Hearths of Fire (23 page)

C
harlotte knew she’d
made Neal angry at her with the decision to stay, but she was the one who had asked
him here to help save Mandy. She wouldn’t leave him to do that alone. There were a
lot of unanswered questions regarding the guilt of Robert and Patricia Ashe as well
as what part Garreth had played in it all. They had no proof that the Ashes had taken
Becky other than an older member indicating that he’d witnessed them bring the girl
onto the compound. Was he telling the truth? Did he have some hidden agenda? Why hadn’t
the police been able to find Becky? Did the Ashes have another property hidden somewhere
in the cult’s name? As for Garreth—yes, he’d come to the door and scared Charlotte
and Mandy with his ranting and pounding at the door, but what was he truly guilty
of? The questions ran rampant in Charlotte’s mind and she couldn’t catch those few
hours of sleep that Neal seemed to be getting somehow.

Charlotte also couldn’t stop thinking about Mandy and how scared she must be. She
had put on a brave front as she’d left with a man she hadn’t known, but what other
alternative had she had? Garreth coming here yesterday had shown Mandy yet another
facet of his customary calm and calculating demeanor. Charlotte would have Neal get
ahold of Brad later this afternoon so that she could talk to Mandy once more and tell
her that everything would be fine. It had to be. They couldn’t run from this turmoil
forever.

To be quite honest, external dramas weren’t the only things keeping Charlotte awake.
Neal had closed her off and he refused to talk about what had happened between them.
An act like the one they’d engaged in together wasn’t something that could be minimized
or downplayed. It wasn’t just physical. How could she get him to see that what she’d
ended all those years ago had never really faded for either of them? It was like a
hungry fire in the wild. Sometimes there’s just not enough rain to snuff out the embers.

“Talk.”

Charlotte spun around from the coffee maker, where she’d been preparing a new pot
for when Neal woke up. They both would need the caffeine for the upcoming day and
since she couldn’t manage to stomach anything solid…coffee would have to do. Neal
was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed. He’d
taken off his long sleeved shirt, leaving his chest bare and his tattoo visible. What
was it about the black tribal ink that made his appearance so overtly sexual? Charlotte
crossed her arms as well while her mind struggled to comprehend all of the various
emotions running through her body.

“About which train wreck?” Charlotte asked, suddenly feeling short-tempered. He’d
certainly not wanted to discuss things earlier. It wasn’t like anything had changed
in the last couple of hours. “According to you, nothing I have to say will matter
to you anyway.”

Neal’s green eyes darkened and the tension of his jawline was evident under the six
o’clock shadow that had grown in since yesterday. Charlotte could feel the tension
radiating off of his broad shoulders as if he were standing inches from her. He was
the one who’d laid down the boundaries and now that she had been slapped back into
line, he didn’t get the right to complain about it after the fact.

“Neal, I don’t know what the hell you want from me.” Charlotte raised her hands in
defeat and then let them fall back to her sides. “You don’t want to talk…you do want
to talk. You want to have sex…you don’t want to have sex. I can’t change the past.
I made the best decisions I could at the time. We have both lived our lives separately
as a consequence. For some godforsaken reason the recent horrible events compelled
me to ask you to come home. But those same events have also made me see that the choices
I made back then may not have been the right ones in hindsight. Second chances? Maybe.
But if you want to run and hide so you can avoid facing the truth standing right in
front of you, then be my guest. I certainly can’t keep you from running away again.”

Charlotte was done talking. She’d felt the long-ago anguish of her decisions crash
down around her and it wasn’t something she wanted to relive. He didn’t get to be
selfish and think that the choice she’d made on the day of their wedding hadn’t affected
her as well. It had—and still did—every day of her life. She shoved the pot underneath
the brewer and hit the button. She was about to turn and announce that she would go
change for wherever it was they were going this morning when Neal came up behind her
and trapped her against the counter.

