14. Chapter 14
Lorenz
“Have you lived here long?” Charlie asked, looking out the window onto the town below.
She looked resplendent, standing there in that little black dress, but there was something guarded in the way she held herself, her shoulders drawn in, her arms stiffly by her side. He didn’t want her guarded. Not around him. Not ever.
He searched her expression for some clue as to what she thought of his apartment, but found none.
Following her gaze, he looked around the room as if he were seeing it for the first time.
He hadn’t put any time or effort into decorating the place. The couch was deep enough to fall asleep on after a night shift. The television was large enough to watch ski races from across the room. The blackout blinds kept the apartment dark enough for daytime sleep when he needed it.
Everything had a purpose, but nothing had been chosen because it was beautiful. The thought that someone might or might not like his apartment had never mattered to him before.
But he wanted Charlie to like it. More than anything, he wanted her to feel safe here. Particularly after what had happened tonight.
He cleared his throat, suddenly aware of the silence stretching between them.
“Since our team moved over from Annecy,” he finally replied, tugging on his tie. “You can take the bedroom, right through that door. Let me get some sheets for the sofa, then I’ll make you some tea.”
Charlie turned from the window, her arms folding tightly across her chest. Lorenz made a determined effort to keep his eyes on her face.
“I don’t want tea,” she said. “I don’t want to be tucked in. I certainly don’t want to take your bed.”
Lorenz stilled.
“Okay,” he said carefully.
She wandered slowly around the room.
Her fingers brushed the spines of the handful of books on the shelf—climbing memoirs, guidebooks, a few airport thrillers. Her gaze lingered on the climbing ropes hanging from a hook by the door.
She stopped in the doorway and looked up at the wooden hangboard he’d installed there. He wondered if she’d remember she’d given it to him, to help him strengthen his grip and forearm strength when he was training for the PGHM exams.
“Is that the same—“
“It is. I’ve taken it with me everywhere I’ve lived.”
She smiled faintly. “I remember.”
She turned around to stare out the window, and he saw her shoulders begin to shake. His hands clenched into fists. He’d never felt so useless.
“Do you think I could get that tea now?” she whispered.
He placed his hand gently on her shoulder. It felt cold—colder than it should have. “Charlie. Please. You don’t have to hide. It’s okay to be upset.”
Her shoulders shook harder. “I … I want to be strong …”
“You are strong.”
“I don’t feel strong. I feel scared. And confused. And angry.”
Her admission twisted something inside him. There wasn’t anything he could say to make things better. But he could be there for her. He pressed himself against her back, holding her gently. Eventually, she turned around until she was facing him, pressing her forehead against his chest.
“I can feel your heartbeat,” she said. “Slow and steady.”
“I feel yours, too.”
Eventually, her body relaxed against his.
“Thank you for holding me,” she said.
He barked out a laugh. “You wouldn’t thank me if you knew how much I want this.”
“What? This?” she asked, pressing her hips and the lower half of her body tighter against his body. His erection, which was already at half-mast, filled up immediately.
“Not what I had in mind,” he said. “But that, too.”
He held her for a few beats longer. “Would you like that tea?”
She raised her head, looking him straight in the eye, and moved her hips forward, so there wasn’t a molecule of space between them.
“I don’t want tea, but I wouldn’t mind a repeat of what happened last week.”
There was no hesitation in her this time, none of the doubt he’d seen earlier at the gala, none of the fear that had followed her home. “Unless you feel like I’m just using you.”
For a second, he didn’t trust himself to speak.
The words rose immediately—honest, instinctive, and entirely unfiltered.
Honey, you can use me anytime. I’ll take what I can get, to be close to you.
He swallowed them down.
What came out instead was quieter, rougher around the edges. “Come here.”
Her gray eyes held his gaze. “You sure?”
“I’m sure,” he echoed, reaching out for her hand. She avoided his touch and reached out to the front of his suit pants, feeling his erection through the fabric.
Lorenz groaned, the sound low and involuntary.
“Charlie …”
The deliberate way she held his gaze as she touched him cut through what little distance he might have struggled to maintain.
His hand closed around her wrist, not to stop her, but to still her for a second.
“You’re sure,” he said, needing the confirmation.
