Sweet Charity

by N. J. Walters

  “Put me inside you.” It had to be her decision. Once she’d made it, there was no going back. For either of them.

  Her brown eyes were wide. There was a wildness in them, partially fear and partially arousal. At this point, it was a tossup as to which one would win. He reached between her thighs and touched her slick folds and fingered her clit, ruthlessly using everything he’d learned about her in their short time together to arouse her once again.

  She cried out, arching her hips, trying to get more of his touch. He licked and nibbled her neck. He kissed a hot path toward her ear where he captured the sensitive lobe and nipped lightly. Charity almost came off the desk.

  “Put me inside you,” he gritted out. He couldn’t last much longer. His balls were so tight it was actually painful. He almost yelled in victory when her fingers tightened around his cock and she lifted her hips, squirming around until the head was positioned at the opening of her tight channel.

  He pushed forward until the tip was inside her. Her inner muscles rippled around his cock head. It was a special kind of hell as he fought to keep from coming. She had to orgasm again, but this time with his cock buried in her hot cunt. He needed her to come as he pounded into her.

  “That’s it,” he crooned. “You can take me.” He swirled his tongue around the delicate whorl of her ear and was rewarded with a soft cry of pleasure.

  Adrian pulled back and looked at her as he began the slow push inward. He curled his hands beneath her thighs, lifting and widening them as he buried himself to the hilt in her hot depths.

  He pulled back about an inch and pushed forward again. She made little mewling sounds deep in her throat that turned him on. They were both slick with sweat, their bodies hot. Adrian strained to keep control.

  “Wrap your legs around my waist.” He needed his hands free to touch her. Charity complied, sliding her legs around him and locking her ankles at the base of his spine. Adrian kissed her, a hard, quick caress that left them both breathless. Then he began to fuck her.

  Slowly at first, he pulled his cock almost all the way out of her pussy before driving it deep again. It was heaven. It was hell. Every time he pushed inward, her inner muscles closed around his erection, squeezing it in a silken vise. He angled his hips so his pelvic bone brushed her clit with each thrust. Her thighs tightened around his waist. Her nails bit into his skin.

  She had to come first, but it was going to be close.

  Charity grasped Adrian’s shoulders, digging her nails into his flesh. Adrian’s expression was one of deep concentration, almost frightening in its intensity, as he surged in and out of her body, his strokes getting harder and faster. He wasn’t hurting her. Quite the opposite in fact. Pleasure suffused her. Her body was alive, thrumming with desire, filled with heat. She’d had one orgasm and was close to another.

  And that frightened her.

  Faster than she’d thought possible, Adrian had not only overcome her innate fear of men, but she was very afraid she could easily begin to crave his touch. In the year since her husband’s death, many men had tried to seduce her in order to try to gain access to her father and his political clout. All of them had left her cold and afraid.

  She’d thought herself frigid, as her husband had accused her of being so many times. But Adrian had found the core of her, the hidden heat. Like a smoldering volcano, it had been building. Waiting. And now it had exploded.

  Charity only hoped she survived the experience. No matter what happened, he’d changed her somehow and there was no turning back.

  His hips flexed faster as he drove into her. His cock slammed into her pussy at an increasing rate. His pale blue eyes were burning with an inner fire as he fucked her. Her naked butt slid across the desk and Adrian swore.

  He slid one arm beneath her shoulders, the other beneath her behind, and lifted. His strength was amazing. He held her as though she weighed nothing at all. Whirling her around, he pressed her back against the wall. “Hold on.” He lowered his head and latched on to one of her breasts, sucking her nipple into his mouth.

  Charity clutched at his shoulders for support, tightened her legs around his waist. He surrounded her, his large body covering hers as he continued to hammer into her. She was so close. Now that she knew what to expect, she wanted another orgasm, wanted to experience that feeling of flying, that brief moment of total union with another person. It was beautiful and scary at the same time.

