Nights in white satin, sweet dreams – I will find you…
A Revolution fic: Bass Monroe/Charlie Matheson, Charloe; Blackout AU. Miles Matheson, Rachel Matheson, Aaron Pittman, mention of other characters from the show. After the Tower, and before he found New Vegas, Bass headed towards Philadelphia, aiming to see what was left of the Monroe Republic… Somewhere along the way, something happened that made him wonder about the power of dreams, and why Charlie Matheson kept turning up in his…
Rating M
Author's note:
Hi there and thanks so much for having a look at this, and for enjoying it so far… The story is based on prompt (*97) from the Orgy Armada's Revolution, The Second Coming but it wanted to keep going… Oh, the title of this chapter is from a line by Daniel Day Lewis' character Hawkeye in the movie The last of the Mohicans… it also got a bit long, for which I'm sorry, but I didn't know where to split it up…
I don't own any part of Revolution and am writing this purely for love of the show and its characters.
Nights in white satin, sweet dreams – I will find you…
The Mountain View Motel, afternoon…
Bass opened his eyes…
'Do you know where you need to go?'
His ghost lady sat across from him, her dress still fluttering in a breeze from another time…
He nodded 'yeah…' And he did, he knew where Charlie was, where they all were… The farm sat on the edge of a town called Walsenburg near Spanish Peaks heading down the map towards Texas – in Indian country, mining country... Stories from his school days floated across his mind; the Ludlow Massacre, Rockefeller, Kit Carson; the Santa Fe Trail…
It had taken them a while to get there from the Tower, but the country was wild and mountainous and slow going on foot, especially with Rachel the way she was… Shit, even he'd had a hard time travelling through it going the other way and he hadn't a crazy woman slowing him down. Now he had the horses it'd be easier, but he'd still have to backtrack for miles. He needed to find the quickest road through the mountains…
'I'll need a map…'
'There are some in Reception, Bass, behind the desk' She leaned towards him, at least she seemed to, her lips curved in a sad smile… 'I used to work in there… I think….' A little crease appeared between her brows, 'or maybe I just saw some maps there?' her fingers tapped on the table, the tips vanishing into the wood a little way at each tap, 'damn it… I can't remember…'
Bass felt a sudden urge to say something, anything; she looked so sad, sitting there…'What's your name?'
She paused, her image shimmering in and out of sight….'I think I was Rose… Rose, after the flower…'
He smiled, it was strange but he was getting use to talking with a ghost, it almost seemed…. ordinary… then his face sobered…'Thank you, Rose - for everything…'
She reached over the table and patted his hand 'I'm glad I was here and able to help'
Bass felt a cool sensation, like being brushed with ice – and the hairs on the backs of his fingers lifted… He shivered…
Her lips curved, and her eyes were intense whirlpools, pulling him into their depths…. 'But I'm especially glad because it was the right thing to do, Bass. You and Charlie and the others… you'll make a difference, I know that, I can see that, I can see you fighting back against the evil…' the smile widened, she blinked and he suddenly found that he could look away. She pulled her hand back and seemed to get further away somehow…'besides, I'm a romantic, and you and your Charlie have got something …'
Bass laughed out loud…'don't want to argue with that...' he leaned forwards, reaching a hand out… 'Why don't you come with me? I don't like to think of you here, all on your own…'
She shook her head…'Thank you for asking me…but I…can't… I live here…' Then she started to fade, the wall behind her becoming clearer, more distinct…'but keep the cards with you, Bass…' there was the sound of a faint, lilting laugh, 'and remember to take the sheets…'
Then she was gone.
…..
