Chapter Two
Three orgasms that surely rated as seismic events. I should be in a sex-induced coma.
Justin’s heartbeat thumped in Charity’s ear as she rested her head on his lightly furred chest. After nearly twenty-two years of being married to him, she knew when his heart was in his words. If he said he wanted to make her ultimate fantasy a reality, she knew he meant it. How he’d react if she described that fantasy was an entirely different matter. That was the reason she couldn’t breathe a word about it. Revealing her hidden desire would ruin everything. It didn’t matter how much she wanted it. The love in his brown eyes, his sacrifices and hard work in the last two decades for their family, and the vows they’d said together that she took very seriously made that impossible. Justin didn’t share. He’d established that from the beginning.
She’d been friends with Justin, Val, and Ransome since meeting them at Morehead Middle School back when Divine had bussed their junior high students to the nearby town where Justin and his family had lived.
At first, she’d thought they were total punks, but they’d gradually grown on her until she’d counted them as close friends. Then puberty had set in. She’d tried to act like she didn’t notice the way their bodies changed until she’d finally confessed the truth to herself her freshman year of high school. She was in love with three guys. Cousins. Totally hot cousins. And she’d kept her mouth shut and hadn’t told a soul, not even Grace. She’d pined secretly for the three of them, a real chore, given how she normally took charge in every other aspect of her life.
She’d waited and waited and hoped…for what, she hadn’t been sure. Then one day she’d been assigned to do a reenactment of the balcony scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet with Justin during her senior year drama class. They’d had to practice every day for two weeks in the auditorium, while surrounded by all their other classmates involved in similar assignments. To his credit, Justin hadn’t done a dry, bored-sounding-while-being-secretly-embarrassed reading, either. They’d stumbled through it the first few times and then she’d caught him watching her during rehearsals, and later during other classes. They’d gotten an A on their performance and after that he’d sat next to her in all the classes they had together.
Things had progressed slowly until the spring. The summer heat had come early that year. They’d gone swimming in Divine Creek alone and he’d kissed her. Despite the years, she could still smell the scent of coconut tanning oil and recall the glare of the sun reflecting on the water. He’d wrapped his arms around her and told her he loved her and she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. His hands stroking her waist and back had sent wonderful shivers coursing throughout her body and he’d tugged the string of her bikini top playfully. It hadn’t been his intention but the top came loose and she’d waited breathlessly for his reaction. His hands had shaken a little as he’d reached out to touch her.
Her body had responded to his gentle caresses and one thing had led to another and they’d wound up entwined on her beach towel. He’d made love to her on the creek bank. It was the first time for both of them. He hadn’t fumbled clumsily, as she’d feared. It hadn’t been painless, either, but he’d taken his time, doing his best to make sure she was ready first. That fact alone had made her love him even more. He’d even been prepared with a condom tucked in his wallet, just in case, he’d claimed later. Hours had passed in what felt like minutes and both of their parents had been super pissed when they’d gotten home that evening. She’d lost the rest of her heart to him when he’d snuck out and drove to her house later that night to make sure she was feeling okay.
Once they’d gotten off restriction, they’d agreed to meet at the creek again, and had even invited Val and Ransome to come and hang out with them and do a little swimming since they hadn’t seen as much of them. But they’d wanted a little alone time first. The second the last bell of the school day had rung, she’d sprinted for the student parking lot and had her car running by the time Grace had joined her. After rushing home to do chores, she’d left Grace reading a book on her bed and had been out the door, anxious to cover the miles that would put her in Justin’s arms again.
That second time they’d made love, she could tell he’d done a little research and he’d lit her up like firecrackers on the Fourth of July. He’d been just as gentle and every bit as hot as she’d always imagined in her teenaged fantasies. Her heart raced with the memories, even so many years later.