A thousand eyes…
A Revolution fic (No blackout Au): Sebastian (Bass) Monroe/Charlotte (Charlie) Matheson; Charloe.
Charlie is used to the limelight… as a daytime TV weather girl, she is used to being sent all over the world, talking about the weather in Chicago and the US while climbing mountains in Canada, snorkelling in the Bahamas, feeding pelicans in Tasmania, bungee jumping in New Zealand or swinging on a trapeze in Venezuela… Unfortunately, somewhere along the way she had acquired an obsessed and obviously very disturbed admirer. Her boss insists on hiring her a bodyguard, turning to the best in the business, her ex boyfriend and former Marine turned private security operative, Sebastian Monroe…
Rating M
Authors note: Thanks for reading – and for your lovely comments and reviews – Oh, the title of this chapter is from a comment left at AO3 by the wonderful hayj on chapter 4 of this story. It was such a lovely paraphrase and fitted so well that I simply had to use it here - although I think it's worth a story on it's own! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, Cheers, Magpie
A thousand eyes
Chapter 5… Nobody puts Baby in the corner of the garage...
Charlie woke up and stretched luxuriously, her thighs and hips aching from being spread out around Bass, little tingles of sensation rocketing their way around her body from her well kissed and sucked clit and her wonderfully fucked and buzzing core all the way to her fingertips, her nipples sensitive to the slightest movement in the air… and she licked her lips, loving the taste of him lingering there…
It was still dark but she could see quite well in the light from the apartment and office buildings surrounding the hotel coming in through the blinds over the windows. She'd closed them when she was getting dressed last night, not that it mattered really; they were high above the ground, she didn't think there'd be anyone looking…
Bass was asleep next to her on his stomach, although she remembered waking to the feel of him wrapped around her not long ago, then going back to sleep again… His arms were curved around the pillow, face slightly turned away from her, the dark blond curls at the base of his neck a little soft touch to the masculine hardness of the rest of him, and as she watched, a gentle snore rose from the other side of the bed…
She smiled…admiring the view; he looked like some sort of Greek god lying there, his body relaxed in sleep, the vibrant intensity and charisma of his personality softer in sleep, banked up and waiting... She followed the planes and muscles of his arms with her eyes as they led down over broad, beautifully rounded shoulders to the long muscles of his back in sinuous, wonderful, lines and curves… She remembered and looked back for the dressing on his bicep, but it was almost invisible in this light, she hoped the wound wasn't too sore…Then her eyes moved back to the narrow, supple waist that swelled down into the twin, taught ovals of his ass and the smaller, shadowy shapes of the soft undersides of his balls, just visible between the tops of his thighs… Charlie sighed, he had an absolutely beautiful ass, and his legs were long and strongly curved and just…perfect and she wanted to kiss and lick her way down all of him… She took a quiet but deep breath in, first there had to be a little run to the bathroom; because once she started kissing she wouldn't want to stop – and judging by how it had been last night, neither would he…
She slid very quietly off the bed, not bothering with a robe, the temperature was quite comfortable, went to go to the bathroom then changed her mind and padded out into the lounge and through the adjoining door to bathroom in the other suite, not wanting to wake him with the light…
After she'd finished, she dried her hands and looked casually into the bedroom on the way out. Bass hadn't unpacked anything, his suit was in a careless pile on the floor and his case was standing on its wheels, unopened and just inside the door, the handle still up. She went to get it; there was no point in it being here when he was in with her…
Then she looked at the windows…Bass hadn't pulled the blinds across and she could see the lights in the windows of the building across the road, it looked like another hotel maybe? She walked across to the window, her eyes caught by the view of the city, the Magnificent mile, Chicago in its glory… Stretching out before her was a wonderland of lights and colors, the towering building blocks of the offices and apartments of downtown, the still numerous buses, trucks and cars close up and the sweeping red and white streaks of the busy roads in the distance, and beyond, just visible beyond the tangle of skyscrapers, beneath the greater dark of the sky with its faintest tinge of dawn was a tiny sliver of the Lake, somehow different in its darkness… It was beautiful, it was her city and she loved it…