He found the maps, right where Rose had said they'd be, behind the desk in Motel reception…a selection of hiking, trail and touring guides that covered Colorado, Texas and New Mexico and would take him, them, all the way to Willoughby... A quick look gave him a route to Charlie that he figured would take him less than four days riding - if nothing went wrong of course…
Then he packed his crap after taking a quick inventory of his newly acquired possessions. He had food enough to last at least two weeks if he hunted along the way, as well as some well fitting spare clothes – there was a pair of pants that were long enough for Miles too, he'd looked like he needed them…and he now had a couple of extra bedrolls and blankets. He packed a set of the satin sheets too, taking the ones off the bed and leaving the clean set for another traveller to find (if they were lucky), it felt right to do that somehow…
He also took some things from the kitchen – knives, forks, spoons, bowls etc and whatever toiletries he could find in the other cabins too – real soap was precious and shampoo was almost unheard of these days and he thought Charlie would like some little luxuries – she'd looked as though she hadn't had many lately and he didn't think that Rose would mind… He also packed a few of the towels – call it tradition…
Rose's tinkling laugh came from behind him, and he felt a cool kiss on his cheek; he chuckled, taking that as approval…
He was ready to leave in just under an hour… Both horses were in good shape and happy to get going after a rest and some grazing, and the mule seemed to like him a bit better once he gave it a rub down. He checked the load and tack one more time, then mounted the black, securing the leading reins for the chestnut and the mule to the back of his saddle…
Then he took a last look at the Mountain View; it looked peaceful in the sun – anything but haunted…
Rose appeared at his stirrup, her curly hair like a bright halo round her face, her smile bright against the green of the grass he could see through her…'Check the top card in the tarot pack each morning, Bass…. ' 'If it's the queen of Cups, then everything's ok as far as I can see…' then she shrugged, her dress rippling with the movement…'if its anything else, then I'll try to come to you or find some way to warn you, ok?'
Bass held the black with a firm hand as it snorted and stamped, the horse didn't seem to be impressed with having a ghost around, although the others weren't bothered… 'No more dreams, Rose?'
'They take a lot of energy, Bass, and I want to keep in contact for as long as I can' She smiled up at him…'but if I'm careful I think I'll be able to keep up with you for a while anyway, at least till you get to Charlie – then, who knows?' The green eyes danced and her face shone…'but come back sometime if you can won't you? When it's all over? There'll be a fresh set of satin sheets waiting for you and Charlie in the honeymoon cabin…'
Bass chuckled, it was a nice thought, even though he didn't hold out much hope of it happening… 'I'll look forward to it, Rose…' He swung the black round; then turned to wave…'take care…'
She stayed in sight until he was almost round the first bend in the road…and then she just wasn't there…
And he was on the road again, but this time he had a real purpose; first, to find the woman of his dreams, literally… and, once he and Miles got the band back together, get some payback against the fucking bastards who blew up the world…
Sebastian Monroe was back in the game, and this time, he knew exactly who the enemy was…
…
The first night passed so slowly that Charlie wanted to scream…
She'd tried to sleep but couldn't so she'd taken her blanket and was on her way outside onto the front porch. The old house felt too closed in, the floor too hard in the bare little room she'd taken as hers, the walls closing in on her like a prison… She checked on her mom and Aaron but they were both still asleep, her mom on the dusty couch in what used to be the lounge room of the house, and Aaron on the floor near the door because they couldn't leave her alone… Her mom was muttering things in her sleep, things about Ben, and Danny – the Nano, the bombs, but then she always did that… Occasionally though she yelled out things they all tried to ignore, mostly about Miles, but sometimes she talked about Monroe - and Charlie was beginning to suspect that the history surrounding her family was a hell of a lot more complicated than she had ever imagined…
She looked down at her mom. Rachel Matheson was quiet now, although her lips twitched, but then they always did that… She could understand her mom feeling responsible for everything falling apart again; maybe… after all she was the one who told Aaron to turn the power back on, but just to cave in like this? She didn't like to judge but she really thought her mom would have been stronger…more resilient.
Charlie had tried to understand why her mom had folded like she did… Aaron had told them what had happened on the way to the Tower – how her mom had broken her leg and used the nanotech that she'd taken out of Danny's body to fix it, and how she'd told him that she didn't care about anything or anyone except getting revenge on Monroe for Danny…
Well if all anyone thought about was revenge, there'd be no one left… They'd tried doing what her mom said and because of her, things were worse now than they'd ever been…
The Monroe she knew had saved her life twice so far, once in the Tower and then again in the barn… and in the dreams she'd seen a man who was strong, yet tender as well as being sexy as hell, and he hadn't caved in after the bombs fell, instead he'd been going to see what was left. Sure he was as shocked as the rest of them at what had happened, but he'd offered to come and help them against the ones who did it. He was what they needed right now, and he'd promised to come...
She didn't think she was seeing too much in him…after all he was just a man, but this…incredible…thing had happened to them and there had to be a reason why, didn't there?
Anyway there was no sleep for her, and no more dreams, no visit from Monroe - and even though she tried to imagine him there, his hands on her, his eyes, his lips, her body knew very well that he wasn't.
