Page 47 of Into the Mountains (Blue Grove Mountain #3)
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
ELIAS
I t’s been two days since Charlotte has asked me on a date. Two agonizingly long days. Two days of thinking and overthinking every possible scenario of where this could go perfectly right or where this could go disastrously wrong.
We haven’t spoken in person since Sunday dinner because we have both been busy.
Mostly me. I’ve had a few projects come up that I couldn’t ignore and a deadline for a grocery store in a nearby town that was due today.
The drawings were sent in this morning—ten minutes ago to be exact.
And now I’m in the back room at the clinic I converted into an office space with Jacob’s permission, waiting for Charlie to arrive.
With our new relationship and our differences set aside, I am hopeful we can finally make some kind of progress on this project.
Probably one of the most important ones for both of us at the moment.
Both because it’s for good friends, family in my case, and because it’s really good cash.
I’m hoping the change of scenery to a more professional setting will help us one: keep our hands off each other, and two: make progress.
But with the date on the horizon, the idea of my hands being on Charlie again has been circling my thoughts non- stop for two days and our night in the tent from last weekend has provided me with enough imagery to start enjoying longer showers again.
More than once in the past two days, I’ve found my fist around myself as hot water trickles down my back, imagining it was her fingertips instead.
Wishing it was her hand gripping me soft at first and then harder strokes, the other hand wrapped around my chest pinching my nipple until I spill on the shower floor.
A knock sounds at the door and I practically leap out of my chair. “Shit, sorry man. I figured knocking would be enough. Didn’t realize I had to announce my presence as I was coming.”
Bad word choice. I look up to see Jacob leaning against the door frame in blue scrubs per his usual, a wet spot visible near the hem of his sleeve. I don’t even want to know what that’s from.
“Sophie is running out for some lunch. Do you or Charlotte want anything?”
“Maybe just coffee? Black for me and a latte for Charlie. Extra espresso and no froth on top. She hates the froth.”
Jacob narrows his eyes at me. “What?” I ask.
“You really like her, don’t you?” He doesn’t ask it in an accusatory way, but in a way that says he already knows the answer.
“Quite a lot actually.”
“Oh, she’s turned you into a proper man now too?”
I respond with an eye roll and a stray pen that grazes his ear.
“I didn’t realize we were in a war with the local vet,” comes a voice from the other side of Jacob. Charlie steps into the door frame and the light from the large room behind her illuminates her figure and it’s all I can do to stop and bask in her sunshine.
She’s dressed in more casual attire than normal—leggings and an oversized sweater—and I wonder if it’s because she’s getting more comfortable around me or if it’s because we had planned to be at the shelter for the day.
Even though we are in an office space, the kennels are only a short hallway away.
“What am I supposed to do?” I shrug my shoulders and put my hands in the air. “We aren’t at war anymore and I have no idea what to do with all my pent up energy.”
“I have a few ideas.”
My eyebrows practically recede into my hairline and Jacob lets out a long breath. “And on that note, I’m out of here. I’ll be back with coffee.”
“I meant work,” Charlie calls after him, but he’s either already gone or doesn’t care to respond.
Then, it’s just the two of us and the space is silent aside from the distant barks and other noises that come from having a work space two rooms down from where the animals are kept.
For a minute, it seems like Charlie hesitates to come in and make herself comfortable.
It’s like I can visibly see the war with herself inside her head written on her face.
It scrunches together as she looks at the spot on the desk I cleared off for her.
There’s an empty chair off to the side and then her eyes glance over her shoulder as if she’s hoping Jacob will come back or Sky will make an appearance.
“If we were still on the outs, I’d make a joke about you being a vampire that needed to be invited in,” I say, clearly interrupting her indecision as she looks up at me confused.
“Huh?”
I gesture to her spot barely on the other side of the doorframe. “Oh,” she says like she hadn’t realized she was still standing there. Finally, she crosses the threshold and starts unpacking her bag, emptying her items on top of the desk.
It doesn’t take long before there is no part of the surface that isn’t covered with our combined work.
Different color palettes than last time are fanned out along with the same dinosaur computer she unfortunately still uses.
The fan kicks on and the computer starts to boot up making damn sure it’s no longer silent in the small space any longer.
“I see ole reliable is somehow still alive.”
“You’re funny,” she states in a way that lets me know she definitely doesn’t find me funny.
“I wonder what stories he has to tell to his great great great great great grandkids,” I joke. “Where does the floppy disk go?”
“You’re the worst.”
“The last time we were alone together, you clearly thought I was the best.” I give her a smirk that she doesn’t go for. She just continues trying to set up the rest of her ancient technology.
“Did you get the file I sent over last night?”
“The one you sent at three in the morning? Yes, I opened it when I woke up at seven this morning like a normal person.”
“Don’t diss on my insomnia. One, I can’t help it. Two,” she holds up two fingers. “At least I put it to good use.”
“You didn’t have insomnia when you were with me.”
“That was an example of putting it to good use.”
“Good one.”
Once her bag is completely empty, we get our files open and start discussing the plans for the expansion.
After a while we were able to agree on the general build and design for everything, including the back space where the large indoor area for the dogs to explore would go with some climbers around the whole building for the cats—all visible so they can’t get lost. Eventually we agreed on furniture and I decided to leave the actual decorating to Charlie.
It takes only one look at my house right now to figure out I’m shit at decorating anything. I build. That’s the part I’m good at.
After one twenty minute disagreement on which side the kennels would work better on, we finally decide to take a break.
