Flirting With Danger Chapter 13

A quick freshen up

"Just out of interest," Luke said, opening the car door and sliding into the driver's seat of his hire car yet again, "When is Doug due back?"

"Not until tonight. He will be at the function," Charlie replied. "Why?"

"Just wonderin'," Luke answered vaguely. "So, where's home?" he asked.

Charlie watched him thoughtfully for a moment before she replied. Luke was busy starting up the car.

"It's actually not far," she finally answered, "just past the turning we made for the dirt track; I'll direct you from there."

"No problem," he replied, speeding out of the driveway.

"You're truly livin' the country life now then," he observed, glancing out of the car door window.

"Well, I suppose so, although I do visit civilisation occasionally, Luke," she joked.

"Is this where you moved to after you left MI5?" He'd always been curious about where she had disappeared to.

"Mmm," she nodded.

"I didn't know you had two houses," he pointed out.

She remained silent.

She was being very vague. Luke's curiosity was roused further.

"Was this your house then?" he pushed.

"Not mine at the time," she answered a little reluctantly.

Luke's attention flicked from the road to Charlie. "Is this a secret or somethin'?"

Damn it. Why couldn't he just leave it? "No, don't be silly," she replied casually. "I bought the house off a friend later that year."

She still hadn't answered his question. "Anyone I know?" he went on. "Anyone from the Club?" he added as an afterthought.

Another quick glance in her direction and Charlie was staring out of the side window, biting her thumb nail.

"Charlie?"

"What?"

"Anyone from the club?" he repeated, determined to find out who now.

She shifted in her seat. "It's the third road on the right from here," she said, pointing out of the window before adding quickly. "Just Doug."

Hmm, Doug again. So maybe Luke wouldn't even have thought that much about her buying the house off Doug if she hadn't been so reluctant to give away that information. But then again, maybe he would; there was something about this whole Doug situation that intrigued him.

They spent the next few moments in silence, each with their own thoughts, until just before they reached Charlie's house when she sighed, and turned in her seat to him.

"Luke, about tonight, do you really think it is a good idea? I mean, first of all, you can't just leave the body in the back of here. We can't wait until tonight to find those discs," she put to him.

"Gettin' back to Sue's house is the perfect way for me to find them," he replied. "And besides, I'm gonna have to do something with the stiff anyway, 'cause who's to say the discs will clear me for sure… if she has them at her place at all," he added.

"Right," she huffed, turning back to stare straight ahead of her with her arms crossed. "So, are you going to sleep with her?" she asked abruptly.

His eyes flicked to Charlie. "Would it bother you if I did?" he replied.

It sprung to her lips to deny that, but she changed her mind at the last minute, turning back to him once more.

"You know what Luke, yes, yes it would. Here I am risking prison to help you, and all you can think about is getting Sue into bed! If the discs are probably not going to be there, then why waste time with tonight?"

"Calm down; we gotta start somewhere…" Plus, he had the gut feeling that it was at the Club where he would find all the answers he needed, so spending time there, talking to the members, was where his priorities lay. Of course, he couldn't tell Charlie that; she was too damn touchy about her precious Club! "... besides, my main priority tonight is getting' my hands on those discs," he added.

"Hmm," she responded, eyeing him suspiciously.

But what else did he want to get his hands on?

"So, what do you plan on doing with the body then?"

"Oh, I plan on makin' the most of that in Doug's office tonight; I'm hopin' Doug won't be around… or Dennis," he grinned, glancing sideways at her. "Oh, you meant the body in the trunk," he said, feigning innocence. She gritted her teeth. He chuckled. "Only one thing to do," he replied, "bury it."

"Ha, really?" She knew he'd say that. "If you think I'm helping you to bury a body you must be out of your mind."

"Oooh, Lady Charlotte gets so cranky when she hasn't had her beauty sleep," he taunted. "Don't worry, I'll see to it. I also need somewhere to stay. I saw some small place advertising rooms down the road from the club back there. Think I'll go check that place out," he informed her.

"They have hotels in town you know," she pointed out.

"Nah, think I'll stay back there," he said decisively.

She sighed. "My house is on the right here."

The irony of it; she had actually left her old job and moved houses to ensure that he was out of her life. Now he was staying in the bed and breakfast down the road!