  His muscles tightened beneath her palms, his moments grew more powerful. He reached between them and touched her where they were joined. Charity screamed. Her entire body bowed, her head tilted back and she cried out again. Heat slammed through her, over her.

  Adrian’s cock swelled and rippled. She felt a surge of wet heat inside her as he thrust two final times. He swore beneath his breath as he leaned forward, resting his forehead against the wall next to her. They were both breathing heavily, their hearts pounding. Charity had no idea how he was staying upright. Unable to hold her legs up any longer, she unwrapped them from around Adrian’s waist and let them fall to the floor. The motion pushed him even higher inside him. She gasped and he groaned.

  Lifting his head, he kissed her. It was such a gentle caress it brought tears to her eyes. His gaze never left her face as he withdrew, one slow inch at a time. She started to crumple the moment he released her. He swore and caught her in his arms. Picking her up, he carried her to the chair and placed her on it. Charity leaned back and tried to catch her breath.

  She could hear the rustle of clothing and opened her eyes. Adrian was pulling on his T-shirt and tucking it into his pants. He was totally dressed and she was lolling naked in the chair. The heat and pleasure of her orgasm fled, replaced by an intense feeling of vulnerability.

  She scrambled out of the chair and grabbed her pants. Her underwear was twisted inside and it took her some time to untangle the mess. She could feel Adrian watching her, which made her even clumsier. When she finally tugged both pieces on, she felt better. But she was still half naked. She looked around for her bra.

  Adrian held it out to her. The flimsy white garment looked even more delicate resting in his large, tanned hand. “Thank you,” she mumbled. It took her three attempts, but she finally got the clasp done up and the straps pulled into place.

  He said nothing but handed her shirt to her. When she was dressed, she stood there, staring at her boots, uncertain as to what to do. She’d done what she’d come to do. She’d given him the message from Manuel. She’d also made love with Adrian. That was something she would never have believed would happen. Yet it had.

  But it was over and done with. And she was under no illusions that it meant anything other than sex to him. It meant more to her, much more. She felt a connection to this man, this dangerous stranger. It hurt her to think about leaving him. Which really wasn’t very smart of her. She’d proved to herself that she wasn’t frigid, that sex with a man could be good. For that, she would always be grateful. It was enough. It had to be enough.

  She glanced at him. He was leaning against the edge of the desk, the desk they’d just had sex on. Heat climbed up her cheeks. She’d never be able to look at that desk without blushing. Her gaze shot to his face. He was waiting patiently for her.

  He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped. He tilted his head to one side as if listening to something only he could hear. He sighed. “We’ll finish this later.” A knock came on the door. “Come.”

  The door burst open and a slender woman with shaggy black hair and violet eyes bound across the room and all but jumped into Adrian’s arms. “I missed you.”

  Charity felt sick in the pit of her stomach as Adrian’s arms came around the woman and he hugged her. They were obviously close. What had she just done? What had he done? If he had a woman, he had no right making love to her. No, having sex with her. There was no point in prettying up what had just happened.

  “I should be going.” She inched her way toward the door.

  Adrian pinned her with hi
s laser blue eyes. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  The woman in his arms jerked away, as if suddenly realizing Adrian wasn’t alone. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to burst in on anything.”

  “Of course you did,” Adrian gave the woman an indulgent smile. “Silence, this is Charity.” He reached out and caught Charity’s hand with his, tugging her closer. “Charity, this is Silence.”

  Silence glanced at their joined hands and back at Adrian. Charity could see the shock in the other woman’s eyes. But she didn’t sense any anger from Silence.

  “Where’s Tienan?” Adrian asked.

  “Right here.” A large, dark-haired man took up most of the doorway. It should have been impossible for him to appear without anyone hearing him, yet Charity hadn’t heard a sound. He held out his hand and Silence went to his side. Tienan wrapped his arm around the woman and held her in a proprietary embrace. “We came early. She couldn’t wait to see you.”

