Breathless Read online

  "Oh, I can call you God later if you make me scream loud enough."

  "You two are sickening,” Alex—Sam’s cousin—said as she sat on the kitchen counter top. “Jules is right. I'm going to vomit. And I'm too pretty to vomit. So, please just stop with your unnecessary dirty talk and give me my damn food.”

  Charlie flashed her a big smile. "Hey Al."

  "Hey, Charl."

  "I'm going to let that go because I'm assuming your hangry," she retorted with clear sarcasm. "Otherwise, there would be a verbal smack down happening right now."

  A fond smile appeared across Alex's face. "I have no doubt. Now where's my mu-shu pork?"

  Sam set the bags of take-out down on the counter and pulled out all of the containers. "Damn, babe. You weren't kidding when you said you were ordering one of everything."

  Charlie shrugged. "Hey, a girl’s gotta eat. Besides, it sounds like Alex is going to go 'Lord of the Flies' and start eating us if we don't feed her now."

  They piled their plates full and sat down at the dining table together.

  "So, how was the rest of your swim?" Sam asked.

  "It was okay, I guess."

  "Did you two make up?"

  Alex looked up in confusion with a mouth full of food. "Who's fighting?"

  "No one. Not really." Charlie said and took a bite. The sweet and sour chicken tasted like heaven in her mouth.

  "I call bullshit," Alex said, spitting rice out of her mouth.

  They all laughed at how gross she was. "Jules and Charlie. They got into it earlier and then he showed up in the middle of...things."

  Charlie pursed her lips, suddenly annoyed all over again. The images flashed in her mind again of how she was wrapped around Sam in the pool. Her lips still felt swollen from the intensity of their kiss before Jules interrupted them.

  Something smacked her in the head and brought her out of her trance. "Hey, what the hell?" She looked down at the fortune cookie that just hit her in the face. "That's food abuse. They may be five years old and they may be stale, but they are perfectly edible. How could you, Alex?"

  Alex didn't even bother trying to hide her smirk. "Sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"

  "As long as you promise to never abuse food in that manner ever again. It is for devouring or smothering all over yourself for someone else to devour only. Got it?"

  Both girls burst out into laughter.

  "Something is seriously wrong with the two of you." Sam shook his head and took a bite of an egg roll.

  It was easy being around them. It was as simple as breathing.

  "So, are you excited for your classes to start in the next couple weeks?" Alex asked as she took another bite of her food.

  School wasn't something Charlie was excited about in general. It was a means to an end. She shrugged. "I wouldn't go as far as saying I'm excited."

  "Did you pick a major yet?" she asked.

  Charlie glanced at Sam. She figured he would have told her, but he nodded at her in approval, so she kept silent as he ate. "Business management."

  "Really?"

  "Why does that seem like such a surprise?" She was almost offended that people seemed shocked every time she told them her major. Graduating with a 4.0 must not have been that impressive or maybe everyone thought she was dumb. Who knows?

  "It's not really. I just figured you'd go into something with English or writing of some sort. Why business?"

  Other than talking to Sam about it, Alex was the first person that had really asked. Everyone else had made some asshole comment about it. "I want to start a nonprofit for families of kids like me."

  "Smart mouthed, pain in the asses?" Sam chimed in, wearing a smirk.

  She picked up a piece of her sweet and sour chicken and threw it at him, but he caught it in his mouth. "Tasty."

  "You got lucky." Charlie narrowed her eyes.

  "That's skill, baby."

  "No, seriously. What's the nonprofit going to do?" Alex looked like she was actually interested in a serious conversation for once.

  "Help the families. Whether it's with medical bills, a place to stay, education classes for the families, counselors for the kids…whatever they need. Kind of like a Ronald McDonald house, but on a different scale and for kids specifically with cardiac problems."

  "That sounds really amazing Charlie. If anyone can do it, I have no doubt it's you."

  "Thanks, Alex."

  "You should talk to my boss. He's on a chair for some non-profit stuff. He might know a few places you might be able to volunteer or get involved with in the meantime, if you're interested."