Then, and she really didn't know how, or quite when, but she became aware of a figure in a balcony window of the building opposite, a couple of floors above theirs. It was in silhouette, foreshortened and standing very still, like her, a dark shadow against the slightly lighter backdrop of the room behind, but somehow she knew that he, or at least she thought it was a he, was looking straight down at her…
Annoyed, she drew the blinds closed with a snap, then turned and walked back to the doorway, turning off the light in the bathroom and collecting Bass' case on the way. Moving quickly through to her suite she stood the case outside the door to the bedroom rather than making a noise dragging it around inside, and was just stepping inside when she heard the sound of smashing glass…then a kind of whooshing sound from Inside Bass's suite and suddenly everything in there flew apart, exploding and fracturing into heat and smoke and bright angry flames behind her, and something like a huge hand threw her forward onto her knees…
…
Charlie opened her eyes to a strange, booming, heavy silence wrapped in curling smoke and dust and the smell of wet burned things… She was folded up on the floor and a naked Bass was kneeling down in front of her, his hands moving quickly over her arms, her back, down her legs, checking her over – although she couldn't feel anything hurting or wrong… she struggled up onto her knees then someone else behind her placed a blanket around her shoulders and Bass drew it around to cover her front… he looked up and said something, she couldn't hear it… to whoever it was…
He looked down at her, his eyes a stark, blazing blue, and they were all that was holding her up because… because she didn't know what the fuck was happening… His lips were moving but she couldn't seem to make out what he was saying…
Then suddenly there were people in hotel uniform bursting into the room, a couple of them coming over to them, then seeing they were ok, joining the others in running towards Bass' suite, fire extinguishers and hoses in their hands, although the flames seemed to be out when she turned to see…
Jeremy knelt down next to Bass handing him a pair of pants and a tee; a gun held openly in his other hand… she frowned, a gun? Jeremy looked into her eyes, frowning; he looked worried… he held out his hand and patted her shoulder…mouthing something…? She couldn't work it out…
A pair of long, jeans covered legs appeared behind Jeremy, and a long fingered hand dropped her track pants and tank into her lap… She looked up and saw… Connor? Yes it was the guy who'd been sitting with Jeremy in the restaurant… He had a phone to his ear and seemed to be talking into it although she still couldn't seem to hear anything except a muffled confusion of sounds, she saw him head quickly over to her bag, opening it up and throwing things into it from the drawers and wardrobe…
She coughed and swallowed a couple of times and at last some sounds started to come through… and she nearly cried with relief…she could hear smoke alarms going off and people shouting…
'Charlie…?' Bass leaned forward, the pants draped over his legs… he shuffled into them quickly, still on the floor; then shrugged into the tee…
She nodded, coughing again to clear her throat…'what happened…?'
His eyes went fierce, hard…the lines of his face set and angry… 'The bastard fired a fucking grenade into the other bedroom…it hit the bed, exploded and set it alight' he shook his head…if we'd been in there…' he took a breath… 'Anyway; the sprinkler system went off and put most of it out pretty quickly…which is why we're still in here…'
Charlie sat up straighter, so that's what it was, shit, it had felt like the whole building was falling…'Bass… I think I saw someone…I used your bathroom so I wouldn't wake you up, and I went to look out of the window at the city' she looked up at him…wanting to be really clear about what she'd seen… 'You'd left the blinds open… There was someone, a man I think, in the building across the road, a couple of floors higher than us, I thought he saw me, looked at me…'
He looked up 'Jeremy?'
'On it Boss…' he turned, pulling a phone out of his pocket…
She could hear sirens, lots of them, coming closer… again… and she shook her head; this was getting really weird…
Bass rolled her tank up and slipped it over her head and she lifted her arms up through the sleeves, pulled it down and then shoved her legs into her track pants under the blanket…
Then she shuffled closer to Bass and he pulled her into his arms… His body was warm and strong and real around her, his heart beating strong and steady against her ears... She didn't want to think about what could have happened if they'd been in that room together or if Bass had been in the bed when the grenade hit…
The explosion had happened after the figure had seen her in that room… So it wasn't a warning, he really had meant to kill her, and maybe Bass as well…
'Charlie…?'