  Charity could hear the sardonic tone in Tienan’s voice, yet she could also hear the affection too. Adrian shrugged and gave a short bark of laughter. “What can I say? I’m irresistible.”

  Silence balled up her hand and hit Tienan in the stomach. The man didn’t even grunt. He merely raised an eyebrow at her. “I missed my brother.”

  Charity stared from Silence to Adrian and back again. Their coloring was totally different and they shared no features. If they were brother and sister, she was his maiden aunt on his mother’s side.

  Tienan inclined his head toward her as if hearing her unasked question. “He took her in when she was a kid. You get used to them after a while. I’m Tienan.”

  “Charity,” she returned.

  “We need to talk.” Tienan was suddenly all business. Like Adrian, he radiated a sense of power and danger.

  Adrian nodded. “It’s worse than you think. Manuel is dead. And according to Charity, the General knows where we are and will be attacking in two days.”

  Tienan pinned her with his green gaze. Danger oozed from every pore in his body. She wouldn’t want to get on this man’s bad side. It wasn’t hard to imagine what he would do to her if he ever found out she was the daughter of his enemy. Thankfully, he didn’t know who she was. She sidled closer to Adrian, stopping when she realized what she was doing. Tienan glanced at Adrian. “Trap.”

  He nodded. “Probably.”

  Charity stiffened. “Trap?” He thought she was sent there to trap him! Was that what earlier was about? Did he think he could get more information out of her if he slept with her? Charity felt ill. “Is that what the roll on your desk was about?”

  “Uh oh.” Silence tugged on Tienan’s arm. “We should probably come back in a few minutes.”

  Adrian ignored everybody but Charity. “No. That was about us having sex.” Charity tried to pull away, but he kept his hand manacled around her wrist. He wasn’t hurting her, but she wasn’t getting away until he set her free.

  “Bully,” she muttered.

  “That’s not what you were saying a few minutes ago,” he murmured.

  She couldn’t believe he’d throw her stupidity back in her face. “A few minutes ago I didn’t think you were a total jerk who had sex with me to get information.”

  Adrian sighed. “I didn’t have sex with you in order to get information. I had sex with you because I wanted to.”

  “Umm, maybe we should go.”

  Adrian ignored Silence and continued. “Didn’t you question how you were able to sneak in and talk to Manuel? How you were able to get out of the city so easily?”

  She had, but she’d thought it was pure, dumb luck. From his point of view, it was suspicious. Still, the fact that he’d think she was part of a trap set by her father, hurt her. It was unreasonable, but there it was. Her emotions were more tied up with this man than she could even have imagined.

  Charity needed to get out of here. “I’ll be leaving now.”

  Adrian cocked an eyebrow at her. “Where are you going?”

  She shrugged and gave him a falsely sweet smile. “Anywhere but here.”

  Tienan laughed. “Seems like not all the ladies find you irresistible.”

  Charity was totally embarrassed and completely humiliated. But she’d long ago learned that as uncomfortable as both feelings were, they didn’t kill you. She tilted her chin up and tugged at her wrist.

  Adrian shook his head. “You’re not going anywhere. You’re mine and you’re staying with me.

  Adrian knew his pronouncement had shocked the three other people in the room. Hell, it shocked him too. But there it was. Charity may or may not be part of a conspiracy by the General to trap him, but it didn’t matter. She was part of him now and he knew he could never let her go.

  Better than the women, Tienan would understand what he meant. He’d thought Silence had betrayed him early in their relationship, yet he’d been unable to leave her alone. As an Alpha, once he had a goal or a mission, there was nothing that could sway him from his course. His body, mind and soul had decided that Charity was the woman for him, the one he’d been waiting his entire adult life to find. It might not be convenient timing or the best of situations, but that didn’t matter to Adrian. He was an Alpha. He’d been designed to deal with less than ideal conditions.

