Page 148 of Love at First Fright

His laugh was soft, so warm against my skin. The late afternoon light danced through the grimy window, casting golden streaks across his face. God, he was beautiful. All tousled blond curls and bright blue eyes behind those wire-rimmed glasses. I was so lucky he’d stumbled into my manor. My afterlife.

I reached out, tracing my thumb along his stubbled jawline. His breath caught, his lips falling open.

Then I was kissing him, slow and deep, pouring all my gratitude and fear and desperate need into the contact. He responded immediately, his hand tangling in my hair, pulling me closer.

When we broke apart, I was already reaching for the collar of his ludicrous ExorSquad jumpsuit.

“How are you feeling now?” I asked, tugging the zip down to reveal the white tee underneath. He smelled of earth and sweat from all the digging earlier, but it only made him seem more real, a precious, impossible thing. “Any better?”

“Oh, I’m absolutely fine now,” Charlie said, his voice already lust-rough. “Ready for more damage, in fact.”

I tried not to groan in anticipation. I’d been desperate to put my hands on him all day, fighting the urge every time he’d walked near me, or smiled in that lovely way of his.

I smirked at him. “Be careful what you wish for, Charlie.”

Charlie peeled off his clothes with almost entertaining haste. The jumpsuit hit the floor, followed quickly by his shirt, leaving his chest bare. Lean, very slightly defined, with fine golden hair that caught the light. I ran my fingers through it, marvelling at the warmth of his skin, the steady thrum of his pulse beneath my palm.

He wasted no time, grinding up against me, the hard length of his cock through his underwear extremely evident. He was as desperate for this as I was, and that knowledge did things to me.

I slipped my fingers under the elastic of his briefs, looking up at him. “May I?”

Charlie raised an eyebrow. “Oh, now we’re pretending to believe in consent, are we?”

I shot him a “whatever do you mean” look, accompanied by some bats of my eyelashes. Then I tugged his underwear down, freeing his cock. Fuck. It was, of course, as lovely as the rest of him—thick and flushed, surrounded by a neat thatch of dark blonde hair. I made a show of eyeing it appreciatively before letting out a low wolf whistle.

“Oh, come on,” Charlie said, breathless but laughing. “Don’t pretend this is the first time you’ve seen my dick. You perved on me constantly as that cat. Plus, I know that was you in the bathroom the other day!”

Ah. I had been wondering if he was ever going to give me shit for that. I’d been doing such an impressive job of keeping quiet while I wanked alongside him, next to the bath, but then that moan slipped out of me…

“I couldn’t resist joining in,” I admitted, pressing a kiss to his hip bone. “You just looked so fucking hot touching yourself.”

“‘Joining in,’” Charlie repeated, his voice pitched higher. “You tweaked my nipple!”

I flashed him my most wolfish grin. “You didn’t seem to mind at the time.”

“That’s not how consent works, Bat.”

“Then I’ll have to make it up to you somehow.” I crawled up his body until we were face to face again, until I was staring into his baby-blue eyes, his pupils blown wide. “Please, Charlie, may I tweak your nipple?”

“I… I suppose so,” Charlie breathed, and I rolled the peaked flesh between my fingers until he gasped. I traced over his ribs to find the other one, squeezing it even harder until a tiny scream left his lips.

“And please may I do this?” I whispered against his throat.

“Do what—” His question cut off in a moan as I sucked his earlobe into my mouth, my hips grinding down against his, hard.

“Oh! Fuck—”

“And now, please may I suck your dick?” I asked, already kissing my way down his chest.

Charlie’s nod was very enthusiastic for that particular request.

I wanted to make it perfect for him.

I may be sorely out of practice, but I’d loved giving head when I was alive. Prided myself on my skills, in fact.

I started slow. Kissed the tip, barely a brush of lips, then traced lower to mouth at the underside of his shaft. Charlie’s hips twitched. His breathing stuttered. I flattened my tongue and licked a long stripe from base to tip, dragging it out, savouring the warmth radiating from his skin. The faint salt-musk scent of him. The way his thighs trembled on either side of my shoulders.

“Bat,” he breathed, his voice cracking around my name.