Chapter Sixteen

It was good to be back.

Taryn's first spring semester at Hillspoint was underway, and she was more than motivated. She loved her classes and the elevated privileges that came with advancement within the photography department. Her friends had tackled her with hugs and whisked her off for drinks and a catch-up session. But best of all, she'd been reunited with Charlie, who had been the definition of a sight for sore eyes. They'd spent the first couple of days back smiling and staring and acting like people obsessed with each other.

"Do you want to get boring and dessert coffee and people watch?" Charlie had asked that first afternoon.

"Immediately I do," Taryn said, dashing for her jacket. She'd spent the rest of the evening at the Bump and Grind, talking to Charlie about their new schedules and stealing glances of her profile as she watched customers come and go.

Once classes officially kicked off, the chaos took over. They had to find their focus, and that meant less time together, which Taryn felt all over. Though they'd talk every hour, there were days when it just wasn't possible to get together. Charlie's classes, teaching, and work at the library commitments had her busy most every second of the day, which meant Taryn had to rely on memories and daydreams to get her through.

That night, they'd planned on spending the evening together after a whirlwind week. She'd been looking forward to this date of theirs for days, counting the seconds. Unfortunately, Taryn was going to have to occupy herself while at the apartment because Charlie hadn't made the progress on her short story that she'd been hoping for, which meant she needed the time to write. "I'm just going to make popcorn and sit in a corner and watch the talent work," Taryn proclaimed.

"I wish it was going to be more exciting for you." Charlie rested her chin in her hand. "At least we're in the same room, though. I like having you here."

An hour later, and Taryn was craving attention. "Wanna take a break soon?" She blinked her eyes slowly.

"No, baby, I can't be taken in by those big brown eyes and your ridiculous body right now. I'm smack in the middle of this thing."

"Why not?" Taryn asked with her best pout. Charlie was a sucker for pouting, and she used it to her advantage.

"Because I have a five-thousand-word story due tomorrow. And because I've spent every available moment drooling over you and smiling as you talk and watching you taste food, I'm sitting on only two thousand."

Taryn straightened, feeling the need to help and not distract from Charlie's goals. "We need a plan."

"Exactly my thinking."

"I could stay back at my place and give you the whole night to work." It was the mature thing to do, even though she craved Charlie in every way possible. They hadn't had enough time lately, and suddenly it felt like the most precious commodity. Taryn was wildly aware of the calendar and Charlie's impending graduation date, which meant every moment mattered.

Charlie deflated. Her blue eyes flickered with sadness. "Any other ideas?"

Taryn gave it some thought. "Well. There's always a reward system."

"I like the sound of that." She tapped her cheek. "How's this? For every thousand words I write, I get ten full uninterrupted minutes with you."

Taryn made a point of looking thoughtful. "Hmm. I don't know. What are we going to do in those ten minutes? How would we possibly fill them?"

Charlie closed her eyes, her gorgeous lips parting slightly. Taryn wanted to suck on the bottom one but refrained from saying so. "I can't really guess," Charlie said with nonchalance. She shrugged. "I guess we'll figure that out once we get there."

"If I'm the reward, I say you get to decide. In the meantime, I'm going to sort through my digitals and organize them by theme and then color because that's who I'm becoming."

"You're already making this sexy." Charlie's eyes darkened, and Taryn felt it all over. Nope. Don't get ahead of yourself.

Taryn took a step back. "Then you better get that first thousand words. I'll be waiting." The reality was every inch of her was already longing to kiss, touch, and stare at Charlie up-close and personal. The next fifteen minutes crept by with only the quiet sound of Charlie ticktacking away on her keyboard. The tension in the room was heavy, and Taryn felt it pressing down on her skin. It felt warm in the apartment, but she had a feeling she'd done that to herself.

Another twenty minutes passed. "I'm almost there. Three hundred more words."

"I'm just gonna take this off," Taryn said, losing her T-shirt, leaving her in black joggers and a black sports bra.

Charlie went still. "What are you trying to do to me right now?"

"Motivate you."

"I've never wanted to write three hundred words so badly in my life." She went back to her laptop and, just a few minutes later, shut it abruptly.