  He was keeping Charity and that was the end of it. He’d get past all her objections later. Right now, he needed to plan a strategy.

  “Any idea when Logan will be here?”

  “Did I hear my name?” Large and blond and every inch an Alpha, Logan stood in the doorway, a short, light-haired woman in front of him.

  Charity was quiet beside him, her eyes wide as she studied Logan. Adrian wrapped his arm around her shoulders, tucking her closer to his body. She glared up at him, but said nothing. “Charity, this is Logan and Mercy.” They both nodded, but said nothing. They seemed more interested in the way he was holding Charity so close. There would be questions later. But that was okay. Both men would understand.

  “Let’s get Derrick up here and we’ll start planning.”

  Charity curled up in a chair, her eyes closed. She wasn’t asleep, but close to it. She didn’t know how Adrian was still awake. She resented the fact that he seemed as fresh as if he’d slept for eight hours straight. She’d been dozing on and off for hours as the men talked and planned strategy. The other women, Silence and Mercy, had stayed for a while and then disappeared to go wherever. Charity knew better than to try to leave.

  The words hadn’t been said, but she was a prisoner. Until Adrian decided to let her go, she was stuck here. What shocked her was the fact that she wasn’t really upset about the idea. After all, she had nowhere to go in the outer city, nowhere to sleep that was safe. At least here she was sheltered and presumably would be fed eventually.

  She ignored the little voice in the back of her head that pointed out that she could also be with Adrian longer. The man was a jerk. A sexy one, but a jerk nonetheless. He’d slept with her in order to pump her for information. Except he hadn’t asked her any questions after they’d had sex.

  They’d been interrupted, she reminded herself. But still. Now she was grasping at straws. Sighing, she shivered and rubbed her hands over her arms. Adrian rose from his desk, head cocked to one side as he listened to Tienan. He went to the corner of the room, leaned down and picked up a blanket from the pallet. He walked back to her side and spread the blanket over her.

  “That should help.”

  Charity didn’t know what to think. It was disconcerting to think that he’d been aware of her the entire time, even while she’d been sleeping. “Thanks.” She gripped the top edge of the blanket and pulled it tight around her.

  “You can lie down if you want. You’d be more comfortable.”

  Her eyes were drawn to the pallet in the corner. His bed. It would smell like him. Her nipples tightened and she shook her head. That was the last thing she needed. She needed to build some barriers against this man. “I’ll stay here.”

  Adria
n nodded and turned back to the men. “If the General wants a fight, it’s time we take it to him. There has to be a way for us to get inside. If Charity got out, we can get in.”

  Logan leaned back in his chair, long legs kicked out in front of him. “We could take down a garbage detail. Hide a group in the back of the truck. Once we’re through, we can disarm the security post and lower the entrance to the Gate.”

  Tienan rubbed his hand over his chin. “It’s risky. He could be expecting us to do just that.” He glanced at Charity. He didn’t need to say the words for her to read the subtext. He thought she was a spy for the General. She didn’t dare tell them her relationship to the man. They’d kill her outright. After they tortured her.

  “I could get in,” she offered. Four heads swiveled in her direction. She wished she’d bitten her tongue. She’d just escaped the inner city and her father’s long grasp and now she was offering to go back in.

  “No.” Adrian’s expression was dark and forbidding.

  “Yes,” she countered. The more she thought about it, the more sense it made. The guards wouldn’t kill her, not outright. Her father would probably have her tortured and kill her himself, but that would come later. She remembered Manuel—beaten, tortured and dying—and the way he fought until the end. His life meant something. If this gave the Resistance the opening it needed, it was well worth the sacrifice.

  She pushed the blanket aside and stood. “It makes sense. I can sneak in like I did before. If you have some sort of explosive device you could give me, I could blow the control center at that entrance of the Gate.”

  “Or you could sneak back inside and betray us all,” Tienan pointed out.

  “I could, but I won’t.” Her hand went to her face and the scar that ran down her cheek.