Strangers (11 page)

She raised her eyes to his.

“What do you see?”

She thought for a moment.
“You’ve got a spot.”

Charlie gave a snort of laugher.
“You’re not supposed to tell the fifth-sexiest man in UK, he’s got a spot.”

“Who voted?
Senior citizens?”

“I really want to fuck you.” He growled in his throat.

“I really want to be in Hawaii, but we don’t always get what we want.”

“Fuck me and I’ll take you to Hawaii.”

“That’s what Richard said.”

Charlie sighed in frustration.
“I’m nothing like Dickhead.”

Kate cast her eyes over his face.
“No, he never had spots.”

Charlie glared.
“I’ve been under a lot of stress and you’re not helping.
Go and put on your wedding dress.”

“Why?”

“So I can take it off.”

“No.”

“You could have at least thought about it,” he complained.

“I’m going to bed.” Kate jumped up.
If she stayed any longer, she’d be unable to resist him.
“I’ll get you some sheets and pillows.”

But when she turned away from the cupboard in the hall, he stood right behind her.
“Can I sleep with you?”

She brushed past him.
“The couch is comfortable.”

He leaned in the doorway as Kate made up the bed.

“I won’t hurt you,” Charlie said.

Kate struggled with a pillowcase.
How could he not?
He’d sleep with her and dump her.
She turned to look at him.

“You’re right,” he said in a dull voice.
“I would hurt you.
I hurt everyone I touch.
Keep away from me.
I’ll leave first thing tomorrow.”

“Charlie.” She wanted to go to him, put her arms around him, but knew what would happen if she did.

He fidgeted, biting his nails, then rubbed his neck.

“Why should I think I’ve changed because I didn’t die when I expected to?
I’m still the same fucked-up wanker I’ve always been.”

Kate walked over to the door.
“Then prove you can change.”

“How?”

“No more cigarettes, alcohol or drugs.
No sleeping with someone just because you can.”

“I’d rather die.”

“Fine.
Go ahead and kill yourself.
Don’t make a mess in my apartment.”

Charlie laughed.
“You’re crazy.”

“And you’re not?”

“Help me,” he muttered.
“Please.”

“What do you want me to do?
Chain you up?”

“I wouldn’t mind being handcuffed to your bed.”

He’d moved closer.
Kate backed away and bumped into the wall.

“What’s the matter?
Run out of smart comments?” His face stopped inches from hers.

“Just thinking maybe I wouldn’t mind handcuffing you to my bed,” she said.

She didn’t miss the spark in his eyes.
Kate ducked under his arm and stepped into the hall.
“Then I know I’d be safe on the couch.” She shut herself in the bathroom.

Kate’s heart hammered as she cleaned her teeth.
She might as well juggle with knives as flirt with an expert like Charlie Storm.
She was going to bleed.
It was only a matter of time.

Chapter Seven

Charlie tossed and turned on the couch.
He wanted a cigarette and a drink.
No, he
needed
a cigarette and a drink.
He wouldn’t have turned down a line of coke, and he grew increasingly desperate for Kate.
His hand slid toward his mouth and he attacked his nails, chewing the edges.
What did he want most?
Maybe if he had a cigarette, he’d stop thinking about a drink, only he really needed to stop thinking about fucking Kate.
He could help himself to a few quid from her purse, nip out now it was dark and buy some cigs and maybe a bottle of wine, but he couldn’t buy Kate.
Her, “you’ve got a spot”, had thrilled him more than she could know.
Telling him he was blotchy— Charlie smiled.
No one had ever dared say that.

But he couldn’t figure her out.
She’d felt that connection between them, he’d seen it in her eyes.
She wanted him, but wouldn’t admit it.
He’d had women like that before, playing hard to get, thinking it made them more attractive.
They didn’t continue once they found it didn’t work, but Kate wasn’t playing a game.
Charlie rolled over and groaned, trying to get comfortable and knowing it wasn’t going to happen.
Not the getting comfortable, but the getting a shag.
He wanted to climb into her beautiful bed and into her body.
He wanted to feel her hands around his cock, then her wet lips and after that the tight clasp of her pussy.
He wanted to hear her moan while she begged him not to stop fucking her, but more than all that he wanted to make her happy and help her forget Richard—which had to be why he hadn’t pushed harder to share her bed.
His cock didn’t agree with that strategy.
It was so hard, it hurt.

