by Jennifer Ann
As he continues to drag his lips down to my shoulder, I tilt my head back and close my eyes, soaking in the moment. His musky scent, the feel of his greedy lips on my skin, the little sounds of pleasure he makes deep in his throat. All the things about my man that collectively drive me insane.
One of his hands moves around to my front side to caress between my thighs while the other begins to pinch one of my nipples. I bite back a pleasured cry with the simultaneous feel of his hardness pressed to my backside and a commanding finger stroking between my legs, claiming what’s his.
“My girl’s always ready,” he whispers in my ear. Goosebumps crawl across my skin, heightening the sensitivity of the nipple Charlie’s toying with.
“Mhmm,” I hum in agreement, pushing my bottom back until it comes in contact with his hard-on. It feels as if every last nerve ending in my body has been frayed by his touch and I want it to last. “Don't be gentle.”
Suddenly his fingers are digging into my hips and he’s pushing himself deep inside of me, moaning once he’s completely buried. The sounds of our bodies rise above the roar of the dark ocean as he slams in and out, grunting in a sexy little noise. The new position allows him to go deeper than before, creating a different sensation that’s thrilling and oh-so-good. Paired with his skilled hand that resumes coaxing me to come apart for him, I’m quickly brought to the edge of all control.
“That’s right, Freckles,” he whispers. “Let it all out.”
With the divine ebb of an orgasm, I turn my head in search of his lips. They meet mine with a soft caress, but I need more. I run my tongue over his lips, begging to enter, and we’re soon engaged in a no-holds-barred kiss laced with the sweet remnants of champagne. Colors burst behind my closed eyes when I completely split at the seams. With the intense release I moan inside Charlie's mouth before my insides take on the consistency of melted butter.
Since my calves burn from holding the position in heels and my post-orgasmic haze makes me light in the head, I don’t complain when Charlie pulls out and spins me around. In the blink of an eye I’m jumping into his arms and wrapping my legs around his waist. I kiss a line along his strong jaw as he grabs my backside and lines things up.
A hiss passes through my teeth when he brings me down around him again and again, tapping the nerves still dancing from my orgasm. Between that and the sight of my beautiful man arching his head back to the skies, eyes closed as he utters my name, I feel as if I’ll come again. Then his icy blue eyes are back on me with an intensity that makes it impossible to breathe. His forehead presses to mine, and he thrusts one last time with a strangled noise vibrating against his throat.
“Damn, I don’t want to ever let you go,” he whispers before pressing kisses along my face and down my neck, as if ready to go again.
“Then don’t.”
Tears burn behind my eyes with the thought of returning to reality when all I want to do is stay cocooned in his strong arms. Maybe I should take him up on his offer to move in. Just not right away. At least not until I’ve had a chance to talk to Sharlo. If anything, she may have what it takes to talk me down and make me realize it would be crazy. I know her father would resume paying my portion of the rent without batting an eye, but it still feels gross to ditch my friend so soon for a guy who has yet to tell me if he’s in love.
As he caries me inside to the bedroom, I bury my face in the crook of his neck and try like hell to keep my eyes dry.
* * *
Early morning I’m roused by the divine feeling of soft lips dragging across my neck. “What time is it?” I whine, protecting my eyes from the sunlight before wiggling back against Charlie’s naked body. He hardens instantly against my butt cheek.
“Time to make you cry out my name,” he growls, sliding his lips up to the delicate spot beneath my ear.
Humming, I ask, “What time are your nephews coming?”
“Too soon.” He sighs deeply before spinning me around so we’re face to face. Sleepy Charlie, short hair messed and the slightest shadow lining his jaw, is sexy as hell and stirs every primal instinct to claim him with my body. “Reconsider my offer, Freckles. Move in with me.”
