Wes: Yeah. Got it done about thirty minutes ago. About to head out of here.
I missed him. As exhausted as I was, I missed him more.
Me: Glad to hear it. Any chance I can talk you into driving your truck here instead of your place tonight? ;-)
Wes: You miss me still?
Me: A little.
This was a lie. I missed him a whole lot more than just a little.
Wes: Be there in fifteen.
Me: Yay!!
Seventeen minutes later, Wes texted that he had just parked. Not long after there was a light tap at the door. I opened the door and let out a huge breath. Wes came in, locked the door, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed the top of my head. The two of us stood there holding each other for a bit before I tipped my head up and kissed him. He kissed me for a bit before pulling his mouth away and squeezing me tighter. I snuggled my face back against his chest, pressing my body into his.
“You hungry?” I asked.
“Ate a couple hours ago. I’m good. You?”
“Had dinner with Em.”
“Exhausted, gorgeous. Want to get in bed with you and sleep.”
I took in a deep breath, his scent filling my nostrils. Yeah, I could definitely go for that, too.
“Works for me,” I answered.
With that, we walked to my bedroom where I put on a camisole and a pair of panties and Wes stripped down to his boxer briefs. We got into bed and Wes spooned me.
“Thanks for coming to me tonight,” I said after we had been there for a few minutes.
“Anything you need, Charley,” he said sleepily.
That was the second time he said that to me. I had to admit how good it felt. And being there wrapped in his arms felt especially good. I snuggled in closer to him, not feeling like I was close enough. It was in that moment that I grasped just how deep I was in this with Wes. It had become so much more for me and I knew I was beginning to have real feelings for him. Feelings I knew that, if this ever went south, could completely obliterate me. My body tensed at the thought.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Shit.
“What? Nothing,” I said.
“Charley, you’re rock solid right now.”
“Sorry. It’s nothing.”
He growled. “I’m worn out, baby. Think you can share it with me and not do the song and dance right now?”
“Ok. I apologize. I was just thinking about how good it feels and how much I appreciate your concern for me.”
“Doesn’t explain why you’re wound.”
“If this thing between us ends, it won’t be good for me.”
Wes squeezed his arms tight around me. “Not like it’d be a walk in the park for me. You aren’t the only one with feelings in this. You mean something to me and I’m not going anywhere.”
I snuggled in closer, though I’m not sure how that was even possible. Wes groaned. “Charley, sit your ass still and sleep.”
“Ok, Wes.”
Minutes later, wrapped in his arms coming to terms with how I was feeling about our relationship, I fell asleep.
I woke to familiar fingers tracing the skin at my hip. Another hand was cupping my breast while a thumb moved slowly back and forth across my nipple. Wes was still spooning me and doing very nice things to my body. I moaned and arched my back pressing my ass into Wes’ hard length. He groaned and brought his lips to kiss the skin at my shoulder. Wes’ hand at my hip moved south and slid into the waistband of my panties. His fingers began to tease the sensitive spot between my legs.
“Wes,” I said, my voice raspy. I was seriously turned on and would easily be coming apart within seconds. I was right on the edge when I lost his hand. “No, Wes. Please.”
“Want to watch you ride me, gorgeous,” he said as he pulled my camisole over my head and my panties down my legs.
He fell to his back as he hauled me on top of his body. I held his cock in my hand and guided him to my entrance. Then, I slammed my body down onto his. Wes’ hands came to my hips and gripped them hard as I quickly moved up and down his length.
“You feel so fucking good, Wes,” I said, as I leaned my body forward, putting my weight into my hands that fell at either side of his head.
Wes took this moment to glide his hands from my hips up the sides of my body to my breasts. I continued to roll my hips and was further encouraged that he enjoyed what I was doing with them when he groaned before taking a nipple into his mouth. This was my undoing. I was right back on the edge and Wes didn’t let up. He began thrusting his hips up to meet mine while not relenting in his attention to my breasts. His groans came faster and I threw my head back knowing he was right there with me.
“Eyes on me, Charley,” he ordered.
My head snapped back down and I looked him in the eyes as my body shattered. His hands were back at my hips, holding them in place while he drove his hips fiercely up into my body.
“Fucking beautiful,” he growled as he came halfway through my orgasm.
I collapsed on top of his body while we both attempted to get our breathing back to normal. I stayed there on top of Wes while he lightly traced his fingers up and down my back, seeming to linger a little longer at the space on my lower back just at the top of my ass.
“I could stay like this all day,” I told him. And I could have, no doubt in my mind. I was sated and I felt safe there in his arms.
“I would like nothing more, but it’ll have to be another time, Charley. Got shit I’ve got to get done before tonight,” he said.
I whimpered. “I’ll hold you to that, Mr. Blackman.”
He squeezed me and then rolled us over so I was on my back and he was on top of me, his hands brushing my hair from my face. “What do you have planned for this afternoon?” he asked.
“Going to do some baking with Emme today. Depending on how much time I have left, I might draw for a little. Then, I’ll need to get ready for tonight.”
“You bake?”
