by Petrova, Em
Her head tossed again, messy, short, dark blonde hair flying. “Oh, don’t bother. I’m sure it’s all just fine anyway.”
“Talk to me. Give me a clue what’s wrong.” Charlie spread his hands.
“Wrong? I told you I’m just fine and dandy.” She waved her hands. “You haven’t wanted to talk for days or even weeks, so why start now?”
He searched her eyes, hard and bright with tears. Damn, he’d hurt her. Yes, he’d kept his distance, he had to. How the hell could he not tell her what he did to help her if they chatted like normal? Now he saw the mistake. “You’re angry. Why don’t we have some lunch and work this out?”
“You expect me to just drop everything because you happen to be in town?” She snorted. “And act like everything’s fine?”
“I did for you.” Charlie spoke quietly yet saw his words slam into her as hard as any physical punch. Hurt and betrayal entered her face, making her take a step back as her lips parted in a gasp. He hated hurting her, but he had to reach her somehow. “I will do anything for you.”
“Yeah, well.” She turned away. “We had a fine time, but we aren’t in paradise anymore.”
He reached for her, hearing his Christine in the soft reply, all her anger gone. He could make this right, make it better, and take the hurt away. He just needed to hold her. “But all good sex ends.” She whirled to face the wall. “Sex and pleasure, like you said before I left for Australia. Just a good time. Nothing more.”
He felt as though she’d hit him again even harder. “Just sex? You’re saying our night, our time was just sex?”
“Sex, of course, nothing more.” She shrugged then wrapped her arms around her waist.
“No damn way.” Charlie grabbed her arm and spun her around. “Why are you lying to me?” He jerked her closer and raised her chin so he could see her face. “The hell you’ll reduce what we have to simple sex. Damn it, talk to me.”
She gazed up, her eyes depthless with hurt, tears, and resolve. The hurt and tears upset him, made him feel guilty, but the resolve terrified him. “I’m fine. There’s nothing to say.”
“There’s everything to say, especially since you keep stressing fine and punched the hell out of me.” He tightened his grip. “How could you think for a minute sex was all we had? I wanted you then; I want you now.”
“No,” she whispered. “Don’t say anymore; it’s all been said and done. Thanks for stopping by. Have a great flight home. Good bye.”
He released her, stunned. “Fine. Sorry I interrupted your redecorating projects. Make sure to nail the molding to the wall and not the floor next time.” He walked to the doorway and halted. He’d be damned if he left things like this and wonder the whole flight back and beyond what he should have done instead. She turned the volume up so Celtic fiddle and drums swelled around the room, the beat urging him on as he jerked her body against his. “Just sex? Let’s see.”
His mouth fused to Christine’s when she gasped, his hands pulling her body to his, the thin cloth between them no barrier. Charlie smelled the sweat from the hard work she’d done, more arousing than any perfume. Her hands fisted in his shirt, yanking him closer as he gentled his lips and explored her sweet mouth. She tasted even better than he remembered. With a half sob, her tongue darted to meet his, deepening the kiss, creating a mesh of warm heat and need. He leaned his forehead to hers, gazed at the woman, the best friend he’d missed so much, and wrapped an arm around her, holding her thudding heart against his. “I’m sorry for the whole mess, you being on leave and me not. I’m sorry you’re so hurt. I believe in you. You’re innocent. I believe you, my Christine.”
Tears flowed down her cheeks. “Thanks, but I almost don’t even care about the case.”
He caught one crystal drop, flicked it away, and stroked her soft cheek. “Tell me, please.”
Christine took a shuddering breath. “Why have you been so short? Is it because we had sex or the corporate directive? Is there someone else? What’s wrong?”
He couldn’t, wouldn’t lie to her. “It’s not you, sweetheart. You did nothing wrong. Whoever is stealing and trying to make us take the fall is the one in the wrong. I thought it would be easier for us both if I kept my distance. There’s no one else. No one, but you.”
