by Cathryn Fox
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 t
ore 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.
“Tell me how much you want me,” he growled, needing in the most bizarre way to hear her say it.
“I can’t seem to resist you, Carter.” The heat in her eyes licked over his flesh, and everything in the way she was looking at him spoke of emotional want. “And I want you. So badly I can’t think straight.”
Her deep, raspy voice wrapped around his heart and squeezed, as warmth and intimacy passed between them. “Good” was all he managed to get out before turning his attention to her soaked pussy.
Knowing exactly how she liked it, he ran his tongue over the sensitive nerve ending on her clit, and her entire sex fluttered. Jesus, she was so close.
“Yes,” she cried out and jangled the cuffs. “I want to touch you.”
So caught up in pleasuring her, he ignored her demands and continued to lick her beautiful cunt. Need rumbled from deep in his throat. Jesus, the taste of her on his tongue was enough to make a sane man crazy, and he was already half-mad to begin with.
He licked her sex, tasting her sweetness until her thighs were wet from her juices. She moaned and groaned, begged and shifted restlessly, but he still wasn’t quite ready to bring her over. He spent a long time between her legs, feasting on her and pressing his lips hungrily into her sex, knowing he’d never be able to sate his need for her.
She made a soft mewling sound as he teased a finger between her swollen lips, pushing inside her tight opening just far enough to brush his fingertip over the cluster of nerves inside her.
“Yes,” she murmured in heavenly bliss as he circled her G-spot. “Oh God, Carter. Don’t stop.”
On the edge of release, she shifted and bucked, grinding her pussy against his face and forcing him in deeper. As she shamelessly took what she needed, he damn near lost his mind. Driven by sheer hunger and desperation, his tongue burrowed in deep, and when she came in his mouth, his cock throbbed and his body urged him to slam into her wet sheath, to ride her so fucking hard that she’d never again question if they belonged together. Blood pounded through his veins, making it damn hard to slow down. He muffled a curse and tried to marshal his libido as he lapped up her sweet, candied cream.
As if reading his mind, she begged, “Please, Carter. I want you inside me. I want you to fuck me hard.” The sheer urgency in her voice became his undoing and shattered his last vestige of control.
No longer able to think with any clarity, he groaned low in his throat, climbed over her, and with one quick thrust, he drove her deep into the mattress. Oh Jesus, she was so tight and so consuming it had his body convulsing and his cock racing to the finish line.
As he moved urgently over her body, she gasped and held on for the ride. Carter grabbed her legs and wrapped them around him as he went up on his elbows and began pounding into her. He fucked her with long, hard strokes that raised his passion to new heights and brought heat to Ally’s face.
“So good.” As she tumbled into yet another orgasm, her cream singed his cock and nearly blinded him with pleasure. Fuck, he was so close.
But he didn’t want to come. Not yet. He needed more. He needed all of her.
Their gazes collided. “Ally?” he growled, and everything in her eyes told him she understood the implications of what he was asking.
“Whatever you need,” she whispered, her chest rising and falling erratically.
As possessiveness flashed hot and hard, he quickly unhooked the cuffs, flipped her onto her stomach and propped two pillows under her hips. She was his, and his alone, and while it wasn’t his intention to take her like a rutting animal in heat, there was something raw and primal inside him urging him to lay claim to every inch of her.
He grabbed the lubricant from her nightstand and poured a generous amount between her beautiful ass cheeks. He could hear her throat work as she swallowed, her entire body quaking beneath him.
Knowing just how to ready her, Carter slipped a finger in, spreading her and preparing her back passage for his girth. She writhed beneath him, and he loved the way she wanted him, the way she trusted him with her body and her pleasure.
As her ringed muscles relaxed and her body opened for him, he was determined to mark her as his once and for all. “That’s my girl.” Once she was stretched, he pushed his crown against her ass and inch-by-
inch slowly made his way inside. She shifted her body, and he glanced down, watching the way she swallowed his cock.
He ran shaky hands along her back, caressing her body as the love he felt for her completely overwhelmed him. She was so sensuous, so beautiful and so willing to open herself up to him in the bedroom. Now he needed to get her to open up to him outside the bedroom as well.
But that would have to wait because, when she began rocking against the pillow, his thoughts scattered. As her sweet ass massaged his cock, she made those sexy little bedroom noises that he loved. His hands gripped her hips and he pumped hard, seeking so much more than release. Her breathing changed, became rapid, and as her muscles gripped his cock, tightening around his length, it stirred things deep inside him.
“You feel so good, sweetheart.”
In no time at all his body began burning, and his cock throbbed as an orgasm pulled at him. He slipped a finger under her and stroked her clit. Her body pulsed as she came for him again, and when she cried out his name, he threw his head back and let himself go, spilling his seed inside her.
He fell over her back as Ally squeezed her muscles, milking the last drop of semen from his cock. After a long moment Carter pulled his shaft out then rolled beside her. She turned to face him and when he saw the warm, satisfied flush on her cheeks, his heart turned over and he pulled her close.
“Hey,” he said.
Ally grinned. “Hey, yourself.”
He brushed his thumb over her kiss-bruised mouth. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
She shook her head.
He urged her closer, reveling in the intimacy between them. “I kind of went a little crazy there.”
She gave a contented stretch. “Well, you did say that when it comes to me, you can get a little crazy. So I guess I was forewarned.”
Carter’s stomach took that moment to grumble and Ally laughed. “Maybe we should go reheat those eggs.” She made an attempt to move, but he pressed his hand to her stomach and held her down.