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Right, I'm gonna go find a room for tonight, and I'll take another look at the body..." Luke said after pulling up in Charlie's front drive.

Charlie glanced at him dubiously. Goodness knows what state the body was in now!

"...I know, I'll deal with the body," he said, reading her mind, "but I need to look for clues first. Then we gotta to go back to the club to take another look around the crime scene. I'll pick you up in say, an hour," he informed her, glancing at his watch.

"What? What about my bath?" she came back.

"You got an hour," he repeated.

"Ohh, no, no, an hour is not nearly enough time for a bath, particularly considering last night," she stressed.

"Charlie, c'mon, I gotta take a look around and I need you there or people might ask questions. Look, take a shower and then after, I promise I'll leave you to take the longest bath you want," he assured her.

She sighed. "We have a look around; I'll take my car this time. Then I'll drop you off and I'll see you at the club later, no sooner," she emphasised, opening the car door and slipping out of the seat. "That is unless we come up with enough evidence to not warrant you going tonight," she added, bending to speak to him through the open car door.

"Ain't gonna find conclusive proof without those discs," he replied, his attention diverted to the loose folds at the front of her dress as she bent.

She tutted and stood, taking a step backwards to say, "Go, so I can have my shower!" Then she slammed the car door shut and strolled away.

He watched the way her hips swayed as she walked, before calling out,

"Hey, Charlie..."

She turned at her front door. "What now?"

"You got a shed round the back?"

"Yes, why?" she answered.

"Mind if I take a look?" he asked.

She frowned. "I don't even want to know," she replied, turning back to unlock the door.

Before getting out of the car, he took one last, longing glance at that backless dress. He really had grown quite attached to it.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Luke drove straight back to the house he had seen advertising rooms. It was a quaint whitewashed building, with ivy and flowers climbing up the walls and a small front garden. He rang the front door bell a few times before a frail, smiling, elderly lady answered.

"Hello, can I help you?" she asked.

"Yeah," he smiled. "I was lookin' for a room."

"Then you came to the right place young man," she replied, showing him into the house.

The lady chatted away to him as he filled in a registration form. She explained that her son helped with the upkeep but that she had run the bed and breakfast for thirty years and didn't really need his help. Luke doubted it, but admired the woman's resolve.

The room she allocated him was small but clean and bright, if not a little flowery. It over looked the front of the house, and the fields surrounding it. Luke could just about see the Club building if he leant out of the window.

He had intended to deal with the body in the truck as soon as he had secured a room, however, on seeing the on suite bathroom, he changed his mind and decided to take a quick shower. Like Charlie, he was pretty keen to shed the clothes he had been wearing for over twenty four hours now. Besides, he wasn't exactly looking forward to checking the body over. A shower would prepare him more for the ordeal.

The hot stream of water was a welcome relief, easing the tension from his muscles that had built up from the cramped conditions on the flight, and later on that sofa. He let his mind wander from the daunting task ahead of him and marvelled at just how much had unfolded between Charlie and himself over the space of just one day and night. Not only had he found Charlie again, which he hadn't been entirely sure that he would be able to do so fast, but things between them were just as hot… possibly even more. It wasn't just one sided on his part either. Okay, so he couldn't be one hundred per cent sure of that, but he was fairly certain that she was feeling some kind of spark there too. The question was, what, if anything, would she do about it?

Damn, but now, since spending the night with her in that room, he had this constant aching inside of him; he'd forgotten that feeling he got when he was around her. But right at that moment it was even worse. The aching he'd experienced when working with her before was his body telling him that he wanted what was continually flaunted in front of him, but refused. The aching he had now was of a burning intensity brought on by something that had been started and then abruptly stopped. His brain had processed the feel of Charlie's panties and thighs as 'sex time'. Not just any old 'sex time' either, but 'sex time' with the woman he'd craved for for years. The seven years apart, knock out white dress and night on a sofa with her had finally threatened to take away all his control; he was like an alcoholic in a liquor store. It was probably a good job those cleaners had come in when they did, because if she'd woken up and he'd seen anything close to the smallest sign from her that she wanted his hands where they were, he'd have become like a beast unleashed.

Finally, once thinking about those early morning minutes on the sofa, and the fact that Charlie was at that moment also showering, had driven his body to its limits, Luke was forced to jump out of the shower, get changed and focus on the task ahead of him.

