Cathryn Fox (6 page)

“It’s already feeling better,” she said. “I actually think it’s just bruised.”

Carter disappeared down the hall and made his way to the bathroom. Allison called after him, but he went to work on pouring her a bath. When he came back to collect her, she gave him an annoyed look.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Running your bath.” He grinned. “Or have you changed your mind on how you’d like me to warm you up?”

“Carter—”

He held his hands up, palms out. “I know, I know. Friends.” He scooped her up, carried her to the bathroom and proceeded to undress her.

“Um, what are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

She grabbed her shirt to cover herself. “How does this fall into the category of friendship?”

Carter arched a brow and eased her hands away, anchoring them to her sides. “We’re a little past the point of modesty, don’t you think?” Color crept up her neck as her hands stilled near her hips, allowing him to peel her shirt away. He eyed her. “You’re not going to win this one, Ally.”

When she opened her mouth, he let loose a frustrated breath, ready for a fight, but she simply grumbled and said, “And again he gets his way.”

Once he had her completely naked, he helped her into the tub and plunked himself down beside her on the edge.

“You’re staying?” she asked.

“Yeah.” But when she grabbed the soap and began to lather herself up, running her silky hands over her gorgeous breasts, stopping to pay extra attention to those pert little nipples of hers, his cock stiffened to the point of pain.

“Something wrong?” she asked nonchalantly.

He cleared his throat. Okay, so she might have won this round, but he was intent on winning the war. “Fine, I’m leaving. I’ll make coffee. Call me when you’re ready to get out.”

“I can get myself out.”

Carter cursed under his breath as her self-satisfied chuckle followed him down the hall. He went about making coffee and grabbed some eggs from the fridge. He scrambled them and made toast.

When he stepped into the other room to set the plates on the dining-room table, he noticed the row of pictures on Ally’s side table. He’d seen them before, but this time one picture in particular stood out, probably because it had been moved to the front. In it, Ally and her dad had big smiles on their faces, and from the background he could tell they were at Harry’s.

He picked it up and studied it. Although he’d never met her dad, Carter knew he was a good man and decorated cop. He also knew how close Ally and her dad had been, and just how much of a toll his death had taken on her.

He heard a slight movement behind him and turned to find Ally hobbling toward him. Dressed in a knee-length nightgown, she looked warm and cozy.

She looked like home.

He frowned. “Hey, you were supposed to call me.”

Instead of arguing her glance fell on the picture, and in a low tone steeped in sadness, she said,

“You remind me of him in so many ways.”

Carter didn’t miss the emotion in her voice. “Really? I’m honored.”

A long pause and then, “He took unnecessary risks and went headfirst into everything too. Just like you.”

“He was a good man.”

“Yes, he was. We lost him too soon.”

The haunting pain in her eyes triggered something in the back of his brain, but it was just too far out of reach for him to remember. She plucked the picture from his grasp and put it back on the wooden cabinet. That was when Carter noticed the water in her eyes, and his heart went out to her.

“Mmm, eggs,” she said, redirecting the conversation, the way she always did whenever her father’s name came up.

He studied her, trying to figure out what was niggling at the back of his brain, and then suddenly it hit him like a round of C4. He’d seen that same pain in her eyes earlier tonight, a rawness that spoke of deep-seated fear. But until now, he’d never really understood what she was afraid of, or what was going on inside her head. As he considered his epiphany, he felt the room sway and gripped the edge of the table.

Jesus Christ, why hadn’t he clued in to it before?

Allison had always been concerned about his image, but what he hadn’t realized until now was that her concerns went far deeper than that. She didn’t want him to take risks and go against protocol merely because it looked bad on him. No, she was worried about his safety. Worried about losing him. The same way she’d lost her father.

He touched her shoulder lightly, and she turned to him. She raised a questioning brow as her eyes searched his face. “Carter?”

His gaze surfed over her features, his mind searching for answers and trying to sort things through. Surely to God that had to be the reason why she’d pushed him away some four months ago, right around the time he’d dodged a bullet in a shoot-out. Yes, they’d fought. All couples fought. But he always felt there was more to their split. Clearly, fear of losing him had been holding her back from loving him.