"Shall we start the clock?" Taryn asked from her spot on the couch. Charlie didn't answer. Instead she walked straight to Taryn, removed the laptop from her lap, and crawled into it instead, straddling Taryn. Her hair had all been shifted to one shoulder, leaving the column of her neck exposed on one side. Without a word, she caught Taryn's mouth with hers and kissed her deeply. Her hands were immediately at Charlie's waist and then around it, pulling her closer. They'd surely already lost a minute or two. With her tongue in Charlie's mouth as Charlie cupped her face, Taryn slipped her hands beneath Charlie's sweater to find, to her delight, that she wasn't wearing a bra. "God, I love these," Taryn said against her mouth. She palmed both breasts to a murmur of pleasure from the gorgeous woman in her lap. "I have to see you," Taryn said, pulling her lips back and offering a wicked grin. Charlie sat back with a smile as Taryn lifted her sweater to reveal her round, perfect breasts. Wordlessly she pulled a nipple into her mouth and let her teeth skate its ridges. Charlie's fingers went into her hair and gripped, holding her in place.

"If anyone can make me come from this alone, it's you. Good fucking God."

The next thing Taryn knew she was flat on her back on that couch, topped by Charlie, who kissed her like an expert offering a master class. She placed Taryn's hands above her head and held them there as she kissed her lips, her neck, her collarbone just in time for the alarm she'd set on her phone to sound its garish, unfair signal.

"Ignore it. It's awful," Taryn said.

Charlie nodded and tugged on the strap of Taryn's sports bra. Guilt began to infuse her senses. She wanted to shove it away but knew full well it was Charlie who would pay tomorrow if they got carried away.

"We have to stop."

Charlie popped her head up, a strand of hair in her face. She blew it away. "Do we, though?"

"Yes. You have an essay thingy to write." She hated herself for applying logic.

"A short story."

"Or that. My brain isn't working because your body's on mine and we are fire and gasoline."

Charlie began to kiss her neck, ignoring the suggestion. "You're definitely fire. God, I could devour you right now. Why are you so hot, Taryn? You have to stop being this way."

"Charlotte Adler."

"Okay, that just makes me hotter for you." More kissing of her neck. The weight of Charlie's body on hers was heavenly. She soaked up the moment, knowing it would be over shortly. That is, until Charlie wrote another damn thousand words. "We don't have to stop. We just have to pause until you hit your next goal."

Charlie sighed, paused, and buried her face against Taryn's neck. "I guess that's something."

"Go, go, go. Write fast. Give it everything you have and then get your ass back over here."

Charlie laughed. "I suddenly have a cheerleader in my corner." She pushed herself off Taryn into a seated position.

"You write a thousand words, and I'll be anything you want me to be." She stole a kiss and lingered, the payoff too good.

"Ms. Ross, I think you have yourself a deal, and I have my motivation."

The night continued much that way. The ticktack of the keyboard followed by a torturous groping session on the couch that never quite took them to home plate. They needed more time. Taryn's hands and mouth needed space to work. She wanted to touch and be touched, and she wanted it soon.

"How many more words?" Taryn asked, as Charlie stood and adjusted her pants that were now askew thanks to Taryn, a badge she wore proudly.

"A thousand or so," she said, recapturing air. "The last thousand. They are going to be either amazing because you are ridiculously inspiring, or half-assed because I want to get back to the ridiculously inspiring girl on my couch with the body I'm addicted to. What have you done to me?"

Taryn grinned. "I can do more. I want to. I'm thinking with my mouth. Perhaps over—"

"No more of that," Charlie said, hand outstretched. "Do you want me to be able to think straight or not?" She pulled her hand back.

"Tough, tough question. Does your story really need an ending?"

"Do you want the woman to find out that the child she once adopted was the one who tried to kill her or not?"

"I mean, that's a hard one." She reluctantly gave in. "I guess she should probably know, but it feels rather secondary to the really good thing we have going over here, if I'm being honest. I want your weight on me. I want to kiss you."

"Not another word." Charlie returned to her laptop at the table across the room. A moment later, she peeked around the screen. "Are you as incredibly turned-on as I am right now?"

"Uncomfortably," Taryn answered without hesitation. "Write the damn ending."

"Oh, I kind of enjoy when you tell me what to do."

The seconds seemed to crawl by, and she decided Charlie was the slowest writer on the planet. Taryn adjusted her position on the couch, uncrossing her legs, hoping the new arrangement would lessen the aching between them. It didn't. The sound of the keyboard continued to mock her. She simultaneously understood that each word written got her closer to a naked Charlie beneath her fingertips, beneath her lips. It meant release from the pent-up tension coursing through every inch of her body. She could almost hear the little sounds Charlie made right before she came, feel Charlie's heated skin pressed to hers and the weight of Charlie's body pressing down on her. God, she loved to be pressed.

