Tessa Teevan - Incinerate

He places an arm around my waist and pulls me into him, pressing a kiss on my forehead. “All I know is that you’re in my home, in my bed, and most importantly, Charlie, you’re in my heart. I don’t know where this is going either, but I do know one thing. You aren’t going anywhere.”

My heart is doing backflips at his words, and as we settle into a comfortable silence, I can do nothing but think of the implications of his words. The thought of Knox Wellington in my life permanently is the last thing on my mind as I fall asleep with a huge grin on my face.

Knox

THE ALARM goes off way too early, especially after someone decided she wanted a taste of me at two a.m. She’s been insatiable since that night in the tub, and not a day goes by that we don’t spend time together exploring each other’s bodies, getting to know what turns us on, both in and out of the bedroom. Groaning, Charlie leans over me to slap the snooze button on the clock and settles back down on the bed.

Placing my arm around her waist, I pull her in close, and she giggles when I press my hard-on against her ass.

“Wake up, sweetheart,” I whisper, my breath tickling her ear, causing her to shiver. “We’ve gotta get up so we can get ready.” It’s finally the day of the party, and while part of me is dreading it, I’m ready to get this show on the road.

She rubs her ass up and down my erection, and I’m three seconds away from pushing her on her back, sliding into her warmth, and having my way with her, party be damned. But I’m pretty sure Cohen will kill me if I don’t show up. He was fucking ecstatic when I told him I was coming. I can’t disappoint the only blood brother I still have.

My hands grip her hips, stilling them. Pushing her onto her back, I hover over her, and she grabs my tags. “Come on, Rugged. Just a quickie before we have to hit the road.”

As tempting as that sounds, the earlier we get to Belle Meade, the better. Leaning down to place a kiss on her lips, I push off the bed. “Rain check, baby, but I promise it’ll be worth it.” Her eyes light up when I give her a playful spank.

Ever since that night in the bathroom, she’s been craving it, but I’ve been saving it up until she begs for it. Something in our relationship shifted that night. I know spanking doesn’t seem like much, but the way she trusted me to be the first person to do it to her, hard enough to sting, awakened something in my heart, and I can feel myself starting to fall for her.

Two hours later, I’m pacing the living room floor, waiting for Charlie to come out of the bedroom. She tried to go back to her own room after that first weekend together, but there was no way I was spending my days filled with her only to spend my nights in separate rooms. Every night I picked her up and placed her in my bed. By day three she stopped fighting me, and we’ve been sharing my room ever since.

“Babe, are you almost ready?!” I yell down the hall, looking at my watch and knowing we need to leave.

“I don’t know what to freaking wear!” she screeches, a tone I’ve never heard from my cool, collected Charlie. Heading down the hall, I find her frantically throwing clothes out of the closet. She’s standing there in nothing but a thong and a strapless bra, and I swear, visions of spanking that tight, toned ass cross my mind.

“Charlie, it’s not that big of a deal. Just wear whatever.”

Her back is still to me when she freaks out. “Wear whatever?! Knox, I’m meeting my boyfriend’s family for the first time! I can’t ‘wear whatever!’”

Walking up behind her, I slide my hands down her arms, grabbing her hands. Leaning down, I kiss her neck. “Sweetheart, whatever you choose will be perfect. What you wear doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you’re with me.”

She turns around and loops her arms around my neck. “Three months ago, I’d be laughing at myself for thinking this, but you’re the sweetest man I know. You always know what to say,” she tells me, stretching up to place a kiss on my lips.

“Don’t tell anyone. I’d hate for my reputation to be ruined.” I grin at her, and when she steps back, her eyes widen as she takes in the sight of me.

“Oh my god. Are you freaking kidding me?” she says, staring at me.

Looking down, I’m not really sure what the big deal is. I’m wearing black dress slacks with a light green button-up tucked in at the waist. It’s going to be warm, so I’ve rolled the sleeves halfway up my forearm, but I did decide to complete the look with a matching green tie. I have to admit, it’s been a long damn time since I’ve dressed up in anything other than my dress greens, and I think I look pretty damn good.

“What?” I ask, not sure what her deal is.

Waving her arm up and down at me, I can’t help but watch the way her breasts move with each arm gesture. “This. You. All dressed up and sexy. I swear, I didn’t think I could get enough of you when you’re lounging around in nothing but basketball shorts, but then I saw in your uniform and I thought I was going to have to tear off your ACUs so I could push you down on the bed and ride you. Now you walk in all sweet and sexy, looking like a freaking GQ model? Is there anything you don’t look good in? It’s annoying. I mean, I love that my boyfriend is so freaking gorgeous, but still… Can’t you have a bad hair day or something?” she huffs, finally stopping to catch a breath.

Chuckling, I pull her back into me. “I’ll wear whatever you want me to if it turns you on. But, sweetheart, I promise you, I’m not into fashion. Anything you wear—or don’t wear for that matter—means nothing to me. When I wake up with you in the morning and you’re half drooling out the side of your mouth, you’re beautiful to me. When you get all done up for work and I want to rip the pencil skirt off you, you’re gorgeous. When you walk in the door and barely give me a kiss before you change into your pajamas, you’re astonishing, and it takes everything in me not to follow you to the bedroom to show you how much you mean to me.” I pause, brushing her bangs out of her face. “Charlie, it doesn’t matter what you look like, because when it all boils down to it, day after day you show me your heart, and it’s the most goddamn beautiful fucking thing I’ve ever seen. I pray to God that I’ll be worthy of having it for as long as you want me.” Holy fuck. I have no idea where this inner sap is coming from. All I know is that I mean every word.

