Release the Stars (13 page)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Charlie and Ava sat in the back of Ava’s car. After the excitement of the auction’s grand finale had died down, they had gone backstage, and Ava had whisked Charlie out of the venue. Charlie had a million questions, but the one burning in her mind the most was, “What about Eric?”

“Big mistake,” Ava said. “I was upset and I did something stupid.”

Charlie was too elated to question Ava further on this topic. She didn’t want to think about Eric Brunswick on this magic evening. Since leaving the stage, their hands had barely lost contact. Charlie was perfectly all right with never letting go of Ava again.

“How did you get Nick to not spill the beans?”

Ava was wearing a simple, figure-hugging black dress, and Charlie couldn’t keep her eyes off her.

“Simple.” Ava smiled cheekily. “I didn’t tell him.”

“But when did you arrive? I never saw you.”

“I had someone on the inside who kept me up to speed and let me know when to make my entrance.”

“I can’t believe this.” Charlie grinned goofily. “You do realize you just came out?”

“Came out of what? The closet?” Ava ran a fingernail over the palm of Charlie’s hand. “I’m really not hung up on that, Charlie. I don’t care about any of that. All I wanted was for you to understand how I feel about you.”

“You’ve certainly done that.” Another sort of tension rose in Charlie’s gut.

The sound of Ava’s phone ringing came from her purse. “Oh, for crying out loud. I’m going to turn this thing off.” It had been ringing and buzzing and chiming since they’d gotten into the car. Ava dug her phone from her bag and quickly looked at the screen. “Sandra’s having a fit, but she’s going to have to wait.”

“You know at least a hundred people posted pics of us on Instagram and Facebook,” Charlie said.

“Good for them.” Ava’s smile faded as the conversation went on. She switched off her phone altogether and slipped it inside her purse. “Look, Charlie, what I did tonight might seem rash and not very thought through for someone who makes her living in the public eye.” Her nail dug a bit deeper into Charlie’s flesh. “But I’ve considered every angle of this for the better part of two weeks, and there wasn’t a counter-argument that could persuade me not to do it. I hope you know why.”

Deeply moved, Charlie nodded.

“Let me say it anyway.” Ava wasn’t done with grand romantic gestures yet. It was her night for it. “Because you’re worth it, Charlie. Despite all that’s holding you back in that tortured mind of yours, and your silly percentages, and how you’ve brushed me off several times now… I want you to give me a chance.” She lifted Charlie’s hand from her lap and brought it to her mouth to plant a kiss on one of Charlie’s knuckles. “Give
us
a chance.”

The kiss swept through Charlie the way a bolt of lightning hits a lone tree. It stripped her of every possible defense and left her bare.

“Besides,” Ava continued. “I’ve read every word you’ve ever published, and I know all about your flair for the dramatic. A big gesture was required to make you snap out of your, frankly, morose state. I guess it worked.” Ava kissed Charlie’s knuckle again.

“Have you even paid for me yet?” Charlie joked, although she suspected that, if Ava didn’t stop being so damn sexy, pretty soon her voice would lose all its power.

“Your friend made me sign something before we eloped.”

“Liz.” Charlie chuckled. “She should moonlight as an event organizer.”

Charlie hadn’t paid any attention to the road, and veered slightly to the left as the car took a sharp turn. Had they arrived at Ava’s house already? Was she ready for this?

If she wasn’t tonight, she never would be.

Once inside, Ava pulled Charlie to her instantly and, before kissing her, joked, “I paid a lot of money for this so you’d better make it worth my while.”

This didn’t help Charlie’s growing nerves. “You paid for a date. I mean, if the woman in red had won, I wouldn’t be about to kiss her right now, would I.”

Ava tipped her head to the side and stared at Charlie with those dark eyes. “What are you saying, Charlie? You don’t want to kiss me?”

“Hell no.” Charlie couldn’t wait any longer. She lifted her hands to the back of Ava’s head and brought her lips to within an inch of Ava’s. “Thank you,” she said, before letting their mouths meet.

This kiss was different from the first one they’d shared on the beach because, instead of flooding Charlie with doubts, it shredded every last one she had. She’d been foolish to try to fight this attraction. Crazy to think she could get over Ava. Cowardly for surrendering to fear like that.

“I hope you’re staying this time,” Ava said when they broke from their kiss.

