Wedded in Passion (4 page)

I couldn’t allow him to let me off that
easy. “No, you wouldn’t have, Char. You wouldn’t have stayed in a
relationship where the person dumped all their insecurity onto your
shoulders.”

He leaned back. “My past relationships have
been far from perfect. If they’d been great they would have worked
out.”

“
What happened?” I
couldn’t keep myself from asking, even though at the moment I was
having a hard time thinking of Char with other women.

“
Simple answer. Something
was always missing.”

Respecting his privacy I nodded. Revealing a
little of my own drama I said, “You know, I convinced myself I was
in love with Michael and that he loved me… But, I think in all this
mess I know I want someone that likes me and respects me.”

“
Something you get from a
friend
with
the
bonus of sex.”

I tossed the pillow beside me at him. “You
are such a man.”

“
Why, yes my dear, I am,”
Char said in a perfect Rhett Butler imitation.

I laughed loud, didn’t even try to stifle it
to a discreet fake twitter sounds as my ex and his friends were
frequently sharing. It felt damn good to be me.

Char smiled. “I’ve missed your laugh.”

“
I’m sure people in the
next state could hear it.”

“
Good. People should hear
happiness.”

He was right. I was happy at that moment.
With him. “Hey! You got me off thought again.”

He pulled his face into an innocent look,
his eyes wide. “What?”

“
Don’t try it. Why are you
here?” I grabbed another pillow and held it up as if I was prepared
to whack him with it.

“
Okay. Okay. Your mother
invited me. She sent me an invitation.”

Slamming the cushion onto my lap, I said, “I
knew it. She was so insistent on taking the list to Wendy herself.
I should have known she was up to something.”

“
Are you
upset?”

Smiling, I shook my head. “No. I’m glad she
had the foresight.” Reaching over I took hold of his hand. “I
needed a real friend and no one else would have done but you.”

His strong hand enveloped mine as his thumb
stroked my palm.

“
I’m glad I was here,
too.”

The energy circling us continued to wrap
around us, pulling us together even as we sat in the same position.
Something was happening.

“
Why didn’t we ever
date?”

“
I don’t know.” I answered
him honestly. It was something I never really considered. Char was
always there, always a part of my life, and I never analyzed our
relationship further.

“
You never thought about
us? Thought what if?”

“
I always thought about
us.” My words gave me pause, not because they weren’t true but
because of the depth of truth in them. “Even when I had to keep my
distance from you. When I had a good day I would pick up my cell
phone but would stop myself. When I was having bad days I’d sit
quietly somewhere and think about the trips our families took or
the conversations we had for hours over the phone while we both
were in college. You were my solace.”

His gaze lowered to our joined hands, then
he looked into my face again. “Is that it?”

“
What do you want me to
say, Char?” I searched his features, looking for some
hint.

He glanced away and I watched him inhale and
then exhale slowly. When he turned back to me, he said, “I’ve dated
other women, Katy. However, I never fooled myself into thinking
they were really the person I wanted. I was just too afraid to ruin
our friendship if I told you how I felt.”

Oh,
goodness
. The intensity in his soft brown
eyes caused my heartbeat to cease for a moment.

Leaning toward me, he continued, “I’ve
thought about seeing you naked. Wondered if the world would stop
moving while I made love to you. Your scent haunted me nights. I
wanted to know your taste and touch.”

He was seducing me with words and the light
caress of his fingers on mine.

“
For one moment I just
wanted to know if this overwhelming kismet feeling I have every
time I’m around you is felt by you, too. If I know
that
I can easily
continue with the rest of my life.” His words were bold, demanding
and zealous.

I couldn’t breathe. Every ounce of air in my
lungs and the room had been vacuumed out. The kind, sweet, gentle
Char I’d known all my life had been replaced by the forceful and
passionate man before me. This man reached into my soul and pulled
out the secret emotions I’d harbored for years inside of me.

Placing a hand along his
cheek, I found my voice and confessed, “After my sixteenth
birthday, when my parents had that family dinner at the expensive
restaurant and you danced with me as the pianist played
When I Need You
. That
night I had my first wet dream…it was of you.”

“
Shit.” He closed his eyes
and his hand was squeezing my hand.

I could feel the power of the emotions
driving through him.

“
Char…” I
hesitated.
Had I gone too far?

His lids lifted and he stared at me, his
eyes now so dark they looked obsidian and captivating.

He dragged me across the couch to him. “I’ve
never dreamed of any woman but you, Katy.”

I thought he would kiss me, but he only
pressed his forehead to mine.

“
I know right now you just
need a friend, but I want you.”

This was what I needed. To lose myself in
the arms of a man who desired me—for me. I didn’t fool myself into
thinking that I was just using Char to be the salve on the ache
Michael had left. No, I wasn’t that cruel. However, any thought
that the moment meant more I could not analyze. Not now.

“
I want you,
to—”

He captured my mouth in a kiss before I
could finish my sentence. It was passionate, devastating to my very
existence.

Slipping my arms up, I buried my hands in
his hair and felt his cool locks caress my skin.

We gave and took from each other in the kiss
as our tongues pressed back and forth from his mouth to mine.

Needing more contact with him, I straddled
his legs.

Wrapping his arms around my waist, he pulled
me forward and settled me over the hard length of his cock. Through
his pants I could feel the heat of it against my sex. I wanted to
know what it would be like inside of me. I pressed down against
him.

Groaning, he yanked his mouth from mine. His
breathing was rough as he took my face between his hands. Exhaling
a hard breath he kissed me again, feeding me his air and taking
mine from me. I had never experienced a kiss so potent that I felt
as if I was reborn in it.

When he removed his lips this time, he held
me and stared into my eyes.

