Chapter 31
Mateo
Charlie exhales a breathy moan when I pinch her nipple between my fingers, twisting the taut skin until she’s writhing in my lap.
The discomfort lodged in my chest dissipates a fraction as her tears dry away and lust glazes over her irises, transforming them into a radiant blue.
“Hands up,” I demand, before I raise her shirt over her head and toss it to the side. Her flesh pebbles as I unclasp her bra.
I’m captivated as I examine her through the mirror, her breasts heaving while she drags air into her lungs. If only she could see herself from my view—understand how deeply I admire her.
Her beauty is incomparable. In a thousand different lifetimes, it would always be her for me.
I rise from the chair and take Charlie with me, then drop her on the edge of the desk beside her trinkets. Darwin’s head bobbles, and her cheeks push up as she readjusts his position.
There she is .
Taking my time, I strip off my clothes, and her pupils dilate as she watches, swinging her feet back and forth. She’s beautiful like this, completely unguarded, her emotions written on her face.
I’m not afraid of her—of the baggage she carries or the fears she holds too tightly to her chest. The only way I would walk away from someone as special as Charlotte Louise Bowen is if she forced me to.
As scared as she’s been, she’s never truly pushed me away. She throws up the walls to protect herself, but she leaves a door wide open for anyone daring enough to walk through it and see everything she tries to hide.
Desire compounds at the base of my cock, and though she’s barely touched me, I’m aching for her. I need nothing more than a weighted glance and I’d be on my knees for her. She’s far more powerful than she gives herself credit.
The seed of discomfort that planted itself in my chest from her confession fades away with her touch—soft, exploratory, admiring. I stand between her thighs while her hands continue their path, working over my shoulders and across the muscles of my back to settle on my ass.
She tugs, and I stumble into her, palming my hands on the desk to stabilize myself.
The sweet sound of her giggles ricochets around my chest as she squeezes my ass.
“It’s unnatural,” she murmurs against my lips, “how attractive you are. There’s only one explanation.”
“Oh?”
She presses forward and takes my bottom lip between her teeth, nipping until the metallic tang of blood hits my tongue.
“My spell was a reverse curse. Instead of horrible hair, it made you more attractive. I don’t know if it makes me a horrible witch or the best the world’s ever seen. ”
A surprised laugh escapes me, lifting the somber energy lingering in the air, and she steals the sound. Her fingers tangle into the rogue strands of hair at the nape of my neck—the ones I can no longer tame thanks to Charlie’s exploring hands.
Despite what she thinks, her curse did work. I no longer have perfect hair.
I release a shuddered breath when her fingers tug at the strands, a small pinch of pain adding to the pleasure zapping across my skin.
Kissing her is the high of a scientific discovery. Each moment we have is new and uncharted, and I could spend the rest of my life exploring with her. Learning about her. Building her up. Loving her .
Charlie wraps her legs around my torso and pulls me against the desk, my erection pressed to her inner thigh. She gasps and drags her fingernails down my chest until she’s dangerously close to the elastic of my briefs.
Her finger trails back and forth, dipping between the waistline before retreating.
She’s teasing me, and the smile brushing my skin tells me she’s proud of how I twitch beneath her palm when she finally drags her hand along my shaft.
She’s going to be my fucking undoing.
“Be careful, bruja,” I whisper, and she shudders as my breath hits her skin.
“Or what?” she counters, full of defiance. Her chin tilts up in triumph but falls back when I tweak her nipple between my fingers, twisting the bud.
“ Oh, shit .”
I take her other nipple in my mouth, leaving small red marks along her skin before lifting her from the table. She yelps when I grab the band of her shorts and tug them off, leaving her bare.
“You are stunning,” I say, pushing a strand of hair from her face. She blushes, red creeping down her neck, but she doesn’t look away. Her irises swirl with something I’ve never seen before—not from her. It rips the air from my lungs.
“Mateo, I—”
“Tell me later, bruja . ” If she says what I think she might say—what I want to say to her—then I want to hear it later, when I have the time to hear it over and over and let the words settle deep into my soul. “Sit on the desk.”
