Page 18 of Unearthed Dreams (Sable Point #3)
Chapter Sixteen
KAI
It’d been an hour. She hadn’t responded and I’d been reduced to an anxious teenage boy.
Not that I’d ever really gone through that phase. Guess it was time.
I’d spent my teenage years learning by doing, discovering everything there was to know about the opposite sex’s body with my foster sibling and future wife.
No one paid us much attention. By fifteen, Kelsey and I slept together every night and we had sex every day.
Occasionally, after school, we’d walk to the Planned Parenthood a few blocks from our house to stock up on condoms. When the staff began recognizing us, they encouraged Kelsey to meet with a doctor.
They put her on the pill, so at least we were safe—even if we lacked parental supervision.
When we were older—in our twenties and married after a simple courthouse ceremony where we exchanged cheap rings—we rarely used condoms and Kels regularly forgot to take her pill. We were too drunk or too high to care .
The year Kelsey got pregnant and quickly miscarried after nearly overdosing, I got the reality check I needed. I quit cold turkey and checked myself into rehab. When I got out, my wife was more strung out than she’d been when I left.
I snapped out of my trip down shitty-memory-lane when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I stopped wiping the fridge and stood, digging my phone out.
CHARLIE
I did.
That was it. Fuck, I didn’t know how to handle this. Despite my experience , I’d only actually been with one woman—unless you counted that one night when Kelsey convinced a pretty brunette to come home with us. She was always pulling some stunt or another, but I’d never actually had to woo her.
We barely even fucking communicated. We talked mostly with our hands, our tongues, our hips.
Now, here I was, trying to—what?— date this twenty-two-year-old girl?
Jesus fucking Christ, what a mess.
I stared at my phone, at that innocent little smiley face that somehow made my chest tight. What the fuck was I supposed to say back?
Glad you made it. Had fun last night. Too casual.
I miss you already. Too intense.
Can’t stop thinking about the sounds you made when you came. Definitely too much.
Christ. I’d never had to think this hard about what to say to a woman. With Kelsey, everything had been instinct and action. No careful choosing of words, no worry about coming on too strong.
But Charlie... Charlie deserved better than crude texts or demanding commands. She deserved soft words and gentle handling. Problem was, I wasn’t sure I knew how to give her that.
Those three little dots popped up, and I held my breath.
CHARLIE
Just got home and Mom totally grilled me. Pretty sure she thinks I spent the night with Trevor at the resort
My jaw clenched at Trevor’s name. The image of that hipster kid touching her flashed through my mind, making my grip tighten on my phone. But then I read the emoji again, pictured her little embarrassed laugh, and something in my chest loosened.
She wasn’t with Trevor. She’d been with me. In my bed. Making those soft little sounds when I...
Fuck. Focus.
I typed and deleted three different responses before settling.
KAI
Better than her knowing the truth.
The dots appeared immediately. My heart actually fucking skipped. What the hell was happening to me?
CHARLIE
Is it though?
I could almost see her biting that bottom lip, the way she did when she was uncertain. The same way she had this morning when I’d…
KAI
Your brother would kill me.
CHARLIE
Which one?
Despite myself, I smiled. Then immediately scowled because what the fuck was this girl doing to me? I didn’t smile. I definitely didn’t use emojis. Yet here I was, typing back.
KAI
All of them. Probably at the same time.
The typing dots appeared and disappeared several times before her next message came through.
CHARLIE
Worth it though... right?
I stared at those four words, my throat tight.
Was it worth risking everything I’d built here in Sable Point? Worth facing the wrath of her entire family? Worth opening myself up to... whatever this was becoming?
The memory of her curled against my chest this morning, trusting and soft, flashed through my mind. The way she’d looked at me when I’d taught her how to touch herself, all wide-eyed wonder and eagerness to learn. How she’d bitten her lip to keep quiet, her small hands fisting in my sheets...
Fuck.
KAI
Yes.
CHARLIE
Good. Because I can’t stop thinking about last night… or this morning.
Christ. This girl was going to be the death of me. My cock twitched, remembering exactly how her hand had felt wrapped around me, how she’d sounded when she came.
KAI
Dangerous thing to say when I’m trying to be good.
CHARLIE
Maybe I don’t want you to be good.
Cursing, I adjusted myself in my jeans. Where was this confidence coming from? The shy girl who’d barely been able to look at me was suddenly sexting?
KAI
Charlie…
CHARLIE
Too much?
I could picture her now, probably hiding her face in her pillow, second-guessing herself.
