My trembling fingers glided over the smooth skin of his chest, shaking at both sheer excitement and nervousness. Though only a few hard weeks, it had felt like so long since he last touched me. Charlie tugged at my shorts, sliding them down my legs and off my ankles. His broad hand palmed my backside, pulling my now nakedness closer to him. The feel of his girth against my pelvis threw me into oblivion, and I rushed to climb on top of him.
But he stopped me. “Patience, my sweet.”
I bit my bottom lip and took a breath, trying to calm my raging hormones. He pinned my shoulders down and covered my body with his own. Ever so gently, he touched me with little kisses: first on my cheeks, then to my neck, my shoulders, and to my breasts. My nipples twisted at his touch, and I tried desperately, without success, to not scream out in pleasure.
“Be loud.” He whispered. “I want to hear what I do to you.”
My cheeks flushed. “Amanda is down the hall.”
He flashed a boyishly charming smile. “Let her be jealous.”
He quickly wrapped his lips around my pointed breast as he slid his finger inside of me. I arched from the shock, but settled quickly, allowing him to take over my body. I dug my nails into his back, begging for him to take me. I knew it wouldn’t be long now, but my patience was running thin. I wanted him, I wanted to feel him, and I wanted him to feel me.
His warm mouth left my chest and his tongue trailed down, further and further until he landed at the curve of my hip. His teeth nipped at my skin, tantalizing me, and throwing my senses into overdrive. I wasn’t going to be able to hold it together much longer. I wanted to scream. I needed some sort of release.
His tongue delicately rounded around my clit, teasing me with endless possibilities.
“Why’d you stop?” I cried out.
“I want you to tell me how it feels.” He blew his warm breath onto my nether regions.
“So. Good.” I moaned. “So. Very. Good.”
“No.” He stopped me. “I want you to scream out when I touch you. I want to know what I’m doing to you. The louder you scream, the harder I’ll take you.”
Just his words were enough to throw me for a loop. I didn’t want Amanda to wake up, but I also didn’t want him to stop. And unfortunately for Amanda, I wanted him to have his way with me more than I cared about her eight hours of sleep.
“Okay.” I yelled into the darkness, lifting my hips up into his face.
“Good girl.” He cooed just before putting his whole mouth on me.
I screamed out, crying for more, and he certainly wasn’t stingy on giving more than I could even ask for. I felt my body begin to grow numb; I was about to explode from his torture, his torment, his love.
“I want you inside of me.” I gasped as I pulled his face up to mine.
My lips found his just as his hips found mine. I screamed into our kiss, feeling completely filled and fulfilled. In the moment, I could barely think of anything but the act we were performing, but there was still a tiny part of my mind that felt the need to travel away from the instant and into the future.
What did it matter if he wasn’t exactly the picture I had in my mind of the person I would end up with? What did it matter if our parents were doing their thing on their own time? What did it matter if he had the very real ability to rip my heart out and toss it in the mud?
Nothing could compare to this. Nothing in our future could be bad enough that I shouldn’t be able to enjoy this while I could. So why did I keep pushing him away? Why wouldn’t I allow myself to enjoy this happiness while I had it?
And why did I have such a strong feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong?
Chapter Sixteen
Charlie
There was a single week- six days- left of the assessment portion of Hannah’s training by the time I relieved Bradley of his duties. I felt bad coming in this late in the game, but I was sure Bradley didn’t mind. After all, he was jumping out right before the worst part; he wouldn’t have to go through the final assessment. I envied him a bit, but it was worth it just to be by her side.
Hannah truly impressed me… more so than I had been even as her initial trainer. The girl knew her stuff. She was obviously well studied and well trained. And her body… well, it was impossible not to see the change. Her muscles were always toned, but now she was tight. She was solid, curvy, and cut. I had no idea it was even possible to be more attracted to her than I already had been. I wasn’t quite sure how she had time to advance as much as she did, in all areas that she did, with all the distractions that had been going on, but somehow, she had made it work.
On day three, Hannah finally opened up about the Danny situation. She started at the beginning, and then quickly moved to the point where his hands were wrapped tight around her throat.
I may have overreacted.
I may have thrown a glass across the room.
I quickly apologized, telling her that I of course didn’t mean to scare her. She seemed to find it more endearing than she did frightening. I may have been losing my touch.
“But… the whole idea of it makes my blood boiled. That slime ball isn’t allowed to touch you. You’re…”
She instantly cut me off. “Charlie, do not say that I am yours. I have told you this time and time again. I am not yours. I am no ones property.” She was so calm that it was actually making me a bit uncomfortable.
“But you are mine to protect.” I offered, needing to stake my claim any way she would allow me. “And even if you don’t see yourself that way, I see you that way. So you have to understand how difficult this is for me to hear. I should have been here. You know, I felt that something was wrong, and yet I did nothing, because I was trying to let you protect yourself. But now I’m facing the consequences.”
