“Do you want me?” he breathed.
She nodded. She wanted him so badly she was gasping with every breath.
“Tell me, Charlie.” He thrust his hips gently. Pushing so he was just inside her, and then he held still, looking deep into her eyes. “Tell me you want me. Tell me you need this.”
“I want you, Ben. Oh God, I want you so much. I need you. I need you inside me. I need you to make me yours again. I need you to be mine again. I need—” She didn’t get to finish as he thrust hard and buried himself deep inside her. They both gasped and began to move as one. Her hands came up around his back as her hips moved with his. She clung to him as he thrust into her, over and over. He carried her away, back through space and time, back to the place where only the two of them existed. He was making her whole again, and making her fall apart at the same time. The pleasure was building and building; each time his hard shaft plunged into her, he carried her higher. She felt him tense and on the next stroke she came undone. Her orgasm tore through her and then she felt his release. They clung to each other as they flew away on a tide of pleasure.
It was a long time before she finally came back down to earth—a long time, but Ben was with her the whole of it. She was lost in a dark universe filled with exploding stars, and he was by her, in her, and with her through all of it. Somewhere out there, they became one again. And this time she was determined, nothing would ever tear them apart again.
When they finally lay still, she kissed the side of his neck. “Welcome home,” she whispered.
He lifted his head and smiled down at her. “Welcome home yourself. I’m glad we made it.”
Chapter Nineteen
Ben smiled when he opened his eyes and saw the time. Eight o’clock on a Saturday morning and he was still in bed. In some respects, it shouldn’t be a surprise. He’d slept late every morning this week. He’d stayed here at Charlotte’s every night. After they’d made love that first time, he hadn’t been able to make himself go home. Well, that wasn’t true, it was just that his apartment didn’t feel like home anymore. Home was here with Charlotte or anywhere that Charlotte might be. He heard her moving around in the kitchen downstairs and he sat up.
When he came down the stairs she turned and smiled at him. “Hey, sleepyhead. I wasn’t sure if I should wake you.” She poured him a cup of coffee and handed it to him. “You usually like to get an early start on changeover day.”
He took the coffee with a smile. “I think that’s more a case of used to like to get an early start. I’m not sure I even want to go in this morning. I’d much rather stay here with you.”
She shook her head at him. “People are going to think I’m a bad influence on you.”
He went to her and slid his arms around her waist, dropping a kiss on her lips. “No, they’re not. You’re a good influence—the best. People have gone on at me my whole life for working too much and working too hard. Now I want to take it a bit easier and spend more time with you. Who could think that’s bad? And who cares what anyone thinks anyway? All that matters is you and me.”
She smiled up at him and kissed the tip of his nose. “You say that now, but I know you’ll start getting twitchy at about ten o’clock when the calls and the problems start coming in. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love you to stay home and hang out with me, but I have work to do too.”
“Yeah, you’re really busy getting most of Summer Lake online. When are you going to sit down and talk to me about what we can do for the resort.”
“You’ll have to book an appointment, mister. Just like everyone else,” she said with a laugh. “And if you’re serious you’d better hurry up about it, my schedule’s getting pretty packed already.”
“Okay, if I go into work this morning and sort out the problems will that give you enough time to do whatever you need to? Will you be free this afternoon?”
“To talk about marketing the resort or to …”
Ben hugged her to his chest and rubbed his hips against hers. “I was thinking more of theoroption myself.”
“Ooh, I could be persuaded.”
“Good, I have a few persuasion tactics in mind.”
She slapped his arm. “I’m sure you do, but we can’t get too carried away, you’ve got Gabe’s stag party tonight.”
“And you’ve got Renée’s bachelorette party.” The way she frowned and shook her head had him concerned. “No? You’re not going?”
“I haven’t actually been invited.”
Ben raised an eyebrow. “I can’t believe that, I’m sure she just forgot to mention it. I know she’d be upset if you didn’t go because of an oversight like that.”
Charlotte sighed. “That’s what I’ve been wrestling with. You see, Lily mentioned it earlier in the week, and she said that Angel was invited. I feel a little uncomfortable that maybe Renée wanted to include her and now she doesn’t want to make things awkward by having us both there.”
Ben shook his head. “I’m sure Renée wouldn’t deliberately leave either of you out.”
“Maybe, but you can see how it could be a little awkward?”
“I can see it,” he admitted grudgingly. “But I wish it wasn’t that way. Honestly, I’m a little tired of explaining myself about something that never happened and was never going to.”
Charlotte stepped back looking a little shocked. “I’m sorry. All I ever did was try to make sure that you weren’t making a mistake. All I wanted was for you to be happy no matter what.”
