Chapter Twenty-Three - Charlotte
The Dock’s End looks like a winter wonderland when I step into the Naval Ball. It’s absolutely perfect. It’s spectacular.
There are small Christmas trees covered with lights making a beautiful border around the room. All the tables have been adorned with silver tablecloths and have been moved to make a circle around an exquisite navy blue carpet that is covering the dance floor. Everywhere around, there are little touches of holiday magic, centerpieces filled with Christmas ornaments and bright red ribbons wrapped around bunches of festive flowers.
The whole place has been transformed, and I want to stand in it forever, soaking it in. I feel transformed myself, wearing a long forest green velvet dress and sparkling silver jewelry. I haven’t had a reason to dress up like this in a very long time and I’d forgotten how much fun it can be, how glamorous it can make me feel. I feel like I’m in an old-fashioned Christmas movie, like some kind of movie star about to meet her leading man for the big ballroom dance number.
I walk through the room, and I have to hold back a gasp when I do see my leading man. Danny is always one of the most handsome men I’ve ever seen, but in his formal Navy uniform, he really does look like a movie star. It absolutely takes my breath away.
“You look stunning,” Danny whispers, walking up and taking my arm. I feel my face flush.
“Thank you. You look wonderful, too,” I say, putting my hand on top of his.
“Thanks,” he says, grinning. “I don’t get this thing out much anymore.”
“It suits you,” I say, still staring at Danny.
“I’ll remember that,” Danny says. “I haven’t had a date for anything like this in a very long time. So it didn’t matter much.”
“Why is that?” I ask.
“I’ve been looking for something more, lately—someone more,” Danny tells me. I grasp his hand tighter as I feel the last of my reservations about him slip away entirely. Whatever kind of person Danny used to be, that was a long time ago, and he’s more than proven himself to be better now, to be the kind of man worth holding onto. I know I’ve fallen for him, and hard. I think I’m glad I have.
“You have?” I ask. Danny nods.
“Someone like you, Charlotte,” he says, pulling me in closer and sliding a hand onto my face.
“Here I am,” I say. I think I'm whispering, and I’m not sure why.
“Here you are,” Danny repeats, like it’s a miracle. Like he can’t quite believe it. Out of the corner of my eye, something on the ceiling catches my attention, and I smile, looking up at it.
“Did you know we’re under the mistletoe?” I ask, biting my lip. Danny grins broadly and leans in to kiss me right in the middle of the Dock’s End with Christmas lights glittering around us. His hand stays on my face as we kiss, warm and tender, intense, making me feel like I’m melting into him. I want to do nothing but kiss Danny forever. I want to stay in this moment for the rest of our lives. I want to live all the moments of our lives feeling this happy.
When we break apart, I see Dad watching us from across the room. He smiles at me and claps his hands silently like he’s applauding us. I can’t help but feel like somewhere, Catherine is watching and applauding herself. I know she’d love how everything has turned out.
I pull Danny out onto the dance floor, desperate to be in his arms, to keep this magic alive. He follows, pulling me in close and leading me around the floor to the Christmas carols piping through the room. Off to the side, waiters are setting up the buffet of Danny’s food. It smells wonderful, and I feel filled up with pride—proud of Danny and of Dad for pulling this special night off so beautifully.
“Come back to my apartment with me after the ball?” I whisper in Danny’s ear as we dance. His grip on the small of my back tightens, and I feel the catch in his breath where his chest is pressed against mine.
“I’d love that,” Danny says with a hint of something darker, more thrilling in his voice, and I shiver just thinking about it. I need to touch Danny again, to have his hands on my skin now that it means so much, now that I know it’s something I want to keep doing not just for one night, but maybe for a very, very long time. I’m flushed and turned on just thinking about it, and I stay a little turned on the whole rest of the evening, through several more dances, through all the delicious food, through standing with Danny as people compliment his food, through all the people congratulating Danny and me, telling us what a lovely couple we make.
After dessert, Danny whispers in my ear that he’s got one more important thing to do, one more trick up his sleeve to make tonight perfect, and then we can slip out. I nod, unable to ever remember feeling quite so much all at once ever in my life before now.
To my complete surprise, I watch Dad and Danny take to a platform, and announce—in front of everyone, including all the magazine reporters and bloggers in attendance—that early next year, they’ll be purchasing a building for a second location in the city. I clap and beam until my hands and cheeks ache, bursting with so much pride for the two most important men in my life and their success.
Danny and I are on each other the second we get in the door, kissing like two people desperate for each other like we were drowning without each other – like maybe we want to drown in each other. He slides his hands to my back and undoes the zipper on my dress. I step out of it, shivering, and pull on his hand, guiding him toward my bedroom.
Unlike last time, I want to do this slowly—I want to savor it. I don’t regret the first time we had sex, especially since we’ve ended up here, but I want this time to be more. I kiss Danny again, laying back in my bed when we get there. Danny takes his jacket off and crawls over me, running his hands over my skin.
“Slow this time?” Danny asks, reading my mind, running his hands over my stomach and ribs in delicious lines.
“Mmm. Yes, please,” I say, arching up under his touch. He slides his hands up, under my bra, and I lift myself so he can take it from me entirely.
“Good,” Danny says, with a smirk, “because there is something I’ve really been wanting to do.”
He starts licking lines on my neck, then down to my chest, over my breasts, licking my nipples while he spreads my legs with his hands. I moan with delight as he licks his way down my ribcage, over my stomach and my hipbones. He’s taking his time, and I can feel him everywhere, like every touch of his hands and flick of his tongue is taking me higher, out of myself, floating away.
He hooks his fingers in my underwear and pulls them down, then starts licking again, over my thighs, before spreading my legs even wider and then running a single finger over my already-soaked clit. He follows the finger with his tongue, and I buck against him, crying out at the feeling. He licks me gently at first, so slow it’s like he’s teasing, before building up the speed and pressure.
The heat in me builds up with him, waves coming over me under his tongue. I fist my hands into the sheets, twisting and turning, crying out over and over at the feeling of him. He keeps up his speed, running his tongue all over me, on the sides, around, and then back directly on my clit. It feels so good that the edges of my vision go a little white at the feeling.
He anchors his hand on my hips, holding me down as he continues, until I cry out again, feeling my orgasm approaching. He licks me through it as I come, shuddering and gasping, and just holds my hips still for a minute, then crawls back up to me, smiling.
“You’re still dressed,” I say, still gasping. He grins at me.
“We’ve got a lot of time still to fix that,” he says, winking.
“We do,” I agree, pulling him down to kiss him over and over. I still want to take my time. I want to touch him, have his cock in my mouth and inside me. I want to feel him everywhere. I want to make this time last.