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A groan issued from deep in Hayden’s chest sent a rush of wetness to the already damp cloth between my legs, and Hayden rotated us, so I was pressed up against the same wall I had observed earlier. The top of the wall pressed into my shoulder blades. That alone would have been enough to keep me feeling safe from a fall to the street below, but Hayden’s arms around me felt as if they would have provided that security on the side of a mountain. And yet, just as the feeling of security registered, a companion emotion appeared: fear. In my thirty-odd years of life, a kiss had never brought so much color into my world, and that terrified me. I left Holly Ridge seeking something more, but never expected this much.
As if Hayden sensed the turmoil in me, his ravenous kisses slowed, but didn’t stop immediately. He treated kissing like a high-endurance sport—a cool-down period was necessary.
When our mouths parted, he kept his body close to mine, allowing him to feel the full-body shiver that moved through me.
“Still cold after all that?” he asked, his hands securely grasped my waist, his face displaying his full—and appropriately earned—confidence in his kissing abilities.
I suddenly found myself unable to meet his eyes, while at the same time, I couldn’t remove my hands from where they rested on his arms. Hayden resolved that for me by stepping back, his hands trailing from my waist and removing him from my reach. The loss of his body heat caused me to shiver again, this time from the crisp late October air.
“Come on, let’s get back inside. I’m sure you’re exhausted.”
I nodded, still silent, and with my eyes downcast, the weight of the moment, the night, the week, the last few months weighing on me.
We made the journey back to our shared condo in silence. The reflection of the elevator walls betrayed the sneaking glances we both made at each other. Hayden seemed to follow my lead and didn’t look directly at me, like I was an easily spooked cat.
He unlocked the door and held it open so I could cross the threshold ahead of him, hanging my bag on the hook inside the door. I broke our silence by groaning in relief as I removed my shoes, the total exhaustion of my body and mind winning out over all other feelings.
Hayden chuckled from his position behind me.
“I’ve never understood how anyone can wear heels like that for an extended period. Don’t get me wrong, they look amazing, but dangerous.”
“Beauty is pain, Hayden. Never forget that. Plus, I’ve been on my feet several hours a day, five or more days a week, since I was sixteen. I haven’t felt my feet in years.”
We moved into the living area together.
“Do you want something to drink? Wine? Or maybe some tea?” Hayden looked a little lost, while also appearing relieved that we were talking again.
“Honestly? I just want to sleep for a million years.”
Hayden nodded. “That makes sense. I probably should turn in too, or at least get out of this monkey suit.”
My mind went to Hayden, stripping out of that tux while I watched. Or better yet, as I helped and licked his skin as it was revealed.
“Charlotte?”
Hayden was halfway down the hallway, looking at me with concern as I had stayed grounded in place. I shook the X-rated images out of my head and smiled, walking toward him and continuing until I reached the door of my room.
“Goodnight, Hayden,” I said as I gripped the doorknob to enter, feeling a hand on my arm.
Hayden turned me in his arms and wrapped his arms around me, enveloping me in a tight hug.
“You were amazing tonight. You should be really proud of yourself and everything you’ve accomplished.” His words were a balm I didn’t know I needed. In our house growing up, hard work and efforts weren’t praised, they were expected. For someone to notice my work and acknowledge it out loud, it meant everything.
I took in a shuddering breath as I felt his lips graze my forehead, and he let me break out of his grip. Moving to close my bedroom door behind me, putting a physical barrier between myself and the temptation to undo all of my plans, Hayden’s “Goodnight, Charlotte” snuck in before I closed the door with a snap. I leaned against the wooden barrier, listening to the silence in the hallway behind me until I heard Hayden’s door close as well. Only then did I give up my vigil post and go about getting to bed, wondering perhaps if there was a way I could have more than I ever thought I deserved.
Chapter
Seventeen
Hayden
I woke up when the sky was just light enough to peek through the cracks in my curtains, alerting me that another morning had risen. The morning isn’t alone in that, I thought wryly, looking down my body to where the sheet was tented. It had been hard and yet so easy to let Charlotte go to her room last night. Something had shut down in her after our amazing kiss. While I would have loved to feel more of her against me, either vertically or horizontally, something held her back. So, I went to my room, alone, and laid in bed. Much like now, I hadn’t allowed myself to touch my rigid cock, even though the scent of Charlotte lingered on my skin. I fell back on the age-old, code-something-in-your-head trick, a computer nerd’s version of counting sheep, and finally drifted off.
In the grey morning light, I thought back to how at peace I felt with Charlotte on the roof, revealing to her how out of my element I felt at my job and in the city. With cheeks rosy from the wind, the bright lights of the fireworks, and Charlotte’s, well Charlotte-ness, how could I not kiss her? And the way she kissed me back…
I groaned, my hand palming my cock through the sheet out of reflex.
No, I thought, my eyes snapping open, ripping the sheet off my naked body and making my way to the shower, where I turned the water on cold and stepped right in. Pressing my palms up against the tile, I rested my weight there, hanging my head, letting the cold water work away my morning wood. Charlotte’s face may have flashed in my mind innocuously before during some solo-sessions, but now that I knew what it was like to have her hands on other parts of me, feel her lips against mine, I wanted to build something with her. Not use thoughts of her as a method of quick release when I wasn’t sure I’d get the chance to touch her like that again.
