by Cara North
“Why is that so shocking? We knew they were coming. You almost gave me a heart attack.” Joshua shifted her weight back around so she could be comfortable on his back again.
“Charlie had plans for Ayden. I’m sure they are interrupting.” Evelyn soothed him by stroking his hair. He was always trying to protect her.
“Well no one’s interrupting us.” Joshua smiled as he continued to walk home. “There is a tent in the backyard that Ethan and Chase put up for the boys.”
“Ethan and Grace are probably in it.” Evelyn laughed.
“Then we’ll kick them out.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
* * *
Back at Ayden’s house…
Noel came downstairs to find Ayden stretched out on the big plush couch with Page snuggled on his chest. They were both sleeping. The sight of her big brother with a baby on his chest seemed so strange. Ayden was definitely a family man, but finding a woman who could handle him was always a challenge. He wasn’t easy. He was set in his ways, and he had no intentions of changing that.
His high school girlfriend broke up with him when he was in Navy boot camp. Stupid girl. Noel hadn’t heard him speak of another woman since then. She was sure he had to be like other men on some level, but he was her big brother, so she couldn’t imagine him taking advantage of women on a whim. Certainly, she couldn’t picture it at this moment, while her baby girl was sleeping so safe and sound on his chest. She only hoped Ayden could find a woman able to keep up with him and hopefully love Elvis because Ayden sure did. She kept in touch with Jessica just in case she was the only woman he ever loved. It was a desperate situation, women and Ayden.
Noel scooped Page up and shook Ayden gently.
“Ayden, go to bed. You’re tired.” Noel nudged him again.
“Fine.” Ayden grumbled and finally sat up.
“Hello sunshine?” Noel turned the television off and headed for the stairs behind him.
“Sorry, I’m a little beat.” Ayden grumbled.
“See you in the morning.” Noel was always cheery except when she didn’t get her way. She placed a kiss on his cheek at the top of the stairs and headed into her room.
“Night, darlin’.” Ayden headed down the hall. He started into his room then changed his mind.
Stepping inside Charlie’s room, he saw Charlie sound asleep, just as he left her. He paced across the floor, turned out the light, and pulled the covers down underneath her. Finally, he shifted her over in the bed.
She slept sound; she always did.
He could have tossed her out the window, and she wouldn’t have woken up. He pulled the blankets up over them both as he slid in next to her.
Folding his large arms behind his head, he closed his eyes. He would be there in the morning, and then they could discuss last night.
Chapter 10
Charlie was dreaming, a good dream. She was alone with Ayden, and they were making love. She grinded into him and held on tight. She could sense him everywhere. The feel of his chest pressing into her; his scent filled the air. She lifted and plunged over and over driving him deeper and deeper.
Ayden awoke facing Charlie. She was facing him, her nails digging into his back and her sex pressed and wiggled against his thigh that had somehow moved between hers during the night. Charlie was asleep, but she was moaning and grinding on him in a parody of the sex act. Again, she threw him off guard.
Charlie felt the climax so strong it cramped her stomach and forced her awake. Opening her eyes, she felt the final waves of the orgasm and at the same time faced Ayden who was staring at her in wide-eyed wonder. It was a little difficult to process both things at once. She tried to push back, but his big hand tightened on the small of her back holding her in place.
“Good dream?” Ayden was amazed at what he knew just happened. A surge of wetness seeped right through the cotton pajamas and onto his skin. Damn she was hot. Charlie could easily blind a man with her sexuality.
“Ayden.” She gasped. “What are you doing in here?”
“Sorry, darlin’.” He let go of her. He didn’t think she would mind. That was her whole plan, he thought, to get him in bed. Now he was there and she wanted him out? “I didn’t want you to wake up and head downstairs in your underwear when we have guests.”
“Guests?” Charlie slowly relaxed. She still straddled his thigh, and her hand was now on the arm that he had removed from around her. She wanted him right here where he was. She didn’t want to wake up molesting him in her sleep.