Just then, the light over her head went off, leaving the room dimly lit by a small lamp on an end table across the room. The result was cozy and romantic. At last. Anticipation licked its way around her body. She turned to Charlie just in time to see her walking toward Taryn as she pulled her sweater over her head, leaving her with a generous view. God bless sweaters and the manner in which they came off. Charlie slid her jeans down her legs and stepped out of them. The technique impressed.

"You're done?" Taryn breathed. Charlie stood in front of her in just panties, and there was no sexier image in life.

"The end," Charlie said quietly with a tilt of her head. Taryn loved her quiet voice. The manner in which she strung thoughts together. The way she looked when she did so. Everything.

"Best words ever." She waited for Charlie to reach her, surprised when she did and then passed her by. The crook of Charlie's finger beckoned Taryn, and she grinned. "Bedroom it is. I really like the bedroom."

But she was hijacked in the darkened hallway and pressed up against the wall and kissed into the sweetness of next week. Charlie's hands were on her bare waist below the sports bra, the softness of Charlie's breasts pressed into Taryn's.

"God, you're worth waiting for," Charlie murmured into her mouth, owning her.

"And you're really good at sweaters."

Charlie chuckled. "I don't know what that means, but I don't care." She dropped to her knees and pulled Taryn's joggers to her ankles, which prompted her to step out of them. Grasping her hips, Charlie kissed the small rectangle of fabric between her legs as Taryn hissed in a breath. When she increased the pressure of the kiss, Taryn placed her palms flat on the wall for support.

"Don't get comfortable," Charlie said, resting back on her heels. "My bedroom. Now. I'm going to kiss every inch of your body."

Taryn, whose words had been stripped from her just moments ago and hadn't returned, went hot like molten lava. Her bones were liquid and she was fire. She nodded obediently and allowed herself to be pulled through the door to Charlie's room. The overhead was off, but the white twinkly lights Charlie had strung across the perimeter of her ceiling cast their luminance gently over the room like a halo.

"Come here," Taryn murmured, pulling Charlie to her.

She went up on her toes and slid her arms around Taryn's neck where their gazes connected just before their lips did. Kissing Charlie in a dizzying storm, Taryn was in heaven. Time was no longer a thing, nor was reason. She walked Charlie to the bed and waited, knowing full well what she'd do. She loved that she was learning her moves. With a grin, she turned them, gave Taryn a little shove onto the bed, and followed her down.

"Such a top," she said.

"Please. You love it."

"More than you know," Taryn said. "Just know it's temporary."

That did it. Charlie crushed her mouth to Taryn's and pushed her tongue inside. Moments later, she sat up, a show Taryn wouldn't miss for anything. Charlie smiled and shook her head. "Such a boob girl. Is this what you wanted?"

"Yes, please." Her hands were on them, pushing, releasing, kneading. She loved Charlie's breasts and could spend hours with them alone.

Charlie nodded in appreciation, and when Taryn sat up, ultimately placing Charlie in her lap, Charlie slid her fingers into Taryn's hair, gave it a tug, and pulled Taryn's head back, exposing and kissing her neck. "Fuck," Taryn breathed. She closed her eyes and let the pinpricks of pleasure wash over her, leading to a much larger need she wouldn't be able to ignore for long. She was wet and on the very edge, but Charlie had announced her plans in the hallway and nothing about them sounded fast. That might be a problem.

"I'm gonna need you to take me soon," Taryn whispered.

Charlie looked up and grinned. "Excuse me?"

Taryn cradled her face and kissed her thoroughly, taking what she needed. "I'm not gonna last. Too much short-story foreplay."

"I should have written more," Charlie said with a wicked grin. "How's this?" Charlie asked, stroking her softly, which equated to slow and torturous. It was something, though. It was everything.

"Yes." Taryn's eyes slammed shut as a shot of something potent and powerful moved through her. She pressed herself against Charlie's hand, only to have it pulled away. "Mean."

"Hot," Charlie countered.

The tension was unreal, the ache so very intense. Taryn was over the bikinis she wore, and Charlie must have been, too, because they were adeptly removed from her body moments later.

"What are you doing to me?" Taryn said, half question, half rasp.

Charlie leaned her back and settled her hips between Taryn's legs. "I don't know what you're referring to," she said, as she went up on her forearms and began to rock against Taryn, softly at first and then with more intention. She slid her fingers inside, and she slowly took Taryn higher and higher with each well-placed thrust.

