Page 133 of Never Kiss and Tell

God, whoever she is, I already envy her.

Why can’t Charlie and I be together? I guess, the only real answer is two different worlds. He’s here. I’m in California. He’s free to live whatever life he pleases. I’m bound by my mother to the life of a socialite.

And, while I know he doesn’t hate me anymore, I know he doesn’t love me enough to ask me to stay. If he did, he would have by now.

We get home and I’m fully prepared to tell him I’m going to spend the night in my own room. It’s time to rip the bandaid off. Staying with him tonight would only prolong the heartbreak that’s sure to hit me in the morning.

I still have to say goodbye . . . Tomorrow, he’ll be taking me to the airport.

What do I even say to him?

I go into his room to grab the rest of my belongings, stopping at the foot of the bed when the door clicks behind me. A heaviness settles in the room, like Charlie and I are sucking all the oxygen out.

Charlie steps up behind me slowly, far enough away that I can’t feel him, but close enough that the heat from his body greets my back.

“Who does this belong to?” he asks, his voice dark and heavy. His fingers trail down my spine and cup the swell of my ass. My body responds to his, warmth settling between my thighs anda lump forming in my throat.

“You,” I say, barely above a whisper.

“And this?” His hand moves around my waist, under the slit in my dress to graze the front of my underwear. Tingles blossom from my skin where he touches me and spread throughout my body, making me shiver.

“You.”

His hand gripping my rear reaches around my front and presses a palm over my heart. I still, waiting for him to say something, but he doesn’t, instead pressing a kiss to my temple.

“Turn around.”

I do and the look on his face makes my chest clench painfully. He takes my face in his hand, cradling it like I’m precious to him. Without saying a word, he presses his lips to mine gently, a satisfied growl reverberating through his chest.

The kiss deepens when I wrap my arms around his neck and whimper, needing him closer to me. I slip my tongue in his mouth and he groans, dipping his head and tasting me.

“This dress is beautiful. Take it off,” Charlie demands against my lips gruffly.

I chuckle deviously, slipping out of his arms and laying back on the bed in front of him. Something about tonight feels different, like more’s at stake. My heart, for one, but that was stolen the moment we first kissed. My pride? No. I can’t place my finger on it.

Charlie’s eyes glow wickedly in the darkness of the room. The moonlight from the window casts him in shadows, making him even more devastatingly handsome than he usually is.

Taking it as a personal challenge, Charlie stoops down,slipping my heels off one by one and placing a kiss to each of my insteps. Then, his hands slide higher until they’re pulling the hem of my dress up to expose me to him.

“Fucking perfect,” he murmurs, pulling my underwear to the side and dipping down to lick through my folds. I arch off the bed, the sudden pleasure catching me by surprise.

Abruptly, he stands, flipping me over onto my stomach and slapping my ass. I gasp, the sting erupting over my backside only deepening my desire for him.

“But I wasn’t bad,” I murmur, though I’m secretly yearning for him to do it again.

“You will be, though.”

He doesn’t explain what he means. He doesn’t have to. I’ll be going home tomorrow. My breath hitches and the question is on the tip of my tongue, but he delivers another swat on the globe of my ass and I clamp my mouth shut.

“What to do with you,” he murmurs, reaching up and pulling the zipper on the back of my dress down.

“I can think of a lot of things you can do with me.”

Ask me to stay. Give me a reason to think you want me. Let me know I’m not crazy.

He slips the dress out from underneath me until I’m in just my underwear. Then, he takes that off, too, until I’m completely naked and spread out beneath him.

“You’re turn,” I breathe, my breathing ragged with the rapid rise and fall of my chest.

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