by Dee Ellis
“Charli’s mine.” I growled; there’s no fucking way I’d let any of these guys near her.
“Oh yeah? Does she know that?” I laughed and killed him onscreen to work out some aggression.
“I told her.” I was pissed that I had also promised to prove it by tasting her and hadn’t had the guts to follow through.
“You told her? I don’t think that’s how it works, bro. You don’t just tell a girl you’re interested in that she’s going to be yours. What did she say?” Finn had a point but he didn’t understand what was happening between us.
“I know that’s not how you usually handle a woman. But this is different. Charli knows she’s mine. Will be mine.” I adjusted my last comment because I hadn’t made the move to claim her yet.
“Oh yeah? Might want to get on with making it official before someone else does, bro. Or before she finds out just why you don’t want her at O’Malley’s. Or anywhere else, from the sounds of it.” Again I killed him on screen and he cursed.
“You know what...you’re absolutely right. I’ll be right back.”
Finn had followed me all the way to the door, asking questions he knew I wasn’t going to answer. I had made a promise to Charli and I wasn’t about to break the first one I made her. It wouldn’t look good when I promised her other shit. Like when I promised her it was only her, despite whatever O’Malley’s had been about before.
Or when I promised to make her come until she couldn’t see straight. When I promised to make her forget every man who had ever touched her. Jesus, the idea of anyone else touching her, being inside her and seeing her come drove me fucking crazy. Not that I had any right. I hadn’t exactly saved myself for her.
With purpose I rushed to her place, not willing to let the night end without keeping that promise. It was late but I still had time. The cottage was close, something I was more grateful for than ever. The closer I got, the more nervous I became. My heart was thudding in my chest and I was sweating despite the cool fall breeze rustling through the amber hued trees.
When I got to her place, I hesitated because I wasn’t ready. I knew somehow the minute I laid eyes on that woman my life was going to be different. But knowing that and accepting it, really accepting it to be truth, were two different things.
For longer than I was proud of, I paced outside the low picket fence, fingertips running along the rough wood. I needed to fix that. There were, in fact, a lot of little things I needed to fix here. The flue in the chimney needed cleaned up, the attic needed insulated. The basement had some leaks and the kitchen sink tended to drip.
When I had taken my turn staying here, I had meant to get to all of it. Someday, I would fix it. Maybe before Pop sold the place, which was a long way down the road. He loved the place too much. With Charli there now, I wanted it to be perfect and I smiled like an idiot as I realized that.
My smile slid away quickly when as I was pacing, considering how Charli might be altering my life, someone passed me to head through the gate. I went cold, wondering if there was someone I didn’t know about. He was young, younger than me for sure. Stocky with a backwards cap and a too tight shirt with a name written across the front.
I followed him up the walk, intense jealously flooding me unlike anything I had felt before. I meant what I said to Finn. Charli is mine. Didn’t matter how long it took her to get on board with that, it was fact.
In that moment I knew my fear of her altering my life was a moot point. Charli had done that the day I met her. Maybe even before then, because I had been waiting for her.
Whoever her visitor was knocked on the door then spun around, whistling beneath the soft yellow glow of her porch light. Shit. A delivery guy. Feeling foolish for my jealousy and what I had been prepared to do to get rid of him, I realized he was giving me an opportunity. Rushing up the steps before he could knock, I greeted him, watching his eyes widen as he backed up.
Quickly I explained I was a friend here to have dinner with her. Then I paid for her wine, chicken and veggies and sent him on his way. Tipped him nicely too. I gave another knock at the door once he was gone, whistling his way down the street.
When Charli opened the door just a little, I almost dropped her food and took her on her doorstep. Dressed in tiny shorts that left her long, sexy legs bare, and a top that looked kind of like a baseball jersey, she looked soft and delicate. The top was too short, showing a flash of her soft belly and too thin because I could see her tits through it.
I wanted to drag her to the ground and ruin her. How I managed to control myself, I have no idea. Seeing her so relaxed, her long damp hair piled atop her head, and her skin scrubbed clean drove me fucking crazy. I felt a flare of anger as my new friend jealousy tore through me. Charli had been about to let someone else see her that way.
