Chapter 36

"It think it's fine, Charles. I would have smelled someone if they were here!"

Charles ignored me, sticking his head under my bed and then proceeded to the bathroom. He looked in the bathtub, and even the cupboard where the extra towels were.

"Now you're just snooping," I said, laughing at the way he searched every closet and cupboard, like a hound dog looking for clues.

"It's important!" he said, trying to keep a serious face as he rifled through my coats in the hallway closet.

That's when I realized he was actually stirring up my scent, moving around my things to release it and enjoying surrounding himself with it, as if he were spritzing himself with fragrance.

I sat on the couch and watched him, his large, strong form in my house, like a dream from my teenage years. Back then I wouldn't have cared if he was just using me as a scent object. I would have thought it was worth it.

Now, however, I had too much at stake. My self-esteem, my reputation, I had learned to stand up for myself even to this sexy, demanding person who made every molecule of my body want to give in.

I watched him, trying not to admire the way the muscles moved under his trousers or shirt as he opened my refrigerator.

"Who would be hiding in there?" I laughed.

"Actually, I was looking for dessert. What do you have, Elena?"

"Not a lot," I confessed. "I wasn't expecting company."

I got up and joined him, looking at the meagre few items. Eggs, an apple.

He slumped back against the counter of the island in the middle of the kitchen. "Should we order in something?"

"Seems silly since we just came from a restaurant."

I looked at the time. "It's still early. Want to make something?"

He looked surprised. "What, like cook?"

"Yeah," I laughed. "Like bake."

He smiled. "I've never done that."

"Seriously?"

He gestured at what remained of his suit and I nodded. "I get it," I said. "Might as well take off that tie."

The motion of him loosening it made my breathing stop and I turned away, looking in the cupboard for some simple cake mix.

"We won't go full homemade for your first one," I said, holding up two boxes. "Let's make cupcakes. Vanilla or red velvet?"

He frowned. "Red velvet? Why is it red? Does it taste like blood?"

"Oh my gosh!" I laughed and tossed him an apron. He looked baffled, but managed to figure out how to pull it over his head. He looked ridiculously sexy with the streamlined apron and the rolled-up sleeves.

"Please let me take a photo," I said.

His first reaction was to object, but he paused and then playfully said, "Okay."

He picked up a bowl and a spoon and posed, making me laugh so hard that the first few photos were blurred. When he looked, he nodded in approval.

"I look good! I could be on the front cover of our cooking section."

I rolled my eyes and handed him an egg.

"What the heck do I do with this?" he asked, scowling at it. And yet, it was no surprise that he was good at baking.

He managed to crack the eggs without getting any shell in it, mixed at top speed with forearm muscles beautifully revealed by a rolled-up shirtsleeve, and filled each cupcake tin to the perfect level as the others.

We put them in the oven and I grabbed the bowl and spoon.

"This is my favorite part," I said, and scraped some leftover batter onto my finger. I put it in my mouth, enjoying the gloopy sweetness.

Charles looked at me with an intense, hungry expression, watching me suck my finger.

I faltered and quickly pulled it out and wiped it on my apron. I then shyly held the bowl out to him.

He scraped some up and put his own finger in his mouth, watching me the entire time. I suddenly understood his hunger.

I wanted to follow his finger. I wanted all of me to be pressed against that mouth, inside that mouth.

His eyes, however, snapped into focus above my head. "This is delicious," he said, his mouth still engaged. He went back for another scrape and I blocked him.

"Save some for me!" I said and suddenly there was a feeding frenzy at the bowl.

When the batter was gone, I held the mixing spoon up and put my mouth on it, giving it a long, lazy lick.

Suddenly he was right in front of me. His breathing was hard and his eyes were hazy. The spoon clattered to the counter.

"I'm sorry," I said, practically into his shirt buttons. I could feel the heat coming off of his chest. "I couldn't help it. I meant to keep things light, but..."

He lowered his head and I could feel his breath on the top of my head.

"You have no idea, Elena."

"About?"

"How much you help me. I have had a lot going on, now especially with all that's happened with Jessica and the government stuff. But having you here, having you close...."

His hand pressed into my lower back, pulling me closer. I gave in and leaned, feeling him hard and strong against my body. I rose to meet him, my chest pressing against his.

It felt like a dream, I'd wanted it for so long. His scent washed over me, and I was no longer thinking.

"With you, I feel like I can do everything better. And I've been so proud of you," he murmured.

What he was saying was just getting through my hazy head. "You have?" I managed.

"The way you're going after your dream. The way you care so deeply about the right things. You were right about the ethic and the kids. They needed help, and you saw that."

My arms were against his chest and I didn't know whether to pull at his shirt or push him away.

An electric buzzing jolted me into reality.

"What the hell is that?" Charles murmured into my hair, unmoved.

"Don't you smell it?" I asked

"I only smell you," he said, his nose in my hair.

I shifted and leaned away. He grumbled but then sniffed.

"Oh! That's nice."

"That's the red velvet."

I gave him a pair of oven mitts and he pulled the cupcakes out, me snapping photos of him the entire time.

He wanted to ice them immediately but I told him they needed to cool, and when he tried to pick one up with his bare hand, he quickly understood what I meant.

"Those are still very hot!"

"I told you!"

"Hm." He leaned into the counter and admired the dozen, perfectly identical cupcakes he made. "I have a career in this, I think."

I rolled my eyes and he grabbed my hand, suddenly serious again.

"I'm spending the night, Elena."

I was so surprised that I didn't immediately respond.

"I'll take your silence as an assent," he said, and began to remove his apron.