She stares at me, stunned, but recovers when I drop my boxers and take myself into my palm, working my hand up and down my shaft. Perched at the edge of the desk, Charlie watches with uninhibited desire, and the lust builds at the base of my spine.
“Scoot back,” I command, dropping between her legs and spreading her thighs open as she moves farther onto the desk.
She hisses as the cold cabin air hits her soaked flesh.
“Such a pretty pussy.” I drag a finger up her slit, coating it in her arousal. She’s fucking drenched, and I’ve barely touched her. “Who does this pussy belong to?”
Charlie’s jaw unhinges, her chest heaving as she stares down at me. I push her knees up until she’s completely splayed out. She squirms when I kiss the inside of her left calf, working my way up the soft flesh until I’m hovering between the apex of her thighs.
I graze my thumb over her clit.
“Fuck!”
“Answer the question.”
“Mateo,” she grits out, her hips rising to search for contact.
“Who does this pussy belong to?”
“ You ,” she moans as I slip a finger inside her, curling upward to hit her G-spot.
“Good girl,” I say, latching on to her clit and sucking deeply. “This pussy,” I murmur against her skin, “is mine .”
I slide another finger into her, and she clenches around me, sending a wave of pleasure through my body .
She’s untethered, floating away toward her pleasure as her breathy moans fill the cabin.
I chase each small sound she makes until she’s squirming beneath my tongue, her hands buried in my hair for stability.
A small sheen of sweat forms on her brow, her blond hair plastered to her face and neck as she climbs closer to an orgasm.
“ Mateo .”
Do not come.
When I’m confident I’m not going to finish early, I add a third finger, increasing my pace until her legs shake and her breath grows choppy and uneven.
“Come for me,” I demand, pulling her clit between my teeth.
Her hips rise off the desk as she barrels into her orgasm, her fingers tightening around my hair, forging pleasure from the pain. I continue to lap and nip until her body slackens and she releases my hair from her death grip.
“So pretty,” I admit when she’s recovered enough to sit up.
She blushes as I brush away the hair matted to her temple, kissing her gently, before falling into the chair and facing her. My cock stands tall and hard against my stomach.
I rub the bead of precum along the head, a small groan escaping me when she gulps, her gaze darkening to a shade of deep cerulean. She drops to the floor in front of me, her tongue darting out to wet her lips.
“And this is mine ,” she says, pushing away my hand to wrap hers around me, squeezing at the base.
Stars twinkle in my vision as Charlie leans forward and runs her tongue along my shaft, coating it in saliva. She twirls her tongue around the tip, and I briefly lose control when she pulls my cock into her mouth.
My hips lift from the chair, and I push myself down her throat. Her muscles work around me, making space for me to press farther .
She gags, gripping my thighs as her head bobs up and down, taking me deeper with each pass.
I won’t last long like this, and my balls tighten when she moans, as if offering me pleasure increases her own. The vision of Charlie on her knees, sucking my cock like it’s her last meal, is not only one I’ve fantasized about but will do me in more quickly than I want.
Her fingers release my thighs, small half-moons embedded into my skin. She takes my balls into her palm, cupping them as she takes me to the base, the head of my cock pressing against the back of her throat.
“Fuck, I’m going to come,” I groan, gripping the chair’s armrests as she hums against my dick, the same tune she offered in the lab. She makes it to what should be the second line in the first verse when I wrap her hair around my wrist and drag her off my cock.
She whines, saliva trailing down her chin as she sits back on her knees, breasts pushed outward.
Holy fuck.
Her position is not helping delay my orgasm. Instead, the pleasure compounds, and I have to squeeze my eyes shut.
There’s only one thing that can postpone the orgasm: reciting the steps of polymerase chain reaction. I have to list the entire master mix to cool down enough to look at Charlie, who watches from her knees with thinly veiled amusement.
“Come here,” I demand, helping her off the ground before I drag her into a frenzied kiss.
