Chapter 14 #2
Food hoovered up, Cooper strolls over to his new super comfy dog bed and collapses.
Pretty sure he’s out for the afternoon.
“I could watch him.” The words tumble out as soon as I think them. “If you want to keep him here, I could grab my laptop and bring it over. Work in the living room or in here. As long as you don’t mind leaving me in your house,” I add as an afterthought.
Pete scoffs. “Of course I don’t mind. And that’d be great, if you’re sure?”
“I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t.”
“Feel free to move his bed into the living room with you if you want company.” Pete gestures to the kitchen. “And help yourself to anything. I should be back around six.”
Thirty minutes later, Pete’s gone and I’m sat on his sofa, laptop on my knees and a slightly damp dog curled up at my feet.
It might not be dark enough to turn the tree lights on yet, but it’s still beautiful to look at.
Still reminds me that Christmas is just around the corner, even if I’m far from home.
This might not be my house, but I don’t feel like a stranger. Maybe it’s because I had a hand in turning this room into the warm, festive space it is now. I don’t know. But I’m not going to poke too deeply at it.
I sink into the cushions, relaxed in a way I haven’t been for a long while, and start to write.
“Hey.”
Gentle fingers card through my hair, rousing me from sleep. I lean into the touch before my mind catches up and I remember where I am. My eyes fly open to find Pete leaning over me, smiling softly.
“Shit.” I scrub a hand over my face, trying to wake up.
“Must’ve fallen asleep.” Way to state the obvious, Charlie.
I’m curled up in the corner of the sofa and there’s a warm weight against my legs.
I glance to the side and see Cooper flat out, paws twitching as he dreams. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise he’d climbed up here. ”
Pete shushes me. “I don’t care about that.”
I go to sit up, but he stops me with a hand on my shoulder. “Stay there a sec while you wake up properly. I brought fish and chips home, if you’re hungry?”
I grin, getting more awake by the second. “Starving.”
His smile widens. “You want to eat in here or at the table?”
“Err . . . it’s your house, you decide.”
He shrugs. “In here it is. Stay.” He points at Cooper, then me, dancing out of the way as I try and kick him. His laughter echoes in the hallway as he goes to get our food.
We eat fish and chips out of the paper, with the main lights down low and the tree lit up in all its magical glory. Pete’s thigh rests against mine, warm and reassuring, while Cooper snores at our feet.
I could get used to this.
It should be a warning, a big red flag telling me I need to back off because this isn’t my life. It can’t be. It’s only a holiday, and Pete is nothing but a holiday fling.
No matter how many times I repeat that in my head, the words feel wrong.
Not only because I’ve never had a holiday fling in my life—I’m not wired that way—but calling it that feels wrong because it implies that there’s nothing between Pete and me except fun, yet meaningless, sex.
And even I’m self-aware enough to realise there’s nothing meaningless in the way he’s asked me to stay, night after night, or in the way he kisses me goodbye when I force myself to turn him down.
Much later, when we stand at the back door as Cooper trots outside to do his business, Pete draws me close with a strong, solid arm around my shoulders. I know what’s coming, even before he whispers, “Stay,” into the crook of my neck, warm breath tickling my skin.
I glance up at the night sky, littered with stars and a moon bright enough to see by.
It makes me feel small, insignificant, my time on earth a mere blip in the grand scheme of things.
I don’t want to waste a single second of it.
Not anymore.
I’ve said no every time he’s asked me that question, and I’ve watched him hide his disappointment with a smile. Tasted it in his kisses.
Not tonight.
Tonight, I’m giving in to the pull that’s getting harder to ignore and finally accepting that I don’t fucking want to. Consequences be damned.
“Yes.” I know he’s heard me because his arm tightens around me and his breath catches. His smile widens where his lips brush my skin, and my heart skips a beat.
“Come on, then.” He ushers Cooper back inside and takes my hand. “Let’s go to bed.”
We leave Cooper fast asleep in his own bed. As I silently follow Pete upstairs, I idly wonder if he’ll stay there all night or sneak up and join us. If it’s the latter, I hope it’s not anytime soon.
Pete leaves the main light off when we enter his bedroom, walking over to the bed to flick on a lamp. He pulls his T-shirt off as he turns, gifting me a look at both his muscular back, then the wide expanse of his chest.
He’s so fucking hot.
Dark, thick stubble covers his defined jawline. His lips curve into a smirk as I drag my gaze up to finally meet his eyes. They’re closer to a midnight blue in this light, full of heat and a hunger that grips me tight and urges me forward until my chest brushes his.
