“You okay?” he asked, studying her.
“Yeah.” She sighed. “Good Lord, she’s a mess.” Carrie pushed a stray curl behind her ear. “I don’t know what to do with her. She needs to see a doctor.”
Matthew opened his arms. Carrie went to him and snuggled in his embrace, letting his warmth seep into her soul.
“Did she tell you who did this?”
“She thinks she deserved it.” Carrie shook her head. “I’ve never seen her like this. Ginger is a kick-ass girl. Her fight and spunk is gone.”
“She’s in shock. Give her time.”
He held her like she was the most precious thing in the world. A possessive, potent caress. Being in his arms made everything better. A man to lean on, to depend on.
Whoa. What was she thinking?
It took everything she had in her to push away. “I need to get some ice for her face.”
“I’m here for you. What do you need me to do?”
For a long moment Carrie stared into the most hypnotic blue eyes she’d ever seen. “You’re doing it.”
She gathered some ice and hurried back to the bedroom where she found Ginger crying.
“Hey. It’ll be all right,” Carrie said as she sat next to Ginger.
“Carrie, I really bucked up.”
“Ginger, you’re safe here.” She placed the ice on the corner of Ginger’s eye. “I’m here. Matthew’s here.”
“Jake. Jake. I bushed him boo far.” Tears ran down her face.
Carrie froze. Jake? She squeezed the cloth so hard her knuckles turned white. “Did Jake do this to you?”
Ginger cried harder.
The doorbell rang.
When Carrie came down the hall to see who arrived, Matthew had already opened the door. Her over six-foot hunk protector looked ready to take on all comers.
“Where is she?” A voice demanded.
“Hold on there, buddy,” Matthew growled. “Who are you?” He blocked the doorway and by his threatening tone, he had no intention of moving.
“Jake.” Carrie spoke behind him.
A furious Jake looked over Matthew’s shoulder. “Where is she?”
Carrie saw the bloody knuckles on his fisted hands. She didn’t want to believe it. Her instincts sharpened while a protective fury took hold. “What did you do to her? What the hell is wrong with you?”
Jake stiffened and his eyes mirrored his resentment. “You think it was me? I just left the bastard who dared to strike her. He won’t be doing it again. Or much of anything else. Where is she?”
Carrie understood the raw pain in Jake’s eyes. Touching Matthew’s shoulder, she said, “Let him in, Matthew.”
After a quick glance at her, he stepped back. Jake wasted no time.
“Third door on the left,” she called after him.
His eyes focused on his destination, Jake marched down the hall.
“Who’s that?” Matthew frowned as he stared at Jake’s back.
“Her boyfriend, when she’s not acting like an ass. They’re on, they’re off. Jake loves her.”
Matthew shook his head. “I’d hate to see the other guy.” He turned his gaze on her. “You think she’ll be okay, then?”
“Jake won’t hurt her.”
Matthew closed the door. “Come here.” He pulled Carrie into his arms and held her. When she trembled, he scooped her up and carried her to the couch. With her head on his shoulders, he sat and settled her on his lap.
She couldn’t resist reaching up to rub the back of his neck and twirl his hair around her fingers. His stroking hands on her back soothed her frayed nerves. Sitting on his lap this way made her feel connected to him in a way she had never felt, or knew she could feel.
Time wafted. She heard voices and realized she’d been so relaxed she must have drifted off. She scrambled from Matthew’s lap as Jake and Ginger approached the living room.
“I’m taking Ginger to the hospital.” Jake spoke with one arm around Ginger and the other holding her hand.
“Thank God,” Carrie breathed. Ginger’s eyes were red from crying and she looked like a swollen lost waif. “I’ll come with you.”
“I bant Jake to bake me.” Ginger could barely get the words out of her swollen mouth.
Carrie hesitated. It seemed they finally had a heart to heart, and they needed each other. “I’ll be here if you need me.”
“So will I,” Matthew added.
She twisted at Matthew’s voice and found him standing beside her. Emotion choked her at his thoughtful gesture. He had not bailed on her. Nor did he demand explanations. He simply asked if he could help.
What do you need me to do?
He stayed with her while she took care of Ginger. Now he offered to be here for them both. The wall around her heart tumbled, from his caring and loving nature.
Chapter 21
Matthew took several deep breaths waiting for the door to close behind Ginger and Jake. His hands fisted and he consciously opened them again. Anger boiled inside his chest. Seeing Ginger with her face battered had scared the living daylights out of him.
What if it had been Carrie?
He would kill the bastard. Jake had the right of that. He’d seen the raw and bloody knuckles. If he’d had the opportunity, he would have pounded the man, too. Another deep breath, and another. Matthew tried to calm his rage, and fear. He could lose his mind at the thought of a man doing something like that to Carrie.
If anyone dared so much as touch her, his life would be forfeit. The idea rocked him to his very soul making him realize just how much this woman had come to mean to him.
He made his way to the kitchen and pulled two mugs from the shelf. What he needed was hard liquor. He concentrated on pouring coffee into the cups. Focused on his aim, he didn’t know Carrie was behind him until her hands went around his waist and he felt the heat of her cheek on his shoulder.