She looked up at him, her eyes haunted and he dropped a kiss on her lips…
He drew back, his face determined, strong, his eyes hard on hers, demanding that she be the same… 'Hey…we're alright and we'll sort it out, Ok?'
She nodded…'yeah, ok…' she took a deep breath…
His lips curved in a tight grin…'good girl… so what made you bring my bag out here?'
She looked away, a little embarrassed, 'I thought you'd need it in the morning, and I…I wanted you to stay… with me…'
He pulled her back into him, his breath warm on her hair…'I'm glad…'
'…Glad about which bit?'
He chuckled…'Glad that you rescued my bag, because it's got my favorite leathers in it… and very glad that you wanted me to stay…'
She leaned back against him, her cheek against the strong, steady thud of his heart, her hands running over the warm, muscled curves of his arms, his steady calm in the face of all this comforting and – safe… She didn't want to move… 'Good…that's good… So what do we do now?' she felt his chest rise as he drew in a deep breath…
He unwound her gently and stood up, reaching out a hand to pull her up with him… 'First we get out of here….'
Charlie looked over at the front door, Jeremy and Connor were waiting there with their cases, Jeremy still with his gun ready, held pointing up over his shoulder; she guessed he must have a license…? It all somehow felt much so more serious now seeing the gun… She looked back to the door to Bass' suite… There were a few people milling around in there, towels and shirts held to their mouths, but there wasn't much smoke and the fire seemed to be out… The sprinklers were still going off inside the lounge room as well as the bedroom, the white dust from extinguishers covered the floors and walls and she could just see part of the bed, a charred, lumpy ruin melted onto the floor; the windows behind it broken and open to the night…
She walked with Bass over to join Jeremy and Connor and then they were out of there…
…..
The Concierge had given them a suite on the ground floor so they could organize themselves… The man had been professional and apologetic and Charlie couldn't see anything on his face or in his manner to indicate that he thought that having his rooms blown up by insane, homicidal stalkers trying to murder his guests was anything more than a slight inconvenience in an ordinary night… She was impressed and strangely reassured, maybe things like this happened a lot in hotels and managers dealt with it all the time? There might be a story in it; she made a mental note to talk to Duncan…
Jeremy had pulled all the curtains closed and Connor had done a sweep of all the rooms before they let Charlie and Bass into the room. All four of them were now were sitting on couches and chairs around a low coffee table in the borrowed suite drinking some of the whiskey that Connor had rescued along with their bags…
Bass had just finished talking to the police on the hotel landline… They'd found an abandoned rifle and grenade launcher in the room where Charlie had seen the figure and were investigating but weren't expecting much; there were no finger prints and the weapon, an AG36 Heckler and Koch Grenade launcher attached to an M36 rifle as well as the 40mm grenade it had hurled into their room were part of a cache of similar weapons stolen from an importer some months earlier and had obviously been obtained on the black market so really they were no further ahead than before. The fact that the shooter was willing to simply abandon such an expensive piece of equipment was worrying everyone though…
The police were planning to interview people at the station again first thing in the morning and had asked Charlie not to call or contact anyone until they'd done that… They'd offered to put her into protective custody but she'd refused, not just because she wanted to stay with Bass, although that was a big part of it. She felt safer with him than she could imagine being with anyone else… but this…person… seemed to know things and to be able to get into places that made her wonder if she'd be safe anywhere. And it didn't look as though the police were going to be able to do much about finding him. They'd told the Police that Charlie was going a little way out of the city for some time out in a private retreat, with her own security, they'd also given the PD the address and a phone number…
Besides, the plan seemed to be to lay a trail for the guy out to the beach house, then catch him themselves and she so wanted in on that. Bass had already spoken to Duncan and they'd agreed that if it was Tom Neville doing this, that he wouldn't let it go… so Duncan was going to advise the Board – including Julia Neville of course – what was happening, giving enough information so that anyone could work out where Charlie was if they wanted to. She was also going to tell them that she intended to reinstate Charlie as soon as the Police caught the stalker… Bass had called it rattling the chain…
Jeremy was in the chair opposite Bass, a frown on his expressive face and one foot tapping restlessly on the floor… 'Ok…we've got Will, Jim and Scanlon heading to the Beach house now and collecting some supplies on the way, but I've been thinking that we might need a couple more people, Boss, just to be on the safe side…' He looked over at Bass, his eyes flickering and somehow hesitant… 'And you know who'd be real handy right now?'
