Hearths of Fire (33 page)

“Love you,” Mandy murmured, making Neal’s heart swell at the sentiment. She moved back and hugged Charlotte as well, telling her the same thing. Within minutes, Brad had taken Mandy’s suitcase and was leading her to the door. She turned back once more, a sad smile on her face. “I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t help, but I am truly sorry. Please find Becky.”

“I’ll do my best, kiddo.” Neal walked out onto the porch with them, scanning the streets, yards, and general area. There was no one to be seen and he felt more confident of that as Brad kept a vigilante look-out from his angle as Mandy got into the passenger side of his car. His friend would make sure they weren’t followed and call a little later on today with an update on their progress. In the meantime Neal needed two or three hours of sleep before he instituted his plan. He could feel Charlotte’s presence beside him but he was in no shape or mood to get roped into the conversation she wanted to have. He was still trying to figure out where all of these unwanted feelings of resentment had come from. “I’m grabbing a few hours of sleep. I suggest you do the same.”

Without another word Neal walked back inside and waited for Charlotte to follow him. He closed the door and threw the deadbolt, knowing if someone really wanted in a measly wooden door wouldn’t stop them. He sat on the couch, laying his large frame down on the cushions without even bothering to take off his boots. He flung his arm over his eyes, diminishing the sunlight and the view of Charlotte standing there with her hands on her hips. Two hours of sleep was what he would get, but damned if he thought it would help.

‡

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.