KAI
Not even close.
I changed the topic before things got out of hand.
KAI
We never did get to properly discuss your book. Got a little... distracted.
I thought about how she’d looked sitting at my bar that night, all wide-eyed innocence as I told her exactly how to touch herself. Christ, the look in her eyes... the raw hunger.
CHARLIE
Oh god. I still can’t believe you read the whole thing.
Her embarrassment was almost tangible through the screen. How could someone who wrote such passionate scenes be so shy about them? The contrast was fucking intoxicating.
KAI
Want to come over and hear what I thought? Bar doesn’t open until noon.
CHARLIE
Now?
KAI
Unless you have other plans?
Please don’t have other plans. The neediness in my own thoughts made me scowl.
CHARLIE
Just to talk about the book?
KAI
We can talk about whatever you want, pretty girl.
CHARLIE
Give me 20 minutes to change?
KAI
Don’t bother changing on my account.
CHARLIE
I’m still in yesterday’s dress…
The innocence in her words contrasted sharply with what they implied. That’s part of what drew me to her—those contradictions. The shy writer who created bold characters. The innocent girl with fire in her eyes.
KAI
Even better. Brings back good memories.
I set my phone down and ran a hand through my hair. Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes to convince myself this wasn’t going to blow up in both our faces.
I paced behind the bar, straightening bottles that were already perfectly aligned. The morning sun slanted through the windows, catching dust motes in its beams. Everything sparkled from my obsessive cleaning while waiting for her.
The bell above the door chimed. My heart actually fucking stuttered.
Charlie stood in the doorway, backlit by the morning sun. Still in that yellow sundress, wrinkled from my hands fisting it as I carried her upstairs. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, face freshly washed. No makeup. Just... Charlie.
“Hi,” she said softly, clutching her backpack like a shield.
“Hi.” My voice came out rougher than intended .
She bit her lip, hovering by the door. “So... you really read it?”
I nodded, rounding the bar. “Cover to cover. Twice actually.”
Her eyes widened. “Twice?”
“Had to make sure I caught all the nuances.” I gestured to one of the booths. “Want to sit? Talk about your dragons?”
A smile tugged at her lips as she slid into the booth. “They’re not technically dragons. They’re wyrms.”
“Teach me the difference?”
I reached under the bar where I’d stashed her manuscript earlier, pulling out the well-worn pages. She opened her manuscript gleefully, and something in my chest tightened. This. This was what I wanted to see—her passion, her brilliance.
Her eyes—a striking stormy blue that still caught me off guard every time—widened at the sight of all my notes in the margins.
“You really made notes,” she breathed, taking the manuscript with reverence. Her fingers traced over my observations, questions, places where I’d simply written “!!!” because the writing had knocked me on my ass.
“Of course I did.” I slid into the booth across from her, fighting the urge to pull her into my lap instead. “Your worldbuilding is incredible. The way you’ve structured their society around the bond between rider and wyrm...”
“You don’t think it’s derivative?”
“Of what?”
“You know...” She waved her hand, those blue eyes dropping to the pages. “Every other dragon book ever written. ”
I leaned in, catching her fidgeting hands. “Charlie. Look at me.”
Her stormy gaze met mine reluctantly.
“Your take is unique. The way you’ve woven the political intrigue with the romance...” I squeezed her fingers. “And that scene where Aria first connects with her wyrm? Fucking brilliant.”
She ducked her head, but not before I caught her pleased smile. “That’s actually based on research about how horses bond with their riders. I just... expanded on it.”
“See? That’s exactly what I mean. You took something real and made it magical.” I tugged her hands, making her look at me again. “Your imagination, the way your mind works... it’s beautiful.”
The way she was looking at me now had nothing to do with books.
“And let’s talk about this age gap you wrote.” I tapped a particular passage I’d marked heavily. “Five hundred years between your immortal commander and the young wyrm rider? That’s... interesting.”
Her blush deepened, eyes darting away. “Oh god.”
“No, I mean it.” I flipped to another marked page. “Here, where he’s teaching her sword fighting, and she says ‘Five centuries of experience doesn’t make you right about everything.’ The tension is palpable.”
“I wasn’t... I mean, when I wrote that...” she stuttered, then took a deep breath. “It’s not about us.”
“Us?” I raised an eyebrow, watching her squirm.
“I wrote this months ago,” she protested weakly.
“So you’ve always had a thing for older men?” Watching her write about an experienced man teaching a younger woman... it hit close to home.