Her lips curved faintly. The pink lipstick she’d worn earlier for the fundraiser was mostly gone now, blurred at the edges, her real lip color coming through underneath, softer, richer. He liked that color better.
“I said I was,” she said, her tone almost defiant. One small hand went to his belt buckle.
Everything inside him tightened. He exhaled unsteadily.
She tugged on his belt buckle, releasing it, then undoing the button and the zipper. When her hand found its way inside his boxer shorts, cupping his cock, his knees threatened to buckle.
“Maybe you’ll let me have a little taste this time,” she said, sliding down.
The sight of her, in that black dress, on her knees in front of him, was enough to get him close to blowing his load.
Desire shone bright in her eyes as she took out his thick cock. Her pink tongue came out to taste him, licking the pre-cum from the tip.
“Mmm.”
Then her lips—those same lips he’d been admiring moments earlier—closed around his shaft. As she took him deep into her mouth, Lorenz’s hands tightened into fists by his side. He forced himself to stay still, when everything inside him wanted more. More. But he wasn’t going to rush her.
Too soon, she released him with a soft pop, and went back to licking—from the tip, leaking glossy cum, all the way to the root, then back again. She hummed contentedly, then sucked him in again, her mouth a tight little vise.
Lorenz groaned. “Charlie …”
Her gray eyes lifted, looking straight into his. A small tear rolled down her cheek, and he immediately tried to pull back, but she grabbed onto his ass and held him closer, taking even more of his shaft in her mouth.
Then she sucked.
The pleasure was such, it took his brain a moment to process how close he was to coming.
No.
As much as he loved her hot mouth, he wanted to be inside her when he came.
“Hey,” she protested as he pulled back.
“Come here,” he said, lifting her in his arms. She curled around him, light and solid, and he was struck once again by how much he’d missed her.
To what extent he’d learned, during their marriage, that sex was the two of them together—how it’d always been in her body, her breath, her kisses that his pleasure had been found.
No surprise, then, that after the divorce he’d found it difficult to find that with anybody else.
Her breath brought him back to the present. Her mouth found his, her tongue, which still tasted of him, hot and urgent on his mouth, his chin, his neck. He grasped her butt tighter, stumbled once, but made it to the bed.
He didn’t let her down immediately, enjoying the feeling of her strong, slim thighs wrapped around his hips way too much. Through her panties, he could feel the heat of her core as it rubbed against his over-sensitized cock.
“You’re wearing too many clothes,” he said.
She nibbled on his ear—her breath hot and sexy. “Let me down and I’ll take care of it.”
He set her down but kept a hand on her ass—he didn’t kid himself it was to steady her. His free hand moved up her side, her back.
“Does this thing have a zipper?” he growled.
Charlie shook her head.
“Good.” He pulled on her left shoulder strap, baring and kissing that shoulder before moving to the other side and pulling down on the soft black fabric. Down until her pink nipples were exposed. “You’re not wearing a bra.”
“You think I need one?” she asked playfully.
“You could poke an eye out with those nipples, honey.” He took one into his mouth, pinching the other one gently between thumb and forefinger.
Charlie arched into his touch. “That feels so good.”
He released her nipple and blew gently on it.
“It’s going to feel even better,” Lorenz said, pulling the rest of her dress down until she stood there in only her heels and a tiny black thong.
He pulled the silky material down and helped her step out of it, but stopped her when she made to take off her heels.
“I want to make love to you with those heels on.”
Charlie’s eyes widened—the word love wasn’t one she’d expected, clearly.
It also wasn’t one he’d meant to utter.
“Well, get on with it, then,” she said, waving in the general direction of his clothes.
Lorenz’s pants were already undone. He pulled them down and off. His socks and boxer shorts followed. His cock sprung free, thick and hard, wanting only one thing, to be inside her.
Condom first, asshole.
He had to protect Charlie.
“Come here,” he said, as soon as he was ready.
He lifted her from the waist and settled her against him—right against his erection. Right where he needed her. She moaned, arching herself against his heat as she raised her eyes to his—her pupils dilated so her eyes looked almost black, except for that thin ring of steel on the edge.
She’d looked into his eyes in the same way before, as they made love. But he wasn’t going to make any assumptions. He was going to learn everything about her, all over again.
He walked forward until her back was against the wall—not a slam, but not gentle, either.
She gave a small, approving groan.