Charlie wasn’t used to people saying no.
Not being able to have what he wanted was a novelty, albeit a frustrating one.
The more he tried not to think about her lying in the next room, the more she occupied his mind.
He could have gone to check on her, asked if he could lie on top of the covers and talk, knowing it would only be a short time before he’d be under them with her, but he didn’t move.
His balls were rock-hard and aching, but Charlie was determined to do the right thing for once in his miserable life, and leave her alone.

Leaving himself alone was another matter.
His hand slid inside his pants and grasped his cock.
Shouldn’t take long.
He managed one caress before the living room door opened.
Charlie’s hand froze in mid-squeeze and his breath caught in his throat.
Oh God.
She’d put on her wedding dress.
He removed his hand from his tackle, because that was definitely one right move, but he wasn’t sure what else to do.
Pretend to be asleep?
Wait for her to come to him?
Leap from the couch, peel off that dress and fuck her senseless?
None of the above?

Instinct told him she wouldn’t move again and he got up.
But she stepped over the jigsaw and stood in front of him.
Charlie kept his arms at his sides, fingers twitching.

“I lay in the dark, wondering if the door would open and what I’d do if it did,” she said.
“Pretend to be asleep?
Drag you into bed?
Everything’s been running through my head on a continuous loop—the two of us colliding in the sea, how we have nothing in common and everything in common.”

Charlie hoped she couldn’t see his erection.
If he held her gaze, she might not look down, though how could she miss the huge tent in his sleep pants?
And it
was huge.

“I feel guilty because I want you,” Kate whispered.

He stepped from intolerable heat into the cool of air-conditioned comfort as relief swept through him, only to slide straight back into the sun when his cock pulsed in excitement, knowing something better than his hand was possible.
Charlie suspected pre-cum was leaving a large, wet spot on his pants.
Thank fuck it was dark.

“You made it clear how much you hated the fact that everyone wants you.
Why should you think me any different to the women who’ve fallen for your good looks and sexy smile?”

But she
was
different.
“Do you think I’ve got a sexy smile?” Oh God, was that the best that he could manage?

“Once you’ve got rid of that spot,” Kate said.

Charlie laughed.

“You asked me to help you,” she whispered.

“Yes.” His voice was thick with emotion but had he asked for her help?
He couldn’t remember, not with a brain fogged by lust.
Only one thing he needed help with at the moment and it was crying for attention.

Kate sighed.
“I wondered what the hell I was doing lying alone in there, with the door closed.
Why did we both have to be unhappy?
After what’s happened over the last couple of days, why shouldn’t I sleep with you?”

Charlie wasn’t about to argue.
Kate reached for the side of his face, brushed the back of her fingers over his cheek before her hand fell to his jaw.
One finger ran along the line of his lips.
The hairs stood up on his arms and the ache in his groin shifted to bloom in his chest.

“Are you real?” she asked.

He licked the pad of her finger with his tongue and put her hand over his heart.
It beat hard and fast and he knew she could feel it.
Charlie smiled and she sighed.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“You look so bad and so sexy.
I’ve unleashed a demon I have no hope of controlling.”

“I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do,” he said, worried she was talking herself out of this.

“If you’re my reward for all the bad things that have happened to me, then what am I for you?” Kate asked.

“My angel.”

She snorted and he laughed.

He opened his arms wide.
“Have me.”

“I’ve changed my mind.
I’ve gone off you now.”

“I’m bloody perfect, apart from the spot, obviously.
What’s to go off?” He dropped his arms.

“You can’t hold a pose for more than ten seconds.
You can’t sit still for more than twenty.
You have the concentration of a flea, the mind of a sewer rat, the mouth of a docker and your nails are bloody awful.”

“So, do you fancy me?”

“You may be ridiculously good-looking, but you’re also arrogant and whiny.”

Charlie bit his lip, trying not to laugh.

“You’re a bad guy, Charlie Storm.
A total shit.”

“You fancy the pants off me, then?”

“Did I mention you were big-headed and greedy?” Kate growled.
“You probably think you’re a better lover than…”

“Who?” Charlie pressed.

“Richard,” she said.