Oh shit. Not this again. “I don't—”
“Let me finish,” he says with a wicked smile. “Being with you has inspired me to write music again. Not only that but the thought of going back to our separate lives in a few hours is more than I can fuckin’ take. Ever since Danny disappeared, I thought there was nothing worth pursuing outside of my career. Then I saw you in the crowd at Leona’s and knew everything was about to change. You made me believe in something real again. You make me feel things I didn’t think were possible. You make me want to change, to become a better man and not be another famous asshole who’s known for having a different chick on his arm every week. I don't know where my career is headed. I don’t know where I’ll be or what I'll be doing a week—shit, even a day from now, but I know I’ll get through anything with you by my side.”
Well hell. No one has ever said anything so profound to me before. How can I possibly say no? Then again, how can I accept? As much as I love him, the fame thing still scares me shitless.
“If you can’t give me an answer today, say you’ll at least come stay with me for the week and give it a try,” he pleads. “If you're worried about leaving Sharlo high and dry, I can pay your part of the rent until she finds a new roommate. I’ll do whatever it takes to make this happen.”
“Okay,” I whisper, surprised by the sudden sound of my voice.
Until he brushes a tear off my cheek, I didn't know I was crying. He claims my mouth with a toe-curling kiss that I feel in every last part of my body. It’s filled with desperation, hope, need, and all sorts of heightened emotions that make my head spin and me heady, yearning for more. And I’ll be damned if it doesn’t feel a lot like love.
In the short time since I met the infamous rockstar from Brooklyn Heights, I never would’ve guessed my path would change so dramatically. Now if I can find a way to convince Sharlo and my family that I’m crazy in love and not simply crazy, maybe my heart would lodge its way out from my throat.
Then Charlie backs away, his jaw tight. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
His somber words still my heart. This doesn’t sound good. I’m not able to read the reluctance in his icy blue eyes. It’s like he’s on the verge of crying.
I touch my fingertips to his lips. “What’s wrong, babe?”
His eyes close as he takes a minute to enjoy my soft caress, then he gathers my fingertips in his hands and gives them a kiss. “The drummer from my band, Danny? He was…my brother.”
My lips part with a small intake of breath. “Wait. Why didn’t you mention it before?”
“Because there are only a small handful of people who know about it. I haven’t told my mom or my sister because my asshole father begged me not to tell anyone while he was on his death bed. He didn't want anyone to hate him after he was gone.”
The fact that he trusts me with something his closest family members don’t know warms my heart, but it makes me sad knowing he was forced to keep such a big secret from those he loves. “But your dad told you?”
He shakes his head. “I stumbled onto the truth after we started the band. Saw my father’s name on some of Danny’s legal papers at our lawyer’s office. A part of me always wondered if Danny sought me out, knowing he had a brother even though he denied it. It seems like a little more than dumb luck was involved when we were introduced by a mutual friend in high school.”
His thumb and forefinger smooth down his thick eyebrows in tandem, over and over like it’s the only thing keeping him from going over the edge. “My father was a self-absorbed prick. His job had him on the road all the time, and he had a woman in every city. My mom should’ve divorced his ass before I was born. When I told him I knew about Danny, he tried to deny it until I tricked him into a meeting with Danny’s mom.”
“I’m sorry your dad put you th
rough that. I can’t imagine what it must be like to find out your friend is your brother and then lose him without any explanation.” I brush my fingertips over his chest. “You don’t have any idea where you brother could’ve gone?”
Something changes in his gaze, making him look like a lost little boy. When a tear rolls down his cheek, I realize he looks so vulnerable because he’s crying. Cupping his face with my hands, I drag my thumbs across his cheeks. “Baby, what is it? You’re scaring me.”
With a shake of his head, he looks down, sniffling. The doorbell chimes ring through the beach house, breaking the palpable tension. Charlie snaps his head away, wiping his face on the back of his hand. “Those little shits are early.” Jumping off the bed, he grabs his boxers off the floor from the night before.
His sudden mood change leaves me reeling. “Can you please tell me first what’s wrong?”
“Later,” he promises with a flirty wink, throwing his T-shirt over his arms.
