A Pound of Flesh (A Pound of Flesh #1) (38 page)

“What. Do. You. Want?” he asked through gritted teeth.

Ben met Ford’s glower. “My client owns sixty percent of WCS Communications, with a value of six hundred million dollars.” He cocked an eyebrow. “If he were to cash in those shares, it would be one hell of a blow for your investors, right?”

“What. Do. You. Want?” Ford repeated in a breath that reeked of anger.

“I want you to honor the goodwill proposal for Mr. Carter, effective immediately. I want written confirmation of said honoring in triplicate, signed by yourself and your CFO, faxed through to my office and to my client by the end of business today. I want funds transferred to an account of his choosing by the same time and his name put back on the public shareholder list.”

It was Ben’s turn to sit forward. He dropped his chin and glowered at Ford. “If that doesn’t happen, Mr. Ford, I’m sure the police would be interested to know just what business it is you do with Casari.” He held up a picture. “Considering he’s wanted by the Feds for crimes dating back some thirty years.”

Ben released the photograph so it sailed elegantly back down to the table, drifting from side to side in graceful silence. He picked up his briefcase and stood from his seat at the same time Ford sprang from his own chair, moving so close to him, Ben could feel Austin’s breath on his chin.

“You’re playing a very dangerous game here, Thomas,” Ford growled. “You and Carter. And you’d better know one thing: I don’t lose. I always win. I always fucking win.”

“Well,” Ben answered quietly, standing toe to toe with him. “It doesn’t seem that way in this case, now, does it?” Ben edged closer. “And on a more personal note, stay the fuck away from Kat.”

After a beat of tense silence, Ben turned from Austin Ford and walked toward the office door.

“This is not over, Thomas,” Austin seethed. “You tell your client this isn’t over!”

“I will,” Ben remarked casually. “Oh, and by the way,” he said cheerfully, pulling the door open. He turned back. “You can keep those photographs and statements, Austin. I have copies.”

The clouds had rolled in dark and thunderous by the time Carter and Kat arrived back at the house. The pair of them ran and shouted, laughing curses when the heavens opened above them. A flash of lightning made Kat squeal when they finally made it inside, making Carter laugh. Kat flipped him off and started removing her soaked clothes while her hair dripped down her face.

Disappearing up the stairs to change, Carter followed her, once he’d lit the large fire in the living room, with worry in every step. She hadn’t been herself since they’d left the convention. Carter wasn’t the most knowledgeable man in terms of women’s moods, but something was definitely up.

He thought back, trying to remember when she’d become so quiet, distant. Was it what he’d told her about Max and his past? Was she upset about the whole introducing-her-as-a-“friend” thing?

With his eyes fixed on the bathroom door where she was changing, he pulled off his jeans and T-shirt, and, after he’d rubbed his head dry with a towel, settled for his trusty gray sweats and a dark blue NYPD hoodie. Oh, the irony.

Kat reappeared moments later and dropped her wet clothes into a bag. “Ben texted. The meeting went well. That stuff you gave him about Austin’s deals with Casari worked like a charm, he said.”

“Of course it did. Even Austin isn’t immune to a little blackmail.”

Kat shook her head and put her hands on her hips. Her face flushed with blatant annoyance. She looked hot as hell. “I can’t believe Beth tried to set me up with him. He’s far more of a criminal than you are, and then she has the audacity to talk shit about you and—”

“Hey.” Fuck that shit. Carter didn’t want to waste one more minute thinking about Austin Ford. “Kat, it’s done, okay?” He rubbed his hands up and down her arms.

“It makes me so mad.”

“I know. It makes me mad, too. But he’s not worth it.”

Kat huffed but nodded.

“So listen,” he continued. “I’ve lit the fire in the living room, and I have a grotesquely large selection of DVDs. How about we watch TV, get warm, and forget about that asshole, huh?”

Her smile was small. “That sounds good.”

Frowning, he wound his arms around her waist. “Is anything else bothering you?”

She buried her nose in his neck, hiding her face. “No.”

Carter wasn’t convinced. Nevertheless, he halted the desire to push her further. He didn’t like it, but what choice was there? He’d trusted her enough to open up; he had to be patient for her to do the same.