Before she can settle on my lap, I grab her hips and twirl her around to face the mirror. She’s blocking my body from view, but she’s completely exposed. I wait, expecting her to cover herself and shy away from her reflection, but she surprises me and instead offers a tentative grin.
My fingers tighten on her hips, almost enough to bruise, as I use her as a tether to reality .
It’s hard to verbalize the pride banging around in my chest. Difficult to breathe as I watch her analyze herself in the mirror, starting at her face and slowly traveling south.
“I have another thing,” she whispers, breaking my trance.
“What?”
I’m stuck between staring at her ass, begging for me to sink my teeth into the soft flesh, and the way her breasts rise and fall in the mirror. Both are captivating and stealing my attention.
“Another thing I like about myself,” she says, “I like how I feel when you look at me.” She rubs her breastbone. “I feel…seen, but not in a bad way. It’s like—” She pauses, her lashes fluttering as she searches for words. “Like I’m shining .”
“You do,” I say, kissing her shoulder. “You shine like bioluminescence in the abyss.”
She slips her hand beneath mine.
“Thank you for seeing me. And not being afraid.”
The words are whispered, barely vocalized.
Admiration is the last thing I expect from her. It’s frightening—what I feel for her. Threatens to take over my thoughts, command my actions, dictate my future.
It’s unsettling, yet the most comfortable thing in the world.
Loving Charlie is easy, regardless of what she believes.
She releases my hand, and I guide her over my thighs, the soft skin of her back pressed against my chest.
With my hands on her hips, I help her stretch over my cock, inch by inch, until she’s flush against me, the inside of her thighs bracketing the outside of mine. She gasps as she takes me to the hilt, and I give her a moment to adjust, nipping at the flesh of her neck.
She pulses around me, and my balls tense with pleasure, which peaks when she shifts, sinking even deeper.
“Holy shit,” she moans, her hands flying to the armrests and head falling onto my shoulder. “So fucking deep. ”
“Eyes open.” My voice shakes with the need to move, but she heeds my command. “Look how well you take me,” I whisper in her ear, stroking her clit with my fingers.
She jerks, a breathy gasp escaping her as her hips lift, but I hold them steady until she’s desperate to move—overcome with need.
“You consume me, bruja . ”
A soft moan tumbles out of her as I pull her hair to the side and drop my mouth to her collarbone, sucking deeply on the skin.
Am I too old to be giving Charlie a hickey? Sure, but it scratches an itch in my caveman brain, and I’ll spend the next few days getting hard from the sight of it.
Her lips pop open to admonish me, but any words fall away as I lift my hips and piston into her.
“ Oh, ” she moans, grinding back and forth as she uses the chair to stabilize herself.
She rides my cock in earnest, and I sit back, allowing her to take her pleasure. I keep my hands on her waist to minimize the impact on her joints, and she clenches around me.
A groan slips out, and I catch the tail end of Charlie’s smile before she does it again.
Fuck. Two can play this game.
Wrapping one arm around her waist, I tease her clit until she’s pulsing around me.
“I-I’m going to come,” she moans, her breath choppy as she moves.
I’m right there with her, the need to come buzzing through my veins. I know myself—I’ll come the moment she does.
“Your pussy takes my cock so well. Are you going to be a good girl and take my cum?”
She nods frantically, her head banging against my shoulder as she shatters around my cock, tumbling into oblivion. I pump my hips upward, and then I’m falling with her, ecstasy barreling into my chest with such force stars flicker along my vision .
Charlie returns to earth before I do, flopping against my chest as I soften inside her. My cum leaks out and coats our thighs. I’ve never seen anything hotter than her splayed out on top of me, flushed from her orgasm.
I kiss her temple, and she sighs. It’s soft and content, and it flares the kernel of happiness lodged beneath my diaphragm.
She rises and disappears into the bathroom while I catch my breath.
It’s the moment of silence that allows the memory to slam into me.
I’m pretty sure she was going to tell me she loves me.
And I told her to tell me later.
I might be an idiot.