The scent of the ocean in her hair
6.
The sound of the waves outside flows through the dark room. A sea breeze plays with the curtains. Charlie lets her second orgasm flow through her body. The mattress under her is soft. Bass is close enough to feel the hard lines of his body against hers.
'Enjoying your birthday, Charlotte?'
His voice is low and smug. But she can hear what he can't hide from her. She turns her head his way.
'Yeah...' She smiles.
'Good...' His voice is lower this time.
He wasn't touching her five seconds ago. He is now. He is making slow trails with his fingers over the sensitive skin of her back. He is touching her skin in the same way the sun had caressed her earlier today. It is personal. Him and her, here in the same bed.
She lets her eyes move over his moustache. And when she will look back, she will remember how everything changed here, so close to the ocean and with her warm breath so close to his skin.
Bass looks at her. If she thinks he is letting her go back to her room, than this time she is fucking delusional. He knows they need to get back on the road. He knows they need to deal with everything that is out there. But right now, the whole world can go to hell. He just wants her.
The way he looks at her makes her bite her bottom lip. It makes her wonder why he would care about this day, and her, so much. But he doesn't give her time to think. He moves his hands around her face to cup her cheeks before he moves his mouth over hers.
A pale moon appears above the dunes and the ocean. The sound of the rhythm of the waves lingers around the house. But all she can hear is his hoarse low voice close to her ear when he tells her about all the things he is going to do to her before sunset will find them.
She's asleep. He isn't. She is breathing against his chest. Her skin feels soft against his. He really wants to fall asleep next to her. But she can't be here when Miles wakes up. Because he knows Miles will fucking kill him when he finds her here, wrapped around him. And he really needs to stay alive so he can fuck her again. His dick is already waking up with all the possibilities of him and her alone. He knows he is thinking with the wrong head but his mind is torturing him with images of burying himself deep inside of her again.
He groans. He knows it's time to move. He gathers her in his arms and slowly walks her to her own bed at the other side of the house. He has carried her in his arms before. There had been thunder in the air and an amount of rage in his blood that had surprised him. He can almost taste that rage again, when he remembers those assholes who had hurt her in that damn bar.
But this time, she is safe. She warm and asleep. He is holding her and nobody is going to touch her. He has no idea if what happened tonight will happen again. He knows he wants her again.
When he slowly guides her head to her pillow, she doesn't wake up. He had to watch how Miles moved a blanket around her shoulders to keep her warm. But tonight, he is the one who moves a warm blanket over her shoulders. The pale light of the moon illuminates her face. She mumbles something in her sleep. Bass gently moves his hand over her shoulder until she relaxes under his touch again.
She wakes up in her own bed. The sunlight that streams inside the small room is bright. The sounds of birds flying high above the ocean fill the morning air She takes a deep breath. She can still taste him on her lips.
She has a vague memory of Bass carrying her back to her own bed. But her muscles had felt too heavy to open her eyes. His chest had been wide. His scent had been close. She had known she was safe and that he was going to take care of her. And for once, she had let him.
A smile appears on her face when she finds her tank and panties on the bed next to her. She knows he put them there. But then her smile fades. She knows what last night meant to her. It was more than sex. It was more than a quick fuck. But she isn't sure he feels the same. She doesn't know what it will be like to see him when the night has faded and daylight has moved the night into day. A rare wave of vulnerability fills her thoughts.
She does know that when she will walk outside and his eyes find hers, she will find what last night meant to him there in his eyes.
She gets dressed. She finds her boots close to the bed. She grabs her weapons. She drinks a glass of water.
And when she finally walks off the steps of the porch and into the morning light, he is there, taking care of his weapons in the shadows of a large tree across the house. His eyes are there. It's one of those moments where time seems to slow down. And when his eyes light up when his eyes finds hers, she knows last night will not be the only night she will spend in his bed or in his arms.
'Morning kid.' It's Miles voice that pulls her away from him and her heart that is beating with more force.
And even though she should be looking at Miles, Bass' eyes won't let her go. She tells her heartbeat to slow down. She tells herself to focus on Miles.
'Hey…' She can see Miles is hung over. She has seen the empty bottle on the kitchen table. She knows he is drinking to outrun his demons.
She sits down next to him. They listen to the ocean. She lets the clean, salty ocean air wake her up while she watches how Bass cleans his guns.
Miles groans and pinches the bridge of his nose with his fingers before he gets up to walk to the horses. They need to get them ready for the miles that are out there waiting for them. She follows him. She moves her hand over the brown manes of the horse in front of her. They don't talk. She can see the same unwillingness to go get back on the road in his eyes that she feels inside of her.
'Miles…if you and my mom are not going to make it, you know that we will still be okay, right?'
