Page 78 of Check You Out

“Aidan,” Charlotte cries out and her pussy clenches around me. Her legs follow and clamp around my torso. The sensation of her orgasm and the joy that comes with it is enough to send me hurtling over the edge with her. I burrow my head in her neck as the release courses through me. The only sounds remaining are our breaths and heartbeats.

We remain like that for a few minutes; our bodies spent from the exertion. It’s almost painful to withdraw from her, so I wrap her in my arms and hold her for a long time, planting kisses along her damp skin and murmuring praises in her ear.

Later, when I step into her shower, she surprises me by coming into the stream of water behind me. It’s not a sexy shower, but it still tops the list as the best shower ever.

“Stay the night?” she asks as we towel off among tendrils of steam.

“Yes,” I reply. I’m already envisioning a slow morning before we go to the protest. Drinking tea. Reading books. Making love.

Charlotte kisses me, a hard, soul shattering kiss that sends my stomach into a frenzy. “Good boy.”

33

Charlotte

9 Days until the Council Meeting

I wake the next morning to light streaming in through my curtains. Reaching over, I expect to find a warm, lean body, but I find nothing but a cold bed. I sit up, blinking, and grasp my glasses from their spot on the side table.

“Aidan?” I call out. My gaze darts around the room, taking in the discarded clothes draped over my chair. I only see my shirt and pants. I don’t see the blue linen shirt Aidan wore yesterday or his khaki shorts.

I swing my legs over the side of the bed and step out onto the hard wooden floor. I grab an oversized shirt and pull it over my head.

“Aidan?” I say again as I pad into the kitchen.

He’s not there.

Thelma hunches over her food bowl, inhaling globs of her chicken puree and ignoring me. Aidan must have fed her.

There’s a note on my table.

Went to get breakfast. Be back soon! -Aidan

I smile. Of course, he would go out and get us some food. It doesn’t surprise me that he would go out so early too. I check the microwave clock and it’s just passed seven.

The protest isn’t until noon. Mayor Harrington insisted on doing a lot of the work despite my protests, so all we have to do is show up. I’m hoping that Aidan and I can spend the morning together. Maybe repeat last night.

There’s no one else. There’s only you. I can’t think of anyone, but you.

You are perfection itself.

His words from last night swirl in my brain.

I pad back into my bedroom and see my phone on my chair. I peel the clothes off my chair and drop them on the floor. Dirty clothes are a problem for future Charlotte.

“Fucking hell,” I mutter as my phone flashes a low battery icon and then promptly dies. I must’ve forgotten to charge it last night. At least I remembered to take out my contacts. I find the charger next to my bed and plug my phone in. Yawning, I crawl back under the covers and let out a half-sigh, half-groan. Closing my eyes, I expect sleep to overtake me but instead flashes of what occurred in this very bed just a few years ago speed through my mind: his hands roaming over my skin, his mouth working on my most delicate spots, his body pressed against mine.

The apartment door creaks open, and someone tiptoes across the floor and into the bedroom.

“Aidan?” I call out and sit up in bed, hoping it’s him and not Nicole sneaking in to put all my tea on the top cabinet again.

“Hey, Charlotte,” he replies and I feel warm at the deep timbre of his voice.

He walks in, holding a bag from Triple C, two coffee cups, and Lloyd at his heels. Aidan’s face breaks out into a radiant smile, and my soul warms at the sight of it. While he’s wearing his clothes from last night, they’re wrinkled and his hair is tousled. A lock falls over his forehead and, as he sits down on the bed, I resist the urge to reach up and brush it away.

He wakes up looking perfect. I’m never going to get anything done in the mornings when he’s around.

“I got you a London Fog,” Aidan says in a gentle voice. He hands me one of the cups and pulls out a foil-wrapped bundle. “And a sausage, egg, and cheese on an everything bagel.” Both are warm in my hands.