Charlie turns off her computer and the lack of white noise from it makes the space feel too quiet.
We both sit back in our chairs and I rub at my face, making a sad attempt at rubbing the tiredness from it.
While I’m not the one with insomnia, I did have Hobbles sneak into my room in the middle of the night trying to play with me while I slept.
He started to swat at my hair and a claw got lodged in my eyebrow.
I startled him when I woke up not so quietly.
Once I cleaned myself up, I brought him back to bed and played for a while until he felt tired again.
As if reading my thoughts, Charlie asks, “What the hell happened to your eyebrow?”
“Hobbles,” is all the explanation I offer.
She moves her chair closer to mine until our legs touch.
Sparks travel from the side of my knee to my eyes as I try to observe what she plans to do.
As if she’s still deciding whether or not to do it, she slowly reaches out her hand and gently grazes her fingertips over the scratch.
The soft pad of her finger smooths over it, her skin against mine instantly making my cock strain against my jeans.
“Are you okay?” Her voice is not quite a whisper. It’s soft and if I’m not mistaken, filled with want. Or I’m desperately reading too much into it.
“I am now,” I answer, moving my face closer to hers, grazing my nose against her skin.
Immediately, she sighs and moves closer to me, our legs tangling together. I flick my eyes to the door and see it’s closed most of the way.
Good enough.
My lips find hers and she stands to sit on the desk.
I don’t even bother worrying about the papers underneath her.
They fold and crinkle, the words and lines blending together like chaos in the wind.
That’s what we feel like together. A mix of debris finding each other by chance in the wind being carried with the storm we found ourselves in.
I’ll take this storm though. After the last few years of what has felt like all the natural disasters at once, a storm like this almost seems calm. A calm chaos is just what I need.
She is just what I need.
Her moans permeate the small space and I want to bottle them up and save them for a lonely night.
An image of her in my bed flickers through my mind and for a brief moment I wonder what it would be like to not have to bottle anything up to save.
What it would be like to have her there with me every morning in my arms with the lonely nights far behind me.
“Eat me,” she says, her voice desperate and the vulgarity of it makes my cock harden even more inside my jeans. It’s not something I’m used to experiencing, but I think I like it. I think I want more of it.
“Yes, ma’am.” Eagerly, I pull off her leggings and nudge her knees apart a little bit more, her red laced underwear completely exposed to me.
For a moment, we sit in silence as I let myself take her in.
Her oversized sweater pooling around her waist, thighs open and her leaning back on her hands chest pushed out, heaving.
I am so fucked. As if that hasn’t been the case the second she set foot in my town.
“Fucking hell, you’re beautiful, Charlie.” She blushes, but she doesn’t shy away from the compliment, rather holds her head a little bit higher. Nothing more needs to be said as I pull her to the edge of the desk and kneel in front of her.
I run my nose along the inside of her thighs, teasing her as her breathing becomes more shallow. “Please, Eli,” she begs and I can’t help but smile at hearing her beg for me again. “I can almost hear you smiling from up here.”
“It’s because I am, honey. Begging suits you.”
“Don’t get used to it. Now, I need your mouth on me.” I press my lips to her left thigh and nip at her skin. “Fuck you, Eli. You know what I mean.”
I repeat the process on her other thigh and I half expect her to yank at my hair. I don’t think I would have minded if she did. It’s weird to me that I’m in my thirties still learning new things about myself.
“You’re going to have to be more specific, Charlie.”
A frustrated, tense sigh leaves her lips and I know I won’t be able to let her stay in this state much longer. “I want your mouth on my pussy, now.” One of her hands reaches behind my head to tug me down to her.
I don’t resist and follow her down, finally putting pressure where she most needs it.
Except I’m met with a bright red barrier.
Another frustrated groan lets me know that it’s a barrier she forgot was there.
I don’t let it stop me though. I lick and nip at her as if there were nothing between my mouth and her.
From the way she starts grinding into me, she doesn’t mind all that much either.
Once the red lace is good and soaked, I slip it to one side and ease a finger into her and she releases a sigh that sounds so relieved, I can’t resist adding another.
They stroke inside her and she clenches around them, building closer and closer to the release she is begging for.
It’s not until I place my tongue on her clit that she audibly approves of everything I’m doing as her hand tightens around the locks of hair, pulling me closer to her.
“Eli,” she sighs. “Fuck, that feels so good.” I lick and suck and take her, she thrusts and continues to tug at my hair—the tension of it feels far better than it should and if she had her hand in my pants right now, it would only take a few strokes to finish me off.
But right now all I’m worried about is her and from the way her hips are thrusting faster and harder into my face, I’d say she’s about to crest over the wave she’s been riding.
“C’mon, honey,” I coax. “Come on my tongue.” I suck her clit and with a few more thrusts, I feel her tighten around my fingers and moan as her orgasm courses through her. I keep my mouth on her, thrusting my fingers as her hips start to slow down.
“Coffee deliv—oh my god.” Jacob’s voice comes from the door and quickly disappears into the hallway.
“THERE’S A LOCK FOR A REASON!” And of course, Sky is with him. Because getting caught by one person isn’t enough. Charlie’s back is to the door and her sweater is covering anything that could have been seen had it been normal sized.
I plant a firm kiss on her lips, my smile against hers before I step into the hallway to get our coffees.
Grabbing the to-go cups with both hands, I look at Sky and Jacob. “Thank you for the coffee. Much appreciated.” And quickly disappear back into the office space, making sure to lock the door behind me.