Strangers, p.24
Strangers, page 24
She shivered in his arms.
“I know it sounds bad but whoever hit him did me a favor. I was determined never to trust anyone again. I did okay for a while. Then I met Richard Winter.”
“I think that’s the most you’ve said to me about your past.”
“Oh God, we’re doomed. The moment I open up, people go off me.”
Charlie rolled her over, so that they lay curled up facing each other.
“Did you tell Dickhead about Dex?”
“No. I told you I don’t like to talk about personal things. I’m a very private person. My business is mine and no one else’s.”
“But you’re talking to me.” He lifted her chin with his finger.
“I trust you.”
Charlie’s heart swelled and he exhaled, blowing foam off her face. “After what—”
“Leave it, Charlie.”
“Was Dex the one who stabbed you?”
“No.”
He gave a loud groan. “Jesus, Kate. The press would eat you.”
“Then I’d better not tell you the real reason I don’t like having my photo taken.”
“I think you should. You’ve had such a fucked-up life, you’re making me feel a lot less sorry for myself. This is much better than staring at a psychiatrist.” He paused. “Oh God, that sounded terrible. You don’t have to tell me anything.”
“I want to,” Kate said and emptied her glass. She snuggled against his chest.
“Remember I had the attic room in the children’s home? It was so my care worker had some privacy while he fucked me and took photographs.”
Charlie jerked and spilt his drink. “Shit, Kate. How old were you?”
“Fourteen.”
“Oh my God. India was…” Grief and guilt smothered his voice. 183
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“It was different, Charlie. You were at a party, having fun and you thought she was sixteen. India wanted sex. I didn’t. This guy was supposed to be looking after me.”
Disgust that he’d been another of the people who’d hurt Kate made Charlie’s stomach churn and his heart ache. He’d treated her like… He gulped back a sob. Kate pressed her head into his shoulder. “I told Linda, my social worker, but someone gave the fat bastard an alibi so she decided I’d lied. When Ray came to my room, he brought another man. He said if I told again, next time there would be three.”
Charlie held her as tight as he could. He wanted to protect her and look after her forever and never let her get hurt again, only how could he tell her that after what he’d done? Why should she believe him?
“I have this feeling there are pictures of a fourteen-year-old me floating about on the Internet. That’s why I don’t like my photo being taken.”
“How do you deal with all this?” he whispered.
“By accepting it. I don’t drag it behind me like an oversized suitcase. I don’t moan and wail about what I can’t put right. I have to live in the world that follows.”
“But you tried to kill yourself.”
“I’d let my defenses down.”
“Have I slipped past your guard?” he asked.
“I think you are my guard.”
She could still say that after what he’d done? Charlie kissed her hair. He could be a better man. Kate would make him one. He trembled as she ran her hands down his body, sweeping away the bubbles.
“Let me wash your back,” she said.
“I’m supposed to be washing you.”
“But you have such silky, soft skin.”
“You sound like a snake and I think you nicked my line.”
Kate trailed her fingers under the foam and down his stomach to wrap them around his cock.
“That’s not my back,” he said.
“I was hopeless at biology.” A lick of his nipple dragged a groan from his throat.
“In that case, it is my back. Keep rubbing.”
Charlie caught her laugh with a kiss. She tasted so sweet his head was swimming. Kate pulled away and slid down his body, landing tiny nips and bites along the ridges of his ribs. Before her mouth settled round his cock, Charlie dragged her back to cup her face with his hands. When her soft satin lips opened at once for his tongue, Charlie understood how close he’d come to screwing this up, how lucky he was she still lay in his arms and hadn’t told him to fuck off or even reported him to the police. He wanted her forever and the thought made his heart ache.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered.
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“You don’t need to keep apologizing.” She licked her way back down his chest.
“Yes, I do.” He lifted her head to look her in the eyes. “You’re special to me and I know I nearly wrecked everything. I’m ashamed of myself.”
“I could have stopped you.”
