CHAPTER 36 Rowan
CHAPTER 36
Rowan
C harlie snuggles so I’m under his chin. He’s bigger than me, obviously, so he kind of engulfs me. He consumes me. I want to be one with him.
“Rowan?”
“Hmm.” I’m drifting off to sleep.
“I love you.”
I freeze, and my panic button starts flashing wildly. For a moment, I don’t know what to say. Because I love him with every cell in my body.
He reads me wrong, because he starts to pull away, but I turn around and grip him by the waist with my legs, not letting him move. “Don’t you go anywhere, Charlie Cooper, until I have a chance to tell you what I really think of you.”
“I tell you I love you, and you’re going to list all my faults?”
“Faults? Okay, we need to unpack that, but no, what I’m going to say is that under that prickly exterior of yours is the fiercest protector I’ve ever known. I’ve never felt safer than when I’m with you.”
“You don’t really need protect?— ”
“I’m not done. You protect me from myself. From the times I get lost inside my head and don’t know a way out. You give me ways to express myself that are safe.”
“Anyone would do that.”
“Anyone would not do that. No one ever has. You’re my person, Charlie. Period. I love you so much I don’t know what to do with it.”
Charlie looks up at me, his eyes glassy. “Yeah?”
“Fuck yeah, I love you. You belong to me, and I belong to you.”
I wrap my arms around him. I’m shaking, and it’s starting to get worse.
Charlie cares about me. He makes that clear by everything he does for me, even if he doesn’t usually say much about it. Which is why he surprised me just now.
I sleep better than I have in a long, long time—a deep, contented rest like I’ve sunk into the mattress in the best way, not a Nightmare on Elm Street way. Apparently all I had to do to get proper zzz s was have Charlie chase me through the manicured woods of a coastal estate, clean me up, then make love to me again, then confess that he loves me. It’s a magic formula, I guess. I don’t even mind the bruises or the soreness in my body. They’re minor compared to how blissfully blank my mind went. How deeply in the moment I was— we were. How completely I could trust Charlie to give both of us what we needed without taking it too far.
Even better, when I wake up, I’m warm in his arms. I move to study him, but he yawns, clearly awake already.
“Morning,” I mumble.
“Morning, baby,” he says, kissing the top of my head .
No doubt about it: Sleepy morning time in bed with my boyfriend is the ultimate way to start the day. I take in his beautiful face, the stubbly beard growth along his defined jaw and the small gash above his left eyebrow. Oops. I did that last one.
Charlie’s hair is getting long. Long for him, that is. His plan had him getting his hair cut every ten days ( what ???), and I know he’s gotten it cut once since we’ve been together. But it does seem like he’s loosening up a bit.
I’m about to open my mouth to comment on him being a slacker, when I realize something. I jerk up, the sheets falling to the side. “How late did we sleep? Do you have to go?”
“Told them I’d be late,” he mutters, tugging me to him and rubbing his nose through my hair. “I already sent an email.”
I sink back into the bed and exhale. “Cool.”
I look around the enormous bedroom, with its comfortable sitting area, large-screen television, and … space. It has space. All this room for me? I don’t need it. I’ve survived in places that were barely bigger than a standard closet.
But I guess I’m not living like that anymore. I’ve found myself with an embarrassment of riches, but the most important part of that is Charlie. I move to straddle him, and he puts his hands on my waist, gazing up at me with hooded eyes.
“You good this morning?” he asks, raising one hand to trail a finger down my cheek and along my neck, shoulder, and arm until I shiver. “Not too sore?”
“Not too sore,” I assure him. “Better than ever, honestly. I don’t want to do that every night, but can we do it again sometime?”
“Yep.” He gives me a crooked grin. “Always suspected that I had a thing for primal play, but I never had a chance to try it before.”
“And your verdict?”
“Guilty as charged. I love it. ”
Even though we were both into it last night, it’s reassuring to hear that from him now that he’s had a chance to process.
I lean down and kiss him, and as usual, our kissing turns athletic. A sleepy sort of athleticism, I guess.
