Charlotte

Chapter Nine

"You want a story?" Mother asked me as she sat on the end of my bed. I'd just woken up from a bad dream and had cried out for her. She'd come in, smiling, and to my young brain, it meant she cared. "Fine, I'll tell you one. Settle in." 

Marie tucked the blankets around me so that I couldn't move, and then she gently swiped her hand across my forehead. "Once upon a time, there was a young girl who no one wanted. She did everything she was asked to do, scrub the floors, prepare the meals, tend to the animals...but nobody wanted to give her a lick of attention. One day, her mother told her; don't ever go into my garden. But do you know what she did?" 

I shook my head, leaning into my mom's hand as she pet my hair. Marie tilted her head as if she didn't believe me. "Yes, you do," Marie continued. "She went into the garden and picked some berries. She had a whole handful of delicious, red, round berries and she ate them. The berries were poison, and the young girl died. And everyone forgot about her and lived happily ever after." 

When I woke up, I was in unfamiliar territory. The room was dark, but the black out curtains were keeping low sunlight at bay, and I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes to peer over at the alarm clock. The red numbers told me it was five p.m. I groaned, ready for the school week to be over. Dimitri was beside me, under the blankets and still asleep. He shifted, and his arm wrapped around my waist. I snuggled in closer to his bare chest, feeling at home and in peace. This was my first time being in his room, let alone in his bed. 

I turned to face him, stopping myself from acting on intrusive thoughts like touching him, kissing him, snuggling into his chest. Being this close to him, my body ached, and I pressed my thighs together hard to relieve some of the pressure I felt there. I was in his shirt, and my panties, having been too lazy to walk ten feet to my own room for pajamas. He had his pajama bottoms on, and I really wished he hadn't had the forethought to put them on. 

We'd come really close to having sex last night. I don't know why we didn't. We'd been rolling around on his bed, making out and feeling one another. He'd rolled me onto my back, kissed down my neck, my chest, my belly, but stopped there. His forehead rested on my lower abdomen, and then he kissed me all the way back up again. I'd been confused, but I didn't want him to stop, so I switched our position and made it very clear what I wanted when I slid down to between his knees and hooked my hands over the waistband of his pants. 

His hands had caught mine, and I looked up at him with raised brows. "Not tonight, Charlie," he'd said. His voice was husky and strained, like it was the last thing he wanted to tell me. 

"Why?" I'd asked. "There's no secrets. No confusion right now. I want you." 

He closed his eyes and inhaled sharply, and I could see him growing under his clothing. I pressed my lips against his hip bone, letting my tongue dart out and lick his skin. His cock unintentionally rested against the outside of my throat, and I went to grab him through the material of his pajamas. "Charlie," he groaned. "Please, not right now." 

I had sighed and sat up, feeling dejected and rejected. He finally opened his eyes and cupped my cheek in his hand. Our eyes met. 

"We aren't ready for that...I'm not ready." 

"Because you don't have any condoms?" I asked, hoping that was the answer and that it wasn't because of me. He looked surprised, like he hadn't even thought of that oversight. 

"Uh, no. But that's a good point as well. Charlie...things are still too complicated. I want us both to be ready to take that step, and I still haven't figured out how to balance...everything." 

I sighed again and climbed onto the other side of the bed. "Fine. Can I at least sleep here tonight?" 

And that's how I ended up cuddled up against him. I couldn't lie and say I understood why he stopped, but my body and hormones were angry because of it. I rested my head on his bare chest and groaned in frustration. I should have gone to my own bed.