Revel (Second Chance Romance #1) (7 page)

“Charlotte!”

She could hear his voice calling to her, the voice she hadn’t heard in a decade. But she couldn’t stop.

“Charlotte!”

She trudged through the hot sand, the ground shifting beneath her as she tried to quickly make her way back to the cottage. What would she do once she was there? She wasn’t sure. She’d close the door on him and never open it again. Then she’d sneak out in the middle of the night and go somewhere else- anywhere else.

What was happening? How was he here? She’d read the article, it said
Declan DeGraff is a proud West Coast transplant. He splits his time between his homes in Marin County and Medina, Washington.

Neither of those places were anywhere near South Carolina.

Of all the times for him to decide to come home!

She’d left her bag, her towel, her magazine, everything out on the beach. She didn’t look back. She was both scared he was chasing her and scared he wasn’t. She wasn’t sure which one frightened her more.

********

Declan was still stuck in the sand, holding a foam football and watching Charlotte run away from him. The shock of seeing her face had almost knocked him over. She was a ghost from his past, the biggest ghost of all, and somehow fate had made them collide again, in almost the same way it had on that day on the Ravenel Bridge.

He’d thought of chasing her, but the look she’d given him when she’d realized… She’d looked terrified. And when she’d literally stood and run from him, it was clear that chasing her down wouldn’t be ideal.

God, she was still beautiful. Those eyes, still sad, still haunting… and her body. It was still as magnificent as he remembered.

All he wanted was to go to her, to tell her everything that had been sitting on his heart for the past decade.

But it was clear that Charlotte Sanders was not interested in hearing it.

********

Charlotte reached the cottage and when she turned around, breathless, she could still see Declan’s tall form in the distance, still standing next to her towel, looking back at her with a look of shock and bewilderment.

I must look insane
, she thought.
He wasn’t even chasing me
.

She entered her house through the sliding patio door on her porch and as soon as the cool burst of air conditioning hit her flushed skin, she began to cry. It was too much, all of this.

She slowly slumped against the glass and slid down to sit, her feet tender from the hot sand, her calves sore from running on it. What did she do now? Would he come to the house? Or would he leave? Her body and heart willed him to knock on her door. Her mind wrestled to overrule both of them.

He was still so fucking handsome. Why did he have to look even better than he did ten years ago? Tall, dark, tan, with a more knowing face. Declan DeGraff was clearly someone who would age well, the proof of the sports he’d played in college still imprinted on his muscular body.

Maybe she should have stayed. But what could she possibly have said? And what could he possibly say after how he’d ended it?

No, she couldn’t talk to him. She wouldn’t. She hoped he didn’t try to come knock on her door. Because she wasn’t answering.

********

Declan couldn’t believe it. Charlotte Sanders was his neighbor.

The Passat in the driveway was hers. He wondered if someone was in the house with her. Certainly Charlotte was married by now. Probably to a handsome doctor, or an attorney. Someone incredibly successful, that’s the only type of man who someone like Charlotte would be compatible with. He couldn’t help but be envious of whomever that man was, couldn’t help but wonder if he made love to her like Declan had, if he knew the curves and freckles of her body the way Declan still remembered them.

Fuck. This was so messed up.

He sat down on the towel she’d just been laying on.

What was he supposed to do now?

The morning after Declan and Charlotte first made love, things were a tad awkward.

Declan had woken up first. She still slept next to him, her arms stuffed under her pillow, one naked tan leg resting above the sheets. He loved the shape of her body. It was like a guitar; all smooth curves. Her skin glowed in the morning light. He took in the sight of her, wanting so badly to wake her and have her again, to taste her mouth and every other part of her body.

Instead he pulled on his pants and shirt and snuck back into the main house to see if he could come up with breakfast for both of them. He quietly went in the side entrance, through the French doors that went into the kitchen.

“Good morning, son!”

Declan nearly jumped out of his skin. His father, Henry, sat at the kitchen table, a newspaper spread out in front of him, steaming mug of coffee in his hand.

“Dad,” Declan sighed. “You scared me. You’re up early.”

“I could say the same about you,” Henry said. “Or are you going to be bed incredibly late?”

Declan shook his head, “Nope, just waking up. Thought I would get some breakfast.”

“Why would you come in from outside?” Henry asked, his eyebrow raised.

