Page 12 of Cinder & Secrets (Ink & Ashes #2)

River

“Everything okay?” Charlotte presses up onto her elbow when I reenter the room. I drink in the sight of her naked in my bed, red hair spilling across the most perfect ivory skin I’ve ever seen.

She’s breathtaking... Truly.

The knot of unease in my chest is only slightly outweighed by how desperately I want to sink back inside of her and never leave.

“Yeah, it was just work.” I drop my cell phone onto my dresser as I stalk toward her.

“Anything important?”

“No, just wanted to see if I could work tomorrow.” I crawl up the bed, pulling the covers back so that not a single inch of her is hidden from my view.

“I thought they gave you the weekend off?”

“They did.”

“So are you going to?” She drops her elbow, shifting so she’s flat on her back.

I smile. Always so willing and ready for me.

“And miss out on one more day of this?” I lean down, pressing my lips to her stomach. “Not a chance. I told them I had a family obligation I couldn’t get out of.” I move up higher, kissing the soft skin at the underside of her breast.

“Is that your way of asking me to stay another night?” She giggles when I hit a ticklish spot.

I didn’t technically ask her to stay last night.

I just refused to let her leave my bed once she was in it.

One taste, and all I wanted was more. One touch and I was mesmerized.

But feeling her bare around me, there are no words to what that’s done to me, though addicted seems like the most fitting thing I can come up with.

I had never fucked a woman bare before..

. Never trusted someone enough to allow myself.

And maybe it was foolish of me to trust Charlotte enough, but I did.

I do. Having felt her warm and wet around me, flesh to flesh; there’s no going back now anyway.

Anything less than all of her simply won’t suffice.

“Do you want to stay another night?” I climb farther up her body and swirl my tongue around each nipple, puckered with arousal, before my lips reach hers. I kiss her slowly and deeply, already so hard for her it’s damn near painful.

I’ve been with enough women in my life to know that Charlotte O’Malley is a rare breed. Wild and untamed. Willing to take everything I give her and still ask for more.

No matter how much I know we shouldn’t be doing this, there isn’t a fucking thing in this world that could get me to leave this bed right now.

“I could be persuaded.” She grins against my mouth.

“Oh yeah?” I slide my tongue against hers. “What do you want?”

“You’re off to a good start.” She tangles her hands in my hair, kissing me back with just as much fever as I’m kissing her.

“What about this?” I slide my hand between us, smiling when I feel her so wet and ready for me she’s practically pooling over my fingers. Dipping two fingers inside of her, I hook the tips, letting out a satisfied groan when her entire body jumps.

“Yeah,” she rasps.

I press my thumb to her clit, moving it in soft circles against it as my fingers continue their assault.

“And now?” I hum against her neck.

“You’re getting warmer.” She pants, already out of breath.

I abruptly withdraw my hand, not giving her time to object, before I quickly replace it with the tip of my cock edging at her entrance.

“Is this what you want?” I press in an inch, damn near losing my ability to hold back at the feel of her.

“Mm-hmm.” She nods, pressing her lips together.

“This?” I press forward a couple more inches.

“Yes.” She groans, arching her back in an effort to force me deeper.

“So greedy.”

“Yes,” she unapologetically agrees.

Fuck if I don’t love her like this. Red hair splayed across the pillow. Perfect breasts on full display. Her arousal so clear in her expression that it nearly has me spilling my load before I’m even fully inside of her.

“More?”

She nods.

I oblige.

“More?” I ask again.

Her eyes open and meet mine.

“I want it all.”

My restraint snaps in an instant, and I plunge the rest of the way inside. The groan that works its way up my throat before spilling past my lips is one of pure animalistic need.

My mouth finds hers, kissing her so deeply that I’m able to swallow every moan and whimper of her pleasure until I’ve taken everything her body can give me, and then I take a little bit more because I am a selfish fucking man who simply cannot get enough.

