19. Charlotte

19

CHARLOTTE

T he sun stretches long shadows across the woods while I touch base with some of my peeps, trying to score a reservation for Wyatt’s big party.

I don’t think it will be quite as easy as last time. There may be people there who remember Gray and I from our first visit. Fortunately, we didn't cause any sort of disturbance. Maybe it will work out.

I don't know how to feel about being this close to finding the man who tried to extort me. Part of me is afraid of what might happen. If we lay hands on one of the Aegis Order’s members, won’t they retaliate?

I have plenty to be worried about. I’ve worked hard to keep my personal life and professional life separate. Fortunately, my parents don’t have much of an online presence and never did. That should make it harder for the Order to find them.

I hope.

I sit on the stump and look out over the Pacific. It’s quite beautiful right now, with big, domed waves rolling toward the unseen rocky shore below. If I strain my ears, I can just hear the surf crashing.

Gray exits the cabin and approaches me. I look up, putting my phone down so I can give him my complete attention.

“What’s up?”

“I found a good place to eat, but Wyatt’s party doesn’t even start until after ten PM. We’ve got some time to kill.”

“Is that so?”

My pulse quickens, and I carefully cross and uncross my legs as I look up at him.

“Did you…have anything in mind?”

Apparently, Gray isn’t quite as good at reading people as he thinks.

“I do. I think you should learn some basic hand-to-hand skills. Just in case the gun isn’t an option.”

“Oh.”

I laugh, and he frowns.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.” I suppose he’s right, I could use some self defense tips. “So, are you going to teach me karate?”

“Karate? The Kim Kardashian of martial arts?” he snorts. “No, I’m thinking of something more practical.”

“Kung fu, then? Or MMA? Are you going to show me some sweet moves so I can trash bozos in a street fight?”

I pantomime a martial arts display, complete with grunts and howls. He looks on, clearly amused.

“Are you finished?” he asks sweetly.

“Yeah, for now.”

Gray chuckles and gestures at me.

“Actually, traditional martial arts, while effective, are very difficult to learn, let alone master. Ditto for MMA techniques. We don’t have that kind of time to invest in your training.”

“Wait, I thought you were going to teach me self defense?”

“I am. Ever hear of the Close Quarters combat system?”

I shake my head.

“Doesn’t ring any bells.”

“It’s a system developed by a former intelligence agent, specifically for use by lay people who are not trained, and not necessarily even athletic.”

“I’m pretty athletic…”

He grins. “I know that firsthand. But what makes the techniques work so well is that they’re designed to use the body to its maximum potential while in a state of fear or panic.”

I tilt my head to the side.

“Let’s pretend that I don’t know what that means.”

“Well, let’s take karate for example. An inside crescent kick is a very effective move.”

He demonstrates, looking a lot better than I did.

“The only problem is, you need to keep your heart rate relatively low, and manage your emotions to use a crescent kick effectively. If your body is flooded with adrenaline, you will lose enough of your fine motor skills that karate becomes next to impossible.”

“Wouldn’t that be the same with…whatever the hell you’re talking about?”

“No. The close quarters system is designed for everyday people who are guaranteed to have too high a heart rate and adrenaline levels to complete complex martial arts moves. It uses gross motor skills rather than fine motor skills.”

I laugh and shrug.

“All right, sign me up, sensei.”

Grayson’s lips pull back in a small smile. He’s pleased I’m willing to undergo this training. I guess it can’t hurt to learn a few things.

“First things first,” he says, squaring off with me. “Most of the time, an attacker isn’t going to try and strike you. They’re more likely to try a grapple first, particularly against a female opponent. Try to grab me by the shoulders.”

“Okay.”

I reach out for him and grab his shoulders. He doesn’t move.

“Not like that,” he says. “Like you mean it.”

“Well, okay.”

I pause for a moment, and then try to take him by surprise. I reach out to grab his shoulders. Gray lifts his arms up and deflects my hands away with a simple movement that isn’t much more than a shrug. Yet, my hands fly out to the side.

“Do you see what I did?”

“Um, sort of. You moved really fast…”

Gray demonstrates again for me, a little bit slower.

“All right, your turn.”

He reaches out for me and I attempt the move. I’m a little bit too slow and he catches hold of me.

“Not bad. Your technique is sound. You just need more speed, and maybe more power. Try again.”

He tries again, and this time I smack his arms out to the side. I’m surprised at how easy it is.

“You were going easy on me, weren’t you?”

“No,” Gray says, shaking his head. “I was not. It doesn’t matter how big or strong you are if you use the principles of leverage and momentum.”

I tilt my head to the side and regard Gray in a new light.

“You’re a hell of a lot smarter than you want people to think, aren’t you, Grayson?”

He chuckles, the sun highlighting the loveliness of his silver eyes.

