14. Chapter 14 #2
"I love you—" Charlotte gasped as Jo's hand slid into her pants, no patience left for undressing properly. "God, Jo—"
"I love making you say my name like that."
"Then don't stop."
Jo didn't stop.
She'd gotten bolder in the past month. More confident. She knew Charlotte's body now. Knew that she liked to be teased before being touched directly. Knew that the spot below her ear made her knees buckle. Knew how much pressure, what rhythm, what words would take her apart.
"You're beautiful," Jo murmured, watching Charlotte's face as her fingers moved. "I keep learning new things about your face. Like right now, this expression. I've never seen it before."
"Yours." Charlotte was gripping Jo's shoulders, nails digging in. "I've always been yours."
"For years."
"Longer than I knew how to name it." Charlotte's eyes met hers, dark with want. "I was yours before you knew. Before either of us knew."
Fierceness swelled in Jo's chest. She kissed Charlotte hard, swallowing the sounds she made as Jo's fingers curled inside her.
Charlotte hooked one leg around Jo's hip and pulled her closer until Jo could feel every involuntary movement of her body.
That nearly wrecked Jo's concentration. She pressed her forehead to Charlotte's and watched her lose the next breath.
"Again," Charlotte whispered. Jo gave her exactly the same curl and felt Charlotte shudder against the wall.
Charlotte was loud when Jo wanted her to be. Quiet when Jo made it impossible to speak at all.
Right now, Jo wanted loud.
"The neighbors," Charlotte managed.
"Don't care."
"They'll hear..."
"Let them." Jo increased her pace, watching Charlotte's head fall back against the wall. "Let them hear how much I love you."
Charlotte stopped arguing after that. Couldn't argue with Jo's fingers working inside her and Jo's thumb circling her clit and Jo's voice in her ear saying all the things she'd never said.
"I love the sounds you make for me." Jo kissed the corner of her mouth. "I love that you don't hide them anymore."
Charlotte's whole body tensed. Jo felt it building, felt Charlotte's rhythm stutter, felt Charlotte clutch at her like Jo was the only solid thing in the world.
When Charlotte came, sharp and sudden, with Jo's name on her lips, Jo caught her. Held her up against the wall, kept her steady while she shook apart. It was beautiful. It was everything.
"Okay," Charlotte breathed, after, sagging against Jo. "That was definitely spectacular."
"Told you." Jo kissed her softly. "Now. Bedroom. I want my hands on you."
"I can't feel my legs."
"I'll carry you."
"You can't carry me."
Jo proved her wrong. Lifted Charlotte in a move that would've been embarrassing if Charlotte hadn't yelped and laughed and wrapped her legs around Jo's waist.
"Show off," Charlotte accused.
"You love it."
"I love you."
"Same thing."
Jo deposited Charlotte on the bed. Looked down at her, shirt hanging open, pants undone, hair a mess, utterly gorgeous.
"Hi," Jo said, climbing over her.
"Hi yourself."
"We're going to own an apartment."
"Apparently."
"I'm going to christen every room with you."
"That's a lot of christening."
"We have time." Jo settled into the space between Charlotte's thighs, pressing close. "We have the rest of our lives."
"That's very presumptuous."
"Is it?" Jo kissed her slowly, deeply. "Tell me I'm wrong."
Charlotte looked up at her with her mouth swollen from kissing and one hand still hooked in Jo's shirt. The hope in her face was almost harder to look at than the fear had been.
"You're not wrong," Charlotte whispered. "You're absolutely right."
"Good." Jo's grin was sharp with intent. "Now let me show you what else I'm right about."
She undressed Charlotte the rest of the way, taking her time now. Kissing each new inch of skin. Charlotte had stopped being self-conscious about being naked in front of Jo. She'd gotten used to being looked at, being wanted, being adored.
"You're staring again," Charlotte said, breathless.
"I'm appreciating." Jo kissed her stomach. "There's a difference."
