Chapter 18
Chapter
Eighteen
BECK
An hour later, I climbed the stairs with two plates of chicken and roasted vegetables. The hallway was quiet, golden lamplight spilling from beneath Charlotte’s door.
I knocked softly. When she didn’t answer, I tucked one of the plates into my elbow and slipped inside.
Charlotte sat slumped over her desk with her head pillowed on her forearms. Her back rose and fell in the slow rhythm of sleep. The laptop was open, the screen casting blue light across her face. Her glasses sat next to the keyboard. A crumpled tissue lay beside them.
I set the plates on the dresser and crossed to the desk. My chest tightened as I read the words on her screen.
Calibration error…
Flawed thermal imaging model…
Inconsistent data collection protocols resulting in contaminated samples…
She’d done it. She’d destroyed her credibility to protect Bear Cove.
My throat closed. This brilliant, brave woman had sacrificed everything, tarnishing her reputation and possibly ending her career because she loved me. Because she refused to let Rupert Henry use her work to destroy my brothers.
I eased the laptop shut and gathered her into my arms. She stirred as I lifted her, her head rolling gently against my chest.
“Beck?” Her voice was thick with sleep.
“I’ve got you, sweetheart.”
I carried her to the bed and settled her against the pillows. She blinked up at me, eyes unfocused without her glasses. I sat beside her and stroked the hair back from her face, savoring the glide of the silky strands against my fingers.
“I love you,” I murmured, even though the words were inadequate. How could I ever possibly repay her for what she’d done? “I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure you never regret this.”
Her brown eyes focused on mine. “I love you, too.”
We stared at each other. Heat kindled low in my gut and promptly spread through my limbs.
It will always be this way, my instincts whispered.
Because she was my true mate. Some benevolent force in the universe had built Charlotte Mills just for me.
We were meant for each other, the gap in our ages be damned.
She licked her lips, and lust thickened the air. Heavy and charged, it wrapped a phantom fist around my cock and squeezed.
“I really want to kiss you right now,” I said, hearing my bear in my voice.
A soft, shy smile curved her lips. “I want that, too. But I don’t want to ruin your dinner.”
I pressed my thumb to her plump bottom lip, easing just deep enough into her mouth to feel her hot little tongue against my skin. “I’ll make you a new one.”
Her pupils dilated, her breath hitching.
“I have a confession,” I said.
A line formed between her auburn brows. “What is it?”
“I want to do a lot more than kiss you.”
Her smile was like Christmas and my birthday wrapped up in a big bow. “You’re in luck because our wants are aligned.”
I stood and stripped off my shirt, then my jeans. Charlotte sat up and reached for the hem of her sweater. I helped her pull it over her head, then made quick work of her bra. She lifted her hips so I could slide off her leggings and panties.
The sweet scent of her arousal soaked the air, and my bear rumbled with satisfaction. I settled between her thighs and slid my hands over her skin, stroking everywhere because she was perfect and I couldn’t get enough.
“You’re so beautiful,” I whispered against her collarbone. “I want to feel you. No barriers between us.” I lifted my head so I could look her in the eye. “No condom, but only if you want that, too.”
“I want it.”
My bear roared, eager to claim her. Not yet, I told it. Charlotte was a feast, and I wasn’t skipping any part of her. Lowering my head, I sucked at the sweet line of her jaw.
She threaded her fingers through my hair, tugging as she squirmed beneath me. “Beck, please,” she gasped, her voice breathless and needy.
I took my time, kissing my way down her neck to her breasts.
When I circled one tight, pink nipple with my tongue, she arched against me, her moan sounding wrenched from her soul.
My bear stirred under my skin, and I lavished attention on each breast, sucking and biting until I’d soaked each straining peak.
“Beck!” Charlotte cried, squirming harder. She spread her legs wide and thrust her hips, grinding her pussy into my cock. Searing me with her heat.
“Patience, baby,” I rasped even as mine deserted me.
I made my way down her quivering stomach, dropping little kisses before pausing to nuzzle the soft, rounded spot below her navel.
The place where my cubs would grow one day.
My bear growled, and the sound rumbled in my throat, possessiveness rising with my lust.
Charlotte tugged harder on my hair. “Beck,” she pleaded. “You stubborn, maddening bear. Stop teasing me and give me what I need.”
I smiled against her skin. “I know what you need.” And it was damn convenient because I needed it, too.