Luckily, Charlie had kept a shovel in that shed of hers. Luke drove back to the clearing that Charlie had directed him to the day before. He drove deeper into the woodland, found a remote spot and got out of the car.

Looking at the body, the face now white, the lips blue, he almost felt guilty, as though he had been the murderer himself. He had to remind himself of the atrocities he had discovered at the hands of the Borelli brothers to continue with what he knew must be done.

He searched the pockets of the thick, padded coat Roberto was wearing, pulling out an aeroplane ticket, which Luke folded and slipped into his pocket to examine later, a passport, and a wallet. There was nothing else there that Luke needed. He sure as hell didn't want the wedge of bank notes; Roberto could be buried with his own blood money.

Before Luke closed the trunk door, in order to begin the grim task of digging a hole, he noticed a tear in the coat at Roberto's side. Unzipping the coat, he revealed a bullet injury in Robertos abdomen. Why hadn't he thought of checking the body better before? Okay, so he was shot twice; it looked like some sort of struggle. It proved one thing however, Roberto wasn't killed at point -blank range. Luke was even more convinced now that there must have been someone from the club involved. He slammed the trunk door shut, and the disturbing sight of Roberto's body disappeared. Now he had some serious physical work ahead of him.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Luke screeched to a halt on Charlie's front drive and bolted out of the car, rushing to the front door and searching for a doorbell. He was seriously late and anticipated a furious looking Charlie waiting for him. To his surprise though, he heard no sign of life at the other side of the door. He banged again. Still no answer. Hmm.

Making his way around the side of her house, he headed for the back door he'd noticed whilst raiding her garden shed. It didn't look too difficult to break into. Charlie should really fix that. The door opened after not very much coaxing and Luke cautiously entered. Well, it wasn't as if he hadn't broken into Charlie's house before.

"Charlie?" he called out, searching the downstairs rooms for her.

No reply.

Luke headed up the stairs, wondering if she'd finally lost all patience with him and gone out somewhere. He was to be proved wrong however, the first sign being Charlie's white dress, which she had stepped out of and left discarded on the landing. He came to an abrupt halt in front of it, a sudden wave of excitement hitting him at seeing that dress now off her body…the dress that he'd imagined slipping off her so many times the previous night. Wow, she really had been desperate to get out of that dress; it was quite unlike Charlie to be so slapdash. He smiled at the thought of a private Charlie, a little careless, without the need to put on airs and graces for the people around her… uninhibited. It was hard for him to imagine a Charlie like that. Then he lifted his eyes from the dress and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest.

For a moment, until he realized better, he thought he was actually seeing Charlie completely naked! The door of the room almost directly in front of him was ajar and, through the crack, he had a clear view of a bath, a frosted glass shower screen and Charlie's head and shoulders. Her head was leaning on her hand, her elbow resting on the edge of the shower screen, her eyes closed and a gentle smile on her face as she let the steamy water tumble down her back. Luke became aroused just by observing the look on Charlie's face; it was a picture of pure bliss. She really did love bathing, showers or baths, she seemed to enjoy taking just as long for both to enjoy them. The thought of that appealed to him. He wasn't entirely sure why; maybe it was because it involved Charlie being naked for long periods of time… she always did say that given half the chance, she could bathe for hours. And speaking of Charlie being completely naked… his eyes lowered.

He knew beforehand, from his peripheral vision and the initial glance he'd got, that he wasn't going to be able to see her clearly, but the thought that the pink, fleshy, blurry outline of her body indicated that a naked Charlie was behind there, just feet away… with just a sheet of glass between his eyes and her body, was enough to tip Luke into 'beast' mode. The ache was turning into a furious throb.

He blinked his eyes a few times, in the vain hope that it would enable him to see more. Despite this failing to bring any more clarity to the shower screen, which was probably obscuring Charlie even further from the coating of steam it had collected, Luke was more than happy to stand there all day watching her, with the added excitement that he might get at least a quick peek of something at any point. Besides, it was quite fascinating getting this rare glimpse into the private world of Charlie… not to mention the excitement Luke felt from doing something that he really shouldn't be doing. He should look away. Would he? Like hell he would! All's fair in love and war… and that must also include raging frustration too. If she wasn't going to go to bed with him, it was only fair that take advantage of this unexpected pleasure. Anyway, it wasn't his fault that she'd left the door ajar; how could he help but see? So okay, it also wasn't her fault that he'd broken into her house through the back and she'd thought she was alone, but… small details.