"I'm so yours right now," she murmured, hand flat against the wall.

"Look at me," Charlie said, and Taryn did. It was those fathomless blue eyes that she was lost in when the ground fell out from beneath her and she was flying, overcome with trembling pleasure.

"Too good," Taryn said, limp, eyes closed, hovering on a blissful cloud of satisfaction. But that didn't mean her desire for Charlie had abated one bit. It was only a few moments before she sat up and ran her fingertip from Charlie's neck to her bare shoulder. "Turn around," she whispered.

Charlie complied and leaned against Taryn. With one hand around Charlie's waist, she slid her other into her underwear and began to explore, to stroke. The tiny gasps and murmurs guided her until the undulation of Charlie's hips had her pressing her fingers firmly to a cry from Charlie.

Taryn had been waiting for this moment all night and reveled in the feeling of Charlie tensing in her arms, in the sounds she made as pleasure tore through her. She kissed the side of Charlie's neck softly as her hand brought her back down with soft, gentle touches.

With a final exhale, Charlie turned and kissed Taryn's lips over her shoulder. "I should write on a deadline more often."

* * *

Taryn had crunched the numbers, and if she picked up a class both this semester and next and did one of the summer semesters in addition, she could graduate a semester early and join Charlie in New York months in advance of when she'd originally anticipated.

"Is that something you're honestly considering?" Charlie asked from across the high-top at Toby's. It was the first week of classes, and Taryn had already checked the calendar. There was still time to make the change in her schedule. "I would be thrilled if you were able to make that happen, but I also don't want you to overwhelm yourself."

"I'm pretty positive I'm doing it," Taryn said. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay with me showing up a little early."

"More than okay," Charlie said, raising her pint glass. "To speeding up the hard part."

"To speed," Taryn said, touching her glass to Charlie's.

"What are we cheering to?" Sasha asked from the pool table adjacent to their table. "Is it love? Because I'm always a celebrator, even if my heart has been recently stomped on and crushed like a bug beneath a soccer cleat."

"Did the snack machine girl not work out?" Charlie asked Taryn quietly, not moving a muscle.

"She left Sasha for the captain of the girls' soccer team," she answered. "It's a bit of a tense topic around Alexander, and cleats have been banned on the fourth floor for the time being."

"Fuck cleats!" Sasha yelled and returned to her game of pool.

"Words to live by," Charlie said, raising her glass. "You're cute," she said to Taryn.

"I didn't even do anything," Taryn said.

"Exactly." She checked her watch. "But I need to go."

"No."

"Yes," Charlie said, kissing the back of her hand. "I have all of those prewrites to grade and respond to in the morning, and I want to get in an hour of writing. Any more of these drinks and I won't be able to string words together."

The time they'd spent together in Dyer had done wonders for their relationship. Charlie was more confident than ever. She held Taryn's hand in public, introduced her to friends they'd run into, and one afternoon surprised her in the library with a to-go coffee from the Bump and Grind.

"You didn't have to do this," Taryn said, touched that Charlie had clearly gone out of her way after Taryn had texted that she was having trouble staying awake.

"Well, I was the reason you're on so little sleep. Plus, if you can't surprise your girlfriend with coffee every once in a while, what is the point of anything?"

They both paused because they'd heard it at the same time. Girlfriend. The first use of the word, even though that was clearly what they'd become.

"I'm your girlfriend," Taryn said and sipped her coffee. She felt ten feet tall, capable of not only acing this entire semester but probably the rest of her life, too. As Charlie Adler's girlfriend, she was unstoppable.

"You are," Charlie said, running her hand down the back of Taryn's head. It was a gesture Charlie favored, and Taryn was growing to love. "Now I better get to work and not steal glances at you with your concentration face on."

"Do you like my concentration face?" Taryn asked, attempting to demonstrate in hyperbolic fashion.

"Very much. But that's not it." Charlie pointed at the Spanish textbook in front of Taryn. "Study those words. That subject is your weak spot."

"I'm wounded you think I have one."

Charlie backed away, shrugging. "Maybe I can help you heal."

Taryn's brain stammered. She flashed on all sorts of fun scenarios. That was the thing with Charlie. They'd unlocked a world all their own where the sky felt like the limit. Their sex life, which had already started off with a bang, only continued to blossom as they grew more and more comfortable with each other. They'd tried several new positions and locations, learning more about themselves and what they liked. Who knew Taryn would enjoy the pillow so much? A surprise. Yet the view with Charlie on top was too good to ever pass up.