“Noel and Tom are here with the baby, Page.” Ayden fought the urge to touch her hair or kiss her lips.
“Oh.” Charlie remembered last night like a flashback. All of it pouring in at once. Ayden licking her fingers, the doorbell ringing and watching him leave her room. “OH.”
“What?” Ayden noticed her eyes open wide and her soft mouth form a perfect little circle with that last thought.
“Last night, you didn’t…” Charlie slid her fingers up and down his arm in a loving caress now.
“No, but that’s not what I’m here for,” Ayden lied. He knew damn good and well he hoped she would let him relieve the tension that threatened to strangle him soon. As soon as he walked past her door last night, his cock reminded him of what he had seen earlier.
“No?” Charlie sounded disappointed.
“Well.” Ayden lifted his hand and pushed her bangs aside. Her hair was so soft and silky. “I have to admit I thought about it. But…”
Charlie wasn’t hearing it this morning. He had watched her have two orgasms within less than twenty-four hours, and he hadn’t had one. She could feel his erection pressed against her. She knew he had to be aching to find release. He wasn’t ready to sleep with her. She could tell. This was her seduction. Giving him ideas of what he would miss if she left. In his current condition, this might just do him in.
Charlie silenced him with her fingers. She pinched his lips shut then placed a hot kiss on his neck. The room began to blur as she took him over. Pushing him back and climbing on top of him while kissing and licking his neck. Ayden wanted to kiss her. Her lips felt so good on his neck. Charlie didn’t give him a chance. She was pushing her way south, and though he tried to protest so he could savor her kisses and get a hold of those lips with his own, she grabbed his wrists and set them above his head.
“Stay there,” Charlie whispered then went back to her mission.
“I want to kiss you, darlin’.” Ayden strangled on a laugh of frustration as her tongue dipped into his navel. His steel erection nuzzled between her breasts. “What are you doing?”
“Something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time,” she whispered into his abs.
Ayden went to reply, but he ended up groaning instead as her hand slicked beneath the pajamas and twisted the hair surrounding his sex gently with her fingers. Charlie pulled the pajama bottoms down and exposed him completely. Her heart beat a solid thump at the sheer size of Ayden. He wasn’t just long, he was thick. Starting at the base, she made one long lick to the top and enjoyed every bit of his reaction. His thighs tightened, and his hips pressed down into the bed urging her to the top quicker. Her name was soft and desperate on his lips.
“Feel better?” she teased.
“Almost,” he croaked.
Ayden wasn’t sure what he had done to deserve this, but he hoped he did it more often. Charlie was licking him, and like an ice cream cone on a hot summer day, he was melting quickly. When her lips parted over him and her tongue slicked out, he thought he would explode. He had to hold out as long as possible. Savor every moment.
“That’s better. God that’s good.” Ayden fought to keep his hands above his head where she had placed them.
Charlie devoured him with greed. He was trying to hold out, but she didn’t want him to last. She wanted him to give up, surrender and then want more. Charlie worked her left hand in unison with her lips while her right hand cupped and stroked his testicles. They were tight and he was ready, so
she began humming and sucking harder. She was in control here, not him.
“I’m gonna… Charlie,” Ayden warned with what breath he had left.
Let go, Ayden. I want you, all of you.
Charlie wouldn’t let him pull back. His entire body twitched and jerked in the wake of his orgasm. He knew it had been a while, but nothing he remembered felt that intense before. He was spent, breathless. Charlie remained at his crotch gently licking and milking the aftershocks. Why hadn’t he let her do the things she wanted to do before? He began considering letting her do whatever she wanted to do from now on. Hell, plenty of people jumped right into relationships without knowing half the things they knew about each other.
Charlie felt his trembling fingers on both sides of her face, gently urging her upward. She complied but stole nips and kisses along his abdomen and chest. She expected him to release her, but he pulled her right to his lips.
Oh no, she didn’t want to kiss him. She thought for sure if she waited to kiss him, she would be able to feel his love through his lips. Through that first kiss, now, as his lips pressed into hers, she didn’t know if it was love or lust.
