Take Me Out (13 page)

After we finished our meal, we strolled down the little boardwalk to the beach. It was a clear night with a bright, full-moon lighting the water. There was just enough light for us to see each other, but it was dark enough for us to feel isolated. I kicked off my shoes and we walked hand-in-hand down to the water.

We laughed and kissed and walked along the shore with our feet in the freezing water. He told me about his brothers and bits and pieces about his mother, finally opening up about the web site which had made him and Drew so much money. It was like a whole new layer of this man and with each came a new layer of love for him.

As I dug my feet down in the sand, Bentley took my hands in his and turned to me. I could see the struggle on his face. His focus kept shifting to a small light in the distance.

“So...” he said as he ran his feet through the sand once more, looking down and then back up into my eyes. “I set up a little something special up the beach. I hope you like it.”

“God, Bentley! You had me so worried. You’ve been so damn antsy all night. Show me.” I grabbed his hand and we started walking in the direction of the small light. The closer we got to the light, the more I could see. It was a small blanket laid in the middle of a private cove surrounded by candles. Each corner of the blanket had a different candle giving off just enough light for two people to see each other in the dark.

“Bentley, this is breathtaking.” Before I could say anything else he pressed his lips against mine. Slowly running his tongue across my bottom lip until my body gave in and opened up, allowing his tongue to explore my mouth. I massaged his tongue back and gently nibbled on his lip. His hands roamed all over my body until they reached the bottom of my dress and rubbed along my legs.

“I thought we could have a little
fun
out here tonight. I’ve always wanted to have sex on the beach.” A mischievous grin took over his face. My stomach jumped.

“I like the sound of that Mr. Young. I’ve been a naughty girl.” I giggled while running my finger along the fly of his pants. I could feel his erection jump at my touch.

Bentley reached for my face, taking it in his hands and lifting my chin up to meet his gaze. He looked like he wanted to eat me right then and there. I think I wanted him to.

He ran his finger along my jaw line and leaned in for a kiss. At its conclusion, I took a step back away from him. I pulled my dress over my head, standing in front of him in nothing but a pair of panties.

Bentley let out a small gasp and pulled me into his arms. “You’re perfect.” He nuzzled into my neck slowly starting to kiss his way down. Every couple of inches stopping to talk dirty to me. “Your tits... God, these tits,” he rasped as he slowly sucked on each nipple, flicking it back and forth with his tongue before sucking gently. “Charlotte, you can’t begin to know how badly I want you right now.”

Making his way down towards my panties. Inch-by-inch he explored with his mouth. When he hit the fabric he pushed it gently to one side, sliding his tongue between my pussy lips and flicking my clit ever so gently making me moan out loud. “God Bentley, I want you inside me.”

I joined him down on his knees. Pulling his shirt over his head and pushing him onto his back. “Need some control tonight babe?” Bentley laughed as I climbed on top of him in nothing more than my thong, right there on the beach where anyone could catch us. I didn’t care, neither of us did.

“Oh, yes, Bentley. I do. I want to be in control tonight,” I said while moving down his body and slowly moving to take his pants off. “But I need these off...”

He slipped them down his legs and I took my place right back on top of him. I worked my ravenous mouth over each nuance and muscled ridge.

“I think it is time we lose the last of these clothes,” I whispered in his ear as I slowly wiggled my thong off. His hands roamed over my curves, returning to my breasts at the end of each pass. He knew just how to push my buttons. I could feel how wet I was when I reached down to slide his boxer briefs off.

Without anything to hold it down, his eager cock sprang free. I took the entire length of him into my mouth while running my fingers up and down his rock-hard abs, occasionally massaging his balls. With a pop his dick sprang free from my mouth.

“I can’t wait any more,” I panted while climbing back up his body and lowering my dripping wet pussy down onto his cock. Pressing each delicious inch of his shaft inside me, I relished the meeting of our bodies. I sat up and looked him in the eyes as I rode him. His fingers roughly pinched my nipples, driving me even crazier.

“Oh yes! Oh God, baby!” I moaned out while I started to ride him faster. Each thrust I could feel my orgasm building inside me.

“God your pussy feels so good baby,” he growled. “Ride me baby! Harder!”

His words hit me to my core. I started riding faster. I reached down and started rubbing my clit while he worked my nipples. When he sat up and started sucking on them I couldn’t hold back anymore. I threw my head back and screamed with orgasm. I didn’t care if anyone heard. There was nothing in this moment but our bodies locked together in a primal link.

“Don’t stop, I’m gonna cum!” Bentley demanded before crushing his lips to mine. I could feel him empty himself inside me as his body tensed and he pressed into me as far as he could.

I could never get enough of this man.