Then, without warning, he’s down between my legs and sucking my very hard cock. I buckle with pleasure. “Fuck, yes, Daddy.”
He grunts and groans, waving off the nickname with his free hand, but I know he likes it when I call him Daddy.
I must say, also: Charlie is very good at blow jobs. Not that it’s a competition, but I’m pretty sure he’s the best ever. Something about the pressure of his suction combined with the cadence of his movements, and I’m tipping over into a blissful orgasm very fast. Spent, I lie panting, my fingers tracing through his hair. “Wow,” I whisper. “Good morning to me.”
He crawls up my body to kiss me, and I dunno, I like tasting myself on him. Before long, though, I shove him onto his back—he cooperates—and return the favor.
“I could get used to this, I think,” I murmur after Charlie has come and he’s holding me quietly, my back to his chest, both of us on our sides. “Living in a big mansion on the beach, feeling good with my boyfriend, not worrying about anything. It’s hard to process. I need to acknowledge this moment.”
“Yep,” Charlie says. “Your fortunes have definitely changed.”
Then my stomach growls, because even the perfect morning can be improved.
I ask, “Want breakfast? I can get you something.”
“Maybe coffee to start.” He goes to get up, but I tsk at him.
“Just stay.” I pull on sweatpants and a shirt and am about to pad out to the kitchen, having to remind myself where it is, because this place is so huge. But then I glance at the windows and open the curtains. “Holy shit,” I breathe. “The ocean is right there . ”
Charlie comes up behind me, stark naked. “That’s gorgeous.”
“Yeah,” I say, awed. After a moment, I say, “Let me get coffee, and we can enjoy it.”
I make my way down to the kitchen, where a fresh pot of coffee is being brewed and Matilda is slicing some fruit. She gives me a broad smile. “Good morning, Rowan. Would you like some fruit juice? And coffee? Tea?”
“I’d love coffee, thanks,” I say. “And coffee for Charlie, too. We both take it with cream, please.” While I don’t usually have the best manners, I want to be sure to treat everyone working for me really well.
“Right away.” Almost before I’m done talking, she hands me two mugs of coffee. “Would you like breakfast in your room or somewhere else?”
“We’ll come down in a little while and have it here. Thanks, Matilda,” I mutter, fiddling with the drawstring to my sweatpants and not at all comfortable being waited on. But she seems happy, so maybe my father pays her properly. I make a mental note to ask her and any other staff members I meet.
Up in my bedroom, Charlie’s lying in bed. I survey him, propped up on pillows with his chest bare, an arm behind his dark head of hair, the sheet pooled very low around his toned waist.
Damn, my boyfriend’s fine. He’s a better view than the coast outside.
“Breakfast is being prepared,” I say.
He grins and sits up. “Must be nice.”
“I’m just finding out.” I hand him the coffee, then carefully make my way back into the bed with him, making sure we don’t spill.
We drink our coffee, then shower and go downstairs for breakfast—pancakes, fresh fruit, and sausages. I’m very happy to be able to eat a leisurely breakfast with Charlie on a poolside patio, watching the ocean .
When we’re done, I know what I want to do before Charlie goes to work. “Do you need to leave right away? I’d like to look up more about my family,” I say.
Charlie smiles. “Sure.”
We find a large, comfy armchair in a sitting room with a view of the waves. Charlie sits down, and then I get in his lap, my ass on his legs and my legs hanging over one of the arms of the chair. See? He’s a total daddy.
I take a deep breath and find an article on the history of St. Thomas Industries. “Remi St. Thomas,” I read aloud, “is the grandson of mogul René St. Thomas. In the 1920s, René, along with a business partner, purchased much of what is now the San Fernando Valley. They also started investing in movies from the inception of motion pictures in California.”
“I’d heard of René St. Thomas,” Charlie says. “And St. Thomas Communications, of course. I didn’t realize they were that deep into land development.”
I keep reading. “In the 1950s and 1960s, René’s son, Raleigh St. Thomas, along with his siblings, developed the San Fernando Valley and sold off whole tracts of homes. In the 1970s, they began investing in computer technology.”
