All That Remains (Metamorphosis Book 1) (4 page)

“Do you like fish? At our lunch break, I caught a few, thought they’d be good for dinner.”

Summer looked at the nice fat fish Charlie had brought with him, already cleaned and hummed happily. “
And
already cleaned. Least one of you has good manners.”

“Charlie is the finest of the two of us. I can’t lie. But damn it, Summer, I had to go.”

She leaned against the counter near where Charlie had begun heating a pan to cook the fish. “The pot there just about to boil is for some pasta we had left over at the café from earlier. Spring onions came in fresh if you’d like to use them.” She pointed to a colander of freshly washed produce.

“Do you have a garden?”

“I have a plot at the community pea patch and the containers around the house here. But the onions were payment for some piece work.” She ignored Hatch’s comment and Charlie let her. Hatch had to fix it.

“Piece work?” He grabbed the onions and sliced them quickly. He’d toss them with the tomatoes he’d brought.

“There’s a pretty active barter network here in Paradise. This caravan came with permanent residency here. I get my meals and groceries to bring home at the end of the day as well as a small stipend from my job at the café. Anything else I trade for. I do sewing piecework, alterations, that sort of thing for barter if I take a liking to something.” She shrugged. “I’ve got all I need and most of what I want.”

“Back on the farm,” Hatch spoke as he moved closer, “we had all we needed and we didn’t know what we wanted.”

“I knew what I wanted. Speak for yourself.”

Hatch braced his hands on either side of her body, holding the edge of the counter.

“I
am
speaking for myself. We didn’t know what else there was in the world. How could we have known what we wanted?”

“Then don’t say we. Did you find what you wanted then? By going?”

“It’s more complicated than that. I came to Portland to follow you. But it took nearly seven months to get there as I worked my way across the country. I saw the world. Realized how much there was that I hadn’t even imagined. But when I got to Portland, you were there and you were what I needed. But I’d seen what was out there. The tip of it. It
ignited
something in me. Some sense of wanderlust, of a need to explore.” He touched his forehead to hers and Charlie realized it was something the two of them had together. Realized too that Summer had allowed it all the times Hatch’d done it, which was a good thing. He hoped. Charlie moved around the kitchen, giving them some space, but staying near. This was the beginning of them as a unit. If they could get over what had torn Hatch and Summer apart, they could build and this was the start. Fragile, yes, but important.

H
atch ached
to clear the pain from her gaze. Ached because he’d put it there. He’d been the one to walk away and leave her behind. He dug deep to find the words to explain himself. There were no excuses. He knew he’d done damage. He wanted her to know the why and, through that, forgive.

He had her back. So near and yet a million miles apart with his actions between them like a great wall. He had to breach it. Had to have this woman’s love once more.

Had to
deserve
it first.

“I’m sorry. Sorry I hurt you. I know I owe you an explanation and I’m sorry it’s taken me four years to give it to you. I had to go, Summer. At first I thought being in a city would be enough after the farm. But it wasn’t. It wasn’t the amount of people or the diversity of options in the area. Living in a city felt like a prison sentence. I got there and I tried because I wanted to be with you. But it was slowly killing me to be there. I needed to leave. Craved the freedom the road could offer. When I asked you to come and you said no, I tried to stay a while. To wait, but I couldn’t. In the end, I hurt you and I owe it to you to apologize and to explain. I can’t erase how I made you feel, but I hope maybe we can understand each other and you can forgive how I did it.”

“One of my fathers was dying. I couldn’t leave my mother and other father right when they needed me most. When I needed them for that matter. And then Dulce.”

A cold chill passed through him. “What about her?”

“They were on a train going to Canada for a vacation. There was a head-on collision with another train.”

Hatch remembered this accident. It had been all over the news. So many people had died.

“Their car…there was a fuel leak after the crash. A spark started a fire and the fire was too hot and too fast for rescue workers to get in. Macon, Broad and the kids didn’t make it.”

