Loving David (16 page)

“My God Charlotte. I..,” he breathed.

“
Shhh
,” Charlotte said, placing her fingers over his lips. She kissed him and ran her hands all over his face. David rubbed her bottom before he slipped his hands inside the waistband of her pants and pressed her against him with urgent intensity.

“Where’s the bedroom?” he whispered.

Charlotte jumped up and pulled David by both hands toward her room. He laughed when he saw her bed, which ran from one end of the room to the other.

“Wow,” he said as Charlotte went to kiss him again. “What is this, two king beds? Do you ever get lost in this thing? It’s huge!”

“Sometimes. I always thought small beds were silly. You spend a lot of your life in bed; you might as well make it comfy. It’s a Deluxe California King.”

David moaned and fastened his hands around Charlotte’s waist. “How about I king you right now?”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Charlotte said as she yanked David’s pants open and pushed them to the floor. David stepped out of his shoes and pants, and Charlotte flopped back against the bed. David dropped down on top of her and pulled her tee-shirt over her head before cupping her breasts with both hands.

“Do you have any idea how much I’ve missed you?” he whispered.

“I think I do,” Charlotte said, already feeling the rumbling between her legs. David went to work on kissing and suckling her breasts with tender intensity. His fingers slipped inside her, and Charlotte let out a small yelp and began to thrust toward him. As he swirled his fingers around inside of her, Charlotte fondled his hardness, aching to feel it pumping inside her. She hooked one leg around David and pushed his fingers deeper inside her.

“Well, look at you,” David chuckled. “Is it fair to say you missed me too?”

Charlotte nodded frantically. “Yes, yes---- I want you inside me in the worst way.”

David stopped his frenetic motion and Charlotte positioned herself, waiting for him to enter her. Nothing happened, and Charlotte opened her eyes to see David grinning at her.

“What? Come on, why aren’t you…you know…”

“I just love seeing that look on your face, that anticipation, the pleasure.” David took the tip of his index finger and traced a figure-eight pattern around Charlotte’s nipple. “I love to pleasure you, you know.”

Charlotte grasped David’s forearm. “All I know is that right now it feels like you’re torturing me.”

David laughed and resumed his outline of Charlotte’s nipple. “You know what they say… Good things come to those who wait.” David said as he bent down next to Charlotte’s feet, which were dangling over the side of the bed. He picked one up and kissed the top of it.

Charlotte screwed up her face. “Are you kissing my feet?”

David nodded and flicked his tongue around her ankle bone, all while caressing her instep with his fingers. With slow and sure movements David alternated light, supple kisses with twirls of his tongue all up and down Charlotte’s legs. Charlotte shivered at the exquisite sensation coursing through her and lay back against the bed, giving every fiber of herself over to David. He continued his ascent up her body, taking great care to nibble at the soft skin behind her knees. David continued upward, sucking and kissing her thighs as Charlotte began to shake with desire. He paused briefly between her legs to blow on her, which caused Charlotte to jump up and cry out. David merely eased Charlotte back down on the bed, and she continued to writhe underneath his delicious touches and teases. He swept his tongue across her stomach, careful to dip into every crevice and curve. By now Charlotte was weeping; it felt so good. When he got to her nipples, he licked and then blew on them, the cool rushes of air sending her body into shock as she began to quiver. Without warning, David planted his knees on either side of her and plummeted inside her. Charlotte gasped, and within seconds she exploded around him. Charlotte dug her fingers into his back before she grabbed a pillow next to her and screamed into it ---- her entire body tingled, like a million feathers were brushing over her skin at once. She stayed clenched around David, who stopped, his sweat dripping onto her shoulder.

“You alright?” David asked from somewhere far away.

Charlotte kept the pillow mashed over her face and shook her head. David chuckled and moved inside her once more. Charlotte squealed, and her head began to spin before she burst into a fit of giggles. David pulled the pillow off her face, where she launched into full-on guffaws.

“What is going on with you?” David asked, his own laughter creeping into his voice.

“I don’t know,” Charlotte panted. “This has never happened before.” She looked at him. “What in the hell are you doing to me?”