She frowned, a tiny line creasing the top of her nose. “What about the woman at the airport, the one who grabbed and hugged you?”
He leaned back with a grin, knowing he could have such fun with her jealousy. No more separating them though. “She’s a flight attendant and my sister.”
Her frown grew. “She’s your sister? I met her on my flight, and she never said you were siblings or that she even knew you.”
“I should have guessed you two would end up on the same flight. She usually does the Hawaii to LA shuttle, then LA to France or England.” He chuckled. “So you’re jealous of my sister. She’ll be delighted to hear this.”
The blush staining her cheeks fascinated him to no end. “You were so distant when I saw her jump in your arms; I naturally assumed you’d moved on.”
“The only woman I’ve seen since I plucked you from the bench in the airport is you. Only you.” He cupped her cheeks and softly kissed her.
But the line remained between her eyes. “‘Whenever I tried to talk, you kept saying, ‘fine’, putting a wall between us. I couldn’t figure out how to get over it.”
“There’s no wall now.” He needed her. He had to make her aware and understand, somehow, she remained all he wanted and needed. He ground his hips against hers. “Let me show you nothing between your skin and mine.”
Her mouth rounded in a perfect O. “I’m so sorry I shouted at and hit you. Can you forgive me?”
He stroked her back, and then began to lift her shirt up. “Make it up to me.”
Chapter Ten
Christine ran her hands through his dark hair and deepened their kiss. Oh how she’d missed him. She stood on tip toe to press against him tighter, breathed deep of his scent, and knew serenity she’d not experienced since her time in Hawaii. She wanted to devour all of him, didn’t care if they said one word or a thousand, and never wanted him out of her arms again.
“Charlie,” she whispered and watched his navy eyes darken to black. He held her gaze as he lowered his head and raised her cupped breast at the same time. She leaned back and gasped when his tongue touched her through the old, thin T-shirt and bra. A mockery, his tongue on the material when it should be on her bare skin.
Taking his hand, she led him to her room. She regretted he always seemed to catch her at her worst, when she so wanted to be beautiful for him. She tugged the shirt over her head, shaking her hair free, and tossed it away before moving to unclasp the old bra. It should be lace, she thought. My hands are too rough, my skin too sweaty. How could he want me?
As if reading her mind, he lifted her chin and kissed her so gently she felt tears again. He clasped her hands over her head as his gaze traveled down every inch of her body. She didn’t breathe, couldn’t move under his gaze as he touched his forehead to hers. “You’re beautiful, my Christine.”
If only to him, if only for this moment, she felt beautiful. He kissed her again and again. She loved how they kissed, lips soft, warm, clinging. His tongue dove into her as his body soon would and caused a moan to rise within her as he licked the shape of her mouth. “Charlie, I have to touch you.”
He released her hands and stroked a finger down her side, halting at the waistband of her jeans. “I could touch you all day and it wouldn’t be enough. I want your skin on mine.” One snap followed by a slow zip and her jeans and panties pushed down her hips. She twisted, stomped, and kicked her feet free a second before he crushed her against him, a wind storm beating the ocean waves on the shore as they surged together. Her breasts flattened against his chest, her hips cradled in the saddle of his, and their mouths fused.
Christine heard his moans above hers as she broke the kiss once more to gasp in air only to lose it in a cry as h
is lips nibbled her skin. Oh God, his teeth on her hard nipples. “Yes, please, yes.” The half-moans, half-screams came from her, she realized in a daze. “I want to make you scream too.” She dropped to her knees and gripped his hard length through his slacks.
Charlie shoved her hand away. “God, no. Not yet. I can’t.”
“Shh.” She lowered her mouth, determined not to be stopped. He hissed a breath, a curse, and stiffened more. “Please, just let me.”
