44:Neverland

Charlie sighed with the loss when he separated their bodies and flipped onto his back beside her.  When they were touching, things always ended well – very well.  It was with the distance that their personality clash manifested.

Not personality clash, just differences.  You like the guy who showed up here tonight – the one who doesn’t hate wanting you.

That little confession had exactly the effect he’d wanted it to and, now that this round was over, she was a bit curious to see what would come next.

Rolling onto her left side, she used that hand to prop up her head.  His eyes were closed and, having never had a chance to look objectively at his naked body, Charlie took the opportunity. 

She had wreaked havoc on his hair, and it stuck out in all directions atop a face that was possibly more relaxed than she’d ever seen it.  The hands that had those magic fingers and a touch with just the right amount of roughness were folded atop a chest perfectly dusted in the hair that trailed all the way down to nest around the dick that was as equally relaxed as his face.  More hair sprinkled over thick thighs, and muscled calves down to the feet that seemed too big and out of proportion with the rest of him – until he popped open his button fly.  Then they were perfectly proportioned.

Her fingertips itched to touch him and incite the spark that never failed to come as a result.

Charlie spread her hand out flat and skimmed it low on his stomach, massaging up and out in light circles. 

“Mm.  Feels good.” 

His eyes didn’t open but there was the ghost of a smile on his lips, and Charlie’s heart fluttered just a little.  In this moment, he wasn’t an adversary or a man she’d screwed over in a divorce settlement.  He was her lover, who took pleasure in the touch of her hand. 

“Roll over and I’ll do your back.”

Curious eyes now cracked open.  “Seriously?”

“Yeah.”  She withdrew from his stomach to prod gently at his side.  “Roll.”

He complied with only a couple of soft grunts to settle himself and fold arms under his cheek.  Pushing her hand gently over the shoulder blade closest to her, she smiled at his sigh of contentment and glanced down to find him watching her. 

“What?”

“Nothin’.”  Blue eyes drifted shut.  “Tell me about the wall.”

She could visualize the two adjacent walls quite clearly without turning away from the musculature of his back that was far more interesting in this moment.  He really was beautiful, she thought while pushing into the meaty trapezius muscle and being rewarded with his groan of appreciation. 

“Nothing to tell.  You know I like Peter Pan and, the older I get, the more I appreciate the idea of never growing up.  Being an adult isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

“But this…”

“This” being the floor-to-ceiling rendition of the twinkling London night sky awash with wispy classic Disney clouds resembling characters of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto.  Peter and the Darling children flew off through those clouds in pursuit the second star on the right, with a host of well-wishers in attendance. 

Cinderella was exiting her pumpkin coach on a street below to greet Belle and Beast for a ball, Dalmatians ran unattended through the streets along with the cast of Oliver and Company, while Mary Poppins was waving from the heights of her umbrella flight.  Quasimodo was hanging off the top of Big Ben and waving with Esmerelda, and poor Dumbo did his best to keep up by hanging onto the tail of Aladdin and Jasmine’s magic carpet.

Peter and the children followed that star straight on ‘til morning – or Neverland, which in this case was the adjacent wall.  That lush green scene had all of the Lost Boys in attendance, along with Captain Hook, Tinkerbell and, of course, Tick Tock the crocodile.  Scattered throughout tropical jungle could also be found Bambi and her woodland friends, Snow White and the dwarves, Pooh and company, Pocahontas, Simba, and Lilo and Stich.  Then, in the water with Tick Tock, were Ariel, Nemo and Dory.

It was a small, Brooklyn version of Disney World and maybe a tad (lot) overdone, but it had been a labor of love.  Charlie was pleased with the end result.

“Painting relaxes me,” she told him simply, moving down into the small of his back.  “And these characters make me smile.  This is the room I would’ve loved as a little girl, but my brothers were into sports and I idolized them, so I ended up with their old jerseys along with an assortment of Yankees and Giants pennants.”

Reaching across his body for the other shoulder, she caught sight of his face from the corner of her eye.  He was watching her again. 

“How many times have you gone to Disney World?  Enough to own one of the parks?”

Smiling tightly, she shook her head.  “Never been.”

Owen hated all things Disney and had brainwashed the boys into the same mindset, so on the odd occasion they’d journeyed South for a vacation, it was Universal Studios and the water parks that they visited.  Her boys had loved it, which was all that mattered to her.

Charlie would get there someday.  Maybe when all was said and done, she could get a job doing caricatures in one of the parks.  That would be fun.

“Why the hell not, if you like it so much?” 

Relaxed features were now frowning and it was with a smile that Charlie stopped lavishing his back with attention so that she could smooth away the lines with her thumb. 