So she took her blanket out, spread it on the worn wooden boards, and sat there looking at the sky, and when Miles came over to wake her for her turn on watch she met him with a profound sense of relief because at least she had something to do. She stood up to meet him, glad to feel her body lithe and strong despite the tiredness that dragged at her soul…
He looked at her hard, his own exhaustion showing in the deep lines around his eyes, down his cheeks… 'You alright, kiddo?'
She nodded, 'yeah…couldn't sleep, that's all…'
He pulled her into a rough sideways hug, smelling of old sweat and dust and leather with faint remnants of whisky still hanging around although he was still not drinking, mostly anyway, another thing to thank Monroe for…'Did you check on your mom?'
'Yeah' Charlie hugged him back, glad of him there but wishing for someone else; someone with blue eyes and a hard muscled body… She hugged him harder; feeling a little guilty and wondering when she should tell him that Monroe was coming, or rather that she hoped like hell he was coming. The hug felt nice and she let herself relax against him. Miles was physically strong of course, like Monroe, but different, taller, his arms longer, he felt wiry, all taut bone and sinew where Monroe was coiled muscle… 'She's sleeping…'
Miles nodded…'good…' then he let her go, slowly…'a few days in one place to rest will help, I'm glad you said you wanted to hang here for a bit…' He stepped back, his serious face on, then he looked her in the eyes, 'Is there something you want to tell me, Charlie?'
She let out a breath through her teeth and looked away…'You've been talking to Aaron haven't you…' she sighed heavily, she could tell by his face that he had… 'I don't know, Miles… it sounds sort of crazy, and I'm not sure you'll believe any of it…' she looked up at him. In the pre dawn light his eyes were full of shadows, hooded…
'Try me…'
…
Bass kept going until the first stars appeared… then set up camp a little way off the road for the night. He was making good time…
He pulled one of the satin pillowcases out of his pack to lay over his bedroll, laughing at himself for doing it… but the cool, white fabric against his skin reminded him of his dreams and her - and while she didn't come to him (and he didn't go to her) that night, he didn't dream of lightning or the bombs either…
In the morning, he took out the pack of tarot cards, but the Queen of cups was sitting on her throne, smiling serenely on top of the deck… so he guessed Rose didn't have anything to say…
He was ready to hit the road again shortly after dawn and the only thing that he would have appreciated being warned about was that the damn mule was going to turn and bite him on the ass while he was adjusting the load… Luckily his ass was one of the least sensitive parts of his anatomy and he didn't think the mule tried that hard – still, he decided to name the animal Painful. Bass was almost sure that he heard some distant tinkling laughter as he mounted up, but he ignored it. It was sort of funny though and he rode off grinning…
….
Charlie spent the early part of the morning hunting, catching a few rabbits and a young deer – and in the afternoon she found a spot at the kitchen table away from the flies and prepared some jerky with the salt and spices they'd been able to trade for at the last town they passed. While she worked the conversation that she'd had earlier with Miles ran round and round in her head until she was glad that she could take some of her feelings out on the strips of meat in front of her… and that he was leaving her alone.
It didn't help her mood that Aaron kept peeking round the door at her, almost saying something but turning away at the last second until she got jack of it and threw one of the strips at him…
Miles had just looked at her when she told him that Monroe was coming but there was so much happening behind his eyes that she couldn't even begin to take a guess at half of it…
'You really believe that Monroe's gonna come all this way to help us?'
She nodded 'you saw him in the barn too, didn't you? You know I'm not just imagining all this…'
Miles ran his hand through his hair…'I don't really know what I saw, Charlie…'
She sucked in a breath…'Well I do, I saw Monroe, and he told me he was coming. He promised he'd find us, Miles…'
He looked away….'So that's why you wanted to stay here?'
'Yeah – as well as to give mom a rest' she tried a little smile…'Miles, we're all on the edge…we need to stop for a while' she shrugged… 'And this seemed as good a reason as any, better than some'
'You know that if this…this crazy shit is true, and he's…real…and Bass does somehow find us... then he'll have to stay right out of sight of your mom?' His eyes were still shadowed, but he seemed to be accepting what she was saying, or pretending to at least…
She nodded…'yeah, I know… he knows it too…'
Miles cleared his throat, looking uneasy…. 'You seem to…like him, Charlie… ' He shifted, fists clenching and unclenching…. 'I know him… Has he done anything… I mean… has he…?'
