Mystic Hearts (18 page)

She
mewed.

Her
excited thrill tightened the already tight knot low in his belly, reminding him
he’d better move before he embarrassed himself by behaving like an overzealous
teen.

He
backed up until his feet touched the floor and stood.

There
was no turning back after he removed the barrier of clothing between them. Not
that he wanted to, but he had a niggling the world as he knew it was about to
change.

In
one fluid action, he shoved his briefs down and kicked them to the side.

Charlene
let out a needful whimper.

He
met her gaze, slid his hands up her smooth, silky legs, and grasped the edges
of her lacy panties.

With
her arms above her head, Charlene’s eyes bore into him as he admired what he
unveiled.

“Magnificent,”
he breathed and wished he had more time to explore her crevices and curves with
his hands, mouth.

A
flush covered her body from her belly to her neck. “Come here.” She stretched
out her arms to him and wiggled her fingers, motioning him to her.

Skin
to skin, he blanketed her with his body, savored the feel of her warmth, and
braced his elbows onto the mattress on either side of her. He consumed her
mouth, pouring every bit of his desire into the mingling of their lips.

From
his neck to below his knees, his body tingled.
Tingled
. Not a word he used, but it described what he experienced
best. “You’re beautiful,” he murmured around the side of a kiss.
 

“You’re
gorgeous,” she said, moving her head further into the mattress to look at him.
Her face glowed.

He
chuckled, cupped her face, and kissed her. Warm, soft lips stroked his,
stirring up a freight train of lust. The last bit of his sanity waned. He’d go
mad if he didn’t have more of her.

She
tightened her hands behind his neck, holding him close and urging him on. The
part of him that craved connection brushed her clit. She bucked. Their hips
aligned perfectly. The next act came so naturally, he had no time to think. He
thrust into her.

She
clutched his butt and whimpered. Moments ticked where neither of them spoke,
then she squirmed and lifted her legs higher, giving him better access.

He
eased out and pushed in further, penetrating deeper.

“Oh
my god, Larry!”

Oh shit!

He
covered her mouth with his, absorbing her scream, and hammered his hips into her.
Her body tightened around him. Dizziness tossed his consciousness out the
window. He thrust, picked up momentum, ready to come when he realized what he’d
forgotten. Putting a Herculean grip on his libido, he stopped.

Double shit!

With
the strength of an elephant, he pulled out of her delicious body. “I don’t have
a condom.” He shifted to move.

She
wrapped her arms around his neck. “Where ya going?”

Spilling
his seed on her skin wasn’t an option. Running out to his SUV to retrieve a
condom from his wallet wouldn’t work either. “Ah.”

She
brandished a condom packet from the nightstand and ripped it open with her
teeth.

Holy, shit!

“I
hoped you’d come by.”

As
if she’d done this a million times before, she rolled the protection onto his
shaft.

A
skim of sweat covered his body.

“Get
back in me.”

It
wasn’t a request but an order. One he didn’t mind obeying. He pushed inside.
She moaned and tightened the wonderful muscles women had to drive men crazy.

Rising
onto his knees, he gripped the back of her thighs. He pulled out and surged
forward, his tempo hard and fast. The movements of a man so far on the edge
with want, he became frantic for her.

“Oh,
God! Larry! I’m going to come!”

Another
stroke, she released on a scream.

He
wanted to quiet her with a kiss so as not to wake up Henry, but when the power
of her orgasm freed, it rendered him unable to do anything but concentrate on
his own all-consuming release. Her legs tightened around him. He collapsed on
top of her and laid his head on her chest, their breaths heavy and winded.

They
stayed in that position, her fingers running through his hair, him listening to
her slowing heartbeat, for what seemed like hours. The shock of what transpired
between them rendered him speechless. Not only the explosion from their bodies
connecting, but the one he feared would occurred between them did. Their souls
joined.

Perhaps
if they’d do it again, the sizzle would fade and he’d be able to reclaim the
piece of his heart that slipped around the edge of his barrier.

Her
hands dropped to the mattress.

He
raised his head, moved a strand of hair off her face. Her eyes were closed, her
breathing shallow. Was she asleep or avoiding eye contact? Had what passed
between them thrown her off kilter as much as it had him?

They
needed to keep the relationship as agreed, friends with benefits. He eased off
her, disposed of his used condom in the adjoining bathroom, and picked up the
forgotten rose. When he picked the flower from the bush at Greenwood Manor
earlier, he planned to seduce her with the memory of what they didn’t get to
pursue the other night.

The
rose wasn’t the opening act, but it definitely would have its scene. He flipped
off the ceiling light and slid the flower along her cheek, neck, breasts,
letting the silky petals caress her supple flesh, the moonlight aiding in his
ministrations.

Her
eyes opened. “Larry?”

“Any
more condoms?”

Her
laughter washed over him, settling a blanket of comfort over him.

“You
bet.”

Chapter Eleven

Charlene
stretched and smiled. Larry had slipped away in the wee hours to avoid the
accidental chance of Henry seeing him, leaving Charlene’s muscles loose as if
under anesthesia. Their first connection had been so fast and so explosive, her
feelings from deep inside rushed forward. Between wanting to cry, professing
she had strong feelings, and the urge to flee she remained quiet with her eyes
closed. Then, he’d done the unexpected, turned off the light, and caressed her
body with the rose’s soft petals. She sighed, reliving the moment.

“Mommy,”
Henry yelled. Her bedroom door thudded against the wall.

“Hi,
sweetie. Ready for school?”

