“Stand up for me, Bashful,” he instructed me, and I quickly jumped to my feet. Charlie followed, making sure to take my hand. “I’ll clean this up later,” he told me as he led me out of the room and toward the door that opened to the pool. “I’m not losing out on seeing you in the water naked, Jonesy. You wouldn’t skinny dip with me the first time I asked you.”
I giggled. “Sharks, remember?” I followed behind him in a haze of want and need.
“You don’t have that excuse now.” He held open the door, and I walked outside. “Tonight, we can swim naked until every inch of our skin turns into a prune. No one is going to see us.” Charlie wrapped his arms around my waist.
I noticed there were rose petals out here, too, and I spun around to stare up at him. “Is that lube?”
“I told you that I had a plan tonight.” Charlie chuckled softly as he lifted my shirt. “Raise your arms for me.” He quickly disposed of my top and then reached for my shorts. “I want you naked and in that pool, Jonesy. Wet, ready, and all for me.”
I purred happily. “I’m all for you.”
The shorts slid down my legs as I lifted my left and then right foot. My shoes were currently in Charlie’s bedroom.
“I am the luckiest man in the world.” He dropped a kiss to my mouth before he jutted his chin toward the pool. “Go on. Get in the water. I’ll be right behind you.”
I wasn’t worried about anyone seeing us or being caught. The pool was hidden by a massive fence, and it was alreadydark out. There might be some stragglers on the beach, but they couldn’t get up here. The pool was huge with a set of walk-in stairs that I maneuvered my way down.
When I turned to look up at Charlie, he was already naked. I took a moment to admire him. The way his broad shoulders looked, his muscles flexing as he started toward me, and how his dark hair flopped down into his eyes. My gaze dipped to his chest, sprinkled with hair, and then to the hard penis that hung between his legs.
Mine.I wanted that. Anywhere he would put it, but mostly inside me.
“I got you something, Jonesy,” Charlie told me as the water hit his waist.
My brows shot up. “On top of everything else? The flowers, balloons, and dinner were more than enough. You paid for my suit and let me use your Jeep. I don’t... Is that a ring?” I stared down at the item that sat in the palm of his hand.
“It’s nothing fancy, I just got it today at the arcade with my tickets.” He stopped to grip the back of his neck. “It’s stupid, right?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s not.” In fact, it was the nicest thing anyone had ever given me. Better than flowers and dinner from my favorite restaurant.
“I thought it could be like a promise ring. For when I leave. So, you know that I promise to come back to you. Be yours and only yours. But that means that you’re also mine. Only mine.” Charlie reached for my hand. “Yes?”
Tears burned my eyes, but for once they were happy. “Heck yes, Charlie.”
And when he slid the ring onto my finger, I knew that I would never be happier than I was at this exact moment.
Chapter Nineteen
Charlie
This was crazy. No, scratch that, I was crazy for putting some crappy, silicone ring on Jones’s finger, but the look in his eyes told me it meant more to him than anything else. He deserved a real promise ring. One decorated with jewels that we picked out together. One fit for the prince Jones was. I stared down at him as he watched me, his hazel orbs filled with something I was afraid to say aloud. Something that I had never said to another person unless you counted my parents, and honestly, that was a long, long time ago. Before I even understood what the word meant.
“Jonesy,” I whispered, then dipped my head to slide my lips over his.
He beamed at me as I reached down to lift him up onto the edge of the pool. Jones was simply beautiful with his blond curls, gorgeous hazel eyes, and a body I wanted to do dirty, bad things to. I dragged a finger down his chest and watched his eyes darken to an olive green. His breath came out in heavy pants, then he gasped when I finally wrapped my hand around his eager cock.
“I’m going to devour you, Bashful.”
Jones whimpered as he combed his hands through my hair. “Yes, I’m yours.”
“I know you are.” I pressed my lips against the side of his neck, down his throat, and over his shoulder. The hickeys I had marked him with earlier were still there, and I wasted no time in adding several more. “All mine. Made just for me, and I plan to keep it that way.”
The soft little gasp that escaped Jones’s mouth told me he was already on edge. “Will you make love to me, Charlie?”
That had not been my original plan. What I had wanted to do was edge Jones repeatedly until he was begging me to come. Until he had tears streaming down his face as he chased me for what he needed. But the way Jones asked me to make love to him stung my heart in a way I had never felt before. I wanted to crack open my chest so he could climb inside.
“That’s what you really want, isn’t it?”
“It’s all I want. It’s all I can think about.”