“You have no fucking idea how hard it was for me to come back here,” Neal murmured
against her ear. Shivers of anticipation shot through her spine as she knew he wouldn’t
have touched her if this wasn’t going to lead to more. “I thought I could handle actually
being with you this time instead of keeping my distance like I did before. I thought
all of my anger and regret for what you did to us had vanished, but touching you brought
it all back like a goddamned sledgehammer in my chest.”

Charlotte waited for Neal to continue, but instead his right hand slid into the strands
of her hair and pulled her head back. His lips brushed the sensitive skin on her neck
and sparks ran down her spine in response. His touch never failed to produce a reaction
and she finally admitted she was ravenous…she needed more. She couldn’t withhold the
whimper that escaped when he spoke those demanding words that trumpeted his desire.

“I’m going to pull down your jeans and panties, but don’t turn around.”

Charlotte didn’t move as Neal’s grip of her hair loosened and finally slipped away.
From the amount of heat his body was producing, she could tell he hadn’t moved far
from her as he unfastened the button at the top of her jeans, pulled down the zipper,
and used his thumbs to hook both garments. He slowly pushed the material down her
trembling legs until they came to rest at her ankles. As he stood back up, she heard
the tear of a wrapper and she knew he was fitting himself with a condom. He must have
found the box she kept underneath the bathroom sink, which made her wonder if there
was an expiration date on those damn things. The moment his rough fingers made contact
with her hips the random thought of safety vanished like a puff of smoke.

“Take me.” The words spilled off of Charlotte’s lips before she could prevent them.
She decided she didn’t care. He already knew what she wanted, so why pretend otherwise?
“Hard and fast, Neal. Please.”

“Fuck if I can resist that request,” Neal muttered as he tugged on her lower half,
causing her palms to reach out for the counter to keep her upright. She was bent over
now, giving him perfect access to her dripping pussy. “Hard and fast it shall be.”

With those six words Neal drove his cock into her with one breathtaking lunge. Charlotte
cried out at the various sensations that assaulted her lower body. It felt so good
that she had to lock her knees in order to remain standing. The width of his shaft
stretched her opening to the point that the burn spread outward, causing her clit
to throb even harder just prior to the impact of his balls on her most sensitive nub.
She tightened her grip on the hard surface in front of her and opened her mouth to
draw in the oxygen her body suddenly craved.

“Yes,” Charlotte managed over her parted lips, urging him on. As if her encouragement
gave Neal freedom, he started thrusting in and out at a jackhammer pace, causing her
to climb higher and higher in seconds rather than minutes. She felt him loosen his
hold on her right hip and felt his fingers come around the front of her, roughly grazing
her overly sensitized clit that had been the impact zone of his lashing, heavy sac.
“Hmmm.”

Lights were now flashing behind Charlotte’s eyelids as multiple impressions of tingles,
tremors, and shivers rolled through her very core. She gasped for air but couldn’t
seem to gather enough. Someone had taken it all away. She hung on the precipice with
her fingers grasping the countertop for any purchase, but he never allowed her to
actually fall. He just kept building and building their releases until she couldn’t
take it anymore.

“Neal, do something,” Charlotte pleaded, hanging her head at the somewhat painful
anticipation. The jeans and panties wrapped around her ankles prevented her from spreading
herself wider in hopes that would enable him to enter her deeper. It didn’t help that
his playful fingers on her clit were too light. He had to have known it too. “Please.”

Before she could finish the
s
in the pronunciation, Neal had released her. She turned quickly to find him pulling
a chair out from the table and taking a seat. His own jeans were down at his ankles,
but damn if the view of his naked body sitting at her kitchen table wearing nothing
but his tattoo didn’t cause her pussy to drip onto her inner thigh.

“Get rid of those jeans and straddle me.”

Charlotte wasted no time in doing what he demanded. Her juices glistened on the rubber
that covered his cock and her pussy ached to have it back inside of her. She nearly
jumped at him, not sure if she was afraid he’d change his mind or to keep whatever
this was in case he decided that they shouldn’t make love anymore. And that’s what
this urgent hungry passion surely was, regardless that he wouldn’t say the words.