Cage?” Charli looked sweet and sexy and I knew I wanted her to change my life. However the fuck she wanted to.
“Yes, Sugar. Jesus Christ,” My eyes couldn’t take in enough of her, “You open your door to strange men looking like that?” Her beautiful gray eyes turned smoky as she peered up at me.
“What? No... I mean...its pajamas,” They were hardly anything I would call pajamas, “Why, exactly are you on my doorstep, with my dinner?” I ignored her and stepped closer, and tried to explain myself.
I think I mentioned her dinner and how I had taken care of it. Maybe even that it wasn’t exactly how I had imagined dinner with her. I can’t recall everything we said because I was watching her body. Watching it come alive because I was close to her.
Just like mine seemed to wake up whenever she was near me. The creamy skin at her neck and chest bloomed pink. As I stared at her perfect tits, the nipples hardened and I could faintly make out the blush pink.
Fuck I wanted to suck them into my mouth and hear her cry out my name. Arch her back and demand more. They were perfect and I couldn’t wait to feel their weight in my hands. Flick my tongue across the tip, and bite down until she begged me to chase her ache away.
Before I knew it, I was pinning her to the door, keeping my promise because I had to taste her. Claim her mouth, claim her. She was mine and she just had to get on board with that.
The delicate sweetness of her mouth was more than I expected. I almost went down to my knees. The taste of her, the softness of her full lips and the heat of her tongue against mine was so intoxicating. I tore her hair gently from the knot she had it in, tangling my hands in the slightly damp waves.
Charli smelled like soap and citrus and it clouded the air and filled my lungs. I never wanted to get the smell out of lungs. Charli gave in to me so quickly, arching close and whimpering that sound into my mouth. I needed her. Wanted her more than I had thought I did before tasting her. My knee shoved between hers and I felt her pussy hot and damp even through my jeans.
Groaning, I took and took from her mouth. Tangled my tongue with hers and crushed her soft curves to my hardness. My cock pressed hard and hot against her belly and she whimpered again, rubbing against me.
When her arms lifted to hook about my neck, hands tangling roughly in my short hair, I was weak. I wanted to lift her against me. Feel those long, smooth, sexy legs wrap around my waist as I pinned her to the door.
For a moment I thought, fuck it, I want her and she wants me, why wait? I let my fingers curl about the tiny shorts she wore, thought of ripping them off and burying myself in her sweet pussy. Because I knew she would be sweet. My mouth watered at the thought of her pussy in my mouth, my teeth tugging at her swollen clit. Watching her flush and cry out as I made her come in my mouth.
There was nothing stopping us. I knew Charli wanted me right then. Wanted me to do just what I was ready to do. Taste her and fuck her and make her mine. But I wanted more from her. I wanted her to give herself to me because she couldn’t stand the thought of not being mine. We both knew I was hers. The minute I looked into her eyes, I had become hers.
I wanted to own her because she wanted me to. Charli was not ready for th
at yet and I couldn’t take her until she was. When I started to break away, she let out a whimper that gutted me. I wanted to give her whatever she wanted. But she had to know she wanted it, wanted me, before I could.
Charli was pissed and I think that’s when I thought maybe I was in love with her. When she realized I was leaving, that I refused to fuck her until she asked for it and meant it, she let me have it. Lied to me again, which I had to warn her about. Charli was scared and even though I hid it better, so was I.
I just had been prepared for her to come into my life. Charli had not been waiting for me, as much as that may bruise my ego. Charli had been running from her ghosts. I’d let her run as long as it took for her to see I wasn’t giving up. I would chase every ghost away that haunted her until she was whole again.
Standing on the porch, looking down into her beautiful, fiery eyes, her face flushed from my kiss and lips swollen from the same, I knew my truth. I was falling a little bit in love with her every single second and she couldn’t stop it. Neither could I, not even if I wanted to. Which I absolutely did not.
