by Trace, Piper
He moved to her bed, standing at the foot of it and tapping the wood with his hand.
“You weren’t sleeping—you were thinking. And you’re not mad. I can hear you smiling at me.”
She grinned wider. “You can’t hear a person smile.”
“Sure you can. A person’s voice changes when they smile. And I’m right, aren’t I?”
She didn’t answer, but just took a deep breath, reluctantly sliding back into her funk. Not even Charley’s pleasant company made her feel better for long.
He just stood in the darkness, tapping randomly on the wood of her foot-board until she groaned, “Charley, at least tap a rhythm, for the love of god, if you’re going to make me listen to it.”
“Can’t sleep?” he asked, his voice full of mock concern.
“No I can’t sleep! Will you get out of my room?”
“I want to talk. Will you talk to me?” His voice quieted. “You’re the only person I have to talk to about this.”
She sighed. He was the only person she had to talk to also. “Fine, come sit down.”
He bounded onto the bed like a four-year old on Easter morning.
“Hey! You’d better not have your boots on!”
“I don’t! Bare feet. Want to touch them?”
“No!” She shrieked and giggled.
He lay down on top of the covers, resting his head on the pillow next to her, facing her. There was enough moonlight coming through her windows for her to make out his profile. He studied her eyes, and then reached out and took her hand. He squeezed it.
“I like to hold your hand,” he whispered.
“I like when you hold my hand,” she whispered back.
They lay in silence for a minute, Evie feeling a comfort she hadn’t known in a long time, maybe ever. She had no idea what to make of the situation. Charley was her friend…but he was more. Her lover? What was Ford? Just her boss? More? She frowned, her peaceful feelings crumbling.
Charley broke the silence. “What?” She didn’t answer. “Evie, what?” He tried again.
She shrugged against her pillow. “I don’t know. When I don’t think too much about all of this with you and Ford, I feel wonderful. Protected, content. Happy. Horny.” He squeezed her hand and pulled it to his mouth, kissing her fingers. She smiled.
“So what’s the matter then?”
“It’s when I try to understand what this is all about—who I am to the both of you, who you are to me. Then it goes all wrong in my head.”
“Then don’t think about it.” Charley’s voice reflected his enthusiasm for the idea, and a lop-sided smile followed his brilliant advice. Her mouth crooked up.
“That easy, huh?” She didn’t like how jaded she sounded, especially in the face of Charley’s simple joie de vivre.
The bed shook as he chuckled and she was suddenly back to feeling pure happiness. How long had it been since she’d lain under the covers close enough to another human being for his movements to jostle her? She wanted to curl against his large, hard body. Kiss him everywhere. Tuck her head into the crook of his strong arm and just hide there. Listen to his uncomplicated view of the world and believe him. Let him convince her everything was right and everything would last.
What was wrong with that? It seemed so easy.
“Charley, you’re obviously all mixed up about Ford inside. How do you keep from letting it bother you?”
“That’s just it—I’m not all mixed up. I’m very clear about him. I love him. I want to be with him.”
“But aren’t I just complicating things then? The distance between the two of you isn’t great—after what happened tonight, it may not exist at all. Shouldn’t I just go away so you can be together?”
Charley sighed, moving his thumb up and down on hers, not loosening his grip on her hand. He stared at their clasped fingers as he spoke. “I don’t want you to go away. I’m so glad you’re here. So glad to have you to share this with…share Ford with.”
Evie raised her head off the pillow, propping it on her other hand, frustration rousing her from her tired state. “Why, Charley? That doesn’t make any sense. What am I in this equation other than one more thing to stand between you guys?”
Charley raised his head too, mirroring her actions, and met her eyes. Even in the dim light she could make out the flash of passion under his dark lashes that came with his words. “Don’t do that.”
“What?” She was taken aback, confident her question was legitimate, even caring.
