Mouth slack, he could only nod, eyes glazed and staring at me as though I’d hung the moon, just for him.
I stilled deep inside and stayed like that until our breaths synced. With my heart in my throat, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his. He saw everything; all the angry, grumpy, rough parts of me, and still wanted me anyway. As if I’d opened my chest and invited him in to peer around, I’d never felt more vulnerable in my life than in that moment.
And I didn’t want it any other way.
Only this. Only with Charlie.
Slowly, I began grinding into him again. He made the tiniest, sexiest involuntary noises with every rock of my hips, eyes widening when I moved just so.
“Kiss me again,” I begged, desperate for it. He lunged up and shoved his tongue into my mouth. With equal fervor, I began thrusting, aching to be impossibly closer to him. Adjusting the angle of my thrusts, I pulled away from the kiss just long enough to search his face, waiting for?—
“Oh my God,” he sobbed, eyes rolling back as he shoved a hand down to fist his cock. “Right there!”
I pistoned into him relentlessly after that, mindless in my need to throw him over the edge before me. Thankfully, I didn’t have to hold back for very long. He tensed and shook when ropes of cum flew out all over his hand. With my own release barreling down, I threw my head back, fingers digging into his thigh to hold him tight against me when I spilled deep inside him.
Hips rocking in a few more aborted thrusts, I slowly pulled out when he shivered from overstimulation. Using whatever strength I had left, I rolled him onto his back and collapsed on top while we breathed through the come-down.
Eventually, we shifted so he was sprawled over me, with one leg hooked around my hips and his cheek resting on my chest. He softly scratched his fingers through the hair there, giving me goosebumps.
I studied the soft contentment on his face and the way his long lashes smiled at me when his eyes were closed.
“Well?” I eventually asked, peppering kisses into his hair. “Was thatgrounding?”
He cracked an eye open and laughed, low and husky. “Consider me tied down forever.”
Hope fizzed and bubbled in my chest, and for once, I didn’t want to look away from it.
Alittle while later, we cleaned up, slapped dinner together, and snuggled back into bed to watch the sun set, disappearing over the far mountain range until the lookout was once again plunged into darkness, lit only by the glow of the twinkle lights strung above.
“I know you’re thinking about the visit to Tate’s grandma,” Charlie whispered into the space between us once we’d settled in for the night.
“Mmhmm.”
Of course I was. I’d barely stopped thinking about it. But in the end, it was Charlie’s decision, and I’d never been good at voicing my fears.
He tangled his fingers through mine, lifting our linked hands into the air. “I don’t think I could live with myself if I don’t at least try.”
“I know that.”
“Reece?”
“Hmm?”
“Tell me what you’re feeling, please.”
His eyes were open pools of warm whiskey, and I’d never been able to deny him anything, even the things I wasn’t good at.
“What happens if you’re not able to get there?” I started, opening the valve that was so much easier to keep shut. “What if you disappear before we arrive? What if we do make it, but you need to rest? Won’t you just appear back here at the lookout when you return? Then you’d be alone. I’d be without you. What happens if you can remember everything? Would that be it? Is that the reason you’ve stayed? I don’t want to let you go. Not yet. Notever, Charlie.”
His eyes gleamed, and he leaned forward to kiss my forehead. “I haven’t felt stuck in this lookout since you arrived,” he whispered. “You’ve set me free and bound me, in every way I want to be bound. When I think of where I want to go when I come back from that other place, I don’t think of the lookout anymore—I think about you. Just you. I’m pretty sure as long as we’re together, I’ll make it to town just fine. And I think I’d be able to find you anywhere.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks. “We should test that first,” I sniffed. “Do some practice runs before we go.”
He smiled. “Yes, my man of science.”
I laughed and wiped my face. “You know, when Josh and I broke up, he wanted to try couples therapy.”
Charlie tensed next to me.
