Page 49 of Forever His Brat

He considered this her punishment, so sex was off the menu, even if they’dhadprivacy. It made her want to cry. It made her want to sneak off to the bathroom to steal a quick bit of pleasure, but Sam had given her a knowing look and she didn’t dare.

Instead they’d all gone to bed. To sleep—just to sleep.

The men were tired. After a long day of work, followed by a long drive to the city, they both knocked off pretty quickly. Their snores filled the room while Charlie was stuck wide awake until very early in the morning.

Her body was flushed one moment and cool the next. She desperately wanted a cold shower but didn’t want to wake everyone. There was absolutely zero chance of her trying to ease her discomfort on her own, not with three other people in the room.

But she was oh so tempted to soothe that pulsing between her thighs. It was a miserable night and when she woke up in the morning, she felt like she’d barely rested before something had woken her. The clock said it was just past eight, but that was later than Sam usually slept and he was up, sitting on the edge of the bed.

With Nick and Katie sleeping just a few feet away she didn’t want to make any noise. She reached out a hand, tugging on the back of the undershirt he’d slept in to get his attention. He twisted to look down at her.

With a pantomime that only two people who knew each other well could have worked out, they agreed to slip out and have breakfast together. Since Sam hadn’t packed for the trip, all he needed to do was pull his button-up shirt on and his boots and he was good to go.

Charlie took a little longer, tiptoeing into the bathroom to change out of her pajamas and into clean clothes. She took a few more seconds to wash the remnants of make-up off her face and brush her teeth and then she met him in the hall.

“Good morning,” she said. She sounded tired and knew it.

“Morning, sweetheart. How did you sleep?” The way he looked at her made it clear he knew she hadn’t slept well at all.

“Lousy.” She started towards the elevator, and he kept pace with her.

“Really? Dreams a little too exciting?”

She snorted and shot him a dirty look. “More like you and Nick playing dueling banjos with snores. You don’t usually even snore that bad. I think you were trying to outdo him.”

He laughed as they got on the elevator and hit the button for the lobby. “I think I always snore more in hotels. Something to do with the air, or something. Gets me all congested. I would have got us a separate room but I figured sharing would keep things… G-rated.”

She rolled her eyes. “Afraid I’d be too much to resist.”

His voice was dead serious as he replied, “Absolutely. You think I wasn’t affected by the club? By you sitting in my lap grinding like you were trying to sand off our clothes? I was.”

“You can’t complain about it when you’re the one who decided we couldn’t play, or have sex.” The words were snapped, filled with frustration.

He let one eyebrow slowly rise.

It wasn’t really how she wanted to start the morning. She already had their catch-up punishment coming. And she wasn’t sure if there would be more now for last night’s adventure. She sighed. “Sorry. I mean it’s true, but I know you had your reasons.”

The elevator stopped with a cheerful ding and the doors opened on a crowded lobby. With so many people around they tabled the conversation until they got to the dining room. The free breakfast buffet kept them busy for a few more minutes but they finally settled in a back corner with their food.

He picked up the conversation right where they’d left it. “You know the reasons, but I did have another option. I could have enjoyed myself while denying you. Would you have preferred that?”

“No.” Of course she wouldn’t have. It would have made thingsmuchworse. She was lucky he didn’t use that escape clause for himself often. “I just feel like I missed out on my one chance to play in an actual club. It’s like missing prom or something.”

Sam chuckled and shook his head. “Darlin’, do you really think we’re never going to go out together and play? Look, one of the reasons we have Nick now, is so we don’t have to worry about the ranch every moment of the day and night. So we can go and do things—things like take a weekend in the city now and then.”

He said that now, but time always seemed to slip away so fast. There were always plans for the future but somehow it seemed they never had the chance to follow up on them. She knew, logically, that it was a problem they were in the process of fixing but emotionally it was hard to believe she hadn’t lost her chance.

Maybe he could tell what she was thinking by the expression on her face, or the way she was just poking at her waffle, because he leaned over and set his hand on her arm. “Charlie, I promise you we’re going to do all the things we’ve been talking about. Starting with making a trip back here to visit the club, just the two of us. Okay?”

Sam kept his promises. She stopped picking at her breakfast and enjoyed it as the conversation moved on to other things. It wasn’t long before Nick and Katie made an appearance and settled at a table nearby. Katie sat gingerly, obviously still feeling the effects from the night before.

Charlie tried to suppress the envy that rose again. She looked away quickly and focused on her meal, but Sam didn’t miss her reaction.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be taking care of that too. She won’t be the only one having trouble sitting when I’m done with you. Tomorrow.” The words were a firm reminder of their appointment.

She shifted in her seat. Inside there was that flipping sensation. She had no idea how harsh the punishment was going to be, or even if it was really meant tobea punishment. The way Sam talked about it seemed to imply it was more general maintenance, but he hadn’t given her specifics.

“You’re up to twenty-three by the way. In case you were wondering,” he added.

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