by Brandy Ayers
If only he would tell her what was going on that he felt she needed protecting from.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Is this her?” A tall, curvy woman with the most beautiful smooth, rich skin Charlotte had ever seen flung open the door and started talking immediately.
“No Mom, this is just some random girl I picked up off the street. My girlfriend will be along later.” Trey rolled his eyes and enveloped his mom in a bear hug that Charlotte feared would crack the woman’s ribs.
“Oh, hush you.” She slapped him playfully on the shoulder and told him to put her down. “Come in, come in. Let me get a good look at you.”
Heated embarrassment spread from head to toe, and Charlotte knew she’d be redder than ever before. But she did as the woman said, not wanting to make a bad impression on Trey’s mom by turning hide and running as fast as she could. As soon as they crossed over the threshold into the main living area, it was like an explosion of noise. Men and women all came up to slap Trey on the back of bestow kisses on his cheek. They all looked varying degrees like Trey, and Charlotte stood dumbfounded at the pure size of his family. For her part, Charlotte had only met one aunt on her mother’s side, and a cousin. The rest of their family were still in Russia and China.
Even if she had grown up with my extended family around, she had no doubt they would be nothing like this. These people were genuinely happy to be around each other. And the affection they handed out like pens at a doctor’s office, as if it cost them nothing to give a hug. It would take some definite getting used to.
“Okay, let’s see you sweet girl.” Trey’s mom shifted them away from the greeting crowd, and held out Charlotte’s eyes. This woman didn’t let anything past her, that much was obvious.
Charlotte tried not to fidget under such intense scrutiny, but suddenly she second guessed everything she was wearing. She should have gone for a dress instead of skinny jeans and a boat neck green sweater. Heels instead of flats. Should she have left her hair down instead of the braid that hung over her shoulder?
In the middle of Mrs. Smith’s evaluation, Trey joined them, sliding his arm around the small of Charlotte’s back. “What do you say, Mom? Am I allowed to keep her?”
Despite the teasing tone in his voice, Charlotte knew this was an important moment. Her heart rate skyrocketed. The sudden burst of increased nerves making her dizzy for a moment. Trey’s strong form steadied her, seeming to sense her distress, he squeezed her hip reassuringly.
“Oh, Trey.” Tears formed in Mrs. Smith’s eyes, threatening to run down her face at any moment. She’d made her cry. Charlotte had made Trey’s mom cry for some reason, and she had no idea how. Ready to start apologizing profusely for whatever slight she had unintentionally made, Charlotte’s words were cut off by the woman’s surprisingly strong arms wrapping around her. “She’s just adorable. You are just, I mean, I want to feed you a couple sandwiches. Those hips are going to need some filling out if you two are going to give me grandbabies. But I can tell you are a good girl, just perfect for my Trey.”
Did she say grandbabies?
Charlotte stared up at Trey, wild panic oozing out from her every pore.
“Mom, let Charlotte go. And can we not scare her off with talk of grandbabies, please. I’d like her to stick around long enough to have a piece of cake.”
“Oh no, you made the cake?” Mrs. Smith abruptly released Charlotte and spun on her son. “What did you do that necessitated the forgiveness cake?” She spun back to Charlotte. “What did he do? I swear he’s not too old for a good whack upside the head. You tell me. I’ll have no problem taking care of it for you. Obviously didn’t do it near enough when he was a child.” She muttered the last part to herself, then swung her questioning eyes between Trey and Charlotte.
Thankfully they were saved from answering by a man three inches shorter than Trey’s Mom joining them. “Viola, leave the poor kids alone.”
“Charlotte, this is my Dad, Reverend Theodore Smith. How you doing, Pop?” The two men engaged in a back-slapping embrace that had Charlotte’s heart swelling. God, what would her life had been like if she’d grown up with parents like these? No wonder Trey had such an indomitable spirit.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Reverend Smith.” Charlotte held out her hand for the jolly man to shake, but he just laughed and shook his head before coming for a hug of his own.
