Solving the math problem.
By AnitaB
Chapter 2: The instructional value of emotions
It felt good to hit him. Watching that tall body curl around her fist was just… perfect. And when he looked up at her from the floor at her feet… well that was just what she needed. Charlie needed to understand that she wasn't putting up with him pulling shit like that. She wasn't going to ever have to watch him welcome death with open arms again. Pain was very instructional. And yelling at him, that was comforting more than really made sense.
Then Charlie turned the tables. Dani found herself straddling a lean waist with strong arms trapping her in his gaze. Blue eyes pinned her with a mixture of emotions. Every line of his face said clearly that she wasn't getting away until he got his say. "You're my partner, Dani Reese. Do you have any idea what it would've done to me if you died in that damn SUV? When I could have stopped it? I'd had given anything to get you back. Anything. Everything."
Strong hands pulled her closer, holding her tight against heaving ribs. His eyes locked to hers, searching past every wall she'd ever built to protect herself. His voice rasped only inches from her lips, low and rough and full of emotion. Charlie had walls of his own, as many or more than she did, but before her eyes he threw them wide open to let her in. Dani went still, searching his face. His fingers slid along the side of her face in a line of soft heat. The little bit of space between them seemed to disappear. His heart raced under her fingers through the thin fabric of his shirt. Something inside her felt like it snapped into a thousand little pieces and there was no putting it back together. Not without Charlie. //What are you doing to me?// "Damn you, Charlie."
She felt a moment of surprise in the lines of Charlie's body before he responded to her kiss. And then she got lost in him. Strong arms pulled her closer. Soft lips opened to hers with a groan and long fingers tangled in her hair. He tasted so damn good, felt so good against her ribs, under her hands. Lean shoulders moved against her fingers as he wrapped both arms tight around her body. Pressing closer into the heat of his chest, Dani got a grip on his hair to deepen this kiss.
Strong hands and long fingers stroked her back down to her hips and pulled her hard against the front of his hips. //Charlie, yes.// Dani arched against the feel of Charlie wanting her, needing her, biting back a desperate sound that matched one of his. "Dani," Those hands clenched on her hips, holding her still against him. "Are you sure about this? About us?"
She tried to think logically, but it wasn't easy when every inch of her skin wanted to drown in the heat of him. Her eyes locked on his lips while Dani thought about giving up his touch, his kiss. About trying to go back to that arm's length chill. "I know what I want and what I need." Dani ran her hands over his chest to slide over his shoulders, putting her lips almost against his. "You, Charlie." This time Charlie crossed the tiny distance to claim her lips in a deep and breathless kiss. The world shifted around her, leaving Dani clinging to his neck as he lifted her into his arms. She hooked her legs around his waist and smiled against his lips. "Don't you dare drop me, Crews."
"Never gonna happen, Dani. Now that I've got you… I'm keeping you." Those arms tightened, holding her closer and safer against his chest as he climbed the stairs towards his bedroom. The long line of his throat called her eyes, tempting her. Why hold back when she was already in his arms on the way to his bed. Dani tightened her arms, putting her lips against the heavy pulse in his neck. She flicked her tongue over his skin, adoring the vibration of his low groan. The edge of her teeth against his skin made the groan lower and longer. "Dani, please baby." Long fingers dragged along the length of her thigh, pulling her leg higher against his hip. "I don't wanna drop you," //ooh, a challenge…//
"Hmmm," Dani dug her nails into the solid muscle of his shoulders and rubbed against the front of his body as her mouth explored his neck for every sensitive nerve she could find. The arms around her tightened and the ribs against hers heaved in a hard breath. //Almost, just a little more.// She kissed, licked, and bit her way up his neck to stop achingly close to the heat of his lips. "Charlie, kiss me…"
That got a serious reaction. He groaned at the same moment her back hit the wall at the top of the stairs. Long fingers fisted in her hair, tilting her head back to lock hot eyes with hers. "Dani," His lips crashed onto hers, tongue invading her mouth with a desperate plunge and dance. That long, lean body pressed tighter, harder against hers, driving a gasp up her throat at the hard length of his need between her legs. "Dani, you're killing me here." Before she could catch enough air to respond, Charlie was feeding at her lips, a delicious heat on her tongue. //That's my Charlie,//
He pulled back just enough to let her drag in a ragged breath. "Then get me to bed, Charlie," Dani stopped the subtle rocking of her hips and shifted to just hold onto him. "If I kill you here, we'll both fall down the stairs."
Charlie smiled against her lips and tucked an arm under her hips. "Come with me, Dani." Her arms tightened around his neck as he lifted her away from the wall and carried her to his bedroom.