“Don’t try to label things. Don’t try to make your life fit in a box you picked off someone else’s shelf.” There was an undertone of anger in his voice. “This is why so many people are unhappy. This is why I can’t be with Ford.” He furrowed his brow, hiding his eyes in shadow so she lost her connection with him, despite how tightly he was squeezing her hand. “I feel love for Ford—fierce, passionate, punch-you-in-the-gut kinda love. I really, really like being around you. Today has been one of the best days I can ever remember. And somehow being with you and Ford together feels, just, right to me.”
“Charley…”
“No, don’t dismiss me. Listen to what I’m saying. Yesterday I thought one thing, today things are…shifting.” He shrugged one solid shoulder and she wanted to cup her hand over the muscles there while he spoke. “And why? Because I respect myself enough to not dismiss what I feel. Maybe yesterday I wanted Ford to myself. Maybe today I want him with you.” Charley curled his lips into a rueful half-smile. “It is what it is. It may not be what I anticipated. It may not be what my grandmother hoped for me, but that doesn’t make it any less real.”
Evie shook her head, dropping back down on her pillow. An easy smile, now so familiar when she was talking to Charley, affixed to her face. “So what about tomorrow?”
Leaning toward her, he trapped their hands under the weight of his chest and brushed his lips over her cheek and then again across her brow. She felt his chest expand as he inhaled the scent of her hair. Pulling back, he whispered, “Oh, don’t count on tomorrow. I might not want either of you tomorrow.”
And even though she hadn’t even known him for a full day, she knew instantly he was teasing her. Charley was an open book and she spoke his language as if they’d grown up together. “Well, at least we know we can count on your loyalty,” she deadpanned. They laughed, locking eyes, and when the moment had passed, Evie dropped her lashes, feeling shy. “So do you think things will be different now? Between you and Ford?”
“I don’t know.” Charley huffed. “It’s not the first time something’s happened. And that time didn’t change anything.”
“It’s not?” Evie’s heartbeat jumped and she felt herself blush, surprised at how interested she was to hear the story.
The corners of his mouth twitched. “Oh, you want to hear about it?” Evie nodded. “I’m warning you. It’s very dirty,” Charley purred, grinning.
Evie hit his solid chest with her free hand. “Stop teasing me! And get off my hand. My fingers are asleep.”
Charley released her other hand and she flexed her knuckles, trying to get the blood moving. He propped his head up again and casually draped his other hand on her hip, smoothing the covers with his palm. His intimate touch raised a question in her mind.
“Do you think Ford minds you being in bed with me?”
“Nah, remember, ‘She’s as much yours as she is mine’?”
Yes, she did remember. It had sounded amazingly hot in the throes of passion. Now it sounded…presumptuous. She frowned.
Charley lifted his hand from her hip. “What’s wrong? You don’t want me to touch you?”
“No, no. I like it.” She put his hand back on her hip. She made her own choices. “Now tell me that dirty bedtime story about you and Ford.” She tried to keep her mind off the pressure of his touch. It felt so nice to be with him.
Charley launched right into it. “I tried to kiss him once, when I thought it was the right time, and he shut me down immediately. He
just looked at me in his way and said, ‘don’t.’ so I didn’t. It was one of the many times I told myself I’d just have to learn to deal with being his friend, nothing more. Then one night a couple of weeks after that—out of the blue—he kisses me. We’d gone riding that day—” Charley hesitated in response to her confused look. “Motorcycles. We ride together sometimes.”
“Oh.” She’d have to ask more about that later. Ford? On a motorcycle?
“We’d had a great day and when we came back here we were having drinks downstairs. Ford suggests we go outside because it’s such a nice night, but that we should refill our drinks first. I follow him to the bar talking about how I was thinking about buying another bike when he kissed me. Out of the blue. We got to the bar and he turned around, scooped his hand behind my head, pulled me in and kissed me.”
“Wow,” Evie breathed.
“I know. I was speechless. I was almost too stunned to kiss him back. Almost.” He grinned.
“And?” she prompted.
“So it was nighttime and we hadn’t turned the lights on because the moon was so bright and was flooding through all those windows in the back of the house. It was surreal. I had to wonder if I was dreaming it. But the kiss felt so real to me, and not just like he was ‘trying it out’, but like he really wanted to kiss me.” Charley screwed up his face. “I don’t know, maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part.”