"Is there?"
"Staring is passive." Jo's mouth traced lower. "Appreciating is active."
"That's not—" Charlotte's argument dissolved into a gasp as Jo's mouth found her.
Jo loved the sex. She loved this more: Charlotte reaching for her without hesitation, asking for what she wanted, not apologizing when her voice got loud. Trust looked a lot less delicate than Jo had expected. Sometimes it looked like Charlotte dragging her closer by the hair.
Jo had spent her whole life not understanding what people meant when they talked about desire. About wanting someone so much it consumed you. Now she understood. Now she was the one consumed.
She worked Charlotte up slowly this time, mouth first, then two fingers when Charlotte opened wider for her. Jo knew more now: when to tease, when not to; the exact pressure that made Charlotte's heel dig into the mattress; the little broken "yes" that meant hold steady and do not get clever.
This was better than the first time. Better than last week. And somehow, Jo knew, it would be better still next month, next year, a decade from now.
"Jo—" Charlotte's voice was wrecked. "Please—I need—"
"Always." Jo gave her more.
Charlotte fell apart for the second time, her whole body arching off the bed, Jo's name a litany on her lips. Jo stayed with her through every wave, gentling her touch as Charlotte came down.
When Charlotte finally stilled, she pulled Jo up and kissed her desperately.
"My turn," Charlotte murmured against her mouth, already rolling them, pressing Jo into the mattress. "I've wanted to since you lifted me."
"That did it for you?"
"Shut up." Charlotte kissed her neck. "Let me appreciate you."
Jo shut up.
Charlotte took her time too. Worshiping Jo's body with the same focus she brought to everything, thorough, absolutely devastating. Her mouth traced paths across Jo's skin, her hands finding all the places that made Jo gasp.
"I spent years," Charlotte said, kissing between Jo's breasts, "imagining this. You have no idea."
"Tell me."
"I imagined what you'd taste like." Lower. "What sounds you'd make." Lower still. "What your face would look like when you came."
"Charlotte—"
"Reality's better." Charlotte's breath was warm against Jo's center. "Reality's so much better."
Then her mouth was on Jo, and Jo stopped thinking entirely.
Jo still startled sometimes at how uncomplicated wanting could feel in her body. No checklist. No wondering whether she ought to be enjoying herself more. Charlotte touched her and Jo wanted more; Charlotte stopped and Jo pulled her back.
"I love you," Charlotte said against her. "I love every part of you."
"I love—" Jo couldn't finish the sentence, couldn't do anything but feel as Charlotte's tongue found exactly the right spot, exactly the right rhythm.
She came with a cry she didn't try to muffle. Let it ring out through the apartment. Let the neighbors hear.
Charlotte crawled back up her body, looking satisfied and gorgeous and like everything Jo had ever wanted without knowing it.
"Hi," Charlotte said, grinning.
"Hi." Jo pulled her down, kissed her. "God, you're incredible."
"Spectacular?"
"Perfect."
They lay tangled together, breathing hard, champagne forgotten. The apartment was quiet except for the sound of their hearts slowly returning to normal.
"We're going to own an apartment," Jo said.
"So you keep saying."
"I'm going to christen every room with you. Starting with the kitchen."
"The kitchen?"
"Good counter height."
Charlotte laughed, bright and real. "You've thought about this."
"I've thought about everything." Jo kissed her forehead. "I have a lot of fantasies to make up for."
"We have time."
"We have forever."
Charlotte snuggled closer, her head on Jo's shoulder. "Forever sounds good."
"It sounds perfect."
Outside, the city hummed. Somewhere a seller was considering their offer. On Charlotte's kitchen table, two signatures sat side by side on the same stack of papers.
But right now, Jo had Charlotte warm and boneless against her side, one bare foot hooked over Jo's ankle.
Tomorrow they could worry about inspections and interest rates. Tonight, they had champagne going flat and each other.