He
jumped on the bed and curled beside her. She hugged him close. “There’s no
school today. It’s another teacher work day.”

She
knew. “Another one? Wow. You’re so lucky.”

“What
do you want to do today?”

“Are
you working?”

“Nope.
This is my long weekend off. I’m off until Monday.”

“You
know Aunt Pamela.”

A
week after the kidnapping, Henry had picked up the habit of calling the members
of the BOFs his aunts and uncles. “Yes, I know her.” Charlene smiled, wondering
where this conversation headed.

“I
like her. She gives me cookies like her grandmother used to do for her after
school.”

The
picture became clear. “You want to go to The Memory Café today?”

“Can
I? Please, Mom.” He pulled out the Mom card, to show how big he was. “You could
drop me off there. Grand Ann and Grand Ben are going to be there for lunch. Can
I go?”

Pamela’s
grandparents spoiled Henry rotten with their stories of the past and making him
feel special. She wouldn’t dream of keeping them apart. “Of course.”

“Yes!”
Henry’s fist pumped the air and he jumped off the bed. “Oh, yeah, Grandma’s
here.”

“Here?”

“Yep.
She’s here. I let her in while you slept.” Henry’s stocking feet barreled down
the hall.

Charlene’s
skin crawled. What if Henry opened the door for someone else? “Henry, would you
come back here?”

The
pounding of his feet against the wooden floor stopped and then she saw an
eyeball appear at the edge of the door. “Did I do something wrong?”

Charlene
straightened, the covers falling into her lap, and thought about last night.
She glanced down at her covered body and sighed. She barely remembered putting
on the nightie when Larry left.

“What’s
wrong?”

“Oh,
nothing. I just sat up too fast.” She patted the mattress beside her. “No, you
haven’t done anything wrong. I want you to open the door for Grandma, or any of
the other BOFs.”

His
face twisted. “Does that include Larry?”

Especially him
. “Yes.”

“Do
I start calling him Uncle Larry?”

“Uh,
no.” She hadn’t considered what her relationship with Larry would mean to
Henry. “Let’s just leave it at Larry.”

He
nodded.

“But,
and this is a big but, don’t open the door for anyone else, regardless of how
nice you might think they are.”

“You
mean Daddy. You don’t want me to let him in.”

“No,
sweetheart, I don’t.”

His
face dropped. “Okay. Can I go now?”

Charlene
breathed in a gulp of fresh air. She didn’t want him to leave, not with him
having such a remorseful expression. Making him stay wouldn’t do any good
either, that much she knew. “You can go.”

He
kissed her cheek and ran off, probably to her mother and pancakes, she thought
as the buttery scent drifted up the stairs.

Charlene
rested back and thought about her to-do list. Larry had said he’d drive her to
Greenwood Manor later today to pick up her car. That gave her time to use her
mother’s second car that was parked in Charlene’s garage, to drive out to
Colonial Beach to visit a friend, the lone connection she still had to Andrew.
If Andrew had been watching her and was near, he’d recognize her new car. She
wanted the element of surprise on her side, so as not give him a chance to
formulate a plan or be able to talk his way out of the list of questions she
had.

She
threw the covers off her. The remains of the rose scattered across the fitted
sheet. The things Larry did with the petals brought back memories from
Halloween: the way he caressed her face and neck. Then he introduced new uses
for a rose.
Heaven
. Heat, followed by
need, bloomed to the juncture of her legs.

She
scooped up the wilted petals, and placed them inside a potpourri dish in the
center of her dresser. The stem tucked behind a leg to the nightstand. She
tossed it into the trashcan and headed for the shower.

“Mommy,
Uncle Jake and Aunt Pamela are here,” Henry said outside the bathroom door as
she finished drying off.

“Be
right out,” she said, opening the door, and glimpsed the heel of Henry’s shoe.
A moment later, the front door banged shut.

With
the towel snuggling around her, she peeked out her bedroom window.

Jake
stared at it, his head shaking back and forth. Pamela rubbed his back.

Battered
and beaten, the car looked to have taken part in a demolition derby. Charlene
quickly changed into slacks and a blouse, dried her hair, and headed
downstairs.

“Would
you like some pancakes, dear?” Her mother asked, approaching.

“I
didn’t know you were coming over this morning. I would have gotten up earlier.”

Her
mom looked at her with the expression that ‘mothers know all’ and nodded.
“That’s why I didn’t mention it. I knew you needed to sleep and Henry would
have you awake at ungodly hours.”

She
couldn’t hold back her smile from replaying what she’d been doing at the
ungodly hours.

A
roar of an engine alerted them to the driveway.

“I
bet that’s the tow truck. I better find Henry.” Charlene scooted outside.

Pamela
stood off to the side of the driveway, holding Henry’s hand. Their eyes glued
to the driver hooking the Chevelle to the back of the tow truck.

Charlene
joined them, stopping beside her son. He laced his fingers through hers, a flat-line
smile dimming his usually cheerful face.

Pamela
released Henry’s hand and hugged Charlene. “This isn’t your fault,” Pamela
said, stepping back.

“It
feels like it, though.”

“Hi,
Charlene.” Jake waved. “Hey, little man, want to help?”

Henry’s
eyes grew round. “Can I?”

“Go
ahead.”

He
raced off.

Charlene
folded her arms over her chest and brought her gaze back to Pamela. “I know
that look. Might as well tell me what you think.”

“Just
remember if I didn’t care, I wouldn’t say anything.”

That
much, Charlene knew. Pamela was the most sincere person Charlene ever met.