She tilted her head from side to side, her eyes still closed, stretching her aching muscles and allowing the hot water to ease them. Luke ran his eyes over the skin that he could see clearly above the glass screen: tanned shoulders and arms, shining and glossy with a sheen of water. She had gorgeous skin.

Then she suddenly moved forward out of the stream of water, and Luke's heart lurched nervously. Her eyes were open now. She had picked up a bottle of shower gel; he could see the bright yellow contents of it shining through the frosted glass as she poured some into her hand. She turned then and his heart thundered, with both nervousness for the possibility of being caught out, but even more so for the fact the spray from the shower had hit the glass when she'd moved, clearing some of the steam and giving him a more defined view. Now he was as hot as she looked, his temperature shooting up at the sight of Charlie's body in profile. Still he could not see a completely unobstructed view, the frosted glass denied that, however, from that angle, he could see the way her body curved and boy was that sight stimulating! The length of her legs… the slight curve of her back… her flat stomach… then soft roundedness... Damn it, his eyes couldn't take enough in! It was a good job she couldn't see the look in his eyes though as they trailed paths all over the frosted outline of her body, drinking in the sight of her; pure, uninhibited, mischievous lust twinkled there.

That ache had gone way beyond an ache at that moment. It was almost unbearable. He just wanted to storm in there, feast his greedy eyes on her properly, scoop that fantastic body into his arms and carry her into the bedroom, where he'd make her want him and lock them in there for days, so he could show her just how much he wanted her! Why the hell had his hunger for her become so damn intense since he'd seen her again? It was a real struggle to concentrate on anything else. This sight in front of him wasn't helping either…not that he would, or could, stop looking.

She was soaping herself now with a sponge which she had covered with shower gel and worked into a lather. Stepping back under the stream of water, she pressed the sponge to her neck and squeezed, allowing the soap suds to side down her body. As they slid down her neck, past her collar bone, and disappeared beneath the screen, he pictured them caressing her intimately as they fell… like his hands would. Well, he was as randy as could possibly be already; he may as well just give into it.

She was so sensual; why had he not realized that fully until now? The way she luxuriated in the steamy water, the perfumed soap suds, the slow pleasure she took out of the feel of both on her body. How could he have ever thought she was cold and uptight? She was creating her very own steam in there! Besides, for him to feel the way he did about her, she had to be sensual for there to be a spark there in the first place... and there always had been that spark. Weird, he'd never figured all of this out before. Maybe because she did such a good job of hiding this side of herself so well.

Then she shifted again and a foot appeared on the side of the bath from behind the glass. With one leg resting there, she continued to use the sponge to soap her leg, beginning at her ankle and slowly working her way upwards.

Wooah! That's it; keep doing that. Higher, higher…

Luke was waiting with bated breath to see how high up her leg she would sponge, when suddenly he realized that she had stopped in mid sponging, her hand stilled on her upper leg. His attention rose to her face that was just visible above the screen. For some reason, she now had her eyes closed again. Weird, why had she just stopped like that? Then he heard her groan. To his ears, the sound was a strange mixture between annoyance and pleasure, he couldn't work out which. She moved again and she must have dropped the sponge because, with her back now pressed against the tiles, she ran both hands through her wet hair and held them there. She almost looked in distress. What the hell was she thinking about now? No time to worry about that though; she had abruptly decided to end her shower and was reaching for a towel. He backed, as quietly as he could, down the stairs again until he reached the bottom.

"Charlie!" he called out again.

She appeared at the top of the stairs, descending, wrapped in a towelling dressing gown.

"Adams!" she replied, "you're absolutely filthy!"

Oh hell, he'd been caught out!

"Hey, it weren't my fault; the door was open," he came back defensively.

"What?" she frowned in confusion. "Adams, why are you covered in mud, what door was open, and why are you in my house?"

Oh, she meant that he was dirty from digging! Phew!

"Yeah, that's what I was sayin'," he replied quickly, "The door round the back of ya house was open."

"Open?" she said with concern.

"Well, as good as. You really gotta take better care of security in here," he chastised.