Page 8 of Behind the Cascades
"Fifty/fifty shot. And my girl always travels light. Dess's bag looked like it could fit a small elephant," he says with a chuckle.My girl? Swoon.
He sets my bag down on the chaise and then turns so he's facing me. His dark eyebrow arches, clearly waiting for me to make the first move.
I step into the room, closing and locking the door behind me. It's been a while since the last time I hooked up with anyone. More than a while, actually. My love life has been drier than the Sahara. The way Hayes is looking at me, though, I have no doubt that's about to change. My only regret is not packing dirtier lingerie to tease him with.
When I turn back around, he's still standing where he was, but his entire demeanor has changed. Long gone is the playful Hayes. In his place is a predator who looks like he wants to devour me. Instead of making me nervous, though, it lights a fire of confidence inside of me. I slowly unzip the side of my dress and let it fall unceremoniously to the ground. His breath hitches while he stands there staring at me in only my pair of heels, a strapless bra, and a thong.
Those dark brown eyes slide down my body and then back up again. He runs his hand down his face while shaking his head and letting out a dry chuckle. "I'm so fucked. You're a goddamn vision, Sunshine."
In two large steps, he's standing in front of me, gripping my waist. He shakes his head, and a slow, devilish smirk spreads across his face. "We can go as fast or slow as you want tonight. Don't feel pressured?—"
"Hayes, shut up and kiss me." And that's precisely what he does.
Chapter Five
Hayes
Light streams through the open curtains, casting a warm glow on the room. I guarantee it's closer to dinner than breakfast, but I’m not ready to get out of this bed yet. Not sure I’ll ever be, to be honest.
Charlie and I didn't go to bed until well after the sun came up. Half of that time was spent all over each other, learning each other's bodies. The other half was spent laughing at ourselves for being too scared to tell each other how we felt. It felt like a hundred pound weight was lifted from my chest the second she said she loved me. The kiss that followed only sealed the deal. She’s it for me. Always has been, always will be.
I’ve been awake for at least an hour, looking at Charlie with awe and disbelief. Not fully believing this beautiful, unattainable woman is mine and laying next to me. She's always been gorgeous but seeing her like this—freshly fucked with wild and untamed hair, smiling while she sleeps—gives an entirely new definition to the word perfect. There isn’t much in life better than waking up to the girl of your dreams, naked,with one leg thrown over you.The closest to Nirvana I’ll ever get.
Charlie groans as she stretches next to me but keeps her eyes closed. "Good morning, Carrington."
I tickle her sides while scoffing. "Carrington? I spent most of last night inside of you and now you're denouncing me to my last name?"
She giggles and nuzzles her face into my chest. "Sorry, handsome. How about, Good morning, ‘man who rocked my world last night?'"
"Much better," I say, planting a kiss on the top of her head.
"So, you still love me? That wasn't all booze and hormones talking?" She asks with what sounds like a touch of nervousness.
The cutest gasp emits from her when I flip over her and settle myself on top of her. Holding myself up with my left arm, I gently cupped her face with my right hand. "Yes. You're beautiful, smart, funny, and have the biggest heart. I'd marry you right now if my mom wouldn't kill us both. Loving you was never my problem; being afraid that I wasn't good enough for you was."
"Says the guy who has threatened to burn the world down if someone hurt me." She gives me a pointed look and I grin.
"Not a threat, Sunshine. A promise. Together or not, I’d never let anyone hurt you."
Her eyes narrow a touch and she tilts her chin. "What do you mean together or not?"
With a sigh, I roll off of her and look at the ceiling. "We still have a lot to talk about. How we manage long-distance, what our plans are for the future, the impending deployment."The lack of confidence I have in myself that I’m enough to keep you.
"Okay. Let's start with the deployment. Drew mentioned it yesterday at the pool, so I already know a bit. Do you knowwhen you’re leaving?” She rolls over so that she has her leg thrown over me again. My body instantly relaxes when she starts tracing the lines of my abs.
“Not yet, could be a few months, could be a year. This is going to be…" I try to think of how to explain without worrying her or giving away anything classified. "It's not the standard; our team was selected to work on a discrete project. We'll be gone for at least a year. It could be more depending on the mission and how well we do."
"It's going to be dangerous. That's what you're not saying, right?" She squeezes her eyes shut and tries to turn away. I don't let her, though, keeping her pinned to me until she relaxes again.
"Drew and I are both ready for this. We've been trained, trained, and trained some more. You're more at risk living your normal life than we are."
She scoffs but at least she smiles. "Are you kidding? I'm kind of a badass myself. You just haven't been around enough to see me throw a punch."
I pull her chin back toward me and kiss her again. This time a little slower, a little more passion, like we have all the time in the world. At some point, we rolled back over so that I was on top of her again. This is how things went last night as well. We'd get into some deep conversations, only to get lost in each other's bodies before the conversation ended. She's the ultimate siren distraction.
When I break away again, I clarify what I meant. "I don't doubt you're a badass, but you shouldn't ever have to prove that. I'm only letting you know that you don't need to worry about me. I'll use the code dad and Uncle Jesse started with our moms to let you know where we are. Don't you dare stalk the news when you find out, but maybe it'll give you a little sense of peace." Our dads were gone so much that they came up with a system to tellour moms where they were. Different songs are for different regions of the world.
"Not sure about that, but I promise I won’t do any deep-dives." Only the corner of her mouth tips up into a smile, but at least she isn't shying away anymore. "So, long-distance? Does that also tie into the 'our future' part?"