Ayden didn’t know what he was feeling for her right now. His vow to protect her and keep her safe didn’t include kissing or any of the other things they were doing. It was dangerous to get this involved. If things ended badly, it would be impossible to keep his word. He promised Michael on her deathbed to protect Charlie. Now Charlie was twisting him inside. Part of him wanted to be with her, just like this. Another part was scared to death to try it. They had to slow this down. Too much was at stake, his honor and their friendship.
Ayden placed soft gentle kisses on her lips, taking his time, exploring her mouth with his. Finally, he pulled back and Charlie felt dazed. He had a smooth manner that made her feel like she was so out of place. Here she was steamrolling him with desire and he was still gentle and tender with her. That made her crazy. She wanted that tenderness, to be cherished, but only if it was real and only if it was love. Maintaining control around Ayden was next to impossible. Both of her seduction attempts had left him the victor, in control, while she steadily lost it.
“Charlie?” Ayden opened his eyes and regained his balance.
“Yes?” Charlie rested alongside him now. She put her head down on his chest and closed her eyes, listening to the strumming of his rapid heartbeat. Satisfied, that she had created all that excitement for him.
“We have to slow this down, darlin’.” Ayden stroked her soft hair and wavered on his resolve. “I know you think you want me, but you don’t really know me.”
“But I do…” Charlie lifted her head to protest.
“No, you don’t. You know who I was, not who I am, and the same goes for me.” Ayden hugged her tightly. “I can’t take the chance of hurting you and losing you forever.”
“I want to…” she started again.
“No. I promised Michael.” He pushed her head to his chest and held it there. Charlie exhaled in submission. She had no choice but to hear him out.
“If we are going to see about this, then we have to slow it down. We have to agree that no matter what happens, in the end, we will still be friends.” Ayden remembered Jessica, his high school sweetheart. The only woman he ever thought he loved. They had worn each other out with teenage lust. Blind to what the other wanted, who they each really were. When he left for the Navy and the sheets cooled, she realized she didn’t really love him. She broke his heart. He wouldn’t risk it again, and he wouldn’t do that to Charlie.
“So you’re willing to give it a try?” Charlie felt her heartbeat quicken in her chest.
“Do you promise if it doesn’t work out we will still be friends?” Ayden knew this was what she came for, him. He was willing to see if they had something. Hell, he knew they had something, but it had to be something real. Something that would sustain them both for the long haul.
“Yes. I promise.” Charlie knew it would work if he would just accept her love.
“No sex.” Ayden groaned. “Not for a while anyways.”
“What about kissing?” Charlie was willing to negotiate, but she wasn’t giving up everything. After all it was sex that had gotten her this far.
“Kissing’s fine.” Ayden smiled. “We’ll take it step by step.”
Charlie wanted to tell him she loved him, but that was jumping about a million steps ahead she was sure. Instead, she just squeezed him tight. It was such a nice moment. Then the door down the hall opened, and Ayden sat right up knocking her off, of his chest.
“Shit.” Ayden scrubbed both hands over his face. “We can’t sleep together either, not while everyone’s here. I don’t want them jumping to conclusions.”
“I understand.” Charlie didn’t bother to tell him that all the women were already at this conclusion, but she would be sure to let them know to keep it under wraps. If he wanted to take it slow, she would take what she could get. She had been waiting ten years, what was another few months in the long run?
“You’re awfully agreeable this morning.” Ayden realized she hadn’t disagreed with anything. That wasn’t like a woman. Something had to be going on.
“Ayden, I’ve been wanting you for over ten years. You have been wanting me for less than two days. I’m used to it. Let’s see how you do, cowboy.”
Charlie pushed out of the bed and made no attempt to cover herself. She patted him on the back and headed for the closet. She didn’t look back at him. She bent right over and picked up her robe. She heard him make a strangled sound. Good. He wanted to torture himself by delaying the inevitable? Fine, she would make every attempt to remind him what he just put on hold.
