He shakes his head, biting down hard on his lip. “He’s gone. The specifics don’t matter.” His fingers drop lower, skimming my jawline, and his eyes latch onto my mouth. He trails his fingers along my jaw and then down onto my neck, and each sweeping touch awakens something dormant inside me.
Heat courses through me from his touch and the intense way he’s looking at me, and raw need surges to the surface. It’s been years since I’ve felt such potent yearning, and the guy is barely touching me. “I’m sorry,” I say, meaning it even if I hated his father. I can see how upset he is over it.
“You look…” He trails off, exhaling heavily, shaking his head, and dropping his hands from my face as he reaches for the half-empty bottle of bourbon on the coffee table.
His lips suction around the neck of the bottle, and he drinks heartily before passing it to me. I’m not much of a drinker, but it’d seem rude to decline, and it’s already a freaking strange night. So, I take the bottle, and we pass it back and forth without speaking. He leans back in the couch, spreading his legs and lounging more comfortably, as I kick off my boots and tuck my knees into my chest, grateful I chose to wear leggings under my dress.
He watches my every move like a skillful hunter eyeing his prey. With every mouthful of bourbon I swallow, my limbs grow more relaxed, and I find myself silently encouraging him to move in for the kill.
Like I said, it’s a strange night.
“Why did you come here?” I ask after a while, sucking in a gasp as our fingers brush when I pass the bottle back to him.
“I had nowhere else to go,” he admits before bringing the bottle to his mouth. I watch his plump lips wrap around the bottle, and the way his throat works as he drinks is hella sexy.
I totally understand how this guy has earned his rep. I don’t sleep around, and I can count on one hand the number of guys I’ve been with, yet I’d spread my legs for him in a heartbeat. Charlie exudes this sexy energy that draws me in, and I just know a night with him would be a night I’d never forget.
But I’m sensing there’s a lot more to him than that. I barely know the guy; we haven’t spoken more than a few sentences to one another, and yet I feel his vulnerability and his loneliness as potently as a slap to the face.
This guy is in a world of pain.
And maybe, it’s my bleeding heart or the alcohol sloshing through my veins, or maybe, it’s just this guy, but I want to eviscerate his pain. Even if it’s only temporary.
I scoot closer to him, reaching out to cup his cheek. His skin is smooth and warm to the touch. “How can I help?”
His fingers wrap around my wrist, holding my hand to his face. He stares at me for an inordinate amount of time, and my chest heaves with anticipation. A crackle of electricity connects the space between us, and the more he stares at me, the more I want to throw caution to the wind.
“You can let me pretend,” he croaks, as his eyes plead with me.
I quirk a brow, but he doesn’t elaborate, skimming his gaze all over my body in a way that confirms his mind has gone to the same place mine has.
This is a bad idea.
A really, really bad idea.
Because if his dad is dead, that makes him my new boss, and he’s grieving. He’s not in his right mind. And I’m not in mine because this isn’t who I am. Yet, in his presence, it’s who I want to become.
“Okay.” I’m pleased my voice comes out confident despite the way I’m trembling inside.
“You don’t know what I’m asking,” he adds, angling his head so he can suck my pinkie into his mouth.
I gasp as pleasurable warmth filters through my body, igniting every cell and nerve ending. “Show me,” I beg, no longer able to keep the craving from my tone or my face.
Forcing my hand aside, he grips my face in his large palms and slams his mouth down on mine. Stars explode in vibrant bursts of color behind my eyelids as his lips devour me like he’s been waiting years to taste me.
His lips glide with skill and precision against mine while he hauls me into his lap. His fingers dig into my hips as he pulls me against his erection, ensuring I feel how much he needs this. I run my fingers through his hair, pressing my chest against his, letting him know I’m right there with him.
His kisses grow more aggressive, and he punishes my mouth with a slew of drugging, bruising kisses. It’s in direct contrast to the loving, gentle way Isaac used to kiss me, and as I cling to Charlie, biting and nipping at his lips, I know I’ve been in denial for far longer than I realized.
I’m on fire. Every part of me hums with expectation and need, so when he lifts my dress off me and unclips my bra, I offer no resistance. I moan into his hair as his hot mouth worships my bare breasts, his teeth grazing my nipples as he grinds his hips into mine. I rock against him, needing the friction against my achy core to sate my growing need.
In between hot kisses, we rip at our clothes until we’re both naked, and he wastes no time rolling a condom on and yanking me roughly down on top of him. He’s sitting up with his back against the arm of the couch as I straddle him.
I moan as his long, thick, hard length fills me up, and I’m immediately consumed in him. I bounce up and down on him, writhing and whimpering, as he moves his hips in sync with my movements. I place my hands on his shoulders as I fuck him, closing my eyes and tossing my hair back as he worships my breasts with his slick mouth while his cock slams inside me over and over again.
His fingers dig into my hips and he thrusts into me in savage strokes, gritting his teeth as he flexes his hips, driving harder and harder, as if he can’t get deep enough. My climax is already building, surprising me, because I rarely orgasmed from sex with Isaac.
My head falls forward onto Charlie’s shoulder as his arms wrap tightly around me and his wicked lips leave my breasts, trailing a line of firm kisses along my collarbone and up my neck. He nips at my skin with his teeth, and jolts of pleasurable pain ripple over my heightened flesh. My skin is a live wire, and his fingers are like volts of electricity as they glide across my body, singeing in every place they touch.
Without warning, he lowers me to my back and lifts my left leg up over his shoulder. His cock sinks even deeper at this angle, and I cry out as the pressure in my core builds to a crescendo. He fucks me raw, pounding into me like he’s exorcising his demons, and perhaps, he is. He exudes aggression and frustration with every pivot of his hips, every bruising thrust, as he ruins me for all other men.
Charlie may be young, but he’s clearly very experienced in all things sexual, and I’m riding the crest of that experience as he continues fucking me like a madman, inciting a flurry of new sensations inside me.
He buries his face in my neck, sucking on my skin in a way I know will leave a mark, but I couldn’t care less at this moment. I grab hold of his firm ass cheeks, pulling him in closer, needing more. My hands roam the muscled planes of his back and his broad shoulders, and I scrape my nails along his sweat-slickened skin, delighting in the fact I’m leaving my mark on him too.
There is something so primal, so intimate, about the way we’re fucking that is entirely new to me, and it could easily become an addiction.
I drag my lips in a line across his chest, nipping at his skin, and he growls out his encouragement. I inhale his scent like it’s the oxygen I need to breathe while I continue my assault on his impressive chest, caving to my inner beast as I’m rough with him too. I can’t get enough of him, and I need to come, yet I long to prolong this moment too. I can’t marry those conflicting thoughts, but I don’t have to, because my body takes control, barreling toward the most orgasmic explosion of my life. I scream his name as I come, my inner walls gripping his cock tight as I shatter, drowning in exquisite waves of intense pleasure, coming apart and being remade at the same time.