“Call me Teddy. Everyone else does. And I can tell already, you, my girl, are far too good for my son.” The older man winked at her as Trey groaned his displeasure. “But we are so happy you have deemed him worthy of your affections. It’s about time the boy brought someone special home.”
“Stop hogging her, Teddy.” Viola squeezed between them and looped her arm through Charlotte’s. “And you can call me Vi, by the way. Okay, let’s introduce you around.”
Before she knew what was happening, Charlotte was whisked away from Trey. She craned her head back, giving him panic eyes in hopes that he would rescue her. But Trey just shrugged and mouthed sorry as his father led him into another room with serious looks on their face.
After fifteen minutes, Charlotte stopped trying to remember people’s names. There were just too many of them. Strangely, her overwhelming nerves and the desire to flee had faded five minutes in. Something about Trey’s Mom just put her at ease, while also keeping her on her toes. By the sixth or seventh family member Charlotte was introduced to, Vi was insinuating that Trey and Charlotte would be married in no time. Heck, they were practically already engaged. The woman obviously wanted Trey settled sooner rather than later.
Finally, Charlotte and Vi settled in at one of the man folding tables spread throughout the yard. For city standards, their property was pretty big, fenced in with a swing set which looked like it hadn’t been used in years sitting toward the back of the lawn. The house itself was modest, a bi-level house that looked as if it hadn’t been update since the late eighties. But it was welcoming in a way her own parent’s house had never been.
“Charlotte, can I just say I am so happy Trey has found you.” Vi took a sip of her sweet iced tea then went on speaking as if she didn’t need air. “He is such a kind boy and has a huge heart. All I’ve wanted for him in life is to find a nice girl who he can rely and build something with. But he just always said when he finds the girl, he would bring her around. And he never brought anyone around.” Trey’s mom’s voice began to rise, as if him not bringing girls around before was the height of disrespect. “But I can tell, you’re it. You’re obviously smart given everything he’s told me about your job and new promotion. Congratulations, by the way. That is simply fantastic.” Vi patted her hand, giving it a squeeze before picking up her fork.
“Um, thank you.” For some reason, an hour into the party, it was the encouragement and affection Trey’s mother showed Charlotte that had her freaking out. It all became too overwhelming. The people accepting her on sight. The love this family threw around without feel of self consciousness. She needed space, to be alone for just a few minutes. Trying as hard as she could to regulate her breathing, Charlotte stood from the table. “Would you mind directing me to the bathroom?”
After Vi cheerfully gave her directions through the house, Charlotte dashed off. Tunnel vision firmly in place, she didn’t look around, just kept her eyes forward and walked as fast as she could to the bathroom without calling attention to herself.
It wasn’t hard to find, down the hall from the kitchen, up the half-set of stairs, and first door on the right. But it felt like the longest walk Charlotte had ever taken. Lungs constricting. Heart galloping. Fingers tingling. Black spots floated at the edges of her vision.
Collapsing into the door, Charlotte tripped over to the tub and sat on the edge, head between her knees. Breathe in 1...2...3...4. Hold it. Breathe out 1...2...3...4...5...6...7. She went through the breathing exercises three times before the pain in her chest began to ease and her vision cleared.
“What can I do?” Trey’s deep v
oice made her jump and immediately blush at finding him in the doorway witnessing her in the midst of the worst panic attack she’d had in years.
“I’m fine. I’ll be right out.”
Stomping across the small bathroom, he fell to his knees before her, cradling her hands in his. “Bullshit. You aren’t fine. But it is okay that you’re not fine. I want to help. Let me help. Talk to me.”
That honeyed voice of his soothed her nerves, loosening her limbs and lips. “I get panic attacks sometimes. They haven’t been this bad in years. I mostly get them in the middle of the night when I have a lot on my mind and I’m not processing it like I should. But sometimes, when I get overwhelmed while awake, they sneak up on me.”
“I wish I had known, I would have brought you to meet my parents on a night that wasn’t so insane.” Trey rubbed up and down her thighs, warming her chilled legs.