Sitting the pot back on the burner, he slowly turned and gathered her hands in his. Raising her fingers to his lips, he held her gaze. “We need to talk.”
Carrie stiffened and an immediate mask hid her emotions. He guided her over to the table and pulled out a chair. He collected the mugs and placed one in front of her. Pulling out the seat beside her, he slid onto the wood and stared down into black brew.
“Uh oh. Here it comes,” Carrie said.
His head shot up to find cold eyes locked with his. What crazy thought went through her mind? This would be hard enough without her glaring at him. “Carrie, I need to say a few things.”
“A few things. Brought on by what happened tonight?”
Matthew shoved out of the chair and paced the floor. “What happened tonight . . . was horrible. Ginger looked like a bloody pulp. A man beat her.” He swung around. “Beat her! Good God! Do you have any idea how that made me feel?”
In a too controlled voice, she answered, “You handled it well.”
He dropped to the floor on one knee in front of her. “Carrie. It scared the hell out of me. I imagined . . . if it had been you. My God, I can’t stand the thought.” He raked a hand through his hair. His voice shook with profound emotion. “If anyone touched you, hurt you, I’d kill him. I know you think you don’t need anyone to take care of you, but . . .”
“Wait. Tonight made you want to take care of me?”
He dropped his head, fighting to get his emotions under control. Self-control warred with the defiant urge to pound something. When he thought he could speak without bursting, he continued. “It helped me face a few things.”
“Out with it.”
He grimaced at her frosty tone. “You’re not making this easy.”
“Why should I?”
Matthew rose to his feet. Apprehension crept in his mind. What would he have to do to break through the wall she kept around her emotions? He returned to the chair he’d vacated. He faced her and held her willful gaze. “Please let me say what I have to say. It may not be what you want to hear, but I believe in being honest. And after
tonight, this needs to be said.”
“Honest? I expect no less.” Carrie stiffly leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms while her glare remained on him. However difficult she made it, he would not back down.
“You know I travel all over the country, stateside and internationally. I’ll be forty on my next birthday, certainly not a boy anymore. I’m a man of considerable means with a healthy portfolio. I won’t insult your intelligence by pretending there have not been women.”
“I’m not an immature young girl,” Carrie replied. “I am also no innocent.”
He picked up her hand and placed it between both of his own. Looking deep into her eyes, he willed her to listen. “There is only one woman in my life right now. I plan to keep it that way.”
Carrie gasped. And by the look on her face, she wouldn’t be more shocked if a spaceship landed on her kitchen table.
I guess it was too much to hope that she felt the same.
He couldn’t stop now. “Women in my past only wanted me for my money or a romp in bed.” Matthew searched her eyes for any idea of what she might be thinking. She was cool as a cucumber. “I know you’re independent. I understand you have a thriving successful career and you probably want things to remain exactly as they are.” He hesitated. After searching her face, he knew he had to take a chance. “I want you in my life. I want to be there for you if you ever need me.”
“You’re here now,” she said softly.
Arms resting on the table, he leaned closer bringing his face mere inches from hers. “Carrie, I’ve only said this once before in my life. I was young and foolish and thought I was in love.” Matthew ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Hell, I didn’t know the meaning of the word.” His heart lifted when she grabbed his hand and clutched his fingers. He squeezed hers in return. An ache developed in his heart, unlike anything he’d ever known.
His eyes bore into hers and his voice dropped with intensity. “Now, I do. With you, I do.”
He had no idea how long he could hold his breath. He waited. Merging companies took a back seat to tension compared to this moment. He’d never been so anxious in his life. This was the most important move he’d ever made.
Why didn’t she say something?
Anything, dammit.
“Carrie? Say something.”
Another long tense moment.
Her brows came together in a frown. “Now, you do,” she said.
“What?”
“You said, now you do.”
He mentally went over his words again. I didn’t know the meaning of the word. Now, I do. “Yes.”
“You did use the word love?”
The tenderness in her voice eased the ache in his chest and made him confident enough to blurt out. “Carrie, I love you.”
“Matthew.” His name was a raw croak from her throat. “I can’t . . . I don’t know what to say.”
“I’m bleeding here. I guess I didn’t expect you to be over the moon, but I . . . I hoped you had some feeling for me. I see the image you present, a tough businesswoman. But I also see a vulnerable woman.
She withdrew her fingers from his grip.
Damn. He held out his hands, palms up as if in surrender and quickly added, “Not weak. Vulnerable does not mean weak. Susceptible to love. I feel it when we’re together. You’re not immune. Open your heart to me.”
Abruptly, she lunged at him. The chair rocked and he braced himself to keep from falling over. She was in his arms, right where she belonged. She kissed him with total abandonment. He returned her kiss, lick for lick, feasting on her mouth.
“Matthew, I thought you were giving me the big kiss off.” She pressed kisses over every inch of his face. She leaned back and cupped her palms around his cheeks and stared into his eyes. “It’s true, I am independent. But I need you. I want you in my life, too.”
