“What did you say?” he asks me, as I blink stupidly back at him.
“Did I say that out loud?” I choke, flushing from head to toe. “I did, didn't I? Oh my god, I'm so freaking embarrassed. Why am I always blurting out random shit?”
Ranger gives me a feral grin, capturing my lips with his, the faintest hint of lemons and sugar on his tongue.
“He does like you,” Ranger growls out, sucking my lower lip between his teeth. “A lot. He's just hoping you like him back.”
“I love him,” I blurt, and then we both pause.
Swear to the God of Dark-Holes-For-Embarrassed-People-to-Crawl-Into, I better not have just messed this all up. But instead of pulling away from me or acting like I’ve just committed the worst cardinal sin known to man, Ranger takes it in stride.
“I love you, too, Chuck,” he replies easily, the edge of his mouth turning up in a genuine smile. “I have since the moment you asked for that hug at the Valentine's Day dance.” Ranger cups the back of my head, kissing me long and deep, his tongue swirling against mine, and then he pulls back to put his forehead to mine. “Now. Get off this counter and turn around. I'm slapping that ass, and fucking you in that apron—just like I promised. We'll finish our baking afterward.”
My heart is beating so fast, my body flooded with happy hormones, pushing away the fear of the … whatever that stupid cult is calling themselves. Of Jenica's last sad, soft memories. I've got her brother now, and I'm not going to let him get hurt again.
Ranger pulls me off the counter and spins me around, putting his hands on my hips and then kissing his way down the side of my neck, leaving a trail of goose bumps in his wake. When he lets go of me briefly to retrieve the bag of flour from the island, my jaw drops open.
“I thought you were kidding,” I whisper as he dumps some out on the counter and then powders his hands in white.
“I want to see all the places I've touched you.” His voice is dark with a possessiveness that I'm not sure I'm going to like … until he touches me again, putting white handprints on my hips. When he pulls back and cracks me across the ass with his palm, my breath hitches, and my fingers curl against the surface of the stone countertop. “Jesus, I've been wanting to do that for an entire year. You're such a brat, Chuck. You needed a good spanking.”
“Hey, I resent—” I start, but then he spanks me again, and I shiver, goose bumps breaking out across my skin. We're on campus, in a classroom, naked. That thought doesn't deter me from my course of action though. No way, no how. It only makes me want it more.
My skin tingles as Ranger runs a fingertip over the sweetly sore spot, sliding his palms up my body to cup my breasts through the front of the apron. He fondles them with a firm but gentle grip, teasing the nipples through the fabric.
Another crack on my ass surprises me, but I like it, shocking my own preconceived inhibitions.
Ranger pauses briefly to slip the condom on as I close my eyes, trying to control the wild, jittery feeling in my stomach. When he slips one palm around to lie flat against my belly, and whispers in my ear, I groan.
“Are you ready for this, Charlotte?” he asks, and the sound of my real name on his lips undoes everything inside of me. I've barely got the strength to nod, a moan falling from my lips as Ranger presses the hard tip of his cock to my opening. There's a brief moment there where he stills, and the only sound in the room is the synchronous rhythm of our breathing.
Ranger slides himself slowly inside of me, groaning under his breath as he fills me up with his body. “Holy fuck.”
“Good?” I ask, because for some reason, I think that makes me seem cool. In reality, I was never that good at being ‘cool’. No, that was Monica's thing. Actually, I preferred being nerdy, weird, blurt-y Chuck the Micropenis. With an exhale, I relax into Ranger's touch and close my eyes, changing the narrative. “Your touch makes me feel like I'm on fire.”
“Beyond good, Charlotte,” he whispers, and then he begins to move, the slickness of my own body making it easy for him to thrust, to create this beautiful friction between us that builds pleasure in my belly like a slow-burning fire. With each movement of his hips, the embers burn, and the flames climb higher. Just when I think I'm going to collapse and fall right over that edge, Ranger slows and bites the curve of my ear. “I want to see your face when you come.”