Chapter 13

Burn it all Down

(Bentley)

Just when I thought Charlie couldn’t surprise me, or get any hotter, she had upped the game. My idea of having some fun on the beach didn’t even compare to how it played out. The simple fact that she took charge over my fantasy was enough to have made me hers for the rest of my life. I wanted those endless nights. I wanted them with her.

We folded the blanket and extinguished the candles, bundling everything together for easy carrying. We both smelled like smoke, sex and sand by the time we started back for the car, but what did it matter as long as we were together? My phone rang as we were talking and the caller ID said it was Drew. I was sure it was just him trying to interrupt like a dick. I was determined to deal with him later when we got back to the beach house. I ignored his call and we stopped for a few lingering kisses before we reached the car. And as we drove, I relished holding Charlotte’s hand thinking that there probably wasn’t anything in the world that could ruin such a perfect night.

As we pulled into the driveway, Shay and Drew bolted out of the house towards the car.

“Bentley, dude, what the fuck? Why didn’t you answer your phone?” Drew shouted. “Our apartment! It’s fucking GONE! GONE! Burned to the fucking ground!” Drew continued to scream across the front yard.

It felt like someone punched me right in the chest. Our apartment was gone? Burned to the ground? How could this have happened? We had
just
been there. I was silent in my disbelief but eventually, I had to question the events up until our arrival.

“Explain exactly what happened. How did you find out?” I asked. Drew sat down on the sky-blue porch steps, burying his head in his hands. A string of curses made it out of his mouth as he pounded his fists on his knees.

“The police called Drew about an hour ago,” Shay said. The apartment is a total loss. The building has been deemed uninhabitable by the fire marshal. They’re pretty sure it was arson.” she continued, fear filling her eyes.

“Who would DO something like that?” Charlotte exclaimed.

I think she might have taken the news worse than I was. But in the end, it was just an apartment. As long as we were all safe, that was all that mattered. Possessions could be replaced, people couldn’t.

“Drew, do you have any enemies these days?” I asked.

“Not that I know of, not anyone who would do something like this. This is serious shit.” As he finished his sentence, a certain crazy redhead popped into my mind. Restraining order or not, she clearly wasn’t going to leave me alone and now my home was gone.
Crazy bitch.

Charlie clasped her arms around me, holding tightly.

“Don’t let this ruin the weekend, guys. Until things get straightened out, you can stay with us at our place. Either way, going back tonight won’t do anything. Let the police do their job.” Charlie chimed in. Shay nodded after the solution was presented. Charlotte was calm and collected, a totally different woman from just moments before. I was sure if I could have read her mind, I’d have found that our trains of thought were on similar tracks. Nothing would take our joy from us tonight, not even the fact that I had nothing left of my home but a suitcase of clothes in this vacation rental.

Once everyone noticed we were back, Charlotte’s father consoled me with a pat on the back.  “We heard about your apartment. We’re deeply sorry. If there is anything we can do to help, just let us know.” Charlotte’s mother joined him a moment later, “Bentley, we are so sorry.”

Even her brothers were sympathetic. So that’s what it took to get a family to like a guy, eh-- losing everything he owned?

“If you’ll excuse me, I have to contact our IT contractors to make sure all of our files are in order. Our apartment was also our office, thankfully we digitally backed up most of our files, but I want to double-check.” I walked out of the living room and upstairs to the master bedroom.

It took everything in me not to punch a hole in the wall of the rental. My blood boiled. I wouldn’t-- couldn’t let Charlotte see this side of me. I had to keep my temper in check. A year ago I would have trashed the entire top floor without a second thought.

I heard footsteps behind me. Drew came in and put his hands on my shoulders. “You all right, man?”

“Yeah, I think I’ll be okay. I just had to cool off,” I replied.

“So what do we do now?” Drew questioned.

“I’m going to make a couple of calls to get an office space set up close to Charlie’s penthouse. By the time we get back we’ll be fully equipped again. As for a place to live, I’m going to stay with Charlie. I don’t know what your relationship with Shay is like, but I don’t think either of them mind if you stay. Charlotte offered.” Drew didn’t look happy. Maybe it wasn’t something he was up for. “You don’t have to marry her, dude, just relax,” I said at Drew’s look of discomfort.

“If you only knew... ” Drew said, frowning and storming off down the hall.

What the hell was that about?

Chapter 14

Courtesy of the Red White & Blue

(Charlotte)

I grabbed my iPhone from the nightstand, checking into the world of social media.
I’ll update my status and really give ‘em something to talk about.
I logged into Facebook and typed out “I love Bentley Young! He’s the best!”

Bentley slipped into bed next to me wearing nothing but a pair of blue boxer briefs. He lay checking his e-mail until I was done playing on my phone.

“Are you ready for the party tomorrow?” I asked, climbing on top of him. A smile broke across his face. He already knew exactly where this was going. He threw his phone onto the nightstand and wrapped his hands around my waist.