I moved lower, parting her folds with my thumbs to expose her glistening center. She was so wet for me, arousal pooling at her entrance and smearing the insides of her thighs. Groaning, I licked a long stripe from her opening to her clit before sucking the little bud into my mouth.
“Oh…god,” she gasped, her thighs trembling on either side of my head.
She bucked her hips as I worked my tongue over her clit, flicking and circling before dipping down to taste more of her.
When her movements became too frantic, I wrapped my hands around her thighs and pinned her to the bed so I could feast as much as I wanted.
And I wanted. My cock throbbed, my balls heavy with seed. Charlotte’s taste flooded my mouth. I thrust my tongue inside her, fucking her with it while her cries spun higher.
“Oh god, oh god, oh god,” she chanted, her thighs trembling in my arms. She dug her fingers into my hair and held my face against her pussy. Her cries echoed off the ceiling and in my ears, her pleas becoming a scream. “Beck! Oh god, Beck!”
When her body started to jerk, I fastened my lips around her clit and sucked hard.
She keened, jerking and thrashing as she shattered against my mouth.
I worked her through it, growls spilling from me as I sucked.
I didn’t stop until her cries became whimpers and her legs fell open, her breasts heaving.
Lifting my head, I crawled up her body and claimed her mouth, feeding her the taste of her passion. My bear howled in my head, demanding I claim her completely. Reaching down, I gripped my dick and positioned myself against her heat.
Charlotte’s eyes fluttered open, desire turning them to dark chocolate. “Please, Beck,” she murmured. “I need all of you.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” I murmured back. “You own every inch of me.” I pushed forward, and her pussy enveloped me.
Slick and tight. Hot and perfect. I slid home and then I had to stop because it was too damn much.
Hanging my head, I struggled to catch my breath.
Struggled not to come on the spot and spoil everything.
Beneath me, Charlotte rolled her hips, taking me deeper. Her slick walls clenched around my shaft, clamping like a vise.
“Fuck,” I muttered, eyes squeezed shut.
She stroked her fingertips through my beard, cradling my face. “Beck,” she whispered, dragging her thumb across my cheek. “Please don’t stop.”
I opened my eyes to find her watching me, her expression a blend of tenderness and desire.
Her red hair spread around her head. She was flushed and wanting, her brown eyes huge and framed by impossibly thick lashes.
She’d bitten her lip—probably when I ate her pussy—and the tender skin was as pink as the blush in her cheeks.
“Never,” I promised, starting to move. Her tight pussy sucked at my dick, and I moaned as I withdrew and pushed back inside. “God, you’re incredible.”
She wrapped her legs around my waist, drawing me deeper. “So are you.”
I set a steady rhythm, rolling my hips against her as I held her gaze. Each time I thrust home, she gave a breathless whimper that sent a bolt of electricity down my spine.
“Harder,” she gasped, clinging to my shoulders. “I want to feel you tomorrow.”
Holy shit. My response was a guttural sound that might have belonged to my bear, but could have come from my human half.
Either way, I obliged her, snapping my hips and driving into her until the bed squeaked and the headboard knocked against the wall.
Her body yielded so sweetly to mine, her pussy gloving my cock.
Her breasts bounced, and I lowered my head and captured one puckered nipple between my teeth.
“Yes,” she moaned, arching up to meet me.
I shifted my weight to one forearm so I could slip a hand between us and find her clit. At the first stroke of my fingers, a fresh rush of wetness coated my shaft.
“That’s it,” I said, rubbing fast circles as I pounded into her. “Give me more of that sweet honey. We’re not stopping until this pussy squirts for me, sweetheart.”
Her head went back, her lashes fluttering as her mouth stretched on a silent scream. The bed shrieked. Wood thumped against the wall. Our gasps and moans rose together, the sound of our pleasure climbing to the ceiling. She stiffened, her pussy fluttering around me.
Then she was coming, her passage clamping hard on my dick. Her cries filled my ears. My own orgasm rushed me, speeding me toward the edge of a steep cliff. Muscles straining, I thrust a final time and came on a bellow, pumping seed deep in her pussy.
Mine, my bear roared in my head, the declaration triumphant and possessive. The second I caught my breath, I pulled out and flipped Charlotte onto her stomach. Then I yanked her to her hands and knees.
She gasped, looking over her shoulder with wide eyes. “Beck?”
“Not done,” I bit out, squeezing her hips. “I need you like this. Is that all right?”
She nodded vigorously, sending her hair dancing around her shoulders. “Yes. Anything you want.”