It was scary to feel so much, so intensely, for someone I barely knew. Didn’t mean I doubted what I was feeling. I knew as I backed off that porch and said a goodnight that tore at me to say, it was as real as the heat at my lips from hers. Heading back to the station had been hard and I almost turned back more than once.
I didn’t because I never wanted her to doubt that I meant what I said to her. That I knew she was my future and I was hers. Even if she wasn’t ready to accept that yet. I had all the time in the world to wait. Even though the idea of waiting was killing me.
Once I got back to the station, Finn had been full of questions, none of which I wanted to answer. Which I think rattled something loose in that brain of his. We never got down to details about who we took home, but it wasn’t a guarded secret either. Which is kind of exactly how I felt about Charli. About kissing her and how fucking perfect she tasted and felt in my hands.
“You’re a goner bro, and you don’t even care.” Finn called after me as I headed for a very cold shower.
“Don’t I know it.”
The shower turned into torture when I thought about Charli. I knew she had been fresh from her shower; I could still smell her on me as I stood beneath the hot water. I started to turn it cold when my dick remembered her tits and the feel of her hot pussy at my thigh. Instead I closed my eyes and pictured her there with me, wet skin pressing close as I kissed her until we couldn’t stand. Felt her curves wet and slippery in my hands.
My cock was pulsing with need for her. I pumped it a few times, imagining her perfect lips around me. Sucking as she looked up at me with those gray eyes, frothy with pleasure. That did the trick and I came quick, harder than I remembered coming with my own hand.
After sleeping like a baby with the taste of her on my lips and my blue balls temporarily handled, I woke up chipper and ready to see her again. I had a stack of books that I checked out yesterday. I intended to use one as an opening to talk to her after the mentoring classes.
Today was the fourth day of the program and I only had tomorrow left. After that, I might get to work with the kids more, hopefully Devon, but I wouldn’t get to see Charli every day. Which was just not going to work for me. We would be heading to a training tower for the kids to see us in action. That meant no time for me to flirt or be inappropriate with my girl.
Which should make me bummed as I headed down stairs for breakfast with the morning shift. Instead, I was all but skipping and whistling a tune I was so fucking thrilled. The guys, Finn especially, took note but thought better of saying anything. Wise choice. Charli was not something I wanted to discuss.
Not because I didn’t want people to know about her. Because they would soon enough. Just because she felt like my secret right now. I wanted to hold onto how that felt. Soon the guys, my family, all the badge bunnies would know all about her. My sisters were going to lose their shit. I had to wonder what Gigi would rate her. I was certain at least a Hermione. Maybe even a Lizzie.
“Morning Cooper,” Finn smirked as he sank in beside me, “Why so enthused about life today, bro-tastic?” Well shit, I thought they were all smart enough not to ask.
“It’s a nice day, I’m alive. Healthy,” In love with the girl of my dreams, I thought, “with a job I love and working with some great kids. Why not be enthused, bro-seph?” My waffles and eggs became incredibly interesting as I waited for him to drop it.
“Oh yeah? More time with Charli Doll has nothing to do with your, ahem, enthusiasm?” Of course he didn’t drop it; the guy was persistent.
“Maybe. Not like I don’t have to share her with half a dozen kids and all you fucks first, though.” Still I knew afterwards I intended to stall as long as she would let me at the library.
“Hey you think it’s such a bright idea to let her see how dangerous our job is? I mean, it’s fine to get some tramps panties wet,” He lowered his voice and spoke into his orange juice, “little different if it’s a girl you got your sights on, Cooper.”
All at once I was filled with dread. I hadn’t even thought about Charli being at the training tower today. We would be enacting real life drills to show the kids some realistic views of what the job was about. Charli already got spooked listening to Finn and Levi spew their bullshit horror stories.
Even though the training tower was a place we knew backwards and forwards, seeing it up close for a civilian was different. I was trained well and in my five and half years of being a fireman, I’d only battled two fires that actually scared me. I knew it was a risk, the job, but it was in my blood and I never thought about doing anything else.