As he ran through the events, everything in his gut told him that she’d pushed him away on a subconscious level. He really believed his Ally had no idea how many demons she had, or just how deeply they ran.

As that realization slammed into him, his heart squeezed. His hands spanned her waist and he pulled her closer. As he crushed her to him, his body, heart and soul yearned for her, wanting to soothe her worries and push back the pain.

Carter ran his hand through her hair, shoving her damp curls behind her ears, and deep in his heart he knew there really was only one way to win her back. By changing his ways.

She backed away and appraised him. “Carter, what’s wrong?”

He gripped her shoulders and glanced pointedly at her. When he saw the vulnerability in the depth of her gaze, he felt like he’d been sucker-punched.

As his emotions got the better of him, he blew out a shaky breath, finally understanding how much she needed him to be a by-the-book cop.

“You can stop worrying.”

She crinkled her nose. “What are you talking about?”

Everything inside him reached out to her. Jesus, she really had no idea. “Four months ago, when we broke up, it was because I was nearly shot, wasn’t it?”

Her eyes widened and she swallowed. “It was because we were always fighting.”

“It was because you were afraid for me.” Carter’s voice shook when he said, “You were afraid I was going to get hurt. That’s why you ended it. You didn’t want me to end up like your father.”

“Carter, don’t—” She struggled from his grasp.

He grabbed her tighter. “Ally, stop.”

“No. You stop. You don’t know what you’re talking about. ”

“Listen to me. Just take a minute to think about it.”

“I don’t need to think about it. You live by your own set of rules, and I’m a by-the-book kind of girl. We broke up because of it.”

“I know we fought, but all couples fight. You asked me to keep my image clean and keeping it clean means keeping out of trouble. If I stay out of trouble I can’t get hurt. Right?”

“You’re way off track, Carter.” She dipped her head and her eyes glossed as she stared at his chest. Dark lashes blinked rapidly, and he could almost hear her mind spinning, considering his epiphany. Carter put his thumb under her chin and tipped it up until they were eye to eye.

“Ally?”

Turbulent eyes met his and he could see her tears. When she sagged against him, his heart clenched. It killed him to see her in so much pain.

Sensing she needed time to come to terms with things, he attempted to make her smile by saying,

“I told you people can change, and as long as I have you teaching me bad from good, how can I possibly go wrong?”

As her head rested on his shoulder, his chest brushing against hers, her sweet vanilla scent rolled over him. Carter could feel her reaching out to him on an emotional level, could see the raw need on her face.

Her chest rose and fell with a deep intake of air, and her voice wobbled when she began,

“Carter—”

His eyes swept over her, and his throat tightened as possessiveness raced through him. He cut her off. “From now on I’ll only be good. I promise.”
Her hips bumped his thighs, and passion and need like he’d never felt before erupted in his body. His cock swelled as he desperately ached to join them as one. Everything inside him urged him to make sweet passionate love to her until sunup, a week from tomorrow.

Her soft chuckle curled around him. “Carter, you’ll always be bad to the bone.”

Just then his
bone
grew another inch.

“Wrong choice of words, sweetheart.”

Not wanting to hurt her ankle, he carefully backed her up against the wall. He gripped her by the hips and pressed his hard cock against her stomach. By small degrees her body relaxed into his, and when arousal moved across her face, Carter couldn’t help himself. He wanted her.
Needed
her. Christ, he ached to taste her, to make sweet love to her for the rest of the night and prove to her that everything was going to be okay, that he’d do whatever it took to ease her worries and win her back.

His gaze fixed on her with intent as he ran his fingers down her arms. Then he reached for the hem of her nightgown, letting her know in no uncertain terms what he wanted. Heat flared in her eyes as he rubbed the flimsy scrap of material between his fingers.

