Page 30 of The Rest is History

Charlie

I put a lot on Elodie last night.

The anxiety attack.

Telling her I was in love with her, in as many words.

But also telling her I refused to consider a future for us. A dick move that could have seen her walk straight back out my front door, ending us before we’d even begun.

Christ, she must think I’m a total bastard or a complete basket case. A grown man who has no idea what he wants or how to communicate.

And she’d be right on the latter, because the unshakeable foundations of truth I’ve built for myself these past few years feel decidedly rocky.

And my Jenga tower?

It’s a pile of rubble at my feet.

What I know to be true in theory is so at odds with how I feel when I’m with her. And how I seem to make her feel, too. I know I can’t physically give her what she wants in the long run, but by staying away from her I destroy us both.

It’s hard to care about the long term when she’s lying beside me, curled into me, breathing softly.

And holy fuck is her body warm and soft and tempting.

My dick is very keen for her to wake up, but the rest of me is content to lie here a little longer, marvelling that the woman who fills my dreams is in my bed.

My desperate hands, and a few hours of sleep, have left her dark hair delightfully dishevelled. Her lips are slightly parted, rosy as fuck and possibly a little swollen from our kissing. All that decadent kissing.

I could kiss her for days. Weeks. Years. Drown in her taste.

Christ. I want to give this woman everything.

I want to devote my life to keeping her beautiful smile alive, tending to it as if it’s a precious flame I can’t let flicker, let alone die out.

She’s only one person on this giant planet, but if I could do that—make her happy every day—I’d die knowing I’d achieved something pure and true.

My hand moves of its own accord and gathers up a heavy coil of hair, brushing it over her shoulder and off her face. She stirs, her eyes flicker open, and she takes me in. Smiles a lazy, feline smile.

‘Hi,’ she whispers, and my heart lightens to see she hasn’t woken up despising me.

‘Hi, beautiful.’ I hook an arm around her waist and pull her on top of me. I need her weight on me. Her hair blanketing us. Shutting out the outside world for as long as we can manage.

She sniggers into my neck and follows it with a kiss. ‘You seem happy to see me this morning.’

‘All of me is deliriously happy to wake up with you.’ I smooth a hand down her back as my cock twitches between us. ‘And some parts of me have expectations, but don’t let that bother you.’

‘Some parts of me have expectations, too.’ She’s pulling herself up onto her knees while her face stays buried in my neck, and hoooooly fuck. She slides a warm hand around my painfully hard cock before swiping its tip between her legs.

Yep, it seems some parts of her are very expectant.

And wet for me. I suck in a harsh breath through my teeth, willing myself to hang the hell on.

But the chances of not disgracing myself diminish by the second as Elodie pulls herself up and straddles me, hooking a hand through her hair and dragging it over one shoulder.

What a sight.

It should win awards, and yet I hope to God no one ever sees it but me. However unlikely that is.

Elodie is straddling me, her face soft and her smile mischievous.

Her hair looks just-fucked. And that glorious body is on full view, one perfect breast partially hidden by her hair.

She’s spectacular. And best of all, my dick is disappearing between her legs as I watch, her hand guiding it.

She swipes it through her wet centre again, and we both groan.

I run a hand up her thigh, sliding around her ass as far as I can reach, and focus on the sensation of her wet folds engulfing me as she lowers herself down inch by inch.

My body appears to have forgotten that it had three stupendous orgasms last night, because my need for her this morning is so great it takes my breath away.

‘Oh my God,’ she says, wiggling her hips as she sits down heavily on me. ‘I really, really love your dick.’

I shudder out a laugh through the agonising pleasure of having bottomed out in her. ‘That makes me incredibly happy. Feel free to avail yourself of it as often as you want.’

She reaches behind her, and I ogle the perfect arch of her body.

‘And’—she cups my balls and massages them softly, diminishing my chances of covering myself in glory further—‘Is it weird to say I love your balls? They feel so full for me.’

Pain lances through me. Years of heartache and guilt. Fuck, if only Elodie knew what Adeline had called my balls.

Useless fucking sacks of shit. Just like you.

Of course, that was after two years of trying and agonising over why we couldn’t get pregnant. I know those words came from a place of intense heartbreak and resentment once we finally got our tests back.

It wasn’t her fault.

It was mine.

‘Charlie?’ Elodie’s staring at me. ‘You okay?’

I drag myself back to the distinct pleasure of this moment. ‘I’m a lot more than okay. And it’s not weird, sweetheart.’ I pull up to seated and wrap my arms around her back as tightly as I can.

I need her as close to me as possible when I move inside her.

‘What’s this?’ Lauren asks, poking the corner of my mouth.

Shelby swishes over to us, muscling in on the action. ‘I think this is Charlie’s happy face. But I can’t be sure.’ She squishes my face.