“I was visiting Charlotte in the carriage house,” Declan said. “She texted me that… A palmetto bug was in her bathroom. And she’s not from here so she isn’t used to how big they are. So I went in and killed it. Which is why I’m coming in from outside.”

It was possibly the most bullshit and convoluted story Declan had ever come up with. But Henry DeGraff seemed to be bored with him already. He went back to his paper.

“When am I going to meet the girl who is living here, anyway?” Henry asked. “I mean, you didn’t even ask if she could stay here and we know nothing about her.”

Declan sighed, “You’ve never had any interest in my other friends who’ve rented here. Charlotte is fine. She’s a lot cleaner and much more dependable than any of my buddies who crashed here before. And she works a lot. But if you and Mom insist on meeting her, I’ll bring her over sometime.”

Henry shrugged, “I don’t care either way. She’ll be gone by the end of summer anyway.”

Declan’s heart sank. He was actually hoping maybe she could stay longer. He wasn’t sure if she had plans for next semester yet.

“Maybe longer,” Declan said. “She’s still looking for a place.”

Henry looked up from his paper, “Certainly not. No, she has to be out by summer. We don’t run a hotel here. I don’t mind you having friends stay in the house for the summer but you know no one stays beyond that. And really, I think it’s time we stop with the renting out the carriage house stuff. We don’t need the money. It’s a liability risk, really.” Henry went back to looking at the business section.

Declan was angry now, “Whatever. So much for helping someone out that needs it. Wouldn’t want people to think the DeGraffs are charitable or anything.”

Before Henry could respond, Declan was out the door, walking quickly back to the only person he wanted to be near right now.

********

Charlotte had woken up not long after Declan left, and was heartbroken to see the bed empty next to her. She started to panic a bit, inwardly, trying to go over the previous night’s events in her head.

But before she could convince herself it was a mistake, he was back. He slipped through the door, his face flushed. He looked upset.

“Are you okay?” Charlotte reached for him. “I was worried…”

“I’m sorry,” Declan crawled back into bed next to her, wrapping his arms around her. “I left to get us breakfast from the house, since your fridge is always empty. I ran into my dad. He just really irritates me. But you don’t need to be worried, I was coming right back.”

She nuzzled herself against his chest, the memory of holding onto him for dear life as he made her come still fresh on her mind. Her inner thighs twitched at the thought.

“I’m so glad,” she said. “I missed you. Even for just a few minutes.”

She looked up to meet his gaze and he kissed her softly, growing hard beneath the sheet and the feel of her skin against him.

“You’re still naked,” he whispered against her hair. “Do you know what that does to me?”

“Show me,” she said, straddling him. “I need you again. I’ve never had sex in the morning, after all.”

********

Declan had never been with a girl that made him constantly want her. He’d been with girls before and he’d had his fun, but he was always glad to see them leave afterward. With Charlotte it was different. She was the high he never wanted to come down from.

That morning, after making love again, they laid next to one another, panting and smiling, watching the ceiling fan whirl above them.

“What have you done to me?” Declan said out loud.

Charlotte smiled, “What have we done to each other?”

Declan pulled her toward him, “I want to take you to breakfast.”

“It would be more like brunch now,” Charlotte pointed out. “Or early lunch. But I’ll take you up on it.”

“Have you been to Hominy Grill?” he asked, sitting up to pull a t-shirt over his broad shoulders. She sat up next to him, the sheet wrapped around her, her wild hair tousled.

“Nope,” she said. “I never go out to eat for the most part. Not in this town.”

“God you look good,” he said, kissing her. “You’ve made me famished. I need sustenance so I can continue to give you everything your body needs.”

“Oh?” she teased. “And what does my body need?”

“Me,” Declan said. “And that’s okay for me to say. Because mine needs yours just as much.”

********

Hominy Grill is one of Charleston’s most popular breakfast destinations.

“Get the Big Nasty,” Declan said as they sat down at a table near the window. “It’s what I always get.”

Charlotte looked at the menu, “I think I’m getting the huevos rancheros.”

Declan took a long sip from his glass of sweet tea and shook his head, “You’re such a damn Yankee. But suit yourself. You’re going to wish you’d followed my advice when you see them bring me mine.”