Ayden watched her stroll over to pick up something, and before he could speak, she bent over, giving him a full view from a different angle. So she was going to play dirty. Okay, he could handle this. He walked over and swatted her lightly on the behind. She yelped. Good. She wasn’t expecting it.
“See ya downstairs in a few, darlin’.”
“Humph.” Charlie tried to maintain her composure, but she really didn’t expect that.
* * *
In the shower, Elvis related with “Mean Woman Blues.” Ayden crooned along in a low satisfied tone. Damn he was satisfied this morning. Charlie had seen to it. All part of her seduction plan, all the more reason to take things slow. If she was pulling out all the stops now, surely she would tire and reality would set in. No more massages, no more candlelight dinners, no more wild and tantalizing sexual advances. Whoa. He needed to stay focused on the other things.
It was the fourth of July. His entire family was here now. They would be surrounded by people all day long.
* * *
Noel and Tom sat at the kitchen table with Page. Noel insisted they wait on Ayden, but she really wanted to meet Charlie. Especially since Ayden had detoured to the woman’s room last night.
“Hi. I’m Charlie.” Charlie entered the kitchen and saw a familiar face, Tom. The woman at his side looked just like Evelyn only she had short hair that wisped out in every direction making her look more like a pixie or fairy. The little girl in Tom’s arms had the same spiky hair. “She is so cute.”
Charlie was drawn to the little girl. The boys were also cute, but this was a little angel.
“Hi, I’m Noel. This is my husband, Tom, and our little teething monster, Page.” Noel extended a hand over the table. Page was chewing on the teething ring leaving a great drool puddle in her wake. Noel was worried that her husband may be doing the same. Charlie was awesome. The woman didn’t have an ounce of make-up on, and she looked beautiful. Her hair was pulled up in a loose ponytail and soft bangs trailed over her forehead and were swept to the side. She stood taller than Tom, almost as tall as Ayden.
“It’s good to see you again, Charlie.” Tom nodded.
“Again?” Noel looked to her husband now.
“I met him once at Ayden’s, years ago.” Charlie wanted to clear the air quickly.
&n
bsp; “Hold up, years ago?” Noel looked at Ayden who now walked into the kitchen.
“Yeah, you remember. I was in Vegas, the showgirl case.” Ayden lifted a shoulder like it was no big deal. “Tom came out to visit. Charlie was living with me then.”
“I didn’t know that.” Noel scrunched her brows together. Obviously offended Ayden hadn’t told her a woman was living with him at the time. She looked at Tom. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“It was his case, babe.” Tom looked at his wife knowing he was going to get the third degree later for this.
“Ayden?” Noel looked at her brother now.
“Noel, we can talk about this later, darlin’. Evelyn is probably chomping at the bit to see you.” Ayden didn’t want to hash this out in front of Charlie. He didn’t have to go through the details with Evelyn. She was more practical, accepting of his privacy. Noel on the other hand wanted every detail of his life. Impossible.
“Fine, but we will talk about this, Wolf.” Noel stood and smiled at Charlie. “Please don’t take it the wrong way. I’m excited to meet you, really, but I don’t like not knowing about the women in my brother’s life.”
“Oh God.” Ayden poured a cup of coffee. He couldn’t wait until they got to Evelyn’s; he needed the caffeine now. Noel would crucify him before the day was out, and all because he hadn’t disclosed private information. How was he to know that Charlie would track him down?
“Women?” Charlie looked at Noel. The woman was smaller than Evelyn but carried the same demanding presence. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, and apparently she wasn’t too thrilled about Ayden having any woman in his life without her approval. Great, she was like Joshua. “How many women are in your brother’s life?”
“Apparently one more than I was aware of.” Noel didn’t want to start off on the wrong foot with Charlie, but she was pissed at Ayden, and if she didn’t get out of there, it would turn ugly.
Noel headed out the door with Page on her hip. Tom walked backwards and apologized to Charlie as he followed her. Ayden stood at the counter with half a smile and tipped his cup up for another drink.