“It’s always better to be underestimated than overestimated. Besides, smart people get saddled with extra work. It’s a proven fact.”

We practice the move. A lot. So much that my forearms grow sore. I think we’re done, but Gray has more tricks up his sleeve.

“Another thing that tends to happen to women is a hand around the throat.”

He pantomimes the move, clutching his own neck with his big-veined hand.

“Go ahead, try and choke me.”

I sputter with mirth, because it’s so silly of a thing to say.

“I’m serious,” Gray says, but he’s laughing, too. I realize that even though this training session is hard, even harder than picking up new dance moves, I’m enjoying myself. Maybe it’s the company. It’s probably the company.

“All right, all right,” I say when we finally wind down. “Here we go.”

I grab Grayson by the throat…or I try to. His neck is thicker than it looks, and my fingers barely make it around enough to call it a real hold.

“All right,” Grayson says. “From here, your instinct is going to be to pull away, but that’s not always a good idea. Particularly if you’re backed into a wall. So, you want to use a simple chop against the most vulnerable part of the arm.”

He moves slowly, so as not to hurt me, and brings a sharp chop down on the inside of my elbow. Even in slow motion, the move makes my arm bend and my hand slides right off his throat.

“That’s it?”

“Yes. Don’t be afraid to put your full strength into it. You won’t hurt me.”

“Okay, then, it’s your funeral.”

He grabs me by the throat. I chop my arm down and smack the inside of his elbow, and his arm bends away, just like mine did.

“You’re a natural,” he says.

“Oh, stop.”

“I’m serious. Keep in mind, using this move in real life will probably get you a few fingernail scratches.”

I shrug.

“Better some scratches than to be choked to death. Let’s keep practicing. I like this one.”

“You just like being able to hit me.”

I laugh and shake my head.

“Oh god, no. I’m not a violent person, Grayson.”

I realize that he might take that as an insult. The insinuation that he IS a violent person. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to bother him.

“I am a violent person, and I prefer these techniques over all others.”

I blow air out through my lips and stir my bangs.

“Gray, you might be capable of violence, but that doesn’t mean you’re an inherently violent person. I’ve been with you for days, and I’ve yet to see you lose control or fly off the handle…in a fight, that is.”

He grins at my innuendo, but it quickly fades.

“Some people are just naturally violent, Sweetness. You can never be sure who is, and who isn’t. That’s why it’s best to be prepared.”

I can hear an edge to his voice. At first I think he’s angry or annoyed with me, but the look in his eyes belies that.

“Are you worried about me getting hurt, Gray?” I ask in a small voice.

“Yes,” he says without hesitation. “I’m terrified of anything happening to you. I…”

He shakes his head, and has trouble meeting my gaze.

“Let me show you a couple more things before the sun gets too low.”

I’m dying to know what he was about to say. Dying!

“Hey now, you can’t do that! You were about to say something really profound and/or personal, I just know it.”

“I don’t have the right to say any such thing.”

I put my hands on my hips and glare him into oblivion.

“Gray, we slept together. Maybe it didn’t mean much to you, but it did for me.”

His eyes widen, and he suddenly takes me by the arms.

“Charlotte…it meant something to me, too.”

He lets out a frustrated groan and turns away from me.

“I don’t know which way is up when I’m with you.”

“Hey, it’s all right.”

I embrace him from behind, feeling the tension in his neck and shoulders. The longer I hold him, the more he relaxes. At length, he puts a hand on top of my own and our fingers weave together.

We go back to practicing the close quarters thing, but without as much laughter as before. Things just got real. Damn real. If I was worried that Gray was only into me on a physical level, those fears have been at least somewhat reduced.

He goes into the cabin, to prepare us a snack. It's been a long time since breakfast. I use the opportunity to check my various accounts. To my delight, my team has uploaded the video of myself and Grayson in the Jeep, when we first started out. That seems like a lot longer ago than it actually was.

Is it possible to fall for someone in just a couple of days?

My fans certainly seem to think so. Almost every single comment from my followers contains a common thread.

Wow, what a cute couple!

Your ‘bodyguard.’ yeah, right, he can guard MY body anytime.

Grayson is going to watch Charlotte. Very, very closely.

I think Charlottesville has a new resident.

Charlotte and Grayson, sitting in a tree…

I put my phone down, my face burning hot. Oh my God. Is it that obvious?

I laugh helplessly. I’d pretty much given up on finding a decent guy in LA. Turns out, all I had to do was have my life threatened to meet Mr. Right.

Or have I? I remind myself that Grayson is a CIA spook. He pretended to be something he was not over a long and illustrious career. He’s probably a master at manipulation. How do I know he’s not just telling me everything I want to hear?

