Chapter 20
JACE
Letting out a yawn, I stretch my arms out and rub the sleep from my eyes. I have no idea what the time is, or how long we’ve been on the road, but the sun blasting in my face tells me it’s past sunrise.
“What time is it?” I ask, turning my head to look at Charlie and instantly regret it. Rubbing my neck, I let out a groan. Sleeping in the car whilst driving is nowhere near as fun as I remember it being as a kid.
“I don’t know, ‘bout seven?” he responds, not taking his eyes off the road.
“What?” I sit up, ignoring the kink in my neck. “Charlie, you were supposed to wake me up! Let me find a Maccas or something for us to pull into.” I pull out my phone and open Maps, doing just that.
“It’s fine.”
“Charlie, it’s quarter past seven. We left Ariana’s at like two thirty this morning. You’ve been driving for hours. Pull over,” I say, pissed that he’s being stubborn about this.
“No, it’s fine.”
“Charlie Benjamin fucking Taylor, pull over right now.” My tone leaves no room for argument, and I watch as his shoulders drop in defeat before he puts his indicator on and pulls over.
We sit there for a moment but when he finally looks at me, I can see his eyes are red raw from the strain of staying awake. “You were supposed to wake me up hours ago, Charlie.”
“I know, I just-” he cuts himself off and I wait for him to finish his sentence. When he doesn’t, I unbuckle his, then my, seatbelts.
“I get it, I do, but we agreed. We promised we would do this smart. We can’t drive tired, Charlie.”
“I know, I’m sorry,” he apologises and just like that, any irritation I may have had left about him stubbornly driving on disappears.
“It’s fine. Come on, swap seats. There’s a Maccas not too far from here, we’ll call in, grab some breakfast and stretch our legs for a bit, then you can get some sleep.”
“How about this place? It has a campground, allows RVs, oh and there’s a lookout point that has a pree mad view,” I say, turning the screen so Charlie can see. He looks at it briefly before turning his eyes back on the road and nodding his head.
“Take the next exit,” I instruct, entering the address into the GPS and settle back in my seat. Charlie reaches over, entwining our hands together and offering me a tired smile.
It’s been a long day. A great one, but long, nonetheless.
Charlie starts singing along to the song currently playing through the stereo and I close my eyes, enjoying the cool breeze on my face.
I don’t reopen them again until I feel the car come to a stop and the ignition turns off.
When I do, I find Charlie watching me with a soft smile.
“Shall we?” I nod my head, and the two of us climb out of the RV to stretch our legs.
The campground isn’t very busy, only a couple of people lulling around, but that’s okay.
It just means we have the place almost entirely to ourselves.
We take a lap around the grounds, noting there’s a toilet but no shower.
“Guess it’s a good think I have a dog wash,” I joke as we make our way back.
“You want to bathe in the dog wash?”
“I mean, there’s an actual shower in the RV, so why not?
It’s clean and has running water. Unless you’d rather have a sponge bath in the toilet sink.
” I point over my shoulder and we both shudder.
That toilet fucking stank, I’m glad there’s one in the RV cause there’s no way I would be using the one here.
“You go first, I’ll get the mattress out,” Charlie says when we get inside, digging through the bags we tossed inside after our trip to Kmart a couple of hours ago.
Keeping my shower short, I’m in and out in a matter of minutes. Shutting the water off, I let out a wince when I realise our mistake. “Uh, Charlie? Did we by chance pack any towels?”
“Fuck.” Yeah, didn’t think so.
“So, we drip drying then?” I muse, standing in the middle of the RV dropping wet with my hands on my hips. Charlie tosses aside another bag, searching inside for a towel, but stops when he sees me.
“I’m okay with that,” he responds, licking his lips and the look in his eyes has my cock jumping to attention. I can’t help but reach down and give it a little tug, his eyes tracking the movement. “Go shower, Charlie.”
He grumbles something under his breath, but does as he’s told, and I look down at the shirt I discarded earlier, shrugging my shoulders before I pick it up and use it to dry myself off.
Flicking the switch on the blow-up mattress, I watch as it inflates.
Thank fuck these things have a built-in pump these days.
It takes a while, but slowly the king single mattress inflates, and I frown.
It’s going to be a tight squeeze, but you won’t hear me complaining about having Charlie pressed up against me all night.
“Did you find a towel?”
“Nah, I used my shirt,” I answer, nodding to the now wet shirt sticking out the window to dry whilst I pointedly avoid looking at Charlie and his half-hard dick.
“Smart.”
“Yep.” Fuck, why does this suddenly feel awkward? I swallow as Charlie grabs his own shirt, his eyes never leaving mine as he runs it over his chest.
“You’re staring.” Fuck yeah I am.
“So are you.” I raise a brow, my eyes following his hand as he lowers it down his chest. Right as he grips is dick, mirroring my move from before, his shirt hits my face.
Pulling it away, I ball the shirt up and toss it, not caring where it lands as I stalk toward him. I stop in front of him, barely a breath away and he juts his chin out. Reaching up, I grip his jaw, neither one of us saying anything as we just stare at one another, wating for the other to break.
I break first, my hand moving from his chin to the back of his neck, closing the distance and our lips crash together. I let out a groan as his body presses against me, and I feel every hard inch of him.
His hands run through my hair, and he gives it a hard pull as he tries to take control of our kiss, but I refuse to hand it over so easily. The noise he makes when he realises I’m not going to concede has my dick straining and a cross between a frustrated grown and a groan of pleasure escapes.