David leaned down and resumed his thrusts. “Pleasuring you.”

Charlotte dropped her head back, and David’s movements became faster and deeper. It wasn’t long before his own guttural howl roared from beneath his lips and he collapsed on top of Charlotte. They lay there, drenched in sweat, neither willing to move or speak.

Finally, Charlotte’s leg began to sting with sleep, and she tapped David on the shoulder so she could roll over on her side. David plastered himself against her and nestled his nose within the tangles of her hair.

“Strawberries,” he murmured.

“Strawberries,” she whispered.

#

Charlotte rolled over, expecting to run into David as she did so. She propped one eye open and saw that his side of the bed was empty. She gasped and sat up, panicked. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, grimacing as she did so. They’d made love twice more before nodding off to a symphony of their own snores. She tripped over David’s shoes, which he’d kicked off the night before. Charlotte bent down and laughed before she moved the shoes underneath her nightstand. She pulled her pink terrycloth bathrobe from the hook on the back of the door and tied it around her waist as she went in search of David.

She found him in her living room, clad only in his boxer briefs, standing in front of her floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. He was lost in perusing her shelves crammed full of CDs, books, and photos. She crept up behind him and slipped her arms around his torso.

“See anything you want to borrow?” she mumbled into his back.

David chuckled and whipped around to kiss her. “You know, there was a time when you wouldn’t let me kiss you unless you’d brushed your teeth.” He leaned back. “You better not be getting bored with me.”

Charlotte gripped him tighter. “Never.”

“Good,” David said as he kissed the top of her head. “How about some eggs? I’m famished.”

Charlotte nodded and David grabbed her and led her to the kitchen. He busied himself with pulling out his ingredients along with pans and spatulas.

“Looks like you’ve already been nosing around my kitchen,” she said as she perched on a bar stool.

David dumped a pat of butter into the frying pan. “Well, I figured I’d be here lots of mornings so I’d better get acquainted.” He looked at her sheepishly. “At least that’s what I was hoping, anyway.”

Charlotte twisted a lock of hair and looked at her hands. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry that I automatically assumed the worst.”

David continued to scramble the eggs. “I’m not going to kid you, Charlotte. When you date someone like me, the tabloids are a way of life. Someone will always be fabricating a story, dredging through the garbage ---- all kinds of things. It’s not going to be easy.” He sprinkled some cheese on top of the eggs. “You sure you don’t want to cut and run?”

“Why? You trying to get rid of me?”

David grinned and shook his head. “Not a chance.” David slid some eggs onto a plate in front of Charlotte. “To be fair, I should have just told you right away what was going on. I guess in my foolhardy, misguided way I was trying to protect you.”

Charlotte doodled on the bar with her finger. “Can we make a pact?”

“What’s that?”

“That we’re honest with each other. Even if we think the other person can’t handle it. No secrets.”

David put some eggs for himself on another plate and smiled at Charlotte. “Deal.”

Charlotte picked up her fork and grinned. “Good,” she said as she scooped up a forkful of fluffy eggs. “You know, I have to say…there’s something about the sight of you cooking in my kitchen in your kegs that’s rather sexy.”

“Ah ha! You remembered!”

Charlotte giggled and swallowed her eggs. “At least you know I listen to what you say.”

“Greatly appreciated.” David scooped up the last of his eggs. “So…what’s on the agenda for the day?”

“Ugh; well, I really do need to buckle down and do some actual work.”

David sucked in his breath. “That’s too bad.”

Charlotte frowned. “Why?”

“I planned to get lost in that big, fantastic bed with you.”

Charlotte threw down her fork and stood. “Race you to the bedroom.”

#

It was early afternoon before Charlotte slipped out of bed and into the shower. She hated to leave David, but she knew she’d better get going on her work. She had cordoned herself off in her office, and within moments there were papers scattered everywhere and at least two pencils were sticking out of Charlotte’s hair. She was tapping away on her laptop when she felt David’s arms around her. She jumped, and David planted a kiss on her neck.

“Admit it; you missed having me sneak up on you when you least expect it.”

“Oh, yeah; it was my favorite part of the day.”

“I almost put my eye out on those pencils.”

