Fighting Back (Mercy's Angels) (17 page)

Rebecca

He loved me. Charlie Cole loved me. Charlie Cole, who loved everything but love, loved me. I wanted to cry, but more than that, I wanted to return the beautiful sentiment to him. But he was right—I didn’t want to say those sacred words just because he had. I knew I felt the same about him, but I wanted it to be perfect when I finally acknowledged it out loud. At this moment, I felt like the most powerful woman on the planet, and when he stood, stretching to his full six foot whatever height, and began peeling off his clothes, my eyes were riveted to the beautiful man and his stunning body. As he unbuttoned his jeans and lowered the fly, my eyes were drawn to his groin. As the worn denim left his hips, I moved aside, eager to have him in the water with me. He was a masterpiece, his muscles shaped to perfection, the rough shadow of hair on his chin gave him a handsomely rugged appearance. Charlie climbed into the Jacuzzi and moved me forward to position himself at my back. Feeling his skin against mine was comforting, and as his arms slipped around my waist, I felt protected in his firm hold.

“You always smell good,” Charlie murmured.

I needed more. I needed his hands on me, I needed him in me. He was already in my heart, now I needed him marked on my soul. He was mine and I was his. Nothing would stand between us, especially some faceless monster. I grabbed Charlie’s hands, which sat chastely on my stomach, and moved them to cup my breasts. The twitch of his cock at my back emboldened me, and I reached around to grasp the rigid length as he pinched my nipples.

“So damn pretty,” he whispered. As he played with my breasts and kissed my neck, I grew restless quickly—this was still not enough—I couldn’t get close enough. I turned in Charlie’s arms, straddled his lap, and pressed my lips to his. He let me take control of the kiss. I explored his lips, his mouth. Sucking at his lower lip, I pulled away to look into his intense green eyes. I knew he was watching for any hesitation or fear.

“I want this, Charlie, I need you.” One of his hands left my waist to slide down between my thighs. As his lips took possession of mine, his hand took possession of me more intimately. I found myself shamelessly riding his hand, and I didn’t care how brazen my body had become. Charlie had that effect on me. I found myself comfortable with him, open and willing to be whatever it was that he needed me to be, to take whatever it was I needed from him. We were a perfect fit on every level. Soul mates that had lost their way for a short while, just like Charlie had said. I was quickly worked into a frenzy and found myself pushing Charlie’s hand aside and gripping his cock, guiding it towards my hot core. Charlie didn’t try and stop me, but his eyes never once left mine, watching me cautiously with unconcealed desire. My eyes fluttered shut as I began to slowly sink down onto him. He was big—damn!—how had I forgotten how big he was? I worked myself slowly down, becoming accustomed to his size as Charlie gripped my hips, thrusting gently into me. Once I was fully seated
on his erection, I tentatively rocked forward, allowing myself to become reacquainted with Charlie’s body. My hands traced his neck, shoulders, chest, arms, while he lovingly did the same to me.

“No condom, Betty Boop,” Charlie whispered.

I didn’t stop riding him at the leisurely pace I had found. “I’m on the pill and I’m clean,” I murmured. “And I’m sure you wouldn’t have let us get this far if you weren’t.”

He nodded, his cheeks flushed. “I would always protect you, even from myself.” His words encouraged me to ride him harder, faster. The water in the Jacuzzi churned like a rough sea, the water slipping over the edge and to the tiled floor. One of Charlie’s hands gripped the back of my neck, pulling me forward to his demanding kiss. His other hand slipped down to my clit and pressed with gentle yet determined strokes. Charlie growled with unbidden pleasure and that’s all it took to set me off.

“Shit,” I groaned as my orgasm teetered on the edge. Charlie pressed a little firmer at the bundle of nerves between my legs and I fell, my orgasm flooding my veins as my body soared with complete abandon. When conscious thought finally claimed me once again, I realized Charlie had also reached his own peak, his head resting against my shoulder. His cock twitched inside me and I inadvertently clenched around him.

“Damn, I could do that all night.” He chuckled.

I sat up and smiled. “I wouldn’t be opposed to it.” 