He shoves my chest playfully and I take a step back to balance myself, forgetting about the mattress at my feet. My eyes widen and I completely lose my footing, my grip on Charlie pulling him down with me just like it did when we were twelve.
My back slams against the hard floor of the RV despite the mattress being fully inflated, and I let out a groan, coughing as it winds me.
“Fuck. Shit, I didn’t mean-” his voice cuts off; shock and concern clearly painted across his face.
“That’s gonna leave a mark,” I groan, wincing as he rolls off me, causing the mattress and in turn my back, to move.
“Are you okay?”
“Yep,” I breathe out. “Be surprised if we didn’t pop the mattress though.”
“Roll over,” he demands, his wet lips pressing against my back and trailing a path down. My dick instantly hardens again, not giving a fuck about the ache still spreading against my back.
“I’m okay,” I assure him, trying to roll back over but his breath feathers on the back of my neck seconds before I feel his weight presses down on me and I pause.
“Let me make it up to you.” I mean, if he wants to kiss it better, who am I to say no?
His lips trail open mouth kisses down my back again, and I chuckle as I feel his tongue press against my arse.
I have no idea how we didn’t pop this thing when we fell, but the things he's doing with his tongue have my hands digging into the matress so hard, I wouldn't be surprise if it ends up popping.
"Fuck," Charlie curses, his tongue disappearing, leaving me desperate.
“Yes, fuck. Hurry up, Charlie.” I groan, my dick so hard it’s starting to rival the ache in my back.
“No, I mean fuck I don’t think we packed any lube.” His words are like ice cold water, and a record screeches in my mind. I roll on my side, looking at him incredulously.
“What? Please tell me you’re joking. If this is some sort of edging game, then just give it up. I need you. Now.” He doesn’t respond, just reaches for another bag, tipping its contents onto the floor, and I realise he isn’t kidding. “Fuck.”
We both sit there as the last bag’s contents are poured out between us, no lube in sight. “Fuck it,” I say, tossing the clothes aside. “We don’t need lube. Just fuck me.”
“Yes, we do. I don’t care what they say in books and porn. Spit ain’t enough.”
“I can take it,” I tell him, shuffling forward on my knees and try to distract him with a kiss. It’s been awhile since I had someone take me like that, but that doesn’t bother me. I wrap my hand around his cock and jerk him off, but he pulls away with a hand on my chest.
“Jace-”
“I can, I promise.” I rise up on my knees, pressing our chests together and groan as my cock rubs against his.
“But-”
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” I say between kisses, my fingers digging into his hip as I continue to stroke his dick, before I-
“Red,” he whispers against my lips, and I freeze instantly.
We haven’t discussed things like safe words yet; we haven’t really done anything particularly out there to warrant one.
But I recognise it when I hear one being said, and it’s enough to cut through the fog of lust. Immediately, I pull back, sitting on my ankles.
Rubbing at my chest, I try not to take it personally. We should have discussed boundaries and limits and everything days ago. The idea that I may have crossed a line with him hurts, but I remind myself this isn’t about me, it’s about Charlie.
Neither one of us speaks straight away, and it’s a little awkward.
I want to apologise, but I also know that right now is my turn to listen, to hear what he needs to say.
I’m not sure if me continuously cutting him off was a part of the reason for him needing to safe word, so I wait for him to articulate what he’s feeling without trying to speak.
Finally, he clears his throat, and I look up from my lap to give him my full attention.
“I understand that in the past, that was something you did a lot…but um,” his voice trails off, and he doesn’t meet my eyes as he takes a moment for himself before continuing.
“That’s not something I’m comfortable with. ”
I nod my head to let him know I hear and understand him, but I still don’t say anything because he looks like he’s not finished. “I don’t mind pain with my pleasure, but not pain for the sake of pain and that’s what this feels like to me.”
“Fuck. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for you to feel like that,” my voice trails off, and I rub my hands over my face before running them through my hair. “I don’t want pain for the sake of pain either. That’s not who I am anymore. I wasn’t thinking. I just wanted – want – you.”
The kiss he gives me this time isn’t frantic, or lust driven. Instead, we take our time before eventually separating. “I kind of ruined the mood, didn’t I?” I ask him, licking my lips and enjoying the taste of him on my tongue.
“You didn’t,” he tells me, putting on a pair of boxes before holding a pair out for me. “But, how about we have something to eat? Then we can lie down.”
I let out a relieved breath, glad he isn’t mad at me and pull on the boxers before accepting the slice of pizza he offers once I join him under the blanket.
“So, your safe word is red?” I ask to fill the silence once we’ve finished eating, and also because I’m curious now that we’ve opened the discussion.
“I dunno, I guess? I’ve never been with anyone to consider needing a safe word. It was the first one that popped in my head.”
“I’m sorry you felt like you needed to use it, but also, I’m kind of glad you did. Is that wrong to say?” He immediately shakes his head, pulling me closer so I can lay my head on his chest.
“No, I think it’s healthy,” he tells me, running his fingers softly up and down my arm and I do the same on his chest. “This is new for both of us, and we got caught up in the moment. I don’t think either of us were really comfortable with where that was heading.”
I slowly nod my head, my eyes drifting closed as I think back on all of my past sexual encounters before Charlie found me and I realise, none of them are what today’s version of me considers healthy. Back then, I didn’t care about my partner’s or my own limits. I just wanted to…hurt.
In my need for Charlie, I slipped back into that old role without realising it and I don’t want that kind of relationship with him. Or Bonnie for that matter. So, I’m glad he stopped things when I couldn’t.
“I love you, Charlie.”
“I love you, Jace.”