“Let me,” Charlotte whispered, slipping her hands under the shoulders to carefully remove the garment.
The satin lining was cool against the top of Charlotte’s hands as it slid down Alex’s strong biceps. Charlotte relished the moment. Drowned in Alex’s steady, warm breath against her cheek, Charlotte took in every inch of Alex’s skin as if seeing it for the first time.
After placing the jacket flat on her dresser with care, Charlotte returned to Alex’s embrace. “I never thought I would get to be with you again,” she whispered against her lips before kissing her softly, basking in the sensation of Alex’s body against hers. Of her hands resting on the small of her back.
“I didn’t think so either,” Alex replied, her full lips grazing Charlotte’s jaw as she kissed her way down to the curve of her neck.
Focused on how the slight contact made her internal temperature climb, Charlotte threw her head back, giving Alex every bit of access she wanted. “I haven’t been able to sleep without you,” she confessed, her head spinning as Alex focused her attention on a particularly sensitive spot over her clavicle. “I missed you so fucking much.”
Alex didn’t smile or make some pithy comment like Charlotte expected. Instead, she kissed her harder, held her closer until the pressure around her ribs made it hard to breathe. It was a pain Charlotte wished would never end.
“You’ll never have to sleep alone again. Not if you don’t want to,” Alex promised as she crept up the inside of Charlotte’s sweater to remove it.
Charlotte’s heart strained against her chest as she lifted her arms so Alex could pull the hoodie over her head. It was too much to assimilate.
A few hours ago, she was sitting in what felt like a cage with six other women, certain that everything she’d ever worked for was gone and that Alex would never speak to her again. Now she was faced with the prospect of what?
Forever? The possibility was too big to imagine.
With a quiet moan, Alex kissed a line down the middle of her bare chest. Charlotte was sure she could feel her heart pounding against her kiss. It was like a subwoofer pounding an erratic bass.
The thin belt around Alex’s trousers opened with a flick of Charlotte’s thumb. A second later, they were pooled around Alex’s feet where Charlotte retrieved them and placed them with the jacket.
Alex’s eyes were dark as they watched her. From the reflection in the mirror over the dresser, Charlotte noticed Alex’s movements as she approached Charlotte from behind.
She didn’t move like some exotic being catching prey anymore.
Gently, Alex wrapped her arms around Charlotte’s torso and kissed her shoulder. Reflexively, she rested her hands over hers and intertwined their fingers. How she’d missed her touch. She’d been starving without it.
Unable to keep her eyes open, Charlotte focused instead on the weight of Alex’s hands as they slipped away from her and pulled her sweatpants o .
It had only taken two steps to undress her. Usually, Charlotte would call that an unfair advantage and pounce Alex, tearing at her clothes. This time, she was adrift on the current. Unafraid to relinquish control.
Alex’s open palms
were warm against her belly as she traversed the soft expanse and slipped lower. Yanked out of the moment, Charlotte remembered that optional grooming had gone by the wayside since she’d confessed the truth to Alex.
Grabbing Alex’s hand, Charlotte’s eyes flew open. “I haven’t—”
“I don’t care,” Alex interrupted, her gaze fixed on her as she wiggled out of her grasp and slipped between her thighs.
“You’re perfect the way you are. You don’t have to change anything for me.”
Alex’s fingers moved against her in slow, lazy circles.
Charlotte’s body responded as if they hadn’t parted for a moment. It shouldn’t have been so easy to go from abject misery to pulsing desire, but there she was.
Before Alex could send her over the edge, Charlotte squeezed her thighs together, stopping Alex’s movements.
“Are you okay? Did I do something wrong? If you’re not ready, we can wait,” Alex pulled her hand away as she whispered in an uncharacteristically unsteady tone.
“No,” Charlotte replied as she turned in her arms. “I just don’t want to go too fast.”
Alex cupped her face with both hands before kissing her.
Greedily, Charlotte parted her lips and moved harder against her. Pushing into her more deeply. As she did, Charlotte fumbled with the top button on Alex’s blouse.
Slowly, Charlotte unbuttoned her top and pushed it apart, revealing the simplest black set she’d ever seen her wear. It didn’t have the lace embellishments or thin fabric of her