“It feels like your family was ahead of the game in all of the local industries.”
“It’s so weird to say my family ,” I murmur. I tilt my head. “And, wow. It seems like some of them died in weird ways. My great-uncle was kidnapped and killed—my dad told me about that. And this says my great-aunt’s husband was drowned sometime after she divorced him.”
“Sounds like all their money hasn’t been able to protect them from a lot of shit,” Charlie says.
“It hasn’t. But they’re—we’re—everywhere, once you think about it. I’ve seen St. Thomas movies,” I say. “In fact, I think the first movie you and I watched together—that action one, the day you brought me to your house—was a St. Thomas production.” I go to say something else, but a call comes in on my phone—the one my father gave me, not the one Charlie gave me—and I accept it, because the screen reads “Remi.” A shiver runs through me—the good kind. I’ve never had a parent, a real parent, call me. “Hello?”
“Rowan?” Remi sounds good today. At least, he’s not coughing yet.
“Yes. It’s me.”
His voice warms, and I get an impression of genuine concern. “I wanted to see how you were doing. Do you like the Montecito house? Is everything going all right up there?”
“Yeah.” I swallow. “It’s great.” Then I pause. “Actually, it was a little lonely, so I asked Charlie to come visit.”
“That’s good. I want you to be comfortable there. And I’d like to meet him,” he says, and then the coughing starts.
I wait for the coughing fit to subside, each one racking me almost as much as it’s hurting him … because they’re a reminder of how little time I’ll have with my father. Once he quiets, I say, “I’d love that.” I look over to Charlie. “You okay to meet my father?” That’s never going to sound routine. He nods. Cool. I didn’t want to commit him to something he didn’t want to do.
Remi continues, “Nana wants to meet you. Maybe you can go visit her tomorrow or this weekend. Will that work with your schedule?”
“I think the weekend is better, because Charlie has to work. Hang on.” I turn to him. “We’re invited to Nana’s house. My great-aunt? She’s down in LA. Would you want to come with me to meet her?”
“Absolutely. I want to meet everyone who’s important to you.” Charlie swallows, and his voice drops. “If we’re in the meet-the-family mode, I want to reciprocate. I’ve been scared to introduce you to my mom, because she gets so attached to people my siblings and I bring home with us. You’re not temporary, though. Maybe Mom should get attached to you. ”
“When you’re ready,” I say. Even though I want to know every single thing about Charlie right now .
Turning back to the phone, I say, “We can come.”
“I’ll let her know,” Remi says. “How about noon on Saturday?”
I glance over at Charlie, who nods. “Sure.”
“What else do you need, Rowan? Have you purchased sufficient clothing?”
“Not yet.”
Remi pauses. “I’ll tell my accountant to make a house account for you at …” He names a famous high-end department store. “Just have everything delivered to the house.” He coughs.
“How much are you expecting me to buy?” I ask, almost coughing myself from his implication that it will be more than I can carry.
“Son, you could buy the entire store. I don’t want you to do without ever again. Get every single thing your heart desires … and then get some more.” His voice lowers. “You and I don’t know each other, and I don’t know how much time I will have to get to know you. I will feel better knowing that you’re happy.” He pauses. “If I could erase those years of hardship, I would, although I do think they’ve molded you into a very strong person. You’ll need to be strong to deal with our family. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun, too.”
What do I say to that? “Thanks,” I choke out.
“I don’t know if you’re interested in the business. If you are, we can bring you around and see what kind of position suits you. If not, you’ll be a shareholder, and we can get you a seat on the board when I, um, retire.”
“This is all too much, still,” I say.
“I know. It’s hard to cram in a lifetime with you in just a few short months.”
We talk a little more, and then I hang up.
Charlie’s looking at me agape. “Wow,” he mouths .
I smile. “I guess I’ll go shopping while you’re at work, then. Not sure what else I’m supposed to do with all this newfound money.” Although I definitely have some ideas that go beyond putting fancy jeans on my ass.
“Sounds like you’re just getting started being the richest person I’ll ever meet.”