Charity is completely exhausted. Weeks of being a support system for Chas, Debbie, and Sarah has finally started to catch up with her. She had started her day off at the hospital. She had been able to convince Debbie to go home for the night, so she had spent a restless night in a chair by Sarah's bed.
Then after Debbie had returned that morning she had to rush to the pub to do a shift. She was so tired she had trouble concentrating and had managed to overfill several pints splashing it all over herself.
She hadn't even had time to change before rushing back off to the hospital to be there for Debbie as Sarah was getting some long-awaited test results back. With the knowledge that Sarah was doing better than expected, Charity is back home sitting in her car behind The Woolpack.
Its just past midnight and the streets of the village are deserted. She's very close to just falling asleep in the car. The thought of trudging up the stairs to her room seems like far too big of a task.
What she really wants, and she can't quite fight the feeling of weakness for it, is Vanessa. Their time together had been sparse with Vanessa doing courses and conferences in preparation for getting her license reinstated and then just everyday life getting in the way. Even though they text nearly constantly it felt like ages since she had seen Vanessa.
She knew more often than not Vanessa liked to go to bed early if possible. She had noticed when she drove through that the lights in the tiny house had been on. Either Tracy or Leyla was probably watching TV in the front room.
She debated several more minutes before her desire to feel Vanessa's arms around her won out and she opened the door and started the short trek to Tug Ghyll.
She isn't even remotely surprised when she tries the knob and the door swings open. Neither one of the women inside is very good at remembering to lock the door. She clicks the lock into place as the door closes behind her. She could hear laughter before she opened the second door and couldn't help the stupid smile that crossed her face when she recognized Vanessa's in the mix.
Leyla, Tracy, and Vanessa are all sat at the table with wine glasses in front of them and soft music playing in the background. Neither one of them even realizes she's there until Tracy happens to glance up while reaching for the wine bottle.
Charity is still taken aback when Tracy smiles at her like she's genuinely happy to see her.
When Vanessa finally looks up she follows Tracy's gaze and a huge smile immediately breaks across her face. She's on her feet in an instant, walking straight to Charity. She asks wordlessly if she is OK and Charity answers with a smile.
Vanessa cups her cheek rubbing her thumb lightly under her eye where she knows the ever-darkening circles give away her exhaustion.
Still, without saying a word Vanessa takes her hand and leads her up the stairs. Once they are behind Vanessa's closed bedroom door, she pushes the jacket off Charity's shoulders tossing it on the chair in the corner.
She then moves to the buttons on Charity's shirt, placing a tender kiss on her chest. It's a kiss of love more than passion. She continues until all of Charity's clothes are removed and then she continues and helps her into the pajamas that Charity has for when she stays over.
When she's redressed in her comfortable pajamas Vanessa leads her to the bed and covers her when she's laying down. Usually, Charity would scoff at the coddling, but it being Vanessa doing it, she took it for the show of love it was.
Vanessa had already been dressed for bed, so she climbed into the bed scooting up flush with Charity's back. Slipping her arm around Charity her hand splaying over her ribs. A soft kiss is placed against her temple and she can already feel herself slipping into sleep. She takes hold of the hand at her ribs bringing it to her lips for a kiss before finally succumbing to the pull of sleep.
Charity wakes slowly. She knows immediately that she's alone in bed and the discovery upsets her. But she's also not surprised because according to the amount of light coming through the window, she's slept longer than she should have. She stays curled under the covers, reluctant to expose herself to the cool air of the room just yet.
There's quite a bit of noise coming from downstairs. She can hear Leyla bickering with, Megan she thinks, and rolls her eyes. From the sounds of pans banging and the smell of sausage wafting into the room, she knows someone is cooking and the thought of food makes her stomach growl and makes her realize she's not sure when the last time she ate was. Possibly some toast the morning before.
She's just about decided to bite the bullet and get out of bed when the door slowly opens. She sits up just in time to see Johnny's tiny head peek around the door. A smile identical to his mother's flashes across his face, Charity can't help but return her own.
Johnny was a quiet child. So different than her own. And another thing that was completely different was he always seemed so happy to see her, always greeting her with a smile and often a hug.
When she held out her arms and motioned him forward he shot across the room with a delighted giggle and bounced onto to the bed into her open arms.
A couple of minutes later Vanessa came through the door with a tray laden with food. Charity's mouth watered at the sight.
Vanessa smiled when she saw Johnny in Charity's lap, he was sitting quietly playing with the hand she held him with. It was a familiar position for them.
"I hope its OK if he joins us. As soon as he heard your name he dashed up here," Vanessa said with a smile as she carefully organized herself and the tray onto the bed.
"Course it is," Charity says without hesitation and meaning the words. "What time is it?
"9:30, but don't worry no one is expecting you for a couple more hours. I told everyone you weren't feeling well. I figured you needed a lie in and I selfishly wanted you to myself for a bit."
Charity still wasn't used to someone wanting to willingly take care of her. She couldn't love Vanessa more for it.
"I hope that's OK," Vanessa said hesitantly into the silence.
"Yes! Sorry. I was just thinking about how much I love you."
Vanessa's smile let her know she had said the right thing.
They spent the next hour eating, talking and playing with Johnny. Eventually, Tracy came by the room and picked up Johnny to take him to the babysitter.