“You have a thing about chairs,” Charlotte whispered teasingly as she sank onto him,
using his muscled shoulders as leverage. She lost whatever breath she had left when
he gripped her hips and slammed her down to fully seat his cock. She had to swallow
twice before her body once more got used to the width of his shaft. He held her against
him, neither trying to move as they acclimated to one another once again. After a
minute of taking in his penetrating intensity through the darkness of his green eyes,
she was finally able to speak. “I like chairs too.”

Charlotte felt herself float a little when the corner of Neal’s mouth lifted slightly
in humor at her declaration. His hands slowly released her waist to ease down to her
buttocks and she found herself cautiously waiting to see if he’d slip his fingers
into her crevice, but he held them still. Her pussy was pulsing against the thin skin
of his cock, but something told her not to move yet. She was glad she listened to
her instinct when he finally spoke.

“What the hell are we going to do?”

Charlotte was well aware that he was talking about their future versus the act they
were engaged in. She lifted slightly on her toes, giving her body what it needed while
her mind tried to focus on the conversation. Her fingers tightened on his shoulders
as pulsations wreaked havoc inside her sheath. He had to have felt it on his cock,
but his gaze never wavered from hers.

“Take things moment by moment for now,” Charlotte whispered, knowing they technically
didn’t have days. He said he was leaving tomorrow, but her heart couldn’t accept that…for
many reasons. She leaned in and brushed her lips against his. “Not close ourselves
off to the potential of something more.”

“Take your sweater off.” Charlotte sucked in air as he switched topics again, bringing
the undercurrent her body was experiencing to the forefront. His fingers were so close
to her anus that she couldn’t help but tighten her cheeks, in turn causing her pussy
to clamp around his swollen manhood. She had to release his shoulders to do as he
asked, resulting in her body settling back onto that last inch at the base of his
shaft. The burn intensified, making her motions jerky in response as she whipped her
sweater over her head and tossed it to the floor. “Bra. I want to suck on your perfect
pink nipples.”

Charlotte’s fingers couldn’t undo the clasp in the back, so she whipped it down to
her waist. It seemed as if Neal was waiting on something, so she did what came naturally
and cupped both breasts, holding them up for him. He leaned down and immediately captured
one of the peaks into his mouth, the warm moistness of his lips causing it to pucker
even more.

“Oh God.” The words slipped past Charlotte’s lips in a moan that came from deep within
her. When his teeth grazed the swollen bud that was all it took for her to use her
toes in order to lift her body and cause his cock to thrust into her over and over
again. “I can’t take any more.”

“Rub your clit, Char,” Neal ordered after he released her nipple from his nibbling
teeth. She instantly let go of her breast and slipped her fingers in between their
bodies. Again, there was no need to gather her cream as her entire pussy was a puddle.
Her clit was engorged and pulsated with each stroke of the pads from her fingertips.
“Don’t let up until you come for me.”

Over and over Charlotte rubbed her clit until those previous lights behind her eyelids
returned as if she were witnessing fireworks from the Fourth of July. She couldn’t
prevent the smile that covered her face as she felt his shaft swell with his own release,
finally pumping his seed into the reservoir at the tip of the rubber. Her orgasm didn’t
recede until he’d buried his face into her neck and she felt the vibrations of his
groans throughout her upper body. There wasn’t a part of her that hadn’t been affected
by their release.

Charlotte wasn’t sure how long they stayed joined together this way, but the ringing
of his cell phone finally penetrated through the fog that her brain had created. She
didn’t want to move, but she knew that it might be important. Using his shoulders
as leverage, she moaned as she lifted her grasping pussy off of his enduringly erect
cock. The empty feeling inside of her wasn’t something she felt comfortable with anymore.
In a pleasant wonder, Neal didn’t walk away. Instead he stood and pulled her into
his arms. She was almost afraid to say she felt loved when his warm lips pressed against
her forehead. There was a tenderness in his kiss that she hadn’t felt for over eight
years.

“I have to get that,” Neal murmured, pulling away and allowing her tingling skin to
cool ever so slightly. “Let’s hope it’s something that will take care of Mandy’s problem.
Then we’ll worry about ours.”