Taryn stayed at Charlie's place several nights a week, only staying at Alexander so the two of them could stay on top of their studies and obligations. In no surprise to anyone, they were wildly distracted when together. Along the way, she'd casually started taking photos of Charlie, attempting to capture each and every part of her, and she had so many layers.

"Are you taking my photo again?" Charlie asked, turning the rosemary chicken in the pan full of sauce she would soon ladle over it as it cooked. "I have a messy ponytail. That can't be a good shot."

"You look gorgeous, and I need cooking Charlie for the case study. Plus, I'm using you to experiment with dragging my shutter a bit. It's an ambient light thing."

"I don't know what that means, but I'm here to assist." She blew Taryn a kiss as she clicked away. Cooking Charlie just might rank high on her list of shots. There was a joy in the air when Charlie went to work on a dish, almost as if she abandoned her stresses and immersed herself in something she loved. It showed in the photos, loud and clear. She had Ashley to thank for some of her technique in capturing it.

If you take the shot half a second before the smile reaches someone's lips, you've captured the realization of happiness, Ashley once told her. It was invaluable advice.

As they enjoyed their time together, soaking up the newness of what they had, the future loomed and there were details to sort through.

"I can't sleep," Charlie whispered one night.

Taryn, holding her, kissed the top of her head. "Do you have something on your mind?"

"What if New York doesn't work out? What if June DiCarlo meets me and passes? Monica's been distant, and I don't feel comfortable going to her for last-minute tips."

"You're going to go there and be yourself. She's going to see how talented you are, how competent, and be thrilled with you."

"I feel like I've invested so much in this plan that I don't know what I'm going to do if it falls through. How am I going to look myself in the mirror? Even more, how am I going to pay my bills?"

"What's the plan B?" Taryn asked calmly. Sometimes understanding all the options helped quiet her own fears—maybe it would work for Charlie.

"After I'm done rocking in a corner? I could look into teaching while I query my book, but without a foot in the door, it's going to be bleak." She slid up the bed so they were facing each other on the pillow. "I'm terrified, Taryn. And I'm only confessing this because it's you, but I've never been more scared about anything in my life. I want this so badly. I feel like I don't ask the universe for a lot, but I'm asking it for this."

"It's going to be okay, Charlie. I promise."

"I hope so." Charlie took a deep breath. "I wish I could just relax, but this is simply too important."

They'd had a reoccurrence of the conversation several times, making Taryn acutely aware of how important this meeting in New York was. With only a week until Charlie's interview, she did what she could to keep Charlie distracted and out of her own head. Once as she watched Charlie behind the circulation desk, her brows down, looking like the weight of the world sat on her chest, she fired off a text.

Meet me in the far back corner. Dusty books.

It's giving mysterious,Charlie wrote back.

It's giving a lot of things. Taryn grinned and typed. Come find out.

She took off from her seat and made it there first. Charlie, who knew what she was doing, waited a couple of moments before casually making her way to the back of the library, where very few students ever spent much time. "What is going on back here?" she asked. But there was a curious-amused expression on her face, which meant Taryn's plan had worked.

"I wanted you to myself for just a few stolen moments."

"And what do you want to do with me?" she asked, blue eyes dancing.

"I'm happy you asked," Taryn said, crashing her lips to Charlie's. Apparently, library kissing was extra sexy because the sparks that flew when their mouths began to move weren't any ordinary variety. The kiss was slow and deep, and then hot and fast, before settling into a rhythm that made Taryn regret they were in a public venue and Charlie's place of work.

"If I didn't work here…" Charlie said in Taryn's ear, nipping a lobe.

"Who needs a job?" Taryn asked. "Let's live on the street and be happy."

Charlie pulled her lips away and found Taryn's eyes. There was an earnest quality behind hers. "I'm already happy. I want you to know that."

Everything in Taryn softened and spread out. "I'm happy, too."

"I'll be even happier when I can act on all the things I want to do to you right now."

Taryn smiled. "How long until you get off?"

Charlie raised an eyebrow.

"Off work," Taryn amended, the blush on its way, she could feel it. "But I like where you're going with that."

"Three hours."

Taryn kissed her soundly. "Think about me until then?"

Charlie touched Taryn's lips with her thumb reverently. "I will think of nothing else."