“Of course,” I said, any disappointment I might have felt quickly replaced by thoughts of Ford naked and wet in my shower. Ford in my kitchen wearing nothing but a towel.Boundaries be damned.
––––––––
I LEFT MY shoes on Charlotte’s front porch and stopped in the kitchen just long enough to drop the cooler on the counter and the bag of crawfish in the sink. I was filthy and smelled awful, something made even more obvious when we were inside Charlotte’s clean, predominantly white house.
“There are towels in the linen closet. Help yourself to whatever you need,” she called after me as I made a beeline for the bathroom, careful not to touch anything on the way.
It wasn’t until I stripped off my jeans and T-shirt that I thought about what I’d put on after I got out of the shower. Showing up in Charlotte’s kitchen wearing nothing but her towel definitely pushed the boundaries of our agreement. Nothing to be done about it, even if I wanted to—which I didn’t. My clothes smelled like bait fish and swamp mud.
I adjusted the water and stepped into the shower, pulling the glass door shut behind me. The rainfall shower head sent water cascading over me, and I couldn’t help but imagine Charlotte standing in this same spot, running soapy hands over her gorgeous body. The image got stronger when I squirted rose-scented shampoo into my palm and started to lather up. I was more than man enough to smell like flowers, especially when the alternative was swamp. I wasn’t sure I was man enough to go through the rest of the night smelling like Charlotte. Not without it driving me crazy.
I never stopped wanting her—not just her body; the more time we spent together, the more I realized it was her lightning-quick mind that was the real draw. And her body. That gorgeous mouth. The way she gave herself over to her pleasure. My cock went from semi-hard to fuck-me-tent-the-towel hard at the thought of Charlotte gripping the headboard in her bedroom, her head tipped back in pleasure as I kissed my way down her body. That first taste of her and every time after that she’d let me have her.Fuck.
I slid a soapy hand over my cock, waging a silent war between jerking off or turning the water from hot to cold. I was so caught up in the battle, I didn’t hear the door to thebathroom open or realize I wasn’t alone until the door to the shower opened and Charlotte stepped inside.
“Don’t stop,” she said as I turned to her. “I want to watch.”
I’d been foolish to think I’d ever had any control of this situation. She clearly owned this room and any other room she walked into, and my cock was in complete agreement with her request. I’d do whatever she asked of me, but if the choice was my hand or Charlotte in any way she’d let me have her, Charlotte won hands down—no pun intended.
“Cher.” I let the word hang between us like the plea it was.
“Just for a minute, Ford. Please.” She took my hand, her delicate fingers guiding it to my straining cock.
I gripped myself, mesmerized by the image of her hand over top of mine as I stroked my length. The head of my aching cock pushed out of our combined hands and I heard her draw in her breath. Knowing my pleasure turned her on dialed everything up, and I had to work to hold myself back. I made it a few more strokes before I knew I needed to stop if I didn’t want to come in my hand.
I shifted my grip so I was holding her hand instead of my cock. She made a disappointed noise that turned to a sigh as I pulled her in against me. I slid my hand up her back, tucking her head against my chest as the water rained down over us. I wasn’t about to ask what made her decide to join me in the shower, to cross the line I’d worked so hard to blur. I was just so damn grateful she was there. That she’d chosen to walk toward the pleasure instead of away from it. For a moment, I simply stood, holding her, transfixed by this woman in my arms. This woman who’d quickly worked her way under my skin and into my heart.
She pressed warm lips against my pec before tilting her head up to look at me, her blue eyes searching my face as if she were trying to decide something. I paused for a moment, waiting to see if she’d speak. When she didn’t, I bent and claimed her mouth, trying to show her what I was feeling with my kiss. I knew if I put words to my emotions, I’d risk scaring her off, but there were other ways to show her. Lots of ways, and we had the rest of the night to explore all of them.
Keeping my lips pressed to hers, I bent and wrapped my arms around her waist, straightening enough to lift her off the ground. She hooked her legs around my waist, putting her sweet, wet heat exactly where I needed her. With the condoms in the other room.
“Charlotte, I don’t have...”
“We don’t need it.” She talked over the end of my sentence, grinding against me in a way that made it impossible to think about anything but her. “I’m on the Pill, and I don’t take chances.”
Her gaze met mine and the weight of her words hit me. My carefully controlled Charlotte didn’t take chances with anything, but she would with me.
“Now, Ford. Don’t wait.” Her plea held the same edge of desperation I felt.
I debated for a fraction of a second. There was no way to shield her back from the cold tile, but if I didn’t get inside her soon, I’d lose what was left of my mind.
Gripping my shoulders, she tipped her hips, rubbing the slick seam of her sex over my aching cock, not stopping until the head was notched at her opening. The last of my resistance frayed, and I pressed my palms between her back and the wall. Rocking gently, I held myself on the precipice, barely dipping inside her. Teasing us both. Even that fraction of an inch threatened to do me in. To lay me bare—literally and figuratively.
I wanted to fuck her forever, to lose myself in her body, to wring every bit of pleasure from her gorgeous body and then start all over again. I didn’t want to stop, but I also wanted so much more than I could have with her back wedged against the shower. Using the last bit of restraint I possessed, I slipped free of her body, feeling the absence as if I’d somehow lost a part of myself. Her whimpered protest punctuated my feelings.
“Let me take you to bed, Charlotte. Please, cher. I need all of you.” The words hit dangerously close to what I felt for her, but I wasn’t about to lie or hide. Not now. Not when she’d come to me.
Gathering her in my arms, I turned off the water and stepped from the shower. I didn’t bother with a towel. I had a good reason for wanting to leave the shower for her bed, but there was no way I was waiting a minute longer than I had to to be inside her again. Careful not to slip on the hardwood—there was nothing sexy about a trip to urgent care—I carried her to her bedroom, settling her gently on the down comforter. I watched her, waiting for her to say something but she simply searched my face, her blue-eyed gaze holding mine as if she were trying to puzzle her way through something.
“What are you thinking?” I asked, my hands on either side of her head, holding my body over hers. I would stop if she needed me to. Put a condom between us if she wanted. I prayed to every deity I could remember she wouldn’t ask me to.
“I need you, Ford.” Her words felt like so much more, and the breath caught in my throat.
I wanted them to mean more but I wouldn’t push. Not on this one thing, anyway. I rocked my hips, my cock riding against her clit, and watched her eyelids flutter.
“Please.” She breathed the word out and I felt it everywhere, in every part of my body.
She tipped her hips, trying to move me where she needed me most. Keeping my gaze locked on hers, I pulled back just enough to press my cock against her opening and froze, holding myself straining above her, knowing that whatever came next would somehow change things forever, even if we hadn’t put words to the why.