“Could you?” Charlie asked. “What if you’d tried and I’d carried on?”
Kate slid up and put her hands around his neck. “Charlie, you’ve had a terrible day. Someone you love, someone who loves you, said an awful thing and you lashed out. It doesn’t matter that you lashed out at me. That’s what I’ve been trying to explain. There’s something about me that makes—”
He sat up so fast, a wave of water sloshed over the side of the tub. “Don’t talk crap. It does matter. There’s nothing about you that would make me want to hurt you, that should make anyone want to hurt you. Don’t you dare blame yourself. I fucked up today. I don’t deserve you, but I’ll show you I can be a better man. I don’t want to let you go. Ever. I’ve never felt like this before.” He took a deep breath, his heart surging into his throat as he looked into her eyes.
“Kate, I…I think I love you.”
Oh God, had he managed to say that out loud? Yeah, he had. His heart rate had doubled and his mouth had dried up. He’d held those words safe for so long that Charlie could hardly believe he’d let them go. Except Kate hadn’t said anything. She was staring at him but why didn’t she say something? Charlie took hold of her jaw and waggled it up and down as if trying to get her to speak.
“Good to know you care about me too,” he said in a gruff voice.
“Hippo, I was yours from the thump on the nose.”
His heart leapt against hers, as if the two organs had reached out to kiss. Then their lips met and Charlie’s head went fuzzy. Be gentle, he told himself and at least this time, he managed not to crush her. His hands plastered over her back, Charlie took it slow. He wanted to kiss her back to happiness, back into belief in him. Today had been terrible but something sort of good had come out of it. Kate was talking to him about her past. He didn’t like most of what she had to say, but she’d begun to trust him. He slid his tongue over her upper lip and sucked it into his mouth. Her hands held his head, her thumbs stroking just below his eyes. She was rocking against him, their bodies sliding against one another. So easy to just slip his cock inside— Charlie turned to stone.
Oh fuck, what have I done? What the hell have I done?
Kate tipped her head back to look at him.
“I didn’t use protection.” He groaned. “Oh God, I’m sorry.”
“Charlie, it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. I’ve ruined everything. I’m such a fucking cunt. I’ve never done that before. Never lost my head so I didn’t remember. Fuck, fuck. I mean, what if—”
“I’m on the Pill.”
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He closed his eyes, his head full to bursting with a thousand thoughts. He’d had this vision of Kate, pregnant, and the pair of them struggling with the assembly instructions for a cradle. Then he thought of all the times he’d used a condom with her when he hadn’t needed to and he opened his eyes and glared.
“Think,” Kate said.
Charlie did as he was told. Ah. One chance for a first time and he’d fucked it up, spoiled what should have been special. She did the right thing not telling him. Only now she had. He made himself not smile.
“Were you ever going to tell me?” he whispered.
“When the moment was right.”
“I am such a dick.”
“Yes you are.”
He let out a choked laugh.
“Pretend tonight is our first time.”
“But I already—”
“No. You weren’t thinking of me then. This time you will be. Make it good.”
Kate squealed as Charlie stood and scooped her into his arms. He sat her on the edge of the tub, grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her. Foam flew everywhere.
“We need to eat,” he said. “Italian, Thai, Indian? I could try for Argentinian. We might have to wait a while.” He’d send a bloody plane to fly a meal back.
“Don’t you have anything in your fridge?”
“The fridge?” He blinked. “I have no idea.”
“Can I go see?”
He nodded. Kate rubbed her hair and Charlie wrapped a towel around his waist.
“Do you have an old shirt I can put on?” she asked.
Charlie padded into the bedroom and into his closet. He had about a hundred shirts. None of them were old. He picked a thin white one and slipped into a pair of boxers before he came back out.
The moment Kate had fastened the buttons on the shirt, she laughed. “You can see straight through this.”
Charlie raised his eyebrows. “Really.”