‘Fuck you both,’ I say, but I’m grinning like a lunatic.

Thank God for Elodie. Her light chases away the darkness so it retreats to the furthest corners of my mind, and that’s good enough for now.

This morning, I gave myself over to her, mind and body.

After our intense quickie, we lay out on my bedroom’s terrace while I poured espresso into her, and now we’re at the palace.

Turns out, she brought some overnight stuff with her yesterday.

It makes me really happy that she knew I was a foregone conclusion.

Was it really only last weekend that we shocked ourselves with that scorching encounter upstairs in the palace?

So much has changed in a few short days. Last week, she had me so riled. Rather, my jealousy and pettiness over her teaching prowess did. That rage was the kindling that ignited months of deepening desire and prompted my desperate move on her. A move that was as confusing as it was amazing.

But there’s no confusion now.

Not after the conversations we had last night.

Not after knowing her from the inside.

Not after waking up next to her this morning.

We can’t go backwards from this.

Now, I put my arm around her in front of the other queens, right in the middle of Clock Court, and gaze down at her.

‘Why do you think I’m smiling, my queen?’ I ask, and before she can reply, I kiss her mouth.

She’s grinning when I pull away. We discussed our options on the way here and decided we’d play things by ear, but now I’m here, there’s no way I can pretend. She’s just spent the night in my bed. She’s dealt with my shit and she’s given her body and her trust to me. Freely.

So, no. I’m not about to tamp down what we have in front of the others. Deny there’s anything going on.

Shelby gasps theatrically and hits Lauren on the arm. ‘Oh my God. Oh my God . Was that—is this real? Are you guys, like, a thing?’

I still have Elodie locked in a firm hold. ‘What do you think, sweetheart? Is this real, or just for the crowds?’

She tries to shrug. ‘I think we’re just really good actors,’ she tells the others. ‘We wanted to spice things up for the Saturday crowds.’

‘Bollocks,’ Lauren says. ‘He’s been following you around like a lovesick puppy since he persuaded you to come on board. He didn’t give Kate the time of day when she was Anne. You guys are shagging, aren’t you?’

‘Hush,’ Tess hisses at them. ‘There are kids around!’ But she’s looking at us with her lower lip stuck out like she’s on the verge of tears.

‘Don’t answer that,’ I tell Elodie now.

She giggles and grins up at me conspiratorially.

She looks so fucking beautiful as Anne. It’s Elodie I’m in love with, but I can still appreciate her embodying my favourite kink.

The dark hair swept under her hood, showcasing that long, slim neck that still makes me want to bite down.

Suck hard. The B necklace, its pearls trembling against white skin.

She’s so getting it later. At least now, when I look at her, I know my chances of sealing the deal are pretty good. No more tortured wishing from afar.

‘We’re kind of… together,’ she tells the queens, and there’s another collective and completely gratuitous gasp.

‘OMG,’ Cassie says. ‘It’s so cute that you guys have found happiness later in life.’

‘Oi.’ Elodie attempts to wriggle out of my clutches, but I hold firm. ‘I’m literally thirty.’

‘So tell us,’ Shelby demands. ‘We want all the details. The dirtier the better.’

Elodie gasps like Shelby’s jumped to inappropriate conclusions. Like she wasn’t naked and writhing on my cock less than three hours ago.

The rest of them are closing in on us, like a gaggle of velvet-and-damask-clad vultures. Tess, the unofficial mother hen of the group, clears her throat.

‘Maybe these good people would like some privacy. I suspect this is all quite new for them’—she looks at us for confirmation and I nod gratefully—‘and a lot to process.’

There’s a pause. Then:

‘Nah.’ Shelby elbows her way to the front.

‘Charlie knows he’s fair game when he’s with us lot.

Don’t you, babes? Besides, I knew something was up as soon as I clocked this one.

’ She gestures at the beautiful woman in my arms. ‘I knew he’d handpicked her.

’ She wiggles her eyebrows, and Elodie flinches.

‘Maybe try not to make me sound like a prize cow?’ she suggests. ‘Or an apple?’

‘A very juicy apple,’ I say creepily, earning a laugh.

‘You see?’ Lauren gestures. ‘He even makes jokes now! Someone give this woman a sainthood.’

‘I’m not that bad,’ I protest.

‘He’s completely ignored me at school for most of this year,’ Elodie tells them. ‘Luckily, I got to see his soft side.’

‘And his hard side, eh?’ Shelby crows. ‘Has he shown you what’s under his codpiece?’

They all make vomiting sounds, Elodie included.

‘Enough.’ I stamp my foot. ‘Joking about the royal codpiece is an act of treason.’

‘Was it seeing her all dressed up as Anne that sent you over the edge?’ Cassie wonders, a wistful look on her face.

‘No,’ I tell them. ‘I fell a long time before that.’