Tricks (Take It Off #6)(15)
Author: Cambria Hebert

My hips moved of their own accord, surging forward, rocking against her core. I was so hard that it was almost painful. My body cried out for release, and in that moment, I could only think of one thing: burying myself so deep in her body and pounding away until I poured every last ounce of desire out of me and into her.

Below me, Charlotte gasped, breaking our lips apart and staring up into my eyes. Her breathing was heavy and with every indrawn breath, her chest would push against mine. The desire in her eyes was undeniable. All thoughts of this woman being frigid completely vanished and raw hunger took over.

On my way to capture her lips, a loud beeping broke through the moment.

“Oh!” she said, wiggling out from beneath me to roll over and hit a button on the alarm clock beside the bed.

I collapsed on the sheets and shoved my head into a pillow.

Sleeping with Charlotte was not in the plan.

Being turned on by Charlotte was not in the plan.

For once, I was going to have to keep it in my pants. How the hell was I going to keep it in my pants when it was straining to get out?

“Max?” a voice to my left asked softly. I felt her timid touch on my shoulder.

I flipped over, staring up at the ceiling. “What?” I asked gruffly.

“Never mind,” she replied, withdrawing from me and the bed. Just before she slipped out completely, I rolled and caught her wrist.

“I’m not mad at you. It’s the alarm I’m mad at.” I was an ass before. Usually I wouldn’t care, but I had to live with her for a little while longer and she didn’t know it, but she’d been through enough already. Finding out my brother was dead was going to be enough for her to deal with.

I didn’t want her to think she had done something wrong, something that made me not want her. The truth was if that alarm hadn’t gone off, I would likely be deep in her right this moment. The realization made my teeth slam together. I couldn’t remember the last time I wanted a woman so badly.

She glanced over her shoulder. Some of her hair had fallen out of that ridiculous bun she put it in yesterday and framed her face. “It’s okay.”

I thought about brushing the blond strands away so I could see her eyes better. I didn’t. I didn’t trust myself to touch her at all right now.

She got out of the bed and I watched her as she went to the wooden dresser and pulled out what looked like black pants and a spandex top. Definitely not clothes to go be a lawyer in. Glancing at the clock, I realized it was just six a.m.

I remembered the gym I saw on the first floor when I came in yesterday.

A workout sounded like a pretty good idea right now. If I couldn’t have sex, I could run my tension off on the treadmill.

My thoughts stalled when she began unbuttoning her top. I should look away.

I should look away right now.

To hell with that. I wasn’t looking away.

The last button slid free and the white satin of her top slid downward, over her arms. She wasn’t wearing a bra. She was completely bare.

Her breasts were full and high. Creamy globes that rounded heavily off her small frame with dark-pink nipples that were currently puckered into little pebbles. When she bent slightly to pick up her top, they shifted forward, hanging just a bit, and I had the vision of capturing one of those perfect globes in my mouth and teasing that little pink rock with my tongue.

Oh, the sounds that I could make her moan.

Yeah, I needed a run. A very long run followed by an icy-cold shower.

She lifted her arms and pulled the gray top over her head and for a few moments I gaped at her naked torso without holding back. Her face was lost in the top and all I could see was all that creamy, perfect skin…

“Mind if I join you at the gym?” I said, hoping out of bed and forcing my eyes away from her.

She paused. “You’re not going to work out at the office gym today?”

Shit. I made a face at the wall. Max usually worked out at the office. He slept at the office. Did he ever come home?

“I need to work through lunch.” I lied. “Busy day.”

“Oh. Sounds good, then.”

After adjusting my junk (I swear that’s all I do around here), I headed toward the closet. I made it two steps.

There at the end of the bed she was bent over, pulling off her pajamas and thrusting her panty-clad ass in my face.

Did this woman think I was a saint?

Didn’t she know she had to keep the goods put away if she didn’t want me to jump her?

She bent down a little farther, tugging the leggings over her feet. Her ass was heart-shaped like her mouth…

I cleared my throat and changed course and went into the bathroom. Only after I heard her out in the kitchen did I go back in the bedroom to find a pair of sweats to work out in.

She met me at the front door and extended a bottle of water to me, which I took. “Thanks.”

I followed her down to the gym on the first floor, alternating my stare between her ass and that god-awful bun. Why would she punish her hair that way?

She had a nice body. It was clearly visible in the workout clothes and not hidden under some nun suit or baggy pajamas. As I watched her step on the stair climber, I realized that what I was seeing right now was likely the most dressed “down” she ever got.

Charlotte Rose Carter was a tense, no-nonsense workaholic. If my theory was right, she was probably a stickler for routine, never had any fun (which she proved at last night’s snooze-worthy dinner), and never had sex.

No wonder my brother slept at work.

I glanced at her ass bouncing around as she worked out. Tearing my eyes away, I turned on the treadmill and began to warm up. When my eyes started to stray in her direction again, I cranked up the speed and started to run.

She sure acted like she never got any sex, and while I pitied my brother, I couldn’t help but remember the way she reacted to my touch this morning when she was pinned beneath me. There was a fire inside Charlotte. It was buried beneath her stuffy clothes, lesbian-style hair, and proper demeanor.

It made me wonder if Max ever bothered to dig deep enough to find it.

10

Charlotte

I couldn’t concentrate. It didn’t matter how many coffees I consumed or how many ice waters I drank. I opened the window in my office to let in the brisk air. I played annoying, fast-paced rock music in the background while I went over depositions.

Nothing worked.

My mind replayed this morning over and over again.

My body relived the sensation of Max’s fingertips against my skin. The sensation of goose bumps rising across my flesh when his lips brushed my hairline was a reoccurring echo across my body.