19. River
CHAPTER NINETEEN
River
Charlie got up from my lap. “I’m going to shower. You find the condoms?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
As soon as she was in the bathroom, I dug through my various supplies. There . I grabbed the box the moment I saw it. Something to be said for careful preparations.
I’d had vague ideas for bringing a woman here someday, but I’d never dreamed that could be Charlie. Or that she’d want to share my bed. Talk about wish fulfillment.
The water stopped, and I met her by the bathroom door. She came out wrapped in a towel. Hair damp and tangled. It took a lot of willpower not to scoop her up right then.
“My turn to get cleaned up.” I held out the box of condoms, and she took it. “You hold on to these, and when you’re ready for me to use them, you just let me know.”
She went onto her toes to kiss me. “How about now?”
“You are needy. I want to smell nice for you.”
“I like how you smell now. Like sweat and sex.”
Another groan rumbled in my throat. “Didn’t know you’d say such dirty things.”
“You have no idea. ”
“Can’t wait to find out. Three minutes. I promise.”
I left the door open as I stripped off my sweats. Charlie stood just outside watching, and I grinned at her as I got beneath the water. The bathroom was minuscule, the whole space waterproofed to be a wet room, so there was no curtain. I felt her gaze on me as I soaped up, and my cock definitely felt it. My shaft filled and lengthened, bobbing in front of me.
I gave myself a few strokes. She bit her lip.
After rinsing, I switched off the faucet. Grabbed a towel from the high shelf that kept items out of the water spray. While I rubbed the towel over myself, Charlie’s eyes dragged up and down my frame. Which just got me more excited, a fact she could easily see.
When I brought the towel to my hair, she said, “Wait.” Charlie stepped into the doorway and took the towel. She draped it around my shoulders, using the ends to pull me to her.
Then she sucked my lower lip into her mouth, as if she was drinking the water droplets there. She did the same with my top lip.
“I’ve been wanting to do that,” she said. “Kiss you when you were all wet.”
“Have you?” I yanked at her towel until it fell to the floor, and our bodies pressed together, skin warm and damp from the water and the haze of steam in the air.
I grabbed her by the hips and lifted her up. Her legs cinched around my waist. We kept kissing as I crossed the few feet to the bed, then knee-walked onto the mattress, which was messy from our escapades earlier.
My towel was still draped over my shoulders, so I yanked it off and tossed it onto the floor.
Charlie sprawled onto her back, arms stretched over her head. I crawled over her. Kissed her and smoothed my hands up and down her gorgeous skin. As my mouth and tongue explored, she squirmed beneath me.
“Ah, that tickles!”
I drew my hand over my jaw. “Guess I could use a shave.”
“You’ve got more scruff than usual. I like it though.”
I bent down and rubbed my stubble on the ticklish spot on her belly. She howled and tried to push me away.
“Still like my scruff?” I asked.
Charlie smiled. There was a softness and openness to her expression I didn’t usually see. As a kid, she’d scrunched up her nose, especially when she was annoyed with me, which was always . I’d found it cute. But I liked this smile just as much, maybe better. If only I could keep her smiling like that all the time.
Then her gaze grew heated, and her tongue traced the edges of her lips.
Now that was my favorite Charlie expression. So long as she was looking only at me.
“I like it,” she whispered. “I really like this.”
I covered her body with mine and tasted her mouth again. Having Charlie like this was incredible. After so many disagreements over the years and far too much hidden, everything was bared. The attraction we’d felt for one another. The truth about my feelings.
We both knew what this was. And what it couldn’t be.
After we kissed and touched for a while longer, she reached for the box of condoms, which she must’ve tossed onto the bed while I was getting in the shower. I got myself ready. Then I took another moment to appreciate the view. Charlie stretched out on the bed, hair drying into curls on the pillow. That needy, heavy-lidded look.
“Now, River. Take me.”
Sparks of desire lit up my nerve endings. This was a scene out of my teenage fantasies. But we were adults, and I knew to go slow. Make this last.
The tip of my cock met her opening, and I pushed gradually inside, watching her expression. Her eyelids fluttered like she was hypnotized. Lips parted. Charlie’s legs wrapped around my waist as I sank deeper. Her fingers tangled in my hair.
“Damn, you’re so tight and hot.” Like I belong here , I thought.
“You feel…” Her lower lip disappeared behind her teeth. “Like you were worth the wait.”
She had no idea what it did to me, hearing her say that. As if this meant more to her too.
I was finally inside of her. My sweet, sexy Charlie.
I started to thrust, and her gasps turned to moans. Our bodies arched together. Charlie held my face and pulled me down so our mouths met. Her tongue slid eagerly against mine. I loved how much she was enjoying this and how she wasn’t afraid to show me.
I fit my arm beneath her and flipped us so Charlie was straddling me. The view was even better like this. Her rosy-tipped breasts and the soft curves of her hips and stomach. I propped onto an elbow and lifted up so I could press my lips to her pulse at her neck. Her heartbeat raced just below her skin. Hot and insistent. My blood rushed in exactly the same way. Making me throb for her.
We’d spent the last two days running. And for years before that, we’d fought and avoided one another and longed for each other too. At this moment, it felt like we’d been leading here that whole time.
Breathless, hearts thumping, skin pricked with sweat. Tension coiling until it would finally reach a breaking point.
Her panting gasps sped up. Growing almost desperate .
“River, please . You can be rough with me, too. Show me how much you want me.”
She drove me wild, this woman. I held her by the hips and angled her body against me. Fitting us together like we were meant to be this way.
“Do you feel it?” I asked.
“ Yes .”
As soon as I felt her coming, my thigh muscles clenched, and I tipped over the edge. The force of the orgasm made my head swim. I pulsed into the condom, wishing I was marking Charlie instead.
I’d always been a selfish guy. Of course I wanted more. But that was all right. This was more than I’d ever thought I would have with her.
We both trembled with aftershocks. I pulled her down against me and traced circles over her back with my fingertips.
Now, I knew what it felt like to have her legs around me. How she looked and sounded when she came. I’d finally heard her moan my name in pleasure and beg me for release.
Those memories belonged to the two of us, and no matter what else happened, we’d shared something perfect.