“No, I’m glad you brought me. It isn’t all the new people or attention that brought it on.” Charlotte huffed a sardonic laugh. “I think what set it off was your Mom’s excitement over my new job and how perfect I am for you. Sometimes, the pressure to be perfect gets to me. When my mom went on her downward swings, she would try and push me in ballet class, to be the best, to work harder. I tried for her, but I don’t anything I could’ve done would have helped. But no matter how upset I was, I couldn't show it. I was afraid showing any emotions would make me like her. It took a lot of therapy for me to be able to realize that.”
Bring up the old memories wasn’t helping the slowly fading fight or flight reflex her body had snapped into. Muscles still tense, her body poised on the edge of shutting down.
“What can I do to help?” The sincerity in Trey’s eyes helped distract her overwhelmed mind. A little.
“I try to think about something else. Try to breathe through it.” Charlotte closed her eyes, repeating the patterned breathing once more.
Trey’s touch became something more than just comfort. His hands slipped slightly higher on her thighs. They pressed a little harder, more insistent. “You want me to take you out of your head, sugar?”
The response didn’t even need thought. Her body reacted to him almost on instinct. Core tightening, panties growing wet, and her knees spread apart just an inch of their own accord. Charlotte nodded, biting down on her bottom lip.
In one swift move, Trey scooped her up into his arms, carrying her from the bathroom. “Let me show you the house. This is the hall. Those are bedrooms.” He tilted his head in the direction of two doors on the left side of the wall. “This was my bedroom.”
He kicked open the flimsy wooden door to reveal a bedroom that looked like it hadn’t been touched since sixteen-year-old Trey had lived there. Sports posters hung on the walls, faded photos of smiling teenagers with their arms flung around each other tacked to the wall in random bunches. Books were stacked everywhere, along with ribbons and trophies from various activities.
“Wow.”
“I know, I keep telling my mom to take all this shit down and make it a crafting room of something, but she refuses. Says this is the only part of her little boy she gets to hang on to.” Trey tossed Charlotte down onto the football patterned comforter. “I never got to bring a girl in here before. This is going to be fun.”
“Won’t they hear?” Charlotte crab walked to the top of the twin mattress, the panic attack of just a few minutes ago a distant memory.
“You’ll just have to be quiet. Don’t want to get grounded after all.” Trey winked, his eyes sparkled. It would be so easy to just let go and fall in love with this man. Kneeling between her legs, Trey pulled off his T-shirt. The hard-packed muscles rippled and contracted with every single one of his movements, and Charlotte could do little more than sit and stare in wonder.
It didn’t seem possible that she got to touch him, feel him move over her. Inside her. “I never got to do the whole teenage groping thing. Other than you, I’ve only kissed one other guy, and that was in my twenties.”
“Let’s rectify that.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“I almost feel bad that the first night I had you in my arms I went right for the kill, didn’t give you all those hot and heavy make out sessions that end in frustration.” Trey fell down on top of her, his mouth going straight for hers. The short time they had been apart came bubbling to the surface in the form of an almost desperate kiss.
Charlotte’s hips rocked against Trey’s hard, jean clad cock, searching for release like a heat seeking missile. “Please. I need you Trey.” Suddenly Charlotte couldn’t care less about impressing his parents and friends. About making a good impression. She wanted his cock inside her more than she wanted to be liked by anyone.
“Oh, sweet girl. I know what you want. But I’m not going to give it to you yet. We’re keeping the rest of our clothes on.” Trey’s devilish fingers came up to brush over her puckered nipple. Even through the blouse and bra she wore, that small touch had her back arching and a needy moan dripping from her lips. “Shhhhh. Gotta be quiet, sugar. Don’t want my parents to hear.”
Despite the warning, Trey pushed his cock harder against the seam of her jeans, pushing the rough fabric between her lower lips to rub against her clit. Charlotte bit down on her lip, trying to contain the noises that begged to be spilled. Nothing she did could keep them all down. Trey covered her mouth with his wide palm.