I didn’t think Charli would warm up about the threat of loss my job could cause any time soon. Especially if she had to see it up close today. We would be setting fires and running drills that were likely to terrify her. Fuck. Why hadn’t I thought about that? Other than the fact that I had planned the mentoring program weeks ago. Before I even knew Charli existed.
Shoving my waffles down my throat and tasting nothing, I grew more worried by the minute. The thought of scaring her away tore at me and I shoved my breakfast away. Finn looked guilty for mentioning it but he was right. I hadn’t even considered this.
Fuck! What was I going to do now?
1
That kiss not only nearly brought me to my knees, it did a number on Charli. Watching her now as we stood listening to Sara explain how the transportation to the training tower was going to work, I could feel it. Saw it the moment her gray eyes flashed when mine met hers when I showed up early to the library. I’d had enough thinking about the doom that might be facing us today.
So I came early to see her, hoping to find her as anxious as I was. I should have known better; Charli was clearly talented at running from shit. When her creamy cheeks flushed and those lovely eyes darted away, I knew she had her ass in gear to run as fast and far from me as she could.
“Morning, Sugar.” I greeted as I found her and the mouthy brunette laughing behind the first floor reference desk.
Charli lifted bright, open and needy eyes to mine before shuttering herself fast. I leaned on the counter and stared at her, taking in how fucking stunning she looked today. That tiny skirt and flowing hair yesterday had my cock at attention and I thought maybe she meant to get just that reaction.
Today she wore a peasant blouse, with billowing sleeves and neckline that left her shoulders bare. Her creamy skin was dotted with a few freckles and my fingers itched to shove her hair off her shoulders so I could press my lips there.
Charli’s obvious attempts to divert my attention with the long flowing skirt she wore did the exact opposite. She looked perfect and happy. I knew no matter what she said part of that was because of me.
“Morning, Cage.” The brunette, Lola, smirked at me.
“Hello. Ready for me today, Sugar,” I focused my look back on Charli, dismissing her friend completely, “think the kids will like th
e training tower?”
“Morning, Cage. I certainly hope so.” I was not blind to her taking note of the friend making eyes at me.
The friend, Lola, was cute in a wild way; dark short hair, some purple in there too, short and tiny like an angry fairy. Compared to Charli, the girl looked like she was trying too hard and Charli didn’t even notice. My eyes held Charli’s and I noticed her cheeks flush the longer I stared. I fucking loved it.
I fought the urge to reach my fingers out, trace the curve of her cheeks and feel her warmth beneath my fingertip. Instead I thought about her comment: “I certainly hope so”. Was that about being ready for me, or the kids? Charli looked away too soon and I ached to have contact with her again. I could sense her need to shut me out and I hated it.
Sara came to the rescue a few minutes later and we followed her quietly. I moved close behind Charli, catching her hand when it swung behind her. Giving her fingers a squeeze, I waited for her to snatch it away. When she didn’t, her head bowing as I watched her bite back a sexy smirk, I held on tighter.
Fuck just touching her had me hard as steel. Feeling her little hand in mine gave me that connection I needed. I leaned close as we paused to let Sara talk with another employee. Bending my head into her neck, I breathed deep, running my nose along her jaw. Charli yanked at my hand and I chuckled against her ear, pressing a wet, opened mouthed kiss there.
Charli gasped and her stormy eyes met mine as she sent a lethal glare at me over her shoulder. Just as she started to take her hand away, I yanked too. Bringing her into my side, I dipped my head again. Bit at her shoulder, loving the hungry sound that came from the back of her throat.
I felt her entire body tighten as she struggled to shut down. Her fingers dropped mine and she was following Sara without a glance back. I pushed too far. My thoughts were cloudy from her closeness, from the perfumed scent of her hair and her skin. I had to reign myself in or I would run her off, no doubt.
Catching up to them outside, Sara was explaining the plans for picking the kids up at the school. Again, like the idiot I am, I tried to move close to Charli. Craved her like I was starving and she was the only sustenance I needed. Charli shot me a warning look as I edged my way closer to her. Following it up with a curt shake of her head, she did her best to ignore me.