9. Chapter 9
Charlie
What are you doing?
Six years working to get over him, and she was throwing it all away for … for one night. For the chance to touch him one more time.
But damn it if she could help herself.
From the moment they’d sat across from each other at dinner—a seafood place, her favorite—her body had started singing. A low, treacherous hum she hadn’t felt in years.
Not with anyone else.
Not even close.
Dating after Lorenz had been an uphill battle. Like an imprinted duckling who’d lost sight of the first moving thing she’d ever followed, Charlie had found it hard to relate to any man.
Six years should have been enough to rewire something so basic, but her body had never quite caught up.
And she’d tried. First with a fellow teacher, then with an insurance salesman and, most recently, with a ski instructor.
She didn’t consider herself a particularly beautiful woman, but French men loved American women—even more so when they spoke a bit of French.
The three men she’d dated had been kind, attentive, safe choices.
Men who didn’t disappear into the mountains or off on crazy ultramarathons for days at a time.
The worst part had been the sex. Charlie knew her body still worked—she was able to make herself come when she was alone, after all—but sex with a partner had become an exercise in frustration and disappointment.
Even with the ski instructor, a man five years younger than herself and—objectively speaking—hung like a horse, she’d failed to find any relief.
So was it any surprise her traitorous body had jumped at the opportunity to spend a night with Lorenz?
Lorenz’s hand wrapped around hers, gently pulling her out of the restaurant. The cold shocked her skin, but it didn’t touch the heat that coiled low in her body. Lorenz’s stride shortened to match hers.
“Lead the way,” he said, his voice husky. “I’ll follow in my car.”
The ten-minute ride should have been enough time to cool off.
Lorenz’s car kept a respectful distance, but somehow felt impossibly close. She knew that car. Had ridden in it hundreds of times, usually curled sideways in the passenger seat, since he’d always enjoyed driving.
Charlie gripped the steering wheel as the familiar road stretched out in front of her, snowbanks glowing faintly under the car’s headlights. Sensible thoughts rose to her mind.
This is a mistake.
You’ll regret it tomorrow.
But for every warning, a part of her had an answer.
I’ll regret it either way.
Might as well regret it after being well-fucked.
Well-fucked.
She’d never used such coarse language in the past. She and Lorenz had always made love. But tonight, she couldn’t think in those terms. The only thing they could offer each other was sex. So she had to phrase it like that.
By the time she pulled into her driveway, her hands were steady again. Steady was good. If she was going to do this—and she was—she wanted to enter into it clear-eyed. No pretending this was anything other than what it was.
She parked—careful to stay on her side of the line, this time—and got out of the car, waiting for Lorenz to park out on the street. He unfolded his long legs from the car and stood facing her. Breath fogged the air between them, but he didn’t move.
“Still on the same page?” he asked quietly.
Charlie nodded. “I’m not going to change my mind.”
A flicker of something he’d kept hidden until now—hunger—crossed his face. “Good.”
She unlocked the door and stepped inside, the warmth of the house wrapping around her. Lorenz followed, closing the door behind him.
Charlie took a moment to look at him—really look. At the familiar planes of his face, and the new ones these last six years had etched there. At his shoulders, which had always seemed to her wide enough to take on the weight of the world.
She reached out first, because she knew he wouldn’t.
Her hands settled against his chest, right over his heart. Lorenz covered her hand with his larger one, warm and steady.
“Take off your jacket,” she said.
Thankfully, he didn’t make her ask twice. He shrugged out of the jacket with practiced efficiency and set it over the back of a chair.
Charlie swallowed.
God, he was beautiful. Those thick forearms, corded with muscle. Strong biceps. The movement of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed. Every inch of her throbbed in awareness.
She took off her own jacket and stepped closer, close enough that she could feel the heat of him now. Her palms returned to his chest, fingers splayed to feel his heartbeat.
“So,” she said lightly, because light was good. She had to keep things light.
One brow lifted. “So?”
She stood on tiptoe and tilted her head back to meet his gaze.
“So beautiful,” he said, as his lips came down to meet hers.
And it was the first time, but also not. Because she knew this warmth. She knew the feeling of those devastating lips on hers. Her body knew just how much passion hid behind that stoic facade.
The kiss wasn’t tentative. It was careful, but only in the way someone handles something precious. Charlie closed her eyes and let herself feel—the way his mouth explored hers and, when their tongues finally touched, everything inside her sizzled, in a kiss that felt well-known but also new.
“I could kiss you all night,” he said, when they finally had to breathe.
“But then we’d be wasting an opportunity.” She took a quick step back and reached for the hem of her sweater.
The soft black knit slid easily over her wrists and her neck. She let the moment stretch, dropping the item on the floor before looking up.
Lorenz stilled, his jaw locked tight as his green eyes tracked every inch of her, as if he’d never seen her before.
“You’re going to kill me,” he said quietly.
Charlie was glad she’d worn her lacy black balcony bra, the one that made her breasts look a size larger than they really were.
“You’ll survive,” she said, taking his hand and pulling him towards the staircase. Towards her bedroom. She wanted no ambiguity at all between them.
Her bedroom was the calmest spot in the house. All warm linen. Neutral. It was the room where she’d learned to sleep alone again.
And now you’re letting him inside.
She blocked the thought quickly. Her hand went down to the button of her jeans.
“Allow me,” he said. His left hand went to her hips, while his right hand caressed the top of her breast where it peeked out from under the bra. His touch went straight to her core, a sharp burst of heat that pulled an involuntary inhale from her.