“Em’s the baker in the group; however, I’ve been told by many that people would pay money for my chocolate chip cookies.”
“Is that right?” he asked.
I nodded, “Just have to make them with love. Works every time.”
“Going to have to try those then, baby,” he said.
I smiled at him.
“Need to get going, Charley. Be back at six to pick you and Emme up,” Wes said as he got up and got dressed.
“Ok, honey.”
He finished dressing; I walked him to the door, kissed him, and he left. I worked on some art until Emme woke up. I was lucky enough to have time to talk to her about her nightmares before we spent the rest of the morning and all afternoon baking. Most importantly, I put a little extra love into my chocolate chip cookies.
Chapter 20
Charley
It was five minutes until six, the house smelled delicious, and Emme and I were nearly ready. Emme was wearing a three-quarter sleeve black sequined mini dress that fit like a glove. The neckline was high, but when she turned around her entire back was exposed down to just above her ass. To bring a little Christmas spirit to her outfit she donned a pair of red bottom Christian Louboutins. To not take away from the dress she curled her hair and pulled it into a loose, low ponytail at the side of her neck. Her hair was off her back, cascading down over the front of her right shoulder. In keeping up the sequin theme for the evening I was wearing a
deep purple sequined skirt, a black sleeveless top with a cowl neckline, and a pair of black patent leather pumps. I added a chunky black and purple bracelet on my wrist and a pair of sparkly diamond studs in my ears. I put some loose waves in my hair and kept it down. I had also put on a very sexy pair of undergarments that I was hoping to show Wes later that night.
There was a knock at the door. Emme and I were in my bathroom putting the finishing touches on our makeup.
“That’s Wes. I’ll be right back,” I said as I tightened the cap on my lip gloss and walked out.
On the way out of my bedroom, as I typically did whenever I was going out with Wes, I did a quick head to toe inspection in my full-length mirror. I assessed my look, gave myself a small nod of approval, and walked to the front door. I opened the door, pulled my bottom lip in, and bit down at what I saw. Wes looked divine. He was wearing a pair of jeans, with dressy boots, and a black wool peacoat. I could see the collar of his black, white, and gray plaid fitted shirt popping out of the top of the coat. In addition to my senses being assaulted by the sight of him standing directly behind him was Zane, who looked rather breathtaking himself.
“Hi, um, hey. I didn’t realize you were both coming,” I said, fumbling over my words. This could be bad.
Wes gave me his wicked grin realizing I was having a hard time pulling myself together. “Yeah, have a car service that’s driving since it’ll be packed. Also, don’t want to be drinking and driving tonight,” he answered and then continued, “You going to let us in, gorgeous, or are we waiting out here for you?”
“Right, sorry. Come in,” I said as I moved out of the doorway and let them in.
As Wes walked in he bent down and pressed a kiss to my lips, then whispered in my ear, “You look beautiful, Charley.”
I swallowed hard and closed the door behind them saying, “I’m just going to go grab Emme. Help yourselves to anything in the fridge. Or, Em and I baked today so there are tons of Christmas cookies on the island. Be right back.”
My stomach was in knots as I went back down the hall to my bedroom to get Emme. I walked into the bathroom and saw she had just finished the last of her make up.
“Ready,” she said, standing up from the stool in front of the vanity.
“Emme, sit down,” I said.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, and hesitantly sat back down.
“Wes is here,” I said and she stared at me like I was crazy. Of course, I understood why I seemed crazy to her. She knew Wes was picking us up. What she didn’t know, which was also what I didn’t know until about thirty seconds ago was that he had Zane with him. So, I gave her the news and said, “Wes is here with Zane.”
She sucked in a breath. “Oh.”
“Honey, if it’s too much and you can’t do it we can either go separately and meet them there or we can stay here. I’ll come up with something. We can tell them you are feeling sick suddenly and…”
“Charley, it’s fine. I will go. I need to try to start living a somewhat normal life,” she explained, cutting me off.
I jerked my head back and stared at her. “You’re sure?” I asked.
She stayed silent a beat and then answered, “Yes, I’m sure.”
“Ok. If you change your mind and need to leave, you promise you’ll tell me?”
“Promise.”
With her promise I went over, hugged her, and then walked out of the bathroom. She followed behind me. I made it to the kitchen first and saw that Wes and Zane were elbows deep in baked goods. Wes was standing on one side of the island, Zane sitting at a stool on the other side. When we walked in they turned to look at us and smiled.
Zane’s eyes held Emme’s for a bit and then she spoke up, “Hi Wes. Zane.”
“Hey, Em,” Wes said as both he and Zane looked at her and smiled.
“You guys planning a party?” Zane asked.
“No. Why?” I asked.
“This is a lot of fucking cookies for the two of you, don’t you think?” he asked. He had a point. We had seven different varieties of cookies including traditional sugar with Emme’s secret ingredient, iced oatmeal, lemon crinkle, chocolate crinkle, gingerbread, iced Italian almond, and my famous chocolate chip. We’d made double batches of each variety so there were a lot of fucking cookies.
