"Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, (Here I am,)"
Arriving back in Willoughby, they headed straight for Genes.
Rachel hustled Charlie to the house calling for her Dad, leaving Bass and Miles to put away the horses in silence.
Charlie dutifully sat on her Grandpa's exam table as he pulled, and poked at her hands and feet, as Rachel hovered, before he pronounced her fine. Rachel sighed in relief as Charlie began to tug her socks and boots back on.
"Where are you going?" Rachel asked watching as Charlie pushed off the table.
"I'm going home." Charlie replied dragging her jacket over her shoulders.
"Why don't you stay here? Just for the night? Your grandpa's already got dinner ready and the house is warm."
"Mom, I'll be fine." Charlie sighed, tired of this constant argument. "My house is small enough that it won't take long to heat up and I bet Grandpa would make me a plate to go," she said making at eyes at Gene.
He shook his head with a chuckle, heading to the kitchen.
"Are you sure?" Rachel tried again.
"Mom, I want to take a bath and put on my pajamas and sleep in my bed. Is that okay?"
"Of course it is. I'm sorry."
"It's okay." Charlie replied giving Rachel a hug goodbye before packing her backpack with the thermos and wrapped meat that Gene handed her, "I packed enough for Bass, too."
Charlie kissed his cheek as she headed towards the door. "Thanks, Grandpa. Love you."
"Love you too, Charlie."
"Whoa! Were you headed?" Miles ask as they ran into each other on the porch.
"Geesh! What is it with everybody? I'm going home to sleep in my own goddamn bed." She snapped.
Miles held his hand up in surrender "Okay, okay! I'll see you later then."
It started raining when she was halfway home causing her to shake her fist at the sky. She had been either wet or cold this entire trip and enough was enough.
She stalked up her porch steps and through the front door. "Oh thank God, a fire," she sighed as she dripped on the tile in the entry way.
"Damn it, Charlie!" Bass grouched stomping towards her taking her pack, setting it aside, before he began to help her out of her wet clothes. "Are you trying to die of exposure or do you enjoy looking like a drowned cat?"
"It's not my fault it decided to start raining. And how did you know I'd even come home tonight?" she asked holding onto his shoulder as he tugged her boots off.
"How long have we been living and working together? Nothing short of rabid dogs was keeping you at the Stepford house tonight."
She frowned, not knowing what that meant but knowing by his tone that it wasn't nice.
"I started a fire and filled the buckets to heat."
Charlie groaned at the thought of a warm bath. "Oh, thank you."
When he had her down to her undergarments, he shooed her to her room to get a change of clothes and started adding buckets of hot water to the cold water that was already in the bathtub. They'd done this enough times that he knew she'd hurry so that he could have a warm bath as well.
"Grandpa sent some dinner home. It's in my pack." She said sliding into the small bathroom with him. He sat a half full bucket within reach of the tub and left her to it, grabbing her pack on the way to the kitchen.
Digging through her crap, he finally found the thermos of soup and wrapped venison.
Coming back to Willoughby after the war they had all piled into Genes house as they got their bearings and Blanchard had put Bass and Charlie to work doing odd jobs while helping Miles oversee the Rangers stationed in the nearby towns. It had only taken a few weeks of being under the same roof as Rachel and Miles for he and Charlie to decide that was not someplace they wanted to be.
They had went together to look at places to rent in the area. There were no available apartments and the houses that were available were either too expensive or too big for just one person. Bass had finally suggested they rent a place together. They could split the rent and they were already living together on the road or at Gene's.
From the look on Charlie's face he thought for sure she was going to shoot him down, but had instead surprised the shit out of him when she said, "I think that's the most intelligent thing I've ever heard you say, Monroe. It's scary as hell, but incredibly accurate."
They had settled on this two-bedroom bungalow in town, a few blocks away from city hall. It was on the small side but large enough for their needs.
He thought Rachel was going to have an aneurysm when she heard the news, but Miles had just shrugged. "Just think Rachel. He'll keep her stupid to a minimum and I won't have to babysit him."
"Oh, Nice, Miles. Dickhead." She and Bass had responded at the same time with matching frowns causing Miles to frown in return at their synchronicity.
A year later, they were still roommates.
He had just finished making sandwiches and was keeping the soup hot on the back of the stove when he heard her call out from the hall. "Bath's all yours, Bass."
He listened to her feet pad softly down the hall to her room, the door shutting behind her. Grabbing a towel from their shared linen cabinet, he headed towards the bathroom.
Charlie emerged from her room dressed in her favorite pajamas which consisted of one of Miles threadbare t-shirts and a pair of old gym shorts with the word 'juicy' sewn on the ass. The first time she had worn them around Bass, she had dared him with her eyes to say something about them.
He had wisely kept his mouth shut and appreciated the view.
Making her way to the kitchen she took her share of dinner and sat at the table to eat, thinking about last night and this morning. She knew it had been instinct on his part to haul her up in front of him, trying to keep her warm while they sought shelter. It certainly wasn't the first time either of them had been in a life or death situation.
But yesterday something had changed. When she had woke and felt his erection against her belly it had nearly taken her breath away. When she had opened her eyes and looked into his it had.
His eyes were unguarded in the early morning light as he watched her, his hand gently stroking her back as they lay tangled up in each other, her mother and uncle in the same bed.
It was that look that made her bold enough to skim her hand down and wrap her fingers around him. When he growled in response, her body had taken on a life of its own until the only thing she could think of was having him buried deep inside of her.
Bass walked in the kitchen to discover Charlie holding her sandwich staring into space.
He called her name twice with no response.
"Charlotte," he said raising his voice and snapping his fingers in front of her face.
She jumped, banging her knee on the underside of the table. "Damn it, Bass!"