Bass looked away, his eyes hard and angry but somehow sad at the same time… 'What makes you think he'd come?'
'He might for this…'
Charlie looked from Jeremy to Bass then back again…'who are you talking about?'
Jeremy looked down at his feet…
Bass ran a hand through his scruff…'He's talking about your Uncle Miles, Charlie…'
Oh…she didn't know what to say to that… she hadn't seen Miles for years and only knew that he and Bass had fallen out from what Duncan had told her… Her Dad had talked about him as though he was a sort of a sad case; running a bar in a rough part of town, drinking too much and living a wild life of fighting, girls and music… Which she had always thought had sounded kind of romantic really…. 'He might not even remember me…'
Jeremy shook his head…'that's not true Miss Matheson… he's really proud of you, he's got the tv in the bar tuned in to your channel, won't let anyone change it…'
Bass narrowed his eyes…'now how do you know that?'
A tide of red washed over Jeremy's pale cheeks…
Connor laughed…'He plays poker there almost every weekend, Dad…'
Charlie sat back stunned… Dad? She turned to Bass, a question in her eyes…
He shrugged…'Miles and Emma, Connor's mother, were married… but she and I'd had a bit of a thing before that…' he tailed off… 'Anyway, I thought Connor was theirs, but when Emma got really sick she wrote me a letter, telling me that Connor was mine, she and Miles hadn't told me, thought that Connor and me were better off not knowing but she didn't want to leave it any longer, she felt we had a right to know before she… before she died…' he blew out a long breath, drained his glass and reached for the bottle, pouring himself another…
Charlie looked at Connor… and there was something about him that reminded her of Bass, the shape of his hands maybe, the way the hair curled around his ears; the shape of the jaw, the air of confidence and rampant masculinity… she turned back to Bass, her eyes soft…'so that was why you and Miles…stopped being friends…'
He lifted the glass to his lips…'Yeah, that did it…and then Connor came to work for me…' he tossed the drink back, swallowing it in one go…
Jeremy shifted on his seat… 'Boss…I don't like the way this guy works, there's something about him; I don't know…he sets my teeth on edge…' he leaned over and poured himself another drink…'and you and Miles were good together, really good, you always came through, always got the job done…' he took a sip 'I mean, I try… and I'm ok, and the other guys are good too – and Connor' he tipped his head towards the younger man, who looked quietly pleased… 'But you and Miles, you had this psychic thing going on, you always knew what the other one was thinking…' he looked into the glass…'and, well, I might not be psychic but I've got a bad feeling about this bastard…' he looked Bass straight in the eye…'I think we'll need Miles on this one, for Miss Matheson's sake…'
Bass stared back at him for a few long moments, his face carefully blank…then he nodded slowly… 'Ok… does he have a phone or is he still working off the grid…?'
Jeremy seemed to relax a little and he breathed out on a sigh… 'He doesn't but I've got the number of one of the girls who works bar for him…'
Bass nodded…'ok, then call her and ask her to give him a message; ask her to tell him that Bass is going to bed with a bad headache and needs some TLC'
Jeremy's eyebrows rose 'just like that?'
'Exactly like that…'
Jeremy nodded, his lips pursed… 'Ok…'
Charlie leaned forward…'and I think you'd better call me Charlie, Jeremy… Miss Matheson seems a bit formal after tonight…'
Connor smirked; then stopped suddenly when Bass glared at him, Jeremy's lips twisted in a wry grin… 'I have to say that looking after you has been pretty interesting so far…'
…..
