I kiss her neck, and answer for her, “Because you were his children. Because he lived in the home he was building with your mom. Because he loves her more than life, and respects her. Because he wanted her to be his wife and not his maid.”
“Oh,” Charlotte mumbles before she falls silent.
I gently help her turn so she’s completely facing me and cup her face with one of my hands.
“How…”
“I had a hunch you were going in that direction, and because you’d told me how much they love each other. It was obvious.” I kiss the tip of her nose. “I want that kind of relationship, Charlotte. The kind that’s shared.”
She nods and burrows against my chest, as I admit, “My parents didn’t share a lot of things because Dad always worked long hours, but when he was home, he’d spend all his time with Mom and me.” I smile at a memory. “Every Sunday morning, he’d make our breakfast. Pancakes, sausage, eggs, French toast. Everything you can think of. I used to love that day.” Sighing, I continue, “After she died, he made sure we still had breakfast every Sunday. It was difficult at first, but then it became easier. He’s never come close to remarrying and if I’m honest, I’m not sure how I’d feel if he did.”
“Don’t you want him to be happy again?”
“Yes, without question. I’ve seen him happy with my mom and even though she died over ten years ago now, I can’t imagine him happy like that with someone else. I don’t want him alone though. Part of me wants him to be happy the way that I am now that I have you back in my arms.”
“You’re such a romantic, making me swoon with your sweet words.”
“Swoon? I hope you don’t expect me to dress up as a pirate.”
She laughs and lifts her face. “How did you associate swoon with being a pirate?”
“My mom used to read…a lot. Swashbuckling romance, she used to call them. I can’t remember the titles or authors, but I do remember them having pirates on the cover. My dad used to tease her about swooning over her pirates.”
“Ah, I know the books.”
My eyes widen and then narrow. “You do?”
“Hmm,” she moves closer with a slight wince, her leg sliding on top of mine, “the hero’s are usually handsome rakes who have unruly dark hair and scruff on their faces. It would abrade the soft skin between the heroine’s thighs as he’d show her what she’d been missing.”
All amusement has left my face as I watch Charlotte’s skin flush with arousal. It’s the same as what I’m feeling when the image of my face buried between her beautiful thighs, fills my mind.
My body throbs as all my blood rushes south, giving me an erection, which she’ll be able to feel as I press against her warmth. Even through my sweats, I feel her, and that alone, causes my arousal to slowly seep from the slit of my cock.
Her hips slowly start to undulate as her breathing becomes as heavy as mine. Our eyes connect and everything in me craves to strip us bare and plunge into Charlotte’s wet warmth.
I close my eyes, trying desperately to get control of the situation, but I lose it completely when she shudders and moans, gripping my hips.
The overwhelming need to be closer to this woman overrides all sense of right and wrong.
67
Charlotte
Leaning against the wall, I watch Tanner as he loads the fire with logs, giving the room a romantic glow. We don’t really need the romance right now, but how can we not?
I love him. It’s as simple as that. Although, I wish it really was just that simple. I wish he was free to be with me now, and not whenever the snow clears. I hate not being able to touch him when I want to, which is pretty much all the time. I want to be able to cuddle up to him in bed, and not be in a room alone. I want him to be free to love me.
My eyes roam over his body and everything else fades into the background, especially when I realize he’s watching me just as intensely as I am him. The response in my body is instant and my heart feels like it’s about to jump from my chest. He may have given me an orgasm on the sofa, but we’d stayed fully clothed. And there is a part of me that is unsatisfied—I crave his skin against mine.
Tanner slowly moves closer, his brown eyes never leaving mine as I watch need swirling in the dark depths of his. He slowly reaches out and caresses my plump lips with his thumbs, slipping the tips inside my mouth.
My knees weaken as his mouth slowly descends. His lips brush across my brow before he places a series of slow, shivery kisses across my waiting lips. My senses reel as if short-circuited while I breathe lightly between parted lips.
His lips graze my earlobe before he plants a tantalizing kiss at the pulsing hollow of my neck. Our eyes connect seconds before he takes my mouth with a savage intensity that is overwhelming in his need.
I wrap myself around him, feeling his hands holding me securely against his taut body. Every hard inch of him is pressing against my most intimate places, making me feel a burning desire, an aching need, to be joined to him regardless of the situation.
Breathing heavily, Tanner pulls away from the kiss. He makes sure my feet are planted firmly on the floor before he backs straight across the room from me—the sofa and coffee table between us.