Page 55 of Shadowing Charlotte

Chapter fifty-five

Charlotte

I can't say I ever truly got over what Adam did to me. Therapy helped, Alexander's support more so. Even after nearly six months, there were nights I woke drenched in sweat and terrified. Alexander always held me, murmuring gentle reassurances until my fears were banished.

I'd come to the courthouse with the need for closure, to put an end to the horrors and leave them behind, yet all I felt was pity. I couldn't help but feel like, somehow, everything that had happened was my fault.

The drive was painfully silent. I sat in the passenger seat, twisting my ring around my finger, an anxious habit I'd picked up since the day Alexander had proposed.

He'd done it right in the middle of the rec room, in front of his mother.

She and I had both been sobbing messes for the remainder of the visit.

"You're quiet, baby," Alexander murmured, reaching for my hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Everything feels… surreal," I replied softly. "Like I'm stuck in a dream. I keep wondering if I'm going to wake up and still be trapped with him." Lex's hand tightened around mine.

"This is real, baby. He's going to prison for a long time, and you're safe," he assured me, lifting my hand and pressing a gentle kiss to my knuckles. "And we're going to get married and have lots of babies." I wrinkled my nose at him.

"No babies until I've made editor," I reminded him. Not that I didn't want Alexander's babies. I did. I just wanted to have a career first .

"That won't take long, then." He grinned at me, and I snorted in amusement. "Oh, come on. Saydiah adores you and Morgan has been praising you since the day you started. You'll be an editor in no time. And maybe you'll decide to submit your work and become a published author, too."

I smiled at him. I hadn't told anyone that I'd begun writing again, but Alexander always paid attention.

After work, he would find me clacking away at the keyboard.

I wasn't sure if I had a story worth telling yet, it was mostly catharsis driving my writing.

A way for me to flush out all of my feelings.

When we pulled into the drive, I waited patiently. Alexander had taken to opening the door for me every time we went anywhere. Sometimes it frustrated me, but I also found it incredibly sweet. He'd been so attentive since that day at the airport.

When he opened the door, instead of letting me climb out, Alexander scooped me up in his arms, making me squeal with surprise. "Put me down!" I complained.

"Not a chance," he replied, hauling me over his shoulder, his hand gripping my ass as I smacked his back. "Charlotte…" he breathed, his hand giving one cheek a squeeze as he typed the code into the lock. "Are you not wearing panties?" I froze, my cheeks flushing with heat.

"Panty lines don't really go with this dress," I replied.

Before the door closed. Lex's hand was already sliding up my thigh, his fingers grazing my labia and making me gasp.

"I bet this pussy will be soaked before we even make it to the bedroom, won't it?" he asked smugly, pulling my purse from my hands and dropping it on the couch, his fingers seeking my clit.

"Alexander!" I whined, shifting uncomfortably on his shoulder. "We have lunch—"

"In an hour, baby," he interjected. "Plenty of time to feel you shatter beneath me before I fill you up."

Fuck, his words set me on fire. They always did. And, true to Alexander's words, I was dripping by the time he threw me down on the bed, pushing my dress up and burying his face between my thighs.

"Fuck!" I moaned, gripping his hair in my hands as he devoured me like a starving man.

One would think he hadn't touched me for days, not merely a few hours before.

"Lex!" He smirked up at me as he pushed two fingers inside me, curling them until I saw stars.

When he wrapped his lips around my clit and sucked, I screamed, my back arching off the bed.

Alexander used his free hand to hold me still, rubbing that spot inside me until I spilled down his hand, coming apart with a violent shudder.

"That's my little princess. Cumming like such a good girl for me…

" Lex crooned, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he settled between my legs, yanking off hi s jeans.

His teeth scraped along the flesh of my throat, leaving marks of his possession as he claimed my skin as his alone. "I love you, Charlotte."

"I love you, Alexander," I moaned as he buried himself inside me.

I surrendered to the intoxication of his body, rolling my hips as he thrust forward.

It didn't take long for his movements to turn brutal, uncontrolled.

I responded in kind, my nails raking over his skin as I tried to absorb every inch of him.

When it was over, we remained in bed in a tangle of limbs, both breathing heavily. "We're supposed to be at the restaurant in fifteen minutes," I reminded him in an anxious sigh.

"Your dad will wait," Lex replied with a smirk.

"Would you?" I teased.

"Wait for you?" he clarified. "Baby, I watched you from the shadows for two fucking years. I've done my waiting." Lex grinned at me before he rolled over and kissed me senseless once more …