He shook his head and looked away, seeming lost in the memory. “But the kiss was hot, and I got keyed up pretty quick.” Charley shifted closer to her, sliding his hand down her hip and pulling her leg onto his, tangling the covers. “I just remember feeling so ready to see where the kiss would take us.”
He took a deep breath, leaning into Evie and ducking his head to press his lips to her jaw, following the bone with light nibbles before placing a soft nip under her ear, making her shiver. His voice softened, and he didn’t pull away to finish his story. “I poured everything into that kiss—all the passion I feel for him. And the next thing I know he moved in close to me and our cocks—our erections—were pressed up against each other through our jeans.”
Without intending to telegraph how hot Evie was finding the story, she sucked in a long, deep breath.
“I know! That’s how I was feeling too!”
“Okay, we have to stop reading each other’s minds.” Evie laughed. “It’s freaking me out.” Snuggling up to her, Charley buried his face in the bend of her neck, his laughter tickling her skin. She pushed him away. “Go on!”
“Okay, okay. When I felt his erection against mine, I thought I was going to come in my jeans, right then. I’d wanted that man for so long.” Evie nodded at that. “But—and I couldn’t believe it—then he broke the kiss, stepped back, and opened his pants. Slowly. Without taking his eyes off me. Like he knew exactly what he was doing to me.”
“Oh my god,” she whispered.
“He pulled his pants and underwear down over his hips, just to his knees. My cock’s aching and ready to burst and he’s standing there in the moonlight with this incredible erection and I don’t know what I’m allowed to do with it!”
She laughed. “This is a line of thinking I never thought I’d be privy to.”
“Shh, now listen,” he admonished, a teasing smile on his lips. “I’m getting to the good stuff.”
“Oh, sorry.” She grinned.
“So I don’t know if I’m allowed to touch him or what. So I just opened my pants too, and pulled out my cock and we just look at each other for a minute but he doesn’t do anything.”
“Nothing?” Evie’s voice pitched high.
“Nothing other than smolder at me.”
“Oh, well that’s an action in my book.” Evie raised her eyebrows.
“The man can smolder, can’t he?” Charley agreed. “So I slowly reach out and touch his cock with just the side of my thumb and he doesn’t move away, so I opened my hand and wrapped it around his dick. Then he closed his eyes and sighed, and stepped forward so his cock pushes deeper into my grip.”
“Ooh.”
“Yeah. Oh. I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest. Goddamn, I can still feel his hard cock in my fist.” Charley bit his lip and moved, pressing his hips against her and Evie felt an unmistakable firmness announcing his excitement over the memory.
“You like telling this story, huh?” she teased.
“I’ve never had anyone to tell it to before.” He buried his face in her neck again to suck and lick her skin down to her shoulder blade. Deftly, he pulled the sheets off her, baring her shoulder and caressing his lips over it as he rocked against her, his cock growing harder. She tried to stay on track. “Thought about the incident a lot?”
He paused to meet her eyes. Without a hint of self-consciousness or apology, and with a rasp in his voice, said, “Only every time I’ve jacked off since that night.”
Evie felt her insides turn to jelly at this honest insight into his most private, sexual thoughts. Her breath caught, and where her clit had developed a pleasant tingling as the story had continued, there was now an increasing pulse of lust. She wriggled against him, her pussy lips feeling swollen and slickened with need. But she didn’t know how much of her passion was from Charley kissing her, his pushing his weight and cock against her, or his story. There was something strangely exciting about a man kissing her, enjoying her body, while he thought about his hunger for another man. While he talked about how much he liked touching another man’s cock. Evie was ready to climb on top of Charley and satisfy herself while he finished his story.
Her movement against him seemed to carry a message of invitation for Charley, because he jerked the sheets down roughly, exposing her breasts and covered a nipple with his mouth, sucking hard, groaning. She gasped, arching against him, burying her fingers in his hair while she fought to untangle her other hand from the sheets and reach for the crotch of his worn jeans. He released her, kneeling up to feverishly pull off his shirt with one hand as he unbuckled his jeans with the other. Tossing his tee-shirt to the floor, he peeled his jeans off, sinking to the bed to push them off his feet.
