Charity's Secrets (24 page)

I nod
at her. "They're not even looking for him at this point, not actively.
There's no sign of him, no leads for them to work on."

"Bastard!"
she growls.

Our
waitress comes with our food and I welcome the break. It's hard not being able
to tell anyone that the prick is gone.

I find
my smile after the waitress walks away. I grab my phone and flip through my
playlist. "I've got her singing this one with me constantly." Cheryl
Cole starts belting out "Screw You" and Melissa laughs with me.

The
first bite of cheese steak hits my mouth. "Oh, Christ—I forgot how good
these are here. Holy fuck!" my high voice exclaims around a gigantic chunk
of greasy, cheesy, meat-packed heaven.

"Seriously!"
Justin chokes. "That's straight out of Philly."

Melissa
nods as she swallows. "Yes it is. The owner came here from Philly about
sixteen years ago and his family ships everything over from the same suppliers.
He says the rolls are the most important part so he won't get them from anywhere
else."

"So
good," he mumbles through a second bite.

"You
mean, you're professionally trained mouth has a soft spot for dripping, Cheez
Whiz-filled steaks?" I ask, shocked.

He
winks and take another bite.

"What
do you mean he's trained?" Melissa asks, curious why I had said that.

"Mr.
Security Company here actually went to culinary school before hitting it big in
technology. He's actually quite good," I boast.

"No
shit?" Melissa asks. Without waiting for an answer, she continues,
"Oh, yeah, your ass is cooking me something while you're in town."

Thanks
for making me snort, Melissa!

We're
all still laughing when I see someone familiar walk by the windows near where
we're sitting. He's younger than us by a couple of years at least, and pretty
damn good looking. Dark brown hair. Dark eyes. A strong jaw like Justin's. He
seems lost, or maybe surprised at seeing me, not expecting me to be so close to
the window.

Where
the hell do I know him from?

I
convince myself it must be someone from high school, someone that I don't
remember clearly. There are tons of men in this town that I have never met. His
face seems a bit fresher in my memory to me than that, but nothing else make
sense.

"Wasn't
that guy at the Grill in New York?" Melissa suddenly asks.

Holy
fuck—that's it!

He was
at a table near the front, watching every move we made before Terrence met us.

"No,
I don't think so," I reply. I have no fucking idea how I sound so
nonchalant when my heart is beating out of my chest, but Melissa cannot know
how God damn scared I am right now.

I
reverse our hands under the table and grab Justin's thick fingers—hard! My eyes
tell him everything he needs to know.

Yes!
This guy was in New York!

He's
following me.

I'm
terrified!

Suddenly,
I'm sitting next to bottled rage. Justin's protective instincts draw him out of
his chair, demand he run out after the guy and pluck his head from his neck,
but he can't, not here, not now.

"You
sure?" Melissa asks. "Because that really looked like him."

I take
my hand away from Justin's and lay it on his tense leg to help calm him, help
both of us, and I give Melissa my best uninterested shoulder shrug.

We
can't touch him right now, and he's already gone; best to let it go for now.

It must
be related to Senator Lewis. I just can't figure out why their following me
instead of Justin.

"GIRL, ARE YOU REALLY
going to call every night?"
Trisha snaps at me.

I'm
smiling already. "What the fuck kind of way is that to answer a
phone?"

It's
good to hear her laughing.

"I
can barely hear you," she says. "Do you have me on speaker or is this
just a shitty connection because you're out in God’s country someplace?"

My
second snort-laugh in one day, really?

"Hey,
Bitch," I shout, "you wanna move the phone to your good ear?"

I hear
a bunch of rustling and loud claps of laughter. "I can't believe I did
that," she chuckles when she comes back. "Hell, I've been holding the
phone the same way my whole life. It's gonna take a while to make a new
habit."

"I
forgive you. That was fucking hilarious though, and I'm glad to find you in a
good mood."

"Suck
it," Trisha says. "How's our prince; what's he up to?"

"Shining
his armor," I reply.

"Good."
Her voice had gotten softer. "I miss you guys."

"We
miss you too, Sweetie. Everything going okay? Are you eating the food we
sent?"

"Yeah,"
she sighed. "What's with the Junior's cheesecake at every meal?"

I smile
privately. "Memories."

"You
freaks," Trisha barks at me. "I'm gonna weigh ten extra pounds by the
time you get back."

A quick
moment of silence passes.

"Do
you have any plans while we're away?"

"Just
going out with a couple of girl’s tomorrow night to see if I can still
hang," she answers.

I'm
very proud of her for that. It's a huge step; getting out with some girls and
knowing at some point, invited or not, some guy is likely to hit on her. I
think she's ready for that. Something meaningless and simple she could handle
easily, as long as there's no trust needed, no commitment.

"I
can hear you thinking," she jokes. "I'll be fine. They're not all
assholes, most of them, but not all." Her laugh is contagious.
"Seriously, I wanna get back out there eventually, and this is a good baby
step."

"No,
I know you're right, and I'm happy you're doing it, but—and I mean this—you
call me if there's any problems. I don't care what time it is, and I don't care
what the problem is. If you just need to be talked down, you call," I tell
her.

"Thank
you, baby," she says, meaning it sincerely.

Trisha
and I talk for a few more minutes, long enough for me to feel better about
having left her, and then we hang up. Before we ended the call I heard the
shower turn on in the bathroom near me. Justin had gone in to shave when I was
calling her, and I can clearly picture his beautiful body standing under the
water.

