Let Me Fly by Hazel St. James

down over her head. She walked back outside with her swimsuit in her hands, padding barefoot in the grass to the stairs.
    Bryn yelled down to him, “Hey, hottie!”
    Charlie had already made it to the landing when he stopped to look up at her. Before he could reply, Bryn held up her swimsuit, giggling as his jaw dropped open. She could only squeak as Charlie took off at a full run up the last of the stairs. She just barely made it to the glass door, as he grabbed the back of her shirt.
    “Gotcha, you little tease.”
    Charlie gathered her up in his arms, spinning her as he crushed her chest to him. He had ditched his shirt at some point, his bare chest slick with sweat. “Did you think you could get away from me that easily?”
    “Wasn’t trying to, stud.” Leaning forward, she tried to brush her lips against his, but he was pulling back, frowning at her. “What’s wrong, Charlie?”
    “I’m trying to take things slow here, Bryn. You’re not exactly making that easy,” he answered as he pulled down on the hem of her t-shirt.
    Bryn looked down at his chest, wanting to lick the beads of sweat that were running down his pecs. Her insides were screaming at her to jump him, but her mind started racing around in turmoil. Charlie was right, she needed to slow down. He was a great guy and all, but she hadn’t had sex with a man since she had been raped. She didn’t know how she would react to that level of intimacy. Would she panic? Would she try to hurt him again?
    Her inner devil quickly made up her mind for her, deciding that she needed to start somewhere. Charlie had slowly been lying down a foundation of trust between them over the last twenty-four hours, and Bryn had finally realized it. She did trust him. She just had to let go of her insecurities. She had to give intimacy with Charlie a chance.
    “Charlie, I don’t know what is going on between us, but I think I want…no, I know I want to stop being cautious. Not just with this,” she waved her hands back and forth between them, “but with everything in my life. Can you handle that? Can you handle me?”
    Charlie clenched his arms down to his sides as he dropped down to plant a soft kiss on her lips. “Oh yeah, kitten. I can handle that. We’ll talk more in a minute. I need a shower. Go upstairs, and lie down on the bed, face up. I’ll meet you up there in two minutes.” Holding up two fingers, he grinned at the pout on her face. “You can wait, kitten. Now go,” smacking her rear as she turned around, she shot him a dirty look. “And Bryn, leave the shirt on. That’s so fucking hot.”
    Bryn saluted him as she backed into the house through the sliding door. She quickly climbed the spiral staircase to the first floor, thankful that her ankle wasn’t aching anymore. It wasn’t as cool up here as it was downstairs, but her nipples were still painfully erect, the friction from the thin cotton shirt was almost too much for her to handle. Maybe being tortured for the last two days by this uber hot Alpha male was more than her libido could handle. Bryn lay on the bed, but she couldn’t keep her body still. Her eyes drifted shut as she imagined Charlie lying next to her, running his fingertips up and down her overheated flesh, making her skin pebble. It didn’t take long for her fingers to drift down to her pussy, her fingers teasing her lips. Lost in her own pleasure, she hadn’t heard Charlie coming up the stairs.
    “Oh God, you are fucking killing me, you know that, Bryn,” he groaned his appreciation as he stretched out on the bed next to her. “Would you like some help with that, kitten?”
    “Oh, please, Charlie. Please, please, please.”
    “I gotcha, baby,” Charlie said as he grabbed her borrowed t-shirt, bunching it up around her upper torso, pulling her hands up as he slipped the material off. He latched onto her wrists, forcibly pushing them into the pillows.
    “Leave your hands right here. Do. Not. Move.” The way his voice dropped