It was nearly dawn and they were almost ready to go… Connor had gone to put their cases in the car and fetch the bike helmets so that she and Bass could go straight to where Baby was parked and go… and Jeremy was in the lounge room on the phone to his friend who worked in Miles' bar…
She and Bass were in the bedroom, getting changed; Bass was back in his leathers, looking tall, strong, beautiful and totally kick ass, Charlie felt excitement building in her belly again just looking at him… She felt pretty good herself, ready for anything… Her hair hung in long, shining waves down past her shoulders, she was wearing her favorite jeans and a fabulous chain belt she'd found at a night market in Brussels that hung down low on her hips, the little rings on it jingling as she moved; then there was a cute belly tank, her new but comfortable Vintage shoe company boots, low heeled, slouchy and fastened with straps not zips, and a leather moto jacket that was soft and gorgeous and had cost her…well, a lot… but she felt tough and adventurous and totally kick ass too…
She was sitting on the edge of the bed, doing up the last strap on her boots, but she looked up when Bass went over to the bedroom door and clicked the lock… Then he turned around and her belly did a flip when she saw the look on his face… and with her pulse thudding and her insides melting, she stood up and walked over towards him…
He stood there for a moment just looking at her as she came closer, his eyes that intense blazing blue… then he reached down and undid the catch and zip of his pants, his cock springing out, long and thick and just perfect…
Charlie's breath hitched in her throat and she felt her clit pulsing and moisture pooling between her legs… her tank suddenly felt too tight as her nipples pebbled tight and ready, she reached down and undid the buttons of her own jeans… the crotch of her little cotton panties was already soaked when she ran her hand down over it…and when his hand joined hers, his fingers slipping underneath her panties and sliding straight between her legs and over her clit, his middle fingers sliding into her, the width of his hand forcing the edges of her jeans opening apart, she nearly fell to her knees it felt so good…and she would have except he was holding her up…
He pulled his hand out and with both hands yanked jeans and panties down around her ankles, the chain belt staying around her hips, framing her pussy and hips…. She staggered, gasping and he laughed, low and growling, then he lifted her up and carried her over to the bed, flipping her over so that she lay face down, folded over the side of the bed, the pale skin of her ass with its chain belt decoration framing the full globes looking decadent and totally erotic…
Bass fell to his knees behind her, running his hands up her thighs and over her ass, stroking the pliant flesh, his fingers pressing temporary dents as he ran his thumbs down through the valley between her cheeks, opening her up…
Charlie's breath was coming in ragged pants as he ran his cock up and down and through her wet and so ready centre, without entering her yet…and she stretched her arms forward over the bed, lifting her ass higher for him, wanting him so badly she was aching with it…then she turned so that she could see his face, his eyes meeting hers in a hot and totally focused blue fire that she felt searing all the way inside her…
He smiled, keeping her eyes on his… and suddenly she felt the hard, hot head of his cock parting her folds as he plunged home, his eyes closing for a moment then opening again as he drew out then surged back in, stretching her and pushing her deep into the soft sides and softer material of the bed covers, her arms stroking her forward and back as he moved in and out of her… Then he leaned over as he fucked her, one of his hands sliding around her hips, his fingers slipping to her clit and rubbing, circling and playing there, bringing her closer and closer to the orgasm she could feel building and building… He moved faster, plunging deeper, harder until he couldn't go any further, his other hand lifting her knee up to give him even more access, her body welcoming him in with each thrust…
Then she felt him reach his peak, his hot seed flooding deep inside her and she let go…just let herself fall into the moment and him fucking her…her fucking him…. She felt her fingers grabbing at handfuls of the bedspread, her hands clenching into fists around the soft fabric… and then his arms were beside hers, holding his weight up and off her, his hands moving over hers, his lips finding hers in a kiss that burned in a sweet, hot moment of…something she couldn't, daren't put a name to yet…
Charlie was really glad that Bass had locked the door because she couldn't have moved to save her life… Then she felt Bass' hand move down to play with her belt…
He laughed, the sound hoarse and vibrating right into her skin…'I love this…' he ran his fingers over the rings on the chain…'but every time I see you wearing it I'll want to fuck you…'
Charlie swayed her hips against him…'Then I'll wear it all the time…'
He groaned and drew back, dragging his hands back down over her arms, stroking down through her hair and over her back, moving down over her hips, his hands resting there, fingers spread and thumbs moving in little circles over her the smooth skin of her ass…
She could feel his eyes on her, almost tangible in their heat on her skin…
Suddenly there was a loud pounding on the door and a muffled voice on the other side, Jeremy...'Hey, I know what you're doing in there and, yeah… ok, I understand, but if you don't want to get trampled by photographers and the feds we have to go right now…' more pounding …'Bass? I mean right now…'
Bass sat up…'Shit…he called me Bass…' he leaned over to help her up… 'He only ever does that if things are serious, Charlie, we've gotta go….'