“It’s Christmas. You can never have too many cookies,” Emme piped up. She also had a point. Christmas, in my opinion, was synonymous with cookies. You couldn’t have Christmas without cookies…lots of them.
Wes chimed in, “They’re really good.”
“Thanks,” Emme and I both said.
“You ladies ready to go?” Wes asked.
We both nodded and turned to head out of the kitchen. As we did, I heard a sharp intake of breath and a mumble from Zane that sounded a lot like, “Fuck me.”
Emme and I both turned around. I didn’t look at her, but I’m certain she had the same expression on her face as I did. That look was likely one of confusion.
“Is something wrong?” Emme asked.
“It’s pretty cold out. You planning to wear something over that?” Zane asked her.
Realization hit me. Zane saw the back, or lack thereof, of Emme’s dress and reacted. I bit my lip and looked to Wes who was smirking, shaking his head, and looking down at his boots.
“No. I figured it might be too warm in Lou’s and then I’d take the jacket off and have to worry about keeping track of it all night. And then, if I misplace it I’ll be out a jacket.”
“Sweetheart, the high today was just barely thirty degrees. It’s a hell of a lot colder than that outside right now. Get a jacket. If you lose it, I’ll buy you a new one.”
She narrowed her eyes and said, “A jacket will ruin this dress, though.”
“Not much you can do to ruin that dress. Looks pretty fucking perfect to me. Get a jacket, Emme.”
She tilted her head to the side, thought for a minute, and said, “Ok, I’ll get a jacket.”
With that, Emme and I both grabbed jackets, locked up, and left for Lou’s. The ride to Lou’s went better than I had expected. I had been worried if it would be awkward, but thankfully everything went smoothly. Wes and Zane told us stories about Lou’s Christmas parties from previous years and then the conversation went to snowboarding. Zane had been training very hard recently prepping for a couple of contests he had coming up after the holidays. Wes was supporting his riders in their training along with continuing development on his new board series. Emme talked a little about her photography, mostly answering questions that Zane and Wes asked and I spoke a little about my recent unsuccessful job searches.
We finally arrived at Lou’s and Wes had not been kidding. It was still early and the place was packed. The driver pulled up to the building and Wes and Zane both got out and helped Emme and I out of the car. The outside had been magnificently and tastefully decorated for the holiday festivities. We walked in to the first-floor dining area of Lou’s where we were greeted by none other than Lou himself.
“Charley. My pretty birthday girl. How are you doing?” he asked pulling me into a big bear hug.
“Wow, Lou. You remember me?” I asked as he loosened his hold on me, notably shocked that he’d met me once and remembered who I was.
“Darlin’, Lou doesn’t forget a pretty girl,” he responded.
I smiled at him and said, “I’m doing well. How are you?”
“Best time of year, darlin’. Doesn’t get any better than this. Now what I’m really wantin’ to know is how you know my boys, Wes and Zane, here?”
I felt my face flush at the same time Wes’ arm wrapped around my shoulder and pulled me into his side.
“Charley is my girlfriend, Lou,” he answered. My belly fluttered. That was the first time I’d heard him call me his girlfriend. It felt good.
Lou looked at Wes, back to me, and back to Wes. He smiled and said, “Take good care of her. She’s a good one.”
I wanted to deflect and take the heat off me in this situa
tion, so I said, “Thanks, Lou. And so, Zane being an extension of Wes, I now know Zane. You remember my friend, Emme?” I asked, waving my hand over to my friend.
“I told you, Charley, Lou never forgets a pretty girl,” he said, and turned toward Emme to continue, “You with my boy, Zane, here?”
Emme’s face flushed hard and her eyes got big. She answered, “No, Lou. We are just friends.”
“Well, darlin’, that’s a damn shame. You two would make a good-looking couple; however, you two aren't together you might want to move.”
“Excuse me?” Emme asked and we all looked at Lou with confusion on all our faces.
Lou lifted his hand and pointed up above Emme and Zane’s head. We all looked to see what he was pointing to.
Mistletoe.
Shit.
I looked to Zane, who had a wicked, sexy grin on his face as he looked at Emme and Emme looked like she wanted to run. I’m certain Zane noticed her anxiety as he bent down, kissed her on the cheek, and said, “Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”
“Give it some time. You’re not together now, you’re going to be soon,” Lou said to Emme with a huge smile plastered on his face.
Her eyes nearly popped out of her head and I turned to find Wes smirking.
“Lou, always a pleasure. We’ll see you later,” Wes said as he escorted me further into the dining room. Zane and Emme followed. We found a table that was open. Emme and I took a seat while Wes and Zane went to grab some drinks from the bar.
“You ok?” I asked her the moment they were out of earshot.
“My cheek is still on fire. Fucking mistletoe,” she answered. “He’s hot, no denying that. And he seems to be very cautious…protective almost. At the same time, he is laid back and seems like he’d be a lot of fun. But, you know where I’m at. I can’t pursue anything like that.”
“I know, honey. You’ll get there. I also know part of what you’re saying about him being protective. Wes gives me that same feeling. Like he will do whatever he needs to just to make sure I am safe and happy. It scares the ever-loving shit out of me,” I said.
