Page 26 of Charmed and Alarmed

His hips begin to move again, as fast and hard as before, filling the room with the wet slap of skin on skin. “Fuck, Len. This pussy. Tell me it’s mine.”

As if it could ever be anyone else’s after this. “It’s yours,” I cry, my inner muscles clutching at his length as my orgasm begins to build.

“Are you going to be a good girl and let me own your ass next?”

He could do anything he wanted to me, and I would beg for more. With a cry, my body convulses, my orgasm powerful enough to make white spots appear on the inside of my eyelids as I buck and moan through the whole thing.

Holden’s hand on my hip tightens and the thumb still fucking my ass moves faster. I’ve barely stopped coming before he takes another few desperate, uneven thrusts. Then, he stills, his thick length twitching as he comes too, the liquid heat of his cum coating the inner walls of my swollen pussy.

“Fuck.” He falls to the side moments later, pulling me with him. My butt is still in his lap, his softening cock still inside me, and Holden wraps an arm securely around my belly, sealing us together. He kisses my shoulder.

Is he always this affectionate with women he sleeps with? My stomach sours at the possibility. Even if it’s irrational, I want to be special to him, at least a little. God, that’s embarrassing.

“Do you want to take a shower?” I hear myself ask, desperate for something to do other than lay here, with nothing to distract me from the man holding me.

Holden hums in agreement, and the two of us walk naked to the bathroom. He stands off to the side as I turn on the water, his eyes scanning the cluttered surfaces. “Do women usually have this much stuff?” he asks, eyes sparkling with humor as he realizes I’m watching him.

“Threewomen,threesets of beauty products,onebathroom.” I laugh. “Believe it or not, this is better than it used to be. Honor and Soph have been slowly migrating away.”

“Are you going to keep this place?”

I feel his eyes on me as I step into the hot spray of water. “Maybe.” It would be a stretch for me by myself, though I could technically make it happen now that I’m getting decent paychecks. “I have a few months to decide.”

The echo of the water changes when Holden steps inside the small space. “Which is yours?” he asks, indicating the three Technicolor loofahs hanging side by side on suction cup hooks.

I point to the pink, and my belly flutters as he takes it, leaning down to pick up a bottle of Apple Berry body wash without asking if it’s mine.

“You can tell me to fuck off if you want, but I just wanted to check…” I trail off, feeling silly for bringing this up, even if it’s been on my mind since that day.

The scent of apples fills the shower, and I bite my lip to stop myself from moaning as Holden brings the loofah to my back, cleaning my skin. “Honesty, remember?”

“I thought that was just when we were having sex?”

A dark laugh sounds behind me, and I feel his cock brush my ass. “I was going to give your pussy a break, but I’ll fuck you again if that’s what you need.”

The pussy in question clenches, and I know I’m feeling more than water trailing down my inner thighs. “I wanted to make sure you were okay. After your mom came into E&V. It seemed… it seemed rough.”

Holden’s hand moves to my stomach, soaping up my abdomen and breasts, before he finally responds. “My father is a selfish son of a bitch. He’s gambled away every penny he’s ever made, and any others he can get his hands on. My mother turns up a few times a year, looking for me to bail him out of whatever shit he’s dug them into. I used to enjoy it. It felt good to make the bastard see I’d done better than he ever could. Even that has gotten old, though.”

There is a chasm opening through my chest as he speaks, so grim and casual, as if anyone who has ever met this man could imagine he comes from such a shitty family. I’ve known Holden for most of my life, and I’ve never heard even a hint of the bitterness and defiance I hear in his voice now.

“I’m glad you told her no,” I tell him, so quietly he can probably barely hear me over the spray of the water. “They don’t deserve a single thing from you.”

My breath catches as Holden’s lips brush my shoulder, his hand moving the loofah lower to wash away his release from my inner thighs. “I have to admit, I’m surprised you’ve been worrying about my family situation.”

I stare at the shower floor, the spray of water falling around my battle-scarred bare feet and Holden’s just behind them. “Sorry.” It’s a lame apology, colored by my embarrassment at being caught caring.

God, I really do care about him, don’t I? Despite my best intentions, despite common sense and everything I know about this man, Idocare. In his own way, he’s been in my corner for weeks now, or rather, pushing me out of it. I have no idea how he knew I needed that, or if it was even intentional. Either way, the result is the same. I feel better than I have since before the accident, like I might not be as broken and useless as I thought, and that is unquestionably linked to Holden Ellinger.

The loofah falls to the shower floor, and then, so suddenly it makes me gasp, Holden is turning me, pressing my naked body between his and the shower wall. Intense, bright blue eyes stare down into mine, and my heart is beating double time as the enclosed space fills with steam and hot water pours over both of us.

“You’re amazing.”

His words, deathly serious and unquestionably truthful, make me want to hide. “What? No, I’m not.” I let my gaze fall from his, staring at the steamy glass door behind him without really seeing it.

He doesn’t let me get away with it for long. Holding my chin between his thumb and forefinger, Holden lifts my face, forcing me to meet his intense gaze all over again. “Don’t argue with me, Vogel.”

I laugh, even as if it feels as though my chest is about to crack open with the things he’s making me feel. “Respect my elders. Got it.”

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