There
are knots everywhere in my back and neck. As I stand, I feel nearly every one
of them pop and there is no denying the affect that all this stress is having
on me. Justin was right, I need to slow down and take these few days off. The
group had confirmed they are all in to see this thing with the senator through,
no backing out. And then with everything happening with Trisha—I'm exhausted. I
wasn't really aware of what it's doing to me; it's like withdrawing off
something toxic.

My
knees start to quiver as I move towards the bathroom. It feels like my whole
body is humming and vibrating, ready to give way.

The bathroom
door pushes open easily exposing the brightness inside, the light colored walls
and marble counter. Justin is in the shower and the curtain hides him from his
chest down, but the top is transparent. Water streams down his head and
shoulders before he sees me. Then he notices me in the doorway, looking haggard
and drained, and I watch his concern overtake his expression and posture. His
prefect green eyes beckon me in. "Undress," he says with soft
control, pulling the shower curtain open.

I
realize my hands are obeying him, undoing and dropping clothing to the floor
around my feet. I cross the room and step in with him. The hot water feels
incredible.

Justin's
arms wrap around me and he draws me in, leaning my fatigued body against the
warmth of his. "Just relax, Warrior. There's nothing for you to do right
now, nothing to think about. I have you."

My soul
collapses into his arms, and he holds me up as promised.

"Let
go," he says. "You do so much for everyone, Charity. You do so much
for me that I don't know what I'd do without you now, and you deserve a break.
I'll take care of you."

The hot
water rushes all around us, drenching the knots from my muscles. His strong
hands press into my sides and back, his solid body gives me comfort.

"I'll
do everything and be everything that you need, because you do that for me every
day," Justin continues.

A long,
exhausted breath explodes from my chest onto his neck where my head rests. For
a short while I can't even move.

Eventually
I find my strength and I begin supporting my own weight again. Justin steps us
back deeper into the water, drenching us. He carefully fixes my wet hair away
from my face. "You're so beautiful," he whispers. I feel his lips
press onto the top of my head.

One of
his arms lets go and grabs my shampoo from where I left it yesterday. Its
familiar scent wafts into the shower before he even begins rubbing it into my
hair. He turns me and dumps the shampoo on, letting me do nothing while he
massages my scalp. When he's done, he rinses it out thoroughly and picks up my body
wash.

It
amazes me how gentle he can make his touch, with hands that have beaten and
killed. They've strangled the life out of people but on me they are tender and
caring, kneading the life back in to me. He massages my back deeply with the
body wash and starts working his way around my body. My nipples do not resist
the chance to harden as he rubs them.

"Every
inch of you is breathtaking," his soft voice convinces me.

He
rinses the soap off me before continuing with new, fresh lather. The pressure
he uses on my feet and calves relaxes them so much they don't want to hold me
up. He slides over my wet thighs and ass, gently cupping my warrior parts.

Of
course they react, tingling and twitching, begging for more, but I don't think
that's Justin's objective tonight. I want whatever he's offering, I don't want
to think.

Gently,
he pulls me closer, embracing me with one arm so that we are buried in each
other's necks and the length of our bodies are touching. My hands go to his
tight sides, as if we might dance in the water.

Justin
is still cupping my vulva. Softly, his fingers move through the wet folds of my
labia, not entirely penetrating into me, but not teasing me, either.

I
squeeze his sides gently, letting him know to continue.

His
finger slips up the middle and finds my clitoris. Justin's thumb pulls its hood
back, and his finger begins circling on my swollen tip. My breath spills out
into his neck and chest, deepening with each moment.

By my
ear, I feel his soft lips. "Relax, Warrior. I won't hurt you. There won't
be any teasing; you don't need to beg. Tonight I'm the one begging. I'm begging
that you relax and let life catch up to you."

The
tingling becomes throbbing under his steady finger. I squeeze him again,
telling him it's getting close. My nipples are sliding around the wetness on
his chest, and I feel like I'm wrapped in a blanket of warm pleasure.

Now the
throbbing is nearly reaching my ears. My entire body is looking for this
release.

I feel
my hips rocking against him.

Just a
moment more.

Nearly
there.

Don't—

Stop.

Yes...Christ!

I'm
really grabbing his sides now, fingers digging in to hold this moment to its
fullest.

Everything
leaves me in a satisfying rush and Justin pulls me closer, as if he's taking
all of my problems from me, all of my tension. My moans and pants are muffled
into his strong neck. All of it floods out of me and is immediately washed
away.

It
takes a few minutes to regain myself. I can feel that my smile is back on my
face like a loyal friend. Justin's impressive hardness is pressing into me now
as well and I make a move toward it.

"No,"
he says in the same voice that had told me to undress earlier. "I told
you, you're not doing a thing tonight."

Justin
shuts off the water and pulls back the curtain. Before he helps himself, he
opens a towel over my shoulders to keep me warm. He takes a second and towels
off my hair and then wraps it up. With the one on my shoulders, he dries my
body and then his.

Casually,
he steps out and holds his hand out for me like a gentleman. After he assists
me over the tub wall, his massive hands scoop me off the tiles.

"What
are you doing?" I ask through a smile.

"You're
not even allowed to walk," he replies through his own soft grin.

Justin
carries me to the bed, sits me on the edge, and removes the towel to dry my
hair further. When he's satisfied with that, he pulls the covers back and asks
me to lie down. I feel his warm body slide in next to me, and he wraps himself
around me again, pulling the covers over us.