Chapter Nine

Luke

If I didn’t know any better, I would say that Charlotte Freemont was really starting to like Shady Grove. The moment she came bouncing through the door of the bar with my sister, her face lit up when she saw the crowd. It was Thursday night and the Drunk Skunk was packed—packed with wandering eyes that followed Charlotte’s every move as she walked my way.

I got it, though. She was gorgeous and had an aura of mystery surrounding her that drew the attention of every hot-blooded man in the room. I hated every one of those motherfuckers looking at her.

Eyes off my girl.

My girl? There was a thought I didn’t have every day. Last time I’d wanted a girl to be mine, I’d ended up getting my heart torn to shreds. I needed to be careful when it came to Charlotte. I barely knew her, but somehow my subconscious was staking claim. And I’d had just enough to drink to roll with it.

“Evening, duchess,” I said, sliding an arm around her waist when she was close enough. A subtle vibration jolted through her as our bodies pressed against each other. She melded against me like it was right where she belonged.

“Hello there.” She looked up at me, her big blue eyes crystal clear and sparkling with excitement. “How was your day?”

“Better now. Yours?”

“Same,” she said, biting at her bottom lip.

The crowd around us seemed to fade away, leaving just the two of us. It had been a few days since our last kiss, and I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it. The way she’d tasted. The soft moans she let out. The way her body reacted under my touch. Even when we were talking business, the thoughts of ravaging her were always there.

Tonight was the night it was going to happen, come hell or high water.

“You look good enough to eat,” I said, loving the way her hair was loosely curled and her makeup was just enough to accentuate every beautiful feature of her face. The upper curves of her fantastically perfect tits were peeking out from her V-neck shirt. Taking a bite of her was going to be fun. I wet my lips as I ran a hand over her waist.

“I thought you two hated each other,” Duke said with a grin, drawing our attention.

“Things change.” I glared at him, needing my brother’s comments like I needed a hole in the head.

“Yeah, I think I kind of like him now.” Charlotte rested her head against my chest and gave Duke a shrug.

“Give it a few days. It’ll wear off,” Duke told her, earning a slap on the shoulder from me.

“Thanks, buddy.” I turned my attention back to Charlotte. “You want to eat? Dance? Have a drink?” I ran through the list of options for the night, hoping the lust-filled look in her eyes meant she was thinking the same thing I was, which was none of the above.

“Maybe you two need to just get a room,” Molly suggested, breaking the trance that linked the two of us.

“I tried.” Charlotte chuckled. “Your brother is too much of a gentleman.”

“I don’t have to be,” I whispered in her ear with a growl.

Her body tensed, and I could practically hear the excited thump of her heart. We’d tiptoed around this sexual tension for long enough. Just because I’d ended our first night by not jumping into bed with her didn’t mean I was going to do the same thing now. My cock had been begging for days, and I was ready to do something about it.

“Want to get out of here?” I asked.

She gave me a subtle nod and a smile as I laced my fingers through hers. The feel of her petite hand in mine was a natural fit, which added fuel to the fire already building inside me.

“As much fun as this place is, we’ve got to go,” I told Duke and Molly.

“Have fun, you two,” Duke shouted over the music as I led Charlotte through the crowd toward the exit.

As soon as we were outside, I pulled her into my arms and gave her the proper greeting that she deserved. My lips found hers in an instant. My tongue greedily slipped into her mouth as I held her close. Once I knew I’d left her breathless, I resumed the hand-holding and led her to my truck.

“What’s gotten into you?” she asked with a laugh as I opened the passenger door for her.

“Decided I was done wasting time, duchess,” I replied with a smirk. “Too much? Too fast?”

“No, I like it.” She pressed her body against mine as she lifted one foot onto the running board and stood on the tiptoes of the other. “A man who knows what he wants is always sexy,” she added as she pressed her lips softly against my cheek.

The angle of her body gave me the perfect opportunity to show her exactly what I wanted. Looping an arm around her waist, I pressed the steel of my cock against her center. She moaned at the contact as I put my lips on hers. I could feel the heat radiating from her and nearly came on the spot.

I’d been thinking all day about where I wanted to take Charlotte tonight. I broke our kiss and carefully shut her inside the truck. One more second of her temptation, and our first time was going to be in the parking lot of the Drunk Skunk.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked when I situated myself behind the wheel and started the engine.

“Anywhere you want to go.”

I took her hand and drew it to my mouth, pressing my lips against the back of it as my eyes found hers. Dark curls framed her face, and her lips parted as she took in a soft breath. My libido was in overdrive, seriously blurring the reality of what was happening between us.

“To the moon then,” she said with a grin.

“You got it.” I pulled out of the parking lot and headed to the most romantic spot I knew.

• • •

“Is this place for real?” she asked when we arrived at our destination. The moon looked close enough to touch as it gleamed full and bright in the inky sky.

