In response, Alex’s grip tightened on her hips, urging them to rock in a slow, rhythmic pace. The minimal amount of friction sent a pang of desire throbbing through Charlotte’s body. It was the painful realization that she wasn’t going to be able to seduce Alex while maintaining any semblance of control. There was no way to stay connected to her conscious mind.
Alex’s hands were warm as they slipped under Charlotte’s shirt and over her back. With each inch they moved closer to the clasp of her bra, Charlotte’s kiss grew more frantic.
Maybe if they could just get the first time out of the way, Charlotte would be able to regain her senses. She couldn’t do her job if she was as desperate and unhinged as a cat in heat.
The unappealing image forced Charlotte to regain control of herself. She broke their kiss and tossed her head back to get her loose hair out of her eyes before returning her attention to Alex’s face. At least she looked as lustful as Charlotte felt.
“Can anyone see us in here?” Charlotte asked to buy time to gather herself.
Alex snaked her hand around the front of Charlotte’s shirt as she glanced up at her. Her eyes were dark pools of desire and nearly enough to rob Charlotte of the ability to speak.
“Why?” Alex asked, her hand gently caressing Charlotte’s trembling abdomen. “Do you like to be watched?”
There was no judgment in Alex’s tone. No surprise. She was just collecting a fact. Something to know along with any
allergies or salad dressing preference.
“I don’t know,” Charlotte admitted honestly despite herself. “I’ve never been watched,” she added as Alex’s hand crept over the side of her bra. It wasn’t nearly close enough to where she wanted to be touched. Her eyes slipped closed as her hips began to sway again. “
Have you?”
“Have I what?” Alex’s voice was low and far away as her fingers yanked down the cup of Charlotte’s bra.
“Been watched,” she asked without groaning, a nearly impossible task as her rock-hard nipple grazed against the fabric of her shirt after being exposed.
“A few times,” Alex confessed, taking Charlotte’s nipple between her fingers and eliciting an uncontrollable moan.
“It’s not my favorite, but I’m happy to oblige if you’d like to try it.”
Charlotte was too focused on what Alex’s fingers were doing to respond. She’d never wanted to be touched everywhere at once before.
“That feels so good,” Charlotte groaned, lost to the overwhelming sensation. She struggled to open her eyes. To watch Alex watch her. “You’re so hot,” she confessed against her will.
Alex licked her kiss-swollen lips as she gazed up at her slowly. The combination of her touch and sultry gaze was lethal. Charlotte crumpled forward, capturing her in another messy kiss.
“I want to touch you,” Charlotte moaned as she left Alex’s lips to kiss a trail down her neck and toward her collarbone. “To devour you.”
Alex’s breath hitched when Charlotte nibbled her throat while she clawed at the buttons on her shirt. Alex stopped her.
“Doing everything all at once takes half the fun out of it, don’t you think?”
Charlotte had to stop herself from pouting or whining or something equally as obnoxious.
Whatever expression she wore made Alex chuckle and cup her face. “Come on. I prepared lunch.”
Begrudgingly, Charlotte slid o her lap, but not before she indulged in another kiss. With the evidence of her arousal pooling uncomfortably in her underwear, Charlotte tried to smooth her jeans and pull the material away from her body. As she did, she noticed a familiar little succulent on the bookshelf near the bed.
“Is that the one I got you? It’s still alive?”
Alex slid in behind her, hooking her thumb in Charlotte’s belt loop. The gesture sent a warm heaviness spreading over Charlotte’s chest, though it had already started when she noticed the plant.
“And about to flower, which is rare. It’s happy here,” she added before starting toward the screen door leading to the aviary.
As Charlotte followed, she wondered what it might be like to be the little succulent. To be cared for in such a perfect environment. To be treated so gently. Her stomach churned at the thought, and she left it behind in Alex’s sanctuary.
AFTER LUNCH, Alex was called to help a neighbor do something with her pygmy goats and left Charlotte alone in her house.
She would have tagged along to see what the hell a pygmy goat looked like, but the woman sounded frantic, and Charlotte thought it better form not to invite herself.