Free

Chapter 37

THIRTY-SEVEN

Nick

Charlie angles her chin to allow me better access to the space just below her jaw, moaning slightly. “I think you’re trying to distract me.”

“Is it working?” I ask, sliding my fingers into her hair.

“Mmhmm.” She slips a hand between us, sliding up my thigh toward my aching cock. Before she becomes the one distracting me, I surprise her by hefting her into my arms. Charlie squeals and laughs as she flings her arms around my neck, then kisses me deeply. Without even a hint of pain in my back, I stride into my room and kick the door shut behind me, before I gently place her on my bed. She sits back on her hands, staring up at me as she spreads her legs, beckoning me forward.

I tear my shirt over my head and drop it to the floor, undo my pants and shimmy out of them before I crawl onto the mattress, slowly relieving the goddess in my bed of her clothing. Charlie lays back, her hair fanned out across my pillow, those damn eyes locked on me, glinting with desire. I place my hands on either side of her head and seek out her lips, her tongue, her tits.

Her fingers trace my scars as her lips find mine, her touch reverent, deliberate. I shiver, sighing as she explores the terrain of my body, her fingertips brushing over still-tender skin. Part of me balks—flinches even—but Charlie places a soothing hand to my cheek, her thumb brushing softly against my jaw.

“Do they still hurt?” she asks, her voice low, almost hesitant.

I shake my head. “Not really. It’s… just weird, having someone touch them.”

Her eyes meet mine, searching, and then her touch changes—no longer tentative but confident, purposeful. Her fingers trail down my torso, over my scars, her lips following their path. The sensation sends shivers rippling through me, a low groan escaping my throat as her touch lingers.

“They’re a part of you,” she whispers, her voice steady and sure. “Not just the pain or what you’ve been through. They’re a map of how you made it back. How you survived. They’re not just scars. They’re you.”

I clench my jaw, my breath shallow as I take in her words. “They make me feel… less than,” I admit, the words scraping past my throat. “Like a reminder of how broken I was. Maybe still am.”

Charlie stills, her gaze locking on mine, and damn if her eyes don’t hold every truth I’ve been afraid to see. “We’re all a little broken,” she says, her voice soft but unshakable. “But you? You didn’t stay that way. You rebuilt. You healed. And that’s what I see. Not damage, but strength. Not brokenness, but the fight to come back. That’s what makes you breathtaking.”

The lump in my throat swells as her words hit home, crashing through every defense I didn’t know I still had. Her fingertips skim lower, her lips brushing mine as she murmurs, “You don’t have to carry all this alone. Let me see you… all of you.”

I take her hand, pressing it over my heart. “You already do,” I whisper, my voice raw. “You have me, Wildrose. All of me.”

I cup her cheek and trail kisses down her throat as she arches, pressing her breasts into me, gripping my back with her hands.

This.

Her.

Us.

We are two halves of a whole. Soul-bond kind of stuff. I knew it the moment I saw her and have fought it ever since. It was always the wrong time. The wrong place. The wrong job. But now, now , there’s nothing between us. Nothing stopping us from giving into each other.

I slip a hand under her waist and flip us over, Charlie’s delighted squeal filling the room as she sits astride me. “You’ve gotten to do all the looking,” I say, then push up on my hands to capture a taut nipple between my teeth.

Charlie groans, threading her fingers into my hair and I drop back onto the bed.

“I want to see you now,” I finish.

“Perfect. Because now I can do one of those naughty things I’ve been thinking about all damn day.” She scoots down, positioning herself between my thighs, one hand wrapped around the base of my cock.

“And you can watch,” she says, holding eye contact as she glides her tongue around the crown, then slips the tip past her petal soft lips, sucking as she strokes my shaft. I drop my head back with a low moan, my hips thrusting, my balls clenching.

Something raw builds inside me. Something deep and real and true. While the physical pleasure is intense, there’s more. Something that starts in my heart. Something I don’t have a name for. Something that, after tonight, I never want to be without.

“I need to be inside you,” I growl, and Charlie pauses before dragging her tongue from my balls to the tip.

I grab a condom out of the bedside drawer and tear open the foil packet, pull her onto me, twin groans of pleasure spiraling toward the ceiling as our hips meet.