“What’s there to be ready for? You shake hands, smile and nod and try not to drink too much, right?” He replied as his hands slid under the hem of my negligee.

“Basically, but since this year I have someone on my arm, people are going to be more pesky than usual. Are you ready for that? Are you ready for baptism by fire into the Windsor way of life?” I laughed, but my description wasn’t far off the mark.

“For you love, I would do anything.” He kissed me and rolled me onto my back, pulling the nightgown over my head, exposing my naked body. The only piece of fabric coming between us was his thin boxer shorts.

“I’ll never get over how beautiful you are,” he murmured, kissing down my body, paying close attention to each of my breasts until moving further down, only stopping once he reached my swollen clit. “I’ve been waiting for this all night. Out there on the beach, I wanted to lick you from end to end,” he continued, until his tongue was too busy probing my aching pussy. I lay there being pleasured by the man of my dreams, thinking about all the moments we had shared this evening and how closely attached we’d become. Any hope of intelligent thought was snapped away as my orgasm built up low in my womb. I came so hard that tears collected in my eyes.
Oh, yes... this is love...

As I recovered from my climax, Bentley held me in his arms, running his fingers through my hair. I was a puddle of raw nerves beside him. It didn’t take long before I was out like a light.

I woke up to caterers running all over the house. Unfortunately, none of them knew how to use their inside voices, but the noise was nothing new to me. I slipped on a pair of shorts and a tank top so I could be decent while I investigated. I immediately remembered why I hated these parties; way too many strangers invaded one’s personal space.

I climbed back up the stairs and into bed with Bentley. I was going to hide here as long as I possibly could, even if I had to go back to sleep with a pillow over my head to block out the commotion. I tucked into Bentley’s side, hungry for his snug embrace. I laid my head on his chest and, to my surprise, almost instantly fell asleep.

It was around noon when Shay crept into our bedroom to wake me up. It was a good thing she did, because if she hadn’t, I might have slept all day. As it stood, I was going to be late.

I could hear my mother’s voice in the back of my head, “Make sure you look impeccable, Charlotte.” If I had only stayed awake earlier, I would’ve had more than enough time.

As I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to get ready, Bentley laughed at me. I couldn’t blame him, I was pretty sure I looked absolutely ridiculous.

The guests arrived in pairs. It was a mix of people I’d known my entire life and a host of new faces, but there was only one I was dreading. Landon’s. Something about him just made me feel uncomfortable, especially after the e-mail he’d sent me yesterday. A big, tattooed arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me close. I would never get tired of that feeling.

“Thinking about me?” Bentley asked as I snapped out of my stupor. I wish I could tell him about the Landon issue without him turning into the typical territorial male.

“Of course. You, this party, everything,” I replied with a smile.

“Let’s walk. You can introduce me to some of these snobs,” he laughed while taking my hand and heading for the back deck, which was already full of life fueled by a lot of alcohol. As we walked past a waiter I grabbed a glass of champagne and continued the walk.

“I’m gonna need this,” I whispered to Bentley under my breath.

We made our rounds, talking to Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, who had just made a generous donation to the research program on which my father was working. Next was the attractive Dr. Lily Borgeo, the head of the fertility department at the hospital. Her eyes spent a little too much time on Bentley for my comfort. A touch of jealousy washed over me, but I knew I had nothing to worry about.

Just as we were getting ready to hide out for a bit, my mother appeared on the balcony of the master bedroom. She tapped the side of her wine glass with a spoon to gain the crowd’s attention.

“Ladies and Gentleman! Thank you all for joining us this lovely Fourth-of-July weekend! It is an honor to host you again this year. Like all of our past years, we have lovely news to share with everyone today. Bentley, Charlotte, could you step forward please?” She waved us towards the front of the crowded deck. We made our way through the crowd while everyone had their eyes on us.

“Mr. Bentley Young of Morgan-Young Enterprises has made an extremely generous donation to fund a project we’ve wanted to bring to life for years. The Angela Brown Memorial Clinic will break ground this September to provide low-cost and free medical care to the children of Boston.”

I gasped.
Angela Brown? Shay’s mother?

Bentley took my hand and gave me a small kiss on the cheek before waving to the crowd. It was mostly for show, but I was in shock. The crowd erupted into cheers and applause.

Bentley leaned into me “Who’s Angela Brown?” He questioned like he had no idea what the project was all about. “I just made a donation, I didn’t have any idea what it would be used for,” he added.

“Angela Brown is Shay’s mother. She was killed in a car accident.” I could feel my emotions getting the best of me. I would need to find Shay and make sure she was okay. We’d have to work our way through the crowd till I found her.

“We have to find Shay, come with me.”

Bentley and I walked through the crowd, the center of attention, when a voice behind me stopped me dead in my tracks.