“Take.” He dug his hands deep in her hair and held her in place as she smiled in triumph. Her fingers lowered his zipper as she watched him. Stroking him, rubbing the material of his pants against him, seeing how beads of sweat appeared on his forehead and his jaw clenched made power and need course through her. He trembled, his fingers caught in her hair with a shaky grip. You want me as much as I want you. She found hard hot skin under her light caress before she shoved his pants and briefs to the floor. Encircling him, she pumped as her thumbs traced the path of veins in his smooth skin and blood pulsed to harden him even more. His legs trembled, and his voice was ragged. “Enough. Let me.”
“No.” Christine leaned closer and heard him mutter a curse. His grip increased, tugging at her head as she resisted. The power struggle lasted seconds and ceased when her thumb rolled over his moist tip. His knees pressed against her shoulders, his fingers massaging her scalp as her mouth lowered and she tasted him. She nibbled and heard muttered words in his native language. Ah, he liked this and wanted it as much as she. Not making either of them wait longer, she suckled deep, filling her mouth with his hard length. Blood pounded in her ears, her focus complete as she tongued and pumped, determined to bring him to release. Faster, hotter, harder, a flurry of her lips and hands and hips grinding as his fingers gripped her head and helped her make love to him. When his breath gasped and the first salty sweet drops fell upon her tongue, she clamped her lips around all she could take and sucked.
“Ku’uipo, Ku’u ‘I’ini!” Charlie jerked as he came. She clutched tight and swallowed over and over. When the stream ended and he shuddered against her, she slowly, with great care, licked him clean. She leaned back on her heels and saw pure satiated male.
“That’s the second time you’ve said those words. What do they mean?” Christine held his hips in her hands, watching the satisfied spark dim into a guarded expression. “Please.”
“It means ‘my sweetheart, my desire’.” Charlie’s fingers released her hair, sliding them down to cup her cheek. “I should add ‘Mahalo nui loa’, which means thank you very much.”
Christine smiled. “I love the language. It’s like your poems, so beautiful and ethereal. Thank you for those and for being here.”
“My pleasure.”
“Mmm, yes.” She ran the tip of her tongue over her lips and winked. “But also delicious for me. I should have some more.”
“Little vixen.” Charlie yanked her to her feet, gentle but as determined as she’d been, his shuttered expression gone as need shone clear and potent. “Now it’s my turn.”
Christine had time to gasp and grab his hair before his lips and teeth descended on one breast then the other, branding every inch until she squirmed and moaned. His hands rocked her hips to his. She murmured his name.
“You will scream, my Gem.” Charlie raised his head and pushed her toward the bed. “And scream and scream.”
Playing with fire. The phrase dashed through her mind as she stretched under his hands, pushing her breasts farther into his hands. “Make me scream louder than you did when you released, all throaty and out of control. Think you can?”
“You dare challenge me?” He grinned and flexed his fingers. “Such a foolish thing to do when I show no mercy.”
She faintly heard the song, You Raise Me Up. How fitting. Her own panting breaths echoed in her ears matching his soft murmurs of pleasure as his tongue drifted to her center and dove in. Christine arched, bit her lip, and retained enough control not to scream right at the beginning. Charlie’s tongue flickered back and forth against her button until she couldn’t think of anything but how his hands felt, stroking, caressing, and kneading her skin as he devoured her. When his teeth found her clit and bit ever so slightly, yet with demand, she screamed. As he’d promised, he showed no mercy, licking, fondling and teasing until she came again, hard and fast, a long wave of sensation from his hands and lips and tongue. Charlie. Only Charlie.
“Ku’u lei,” he murmured. “Go over once more for me.”
When Christine next knew her surroundings, he had cradled her against his chest, stroking her hair as his equally thudding heart pounded under her ear, their hands entwined. Taking a shaky breath, she asked, “Did I make it up to you yet?”
He kissed her, long and soft. “Almost. But I have the making up to do.”
She rubbed her leg over his. “I guess we just have to keep making it up to each other then.”
“Have some ideas, do you?” Charlie grinned. “Have I mentioned I love how insatiable you are even if you will eventually kill me?”
