Page 23 of Wedding Contract
“Belle—” He starts to get up but pauses and sits back down.
“Were you about to run again or sit closer?”
“It is bothering me that you're so far away, but I understand.” He clenches his hands in his lap. It’s endearing, and I want to tell him to touch me. To pull me into his lap again.
“So?”
“My control was slipping, and I was worried I'd act irrationally, which is unlike me except when it comes to you. I can't think straight.” His words are a balm to the hurt I felt and, heck, to a whole lot more.
I didn't think anyone saw me that way, and it's appealing to know he does. For once, it makes me feel like I have some kind of power. Not to be yielded over him, but because I matter so greatly to him.
“What was making your control slip?” I find myself moving a few inches closer to him.
“Seeing all your things. I wanted them in my home. I had endless thoughts of us together, living as a married couple. I knew I had to get out of here before I did something you'd regret.”
“What makes you think I'd regret it?”
“Because you're not a cheater.”
“I wanted to kiss you so badly,” I admit. “I was having an inner struggle over it.” His eyes drop to my mouth.
“Can I kiss you?” he asks, leaning closer to me. I should say no. There are other things we should likely talk about. Even ifthis is all real and he does desire me to be his wife, I won’t ever fit into his world.
But right now, in this moment, I want us to fit together.
“Kiss me,” I tell him. For today, I can pretend that this could be forever.
Charles leans in, brushing his mouth against mine gently. I let my eyes flutter closed and press back into his. That’s all the incentive he needs before tugging me into his lap. The kiss goes from a brush of the lips to a full-on kiss. I'm not sure either of us knows what we're doing, only lost in this need.
His tongue and sucking are making my body start to ache all over. I rock against him, and Charles groans, breaking the kiss, but his mouth doesn't leave me. It travels down my jaw and to my neck, licking and sucking as it goes.
His grip on my hip tightens, and his other hand tangles into my hair. He pulls it, tilting my head so his mouth has full rein, a small gasp leaving me. My mind flashes to his mouth on other places all over my body. Lust floods through me in a way it never has before, and I rock my hips harder, the need for him growing by the second.
“Fuck, Belle, you know how long I've wanted this. Dreamed of kissing you. Kissing my wife.” His words only stoke my desire for him.
“Your wife,” I whisper, pulling back slightly. His hair is a ruffled mess. I don't remember gripping it, but I must have at some point. “That was?—”
“Incredible,” he fills in for me, but I'm unsure.
“We should slow down. My head is all over the place.” He audibly swallows but gives a stiff nod.
“I understand.” He lifts me off his lap, putting me down next to him. “I'll give you time to think, but I need to go.”
Charles flees my home, making a small laugh leave me. This is all nuts and insane, but I do love my time with him, and Ibadly want him to come back even now. But I'm not sure this can work. We still come from two very different worlds.
When I thought this was all fake and I would push through for a year, I could muster through it, but now Charles is speaking about forever.
Or is he? He's only asked for a year. What if this was merely to get me out of his system? Then what?
I groan, falling backward on the couch. My life has gone from uneventful to now I can't keep up.
Chapter Eighteen
WICK
At home, all I can think about is the touch of her soft lips against mine. Those kisses mixed with her tears, and I had to fight down the urge to throw her over my shoulder and run to the bedroom and chase down her sisters and ruin them.
I did neither because she wasn’t ready. But us being separate doesn’t make sense either... I gather up some supplies and hoof it back to her apartment.
