Just like he’d marked me. I could feel the beard burn on the inside of my thighs, rough and red where his beard had scraped as he’d—I shuddered at the memory. I touched the bite mark on my breast and then the fingerprint bruises on my hips where he’d held me in place. The tenderness at my entrance proved exactly how big he was, how thoroughly he’d filled me. I was marked inside and out, branded as his, and God help me, I loved it.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand, making me jump. I grabbed it quickly, not wanting to wake Crew, and my stomach dropped when I saw the time—and seven missed calls. Three from Dale. Four from—oh God—from Stone.
Shit.
The phone started buzzing again, Evie’s name flashed on the screen.
I carefully extracted myself from Crew’s arm—he mumbled something in his sleep but didn’t wake. I grabbed his flannel shirt from the floor and put it on. It smelled like him. And sex. It smelled like sex, like us, like what we’d done.
I answered the phone as I slipped into the bathroom, closing the door quietly behind me.
“Hey, Evie,” I whispered.
“Oh my God, Charlotte.” Evie’s voice was a mix of relief and excitement. “Are you okay? Dale called Stone this morning because you and Crew didn’t show up at the mill, and you didn’t call in. You haven’t missed a day of work in years.”
“I’m fine, we’re fine. We got caught in that snow squall yesterday and had to stop at a hotel.” I leaned against the bathroom counter, trying to keep my voice down. “I’m sorry, I should have called.”
“Wait.” Evie’s voice sharpened with interest. “Are you... are you blushing? I can freaking hear you blushing through the phone. Charlotte Adams, what happened?”
“Nothing happened,” I lied, feeling my cheeks flame hotter. Feeling heat flood through my entire body at the memories—his hands, his mouth, his cock, the things he’d said to me, the way he’d made me beg.
“Bullshit. Tell me. Tell me what happened right now or I’m telling Stone he needs to send out a search party.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.”
I sighed, pressing my hand to my heated face. “We... may have... done something.”
“Done something.” Evie’s grin was audible. “Did you sleep with him?”
“Evie—”
“Oh my God, you did! You totally did! Charlotte, I’m so proud of you!” She squealed, and I had to pull the phone away from my ear. “Tell me everything. Was it good? Please tell me it was good.”
“It was—” I couldn’t find words. Couldn’t describe what last night had been. Mind-blowing? Life-changing? So intense I could barely walk? “It was really good.”
“Really good? That’s all you’re giving me?” Evie laughed. “Come on, details!”
“I can’t—there are things I did that I can’t believe I did.” My voice dropped even lower. “Evie, he’s so... he’s intense. And commanding. And the things he said to me—”
The filthy, dirty things that had made me come so hard. The way he’d called me his, the way he’d praised me, the way he’d told me exactly what he was going to do to me before he did it.
Of course, I couldn’t share any of that with her.
“Oh, this is delicious. Keep going.”
“I’m sore,” I admitted, my face burning.
“That good, huh?” Evie’s voice was full of satisfaction. “I knew it. I knew you two would combust eventually. So what happens now? Are you guys—”
The bathroom door opened.
My heart stopped.
Crew stood in the doorway, completely naked, his hair disheveled, his eyes dark with concern. And God, he was magnificent. All hard muscle and masculine beauty, his cock already half-hard despite everything we’d done last night. My body immediately responded, ready for him despite the soreness, despite everything. “Charlotte?”
“I, um, I’ve got to go. Can you call Dale and tell him we’ll be in later.”