She smiled, stood up from the edge of the bed, and straddled me in the desk chair. “I’m going to kiss you now, and then we’re not going to speak about this anymore today. Deal?”
I smiled up at her, and although it was out of character for me, I was completely okay with that offering. “Deal.”
“Hey love birds,” Amanda called through the closed door, “you ready to go, or are you still doing the sex to each other?”
We both cracked up. Hannah stole her lips back from my grip. “You can come in, Amanda. We’re not,” she winked at me, “doing the sex.”
“Anymore.” I coughed under my breath.
Hannah gave me a little love punch and warning eyes before climbing off of me and grabbing her bag.
Amanda had privately told me that she was very happy Hannah had called me. Danny freaked her out, and she really didn’t want him coming around anymore. I told her I felt the same way, and I wasn’t planning on going anywhere. It felt good to know that Hannah confided in Amanda, and yet at times I had been a real jerk, Amanda still wanted me there. Apparently I was doing something right.
The morning was fine, a bit overkill and dramatic for my taste, but it was fine. Hannah escaped to the locker room before lunch, and I made her promise to meet me right away in the mess hall.
She didn’t keep that promise. Ten minutes into my wait, I knew something had to be wrong. As she joined me at the table, I asked Amanda if Hannah was still in the locker room, if maybe she wasn’t feeling too great, but with wide eyes, she told me that she had assumed Hannah was already with me. She had left the locker room almost immediately after she went in.
“She doesn’t learn, does she?” I announced, a little too protective over her.
Not needing any help from anyone, I made my way out of the front door, past the security gates, and to the outer parking lot. In the distance, I saw Hannah, and I saw the infamous Dr. Danny Falk.
“Fuck this.” I boomed as I sped in their direction. I had become surprisingly mobile with my walking boot.
There was nothing to worry about in the moment; that was obvious. They were standing at least three feet apart, and no one was holding a firearm of any kind. Overall, it was not too tr
icky of a situation. But I still needed to get in between them, for my own sanity.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t our friend with the compound fracture.” Danny’s glazed over eyes bore into me. “I see you’re healing nicely.”
“What are you doing here, Danny?” I didn’t dare show him respect.
Hannah put her hand on my shoulder. “Please, Charlie. I can handle this. You can go back to your lunch break.”
“What?” My arms flew into the air, and my voice carried to the clouds. “You specifically called me to come rescue you from this deranged lunatic. And then I traveled almost five hundred miles to do just that. So why he fuck do you think I’d ever allow you to be alone with him?”
I saw Hannah’s face instantly drop as her body tensed up. And from the corner of my eye, I saw almost the exact same reaction from Danny.
“You called him?” He took a step toward the two of us. “Hannah… you called him?!”
“I thought… I didn’t know…” Hannah stuttered. I don’t know if I had ever seen her so frightened.
I jumped in. “You don’t need to answer to him.” I wrapped my fingers in hers. Her hand was cold, yet clammy and damp. How was he doing this to her? “Danny, I think it’s time that you leave.”
He gave me an all-too-calm smile before taking a determined step toward me. “No, Charlie,” he emphasized every consonant sound in my name, “I think it’s time that you leave.”
But he didn’t wait for me to leave. Instead, he speedily turned on his heels and marched deeper into the parking lot. Hannah and I stood there, both frozen, until we watched his car skid onto the open road. I squeezed her hand in mine.
“Well,” I tried to joke, “for someone who had just told me that it was time for me to leave, he surely didn’t follow up on it, did he?”
Hannah’s red, blotchy face peeked up at me. She looked like she might cry at any second. “Charlie… he’s going to hurt you.”
I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “That guy? That guy?” I had to repeat it. “Look at me, Hannah. He couldn’t hurt me.”
It wasn’t meant to be a cocky statement. It was meant to be an honest one. I was nearly twice the size of the guy. There was no way he could ever take me in a fight.
Hannah lifted her cheek to my face. “You’re a smart man, Charlie. But Danny doesn’t need to fight with his body. He has access to drugs. He told me that; I just didn’t listen.”
“You think I would ever let that man near me with some sort of mystery needle?” I tried to calm her by making the idea seem completely preposterous, but the more I let slip from my mouth, the more I saw real worry on her face. “Hey, hey.” I grabbed her, pulling her close into me. “I won’t let him hurt you. That’s all that matters.”
She wrapped her arms around me. “I’m so sorry.”
“Stop it. Do you hear me?” I didn’t know what else I could say to make her understand that everything was going to be fine.
“He knew you were here, Charlie. He knew.” Her body began to shake against mine. “And he told me that if I didn’t come talk to him alone, he would find a way to hurt you.”
I kissed the top of her head and promised that it would all be okay. I wouldn’t let anything happen to her, and I wouldn’t let anything happen to me. We were going to make it home in one piece.