Dulce was her big sister. The two of them had been very close. She’d lost her sister, her brothers-in-law, their kids, and her father in such a short period of time and he hadn’t been there. Nausea and guilt swamped him. She would have needed him and he wasn’t there.

“I’m so sorry.” It boggled his mind to imagine a world without Dulce in it. Always smiling and laughing. Vibrant and gracious. “I loved Dulce too.”

“She’s alive. Here in Paradise, which is why I’m here. She was out of their car. She’d gone to get food for Harper; you hadn’t been around for his birth. He was eighteen-months-old. Broad was with him while Macon was changing Julian’s diaper. Baby J was just two-months-old. Dulce went ahead to get breakfast. She was in the pass between two cars when the collision came. Was thrown from the train. She broke her back and both arms. But she lived.”

Hatch pulled her to him, hugging her tight and she allowed it, resting her head on his chest. He looked at Charlie over the top of her head. They’d make it better.

“She came here? Instead of Portland? Your mother must be insane with worry.”

“Dulce is different now. Something broke and I don’t know if it’ll ever be fixed. She came here because she couldn’t go back to her house. My mom and I packed her things and put them in storage. I came here once I knew she wasn’t going to come back to Portland. She needed a connection to her family or she would drift off totally. And the longer I was in Paradise, the more I liked it here. Liked my caravan and the lake. I started a new life. I can be a different Summer here. I can take care of myself. And I do.”

Pushing back from his hold, she left his arms and he felt it to his toes.

“I couldn’t be this man here asking for another chance if I hadn’t left. I’m a better man because of what I learned out there. And from realizing how much I walked away from. But I am so sorry for hurting you and even more sorry I wasn’t there when you had so much pain to deal with.”

“I didn’t need you to be there. Other people were.” Her body language attempted causal with a shrug, but her voice trembled just a little. She moved to pour them all wine. “Your leaving taught me things too, Hatch. One of them I discovered by moving here is that I don’t need anyone to fix me or take care of me. I can do it on my own. I have a place to live. A job. Food on my table. I don’t need anyone to provide anything for me. That Summer, the one who needed such things, she’s gone.”

Charlie dropped the pasta into the boiling water as she put the wine and the glasses at her small table.

He threw a lifeline to Hatch, who’d been watching her as she worked. He knew Hatch was gutted at finding out what had happened in his absence. “Nearly ready. Hatch, can you lay out the cheese and apples?”

The three of them worked to get the table set and the food out. She smiled at Charlie. “You’re handy.”

“Hatch and I trade back and forth with the cooking. Out there it’s a lot of catch as catch can. We’re both decent hunters and fishermen so we manage pretty well.”

They sat and Charlie served her, filing her plate.

“Thank you. There’s pie for later if you’re up for it. We made them fresh this morning.”

“Looks like I’m not the only one who’s handy.”

“We learned at a pretty early age back on the farm how to bake and cook and all that stuff. Self sufficiency was how it went. It got me a job here my second day in Paradise too.” She took another bite of the fish. “This is really good.”

Charlie warmed at her compliment. “Paradise Village is the most beautiful settlement I’ve been in in years. So much life here. I’m surprised it’s not bigger.”

“People prefer the cities. We don’t have shopping centers or mass transit. We’re up here in our own little bubble of perfection but it wouldn’t work for everyone. Which is nice because it keeps things the way they are. Have you two ever considered settling?”

Hatch put a piece of buttered bread on her plate. “Not until now.”

“
I
don’t need
pretty words.” She frowned and Charlie raised a brow.

She had fire. Charlie dug it. “You seem so easygoing but you have a temper on you. I like it. You’ll need it to keep us both in line.”

“I’m not angry but you need to stop talking this way.”

Hatch sighed. “Why are you so upset then? Get it out so we can move forward.”

She leveled her gaze at Hatch, the frown replaced by narrowed eyes. “Are you for real? Who do you think you are?”