When Miles can finally look at her, the honesty in her eyes hurts. His tongue moves over his bottom lip in a nervous way. He feels a wave of love for her he can't push away.
Charlie looks at him with strength in her eyes. One look at the shift in his deep eyes and she knows he has heard her. She knows he knows that she is here and that she is not going anywhere. But she also knows he needs his space. She nods to the house behind her. ' I am going to grab my stuff.'
She waits until he nods at her before she walks back to the house.
When Miles looks up, he expects to see Charlie again. But this time, Bass is there.
Bass can see the doubt and struggle in Miles' eyes. He has kept his mouth shut to give Miles the space he needs. He has kept his mouth shut because he doesn't want to hurt Charlie.
But he grew up with him. He knows Miles is struggling with this whole playing house with Rachel thing. He knows that for some reason Miles really loves her. But he also knows things between them are quickly going to hell. He has heard the fights. He knows how much their fights hurt Charlie. He has seen the cool accusations in Rachel's eyes. He has to watch how Miles' guilt is ripping him apart from the inside.
Miles and her have been a fight of wanting and not wanting to want from the moment they had started to screw around behind Ben's back. And Rachel will probably never believe him, but he had hated how they had treated Ben. And she will never understand, but Bass hates how it has changed Miles. Because it did.
He heard what Charlie said to Miles before she had walked back to the house. He has never been able to keep her fierce loyalty away from his damn heart from the moment she had jumped in front of Strausser's gun. He just wants his brother to know he is here too. He knows Miles. He knows he will push him away. But he tries anyway.
'You all right?' He looks at Miles. Miles' eyes meet his.
'God, not you too, Bass.' Miles sounds pissed and annoyed. His head hurts like hell and he doesn't know why, but all of a sudden everyone wants to talk this morning.
But when he looks at Bass, he can't ignore the truth in Bass' eyes. The truth that says that they are still brothers and they still have each other's backs. And that he knows Bass is still there.
Bass sees the change in Miles eyes. And for the first time in years, he sees that Miles wants him here. It should not mean so fucking much to him after everything that happened. But it does.
'Don't be such a dick, Miles.' Bass decides to give his brother an easy way out to deal with all his shit with an insult and rough irritation in his voice. But he knows that Miles knows he is there, He bumps his shoulder into Miles on his way back to the house.
Bass follows the path from their safe house to the ocean. When he reaches the warm sand of the wide beach in front of him, he sees her. And he has to stop. The beach is deserted. But she is there, standing in front of the ocean. Her arms are crossed before her chest. She is looking at the ocean.
Dammit, she is beautiful. She doesn't even know how beautiful she is, standing there in her jeans and tank. He knows she is hiding at least one knife in her boot but she has left the rest of her weapons at the house. It's just her, the ocean and her tank and jeans.
The waves are calm this morning. The sunlight adds more depth to the different kinds of blue in the water and the deep golden blonde of her hair. When she finally turns around, it's the relaxed smile in her eyes that almost kills him. He wishes they could stay here. He wishes he could erase every single day and moment that every hurt her.
When he starts walking to her, she starts walking to him. She stops in front of him. She doesn't say a word. She just moves her hand around his cheek before she kisses him. And with her deep kiss, she soothes his doubt if she will ever let him kiss her again the way she had last night that has been filling his thoughts.
He fucking loves to feel her body melt against his. He needs her mouth on his. Knowing she wants him and knowing last night is not a one-time thing makes him need her even more. He needs to feel her under him in the warm sand and with her legs wrapped around his middle. But he also knows Miles is fucking close. Too close. And he's probably not happy to see his niece wrapped around him with his hand on its way to her ass.
'Charlie…' he groans. There is a warning in his voice. 'Charlie…stop.'
She doesn't stop. Of course she doesn't. The warmth of her mouth is still covering his damn lips. 'If he sees us…' He groans when she shuts him up by adding more pressure with her body against his thighs and groin. He can feel her smile against his lips.
She finally slows down their kiss before she takes a step away from him. But her eyes tell him they will finish this later. She starts walking back to the house.
He moves his hand through his hair. '….Miles is going to kill me…'
She turns around. Her bright eyes meet his. The wind plays with her hair. And she just smiles. It's a wide, unexpected and real smile that flows all the way to her eyes and that fills his whole chest.
'So what's new, Monroe?'
The End
Author's Note There will be an epilogue. I will miss this wooden house close to the beach, the warmth of the sun and the ocean. I loved spending time with this story. Revoinfinite, thank you so much for your wonderful reviews! I hope you liked this final chapter! I want to thank Threemagpies for her feedback and thank all of you for being there and for your reviews and kind words. They always mean the world to me and I love hearing from you. Love from Love