As soon as the door closed Vanessa turned to Charity and pulled her to her with a hand on the back of her neck kissing her deeply. Charity moaned into the kiss.
"It feels like it's been forever since I've kissed you properly," Vanessa panted after pulling away far too quickly.
Charity grabbed the front of Vanessa's shirt and pulled until Vanessa was straddling her lap.
"It has been far too long," Charity agreed as she slipped her hands under the back of Vanessa's shirt, humming at the feel of warm skin.
She smirked when she scratched her nails down Vanessa's back, causing her to hiss and inadvertently thrust her breasts into Charity's face.
She had never been more thankful that Vanessa preferred to sleep braless, so she could clearly see the outline of her hardened nipples. Scratching her nails again she took advantage this time and bit lightly on the hardened bud. Pulling a deep moan from her.
Without warning, Vanessa ripped her shirt over her head and pulled Charity's face back to her chest.
"Yes," Vanessa whispered as her hips slowly rocked in Charity's lap. With a hand full of her hair Vanessa pulled Charity's head back.
"I love your mouth," she pulled Charity into a deep kiss. Vanessa reached for her left and eagerly guided it down the front of her pants, "Please."
Charity loved Vanessa like this, needy and not afraid to ask for what she wanted. Charity sighed at the wetness coating her fingers. She spread her own legs, opening Vanessa up more for her. Despite Vanessa's urgency, Charity knew she liked to be worked up slowly. Charity watched closely as Vanessa's excitement grew. So, she would know the exact moment to enter Vanessa and make her shiver the way Charity loved so much.
Vanessa was moaning loudly, her face buried in Charity's neck now. Charity uses her right hand against Vanessa's bottom to help work herself harder on Charity's fingers.
It's not much longer until Vanessa cries of pleasure increase in volume and her hips stutter and she's coming apart beautifully with her teeth at Charity's neck. Vanessa will feel guilty about the mark later. But marks from Vanessa's pleasure are marks Charity will gladly don.
Charity runs her hands soothingly over Vanessa's back as she catches her breath, just savoring the moment of closeness.
Its several minutes before Vanessa finally raised up with a sheepish smile, "I was meant to do that for you."
Charity shrugs, "I know how needy I make you," she joked.
Vanessa rolled her eyes pulling her in for a soft kiss that quickly turns desperate.
Before long Charity was thrilled to feel Vanessa start to move down her body leaving no question to what she had in mind. They had been together twice before Vanessa had shown Charity just how talented her mouth really was. And much to Charity's delight it's also something Vanessa loved to do. Charity was more than willing to reap the benefits.
Vanessa quickly has Charity stripped from the waist down and she meets Charity's gaze as she settles between her legs and puts her mouth right where Charity wants it.
It never takes long for Vanessa to have her completely worked up. She sits up, so she can watch her work.
Vanessa hums against her when Charity runs a hand through her hair. Charity can never remember being soft with other partners. But with Vanessa, she can't help herself.
She loses focus when Vanessa adds her fingers to the mix. She falls back on the bed writhing in pleasure.
She knows she's being loud, considering they aren't alone in the house, but she can't help herself. And if the answering sounds coming from Vanessa are any indication she doesn't mind either. Vanessa has redoubled her efforts and Charity is going out of her mind when suddenly Vanessa's tongue moves particularly sinfully against her and she comes with a startled shout.
She isn't sure how long she just lays there with her eyes closed trying to catch her breath, but when she opens them Vanessa is leaning on her elbow beside her looking decidedly smug. Its super sexy.
"Feeling smug, are we?" Charity's voice is a little rough.
"Definitely," Vanessa answered, the smugness never leaving her face.
Charity just shook her head, knowing full well Vanessa had earned that smugness.
They kissed softly for several minutes before Vanessa regretfully pulled away, "Unfortunately our time is nearly up. You have time for a shower before Chas is expecting you at the pub."
Charity groans and pulls Vanessa tighter to her.
Charity finally pulled herself from Vanessa and hopped into the shower. When she got out Vanessa was no longer in her room, so she knew she had gone downstairs. She could hear quiet voices when she was at the top of the stairs and when she made it to the bottom she was met with silence. Vanessa was blushing, and Leyla, Megan, and Tracy all wore knowing grins.
Charity wears the cockiest grin she could muster, "Well as much as I would love to join the party, I must take my leave." As she turned to leave the teasing whispers started back and she heard a mumbled "shut up" from Vanessa.
Before it would have bothered her, now she just shakes her head.
"Sorry about them," Vanessa sighs as she closes the door behind her, leaving them standing in the bright light of the morning. The sound of the bustling village surrounding them.
Charity shrugged, "I don't mind," she pulled Vanessa to her knocking their hips together. "Thank you."
At Vanessa's questioning look she continued.
"You knew exactly what I needed. And didn't even complain when I showed up unannounced."
"I always want you with me. You should know that by now."
Charity nodded, leaning down and placing a gentle kiss on Vanessa's waiting lips.
"I love you," Charity declared as they parted. The words had never been so easy to say and she found herself saying them often.
Vanessa got the same ridiculously happy smile she got when Charity always said the words, "I love you too."
Charity pulled her into a tight hug, fighting off the pull of the real world for just a bit longer.
THE END