Chapter 165

I stepped back and gave Charles and his temper some space. “And I have no memory of what happened last night after we arrived for the interview. Someone drugged us, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it was Anthony Bellweather.”

Charles’s jaw twitched in anger. “How can you defend him?” he snarled.

I put up my hands and shook my head. “I’m not defending him,” I said. “I’m just simply saying that you don’t want to be just like the people that we all hate. You don’t want to hold him guilty until we prove him innocent. Do it the other way around. Assume that he’s innocent until we find out that he’s really guilty.”

“He had the pictures and the story. How much more do you need?” Charles’ eyes flashed dangerously.

I jutted my chin stubbornly. “What if he was being blackmailed?” I argued. “What if somebody else is pulling the strings behind Anthony, and he’s just their puppet?”

“It doesn’t make him innocent.”

“But it certainly doesn’t make him the main guilty party. Please, Charles. Don’t sink to their level.”

Charles let out a snarl and crossed the kitchen a couple of times before stopping in front of me. “The man is an absolute weasel. He said he’s the worst kind of scum.”

“Or he’s not,” I countered. “Anthony has a family, too, I’m sure. What if somebody were threatening me or your mom or your sister and your niece and nephew? What would you do?” I asked him.

He pulled his lips back from his teeth as an answer.

I gave him a sharp nod. “Right. You do whatever it takes to protect us. Even if that meant doing things that were dishonest.”

“I understand what you’re getting at, but you seem to be overlooking one fact. Clearly, Anthony is a party to this.”

“I agree, and I’m not saying that your anger towards him isn’t valid. I’m just saying he might not be the only person you need to be angry with. And maybe you should find out the reason why he’s done what he’s done.”

“When he’s done this same type of shit before?” Charles gave his hair a tug, leaving it standing on end and paced away from me. His shoulders dropped. “Fine,” he gritted out. “We’ll do this your way awhile and see what the bastard has to say for himself.”

Charles turned to point a finger at me. “But if he is the person I think he is, then I want you to take him down. I want you to run a story on every outlet that you can, and I want you to expose him for the villain that he is.”

“Agreed,” I said.

Charles crossed the kitchen again and swept me up in his arms this time. His hold wasn’t out of concern or frustration but rather out of desperation. His lips came down on mine, and he kissed me hot and hard.

“Did you see Theo naked?” he demanded, a distinct edge to his voice.

I blushed at the question. “Kind of. Not really.”

Charles eyed me skeptically.

“I mean it. When I woke up, we were lying together, but I scrambled away and kept my back to him. And we both kept pillows over ourselves.”

“I hate the image of you with the naked bodyguard in my head.” He pulled me toward the bedroom. “We’re going to go scrub that out of my brain.”

I smiled. “I couldn’t have said it better myself. I want the only image of a naked man in my head to be you.”

When we reached the bedroom, I pulled off my foundling dumpster clothes and threw them on the floor. “They took everything from me,” I said.

“We’ll worry about that later.” Charles cocked his head, admiring me, his gaze shifting from head to toe.

The intensity of his stare had me blushing. His nostrils flared, drinking my scent in.

I slowly dropped to my knees and felt his gaze fix on me, even as I wrapped my lips around the sensitive rim of his head. I sucked his shaft, listening to his heaving breathing hitch on pleasure. He stopped me and drew me back up to my feet, keeping me at arm’s length.

Charles reached out, skimming his fingers along my body so that he could watch his fingertips trace the curves of my breasts and run circles around my nipples.

Charles groaned as they popped out, erect under his touch. Then he skimmed his hands down my stomach and my waist, across my hips, and down my thighs. He knelt slowly in front of me, leaning his forehead against my stomach and breathing deeply.

He skimmed his hands down the outside of my thighs and then back up the inside, gently pressing my legs apart. When he reached the top of the seam between my legs, he lifted one of my legs up and over his shoulder and then buried his face between my thighs, licking at my lady parts.

I rubbed my hands through his hair and tipped my head back to lean against the wall, closing my eyes and enjoying his attention.

Heat built between my legs and then slowly spread through my body. Charles wrapped his tongue around my clit, and I shuddered, my legs parting further. He explored deeper, thrusting his tongue up inside me. My hips began to undulate and sway with a rhythm, coaxing his tongue deeper and building pressure in every part of my body.

I withdrew my fingers from his hair before I pulled it too hard, instead gripping his shoulders. My fingertips dug in, begging him not to stop.

Finally, with a starburst, ecstasy exploded through me, and my knees nearly collapsed. But he shoved his shoulder against my leg, keeping me upright and finishing with long licks until I weakly let my weight fall back against the wall.

He came up smiling and drew me into his arms. “There wasn’t the hint of any other’s scent on you,” he said. “Nothing. Not that I didn’t believe you, but it is definitely a relief.”

I signed and settled into his chest. “It’s a relief for me as well. There was a tiny part of me that worried that someone else might have raped me while I was unconscious from the drugs. Even though I knew for sure that I hadn’t done anything willingly with anyone.”

He nodded and threw me back to the bed and then lay me out again, admiring my body. After a moment, he shook his head.

“Not here,” he said.

“What?” I asked, propping myself up on my elbows.

“I told you I have the image of you and that bodyguard together naked in my head. I can’t get the image out if all I’m doing is playing on top of you. Or even thrusting from behind you. I need to see the whole thing. I need to see my body and yours together so that bad image leaves my head.”

He drew me into the bathroom and sat me on the counter so that the mirror was behind me. “There. That’s perfect,” he said in a soft growl. “Now I can watch us be together.”

I tickled his chest with my fingertips. “So that’s what you like?” I teased gently. “You want to watch?”

“Not you with another man, but us together. Then, heck yeah!”

He slowly stripped off his clothes, and I could feel desire welling up inside me again as he stood before me in fully naked glory.