Charlie staggered up, laughing as she almost tripped over her jeans and Bass caught her; steadying her on her feet… She pulled her pants and jeans up most of the way and hobbled to the bathroom to clean up, quickly doing what she needed to do then fastening everything back up again…
Bass was right behind her; finishing fast, and then they were at the door, stopping just long enough for a quick check of the room to make sure they'd got everything… Charlie running back to the bed and quickly pulling the bedspread back into a sort of order…
Then they were out of the door, finding an impatient and slightly worried looking Jeremy pacing just outside…
He stopped pacing… 'Sorry to make you rush but things are really starting to hot up now that news has got out about the explosion…' he grinned at Charlie 'Nice outfit…' He handed them each a black motor bike helmet, gave Bass the bike keys and led them at a fast trot out of the room and down a corridor to the fire stairs…'The concierge said this was the best way to go to avoid everything…' he pointed ahead to a door coming up in front of them… 'The car park's just down there, Connor's got the car running and Baby's just around the corner…'
Bass laughed, Jeremy grinned back and they yelled out together…'Nobody puts Baby in the corner…'
Charlie had seen that movie and it was one of her all time favorites, she laughed with them…
Then they were through the door and into the car park, cars of all colors and sizes filling up the echoing space…lights spaced along the concrete ceiling casting pools of light over them…
Jeremy led them around a corner and swung around… holding a hand out with a flourish towards an enormous, shiny, Black and Chrome and very fast looking motorbike, 'Charlie meet Baby… she's a Triumph Rocket Roadster, she cries like a baby when she's hungry and is a total bitch for everyone but Bass… and she just hates me…'
Bass stroked the black seats, a little smile curving his lips…'She doesn't hate you Jeremy, she just doesn't respect you…'
Jeremy rolled his eyes…'Yeah, whatever…' he started to turn away…'we'll see you there… Dick… I mean Boss…'
Bass laughed… 'You're just jealous…' and Jeremy was gone…
Charlie just stared… it was the maybe the biggest bike she'd ever seen, well the biggest she'd ever been close to anyway, or been on…
Bass had his helmet on already, visor up, and was checking the bike over… Then he swung his leg over and settled himself on the saddle, pulling a pair of gloves out from under the seat and putting them on … He looked up and grinned at her, looking like something from a magazine…
Charlie grinned back, shivers of excitement running up and down her spine along with aftershocks from earlier… she twisted her hair away from her face and put her own helmet on, fastening the chinstrap tight. Then she looked for the footrest, found it and swung up behind him, getting in nice and tight and wriggling until she found her balance; checking that her other foot was in place and putting her arms around Bass' waist…
He flipped the ignition and the engine started with a roar that echoed like rockets around the wide, concrete space…
Charlie felt the vibration underneath her and it was almost too much on her still sensitive clit… almost, then it just felt wonderful…
Bass turned and she caught the edges of his wide, wide grin… Then he reached up and pulled his visor down, shifted the big bike forward, the stand flicking up into its housing and they were off…
Charlie remembered just in time to put her visor down too… then there was the noise and the wind rushing past as they wound their way out of the car park and onto the road… Their path taking them past and away from the fire engines, police cars and assorted other vehicles crowding the street around the front of the hotel… She hugged the broad back in front of her, moving with him in an easy rhythm, the big, powerful bike threading easily and smoothly through the pre-dawn traffic… it was exhilarating and wonderful and she didn't think she'd ever felt so alive…
They were heading north…to a place that Charlie had never been although she'd heard about it… Egg Harbor in Door County, along the shores of Lake Michigan…where Bass had a house, and where they were hoping to set a snare for a stalker…
…
AN: just leaving it there for now – I'll have another update up soon… cheers and thanks so much for reading, I hope you're enjoying the ride Magpie