“Come on.” Kate took his hand and tugged him down to the kitchen. Charlie doubted there was anything edible in there but Kate checked out the fridge, opened a few cupboards and smiled.
“Thirty minutes. Is it warm enough to eat in the garden?”
He’d find a way to make it warm if that was what Kate wanted. 186
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Cooking soothed Kate. Charlie had put music on, some soulful jazz thing, poured her a glass of champagne, given her a kiss and disappeared. He’d had a terrible day and she hadn’t meant to unload her past on him, but if they were to have any chance together, there could be no secrets. Charlie was so open and straightforward and Kate still hid something huge. One day she’d tell him, but not this day. The kitchen was like something out of a magazine. Kate kept running her fingers over the beautiful granite countertop. There were specks of iridescent turquoise spattered throughout and depending on where she stood, they shone bright or dim under the light. Kate cleaned up as she went along. Charlie appeared to collect cutlery, glasses and plates and then disappeared again after he’d returned twice to kiss her. When Kate walked outside carrying the slowly sinking cheese soufflé and the bowl of salad, it was like stepping into a fairy cave. Charlie had put tea lights everywhere—
among the plants, along the fence and all over the herringbone bricks apart from a bare strip between where he sat at the table and the kitchen door. He wore a white shirt that matched hers and a black bow tie. When he stood up, Kate laughed. No pants, only boxers. In the center of the table stood a vase of yellow flowers. A lump erupted in her throat.
She put the bowls on the table and threw her arms around him. “Oh Charlie, everything looks gorgeous. Even you.”
He grinned and Kate felt his hands slide onto her bare butt. “I hear the food’s crap at this place but we can make do.”
He pulled out a chair for Kate to sit and poured more champagne as she served up the food.
One mouthful and he was moaning. “Oh God, this is delicious.”
“Several eggs past their sell-by date, a hunk of moldy cheese—I cut off those bits, butter, flour—well, once I’d sieved out the weevils, and milk, only slightly smelly.”
Charlie stopped chewing.
She smiled. “Only kidding.”
“If we buy the ingredients, will you cook that Chihuahua thing again?”
“Okay.”
“And the ice-cream dessert?”
“Ah, well if you eat all your dinner, maybe there’ll be a treat afterward. Not quite zabaglione but nearly.”
Charlie wrapped one of her feet inside his under the table. One hand rested on her arm. Kate lifted her other foot, and as he took a sip of champagne, she ran her toes along his thigh and under his boxers.
He groaned. “And I thought we might get through dinner without me having to ravish you.”
He grabbed her ankle and stopped her toes probing any farther.
“Spoilsport.” Kate pouted.
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“I can’t eat if you do that and I need to eat so that I can do that to you.”
He watched her as he ate every mouthful and Kate felt as though she was a child on Christmas Eve, desperate to go to bed, excited about what was to come. She cleared away the plates and dishes, and came back with the concoction she’d thrown together. Ice-cream from Charlie’s freezer, sherry and a couple of crushed amaretti biscuits. Charlie pushed his chair back from the table.
“On my knee,” he said.
Kate straddled him and spooned the mess into his mouth.
He licked his lips and smiled. “Almost as sweet as you.” His fingers fumbled with the buttons on her shirt and pulled it open. “More,” he said and opened his mouth. Another spoonful and then Kate yelped when his lips settled around her nipple. She shivered as the ice-cream melted and Charlie swallowed around her. Then warmth returned and she groaned. Kate groaned even louder when she felt his hands slip under her shirt and stroke her butt.
“More.” Charlie stared straight into her eyes. “Except, would you unfasten this bowtie first. It’s strangling me.”
Kate took a mouthful of the dessert herself before she slid the bowl and spoon onto the table behind her. She didn’t stop after unfastening the black silk tie but undid the buttons on his shirt. He looked so sexy Kate couldn’t swallow for a moment. His dark eyes, scruffy hair, the slight stubble on his cheeks. No wonder everyone loved him. He could have his pick of beautiful women. Why would he—
“Stop thinking. It’ll give you wrinkles.” He opened his mouth. “Feed me, Kate.”