Charlie laughed, although it was a strange, short laugh…. 'Nothing I didn't want him to…'
He dragged in a breath…'Charlie…'
'Believe me I was as shocked as you at first, Miles…' she shrugged 'I thought they were just weird dreams…' the shadow of one of her wicked grins lifted the corners of her mouth…'you know, like wet dreams?'
Miles backed off, his hands up… 'Whoa…don't need to hear that…'
The grin got a little wider…'you've got to admit he's a good looking guy, Miles…'
He rolled his eyes….'He's fucking twenty years older than you, Charlie, and he's had more women than you've skinned rabbits… He's no good for you, you should have someone younger, someone without the crapload of baggage that he's got on his back…'
She caught his gaze 'that's up to me to decide isn't it? and what about my crapload of baggage, how can I expect a young guy understand any of that? And what the fuck does any of that stuff matter anyway?' Her eyes held his and she stood very straight… 'What about you and my mom? What about Dad, Philadelphia? Nora, Maggie…Danny…. Why the hell should things like age matter or what someone's done in the past? Where does the blaming stop, Miles?' She let out a long, long breath…'at first I thought my subconscious was going all 'lets deal with the trauma by fucking the monster under the bed,' but then the thing in the barn happened…' She stared up at him… 'He saved us, Miles - and he got you to stop drinking, at least for a while anyway. You said once that he was your best friend…maybe he really is trying to help?'
He stood there, just looking at her…
She put a hand on his arm, feeling the muscles tense under her fingers, 'We need all the help we can get, Miles,' she tipped her head towards the house where her mom and Aaron lay sleeping, 'For them… otherwise it's just you and me' she leaned closer, willing him to understand…' I saw what Monroe did in that barn, he's a good fighter, really good; we need him, and we'll need him more when we get to Willoughby because the Patriots are going to be there, waiting for us'
He closed his eyes for a moment… taking a long breath in…'Charlie… we don't know if any of that's true yet…'
Her eyes sparked, her lips in a tight line…'I believe him, Miles, why would he lie about that… I told you that he said Grandpa's working with them; working with the people who dropped the bombs. And they want mom, because of what she knows, they want to use her in whatever they're planning to do to the rest of us…'
She let go and turned away…'They're the enemy, Miles, the Patriots, not Monroe, not anymore…'
He hadn't said much after that, and for a minute she was worried that she'd said too much… He looked sort of shattered, older... Then he nodded, once, and headed into the house, leaving her on watch…
She found him later, in one of the empty rooms… He'd stripped and cleaned every weapon they had and was busy sharpening and oiling his blades… He just looked up at her and offered to do hers too – and she let him, even though it was a job she usually liked to do herself…
The rest of the day dragged by though, especially once she'd finished with the jerky… and by late afternoon, she desperately needed some time away from her mom's vacant stare, and Miles and Aaron watching her in case she sprouted horns or something…
So she went back to the shed, making sure that no one followed her…
It looked the same although it felt bigger without him in it… She sighed and spread herself out over the tarp covering the bonnet of the car, remembering the way it had felt with his hands, his lips on her… Then she slept…
When she woke this time it was nearly dark, the remnants of a dream floating away like chaff in the wind…and it really had been only a dream because she'd seen Monroe riding over the mountains, two other horses trailing behind him, and there'd been something about a pack of cards…and a queen? Just ordinary, weird dream things…
She pulled herself together and headed back to the house…
Miles was waiting on the front steps, his face carefully blank… 'Your mom's been asking for you, Charlie, I think she needs to…' he shrugged… 'You know…'
Charlie nodded and went past him with an apologetic smile, patting his shoulder as she went…'Sorry I was so long, Miles, I'm on it…'
…
The next three days passed without incident, and somehow Charlie made it through them without yelling at her mom or Aaron – although Miles wasn't so lucky… He decided that she needed more sword practice and over the course of those three days she developed a healthy albeit reluctant sympathy for the militia troops that he'd trained because he was a relentless, demanding and exacting teacher. By the end of the third day she was covered in bruises and ached from head to toe… She learned so much in those three days though that she decided to forgive him for being such a bastard.