“Oh, those,” Charlotte said sheepishly as her hands flew to her head to extricate them from her hair. “Sometimes I forget and have been known to walk around all day with a pencil here, a pencil there…”

“Good thing you work from home.”

“Tell me about it,” Charlotte snorted as David stuck a yellow sticky note on her chest. “What’s this?” Charlotte pulled the note off her tee-shirt and saw an e-mail address.

“You need to e-mail William your info for the Vancouver trip so he can make all the arrangements. We leave day after tomorrow.”

“Ah, right. Vancouver,” Charlotte said as she leaned back in her chair.

“You still want to go, don’t you?”

“Oh, yes, yes. Of course. I’m sorry. I guess with everything going on I completely forgot.”

“It’ll be fun. Promise.” David searched Charlotte’s face. “What is it?”

Charlotte waved her hand. “Oh, well, this…this sounds so silly, but…what, uh…what have you told William about…us?”

David knelt down until he was eye level with Charlotte. “That you make me deliriously happy. He thinks its funny how we met.”

“
Hmmm
. I see, and uh, did you tell him that I’m a couple of years
younger
than you?” she said sarcastically. “I want him to know before he meets me so that he doesn’t faint in front of me.”

David rolled his eyes. “Oh, here we go.”

Charlotte laughed. “Okay, okay, sorry. I’ll stop. And I’ll e-mail William.”

“Excellent. While you do that, I’m going to hop in the shower.”

“I set out some towels for you on the counter in the bathroom.”

“Thanks, love,” David said as he stood and went to leave the room. When he reached the door he turned to look back at Charlotte. She glanced up.

“Yeah?”

David smiled. “For everything.”

CHAPTER 9

“Remind me again why our flight is at four in the morning?” Charlotte yawned and dropped her head back against the headrest of the limo William had sent to Charlotte’s house to ferry them to the airport.

“The earlier it is, the less people,” David responded. “Cheer up. We’re flying first-class and you can sleep on the plane. I’ll even let you drool on my shoulder.”

“Well, gee, with an offer like that,” Charlotte muttered. “Just wake me up if I start to snore.”

David chuckled and sipped his coffee. “Only if I’m not snoring myself. So, you ever flown first-class before?”

“A few times. My publisher actually springs for it when I do big, big book tours or conferences. Which has happened only about a handful of times. Still, it was nice.”

“Stick with me love; everything for you will be first-class.”

Before Charlotte could respond they’d pulled up to LAX. The driver unloaded their luggage, and a pair of guards came over to whisk them away to the security checkpoint. As they sailed past the small line of people standing in general boarding, Charlotte couldn’t help but feel a bit woozy over the preferential treatment. Everyone looked bleary-eyed and hardly alert, so no one took notice of the handsome movie star and his mystery companion gliding through security. People were mostly busy slurping on coffee or scrolling away on their Blackberries, and Charlotte was relieved no one held up their phones to snap David. They were the first people seated on the plane, and shortly after take-off Charlotte kept her word and conked out on David’s shoulder; he followed suit a short time later.

Just before they landed, David tapped Charlotte on the thigh to wake her up. “Sleep alright?” he asked.

Charlotte stretched. “Amazingly well. I usually can’t sleep on planes. Must be first-class flying.”

“And here I thought it was me.”

“Oh, well, that too.” Charlotte sat up. “So is William meeting us at the airport? I’m dying to meet him.”

David rubbed his hands together. “Yes,” he said, drawing the word out. “And there may also be some paparazzi.”

“Oh.” Charlotte took a deep breath. “But William will help us out though, right?”

“Absolutely. I just wanted to give you a heads-up. Just remember to stay close to me and hold my hand.”

Charlotte pulled her compact out of her purse, glossed her lips, and ran a smidge of powder across her nose. “I think I can manage that,” she smiled as she smoothed her hair back and popped a mint.

“Just be prepared…for anything.”

“You make them sound scary,” she laughed nervously.

“They can be at times. I’ve met some really nice guys and some monsters. You just never know who is going to be there. Like I said, just stay close to me because I move pretty fast.”

“I’m glad I have you to help me navigate the madness.”