Not wanting to be caught half naked again by the teens, I’m quick to dress behind him. But the uneasy feeling from seeing Charlie so weak doesn’t go far. He’s holding on to something big. Life changing. And I’m scared to death knowing he doesn’t want to tell me because he knows it will change everything between us.
I’m ready before Charlie’s done in the master bathroom, so I run to the front door to let his nephews in.
But I may as well have opened the door to a parallel universe.
A series of loud clicks explodes in front of me as reporters and photographers swarm the front step in a feral pack, shouting over each other. An overweight man crouched nearby yells, “Looking good, Ms. Kendall! Are you enjoying New York so far?”
My heart jumps into my throat and I suck in too big of a breath that leaves me wobbly on my feet. How did he know my last name? Taking a step back, I collide with a hard chest.
“You’re on private property!” Charlie growls behind me, wrapping a protective arm around my waist. “If you don’t clear out I’ll call the cops!”
“He…knows…my name,” I sputter, trying like hell to steady my breaths as my legs struggle to hold me up. Visions of my brothers and dad and the rest of the world seeing my name plastered everywhere make my stomach churn. I sink into the warmth of Charlie’s chest, wishing it would swallow me whole.
“Evelyn! Look over here!”
“Evelyn! Are you going to keep your job at Leona’s or follow Charlie on the road?”
“Who designed your dress, Evelyn?”
“Evelyn! How does it feel to be among the list of Charlie Walker’s groupies?”
“Evelyn, is it true you were hired by Charlie’s agent to fix his image?”
“Were you part of the ménage à trois that took place in Charlie’s apartment last weekend? How do you feel about sharing your man with others? Was it your idea or his?”
As Charlie leads me back toward the house, shouting obscenities over his shoulder, I grab his arm to stay on my feet. The reporter’s last questions volley back and forth through my head with the force of a gong until everything becomes dark.
I’m either going to throw up or pass out.
Chapter 22
SHARLO
After Evelyn’s text Friday night saying she’d been invited to holiday at Charlie Walker’s beach house, the first real pangs of envy since this all began crept their way inside my head. It’s ridiculous, really. By now I love Evelyn like a sister and couldn’t fathom hating her like some jealous cow. Still, I’m the one who spent several years fantasizing what it’d be like to shag the rocker, and I do admit I’m a bit sad I won’t see my new flatmate for an entire weekend.
But as my mum would say, Que Sera, Sera. Of course these were also the last words she uttered to my father as she served him divorce papers and jumped on a plane back to England, so that saying certainly hasn’t done him any good.
The weekend passes with very little ado outside of clubbing with friends and watching a marathon of delightfully tacky 80s films over a tub of ice cream. As I’m debating what to do with myself on Tuesday morning, there’s a ring at the door. It doesn’t dawn on me that I’m wearing a see-through tank top beneath my kimono until after my ex gets an eyeful.
He greets me with a charming smile and leans against the doorframe, leering over my half-naked body. “Hello, sweetheart. That for me?”
I won’t deny that Richard looks quite fit. Dark hair grown to his chin and face deeply tanned, he’s likely returning from his latest adventure of climbing mountains and whatnot. I’ve never been one to turn down an outdoorsmen, especially one with emerald eyes that shine with the knowledge that I’m unable to resist his good looks. Apparently he still hasn’t come to terms with the inadequate size of his todger.
“I may be randy, but I’m not desperate,” I tell him, rolling my eyes as he steps inside. As if to spite me, my heart flutters with the familiar scent of his cologne—a mix of danger and intrigue, much like himself. Arms crossed over my nipples, I turn to face him square on. “What on earth are you doing here, Richard? Rent was transferred into your account three days ago.”
He claims one of the bar stools like he never left and we’re still flatmates. It feels far too familiar for me not to become edgy. “Ever since that Danielle woman moved out next door, I’ve been thinking about coming back to live there.”
I make a laughing noise that’s lacking in actual humor. “And what would that prove, exactly? If this is a ploy to get me back, you’re nutters. I’m not taking you back, Richard. We’ve gone over this before.”