Charlie replied by kissing Ava again, and slipping her tongue inside. Ava’s one hand was on her cheek, the other on her neck, and Charlie was starting to lose it a little already. Not only was her heart going mad inside her chest, but her quickened pulse had reached other body parts as well.

“Come on. You haven’t been upstairs yet.” Ava took hold of Charlie’s hand, pulling it away from her grasp on Ava’s neck.

Walking up the stairs of Ava’s beach house, the events that were about to unfold very clear in her mind, was a surreal experience. Ava’s behind danced against the tight fabric of her dress as they climbed to the first floor, and Charlie’s breath hitched in her throat. She’d barely touched another woman since Jo. That kiss from Ava on the beach a few weeks ago was the most action Charlie’d had in many months. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had made love. And now, Ava wanted her so badly she’d braved a crowd of rowdy lesbians to make that point. Charlie couldn’t quite wrap her head around that yet. But she was doing this; she was going all in with Ava.

“You can admire my bedroom later,” Ava said, and dragged her close for another kiss. “I’ve been dreaming of this for a long time, and I can’t wait any longer.” Her kiss was more insistent this time, her lips moving against Charlie’s with more purpose. She trailed them to Charlie’s ear and whispered, “I want you, Charlie Cross. Please get that through that thick skull of yours.”

If there ever was a moment post-Jo that Charlie could easily push all her doubts and neurotic quirks to the side, this was it. Ava’s breath hot in her ear, her hands already tugging at Charlie’s tank top. She let her body slip into auto pilot, let it take control over her mind.

“Turn around,” she said. Ava shot her a smile and spun on her heels.

Charlie unzipped Ava’s dress. The flutter of nerves in her stomach was replaced by pure lust. She didn’t need to be able to wrap her head around the fact that she was about to take Ava to bed to know exactly what to do.

It took a bit of ass wiggling to get Ava’s dress to fall to the floor. Charlie’s breath caught at the sight of Ava’s back, naked except for the fine lace of her bra. She’d seen her in a bikini, but these circumstances were entirely different.

Ava didn’t turn to face her. Instead, she brought her hands to her back and unclasped her bra. When she spun around, she held the fabric to her chest with both hands.

“Are you ready for this, Charlie?” she asked, her voice filled with teasing lust.

Charlie nodded. Ava didn’t drop her bra. Instead, she grinned and said, “Oh, you thought I meant
this
?” She removed her bra a fraction of an inch away from her breasts. “Well,
I
meant for you to take off your clothes.”

Charlie sank her teeth into her bottom lip and regarded Ava. “I want
you
to take them off.”

They stood in a quiet, heavily charged stand-off for a split second, then Ava acquiesced. She let her bra drop to the floor. Charlie’s sanity dropped with it, and all she wanted was to tear her own clothes to shreds that very second if it would get her any closer to pressing her naked body against Ava’s.

“Very well, Charlie.” Ava took a step closer. “But remember, you asked for this.”

Ava brought her hands to Charlie’s side and lifted up her tank top at a painfully slow pace. Charlie suppressed a groan.

Charlie stretched out her arms and, Ava being taller than her, she slid the shirt over her head easily. Next, she trailed one hand down Charlie’s chest, all the way to the button of her jeans, and flipped it open.

“Jesus,” Charlie moaned. Ava’s hands on her, touching her like that, were about to make her spontaneously self-combust.

Ava cocked her head as if to say “You asked for this.” Charlie let her get on with it without interfering. Ava brought her hand back up Charlie’s torso, drew a circle around her belly button, then dragged a finger upward and traced the edges of Charlie’s bra.

The expanse of Charlie’s skin broke out in goose bumps, and her pussy lips throbbed beneath her jeans. Ava dipped a finger inside Charlie’s bra and nearly brushed against her nipple.

Ava trailed her fingers along the length of her belly again and this time, she slid open Charlie’s zipper. “Why don’t you get out of these jeans.” She took a step back, revealing her naked chest. Charlie’s mouth dropped open and she forgot what she was supposed to be doing.

“Jeans only,” Ava warned. “It’s how you wanted it.” She shrugged in an exaggerated fashion.

Charlie wobbled and almost fell over trying to heel off her shoes and get her pants off her legs in the same movement. Then she stood in front of Ava in just her underwear. Instinctively, and perhaps also because Ava had been bare chested for a while now, Charlie’s hands traveled behind her back.

Ava clicked her tongue and wiggled a finger. Charlie dropped her hands to her side.