I shake my head. No, I’m not that gullible. And if Grayson were going to try and love bomb me just to get into my panties, I think he’d be a lot less subtle.

But he is a subtle guy…

I keep going round and round in my head. And I’m not getting anywhere. I go inside to see how Grayson is doing. I find him in the process of plating summer sausage on leftover biscuits, with a side of his lumpy but tasty gravy.

“This is a ton of fat and carbs, but I guess I’ve worked a lot of calories off today.”

He smiles as we sit down on the sofa with our snack. His gaze drops to my phone, still open to one of my accounts.

“I think I see my name on one of those posts.”

I quickly shut down the screen.

“Yeah, everyone thinks you’re great.”

He looks like he’s about to say something else. I don’t want to have this conversation right now, so I do what I know will work to distract him.

I kiss him. It only takes a moment for him to kiss me back, and damn hard. The ceramic plate clacks onto the battered wooden surface of an end table as he lets go of it and takes hold of me. He steals my breath away. I just love how he tastes. He might be the best kisser I’ve ever known.

No, he definitely is.

We come up for air, and stare each other in the eyes.

“Definitely,” I murmur.

“What?”

“Definitely do that again.”

He does, crushing my lips with a powerful kiss. I melt into his fiery embrace, a molten sea of passion drowning us. My heart beats so hard I think it’s going to burst out of me and land on the floor. I was only trying to distract him, but now I don’t want to stop.

Gray slides his hand between my thighs, rubbing me through my clothes. I arch my body into him, gasping. Amazing sensations stream from his fingertips and spread through the rest of my body.

“Do you like that, Sunshine?” he purrs in my ear.

“Yes…”

I lift up my hips so he can slide my bottoms off. Gray slides to his knees on the floor, pushing my thighs apart with his hands.

I feel a butterfly-soft kiss on my inner thigh. My mouth flies open, and I reach back and grab the back of the sofa tightly. With agonizing deliberation, Gray kisses and licks my sensitive skin, moving closer to, and then further from, where I really want him to be.

“Oh fuck, you’re a damn tease,” I cry.

“Just the way you like it.”

I reach down and grab his head, trying to take control. Gray grabs my wrists in one of his hands. His grip strength is incredible, though he doesn’t hurt me at all. I gasp as he shoves my hands up over my head, then goes right back to teasing me to the point of insanity.

I cry out when I feel his teeth nip my thigh. He intersperses nibbles, kisses, and licks, making lots of husky grunts and growls that let me know just how much he enjoys pleasing me. The last guy I dated couldn’t find my g spot with a flashlight and a map. Grayson does more without even touching me down there.

My body lurches upward, trying to touch him of its own accord. Gray’s lips hoover mere inches from my body, his warm breath sending tingles through my swollen flesh. I want him so bad I can’t stand it.

A sharp moan forces its way from my throat as he strokes me with expertise. Gray caresses my cheek with his free hand. I grab his wrist and suck on his fingers, locking eyes with him.

Gray growls, his silver eyes blazing. “Now who’s the tease?”

He uses his newly moistened digits, sliding them inside of me. I groan, arching my back as the delightful sensations pile on top of each other like ocean waves in a storm.

Gray finally kisses me down south. I suck in a deep breath of air and let it out as a guttural moan. His thick tongue glides over my most intimate places, making them throb even more. My body quivers as every touch puts me that much closer to a skull-crushing finale.

I edge closer and closer, squirming in his grasp, making sounds like an adult film star, only I’m not performing.

I inhale a massive gasp before letting it out as a scream. Waves of fire throb through my body, crashing into me one after another. I collapse back onto the sofa, sucking in deep gasps.

When I come to my senses, I crack my eyelids open and see Gray standing before me, completely nude. The sun slants in through the window, gleaming the sweat on his magnificent body.

I lean forward, intending to give him the same treatment he gave me, but Grayson kisses me instead. I grab him right back, seizing him as my own desire has me.

Grayson lets out an animal growl and pushes me back onto the sofa, climbing on top of me. I spread my legs, inviting him in. Gray caresses me with his body, revving me up like an engine. He teases me like this, before gliding himself in at last.

Gray moves, and I squeeze my eyes shut. Our cries grow faster, closer together as we work our bodies in synchronous harmony. It’s never been so easy, so intuitive, with anyone else.

It’s like we were made for each other.

I feel him release inside of me just as I reach my own peak. I clutch at him with all four limbs, raking my nails down his back as I lose all control.

He collapses on top of me, panting, holding me tight.

“Charlotte,” he gasps, again and again. “Charlotte. My Charlotte.”

The golden flashes begin to subside. I’m not sure I want to go to Wyatt’s now. I’m not sure I ever want to leave this cabin.

Moments of perfect happiness are rare. I know that now more than ever. I intend to savor this one as long as I can.