Chapter 93

I snuggled in against Charles, the wicker squeaking beneath us. “Thank you,” I said.

“For what?” Charles asked.

“For accepting me. For including me. I never asked you to fold me completely into your life.”

He kissed the top of my head and held me close. “I told you I wanted you around me always. The closer you grow, the more I love every part of you. And if I love you this much, my family won’t be able to do anything but love you, too.”

I bit back hesitations. He was promising someone else’s feelings now. Instead, I changed the subject.

“Will we have time to walk down to the beach?”

Charles again laughed outright. This was the happiest I’d seen him for a prolonged period of time, probably since high school.

“Not a chance,” he answered. “If we were calculating the amount of time between now and when Mother’s going to set dinner on the table, then there probably is enough time. However—““Charles!” his mother called from in the kitchen.

Charles grinned at me. “See? Duty calls.”

He beckoned me to go with him, and we entered the kitchen. Gwen set a bowl of fresh peas on the counter.

“Will you be a dear and shell those for me, please?” she asked.

“Of course, Mother.”

“And here, dear. You can do these.” She handed me a basket full of carrots with the green tops still on them. “All you need to do is cut the green tops off and set them aside. I’ll put them in the compost pile later.”

“Come on,” Charles said, nodding toward the door to the porch. “We can do these chores outside and enjoy the fresh air that we never get in the city.”

After we were done shelling the peas and cutting the tops off the carrots, Gwen put us to work chopping and helping in other ways around the kitchen and then setting the table. I was just placing the last of the silverware out when the door burst open, and a woman’s voice called, “Mom? Charles? Are you here?”

The sound of young children’s voices and running footsteps followed this.

“Uncle Charles! Uncle Charles!” Two small children cried, launching themselves at their uncle.

He grabbed them both and swung them around, hugging them, while his mother swatted at him with a dish towel.

“You’re going to knock the food off,” she scolded.

I sat back and watched all this unfold. I’d only ever seen family interactions like this in the movies. It made me feel all warm on the inside.

Jennifer, Andy, Soren, and Emily were also staying with Charles’s mother that weekend. So, after dinner, we took the kids out to play in the twilight and enjoy the last of the day’s warmth. Andy put a fire in the fire pit so we could all toast marshmallows while we told ghost stories.

That night, when we were curled up in bed. I felt nearly ready to explode from happiness. Charles climbed in beside me and cuddled up next to me.

“You’ve been smiling so much it looks like your face probably hurts,” he said with a chuckle.

I snuggled back into him. “I did smile a lot today. This was the most amazing day. Your niece and nephew really love you.”

“They are pretty cute, aren’t they? I don’t see nearly as much of them as I would like to.”

“How old are they again?”

“Soren is ten, and Emily is six.”

“Are they going to have any more?”

Charles shrugged. “That’s kind of up to my sister and Andy. Maybe. She likes kids an awful lot, and it’s not like the family doesn’t have plenty of money to support more kids.”

“I heard Andy say that he works at a tech company. What exactly does he do?”

“Management mostly. I think. He’s from a long family of betas.”

“Your sister didn’t marry an alpha?”

Charles laughed so hard he nearly choked. “There’s only so many of us to go around. Mother was happy she found a nice beta. Remember, it’s more important to my mother what Andy has done with himself. And he takes very good care of my sister and the kids.”

I smiled and snuggled into my pillow. Someday, I wanted a family like this, with lots of cousins and happiness, and somewhere where we could spend warm summer evenings together. With those sweet thoughts wafting around my head, I drifted off to sleep.

We woke together Saturday morning, only after morning sunlight flooded the upstairs bedroom Gwen had given Charles and me. I stretched out long, running my feet along the silkiness of high thread count sheets. I’d meant to revel in the luxuries Charles’ family took for granted, but the laughter of children called me to the window.

I peeked out. On the lawn, Soren and Emily played, spraying one another with the hose, their hair dripping and their faces shining with childish joy.

They cut such a happy picture it made my heart ache. Those kids would never fully understand how lucky they were.

“What’s the frown for?” Charles asked, wrapping his arms around me from behind.

“Nothing’s particularly wrong. It’s just they’re happy, but do they fully appreciate the gift that is?”

“No. But do you fully appreciate all the gifts you have in your life? Hell, can you even see them?”

“How do you mean?”

“Let’s go with an easy example. How many women out there must think you’re exceptionally lucky to have such a devoted friend as Kathy, all the way from childhood through adulthood?”

“Huh. I suppose you’re right.”

“I usually am,” he answered with a smirk. “Now.” He kissed me deeply. “I know Mother is probably making some fabulous brunch, but how about an appetizer?”

“Like what?”

Charles knelt, drawing the shorts of my pajama set down and kissing up my inner thigh. The first lap he took at my inner folds drew a sharp breath from me. He grinned up at me.

“Up for appetizers?”

I nodded, biting at my lower lip.

He chuckled and pointed at the bed. “For once, don’t be afraid to let go,” he said. “This is as close as we’re going to get to the way things were before. The kids are outdoors, so we don’t have to worry about them hearing anything they shouldn’t. And this is the only bedroom on the top floor. No one has any business up here. We’re alone and in a private place.”

I let him guide me to lie down on the bed and opened myself to him. It didn’t take Charles long to get me clutching the covers and moaning like I hadn’t allowed myself to in weeks.

After he had me wriggling in ecstasy, we switched, and I knelt at the foot of the bed, taking slow licks along the length of Charles’ shaft. I cupped his balls, running my fingers and tongue along all the surfaces while Charles gripped the sheets with white knuckles, groaning in pleasure.

When I took the tip in my mouth, he reached behind my head, weaving his fingers through my hair and guiding my head up and down. Occasionally, his hips would thrust automatically, but he’d catch himself and pull back so I could work comfortably along his erection.

His phone chirped a message twice. Charles propped himself up on his elbows and looked at me, still with my mouth around him.

“That’s Mother’s text for breakfast. Shall we head down?”

“But what about you?”

“I have plans for that, so don’t you worry. But let’s not keep Mother waiting.”