Twice, to be exact. The first time I was pulled back in by his charm after I caught him with his tongue down some slag’s throat while we were still taking classes at the university. The second time, well after graduation, I should’ve known better when I walked in on him with his hand up another tart’s skirt, but he begged me to stay as his family had all passed and I was all he had left. I can’t decide which of us is more pathetic, really.
Richard leans back on the stool, giving the illusion that something must be stuffed inside his pants the way a sizable bulge appears. “We were good together, babe. You can’t deny it.”
My hand burns to slap him straight away for even suggesting such a thing. “You’re nothing more than a cheating trollop,” I argue. “If you’re not here as a friend, I kindly ask that you leave. You have no business here.”
Rising from his seat, he swaggers toward me with a smirk and pins me against the wall. “You’re lying.” The smell of cinnamon gum and the outdoors—something that would once wet my knickers—fills my lungs. “You can tell yourself all you want that it’s over between us, but your body will always crave my touch.”
The second he lifts his fingertips to dust across my bosom, my traitorous body becomes alive with vibrations and I’m unable to catch my breath. Damn it all to bloody hell, he’s right. Why can’t I ever seem to rid this troll from my life once and for all?
As if to answer my prayers, there’s a frantic knock on the door accompanied by a man’s incoherent shouting. Finally able to breathe, I smile sweetly at Richard. “If you’d kindly back away, I believe that’s for me.”
With a displeased look Richard steps back, allowing me to race for the door. My pulse flutters along with my eyelids as I pull in a sharp breath. On the other side there’s a rather fit bloke with a black overnight bag hanging from one impossibly broad shoulder. For a moment I’m afraid Evelyn has sent a strip-o-gram as some sort of cruel, twisted joke.
Dark thick brows drawn down, generous lips in a tight line, hard body flanked with tense muscles, the man’s quite obviously brassed off over something. My vision becomes unable to choose between the dark hair sticking out from beneath the cap or the stubble lining his strong jaw. From his frayed cargo shorts, worn T-shirt, and faded ball cap, I can’t imagine he’s from Brooklyn or even assume that he speaks English.
The only things I can say about him with upmost confidence is that (a) he works out and (b) he could easil
y be the most attractive creature I’ve ever laid eyes on. And the way his dark eyes drink every last inch of me in, unable to hide his interest in what he’s seeing, I’d bet my knickers he’s straight as an arrow.
A full minute of us appreciating each other must pass before our eyes lock. At once I recognize the man behind the warm brown eyes from pictures. Without having the faintest idea how to tell Evelyn’s twin siblings apart, I cry, “My love!” and spring to my toes, flinging my arms around his thick neck. “It’s so good to see you!”
Bloody hell, his muscular body feels wicked crammed against mine. Even his manly scent drives me mad with desire.
“Please help me out, mate,” I whisper. “My ex won’t bugger off.” I don’t know much about her brothers other than the fact that they’re diligent workers and fiercely protective, having driven their little sister out of town.
When I back away, his still hard gaze draws over to Richard. “Who are you?” the twin demands in a deep, husky voice, reaching down to take my hand. Warm tingles trail up my arm when his much larger fingers twist with mine. I want to jump up and down like a school girl when Richard flinches from the gesture. A coward like him would never start a row with the massive man at my side.
“Darling, you do remember me telling you about my landlord Richard?” I say, squeezing the twin’s giant hand. “He popped by to let me know rent is going down yet again. Isn’t that lovely?”
“Lovely,” the brother parrots, passing Richard a menacing glare. “A simple call would’ve been even better.” His immense chest expands as the two men stare each other down. As much as I’d fancy watching the fit twin kick Richard’s pathetic arse, poor Richard wouldn’t have a chance of leaving in anything other than a body bag.
Finally my cowardly ex moves forward, his eyes on the floor. “I was just leaving,” he mumbles, taking off toward the door. He pauses to look back at me before pulling on the handle. “Don’t push it, Shar. I’m already giving you one hell of a deal. I’ll be around.”