“You are a dream come true,” he said with a hint of mockery, but the sincerity in his eyes told me he meant every word of it. “Come on, it’s getting cold in here.” Charlie lifted me and I climbed from the tub. We dried off and when I attempted to pull my pajamas on, Charlie pushed my hands away and dragged me naked to his bed. “You’ve got me to keep you warm, you don’t need them.” With Charlie spooned against my back, his arms wrapped around me, legs thrown over mine, I did feel warm, inside and out. Charlie’s soft kiss to the back of my neck was the last thing I remembered as I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

I don’t know how I had managed to disentangle myself from Charlie without waking him up, but I did. I wanted him to sleep in. Twice during the night, I woke up screaming from dreams of dark, ugly, tainted memories. In the end, Charlie had left the bedside lamp on and soothed me back to sleep, and now I felt guilty. Charlie shouldn’t have to deal with my drama. Why the hell couldn’t I just get over it and move on? When I was awake, I could acknowledge my fear had somewhat diminished in Charlie’s presence. I wasn’t as nervous and jumpy during the daylight hours, but as soon as darkness descended, so did the nightmares. After my attack I feel like I’ve lost so much—my identity, my strength, my self-confidence—and Charlie was helping me get that back. But there were still many deep-rooted fears that had taken up residence in my heart: fear of being overpowered, of not being able to defend myself; fear that someone could so easily invade the
safety of my home and hurt me. A fear I had never experienced before the attack and sometimes felt so thick and strong I thought it would suffocate me.  I didn’t know to fix that.

Sipping my coffee in front of one of the large bay windows in the living room, I stared at the snowy mountains before me. Damn it was gorgeous up here; I couldn’t believe this was Charlie’s. The bachelor pad above Carter Constructions was more like the Charlie I knew before; this cozy and welcoming cottage was more like the Charlie I knew now. The thought of Charlie’s burned down apartment and Jax’s burned out office made me cringe.
My fault
, I solemnly thought. A warm kiss pressed to my neck made me jump.

“Sorry, Betty Boop, didn’t mean to scare you,” Charlie said, kissing me gently on the top of my head again. When I turned to face him, I did a quick perusal of his fine form. He was wearing sweats that sat low on his hips and a tight fitted shirt, and his light brown hair had that just fucked look that he wore so well. Charlie smirked.

“You hungry? Cause you look like you wanna eat me.” I snorted, but didn’t say anything, because quite frankly, he was right. “Come on, we’re going to work-out together.”

I took his outstretched hand, but paused at the mention of working out. “
Ummmm...say again?”

Charlie laughed. “Really, scared of a little exercise, Betty Boop?”

It was my turn to laugh. “No, not scared, I just prefer my exercise to be done on a bed, horizontally.” I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively at him. “Or vertically, against a wall, whatever works for you.”

“Damn, woman. Why does it suddenly feel like I’m the chick in this relationship and you’re the dude?”

I stood up and cupped him intimately. “You don’t feel like a chick to me.” I smiled seductively.

“Fuck me,” Charlie growled, before slamming his lips down on mine. He pulled away abruptly. “Fine, we exercise your way first, then my way.” He spun me around and pushed my chest over the back of the couch. His firm hands pulled my pajama bottoms down my hips and I carefully stepped out of them. “You have the sexiest ass, baby.” He stood behind me and took his time exploring my flesh, which was covered in goose-pimples, and not from the cold. It didn’t take long before I was wriggling with impatience. Charlie gave me a gentle slap on the ass, but my protest was feeble because I did actually enjoy it. “Stop moving,” he murmured as his hand pressed firmly against my spine, pushing me down even further. I could hear his pants slide down his legs as his feet moved between mine to kick my legs further apart. His fingers teased me, caressing me so close to where I wanted them, but not close enough. I wiggled with impatience and Charlie chuckled. Without warning his fingers were in me, pushing in and out and my head fell forward as I let all my worries slip away and simply allowed myself to feel. Charlie removed his hand and suddenly the rigid texture of his fingers was replaced by the warm wet heat of his tongue. The thought of him
going down on me like this made me self-conscious, but then his lips sucked hard on my clit and he groaned a deep growl of satisfaction and I no longer cared.  Instead, I pushed back a little, encouraging him and moaned low and long as he lavished me like a starved man. Just when I thought I couldn’t take any more, that my legs would crumble under the pressure of a hard orgasm, he was gone.