“You’re pissed off because I left you in Portland. I understand it and I’m sorry I hurt you. Sorrier still I wasn’t around when you needed me most. I don’t regret leaving, but I do regret that. But years have passed. We’re both better people. We have a connection we started before we could walk. I know you better than anyone else in the world.”

Charlie hissed, annoyed that Hatch was pushing too hard. He could see it on Summer’s face. It occurred to him he’d be that middle spot between Hatch and Summer, the break between their fire and ice. It shouldn’t have made his cock hard but it did. Make-up sex was already one of his favorite things, add Summer to the mix and it would be even better.

“Please continue to explain to me how I feel. Most certainly I have had no ability whatsoever to emote after you left until yesterday when I saw you again.”

Charlie held a hand up to shush Hatch before he could make it worse. “Be quiet before she maims you.” He turned to Summer. “Please explain what you meant.”

“You want to fuck me. So okay, I like fucking so that’ll work out fine. But all this assumption that I’ll only let you if you pretend you want to be in a relationship with me is insulting. I’m an adult. I don’t need romantic promises to have sex. If this is how you and Hatch work to get a woman into bed you don’t need it with me. I’m not after gimmicks.”

“Let’s go step by step here because there are a lot of emotions between us all. First, yes, yes I do want to have sex with you.” Charlie leaned in close and breathed her in, humming his delight. “
A lot
of sex with you. And with Hatch and you. And with Hatch. Essentially I want to fuck and be fucked and watch fucking. It’s part of who I am. I guess you should know that too. We don’t need gimmicks to get a woman. Plus, it’s demeaning to everyone anyway. We’re adults, all of us.”

“It’s sort of insulting you’d think that,” Hatch interjected.

Charlie wanted to punch Hatch when Summer’s posture went rigid again. “Hatch, I told you to be quiet. You need to stop poking at her.”

“I can’t believe you keep reminding me what a dick you are,” she responded to Hatch. “You’re insulted that I don’t trust your motives? Too bad. If you don’t like it, feel free to exit the way you came in.”

“You
should
know better.” Hatch jutted his chin out and Charlie let it go, stepped back to let Hatch take his lumps.

“And how should I know better? You walked away. I didn’t push you away. I didn’t make you leave. You left. You said yourself you’ve changed since you were on the road. It’s presumptuous of you to assume I’d know you any more than you know me. I knew a different Hatch. You knew a different Summer. I can’t assume anything.”

Hatch sucked in a breath as the truth of what she said pelted him with each sentence.

“Points taken. This isn’t a gimmick. We don’t need them. We both want you. I want to know the new Summer because I loved the old Summer very much. I want to know you. I want to be with you. I want you to trust me and know me again. I want you to trust me enough to give me more than just your body.”

P
anic began
to eat away at her resolve. It was easier when he was being an ass. Easier to hold him back and away from any part of her that could open up to caring for him again. But his genuine desire to make up for what he’d done to her was something she found it difficult to keep back.

She’d always clicked with Hatch. From an early age it had been Hatch and Summer and then it wasn’t and that was hard to bear.

But that connection was still there, if battered and worse for wear. The power of it, of what it used to mean to her, of what it still did in many ways was hard to resist.

And it was more than just Hatch at that point. There was Charlie who watched them both with knowing eyes.

Her head spun at how fast this was moving. At how much she wanted Hatch again. How much she wanted to learn Charlie. She was so very afraid of how much she wanted them both. Everything was so twisty and complicated.

“Why I thought it was a good idea to agree to this I don’t know.”

Charlie took her hand. “He’s being a dick, but under all the bluster he’s genuine. He’s being a dick because he’s scared that he’s going to lose you a second time and it’ll be his fault. Again. This isn’t a gimmick. We want you. Not just for tonight or a few weeks.”

“You don’t even know me.”

Even as she said the words she knew that some things just were. Her New Earth roots ran deep. Truth was truth, even if you didn’t want to admit it. Especially if you weren’t ready to face it.