Charlotte quickly hopped out of the truck to take in our surroundings. A gentle breeze picked up, stirring the tops of the trees that ringed the open field. There were places out in the middle of nowhere that were like heaven on earth, and this was one of them.

“It’s real.”

I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. The grassy hilltop we were standing on was at the far edge of our property, a place I was always drawn to when I needed some alone time. And alone time was exactly what I wanted right now with Charlotte. No interruptions. Just peace and quiet—and her.

“See that speck of light over there,” I said, pointing across the way. “That’s the house. And over there . . .” I pointed out a ribbon of lights in the opposite direction. “That’s Shady Grove.”

“This is beautiful.” She settled into my arms with a sigh. “It’s so peaceful.”

“It’s a good place to think. I love it out here.” As I spoke, tall grasses swayed, stirred by the breeze, and millions of stars shimmered overhead. It truly was magical here.

“Me too.” She looked over her shoulder at me. “Thank you for bringing me.”

“I may have had some ulterior motives.” I dropped a quick kiss on her lips before heading to the truck for the blanket I’d thrown in earlier. I returned to her side and spread it out on the grass. “This is a good spot for more than just thinking.”

“A picnic?” she teased.

“Yep.” I crouched to take a seat and tugged her by the hand into my lap. “Guess who’s on the menu?”

I didn’t give her time to respond. Instead, I captured her mouth with mine and let my kiss answer the question for her.

Our make-out session turned into more when Charlotte climbed off my lap and lay on the blanket, tugging me by the shirt on top of her. The horizontal position we found ourselves in was giving me all kinds of ideas, especially when she spread her legs and let me slip my hips between them. She lifted slightly, digging her heels into the ground, increasing the friction between us.

Every time I moved against her, she let out ragged little whimpers.

“You trying to kill me?” I said, feeling like I was about to burst at the seams.

“Not yet. There’s something I’d like first.” She reached between us and palmed the bulge between my legs. Her slender fingers gripped me through the denim, and damn, did it feel good.

“You sure about this?” I sat back on my heels.

She gave me a sexy little smirk. “Are you?”

“I’m serious, Charlotte.” And I was. I didn’t want her to do something she was going to regret. This night could change a lot for us. “We still have to work together, and I know you’ll be leaving soon. I just want to make sure—”

“I know what I want, Luke. I want you.” She sat up and quickly tugged her shirt over her head before tossing it on the blanket next to us. “I don’t want to think about anything else right now.”

“Okay,” I said, never one to second-guess a woman whose mind was made up.

Charlotte liked to remind me daily that she was an independent woman who made her own decisions. This was one that I wasn’t going to question. Especially when I got a glimpse of her in that lacy scrap of fabric she called a bra, and the matching panties I found when she lifted her hips and let me slide her jeans off.

“God, you’re beautiful,” I said, dropping my lips to the upper swell of her breasts.

I pulled my shirt off, wanting to feel my skin against hers. Her eyes went wide as I lowered myself onto her. The feel of her hands on my chest was searing as she smoothed them over it for the first time. As we explored each other’s bodies, I committed the moment to memory. Not that I’d be able to forget it if I tried.

I popped the front clasp of her bra and freed her tits from the lace. Her rosy nipples tightened. Placing my lips around one and tugging it slightly with my teeth, I caressed the other between my fingertips.

She moaned, pursing her lips to muffle the sounds as I lavished attention on one and then the other. When her body rocked against mine and my name came out in a whisper of desperation, I knew right then that I needed to hear her scream it into the moonlight.

“We’re in the middle of nowhere, baby,” I said, slipping my hand down the front of her panties and finding the warm, wet heat I knew would be waiting for me. I deftly parted her folds and found the one spot that would drive her wild. “You be as loud as you want to be.”

When she let out a little whimper of satisfaction, I swirled my thumb over the bundle of nerves, loving the way she took a deep breath and froze as I worked her aching flesh.

A sweet pink blush spread over her cheeks as she whispered, “Someone will hear.”

I shook my head. “Right now, it’s only you and me. Now, did you want me to suck on your pretty pink clit?”

“Yes,” she murmured, but she looked too cute, too perfect like this, and I wasn’t willing to give it up so easily.

I made to move my hand away from her. “I don’t think I heard you. Maybe I should—”

She grabbed my wrist and guided me back between her thighs. “Please. Don’t stop. I want you. I want to feel you there.”

“Then all you need to do is scream.”

I offered her what I hoped was a tantalizing grin, then guided her back against the blanket and dropped my lips to her pert, rosy nipples again. Taking one in my mouth, I rolled the tip of my tongue around the peak, mirroring the move of my thumb against her other straining bud.

She let out a little gasp and cried out, “Luke!”