  "Wow. That would be really great. Yeah, I might check into it."

  "Cool. I'll get you his info later tonight, but you know…Sammy might get a little jealous."

  Sam scoffed. "I don't get jealous."

  "Sure ya don't. You haven't seen Tristian. He's hot!"

  Charlie wondered why Sam would get jealous over that. "Who's Tristian?"

  "My boss. He's like the 'please bend me over your desk and tell me I was a naughty, naughty girl' kinda hot."

  The girls laughed and Sam looked like he didn't know what to think. "That's how you talk about your boss? Really, Alex?"

  She shrugged in her casual not caring way. "Hey, just calling a spade a spade. I don't want to send my girl here into the lion's den and not let her know what she's walking into."

  Charlie glanced over at Sam, who was frowning. She patted him on the hand. "Don't worry, babe. The only person I'll let bend me over their desk is you. Although, now that I think of it, you never did that while I was your student." She pursed her lips. "I feel kind of jipped now."

  Sam's face twisted from amused to pissed in a nano second. He pushed away from the table and walked away.

  "I guess it's still too soon for those jokes," Charlie said. She wanted to follow him and apologize, but knew he needed time to cool down. It was his biggest internal struggle and it obviously still bothered him.

  "He'll get over it. He's not your teacher anymore, and it's not like you guys actively dated last year." Alex acted like everything was so black and white.

  Life wasn't black or white; it was muddy and gray, and that's right where they lived…smack dab in the middle of it.

  "Yeah, but people aren't going to see it that way. I don't know if anyone at the school knows or what will happen if they find out." The lightness of the mood had shifted and she regretted her joke more than ever.

  "Well, don't worry about it right now. It'll work out and he'll get over his internal battle of ethics. Honestly, I don't know why he's still bent about it. Just eat your sweet and sour chicken. Letting that get cold is the real crime here."

  CHAPTER TWO

  Charlie rolled over and stretched her arms over her head with a yawn. She blinked her eyes open a few times expecting to find Sam asleep next to her, but he was nowhere to be found. Sitting up, she frowned and pulled the comforter tight around her.

  "Keep that pouty lip out there and I'll be forced to bite it off." Sam walked into his bedroom with a cup of coffee, wearing a sweaty t-shirt and shorts.

  "Mmm, don't make promises you don't intend to keep." She gave him a haphazard smile.

  He handed her the cup of coffee and kissed her on the lips. "Oh, I intend to keep it, but I'm gonna hop in the shower first."

  "You're already sweaty. So, what does it matter?"

  "Um, no. I'm going to shower and then I'm all yours." He disappeared into the bathroom and she leaned forward to watch him undress in the reflection of the bathroom mirror.

  Once he stepped in the shower and pulled the curtain shut, she sank back against the pillows and sipped on her coffee.

  Alex poked her head in the doorway and looked over at Charlie. "Hey, do you want to go shopping with me today? I need to get a new outfit for a work thing that's not slutty."

  "Not slutty? I thought you wanted Tristian to bend you over his desk?"

  "Well, he needs to think he has to work for it. So, ar
e you in or are you out?"

  "As long as you don't kill the mood. Now, scram before he gets out of the shower and you scare him off." Charlie winked.

  It took her a second before recognition washed over her face. "Huh? Oh...Oh! I'm out!" Alex pulled the door closed just as Sam walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, drying his hair with another.

  "I was thinking, we should go on a trip," he said as he sat on the edge of the bed.

  "A trip? Uh...." The last trip they'd went on together was spring break and that was something she'd rather not dredge up.

  "Yeah, summer is almost over. I think we should go away together before I have to go back to work and your classes for fall semester start."

  "Okay, so where do you want to go?" She watched him, her eyes full of suspicion.

  "How about the happiest place on earth?"

  "Oh! The Cheesecake Factory?!"

  He laughed and shook his head. "Only you would associate that with food. No, I meant Disney."