It all seemed so silly. Sure, I had people threaten my life before, but this was just ridiculous. I wasn’t worried at all; the man had nothing on me. And yet, I felt a twinge of uneasiness in my chest. Maybe the fact that I was so confident that I would win this battle was exactly what he would be able to use against me.
“I have a really bad feeling about this.” Hannah looked up at me with her big brown eyes.
“I made you a promise.” I consoled her back into an embrace.
But I didn’t – I couldn’t - tell her that suddenly I had a really bad feeling about it too.
Chapter Seventeen
Hannah
It was the day of the final assessment. I had slept, I had studied, and I had rolled around the bed a number of times with Charlie. I was rearing to go. After today, I would find out if I were accepted into the program. After today, I would be one step closer to actually being able to call myself a Green Beret. At first it meant nothing to me, but now, with everything I had been through, it was exciting, it was powerful, and it was damn impressive.
“You ready?” I heard Charlie’s voice behind me in the hall on my way to the green room, and I speedily spun around to greet him.
“I’m actually excited!” I jumped up.
“Of course you are. This is a big deal.” He looked around the empty halls, and then quickly stole a kiss.
“Charlie!” I girlishly slapped him. “You can’t do that here.”
“Oh, can’t I?” He winked at me before smacking my butt and racing down the hall.
I felt good: maybe too good. Today was either going to be absolutely amazing, or something would go terribly wrong.
Ugh, I couldn’t allow myself to think like that. I needed to stay positive. I needed to—
“Hi Hannah.”
I stood there, paralyzed. I knew that voice, but it didn’t make sense. It didn’t make any sense. How could he…
“Danny?” I wasn’t even able turn around to confirm that I had only imagined his voice behind me.
“That’s right, sugar lips.” He was real; he wasn’t just in my head. And he took his time saying his words, knowing that he was torturing me with every breath.
I slowly turned to him; I had to. “What? How? Why?” I didn’t need to finish my questions. He knew exactly what I was saying.
“What am I doing here?” He cocked his head, fully proud of himself. “I’ll be playing the role of doctor today.” With every word, his smile grew bigger. “How did I get myself here? Well,” he continued, not even holding a second to see if I wanted to respond, “It just so happens that I went to school with your infirmary doc, and I simply expressed to him that I might be interested in switching from the hospital to a base. He offered to show me the ropes. And why?” He took two steps towards me before holding his hands out to mine. “Because I told you that you were going to wish you made a different choice, Hannah. And today, I believe I’ll be able to prove that to you.”
My ears rang and my head spun. This couldn’t be happening. How… how… how?
No. I was tired of playing his game. I was tired of letting him think he held all the cards. This had to stop, and I had to stop it. “I don’t know what you believe you might be able to pull off today, but know that I will never stop fighting you. When I’m through with you, you will curse the day you met me.”
He puckered up his lips and blew me a kiss, not at all phased by my threat. Well, even if he refused to take me seriously, I was going to be true to my word. There was no mistaking that.
After one more glare, I turned around, and confidently walked down the hall to the green room. Today was my day. I wasn’t about to let him take that away from me.
“Where were you?” Charlie whispered to me as I snuck into the room and found my seat next to him.
“You have to pull out of the assessment today.” I casually ordered with my eyes still focused ahead.
“What?” I didn’t think he’d just accept that without an explanation, but it was worth a shot.
Somehow, I was holding it together quite nicely. “Danny’s here. He’s working in the infirmary. And he will do anything in his power to hurt you.” I impressed even myself.
Charlie started laughing. At first he tried to stay quiet, but soon, people on the other side of the room were looking over to see what all the fuss was about. He told me not to worry. He told me there was absolutely nothing that could happen. This was his turf. He knew this base and he knew the people on this base. Danny had come to the wrong place if he were hoping to get the upper hand.
“Hey,” Charlie winked at me as I stood up to receive my mission, “Good luck out there.” And then
he whispered. “Nothing is going to happen.”
We were all given scenarios to play out through the mission, according to the route we were hoping to take, be it Communications, Weapons, Engineer, or Medical. As the 18-D Medical Sergeant, my job was to make sure everyone on my team was safe. I took a good look at my team. Three of the women were in the program with me, each battling respectively for the three other roles, while two veterans filled the final spots. And one of those veterans was Charlie. I also knew that at least one of the other five people on my team were given an order to be hit, so I could get them to safety, gage their symptoms, and treat them accordingly.
It was going to be so fucking awesome.
Amanda gave me a little frown from across the room when she found out she was going to be on the opposing team, but I knew we’d have a blast fighting about the outcome later.
Each team was given thirty minutes to discuss the situation and then execute a plan. We were playing offensive, as the scenario stated that we needed to retrieve a box of sorts from behind enemy lines. I let everyone else do the talking and strategizing, knowing that my job was yet to come.
Embrace The Suck (A Stepbrother Special Forces Novel) Page 24