//Damn, I plan to, Charlie,//
000
It wasn't enough. It was perfect. Heaven. Nirvana. But it wasn't enough. Dani's lips opened to his, delicious, warm and soft. Her body rocked against his hips as her nails dug a sharp pleasure into his shoulders. He'd pinned her to a wall, but what else was he supposed to do when she whispered that little plea against his lips after teasing every nerve in his neck. More. He needed more of her, all of her.
"Dani, you're killing me here." Those lips were too close, too tempting. Charlie helplessly returned to them, claiming that sweet mouth with a desperate kiss. Every rock of her hips drove him closer to madness. Every inch of her body seemed to strip him of his self-control and his breath.
"Then get me to bed, Charlie," Her sweet body rocked against his one more time, then went still in his arms. Her hands shifted for a better grip instead of teasing him with sharp nails. "If I kill you here, we'll both fall down the stairs."
She was going to kill him. And he was going to love it. Dani was going to strip him of every tiny little bit of his self-control with the heat of her lips and the delicious feel of her body. And Charlie wasn't going to fight it at all. //My Sweet Dani,// He shifted an arm under her hips, securing her body tight to his. "Come with me, Dani." With his partner held tight against his chest, Charlie swung his bedroom door open and moved to set Dani on the edge of his bed. Her legs refused to open, keeping his hips tight against her own as he knelt at her feet. "We're here," He curved hungry fingers along her jaw to catch her lips with his.
She was delicious, warm and sweet, and clinging to his shoulders.
Dani was also covered from neck to toe. That had to change. Dragging himself back from her lips, Charlie reached for the button of her over shirt. "Charlie," her arms resisted the move, fingers locking in his hair to get his lips back.
"I need to touch you, Dani. I want you bare against me. Please." He watched her nod and moved to peel the shirts from her skin. "So beautiful," Charlie watched his own fingers slid up her skin from the edge of her slacks, up her waist and sides to her shoulders. "Dani,"
He loved the low growl on her lips in the instant before Dani fisted a hand around his tie and dragged him close. "If you like this suit, take it the hell off now." Her fingers stumbled over his buttons as his hands shoved off his jacket. The tie went next under her nails as he reached for the hooks of her bra. Finally bare to the waist, Charlie pulled Dani flush against his chest and fought to breathe around the heat of so much of her skin against his. "Charlie," Sharp nails dragged in hot lines down his back, arching his body against hers. Every inch of her felt so damn good against his skin, even the edge of pain just made him burn hotter.
It was time to make her burn, to make every inch of her body feel this good. "Dani," With a weak growl, he pulled back from her skin. Charlie sank a hand into her hair, tugging her head back to kiss and lick a line down her sensitive throat. The skin under his lips shook with her gasp and groan. //That's it, baby, more.// He dragged a warm hand slowly up the hot skin of her side to cup her breast. "Sweet Dani," He loved the feel of her heart racing under his fingers, adored the sound of his name gasped off her delicious lips. Charlie needed a taste of the softest skin he'd ever touched. "That's my Dani," He dipped his head to run his tongue over the stiffened peak of her breast. //So sweet, more,//
"Charlie, please," //No, not yet.// He wasn't done here yet. Charlie braced her torso with the tight grip of his arms and went about tasting every sensitive inch of her skin, breasts and ribs with a lingering kiss over her heart. Her breath caught and rushed with each little contact of his lips, his tongue, his teeth. Her nails dug harder into the muscles of his shoulders, her legs tightened around his hips, trying to distract him. //I want more of you, Dani. Not yet.// His hands clenched on the curve of her hips, holding her still on the edge of his bed. "Charlie," He shook his head against her ribs, kissing a line down her skin to the edge of her belt. Charlie smiled against her stomach as his fingers won a quick war with her belt buckle, button and zipper. Then the nails moved from his back to his arms. "Charlie, need you, up here, now."
Never underestimate your partner. The next thing Charlie knew, he was on his back in the middle of his bed with Dani across his hips. "Dani," His hands clenched on her thighs as she leaned down over his chest.
"No, Charlie, it's my turn now." Hot brown eyes burned into his as her hands cupped his face. "I want a kiss and I want to touch you." A brush of her lips over his stole a little of his breath before her next line stole the rest. "I've wanted this for so long, Charlie," Now she gave him a real kiss as her hands slid over his skin to cover his heart. Like she didn't own it already. Warm fingers traced down every muscle in his stomach to the clasp of his belt while he was lost in her kiss. When her lips left his, he drew in a breath to say her name. But Dani had other plans. His breath escaped in a wordless groan as her mouth trailed a line of heat down his chest to his stomach with detours for at least five scars and every sensitive nerve.
"Dani," he managed her name as her nails trailed up his back and her lips pressed a kiss to his heart. "Please," His hands caught her waist, trying to shove her pants down the curve of her hips. "I need you, want you, please."
Her smile stopped his heart before she pulled away with a groan. "You first,"
His hands had never moved so fast in his life. If losing his pants was what it took to get Dani naked and back in his arms… that could be done.
000