* * *

Back downstairs, Carter poured some red wine, while Kat stood by the glass doors watching the formidable clouds roll over the sea. The sky was pitch-black.

“I love listening to the rain when I’m nice and warm inside,” she said quietly as thunder rumbled above them.

Carter handed her a glass. “Me too,” he admitted, sipping his drink. “Gran and I would do that a lot here.”

“Yeah? Dad and I did, too.”

After grabbing a shitload of snacks from the kitchen, Kat took her seat on the sofa while Carter fought with the DVD player. Kat laughed when he held up the disc case to show her what they’d be watching.
Beetlejuice
.

“I can’t believe you have that!” she exclaimed. He sat down and lifted her legs onto his lap. “Hey, Carter, 1988 called, they want their movie back.”

“It’s awesome,” he deadpanned, and hit play on the remote. “Shut up.”

Carter was quickly engrossed in the movie, but all Kat could do was watch him. She could see the child inside him with each snort of laughter. He seemed so relaxed, and never once removed his hand from her knee, circling it with the pad of his thumb while he drank, ate, and smoked with the other.

The connection was wonderful and allowed Kat to reflect on the day they’d shared. Discovering that he had gone to prison for his friend had left Kat reeling. He was loyal and selfless and so much more than she had ever imagined. His trust and honesty with her was the most beautiful thing, and her heart ached to tell him so. She let her eyes wander down Carter’s strong profile, feeling heavy with overwhelming emotion.

“What are you thinking so hard about over there?” Carter asked, his gaze still stuck on the TV.

“Nothin’,” she answered, grabbing a handful of Pringles.

“Liar.” He adjusted himself in his seat, facing her. “I told you before, you’re shitty at that. What’s up?”

Kat shook her head, which only made Carter smile wider. “I have ways of making you talk, you know,” he threatened with a wicked glint in his eyes.

He placed his wineglass on the side table and moved like a predator up onto his knees, pushing her legs apart and moving her hoodie up her stomach to her chest. With a smirk, he placed a tender kiss above her belly button. Kat ran her right hand across the velvet texture of his head. His hands came up her sides and caressed slowly, his rough fingers handling her as though she was breakable. Her eyes drifted shut.

“I have so much I want to say to you,” Kat confessed with a long breath.

Carter hummed into her belly. “So much so that you’ll tell me what the hell has been bugging you since we came back?”

Kat licked her lips watching him shift up her body, placing kisses where he moved.

“Kat,” he groaned in frustration, moving up so he was lying between her legs with his forearms at either side of her head. His face pinched. “Did you not enjoy today?”

“Of course!” Kat cried. “It was fantastic. I had so much fun. I loved being with you. I—”

Carter played with the tips of her hair splayed out over the sofa cushions. “Is it what I said to Petey about you being my friend?” He grimaced.

Kat chuckled. “No. Why?”

“Because it sounded fucking ridiculous. I was caught off guard,” he replied, and then muttered into her neck, “You have to know you’re so much more than that to me.”

Kat’s heart pounded. She placed her hands on his face and pulled his mouth to hers. “Take off your top,” she said firmly. “I want to feel you.”

Carter whipped the thing off over his head immediately and watched in awe when she, too, removed her hoodie, leaving her bare. She oozed sexiness, and the color of her alabaster skin against the dim lighting made him want to lick her from head to toe.

“Sit up,” she rasped.

He obeyed, slack-jawed, as Kat straddled his waist and assaulted his mouth. He moaned. The sensation of her nakedness against him was incredible. Her nipples shifted, etching his skin with invisible lines of ownership, just as her mouth declared possession with every flick of her tongue and suck of her lips. His hands delved into her hair, gripping her close.

“God, Carter,” she breathed, sending sparks of lust over his skin. “I want to show you. I want—”

She stood suddenly, leaving Carter’s hands holding nothing but air, and pushed her pants to the floor so they pooled around her feet. Carter whimpered, recognizing the look on her face, the dark hunger in her eyes. She bent to his ear and brushed his lobe with her tongue. His fingers moved between her legs.

“No teasing,” she whispered, pushing him away. “I need you too much.”

Thank Christ.