He dipped his head, and lightly brushed his lips over hers, testing her. When she didn’t pull back, he deepened the kiss. Beneath the mint of her toothpaste, she tasted sweet and seductive. She tasted like forever. His hand stole up her nightie, and when he parted her dewy lips and met with wet heat, his entire world tilted on its axis.

Her palms moved to his shoulders and she clung to him. “Carter,” she murmured into his mouth as she widened her legs. “Oh God, Carter.”

“I know, baby. I know.” And he did know. She needed him every bit as much as he needed her.

His heart tightened inside his chest as blatant need mingled with raw emotions and both overtook him.

He swiftly gathered her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom. He set her down at the foot of the bed and stepped back to look at her. Her dark hair was wet and fell in curls around her shoulders. Gorgeous blue eyes smoldered with heat when they met his. In a silent exchange of intimacy, she reached for the hem of her lace nightie and slowly peeled it over her head. Carter took the cue and tore off his own clothes. He hastily dropped them onto the floor then kicked them out of his path. There was no need for words, so neither spoke as they undressed, baring themselves to one another, physically and emotionally.

Once she was completely naked, she pulled back her covers and climbed onto her bed. His eyes latched upon her body as she spread her legs, giving him a view of her beautiful pussy. He gave a low groan of want, and she crooked her finger, summoning him closer.

Carter climbed over her, caging her between him and the mattress. Tonight there’d be no hurried sex, instead he was going to work his way down her body and bring her to orgasm over and over again.

He braced himself on his elbow and took a long time to just look at her. He surfed his fingers over her face, her neck, her breasts. Then, when his lips found hers, she reached between their bodies and wrapped her hand around his engorged cock.

“Jesus,” he moaned, and drew in a ragged breath. He was so goddamn hard he knew he shouldn’t let her touch him like that, because tonight he intended to savor her, to draw out her pleasure until she begged him for release. If she kept that up, he was likely to go off like a supernova.

She dipped into the juice pearling on his crown and used his hot cream to lubricate the length of him. Oh Christ, he was ready to come in her hand and there were things he desperately needed to do to her first.

“I want to taste you,” she whispered.

He pushed against her and she moaned against his throat.

“Me first.” He removed her hand from his cock and drew her arms above her head. As she writhed with want, he reached into her nightstand, hoping she hadn’t tossed out their favorite toys. When he gathered two sets of fuzzy handcuffs, he grinned, and before she realized what he was doing, he slapped the cuffs on her wrists and anchored her to the bed.

Surprise registered in her eyes. “Carter—” He sealed her protest with a rough kiss and didn’t miss the tremor that racked her body.

He inched back and whispered into her mouth, “I want you at my mercy.”

“You really are bad to the bone,” she murmured, unchecked want written all over her face as she relaxed into the mattress and handed her pleasure over to him.

He rubbed his cock along the wet length of her and bent down to bite her nipple hard. She gave a little yelp and in response he flashed a wicked grin. “Yeah, baby. And tonight I plan to show you just how bad I can be.”

Her entire body shook, almost violently, and that brought a smile to his face. Possessiveness moved through him as they exchanged a long, heated look. “Now widen your legs for me. I want to taste you.”

She gave a needy moan, and her breathing seemed slightly hampered as she spread her thighs, stretching herself wide for his viewing pleasure.

“That’s a girl.” Carter kissed her mouth then skimmed his tongue over her neck and lower until he reached her breasts. Her hips came off the bed as he pulled a hard nipple into his mouth. The rich, delicious scent of her arousal saturated the air as he sucked, nibbled, licked and nipped her hard buds. After whetting his appetite with her gorgeous breasts, he began a downward journey.

With excruciating slowness, his mouth reached her navel, and she whimpered and bucked against him. “Carter, please…”

Her body burned beneath his tongue, yet he had no intention of hurrying things along. No, he planned to draw this out, to take what he wanted and give her what she needed, while he made up for the last four months.

Taking charge of her pleasure, he pulled open her lips with his fingers, and a shiver skipped down his spine as he went back on his heels to look at her pretty pink pussy. Ah, Christ, she was so fucking wet for him. A barrage of emotions hit him and made him feel lightheaded.