“Now.” Ava stepped closer again. “I will finish undressing you, Charlie. But I will take my sweet time. After all, you made me wait for this long enough.”

All the pent-up lust Charlie hadn’t been able to release—because she hadn’t even allowed herself a quick masturbation session to blur some of the images of Ava in her mind—overpowered her senses. Her chest rose and fell in rapid swells as her breath picked up speed. Her panties were drenched, and seeing Ava stretch an arm toward them wasn’t helping.

As she had done with the edge of her bra cup earlier, Ava traced a finger along the waistband of Charlie’s panties.

“Nice undies, Charlie,” she said, a tad of mockery in her voice. “Did you wear them especially because you were being auctioned off?”

Charlie couldn’t reply—her brain had stopped functioning as soon as Ava’s finger touched the skin of her belly. Ava maneuvered her hand between Charlie’s legs and, with the lightest of touches, swept it along the soaked panel of Charlie’s panties.

Charlie couldn’t stifle the moan coming all the way from the bottom of her heart. “Oh God, Ava, please.” If Ava kept this up, she’d come way too soon. Her exasperation didn’t stop Ava. She located Charlie’s clit and drew a circle around it.

Charlie huffed out a burst of air through her nose, trying to steel herself. “Please,” she pleaded. “You don’t understand.”

“I don’t understand what, Charlie?” Ava kept trailing loose, wide circles around Charlie’s clit, her finger only separated from Charlie by a flimsy piece of soaked-through fabric. “What teasing feels like?” She nipped at Charlie’s ear.

“If… you don’t… stop…” was all Charlie managed to say. Tension built and built in her muscles. This was not how she wanted it. It wasn’t a suitable climax for the night they’d shared so far.

Then, thankfully, Ava’s hand retreated. She slipped her fingers in the waistband at the side and tugged Charlie’s panties down. The rush of air on her puffed-up lips calmed Charlie down, but only a fraction. Clearly, her biggest task for the rest of the night would be keeping herself from reaching orgasm too soon.

“We need to take the pressure off you, Charlie.” There was a hint of impatience in Ava’s voice now. Seemingly fed up with slowly teasing Charlie, she undid the clasp of her bra, and threw it on the floor. “Sit on the bed.”

Of all the things Charlie might have imagined in an unguarded moment, she’d never expected Ava to be this bossy. Charlie was the one with experience; she should be the one calling the shots. But she was too overwhelmed, too amped up, and just too damn horny to assert any dominance over Ava. All she managed was a quick defiant stare into Ava’s eyes before she sat as commanded.

Ava stood before her with a wide grin on her face. “Let me show you once and for all, Charlie Cross, that a percentage is just a silly number.” Ava kneeled before Charlie and kissed her thigh. Then, gently, she pushed Charlie’s legs apart.

Charlie leaned back on her hands, and cool air rushed over her tortured sex. She looked down at Ava’s mass of raven-black hair and admired the way it fanned out along her upper thighs. Ava’s breath rushed over her pussy, making the air between her legs grow hotter

Charlie’s skin flushed, her flesh over-heated, and her clit was ready to explode into a mind-numbing orgasm. She thought she might come just from having Ava lower her head between her legs. Then she stopped thinking altogether because Ava planted a kiss on her inner thigh, coaxing a low, breathy groan from Charlie.

As though Ava knew that waiting any longer was futile, her next kiss landed just below Charlie’s clit. The next one followed even quicker and soon Ava was raining down soft kisses between her legs. Before long, Ava’s tongue joined the action, and the moment it slid in the direction of her clit, Charlie was lost.

It only took a few flicks before Charlie brought one hand to Ava’s hair and buried her fingers in the glossy, lush mane, while a climax shuddered through her and a guttural cry escaped her mouth. When Charlie’s muscles relaxed, she let herself fall onto the bed and a tear slid out of the corner of her eye.

Ava hopped onto the bed and draped her warm body over Charlie’s shivering flesh.

Charlie pulled Ava as close as she could, wanting to disappear in her for a moment.

“Jesus Christ,” she muttered. “That was a long time coming.”

Ava pushed herself up and looked down at Charlie. With the back of her hand, she stroked Charlie’s cheek and brushed away the tear.

Everything that had held Charlie back from actually doing
this
dissolved when the tension finally drained from her body. She felt freer than she had in a year. Released from a curse she’d cast on herself. Now that her most urgent needs had been met, Charlie was ready to play her part.