Page 142 of Take It Offline

How fucking gorgeous she looks taking my cock.

I slide in slow, as much for me as it is for her, only stopping when I’ve bottomed out. Now finally free to touch her, I grip her hips and spread her wide open so I can watch as I fuck into her.

“Charlie, please.”

That’s the other part of this I love. How smoothly we can hand over control when we need to, giving and taking in equal measure.

“I’ve got you.”

I’m not going to last long. My blood is on fire, and I’m too worked up from her mouth and the squeeze of her cunt. So I don’t waste any time pushing deep into her.

“Harder, come on.”

Fuck.

She pushes back, meeting me thrust for thrust, hands white-knuckled in the sheets. Without warning, she comes again, and that’s it. I’m gone, fucking hard and fast into her as I come.

As I fall to the bed beside her and pull her close, I take in the state of her. Soft and warm and flushed, still with her patented look of determination in her eyes.

I never want to look at anyone else for as long as I live.

CHAPTER 50

TECHNICOLOR DREAMS

EMMA

Relief is the letting go of the burdens which weigh us down. The slaying of these phantom pressures is enough to free our lungs, allowing us to breach the surface and continue.

I never knew true relief until Charlie came along.

Now? No matter the issue—what to have for dinner, where to spend the day, how to occupy my parents—he has it covered. Before him, I never gave much thought to how much I wanted,needed, someone I could rely on.

Tending to my worries the same way he tinkers with his car, checking that we’re in safe keeping.

“My life is in your hands,” he’ll say. “Gotta keep you both purring.”

Then he’ll throw me a wink, knowing he’s only riling me up further. Those nights, he’s lucky if he gets to come.

Two strong arms wrap around my waist, then Charlie’s chest presses against my back. We fit together just as perfectly now as we have for the last ten years. “I love you,” he says, kissing the sensitive spot behind my ear.

I lean into him. “I love you more.”

“That’s not possible.”

It’s a beautiful night, clear, cool. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in my old apartment, but I miss the sticky, sweaty tangle of limbs when the air conditioning went out.

“Do you remember Venice?” I ask.

“I remember getting fleeced by that guy with the birds.”

I laugh. “I told you not to talk to him.”

“Yeah, yeah. Basic tourist fail, I know. What made you think about Venice?”

With a sigh, I pull his arms tighter around me. A decade of this, and I still want to soak up as much of him as I can. I want the feel of him burning so deep in my marrow that I can’t ever forget it. To take it with me wherever I go.

“Walking through the canals before dawn, it was as if we were the only people there. The only people anywhere. It was so quiet. Kind of lonely too, although it was nice to move through the streets without the crowds. But then you put your arm around me, and it made all the difference. Because you were with me, and I didn’t feel lonely anymore.”

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