“I never could turn the boys to the Disney side, even when they picked up Star Wars a few years ago, and I wasn’t going to go alone.”

“Mm.”  His face was frown-free again.  “M.J. loves that shit.   Tell Lilah you want to go with them next time.”

She laughed out loud and patted his perfect backside, rolling away and off the bed.  “If you’d had more than half a glass of wine, I’d say you were drunk.  Since when do you want me and Lilah anywhere near each other?”

Alert eyes cracked open again and the frown reappeared as she reached for the lamp that had become necessary in the dusky light.  “Good point.  Where ya going?”

“Aren’t you getting hungry?” she asked, slipping back into her panties and bra.

“Little bit.  C’mere.”  Patting the mattress beside him – where she just was – he beckoned for her to join him again.

Charlie told herself that she only did it because he sort of asked instead of demanding.  Her lover made a simple request and she honored it, because he’d pleased her so fully.  Nothing more.

“What?”  Her backside landed in roughly the same spot as before, but her feet dangled over the edge now and she had to twist around to look at his face as he rolled up onto his side. 

Jesus, he’s built like a god.

With him propped up on one elbow and stretched out on full display, her eyes raked over him much as they had while he’d been resting his eyes.  This time, though, he watched her catalog every defined muscle and sharp angle of bone until Charlie got stuck on the most masculine part of him, cradled at the vee of his legs with the tip resting against his thigh. 

She’d touched it many times when it was primed and ready to go, but its softness tempted her almost as much as the bulging stiffness.  When it twitched, she couldn’t stop from reaching out to stroke it with the tips of her fingers.

“Thought you were hungry?”

The quiet question startled her into pulling her touch back, and made her feel like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. 

“You don’t have to stop,” he murmured.  “I doubt it’s gonna get hard this soon, but it’ll still feel good while we talk.”

Swiveling around until she was stretched out in a pose identical to his, Charlie accepted his invitation and smoothed an open palm over it before squeezing.  “Can’t say I’ve ever carried on a conversation with a man’s soft dick in my hand.”

“A man’s dick doesn’t stay soft long around you, unless you’ve already worn him out.”

She grinned at him.  “That might be the nicest thing you ever said to me.”

“Probably,” he agreed absently, pushing the fall of hair away from her face.  “I’m leaving for Vancouver tomorrow and won’t be back in town until Sunday.”

It reminded her a little of Silly Putty, she thought while gently kneading the flesh that was starting to firm up in spite of his warning.  Warmer and not as stretchy as Silly Putty, though.  She was so tempted to lean down and knead it with her lips and tongue, but he was still talking so she forced her attention to his face.

“I’m spending Sunday evening with the kids.”

“Okay.”  Why this was pertinent she wasn’t really sure, but they were still getting used to this casual conversation thing.  She’d eventually figure out the way his thought process worked.  Maybe.

The wide hand that ended at his monstrous watch came up to sweep back the cascade of hair again.  This time, rather than dropping it back to his side, he skimmed around to cup her jaw and scoot a thumb over her cheekbone.  “Can I see you again on Monday?”

Charlie’s eyes went wide for a split second.  She could feel it as soon as it happened and dialed back her surprise as much as possible.  Not only did he want to see her, but he was asking instead of dictating.  That was… different.

“Will there be sex involved?” she teased, and that lightness earned her a sexy grin. 

“Eventually.  I was thinking we might try going out on a real date before that, though.”

A real date? Holy shit.

Both her internal and external stomach muscles seized, and she fought like hell to call up her courtroom face that gave nothing away.  His offer both pleased and excited her, but her hatred of vulnerability kept that information secret.  The last time Charlie had put herself out there, it had been to apologize for her part in his Hampton house situation and he’d promptly smacked her back down.  She thought they’d turned a corner of sorts this evening, but still…

“What’s your definition of a real date?”

He angled his head to one side, eyes never leaving her when casually replying, “Dinner and a show.  I thought we’d go see Finding Neverland.”

Charlie’s eyelids fluttered like a hummingbird’s wings as she blinked back moisture that pooled at his astonishing thoughtfulness.  Jon not only wanted to take her on a real date, but he engineered it around the knowledge that she was desperate to see Neverland.  What the hell did that mean?

It means he isn’t the ogre you needed him to be.  It means Luke is right.  It means you are so screwed.

“Chiara?  Sound okay?”

She released the masculine Silly Putty with one last gentle squeeze and brought that hand up to palm his cheek.  Leaning forward, Charlie managed to control her grin just enough to kiss him and murmur, “Sounds amazing.”