“Charlie!” I hissed furiously, so close to climaxing.

“Fuck, you make me so hard, baby.”

He ignored my protest and pressed the solid length of his cock against the cleft of my ass as if to show me proof. His fingers were once again in my pussy and I almost purred out loud like a happy kitten.  When his fingers left me this time, they were replaced with his cock, and as he entered me, we both groaned at the intimate contact. Charlie pulled back, his cock almost pulling all the way out, then he smoothly pushed forward again, riding me at a leisurely pace. His hands massaged my ass cheeks as I hung awkwardly over the back of the couch. His pace slowly became more frantic, and suddenly he pulled away from me—again! I was about to protest the loss, but before I could say a word, he nudged me toward one of the bay window seats and pushed me down on my knees. His hands found my wet core once more and I pushed back on his greedy fingers. They were quickly replaced with his hard cock as he slammed home—hard—almost pushing my head against the clear glass in front of me. I barely noticed the breathtaking snow-capped mountains as Charlie took my breath away with his greedy, long, sure strokes. I felt the solid heat of his chest as he leaned over me, licking and kissing a trail up my spine to my neck. 

“You feel so fucking incredible Rebecca—so hot and wet—I can barely stop myself from coming the minute I get inside you.”

His words sparked a light within me that pushed me towards orgasm. He gripped my shoulders and pulled me back to meet his hips that that were now thrusting harder, faster.

“Sexiest fucking woman I have ever seen. I can barely keep my fucking hands off you.”

“Charlieeeee,” I moaned loudly.

“Yeah, baby, I’m right there with you.”

He reached around and cupped my breasts, squeezing and pinching my nipples before his hand ran the length of my body to find its way between my legs.  He began to stroke my clit. His chest pressed against my back as his free hand wrapped itself possessively around my neck. There was no pressure in his hold, nothing for me to be scared of—it was covetous and tender, and it made me feel like the most treasured woman alive. He began to thrust even harder, but he didn’t break our close contact, and when he finally growled loudly on a hard urgent thrust, I screamed his name wantonly. There was no one around to hear the sounds of our desperate love making, so I could scream until the rafters collapsed. I suddenly found myself wanting to go again, just so I could. 

Charlie lifted himself from my back and slowly pulled away, his hands still caressing my body as if he was reluctant to part with me. I stood on shaky legs and turned to face him. His cheeks were flushed with the exertion of our lovemaking and sweat glistened on his perfectly sculpted chest and abs. 

“I like working out your way,” he murmured as he leaned down to kiss me hard.

“We could just do this all day rather than try your idea of exercise,” I suggested.

Charlie grinned.  “How about we do a little exercise my way, then I can lay you over the bench press and fuck you till you can’t walk anymore?”

I considered that for a moment. “There are some parts to that plan that I am very much on board with, however, your version of exercise worries me a little. I’m not sure I can keep up.”

Charlie spun me around to face the stairs. “I promise to easy on you, for the exercise part anyway,” he patted me on the ass. “Go get dressed and get back down here. I am but a mere man, I need a few minutes to recover before I can have you screaming my name again. A good run should have me ready to go in no time.” 

Dressed, sated, and looking a little well-fucked, as Ella would say, I met Charlie in the kitchen.

“Right, now that we got that out of our system, let’s see if you can kick my ass.”

In the basement, that I didn’t know existed, Charlie had the ample space decked out like a small gym. A weight bench sat on one side of the room, a punching bag was in the center, and a treadmill was on the other side.  Taking pity on my out-of-shape condition, Charlie situated me on the treadmill, starting me out at a steady walk that eventually moved into a steady jog. When I say steady, I mean flat-out trying to kill me. By the time the machine slowed back to a walk, then eventually stopped, I was breathing like a woman with an unhealthy does of emphysema and losing more moisture than a shower stall. Charlie led me through some basic self-defense maneuvers and eventually I gave him a ruthless shove and collapsed on the ground. We had been working away in his make-shift gym for almost two hours and I was done. This was officially a record for Rebecca Donovan: the only exercise I have ever allowed to continue this long was sex. Laying in a boneless heap on the floor, Charlie laughed as he wiped his face down with a towel.