And then he was on her again.
He covered her mouth with his, kissing her deeply, pushing his tongue into her with abandon, making noises of hunger, of need, of pleasure. His hands were everywhere.
They both struggled to pull free of the sheets, her trying to get out of them, him trying to burrow under them. Somehow they managed to kick them to the end of the bed so their naked skin could have full contact, head to toe. Warm skin against warm skin. Bodies wrapping around each other, arching against each other. They never broke the kiss. Charley seemed to want to get as close to her as she wanted to get to him.
He slid his hands around to her ass, pulling her against him as he thrust forward, groaning into their kiss. Damn. He felt so good. So strong and hard and naked. His weight against her made it impossible for her to think of anything but him at that moment. She didn’t think about her fear of John. Her confusion and longing for Ford. Her plans for the future—or lack of them. She only thought of Charley and what they needed from each other. And it wasn’t sex—it was a feeling of belonging, love, connection.
But that connection was definitely going to come in the form of sex, if Evie had any say in it.
She pulled her head back, breaking the kiss, breathless from the whirlwind of it. “Make love to me, Charley,” she whispered into the hollow of his neck. “Please. I want you inside me.”
“I can’t.” His voice held something close to despair.
“Yes, you can,” she insisted, wrapping a leg behind his knee in a futile effort to keep him there.
“No.” He pulled his head back and clamped his hands to her shoulders, pushing up from her firmly. “I can’t, and goddammit, stop asking me to, or I will.” He reached between them and fisted his cock. “Spread your legs,” he said gruffly. She did, wondering how this action reconciled with his refusal to have sex with her. He guided his cock t
o her pussy and she forgot to breathe, but rather than enter her, he pressed the head of his erection into her engorged lips, finding her clitoris. She was dripping at that point, and her juices mixed with his precum making everything slippery. With small, controlled pumps of his hips, he stroked the broad head of his penis, and then his long shaft, over her clit again and again.
Evie gasped, clutching at him. He was so dangerously close to sinking into her…just one miscalculated centimeter and he’d be inside. She hadn’t had a man inside her in so long, and Charley was pressing buttons she didn’t even know she had. She arched toward him and Charley pressed his palm into her mound, trapping her hips against the bed as he continued to tease them both mercilessly. “Charley, please!” she begged. “Just fuck me!”
He stopped his tightrope dance, collapsing against her. “Goddammit, I know. I feel the same. But I can’t. Ford hasn’t had sex with you yet.”
“So?” Her voice pitched high.
“So I don’t think he’d like it if I had sex with you before he did.”
“I don’t belong to Ford!” She was surprised at her own willingness to sleep with Charley, knowing he was absolutely right about how Ford would feel about it.
Charley sighed, letting his head drop. His breath slowed as he choked off their frenzied pace with his refusal. “You do belong to him. In this house, we both do.” Charley made a frustrated sound, pressing his forehead against her shoulder. “Don’t make me argue with you when you know it’s true.”
Evie growled, pushing at him. “Fine, then get off. Let me catch my breath.” She pulled her hair out of her face. “Stop teasing me with your dick and telling me hot stories or I swear to god I’m going to find some restraints and have my way with you once I’ve rendered you helpless.” She smiled in spite of her sudden sour mood. “You’ve been warned,” she teased as she tried to scoot out from under him. But Charley wouldn’t let her go.
“Now hang on, hang on.” He trailed a hand down her side, tucking it between their two bodies, and suddenly his fingers were pushing between her legs. She gasped as he shoved a finger into her as soon as he found her opening, and followed it immediately with another, wriggling it to force entrance into her. “Just because I don’t think it’s wise for us to make love, doesn’t mean I can’t make the rest of my story,” he paused, “…highly interactive.” He tilted his body off of her and pulled his fingers out slowly, then thrust them back into her, making her gasp as her vaginal muscles clenched with pleasure. “Now where were we?” He moved his fingers in a steady rhythm while he found her hardened clit with his thumb and began circling it lazily.