“Generous donation, Mr. Young. Charlie, care for a dance?” It was the one person I was hoping to avoid all night long.

“Landon, how are you?” I replied, forcing a smile.

“I’m well. You look great, as always,” he replied with a cordial smile.

“Landon, please allow me to introduce my boyfriend, Bentley Young.”

Bentley looked at Landon and held out his hand, “Nice to meet you Landon.” But Landon just stared at him with a blank expression on his face. Bentley turned to me in confusion. “You okay there, bro?”

Finally Landon snapped out of it. “Fine. I’m just a little surprised. I mean, Charlie and I were dating in May and here you are together.” He smirked at Charlie, “You must have begun dating
him
in July. I’m just a little shocked, that’s all. You moved on so quickly.” Landon said with a smirk.

“Dating?” Bentley growled. At the first sign of Bentley’s temper, Landon scoffed and walked away.

“Bentley, relax. We went on a few dates, but I broke if off because of my feelings for you. It’s nothing,” I said, trying to keep from making a scene.

“So,
Landon
was that guy?” Bentley grilled.

“Yes, but relax. Who am I with now? Don’t make a scene, everyone is watching us.” I smiled and gave him a kiss, praying it would be enough to talk him down.

Bentley leaned down over me, pulling me closer, tighter and whispered a single word into my ear. “Mine.” I was relieved.

The night continued without a flaw and everyone made their way onto the sand just in time for the fireworks display. It was then that Jake joined us, surprisingly solo for once in his life. I hadn’t seen him in days, which was extremely odd for him.

It felt like I hadn’t seen him in months, but in reality it had barely been a week. Our infrequent meetings were commonplace in the summers. We knew not to file a missing person report between May and August.

“Aww, Jake what happened? No date tonight?” I laughed at him, almost taking pleasure in his lack of a date. He truly looked miserable. “She stood me up. I’ve been chasing this smokin’ hot redhead and she stood me up! She’s playing hard to get, but there is no way I’m giving up on this one.” Fire flashed in his eyes.

“This is certainly a first! Could she tame you, Jake?” I giggled. I knew the answer to that before I even asked, but I just wanted to push him a little farther. It was just too much fun to play with him.

“There’s something about this one. Something mysterious. Something I just have to have!” He looked like a little boy who was begging his mother for a new puppy dog, even though they already had three at home.

“She got a brother?” I laughed.

It was typical Jake. They all had something at one point in time, until he grew bored. Then they had nothing of interest to him. I knew he would never settle down with a woman. They were just playthings. One day, he would come to terms with the fact that his happy ending was going to be with Prince Charming, not Cinderella.

Before the end of the party, Bentley got a call from the Boston Police Department. They’d confirmed that not only had the fire been caused by an arsonist, but Bentley and Drew’s apartment was the source of the blaze. Which meant only one thing-- someone was specifically targeting one of them. The fact that the fire started in Bentley’s room led me to believe it was someone who had it out for Bentley personally-- and that scared me shitless. I was worried to death about Bentley. And what if everyone he associated with was in danger? Drew?... Me?... Shay?

The investigation required that Bentley return to town, since he was the primary lease-holder. As we packed to go back, I was on edge. Bentley planned to stay at my place since he and Drew were homeless since my building was as secure as they came, which was reassuring to me given this new development. Heck when Shay and I first moved in, someone called security on
us
. Not once, but three times, insisting we didn’t belong in the building!

I almost wished for Shay and Drew to ride back with us, but they planned to stay behind and return to Boston with Trey in a few days. Once my other half was back, we had plans for a serious spa day. I was not cut out to deal with the kind of stress I’d suffered. On top of that, I had a lot of questions for her about the whole
Drew
affair.

We got into the car and drove in silence for most of the return trip. By the time we hit the outskirts of the city, the questions began to flow. It was my way of rationalizing what had happened.

“Who do you think would do this? The wheels are turning in there and you’re shutting me out,” I snapped. My nerves were shot. I just couldn’t contain it any longer. “Talk to me dammit! Spit it the fuck out already! SPILL BENTLEY YOUNG OR SO HELP ME...” and like that he cut me off.

“I don’t have any proof, Charlie. I only have suspicions, outlandish ones at that. This is a lot to process,” he began. “I think it’s Molly. I think after the run-in we had with her, it sent her over the deep-end. I don’t know if she’s crazy enough to burn somebody’s house down, but then again I barely know her. Judging by what I know about her and her actions that day, she’s the leading suspect in my eyes.” I could see the regret cloud his face. “I don’t know what she wants, or even who she is. But I don’t have any real enemies; I don’t go around acting like a douche to people. Of course I have a shitty record with women, but no one has ever taken anything this far. I’m just as baffled as you are, babe.”

“I thought it was her the moment Drew told us. She
did
seem crazy, but you would think a restraining order would keep her away,” I replied.