She also forgave him because he almost made her forget the worry eating at her bones that she was dead wrong, that maybe she had just dreamed it all, dreamed Monroe up, and that there was no point in staying here hoping that he'd come. Since she fell asleep in the shed, there'd been no sign of him, no dreams, nothing…
They'd finished practice and chores for the day and were all sitting round the rickety kitchen table, the doors and windows open to let the evening breeze in. Aaron was busy serving up a second round of the Venison stew he'd made with the greens and root vegetables they'd found growing wild out the back of the house and that he'd had simmering over the fire for most of the day... Even her mom had eaten some of it although Charlie had had to spoon it into her…. Miles on the other hand, had already finished his second bowl and was angling for a third…
Charlie leaned back in her chair and watched them. Her mom had some colour back in her cheeks although she still just stared into nothing most of the time; Aaron was almost smiling as he watched the stew disappear and Miles was looking fit and sun bronzed rather than haggard… She wished in a way that they could just stay here; maybe her mom just needed some sort of normal life for a while…
She was gazing out of the door towards the line of trees that marked the river when she saw them. Three horses, one in the lead and the others trailing, and a rider, just one, tall, slim but powerfully built, unmistakeable… Her breath stopped and she thought her heart did too, for a moment… She very carefully controlled them both but luckily Aaron and Miles were concentrating so hard on eating that neither of them noticed and her mom was busy gazing at nothing…
She stretched and yawned…'that was so good, Aaron…'
He looked over at her, face sad as always, although his eyes held just a little smile… 'It was nice wasn't it? I didn't know just how much I missed potatoes until we found those…'
Miles was scraping his bowl, 'I'll help you dig up some more in the morning, Aaron; maybe we could have fries tomorrow?'
Charlie looked from one to the other…'why are you both drooling?'
Aaron sighed…'Fries'
'mmm…' Miles had a dreamy look on his face; it was kind of sweet…
She chuckled and got up…'I'm going out for a walk and check the traps…' She grabbed her bow and water bottle and checked her knives…
Aaron held out a couple of empty water bottles…'do you want to fill these while you're out?'
She nodded and slung them over her shoulders then ran out the door and down the steps, going at an easy lope towards the river, down to where she'd seen the rider. There was a spot on a bend a bit further along that would make a good campsite and it had looked as though he was headed that way...
When she got to the trees she slowed down, listening for movement, smiling as she found their tracks, following the trail along the riverbank. Then she saw them, through the thin veil of trees; two horses, a mule by the looks and a tall figure, facing away from her; Monroe. He'd already unsaddled the horses and was unloading the mule, his movements calm and unhurried, the muscles in the strong back, arms and long legs moving in an elegant poetry of lift, swing, place and reach again.
She almost couldn't believe it, he was here, he'd actually found them, found her; she snapped a twig with her foot then moved forward a couple of steps…
He stopped, holding very still… 'Charlotte?'
She stepped out of the trees onto the soft grass of the clearing above the cutaway river bend and one of the horses, the black, raised its head to look at her for a moment, it's dark eyes an unconcerned, limpid brown, then dropped again to keep munching on the rich grass… 'You came…'
He turned to her, very slowly, as if he didn't quite believe that she was actually there.
She stared, her heart pounding, because this wasn't a dream, and she couldn't pretend it was anymore even if she wanted to… This was really him; really Monroe… A strange palimpset of images and remembered sensations poured through her mind, her body; him above her on the glowing, white sheets, holding her while she cried that time by the river, his body hot and so alive behind her in the shed, his tongue, his cock filling her till she burst into little boneless pieces under him…
His eyes were startlingly blue in the slanted evening light and seemed to catch rippling reflections from the river behind him. He was looking at her as though she wasn't quite real, as though he thought she might just vanish at any moment…
'I thought I had to be getting close…' He reached behind with one hand to check the mule's tether, his eyes steady on her, then he walked towards her, stopping a few feet away… 'Charlie, you look good'
She didn't know what to say, didn't know what to do either, because whatever she did now, whatever she said to him now would change things forever… The enormity of it stopped her breath…
Then the mule stepped quietly up behind him, put its head against his back and shoved…
Monroe staggered forward towards her, the look of surprised shock on his face bringing a laugh bubbling up from her belly and as he fell forward, arms flailing, trying unsuccessfully to keep his balance, Charlie suddenly found herself lying on the soft grass underneath a warm, hard male body that felt achingly familiar and excitingly new all at the same time…
Charlie lay there, a little dazed, trying to get her breath back, he'd managed to somehow keep most of his weight off her but the sudden contact with the ground had knocked her breathless…
She looked up and found him looking down at her, close enough that she could see each gold tipped eyelash around those endlessly blue eyes, and she was caught, held there helpless in the bottomless pools of hunger, need, hope and wonder… She licked her lips and his eyes dropped to watch, leaving her panting under him… and as soon as she had breath to spare she laughed again, 'you should have seen your face, Monroe…'
'It's Bass, Charlie, my name's Bass…' he grinned, 'yeah, she got me a good one…' then he reached down and pulled a stick out from under his knee, throwing it a little way towards the river 'that damned mule…' He leaned over onto his hip and sat up beside her, his tall frame solid, real…'I should have called her Rose…'
Charlie heard someone close by, a woman, laughing, and damn it her mom was the only other woman around here that she knew of, and she'd never, ever heard her mom laugh like that, happy, sweet, light… She lifted up onto her elbows and looked around; she couldn't see anyone, but… 'Is there someone else with you, Monroe? Who is she?' She couldn't help it, jealousy rose in her throat like bitter fruit… She glared at him...