He could have shouted for joy. Finally. “You have no idea how much I needed to hear that.”
She smiled. “Were you worried?”
“You’re not easy to read,” he answered. “You come across tough as nails.”
“I learned to be tough. In a man’s world, I had to be better than the next guy. I had to be hard to survive.”
Matthew moved his hands under her shirt seeking warm flesh. His hands stroked up and down her back, caressing, searching. He found the clasp of her bra and released it. “A hard exterior, but so soft in my arms. Nothing matters but this.”
One hand cupped the back of her head as he pulled Carrie to meet his open mouth kiss. He teased her with his tongue, circling and delving into every crevice of her mouth. Sliding his hand down her back, his fingers caressed as they worked their way around and traveled a sensuous path up the front of her rib cage, and found . . . Sweet. He cupped her breasts, weighing the heavy globes overflowing in his hands. “Your skin is so soft. I want to taste you, here.” He squeezed as he rubbed her nipple between his thumb and forefinger.
Carrie jerked the shirt over her head and flung her bra across the room. She captured his head and guided him while running her fingers through his hair.
Her nipples puckered and beckoned. He laved circles around her areole before taking it into his mouth. He sucked deep then opened his mouth to take more. A rush of breath escaped her lips as she tugged and molded his head deeper in her fullness. Then she bent forward and nipped his ear. He moved to her other breast and licked and sucked while caressing the one he’d just tasted.
Carrie moaned and pushed away.
“Where are you going?”
“Nowhere.”
She straddled his legs and lowered herself on his lap, her hands reaching for the button above his zipper. She gave him a tongue-worthy kiss as she pushed her hips forward and at the same time, she reached in and grabbed his erection causing a harsh breath to rush from his lungs.
Matthew tensed and groaned his approval as her fingers stroked him. A drop of moisture beaded on the head of his cock. Using her thumb, she circled it around the head making his already engorged rod harder. His tongue thrust in her mouth and his dick thrust in her hand. She consumed him. Every nerve in his body demanded he take her. The sexual tension surrounding them drove him to heights he’d never reached before.
His mind delirious, violent need consumed him. The fear of losing this woman drove him insane. He had to have her. He needed her with a passion beyond his imagining. A fierce, demented need flowed through his blood with the force of an erupting volcano.
His hands tore at her jeans. Shaking fingers released the snap and jerked the zipper. His urgency communicated itself to her. Shifting her weight, she shoved the fabric down her legs in frenzy. In no time she squirmed back on his lap and angled her hips just so. Blood surged through his veins as the head of his cock met drenched flesh.
“More,” she urged.
Gripping her waist, he pulled her forward and lifted, her breasts suspended within easy reach of his mouth. He flipped one nipple with an impatient tongue and gloried in her instant response.
“Oh God, yes. Take it, Matthew. Take me.”
Her words inflamed his senses. Opening his mouth he took her breast and sucked greedily. At the end of his control, he plunged deep within her velvety heat. She took him, all of him. He felt her shiver and she moaned his name. Locked together, he relished the moment afraid to move. Carrie began a rocking motion and soft whimpers came from her throat. Good God, he nearly exploded. Summoning every ounce of self-control he had, he fought against the pulsing culmination raging through him.
Carrie threw her head back, arched, and took command, setting the pace. Lost in a desperate rhythm, he surrendered. Her breathing quickened to rasps that turned to muffled sobs as she reached her peak. With one final thrust, he surged inside of her and gave a lusty cry of pleasure.
Caught in the throes of sweet passion, he’d lost his grip on the world around him. When her head dropped on his shoulder, emotions threatened to choke him. The love he had for this woman was fierce and possessive.
For as long as he lived, he could never let her go.
Chapter 22
“Brenda said you wanted to see me.”
Carrie glanced up to find the object of her misfortune standing in the doorway of her office. The junior executive had shown dedication and he’d accepted the workload without complaint. Now she knew why. Unknowing to him, she’d summoned him to her office for a reason, one he wouldn’t like.
“Come in, Brad. Close the door behind you.”
He sauntered in with the confidence of a corporate tycoon.
A delusion.
Carrie gestured to the chair in front of her desk. “Have a seat.”
Brad slid a button through the hole on his suit jacket and slumped onto the chair with an air of self-importance. “What’s up?”
Carrie picked up the file she’d been reading and tossed it across her desk. The folder landed with a slap.
Brad leaned over to read the name. “Mr. Thurston. The investment two weeks ago made him another fifty thousand. Too bad he lost a bundle on this one. But then, Thurston is so loaded he’ll never miss it.”
With cool composure, Carrie took her seat behind her desk. “Is that what you think? He’ll never miss it?”
“The man has millions.”
Carrie inhaled slowly for control, then answered in a firm voice. “Losing money is not how you make millions.”
“The guy’s investments over the years acquired him a tidy sum. That is why he hired us. To make money for him and save him the hassle of keeping up with numbers.”
The egotistic bastard. Carrie hid her irritation. “You think he doesn’t keep up with his investments?”
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