Charlotte smiled, “Well, you’ll have to give me a bite, won’t you?”

It was so different now, between them. Charlotte was almost out of her mind with happiness over what had happened the previous night. She was still sore, she guessed because it was her first time. But it was a lovely kind of ache, it made her feel like she belonged to someone, and that someone was Declan DeGraff. A guy almost all of Charleston would want to claim as theirs.

He’d been so kind to her, so gentle, yet so aggressive at the same time. His confidence had been what sent her over the edge, and his need to use her body for his own pleasure. At one point she’d had an orgasm that morning that came in waves- one after the other after the other. She’d called out his name, involuntarily.

“Declan!” she’d screamed. It had only spurred him into thrusting harder, into coaxing more from her. She’d dug her nails into his shoulders, biting her lip ‘til it was almost bleeding as he’d fucked her that morning, sweat making them slippery against each other.

And now here they sat, just like any other couple, eating a charming breakfast together in a city that now represented the place where she’d finally become a woman.

She’d gone from being so miserable to feeling on top of the world.

********

“More,” she begged him later that afternoon. “Please.”

She was naked on her bed and his face was buried between her legs. His licks and probes were driving her to the edge of her sanity. He’d take her to the cliff of coming, and pull back, making her whimper.

“Beg me louder,” he growled. “Tell me exactly what you want, Charlotte.”

“To come!” she screamed and suddenly that’s exactly what she was doing. She bucked against his face, her hips rising, her toes curling as he sucked on her clit, his fingers inside her.

“God,” she whispered as she came down from it. He had slip up to her now, her legs now wrapped around his waist as he entered her slowly.

“I need to come,” he said. “That was too fucking sexy. I need to come so bad, Charlotte.”

His eyes were pleading as he thrusted and she wrapped her sweaty arms around him, pulling his face toward hers.

“Only if you look at me,” she whispered. “And I can come too.”

She could hear his thrusts, the sound of him going in and out of her making her aroused again. His body was so strong, so commanding and hard with lean muscle. She still couldn’t believe this was happening, that this moment was real.

“Charlotte!” he called out to her and she felt him emptying himself inside of her, his seed painting the inside of her body. She writhed as he slowed his thrusts, growling above her from the pain of the intense orgasm.

“Fuck,” he said as he collapsed beside her. “That was the most incredible sexual experience… ever.”

She grinned, “But I’m such a newbie at this…”

He shook his head, “It doesn’t matter. You’re so fucking beautiful and perfect and it’s like my body was made to fit inside of yours.” He turned to her, touching her face. “I feel like this has to be a dream.

She kissed him then, long and hard, still wanting him even then.

“Can I make myself come?” she asked. “I’m still so horny…”

She’d never said the word horny to a man. It almost made her giggle.

“Of course,” he said, sitting up. “I want to watch you.”

He pulled the sheet off of her and her nipples immediately stiffened. He leaned over and put the right one in his mouth, sucking on it hard.

She sighed as her hands traveled down her taut stomach to her pussy. She made circles around her clit, just like she’d been doing for years, without anyone ever watching. The feel of his mouth on her, and his eyes staring at her intensely, made it easy for the orgasm to happen. She arched her back as she came, moaning loudly as she finished rubbing it out next to him. His tongue flicked over the bud of her nipple and he smiled.

“That,” he said. “Was fucking beyond sexy. What were you thinking about when you did that?”

“You,” she touched his face. “I can’t think of anyone else. Ever again.”

********

They’d fallen asleep after that, a long afternoon nap that fell into night time. This time Charlotte woke up first and she stared at Declan as he slept. He was a back sleeper, and one of his forearms rested on his abs as he quietly snored next to her. She leaned down to softly kiss his lips.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “For making me happy. Even if it’s just today.”

She hadn’t expected him to hear her, so she was surprised when he replied.

“Why would it be just today?” he asked, his eyes flickering open. “You mean you used me for great sex?” He winked at her and she laughed.

“I thought you might…” she started. “I don’t know. I just thought maybe…”

He pulled her toward him, “I don’t want it to be just last night. Or today. Or tomorrow. I don’t want this to end anytime soon. Or at all.”

She brushed his hair back from his forehead, “Me either.”

“Good,” he said and they kissed for a few moments, the touch of their lips saying more than words ever could.