“Takes one to know one.” She rolled atop him, feeling his erection between them. “You’re more than up for the next challenge.” Sliding her breasts over his chest and making him groan, Christine lowered until her center rested just at the tip of his shaft and held still.
His gaze twinkled even as need flared. “Tease.”
“Who, me?” She grinned. “I could really show you some teasing.”
He surged deep and hard inside her in one stroke then held, throbbing against her inner walls. Christine closed her eyes, so full, so joined, at one with him and loving the feeling. “Like this, you mean?”
“Not teasing.” She rocked her hips slow, gaining speed as they kissed, tongues and lips melding. Losing count of the strokes, Christine sank into his gaze, into him, as everything inside her tightened with a climax of swirling colors. The flood of his hot release followed seconds later. She collapsed on him, her breath shallow and broken as his heart pounded under her ear. Charlie traced circles on her back as they rested in peaceful silence, still joined, his scent, their scent, surrounding them. She had to say it, couldn’t stop herself. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too.”
Christine brought a hand to cup his face. He kissed the tip of her fingers as they drifted over his lips. It felt so perfect, so right, being here with him like this except for one thing. She took a deep breath and addressed the white elephant in the room. “I believe in you too. I always have and always will.” She watched his face darken with something she couldn’t quite comprehend. “You didn’t steal the money or falsify the orders or sign my name, and it’s not your fault, no matter what happens.” Something struggling in his expression caused goose bumps on her skin. “Maybe we can figure it out together.”
His silence seemed wrong. Guilt filled his expression and just as quickly it vanished, but she sensed his withdrawal. Christine shook her head. No. She didn’t, couldn’t doubt him after what they’d just done, what they were to each other. She trusted him as she’d never trusted any other person. Charlie threw an arm over his face, blocking her physically as well as emotionally. “Don’t ask me about this.”
Something inside her curled up and stopped breathing. Whatever he hid separated them more than the distance between their homes. “You said you believed in me. Did you mean it?” Anyone but Charlie could doubt her, anyone. He lay still, his chest heaving as she climbed from the bed and pulled on a robe. “Oh my God, you didn’t.”
“Of course I meant it.” He sat up, his expression closed and professional, no emotion. “But there’s a reason I didn’t get placed on administrative leave too. I’ve been cleared. You haven’t.”
She took the blow as if he’d hit her. He never would, but this unexpected emotional punch hurt more. “How could you come here, touch me, enter me, whisper all those things if you think I’m a thief and a liar?”
“Making love with you has nothing to do with the corporation and never did.
” The edge to his voice, the hard bitterness, cut her like a knife. “Peg asked me not to discuss this case with anyone, especially you. She asked the same of you, didn’t she, because our jobs are on the line?”
Peg, short for Margaret, Christine realized as numbness seeped through her, and the promotion. Oh God. “You two are old friends and she cleared you because you’re the Golden Boy. I’m expendable. It doesn’t even matter if I didn’t steal the money; it’s all about protecting the corporate image.”
Charlie thrust a hand through his hair. “Stop before we both say something we regret. Just stop, Christine. Please.”
Fury overrode all her common sense. “Have you only come here to see if I’ll admit what you and the corporate heads think I’ve done. Some after sex pillow talk? Were you to search my house for missing money and forged orders while I slept exhausted from our bouts of sexual release? You’re part of the corporation’s rat patrol, their ultimate secret weapon with those sweet Hawaiian words. I bet they don’t even translate like you said. They probably mean ‘stupid fool’ or ‘trampy slut’.”
“For God’s sake, don’t be ridiculous.” He pounded a pillow flat. “I shouldn’t even be here, but I couldn’t stay away. Think whatever else you want, but the truth is you and I share something unique.”
“We do? Really?” Christine couldn’t believe anything anymore. He wouldn’t say he believed her incapable of being a thief and hadn’t come to investigate her. The fury, the fear, and the grief made her cruel. “So it’s okay to fuck me like a whore as long as you get the promotion, and I take the fall.”