  Wrinkling her nose, she frowned. "Why the hell would I want to go to Disney?"

  "Doesn't everyone want to go at least once in their lifetime?"

  Yeah except in my case it’ll be with the Make a Wish Foundation

  With a blank stare on her face, she didn't answer him. He seemed to wait for answer, but all she did was frown at him. Sam huffed and walked over to his dresser. He pulled on a pair of shorts and tossed his towel in the bathroom.

  "Hey, I thought there was going to be biting and frisking going on when you got done in there."

  "Yeah, well I thought you'd be more receptive to going away with me." He frowned and walked out of his room.

  Charlie sighed and climbed out of bed. Even when she wasn't trying to be difficult, she always had a way of sticking her foot in her mouth. She made her way into the living room at the same time Alex came out of her room.

  "Well, that was fast. Do I need to have a talk with Sammy about foreplay and how to prolong the sexual experience?" She grinned wickedly.

  "Didn't even get that far." Charlie frowned.

  "Opened your mouth again, didn't ya?"

  "Yup." She nodded more to herself than to Alex.

  Sam was in the kitchen digging in the cupboards. Charlie walked up behind him, wearing only his t-shirt that barely covered her panties. She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his bare muscular back. "I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to rain on your parade."

  He turned to face her and leaned back against the counter top. "I just wish you would be open to new things... instead of always having such a negative attitude toward everything.

  "I just know how the last trip away went." She shrugged and dropped her eyes to the tile floor.

  "Babe, that was different." He reached under her chin and brought her eyes back up to meet his. "I want you all to myself. Some place no one knows us.... Some place...." He trailed his fingers down the front of her panties and dropped his lips to her ear. "No one will hear how loud I can make you moan."

  Without warning, he backed her up to the opposite counter and lifted her on top of it. He stood between her legs, never taking his eyes off of hers. Charlie knew that look, and she loved when he looked at her that way. He pulled her close against him and pushed the thin fabric of her panties aside, massaging her nub with his thumb.

  Alex cleared her throat. "Well, don't mind me."

  "I'm not. Get the fuck out." Sam said, in almost a growl. Charlie let out a gasp as he plunged his fingers into her wet warmth. She dug her fingers into the flesh of his shoulders and wrapped her legs around him.

  "At least bleach the counter when you're done fucking on it,” Alex replied. “Looks like I'm shopping alone. Have fun." She slammed the front door.

  "Unhook your legs."

  "Why?" she asked, breathless.

  "Because, we're doing this my way." He licked his lips and as she pulled her legs apart. Scooting back on the counter, Charlie propped herself up on her elbows. Slowly, he pulled his fingers out of her, leaving her throbbing and wanting more. She rolled her hips on the counter and waited for his assault.

  He scooted her right to the edge of the counter and yanked her panties down her legs until they hit the floor. The counter was cold against her bare ass, yet it was the furthest thing from her mind. All she wanted was to feel him buried inside her. Sam pushed her shirt up over her head and tossed it behind her. She watched him, and knew what game he was playing. He made her want to try new things and explore her own body more.

  The only way she was going to get what she wanted was to give him what he wanted first, and she knew it. She reached forward and splayed her hand up the side of his cheek, pulling him toward her. His lips crushed against hers in a fiery passion, like he couldn't get enough. A small moan escaped her throat when his thumb plunged deep into her massaging her from the inside.

  "Oh, Sam," she cried out and threw her head back.

  Dragging his lips from hers, he kissed down her neck and along her collarbone to her taut nipples. He wrapped one arm around her back pulling her body tight against his. She could feel his erection pressing hard against her thigh and she wanted him deep inside her, filling her.

  "Mmm, just take me already," she groaned. His fingers were slow and taunting.

  "Not yet." He trailed his tongue down her breasts to her belly, leaving small seductive kisses in his wake until he got to her inner thigh. Her breath hitched as his tongue dipped in her hot, awaiting sex. Arching her back and rolling her hips, she grabbed the back of his head and threaded her fingers into his hair. A deep growl rumbled in his chest as he continued to bring her close to the edge.