“Too many clothes,” he grumbles, already tugging my jumper up as he leans in for a kiss that hampers his progress.
It takes us way longer than it should to get naked. Kissing Pete is just too fucking good, and neither one of us seems inclined to stop. We end up falling onto the bed, laughing between kisses as I get all tangled up in my jeans.
Sex has never been like this for me.
There’s no embarrassment even as I lie there with my jeans around my ankles. No urge to cover myself as Pete stands and looks down at me, gaze slowly tracking over every inch of my body.
I’m breathless from a mix of laughter and the heady feeling of being wanted so fucking much I can see it, feel it, almost taste it in the air.
Pushing up onto my elbows, I watch as he drags the offending material off my body, freeing me.
I expect him to join me on the bed again, but he doesn’t. Not straight away.
Instead, he kneels at the foot of the bed.
Starting at my ankles, he strokes my skin with a gentle firmness that goes straight to my cock.
Each slide of his palms over my calves, my knees, and finally my inner thighs is like a breath of air to a spark.
Coaxing the fire in me to life, touch by sensuous touch, until I’m ready to combust if he doesn’t get his hands on me where I really fucking need them.
He crawls up my body, warm breath dancing over me in the sweetest tease, and finally puts me out of my misery.
I can’t watch or I’ll come, but feeling his hot mouth engulf me nearly sends me over the edge anyway.
It’s touch-and-go for a minute, my hands fisting the sheets as I hang on for dear life.
He backs off enough for the danger to subside but still flicks his tongue along the length of my cock, hands gripping my hips in case I even think about moving.
Like I ever want to leave this bed.
Satisfied that I’m not about to end this before we’ve even begun, Pete takes me in his mouth again, drawing moan after strangled moan out of me in what turns out to be the slowest, hottest blowjob I’ve ever had.
Sweat beads at my temple as he licks and sucks me like he has all the time in the world, like he’s not turning me into a boneless mess on his crumpled sheets.
I uncurl my fingers to slide them into his hair, gripping tight enough to pull a moan from him this time, and it’s sweet music to my ears to know I’m not in this alone.
That I’m not the only one lost to the delicious torture he’s inflicting.
“Fuck.” I buck against his hold as he sucks me deep. “Stop,” I gasp out, tugging on his hair this time. “Gonna come.” I know that could be his endgame here, but I want something else. Something I’ve been avoiding, if I’m honest, because I stupidly thought it was another line we shouldn’t cross.
Like fucking is any more intimate than having my cock so deep in his throat that his nose brushes against me.
Like it’ll suddenly make me fall for him when I’m pretty sure I’m already well on my way.
It’s a safety net I’ve been clinging to that doesn’t exist, and I’m tired of pretending.
I want him to fuck me.
And I want it now.
He takes the hint after another few seconds of driving me insane and slowly pulls off, sitting back on his knees. His lips are red, slightly puffy where they’ve been stretched around my cock, and he looks so fucking hot that I can’t stand not having him inside me any longer.
Grabbing his hand, I tug him close until his body covers mine and I can kiss him, taste myself on his tongue, and whisper the words that’ve been waiting days to come out. “Fuck me. Please.”
He goes so still, frozen in time for what feels like forever, until he leans back enough to meet my eyes.
He doesn’t ask me if I’m sure. Whatever he sees on my face, reads in my eyes, is assurance enough.
Instead, he pulls supplies from somewhere; I’m too busy sliding my hands over his body to pay attention.
I stroke his cock as he opens me up, grip faltering as clever fingers find that spot that makes me see stars. When he finally rolls on a condom and presses inside me, it’s all I can do to grip his shoulders and hold on for the ride.
I’m expecting fast and hard, but Pete slows it down, each thrust achingly deep as his hips roll against mine.
“Charlie,” he murmurs, and I open my eyes to find him watching me. There’s a softness there, alongside the searing heat, and my chest aches with how much I love seeing it.
This. This is the intimacy I was so fucking afraid of.
I want to shut my eyes, pretend it’s not there, but looking away feels like a betrayal. So I meet his gaze as he fucks me, each dirty grind of his hips pushing me towards an edge I can’t help but barrel towards.
“Fuck, so close,” he gasps, reaching between us to fist my cock as his orgasm hits. His whole body tenses as it washes over him, his hand faltering as he strokes me, but I’m already there.