"That was the third time I called your name." He replied calmly pouring the rest of the soup into a bowl before joining her at the table.
"Oh, sorry. Is everything okay?"
"You tell me. What did Gene have to say?"
"I'm fine." she answered before finally taking a bit of her sandwich.
They ate their dinner in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
When they finished, Bass offered to clean up while Charlie tended to the stove and fireplace.
She was turning down her bed when she heard his footsteps coming down the hall. Her back was to the door when he popped his head in her room.
"Night, Charlie."
She listened as he began to move away before finding her voice. "Hey, Bass?" She called out.
He shuffled back to door, "Yeah?"
She took a deep breath, turning her head to the side so that she could see him out of the corner of her eye. "Don't forget you owe me a rain-check."
She turned back to the bed as he came into her room, the light from his lamp temporarily brightening the room before he doused the wick setting the lamp down on the small dresser against the wall.
She felt the warmth from his body as he stood right behind her. "You sure about that, Charlie? We can just chalk it up to a weird morning and forget it ever happened."
"Why would I want to forget that you saved my life?" she asked.
"You want to cash in a rain-check because I saved your life?" he asked his voice low and harsh.
Charlie sighed. "You know what? Let's just forget everything."
"No!" Bass said spinning her around to face him. "You started this, so let's finish it."
Charlie wrenched her arm away from him. "It's not just because you saved my life, it's because you always save my life! You're the one who's always there making sure that I've ate and that I'm warm. You sit up with me when the nightmares won't let me sleep. You've stitched me up more times than even Grandpa, and when the whole world is crumbling around my ears, you're the one who always comes back!" she finished with a half sob.
A stunned Bass looked back at her.
"And how do you feel about that?" he asked quietly.
Charlie laughed at the sheer absurdity of the question. "How do I feel about it? I feel pretty fucking good about it, Bass. So good in fact that the only thing I could think of this morning was having you buried inside of me!"
Breathing heavily they both stood staring at each other letting that information soak in.
"Just go," Charlie said turning her back to him as she closed her eyes trying to regain her composure.
Her startled gasp filled the room when his hands cupped her shoulders, gently squeezing. His breath was warm on her skin as he brushed her hair to one side, his fingers lightly tracing her neck from shoulder to jaw. He came even closer, pressing his body against hers, wrapping an arm around her waist as he used his lips this time instead of his fingers.
Momentarily sliding both hands against the warmth of her belly, Bass gathered the hem of her t-shirt dragging it up over her head and tossing it to the floor. He pressed a hand firmly against her when she attempted to turn in his arms.
"Shhh," he whispered in her ear pulling her tight as he cupped a breast teasing the nipple while his mouth found the tender spot at the junction of her shoulder and neck causing Charlie to whimper.
The sound went straight to Bass' dick. He thumbed the waistband of her shorts and she shimmied out of them, brushing back and forth against his crotch. He skimmed his hands over her hips as she twisted in his arms. "Get in bed."
"But Bass."
"Charlotte, get in bed."
He watched as she crawled to the center of the bed, propping herself up on an elbow to watch him as he removed his jeans.
Pushing her flat on the bed, Bass hovered over her as he carded his fingers through her hair, before moving on to outline the shell of her ear.
"Do you know how beautiful you are, Charlie?"
When she shook her head no he slid down the bed till they were face to face, his lips inches from hers. "Well, then it's a good thing I plan on telling you every day from now on, isn't it?" he asked before cupping her cheek to kiss her. Their legs tangled together as his erection pressed against her belly.
They broke apart, both gasping for air, resting their foreheads together. Their hands begin an exploration of the others bodies, touching, kissing and caressing till Charlie was sure she was going to implode from sheer sensation and she's convinced she has died and went heaven when he presses his mouth against her pussy.
When she shatters around his fingers, he tells her again how beautiful she, how good she tastes and how he'll pleasure her every single day if she'll let him.
Making his way up her body, keeping his weight on his forearms, he kisses her. She moans at the taste of herself on his tongue and feels his cock twitching in anticipation between them. Reaching down she takes him in hand slowly stroking his length, their breath mingling and lips brushing against each other in anticipation.
She guides him to her center hooking her heels around his thighs urging him on, gasping when he surges forward.
Fully sheathed inside her, Bass holds still waiting for her to open her eyes. "Are you alright?"
"Better than alright," she pants rolling her hips.
Smiling, Bass rolls them over so that she's on top. "You're in charge. Show me what you got," he says palming her breasts.
Biting her bottom lip as she grins, Charlie places a hand on the center of his chest to balance herself as she finds her rhythm. Bass's hands move from her hips to her breasts and everywhere between, occasionally pulling her down for a kiss or to suckle a nipple while she grinds her clit against his pubic bone. He pulls her in tight when he feels her walls begin to tighten around him and bites the spot he discovered earlier causing her to nearly jump out of his arms as she muffled her screams against his neck.
Rolling her back over, he hitches her leg over his elbow and it's not long before he feels that familiar pull deep in his gut and his balls start to tingle and tighten up.
"Oh, God, Charlie!" he pants as he pulls out at the last second emptying himself against her already soaked curls. Collapsing to the side of her, he pulls her sated body towards him with a chuckle as she curls up against his chest like a contented kitten while he strokes her hair.
"What about Miles?" Charlie finally asks as she caresses a bullet scar with her thumb.
Bass frowns looking down at her. "What do you mean?"
"Is this going to change things between you?"
"Charlie, look at me." Bass says gripping her chin between his thumb and forefinger, meeting her gaze with his own.
"I may have come for Miles, but I stayed for you."
Charlie's face glows with happiness as he kisses her again, tucking her in beside him, his shoulder her pillow as she drifts to sleep.
~fin~