She put a spoonful of ice-cream just above her nipple. Charlie was on it before she had chance to register how cold it felt. His hands on her waist, he held her angled back as he licked and slurped before lifting his head to give her a broad grin.
“More,” he said.
The next spoonful landed on his nipple and Kate leaned forward to catch the dripping dessert, then sucked. She slid her hand into the waistband of his boxers and fondled his cock. Charlie hissed.
“Don’t even think about putting a spoonful there. We have to go inside before I find somewhere else to feed off you,” he whispered. “I don’t want to freak out the neighbors. I’m trying to persuade them that despite the occasional paparazzo parked outside, I’m just an ordinary guy.”
Kate climbed off his knee and began to clear the table.
“Leave it. The housekeeper will sort it out.”
“An ordinary guy would do it himself,” Kate said.
Charlie rolled his eyes but he stacked the plates.
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Chapter Nineteen
Charlie was a saint. Well, he wasn’t, but at that moment, he thought he was. He cleared away all the dirty plates and glasses and stacked the dishwasher while Kate put the kitchen back to rights. She even took his hand and made him go outside and blow out all the little candle lights. And while that should have lessened his ardor, it hadn’t. It made him want her more.
“Hide and seek,” Kate said. “You stay here, eyes closed and count to fifty.”
She shrugged off her shirt.
Charlie’s gaze slipped to her pert nipples. “Not fifty. Twenty-five.” Charlie tossed his bowtie aside and let his shirt fall, then dragged his hand up his cock and closed his eyes.
On twenty-five he opened his eyes. His heart pounded as he searched the whole of the ground floor. No sign of her. Charlie turned off the lights before he went upstairs, straight to his bedroom. He’d been sure he’d find her in his bed but she wasn’t there. Puzzled, he went to check everywhere else, including the next floor. There was nowhere else to hide except— oh fuck.
Charlie ran back to his bedroom and flung open the door of his closet. Kate sat on the blue box in the corner. She hadn’t opened it. Then Charlie narrowed his eyes. What was she wearing?
Kate stood, hands behind her back, and smiled. His neckties. Wrapped around her breasts, up her arms, around her neck, her legs, her head. Between her legs. He blinked. Then she brought her hands forward to show what she held. Fuck. Charlie went up in flames. A lightning strike couldn’t have been more effective. His balls tingled and his cock vibrated like a drill bit.
No one touched his box, not his cleaner, no one. He piled stuff on top… He never had anyone around to stay… Damn. He opened his mouth to say he could explain, then wondered—how? Props for a movie? Gifts from a fan? Presents for—er—his agent?
“Got any batteries?” Kate asked.
Air whooshed out of him. His knees shook and his asshole quivered.
“Already in,” he whispered.
“Kneel on the bed,” she said.
Somehow Charlie’s legs carried him across the room. He threw off the cover and knelt on all fours on the dark sheet. The blue dildo Kate held was long and slender, made of a soft and smooth jelly material with spirals down the entire length. Purchased after his experiments with guys because while Charlie had liked the sensations, he liked women better. He’d been relieved to see lube in her hand too. 189
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The moment he felt her hand on his back, lust pooled in his groin. This wasn’t wrong, neither perverted nor dirty, but it wasn’t something he wanted the press to get hold of. Charlie felt as though he’d bared his soul to Kate. Her hand pressed on his spine and he let his head fall forward onto the bed so his butt stuck up in the air. Charlie closed his eyes.
The bed dipped as she climbed on behind him. He felt her arms brush his thighs, a combination of her soft skin and his neckties and he trembled. With every sense on high alert, Charlie offered himself to her. She had all the power. The wet rasp of her tongue at the top of his buttock and he groaned into the bed. A fingertip stroke of his balls and he clenched his teeth around the sheet. She breathed on him and Charlie felt the wetness bloom at his cock head.