Bass shook his head, 'there's no one else, Charlie, really…I mean, Rose isn't exactly a person, she's a, well she's…' he tried to find words that wouldn't sound as though he'd lost his mind…'She was at the hotel, she was the one who helped me …do…all of this…' he trailed off as he saw the look on her face…'Charlie, it's true, you've got to believe me, Rose helped me find you…'
'That's…. crazy…' she
He shrugged, eyes holding hers….'Charlie, do you remember the riverbank… where you said it was warm? You told me it had been raining where you were, that you'd gone to an old barn to take shelter… remember?'
She nodded…
'And the barn, those men? The ones that attacked you and Miles and the others?'
She nodded again, her eyes beginning to fill with something that looked like belief…
'And the white sheets? The satin sheets, in the hotel room?'
'Yeah…' she nodded a third time, her tongue flicking out over her lips…
He jumped to his feet then hesitated; looking down at her as though he was afraid she was going to disappear… 'Don't go anywhere, ok?' then he ran over to the pile of things he'd unloaded from the mule, rummaged around and pulled a tightly rolled bundle out. He brought it over…'Here Charlie, look, I brought them with me…' he put the towel wrapped package down next to her…
She looked at it, then unrolled the towel and the soft, smooth white folds of the satin sheets from her dream spilled out over her lap… 'Oh…'
Bass sat down next to her again, the evening sun catching in the blond tips of his curly hair and outlining his broad shoulders and long legs with a line of gold… He leaned towards her, his voice urgent, compelling… 'Something happened at that hotel, Charlie, something that brought me back from a really dark place, I was heading for Philly to see what was left, then this, you… happened…' He ran his hand over the folds of soft material on the ground next to her…
Charlie watched the hand; his fingers were fine, strong but slim, well shaped… She remembered how gentle he'd been when he held her…
He took a deep breath, and kept going… 'Rose said she died at the hotel sometime after the blackout, and that she was just a shadow there until the night of the Tower. Then, after your mom did whatever she did and the bombs fell and the lightening just lit the sky…' he took a deep breath, 'something happened, maybe during the surge? Something that changed her, made her strong enough to effect things, to do things…' He shrugged…'I don't know why, or how, or what it means…' he leaned closer…'but you, and me? It has to mean something, Charlie, Rose said that we could make a difference against the Patriots, all of us working together, you and me and Miles…' He looked a little pained….'and Staypuft, and your Mom too I guess…'
Charlie put one of her hands over his, lacing her fingers through his, the soft fabric beneath them feeling cool and smooth… and she remembered finding herself in that bed the first time, shocked to see that the body she'd been rubbing herself against belonged to Sebastian Monroe… then deciding not to care, because it was a dream… Then with each new dream, she'd realized that he wasn't the monster that she'd thought he was, that like all of them, he'd been blown apart by the world they found themselves in...
He went very still…looking down at their joined hands, skin looking tanned and dark against the white satin… 'Charlie?'
'Yeah?' she moved a little closer…
'I don't want you to think that I'm assuming anything…' he cleared his throat…'I'll still be here to help you and Miles… whatever you decide to do… about me, I mean...'
Charlie let go of his hand and got to her knees… 'I know you will….' She grinned up at him, 'now have you got a blanket to go under this sheet? I don't want to get grass stains on it…'
….