“That’s okay, sugar. You be as loud as you need. I’ll make sure no one hears what is mine. And every damn one of these noises are mine.” Hand firmly in place over her mouth, he moved his lush lips to her neck, nipping and licking at the sensitive line running from her ear to her shoulder. The hand not muffling her wild whimpers cupped her breast, kneading it in time with the rolling of his hips.
Trey was right. She had missed out on this. Her one and only make out session had been nothing like the slow dirty grind Trey currently performed on top of her. Charlotte had no idea this amount of pleasure could be wrung from someone with all their important clothes still on. Being covered almost made it more erotic. The bare muscles of his chest and abdomen warmed her through the thin blouse, and she desperately wanted to feel his skin pressed against hers. The slick slide as they worked up a good sweat between them. But Trey was resolute in his assertion that they wouldn’t be getting naked. When her fingers tugged at the hem of her shirt, he simply plucked her hand away and bit her knuckles gently in reproach.
Removing his hand from her mouth, only two gasps escaped into the room before his mouth covered hers again. This inelegant, sloppy kiss was all tongues and teeth, but so hot, Charlotte thought she might lose her mind. She rubbed her hands over his short-cropped hair, loving the soft almost velvet feel of the short strands.
Not sure she could get to the finish line like this, Charlotte began begging Trey around his intense kiss. “Please. I need you inside me. I can’t without you touching me.”
“Sugar, I’m touching you, and you will get there, just like this.” A new determination seemed to overtake Trey. Dipping his head, he placed his palm over her mouth once again. He pulled down her blouse, but left the bra still covering everything interesting. He sucked on her cotton covered flesh, biting down on her nipple. The wet fabric abraded her sensitized skin, driving her pleasure higher until she teetered on the edge of an intense orgasm.
Trey lifted her head from her chest. “See, already there, aren’t you, baby girl. I bet I could push my hand down into those panties, and they’d be dripping wet, wouldn’t they?”
Charlotte squirmed and nodded her head, the pressure of his hand covering her mouth, preventing her from voice her reply, ramped up the erotic moment.
“I told you I could make you come like this.” He circled his hips, rubbing her throbbing clit in a new way that inched her closer to falling. Trey shifted so that his legs spread Charlotte’s thighs even wider. Then he did a filthy grind down onto her pussy, unrelenting in the pressure.
Eyes squeezed shut, everything inside Charlotte contracted into
almost painful release. Behind his palm, she moaned and screamed. Trey bit down on her nipple once more, and it sent her even higher. Not stopping with the movement of his cock rubbing against her, Trey moved so that his entire body lay over hers, just like he had that first time, totally enveloping her in his heat.
With his mouth directly next to her ear, he whispered in her ear. “I’m not going to come. I’m saving this hard cock for later. We’ll suffer through the rest of this party, and you’ll be the only one who knows I have a dick ready and waiting to slide into your pussy and fuck you into a coma. I’ll love watching that beautiful face of yours turn every shade of red when you look at me, knowing how much pain I’m in waiting for the heaven between your thighs. And even though I’ve just gotten you off, you’ll be just as needy as me when we leave here.”
Slowly, Charlotte recovered from her lust drunk inability to form thoughts. When she did, she opened her eyes to find Trey staring at her face. Emotions scrolled across his face like the headlines across the ticker on a TV screen. Lust. Affection. And strangely, fear. What he had to fear, she didn’t know. Obviously, she had forgiven him for the past weeks. She wouldn’t have done this with him if she hadn’t. An urge to reassure him took hold and wouldn’t let go.
Her panic attack from before a distant memory, Charlotte smiled and caressed his cheek. He leaned into the touch in a movement that very much reminded her of Weasley.
“Thank you for the distraction. Are you sure you don't want me to take care of that big problem in your pants.” She swiveled her hips against his still hard cock, and he hissed in response.
“No.” Trey kissed her forehead, then stood from the bed. He shoved his hand down the front of his jeans, where his cock tented the stiff fabric. With a few maneuvers, he tugged that part of him under the waistband of his jeans and pulled his shirt back on. The bottom covered the still obvious bulge in his pants. “Think of it as penance.”