And when I empty my release inside her, the feel of her climax still spasming around me, I feel euphoric. Like a junkie that just injected liquid gold into my veins, my entire body feeling the effects.

What I said earlier feels even more prominent now.

Charlotte O’Malley is my new favorite addiction. And one, for the life of me, I don’t know if I’ll ever break free from.

“Tell me something I don’t already know,” Charlotte says sometime later as we lie in bed, naked limbs tangled together, skin still damp from another round.

“Something you don’t already know...” I think about that for a long moment, having more trouble than I should coming up with something, which should tell you just how much I shared with her over our months of texts and calls.

“I think people who eat pineapple on pizza are wired wrong,” I say the first thing that comes to mind.

“Seriously? That’s the best you could come up with?” She lays a soft smack to my stomach.

“You already know so much about me,” I admit.

“And yet, I feel like I don’t know nearly enough.” She glances up at me, eyes so bright that I’m convinced I could lose myself in them if I let myself.

“What do you want to know?” I twist a strand of soft, auburn hair around my finger.

“Everything.”

“Everything, huh?”

Her stomach growls so loudly that I could hear it even if I were standing across the room.

“Sorry.” She laughs, tucking her face into my chest. “You said pizza and I guess my body decided it was hungry.”

“What time is it?” I ask as I glance over at my bedside table. Nearly three in the afternoon. We’ve been in bed most of the day and I’ve been so wrapped up in her body, I didn’t even think to feed her. “Shit. It’s late. You’re probably starving.”

“Not until about thirty seconds ago.” She looks back up at me. “I had other things on my mind.” She fights the smile that plays on her lips.

“What are you in the mood for?” I sit up, taking her with me.

“Anything.”

“You don’t have a preference?”

“I mean, pizza sounds pretty good.” She smiles sheepishly.

Fuck, she really is so beautiful.

“What do you like on your pizza?” I throw my legs over the side of the bed before pushing to a stand. After slipping on my boxers, I cross the room and grab two clean shirts out of the dresser before tossing one to her.

I know she has clothes of her own, but after seeing her walking around in nothing but my shirt yesterday, I’m eager to repeat the process.

“Pineapple.” She snorts out a laugh when I turn wide eyes on her.

“You’re fucking with me, right?”

“I would never fuck with you.” She pushes up onto her knees, giving me the perfect shot of her exquisite body for a few short seconds before she slides my tee over her head. “Have you ever tried it?”

“No, and I never will.” I curl my nose in disgust as I slide on my own shirt.

“How can you say you don’t like it if you’ve never tried it?” She climbs out of bed and pads across the floor toward me.

“Some things I just know.”

“Like how you knew we wouldn’t work?” She arches a brow, trailing her hands up my chest. “Turns out we work really”— she presses up on her toes—“really”—she kisses the side of my mouth as she palms my dick, and I bite back a groan—“well.” She finally finishes, smiling as she pulls away.

“I never doubted we’d be good in bed.” I grab her hand, pulling her back to me, my fingers going into her hair as I angle her face up toward mine.

It’s no secret that I’m at odds with this.

On one hand, she’s basically all I’ve thought about for the last several months and telling her that this is a one-time thing feels equivalent to stabbing myself straight through the ribs with a serrated blade and twisting—excruciating.

On the other, I can’t shake the feeling that if I don’t, I will regret it.

Maybe not today. Or a week from now. Or even a month from now.

But one day, when the reality of our situation comes crashing down and I’m forced to end whatever this is.

On that day, I will regret not letting her go when I was still able to.

But that day is not today .

I angle her head to give me better access, kissing her good and proper before releasing her, knowing if I don’t, there’s no chance we’ll be leaving this room anytime soon and she needs to eat.

“You really want pizza?”

“I really want pizza.”

“With pineapple?”

“With pineapple,” she confirms. “I guess some of us are just wired wrong.” She gives me a cheeky grin before she practically skips out of my bedroom.

This gorgeous woman is going to be the death of me.

Pineapple on pizza.

Fuck me.