As a reward, I pushed one finger inside her and closed my eyes as her walls quaked around it. Another rush of blood and need surged to my cock, making it pulse against the cutting zipper of my jeans, but I ignored it. Right now, this was all about Charlotte—hearing her scream, needing her to call my name.

I pushed another finger inside and she jerked against my movement, urging me to give her more.

“Yes,” she hissed. “Luke, yes.”

I sucked harder on her nipple, knowing that I might mark her with my teeth, but somehow that thought made me even more rock-hard than before. The idea of watching her tits bounce while I fucked her and looking at the spot where I’d claimed her as mine . . .

Fuck, I couldn’t think of a single thing sexier than that.

“Please, I want to feel you, Luke,” she cried out.

I pumped my fingers in and out as she rocked against my hand. Her hips lifted and writhed as I worked inside her, and I sucked harder against her skin, willing myself to focus on anything other than how good she felt, how ready.

But it was impossible. Here in the moonlight with all of nature around us, she was prettier and more perfect than I could have imagined. If I didn’t free my cock and fuck her soon, I was going to explode.

When she begged, “Luke, please,” I released her nipple with a little pop and kissed my way down her stomach, raking my nails over her sensitive skin with my free hand. Lowering myself down her body, I pushed my fingers even deeper inside as her channel quaked and crashed around me, then pressed my lips to her pretty pink bud.

“Oh my . . .” The last word was drowned out by a sharp gasp as my tongue swept out to tease her.

Gently, I used the tip of my tongue to draw little figure eights over her, and she wriggled beneath my touch, her hips bucking into my mouth as I fucked her with my fingers over and over again.

I knew it wasn’t enough. She wanted more, wanted everything. Just like I did. But tonight, we would both have to wait a little longer.

When I finally gripped myself and pushed inside her, it was going to be perfect. Almost as perfect as she looked right here and now.

The moonlight shone on her creamy skin as I looked up at her, meeting her gaze as I lashed her bud again with my tongue.

“I can’t wait to see what you look like when you come,” I murmured, and then sucked her clit gently as she rocked into me again. “Does your mouth open in a cute little o?”

“Do you want me to show you?” She grasped the blanket on either side of her, and the walls of her pussy quaked around my fingers again, harder and tighter than before.

“No,” I ground out. “I want to feel it.”

This was the moment—my one shot to get it right.

Pulling my fingers from her, I said, “Keep going.”

At my gruff command, she took the lead, her deft fingers circling her bud while I made quick work of shoving down my boxers and pulling a condom over my shaft. Watching her was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen.

“Hurry,” she begged, and her eyes squeezed shut. “I’m so close.”

I pulled her panties aside before shoving myself so deep inside that her breath caught, and I was pushed almost to the breaking point. That hot, tight channel squeezed me so tightly, I let out a groan.

All around me, she shuddered with pleasure. Her hands returned to the blanket, tugging at it as she writhed against me. It was all so intense—the warm wetness of her pussy, the straining ache of my cock, and more than anything else, the fierce, desperate need for more.

With every little shiver of movement, there was an instant of gratification, a sliver of pleasure, but that hunger grew too, gnawing at my insides and begging me to lose control. I wanted desperately to fuck her harder, to take her in my arms and thrust so deep and fast, she wouldn’t be able to breathe.

“Fuck yeah, baby.” I leaned back and grabbed her thighs, watching as her tits bounced up and down with every thrust.

Briefly, I wondered what it would look like for me to come on those perfect tits of hers, my pearly seed coating her creamy white skin.

Then her mouth dropped into a little o, just as I’d hoped it would, and I wasn’t thinking anything at all. She shuddered, murmuring my name under her breath.

With another shiver of pleasure at the sight, I gripped her harder still and demanded, “Scream for me, duchess.”

It didn’t take much convincing.

“Luke!” she cried, and her voice echoed back to us through the night air. “Luke!”

“Yes, baby, scream.”

“Fuck me,” she cried, and that was enough to send me over the edge.

Cupping one breast, I pinched her nipple as she bucked and trembled beneath me. God, she was beautiful, her perfect face tense with her need, her breast silky soft in my hand, and her tight cunt hugging me like a fist. The shivers of her orgasm were still rolling over her as mine came to the cliff and paused at the edge.

As I looked down at Charlotte in the moonlight, my cock glossy with her wetness as I pushed and pulled our bodies together, it was enough to make my balls ache, locked and ready for takeoff.

Quickly, I pulled her knees up to my chest and took her deeper, closing my eyes as the wet warmth of her sent a shiver through my veins, and my climax built. A low, deep groan was ripped from my lips as the gnawing pressure in my gut intensified, then loosened and spread through my body, sending frissons of satisfaction through me as hot streams spurted from my swollen length.

As the final waves of pleasure crashed down over me, I had only one thought.

We need to do this again . . .

And again and again.