Charles
“Charlie!”
“That’s it, baby,” I whispered in her ear. She moaned, clawing my back. She was so incredibly sexy. I was surprised I had lasted this long. I felt the metal of her ring on my skin. She was mine and now everyone would know it. I wanted to claim her as loudly as possible.
I kept my stroke steady. It turned me on to make her come. It was an honor every time she let me touch her. She was it for me. Nothing and nobody else would come close. She whispered my name again. I looked down at her. I would do anything for her. When I was with her I was the man I was supposed to be. My true self, without my history, without the title, without the expectations everyone put on me. Just me.
She came and I could barely hang on, feeling her clench down around me. I shot my load inside her, pumping until I was completely spent. I eased myself off of her but didn’t let go, holding her so we were spooning. We basked silently in the afterglow of our lovemaking. My nose was in her hair. It smelled like sweet tropical fruit.
“I missed you so much,” I said.
“I was gone for like an hour and a half,” she said. I laughed.
“Not today,” I said. “When you left without a word seven years ago.”
“Oh.”
“Oh? Is that all you have to say? Oh? After I tell you I was driven mad when you left me?”
“Okay, you didn’t say all that, first of all, and even if you did, I wouldn’t believe you.”
“Why not?”
“Because you didn’t contact me.” She shifted in my arms so she was facing me.
“I looked, Brenna,” I said. “I swear.” She didn’t look convinced. “I didn’t even know your last name after that summer. I had to find out from some other folk who worked on the beach. You were not an easy woman to find, babe.”
“You looked for me?” she said.
“Of course. I’ve never felt the way I felt about you about any other woman.”
“That’s kind of unsettling, Charles.”
“What?”
“I’m a little mad that you stalked me but somehow even more mad that you stalked me and failed to find me.”
I laughed and hugged her. “I’m sorry I’m so bad at stalking. This time, I just won’t let you leave again.”
“Thanks… I guess.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Charles.”
“And I love our baby. I can’t wait to raise this family with you.”
She was quiet for a second. “What about your family?”
“You’re my family.”
“You know what I mean,” she said.
I laughed remembering the confrontation with my mother. I wasn’t proud but it had to be done. I had to show her that I meant business. She wasn’t going to bully the woman that I loved. She wouldn’t have any say in her grandchild’s life if she wasn’t going to accept her mother. I was fully prepared to cut her off if she decided Brenna was too beneath her station. I loved my mother and I didn’t want it to come to that but I knew my priorities. Her problems with Brenna were nonsensical anyways.
“I told her she could fuck off if she didn’t like the fact that we were going to be together.”
“No, you didn’t,” she said.