  Charlie's breath was ragged as she wiggled under his assault. "Don't stop, Sam." She tightened her hands in his hair as her brought her to climax. Her body withered pulling away just as she was on the verge of climax. Sam kissed her inner thigh, yanked his shorts down to free his growing length, and thrust into her.

  They moaned together each time he filled her, stretching her to fit him. "Damn baby...you're so wet." He pulled almost all the way out and eased back into her slowly, before he slammed into her causing her to cry out. Her body shook and quivered as she found her release just moments before he found his.

  Bliss. Sheer and utter bliss. The counter was hard and unforgiving underneath her spent body, but she didn't want to move. Sam pulled her up against his bare chest and she wrapped her arms around his neck, nuzzling her face against his shoulder. "That was incredible."

  "Yes, you were." He pulled her off the counter and set her down in front of him, kissing her with the kind of passion that made her go weak in the knees.

  He broke away and held her face. "So, do you want to go away with me?"

  There was no reason to say no. Things were much different than they were the last time they went away. She nodded. "I'll go anywhere with you."

  ✦✧✦✧✦✧

  Sam researched a perfect getaway for them while Charlie slept peacefully beside him. There was a place outside of Atlanta he'd always heard about but couldn't remember the name of. Even though it was still daylight out his room was pretty dark. He worried the light from his laptop was too bright and was going to wake her up, he dimmed the screen and turned it away from her. Charlie let out a soft moan and rolled over onto her stomach, facing away from him.

  His fingers danced across the keyboard as he entered Atlanta B&B into a Google search. As soon as he saw the name, he knew it was the place he was thinking of. The Twelve Oaks Bed and Breakfast. All the old world charm with modern amenities.

  A slow smile spread across his face as he clicked on the link to search through their website. After thoroughly researching all eight rooms, he chose the one he knew Charlie would love the most and reserved it for an upcoming weekend.

  He closed his laptop, set it on his dresser, and sank down under the blankets, where he pulled Charlie's warm body against him. She let out a soft moan and backed up as he wrapped his arms around he
r tight and buried his face into the crook of her neck, inhaling the scent of her shampoo.

  "I love you Charlie," he whispered.

  ✦✧✦✧✦✧

  Sam made it pretty easy for a girl to fall in love with him. He massaged Charlie's legs while she lay across the couch with her feet in his lap. Both of her hands gripped her coffee cup as she took a sip. "Mmm. A girl could get used to this, ya know?"

  "Huh?" He looked up at her, puzzled.

  A smile pulled at her lips. He wasn't paying attention to what his hands were doing. "Nothing. Just watch the movie."

  "No, I just didn't hear what you said. You mumbled it." His green eyes searched hers like he desperately wanted to know what she'd just said.

  "It wasn't important. Just feels good." She nodded toward her legs.

  Sam smiled and continued to run his fingers diligently up and down her long lean legs. "I like touching you. Your skin is like silk."

  Every stroke he took, made her senses come alive. It didn't seem to have the same kind of effect on him that it did on her. But she was doing everything she could not to jump him. She was still recovering from their morning escapades in the kitchen.

  "The movie okay? We can watch something else if you want."

  She wasn't even sure what they were watching. All she could think about were his hands and trying to control her breathing. Shaking her head no, she took a sip of her coffee and set it down on the table in front of them. "No, it's fine." Charlie lay back against the plush pillows behind her and sank further into them while his touch became stronger, reaching deeper into her muscle. It felt like heaven.

  "You're not going to sleep on me again, are you?" he asked and shifted under her.

  "No. Just resting my eyes." She was tired, more so than usual, but didn't want to let him know that. She'd already argued with her doctor the day before and it wasn't something she wanted to argue with him about again.

  "Do you want me to rub your chest?"

  She opened one eye at him and watched him with suspicion. "Since when do you ask to cop a feel, Mr. Greyson?"

  She regretted it the second the name left her lips.