My hands had slid down to his chest and
against my palms I could feel the beating of his heart and swore it
matched mine.

“
I want to make love to
you, Katy. But, I didn’t bring a condom with me.” He shook his
head. “Never saw this moment happening.”

Lifting my hand, I caressed his lips,
swollen from my kisses. I wondered if his felt as tender and alive
as mine did. “I’m on birth control. Besides, it’s been six months
since Michael and I have been intimate. In that time I’ve been
tested. I’m clean.”

“
My last girlfriend was a
year ago.” He dragged a finger down the side of my neck, ending
between my breasts. “I got tired of women that weren’t you. I make
a habit of getting tested six months after any
relationship.”

“
Good practice, doc,” I
teased. “Since we’re both good,” I rotated my hips, “what do you
want to do about it?”

“
Oh, Katy, I’m a lot
better at showing you.” Placing a hand on my thigh, he slid it up
under his shirt I wore and touched my sex.

My breath caught. “Char…”

“
Sweet heavens, your wet,
sweetheart.” His finger glided between the folds of my sex and
entered me.

Leaning back slightly, I offered myself for
his caress. His touch felt good, it eased the ache some between my
legs. I knew it would not be enough. I would need something greater
inside of me. “Oh, Char…you did this to me.”

He removed his finger.

“
I’m going to be the one
to take care of it, too.” A second finger accompanied the first
when he pressed it inside me again. In and out, he guided me into
the atrium of desires palace. His fingers curved at just the right
angle and stroked the ideal spot along my walls behind my clit that
had me thrusting against his fingers.

“
Ah…” I cried out.
Supporting my weight on my hands, I squeezed his knees. Gripping
him hard as the jaws of an orgasm clamped down on me and consumed
me.

Tossing my head back, I came hard, bucking
against his palm. I collapsed against him, weak with pleasure and
wonder, as if I’d never had a real climax before. But every
experience before this moment paled in comparison.

Char kissed the side of my neck, allowing me
the moment. His hand was still between my thighs.

When the blood rushing through my body had
calmed enough for me to speak, I pressed my lips against his ear.
“How about we do that again, but with you inside of me.”

“
Hell, yeah.”

Smiling, I rose up on my knees and gave him
the room he needed to undo his pants. He lifted his hips and slid
his pants to his thighs.

I feasted my gaze on the thick, long length
before me. I had to touch him. Wrapping my fingers around his cock,
I squeezed and pumped it once, twice.

He sucked in a breath. “I love your hands on
me.”

“
I feel the same way.” I
winked at him.

Grabbing the shirt he wore, he snatched it
over his head and tossed it to the floor. Besides the sculpted
muscles of his chest, I couldn’t help noticing the silver chain
around his neck with a ring dangling from it.

It was a woman’s ring. A pear-shaped
chocolate diamond set above a silver band. My heart clenched in my
chest for a moment.

Whose is it? I wondered. He’d said it had
been over a year since his last girlfriend. Had she broken his
heart? Was that the real reason he’d been single for a year?
Releasing him, I reached up, but I caught myself just before I
touched it.

It was at that moment I knew I loved Char,
knew I had always loved him. Maybe it was because seeing the ring I
knew that some other woman could have had him for life, taking him
away from me permanently. Someone else would have him. He’d always
been there for me, even when I wasn’t there for him. The knowledge
that I hadn’t deserved his friendship ate at me; crushed my
heart.

Seeming impervious to my observation of the
jewelry and my thoughts, Char said, “Your turn. Shirt off. I want
to see all that lovely brown skin.”

We have this moment.

Deciding not to allow anyone to intrude on
this time between us, I followed his orders. Taking hold of the
hem, I lifted my only covering. When it was off my head I let it
sail across the room. “Better?”

“
Much.” Cupping my
breasts, which were eye-level to him with me still on my knees, he
pinched my nipples.

I hissed out a breath at the smarting in the
taut tips.

Taking one into his mouth, he calmed the
sting and incited the ache in my sex.

I gripped his shoulders and held him against
me, loving the feel of his mouth on my breasts.

Moving from one to the other, he drew on me
and circled the peaks with his tongue.

My need was so great, I would have lowered
myself onto his shaft, but his hold on me was firm and kept me in
place.

When his mouth released, he let me down
slowly, controlling my descent until my sex touched the head of his
hard cock.

Holding me with one hand, he took hold of
his length in his other hand and slipped it down my slit guiding it
inside me.

He was stretching my pussy wide, forcing me
to take all of him. As wet as I was, I had to rise a few times to
accept him from crown to root. Full and seated at the base of his
member, I rotated my hips enjoying this first, being joined with
Char.

“
You feel so good, Katy.
Tight, wet and all mine.” He kissed me.

I couldn’t argue with his words, I was his.
No matter what happened when this night was over, I belong to
him…and he was mine.

Scooting to the edge of the couch, he took
hold of my hips and pressed himself deeper.

Moaning, I began loving him physically.

Up and down, I rode him. Rotating my hips
and squeezing my sex around his cock I worked hard on pleasing us
both.

Palming my ass, Char thrust into me,
catching my rhythm each time I lowered myself onto his shaft.

Soon our pace became hard, erratic as we
both fought with and against each other propelling us toward
ecstasy.

“
Come on, my love…give it
to me...just like that.”

Incited by his chants and praise, I rode
with a rigorous effort, popping my hips on each downstroke until
nothing but the slapping of our bodies and groans echoed around the
room.

Unable to hold back the next climax, my body
shook as I cried out, filled with joy as unadulterated
gratification flowed along the rivers in my veins and consumed
me.

Char let out a loud, rough groan, and came
seconds behind me.

Time stood still as the room fell silent
around us. Resting against his chest, I didn’t think, but enjoyed
his arms surrounding me.