He raised his eyebrows.
“I
know
I’m better than Dickhead.”

“Now you have something to prove.”

“You talked me into that.
Smart woman.”

“No, I think you talked
me
into that.”

“Oh Kate,” he whispered.
“You’re so cute.
He must have been mad.” And at last, he reached for her.

His hands moved to her hips, pulling her against him.
When Charlie buried his face in her neck and felt her soft, warm lips on his shoulder, he was swept away in a flash flood of desire.
He slid his hands up the sides of her body, curved them around her neck, tipped up her chin and kissed her.

Charlie’s first kisses were always the same, the oft-practiced light brushing of lips, allowing him to taste a woman, letting her taste him.

Not this time.

He was as tormented with desire as if he’d been a schoolboy offered his first chance to snog a girl.
He hovered on the verge of implosion, explosion, complete bloody destruction.

Too hungry for slow, too desperate for gentle, he kissed Kate as if it were the last thing he’d ever do.
If she’d shown the slightest resistance, he thought he might have cried, but he knew she felt the same.
Their tongues invaded each other’s mouths, twisting together, surging, discovering.
His mind reeled with the scent of her, the taste of her, the feel of her, and Charlie growled deep in his throat like some sort of animal.
It bloody scared him, but he couldn’t help it.
Neither of them breathed.

When their lips slid apart, their eyes wide, they gasped simultaneously and rested their heads side by side, ear to ear, panting in unison.

“Fuck, fuck.
Are you okay?” Charlie whispered.

“No.”

“Me neither.” He was in imminent danger of coming in his pants.
His balls had drawn up to the base of his cock and had started their telltale tingle.
Shit, from a kiss?
Women didn’t know how lucky they were.
If they came fast, everyone was happy.
If men came too soon, everyone was disappointed.

He pressed his forehead against hers and they stood for several moments not doing anything other than holding each other while they dragged their breathing back under control.
This
was different.
She
was different.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.
Had he ever asked a woman that?
Not something he needed to do because he always knew what they were thinking.

Not with Kate.

“That I’ve never been kissed before,” she whispered.

Charlie pulled back and gave her a bemused look.
“I’m the first guy to kiss you?
What was Dickhead playing at?”

“No, you’re the first guy to
kiss
me.”

His heart swelled with pleasure and his fingers played with the material of her dress.
“You made me lose control.”

“Me too.
Maybe we’re not good for each other.”

Charlie swallowed hard.
“Maybe we’re perfect for each other.”

Her hands wrapped around his and squeezed.

“I was cheated of this moment,” she said.
“I spent so long sewing this, pouring all my love into it.
I wanted— Will you undress me?”

If Dickhead had been in the vicinity, Charlie would have beaten him to a pulp, smashed his teeth down his throat and kneed him in the balls.
Probably.
Most of Charlie’s fuck-ups hadn’t been deliberately cruel.
Then he thought of the fat girl he’d told to piss off and gulped.
He glanced at the curtainless window.
Kate’s gaze followed his.

“I don’t care,” she said.

He spun her around and lowered the zip.
The slinky material fell open to reveal her smooth, bare back with the intriguing white scar.
Charlie stroked her shoulders and her skin fluttered under his fingers.
As though he’d touched a live wire, white heat flashed through his hands and raced to his groin.
What was already hard, grew impossibly harder.
There was something to be said for baggy sleep pants, even if they were on the short side.
He tugged the wedding dress down so it fell past Kate’s hips to puddle on the floor and then he moaned.
The only thing she now wore was a pair of not-there panties, the silver beaded band crossing her lower back and dropping down the crease of her butt.
It looked so perfect, the breath froze in his throat.

“You have the sweetest backside.”

He slid his fingers over her bottom, stroked the soft skin, trailing a fingertip down the beaded cleft before slipping his hands around to the front of her body.
He dragged her back against his chest and buried his face in her neck.
As he feathered his fingers under her breasts, Kate’s breathing turned noisy.
Charlie let her go for a moment, just long enough to secretly yank down on his balls to buy a few more minutes, and then wrenched the T-shirt over his head.
He tossed it to the floor and moved back against her, trembling at the skin-to-skin contact, nudging her toward the wall so the side of her face rested against the plaster.
He couldn’t remember ever being this turned on.