Charlie’s grin made her spine ease a little. “The first time I met Hatch I knew I wanted him. I knew I wanted to be with him. When I looked up and saw you at the café it was like someone had punched me in the gut. I came back and told Hatch about you and then when you kissed me…each time you’ve kissed me I’ve become surer and surer. I don’t know you. Not what your favorite color is, though I’m going to say blue given how much of it you wear and have around here. Or what your favorite food is. We can learn about each other over time. We’re not asking for forever right this second. We just want you to know our intentions and for you to give us a chance.”

“This is going to end badly.”

Hatch snorted. “Bullshit. You’re scared. I’m sitting here and I’m telling you I want you. I want you so much my hands are shaking and I’m trying to be cool and pretend they aren’t. I’m scared too. Unlike Charlie, I’ve been inside you. I’ve had my cock buried in your sweet, hot cunt and I’ve never forgotten. I’ve had your lips on me in every imaginable place. I want it again. I want to walk into a room and have you shift your attention from whatever you’re doing straight to me because we’re that connected. I had that once. I was important to you. I knew your heart. I want to be yours again.”

He’d never been hers. She’d realized that as she’d watched him drive away in a caravan those years before. She’d been young then and it had broken her. She was different now. Older. Stronger. More self-confident. But love could break you in ways nothing else could.

Instead of throwing that in his face, she held it back, needing to deal with it on her own first. “What about Charlie, then?”

Hatch’s gaze flicked to Charlie and there was no mistaking the affection and love there. For whatever reason, it made her feel better, not worse. “People create triads every day. It’s tricky because there’s one more person but I want him too. I’ve
got
him and have no plans at all to give him up. He comes with me, and I come with him. We’re a package. It works that he wants you too. I see you watch him and I know you want him and I won’t pretend you don’t want me too. I can taste it when you kiss me, I can feel our connection each time we touch. That’s a whole lot of want. We’re all adults, what say we give in?”

Charlie moved to kneel in front of her. “We can take it slowly. We don’t need to rush.” He lowered his head and kissed her knee where the hem of her dress had slid up to expose her bare skin.

He wore a short-sleeved shirt and she gazed down at the deep black of his hair, over to the colorful ink that started on his knuckles and spread out over his hands, around his wrists, wrapped around his forearms and disappeared beneath the material of his shirt.

His tongue caught the seam where her leg was bent and she gasped. His eyes snapped open and stared straight into hers. Slowly, waiting for her to refuse, he grasped her ankles and slid her shoes off.

She tried not to gulp as he slid his hands, big, strong, work-rough, up her ankles and calves, pushing her legs wider, dropping hot, open-mouthed kisses up her thigh.

She slid her fingers through his hair, holding him as he paused about an inch away from her pussy.

He sucked in a breath and hummed. “You smell like sex. Like sun and need. And woman. I want to lick you until you scream. You on board?”

Her breath caught, stealing her words. He looked up and she nodded. His smile in response sent a shiver through her. Then the flash of his teeth as he gave her inner thigh a sharp nip.

A sound, low in her throat, broke through her lips. She hadn’t meant to make it but was glad she did when she noted Charlie’s response. A shiver and then this fingers tightening on her thighs before one hand slid to her cunt.

His fingertips brushed over the line of her labia through her panties and she sighed, falling into the feeling. Ignoring the voice in the back of her mind telling her she couldn’t afford to let Hatch back in even a bit. Telling herself this was about Charlie and not Hatch, about sex and nothing more, even though she knew it was a lie.

Charlie pulled her underpants down her legs, tossing them over his shoulder. He spread her wide and looked his fill. “Beautiful. You’re as beautiful here as everywhere else.”

She looked down her body, watching as he danced the tip of his finger over her clit until she arched. Over the furls of her pussy and then around her gate until he slid one up into her and she had to close her eyes a moment.

Hatch moved next to her, getting to his knees. Summer opened her eyes as the heat of him washed over her but he kept his hands to himself. For the moment.