Yes.
More.
Still that immediate, treacherous response—her body responding to his.
More.
“We have all night,” he said.
It took her an instant to realize she’d spoken the word out loud.
The pads of his fingers felt rough against her breast—rough in exactly the right way.
Charlie’s chest heaved, almost exposing her nipple. Lorenz groaned and pulled the cup of the bra down. His fingers pinched her nipple lightly. Charlie moaned, pulling herself closer against him.
His finger moved to her other breast, pulling the bra down to access that nipple as well, while his other hand unzipped her jeans.
More.
Lorenz searched her face, green eyes dark.
He pulled off her jeans, supporting her as she hopped from one foot to the next, leaving her clad in just her bra and underwear.
“So fucking beautiful,” he exhaled. His hands went under her butt, lifting her easily. He walked her to the bed and set her down gently. Linen brushed her skin.
Charlie reached for him, fingers curling into his dark green polo shirt.
“This has to go,” she said, pulling until, finally, he took the hint and shucked it off. His stomach muscles rippled as the fabric came away, and for a moment Charlie forgot how to breathe.
Lorenz leaned over her, bracing one arm on the mattress, the other cupping her cheek. He paused there, forehead resting against hers, breath hot.
“Are you sure about this, Charlie?” he asked. “Tell me if you want me to stop.”
“I want you,” she said simply.
Her words seemed to ease some tension within him, replacing it with pure, unadulterated intent.
His lips came down on hers again, while his hands finally—finally—unclasped her bra. The feeling of her breasts against his naked chest was glorious. Pure pleasure coursed through her.
He pulled himself up for an instant to take off his jeans and boxer shorts, and she took the chance to look between his legs; his thick, hard erection even bigger than she remembered it.
He hooked his thumb inside the waistband of her underwear and pulled down, his calloused fingers caressing the side of her body until she was completely naked.
“Open up for me, honey,” he said, his tongue coming out to lick his thumb.
Honey.
Nobody had ever called her that. Except him.
Tears threatened to form behind her eyes, but she pushed them back.
Focus on the now.
Focus on the pleasure.
She let her knees fall open and was rewarded by his wet thumb on her clit, the pressure so just right, it was all she could do not to scream out loud.
Her hips shoved forward, against his hand.
“Relax, we have all night.”
“Please,” she begged. “I need to come.”
His breath was ragged against her collarbone.
“So hot.” He massaged her clit gently, so gently, his thumb moving in circles, right where she needed him. Except she felt so empty. As if he could read her mind, his thick index finger slowly penetrated her. “So tight.”
Eventually, a second finger joined the first, the stretch exhilarating as the pleasure rose and rose, until she felt like she was flying. “That’s right. Come for me, honey,” he whispered, his lips trailing kisses all the way down her neck to her needy breasts.
It was his words that drove her right over the edge. She grabbed onto his thick, corded shoulders, her core pulsating hard against his fingers.
Only with him.
No other man could do this to her.
When she was finally done shaking, she sucked in a ragged, desperate breath.
“God. My toes are curling.”
“That means we’ve done something right.” Lorenz smiled, showing her that devastating dimple that she’d always thought of as a secret between them, because he didn’t smile enough for most people to notice it.
“Want to take a nap?” he asked, his voice oddly tender.
“I have a better idea. Let’s do it again,” Charlie said, suddenly greedy for more, greedy for him. If this was their one chance to be together before they both came back to their senses, she wasn’t going to waste a single instant.
Lorenz
Her small hand wrapped around his thick erection.
Lorenz hissed.
God, he’d missed her.
Her legs were bent, knees splayed open, an invitation if he’d ever seen one.
He wanted nothing more than to sink inside her bare, the way he’d done before. But that was then, and this was now. He picked up his pants, searching for his wallet and the condom he kept there, and sheathed himself in record time.
“Take me inside you, Charlie.”
He shifted his hips and entered her, just a couple of inches. She was tight.
So tight.
“It’s been a long time for me,” Charlie gasped.
And he shouldn’t have been happy to hear that, but it’d been a long time for him as well.
“I’ll go slow,” he promised. Hurting her wasn’t an option.
“Just don’t stop.”
He wasn’t about to stop. He fed her an additional inch, backed out, then pushed back inside. Deeper with every slow, controlled thrust.
The pleasure was staggering. Lorenz fought for control, when his body wanted more.
“More,” she begged, her gray eyes luminous. Her hips tilted forward to meet his thrusts. “Please.”
“Fuck, Charlie.”
Gripping her hips tighter, Lorenz stroked into her. Hard.
Pressure built inside him. There was no stopping this.
“I’m not going to last,” Lorenz growled
“Good. I want more.”
More. He’d give her everything, if she let him. Because this wasn’t just sex—this was him and Charlie, together again. And they’d always been explosive in bed together.
He lifted her hands above her head, holding her easily with one of his, opening her body to his touch.
“Tell me if it’s too much,” he growled, his teeth grazing her neck.
“More,” she repeated.
So he gave her more. He gave her everything he had to give. Harder. Deeper. Tilting her hips towards him so she felt every inch of his cock. Until her body told him he was hitting exactly the right place.
Her fingers gripped his hand, tight enough to hurt.
“Yes. Yes.”
There was no coming back from his. No slowing down.
Not before her. Not until she comes.
And then he felt it—the spasms around his cock, telling him she was there—giving him permission to follow.