He pulled his cock from his sweats, locked his hands around her hips, making her straddle him, and pulled her down, slipping into her easily. They gasped in unison as the lights flickered with the heavy roll of the storm. Holding his breath, Carter moved slow and deep, dragging a moan from her throat while she clutched his shoulders and rocked over him. He cupped her cheek, grunting when their lips met. She tasted of wine and desire.

A loud clap of thunder shook the house.

Kat pushed down, taking him in with small thrusts and slow rotations of her pelvis, surrounding him while he slid his palms down the curves of her waist, around to the luscious swell of her ass.

She was a fucking vision. She moved over him, in control, greedy, dominating, and hard, leaving him breathless. He’d never seen her this way before. There was something in her eyes, a passion, that made his heart race and his hips jerk, and when their mouths slid together, it grew hotter and more powerful. The fervor with which she fucked him pulled every conceivable emotion to the surface. She was letting go in a way he’d never seen, wild and unashamed.

It was magnificent.

It was different.

The two of them together was different. It was as raw, hot, and mind-blowing as always, but the desperation between them was so thick, Carter could almost taste it. As though reading his thoughts, Kat rode him harder, scoring his flesh with her nails, arching her back, taking him deeper, making his entire body burst into flames.

“So fucking good,” he told her, his voice hoarse. “Don’t stop. Take it all.”

He continued to ramble incoherently, begging her as he wrapped his arms around her back and drove up, hard. She was sensational with her head thrown back, crying out, her neck elongated. His orgasm built, heavy between his legs, stretching to his stomach, which tensed and relaxed in microspasms as they fucked.

“Can you feel it?” she gasped. She moved harder, making Carter’s eyes roll. He pressed his lips to her damp shoulder, nodding, growling. “It’s us. It’s you and me.”

He’d tried to hold his orgasm off, but her words and the way in which her body held him were making every attempt futile. Each one uttered tore him apart in brilliant ways. Carter licked her jaw, clutching her hair in his fists, pleasure vibrating through every vein, every organ.

She slammed down again, rough, eager.

Fuck. Carter lost himself to the sensations her body stirred up, reveling in her, in what she gave him.

The wetness, the heat, the pounding heart almost bursting from his chest.

The gasps, the moans, the filthy words, the orgasm teetering on the brink of oblivion.

And then she was calling out for him, gripping him, clenching around him.

His hips drove upward. “Come with me.”

Her mouth chased his, hungry and wet, as her arms embraced his neck. She whimpered and gasped for air. “Now. Now. Oh.”

When all his energy started to push down into his groin, Carter fell back, watching in breathless wonder as Kat continued to pull it from him. She lifted and fell, she demanded and begged, she swiveled and tightened, she thrust and grasped until, with a furious bellow, Carter shattered into her. Carter’s neck corded as his orgasm blasted through him like a rocket and smothered his entire body in white heat, her name leaving his lips with an agonized moan.

Bright lights blinded him, while his body twitched and shuddered beneath her. He held tightly, praying she would secure him to the earth and keep his heart from stopping altogether. She squeezed around him, milking him. He threw back his head with a cry of almost painful pleasure. “Sweet Jesus!”

“Wes,” she screamed out, coming apart, bucking, and writhing in his lap. “Wes. Oh God.
Oh God.
I love you!”

With a giant flash of lightning and a deafening clap of thunder, the room was plunged into darkness.

As they came to a gradual stop, still wrapped around each other, their heavy, labored breaths filled the living room, illuminated only by the still roaring log fire. Carter’s eyes opened slowly as Kat’s words rang around them.

Like a statue, Kat remained on his lap. Her knotted arms stayed around his neck with her face pressed against his. Carter’s brain moved at a thousand miles a minute, and he was damn sure he could feel her heart pounding in time with his.

He moved his thumb minutely, touching the delightful dimples at the bottom of her back, and took a deep breath. “Peach—”

“Shhh,” she interrupted in a quiet, anxious voice. He could feel her shaking her head next to his. “Just. Shhh. Don’t say anything.” He made to move his head so he could look at her, but she held him fast. “Don’t move. Please.”

Confused, he continued to hold her in the same position, cocooned in her warmth. He exhaled raggedly in aggravation when she kept silent and still. Why the hell was she so quiet? Did she regret saying those words to him? Maybe it was a simple impulsive thing inspired by the amazing sex they’d just had.