She turned her head to look into his eyes and knew that self-control would only last so long. When he let go she’d drown in him.

And she wanted it more than she should.

Charlie flicked his tongue over her clit several times until her muscles burned and then relaxed.

Straightening, he reached out to Hatch and traced his fingers over Hatch’s mouth. With a groan, Hatch sucked those fingers inside his mouth and the inner walls of her cunt clenched.

They turned their gazes on her. Hatch’s voice was desire-rough. “You still taste like the sea.”

She sucked in air like she was suffocating. That’s when Hatch kissed her and she was lost.

His hands burrowed through her hair, sending the pins holding it up showering to the floor. He held her to his mouth as he devastated. Took. So hard and ruthless it left her faint.

She’d never been kissed with such ferocity in all her life. Not even by the man who held her, who’d been her very first kiss. He sucked her tongue and lips, nipped, licked at her like she was the best thing he’d ever tasted.

Between her thighs, Charlie pushed in, his lips against the heated wet of her pussy as he took a long lick. And another. She cried out when he sucked her clit between his lips, back and forth, over and over until she hovered at climax and he backed off.

She broke the kiss, urging Charlie’s head closer, yanking on his hair.

Hatch slid her hair to expose her neck, kissing up to her ear. “Impatient. What do you want?”

She would
not
beg. Not Hatch.

Summer shook her head and he nipped her bottom lip, his nimble fingers unbuttoning the front of her dress, exposing her breasts.

Charlie rested his chin on her thigh, waiting to see what was going to happen next and it just pissed her off. Enough to push Hatch back and scramble to her feet. “This isn’t happening.”

Charlie stood slowly, as not to spook her or threaten in any way. “What isn’t? What happened here? I’m missing something. You were about to come all over my face.”

“I’m not going to beg Hatch for an orgasm. I can walk out that door and ten men will be happy to give me one before I get three steps. For that matter, I have a hand.”

“Whoa.” Hatch put his hands up. “I wasn’t…it was sex play, not real.”

“You both make me…I don’t know. Crazy. I don’t like that.”

Hatch had the gall to smile at her. “You make me crazy too. How about if
we
beg to make you come? Would that be better?”

“I need to know.” She licked her lips, not able to say it.

Charlie stepped a little closer. Close enough to brush the hair from her face. “What do you need to know?”

“Will it always be Hatch pulling your strings? If we do this—and I’m not saying a relationship for god’s sake, just fucking—but if we do this, I—” She broke off again.

“I’m no one’s puppet.” Charlie’s words weren’t angry, but they were defensive and she was sorry for that.

She sighed. “This is why I think we should just stop now. You two need to find another woman you have no history with. Because I have all these buttons and issues and I never thought I did until right now. I don’t want to offend you and it’s clear I have.”

“I’m not offended. I just think you misread what was happening.” Charlie leaned in to brush a kiss against her jaw, beneath her ear. “This thing isn’t just me and you, or me and Hatch, or you and Hatch, it’s all three of us. You and Hatch have some stuff to get over. I was leaving room for that to happen.”

“So you were mad at Charlie because he was pausing when I was asking you to say what you wanted? I’m a dominant man, Summer.”

She turned to face Hatch. “You need to
earn
that right with me.”

Hatch paused for a moment and then nodded.

“Okay, let’s ease back a little. You want to feel like you and I are on our own terms? Am I getting that right at least in part?” Charlie blocked Hatch and, god help her, she found it sort of cute.

“I need to know this isn’t Hatch by proxy.” She groaned. “I’m not saying it right.”

“I thought this was going to be easier.” Hatch combed fingers through his hair. “Let’s finish our dinner and talk a while. Clearly we need to cool off and maybe lay some ground rules.”

Hatch approached, sliding an arm around Charlie’s waist and then Summer’s. “I’m impatient. It’s a flaw you know only too well. Both of you. But I want this to work. However it’s going to. I’ve missed you so much.” He kissed her cheek. “Say whatever you need to say and don’t worry about the perfect words.”