A little later, and it was almost as though they were back in the hotel…They'd lain the sheets down on a flat, grassy spot, sheltered by some low trees…
There were few words spoken but Charlie felt his eyes on her like hot blue beams, his fingers grazing hers as they arranged the bedding, her hip brushing against the top of his thigh, strands of her hair, caught in the breeze of their movements and clinging to his shoulders, his back… She could smell his sweat, the warm, spicy scent of his body, and her belly tightened in anticipation, excitement…
Then when their bed was ready, he kicked off his boots then knelt down to undo hers…
She leaned her hands on his shoulders so he could ease them off her feet. Then he reached up and undid her belt, and her jeans, sliding the material down her legs and off, one leg at a time…
He stroked a hand, very gently over the bruises marching down the side of her hip and thigh…'what happened?'
Charlie grinned…'Miles said I needed some sword practice…'
'Didn't he tell you to wear a few extra layers of padding?'
'It slowed me down' she shrugged…'its ok, it'll help me remember what not to do…'
He leaned forward and pressed kisses along the soft curve of her hip, his scruff tickling and sending
shivers of goose flesh up to her waiting nipples and down to her pulsing clit… then, still kneeling, he ran his hands up under her tank top, sliding it up over her breasts until she caught the edges and reefed it up and off, tossing it down.
Her bra went next; then she ran her fingers through his hair, enjoying the feel of the tight curls as he pressed kisses around her breasts, teasing her nipples with lips and teeth until she was writhing against him…his hands stroking her from her shoulders down to the springy cheeks of her ass, pulling her closer.
'You've got too many clothes on…' she somehow managed to say it between panting breaths, while he had one of her nipples between his lips, sucking and nibbling, his hands busy between her legs, his fingers somehow finding every sweet spot she had…
He laughed against her skin… the sound rippling through her, sending waves of sensation rocketing down to her toes…
And suddenly his shirt and tee were off; flung off to the side… his jeans gone the same way, and then he was there, kneeling naked in front of her… The last rays of the sun and the first of the moon striping them both in patterns of light and shadow that danced across them with the evening breeze…
Charlie caught her breath, he was so beautiful, muscles taut, every one defined, his abdomen rippling, his cock rising hard and proud against his belly… and now she did believe in magic, or something like it, because something had brought him here, to her; her magic man…
He came closer… his eyes on hers… then he reached out and slid his hands up her legs, his thumbs stroking the sensitive skin at the top of her thighs, moving in little circles closer to the soft curls between her legs. He smiled up at her, although his eyes were so hot, so intensely…something…
She could hardly breath…
'I was thinking of you every minute of every day I spent riding over those mountains, Charlie…'
She was lost in those eyes, in the hands on her…her head fell forward and she reached for his shoulders just to keep upright…while he… she sucked in a breath, her belly tightening… his thumbs were holding the fleshy lips of her pussy wide while his lips and tongue played with her clit, his tongue sliding back to her core, slipping in and out and making her forget about everything else in the world but him…
She almost fell when he pulled back, his lips and chin glossy with her juices, but he caught her and swung her down beside him…laughing as she gasped…
Then she felt his arms round her, his legs slipping between hers, hers opening wide to let him in…his cock, hard, thick… and then he was inside her and she was laughing too because it felt so… damn…good to have him there, at last… She wrapped her legs round him, her feet rubbing up and down his calves, her hands in his, his lips on her cheek, the side of her neck… as he moved in and out of her, slow and deep…and so, so sweet…
She tightened her inside muscles around him, feeling him gasp as she did it… 'I dreamed of you too…' She went still for a moment…'I dreamed that you were riding a black horse and leading two others…' her eyes met his…'and you were… Bass, I don't think I know what's real anymore…'
He smiled down at her, his eyes very calm, very sure…'I'm real, Charlie, this is real…' then he kissed her…
Charlie felt uncertainty drift away. His lips were warm and firm, his body hard and strong around hers, his cock, thrusting hard and strong and so full of life, in her… She kissed him back…
….
Back at the house, Miles watched the moonrise from the porch. He'd seen the horses too, and recognised the rider, although he didn't think Charlie knew he had.. He sighed and reached for his water bottle… She'd looked more alive in the moments after she spotted Bass coming than he'd seen her for months… He didn't know how to feel about that yet, or about the rest of the crazy shit that seemed to happening around them at the moment… But what he did know was that he needed to keep it together, for Charlie – and Rachel, now more than ever…
He looked at his bottle of whisky, and decided he could hold out for another day…
….
AN: Hi, I hope you enjoyed this one… it got a bit long but I didn't want to split it up, so hope you didn't mind.