We’re both silent for a moment, and then she pushes me back until I fall against the bed. Straddling me, she goes for my tie, trying to loosen it, and as much as I want her wild in bed, I have to muster up every single bit of strength to lift up and move her off me. I don’t miss the cute pout that spreads across her face.

“Come on, babe. We’ve got to leave. You’ll look perfect in anything you wear, I promise you,” I tell her, placing a kiss on her forehead and leaving the room, hoping to cool my jets and calm my dick. Trust me, I’d rather spend the day wrapped up in bed with her instead of going back to my roots. I feel a little like I’m going against the firing squad. I barely made it out of there in one piece the first time, and I can admit that I’m nervous about seeing my parents again. And Branson. I have no idea if we’ll ever be brothers again, but I guess it’s time I find out.

When Charlie finally emerges from the bedroom, she looks gorgeous as hell. She still looks like my girl, and I’m so grateful for it. I already feel like an imposter in this tie, but the way she looked at me when she saw it made wearing it worth it. She’s wearing a dark green sundress, kind of like the brown one she wore on our first non-date. There’s a sash around her waist, the light green color matching my tie. Her breasts look full and firm, and I almost want to tell her to go cover up. I don’t bother because I know she’d just fight me on it. The dress falls to mid-thigh, and I can see the ripple of her quads as she walks towards me. She’s wearing a pair of brown heels, and when she reaches me, she’s only a couple of inches shorter. I love it.

“Gorgeous,” I tell her, leaning in for a kiss.

She laughs and pushes me away. “It’s not too Britney Justin à la their denim days, is it?”

Shaking my head, I grab her hand and lock up the house before we make our way to Evelyn. “I have no idea what that even means.”

Turning to me, she gapes. “Are you serious?! It was only one of the highlights from our youth. You don’t remember when Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears showed up at an awards show in matching denim outfits? It was atrocious!”

“Yeah, I must’ve missed that. Are you saying we look like matching pop stars?”

A small blush comes across her cheeks. “No, not at all. I just…want to make sure you don’t care that we have similar colors.”

Crossing to her, I wrap her up in my arms. “Sweetheart, you… no, we look perfect.”

WHEN WE pull up to the gate of my parent’s estate, my heart begins racing. I know my leg’s shaking uncontrollably, and Charlie places her hand on it, as if her touch will calm me down. It does, a little bit, and I’m more than grateful that she’s here. I don’t think I could do this without her. In fact, I’m pretty damn sure I would’ve torn the invitation up if I’d gotten it before we met. Something about her strength fuels my own, and I know I’m ready for this. Rolling down the window, I ready myself to speak to security.

“Name?”

“Knox Nathaniel Wellington the Third,” I answer, feeling weird about saying my full name now that I’m back on my home turf. Charlie squeezes my thigh and gives me a reassuring smile.

The audio crackles before the voice responds. “I’m sorry; did you say Knox Nathaniel?”

Clearing my throat, I can’t help but be a dick. “Did I fucking stutter?’

Without another word, the gate opens, and I wind Evelyn up the driveway, shaking my head as I spy the limos, Ferraris, and other expensive-as-shit cars these people only drive to events like this. Parking the car, I’m wondering what the fuck I’m doing here, but Charlie grabs my hand, squeezing it.

“We can do this, Knox,” she tells me, and the thought that we’re a ‘we’ makes this whole thing bearable.

She gets out of the car before I can come open her door, but I stick my elbow out so she can entwine her arm in mine. Laughing at me, she pushes my arm down, grabbing my hand in hers, linking our fingers.

“We’re not that formal, Knox. Just because we’re here, let’s not forget who we are. Who you are, okay?”

I feel a wave of nostalgia wash over me when I enter my parents’ house. Part of me wants to turn around and get back in my car, fleeing back to Clarksville. But then Charlie squeezes my hand, letting me know that she’s right here with me.

Walking down the hallway, I look at the pictures on the wall. There are pictures of us all growing up, and when I get to the end, I stop abruptly and can’t help but be shocked as hell. All of our graduation pictures hang on the wall, and there’s a wedding picture of Branson and Megan, which I pass over quickly. But the last section of wall is all me. My Boot Camp graduation picture is there, and I can’t suppress the smile that comes to my face, knowing that I look like a fucking kid swimming in a uniform. There are framed newspaper clippings from awards and decorations ceremonies. And holy fuck, there’s even a framed timeline of all my promotions. How in the hell did they get all this? And why? I wonder how long they’ve been following my career. I honestly thought they’d just written me off, and I didn’t know any different because I never let Cohen talk about them.

The last picture is my undoing, and I have to swallow hard as I collect my bearings. It’s a photograph of me lying on a stretcher in Afghanistan, taken by Public Affairs when they flew me out of there. Moving in, I read the caption: “Local hero Knox Wellington being medevaced after the detonation of a roadside bomb. His current condition is unknown.”

I don’t even realize that Charlie’s beside me until I hear her gasp. Looking towards her, I see that she has tears in her eyes and her hand is covering her mouth.

“That’s you,” she says softly.

Pulling her into me, I press a kiss against her head. “That was me, babe. And I got through it. I’m here. With you, okay?” I ask, looking into her eyes to make sure she really is fine. We’ve never talked in depth about the incident, so this is the first time she’s really coming face to face with my job. I’m guessing it’s a shock to her.