by Layla Nash
And it almost cracked, when he looked up and saw Ruby walk in. The entire room hiccupped, she was that beautiful. Carter felt like someone punched him in the balls and the throat at the same time. He would have paid anything to be able to drag his eyes away, but nothing in the world could make him stop staring at Ruby. She stunned in a gorgeous black gown, tight in the right places and with plunging cleavage and no back at all. The smooth line of her shoulder blades made him groan into his wine glass.
She smiled at one of the bears, who looked out of place in a suit with a wild beard, but searched the room for something. Someone. His heart sank and he turned away, heading for the exit. It wasn't fair that she could look so content, so happy. He died inside, a minute at a time, and already she wanted someone else.
He barely got two steps before he ran into Edgar's chest. Edgar grabbed him by the shoulders, said, "Turn around, shit for brains," and physically forced Carter to face where Ruby stood.
Carter set his heels, like when they were kids and Edgar wanted to shove him into the pool to teach him to swim, and scowled. "Look, I'm not…"
"I know more than you. Go talk to her."
The vehemence in Edgar's voice made Carter pause; Edgar never sounded that passionate about anything. So Carter stopped resisting and remained where he was as Ruby fought the crowd. She had to stop and shake hands with people, nodding to others, but her focus stayed on Carter. On him. It seemed like his heart started to beat again, as he wondered if maybe that joyful expression on her face had more to do with him than some other schmuck in the crowd. The lion rumbled and started to purr in anticipation. But the man didn't want to get his hopes up. He wouldn't survive if she rejected him again.
So he composed himself to neutrality as Ruby approached, and she flushed. She chewed her lower lip and rubbed her palms, shifting her feet as she looked at him. "You look handsome," she said, quietly. Almost shyly.
God, the lion loved it when she was demure. Shy and cautious, like they'd never seen each other naked, and he hadn't covered her in strawberries and eaten every one. Carter cleared his throat and tried to smile. "Thanks. You look beautiful, as usual."
The flush crept up her cheeks and the chewing grew more intense. He waited, part of him wanting her to suffer just a little, and it didn't escape his notice that Edgar and at least one of the bears kept the space around them clear of prying ears. Ruby edged a little closer and finally lifted her gaze to his face. Tears caught in her lower lashes, and his heart broke. "Look, Carter. I've been a jerk. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have blown up at you. I should have let you explain. I just…I saw you there in Evershaw's office and I assumed the worst of you, and I…"
"Don't," he said, and caught her hands. He wanted to hug her but knew the moment he did so, he wouldn't be able to stop holding her. The lion purred louder. "Ruby, you don't have to apologize. Please don't. All that matters is that you know I would never willingly undermine you or your authority, or try to get between you and your pack."
"The pack doesn't matter," she said, gulping, and a tear escaped to trickle down her cheek. She dashed at it but immediately grabbed his hands again. "I mean, it matters, but it doesn't matter as much as this. As us. You and me. Carter, we're — us. I can't imagine a future without you. I don't care about anything else. I just want to be with you."
His heart soared. He couldn't hold back any longer and reached for her, dragging her close in an embrace, and held her so tightly she squeaked. He buried his face in her hair, drinking in her scent and her warmth, and he didn't care that tears filled his eyes as well. "Always. Ruby, always. I'll never let you go."
Her arms tightened around him as she laughed, a bit teary, and her fingers worked into his hair. "Oh my God, Carter, I can't believe I almost lost you."
"You didn't," he said. He kissed her shoulder, her throat. He lifted his head enough to kiss her cheek and then his mouth pressed to hers, hungry and demanding, and her lips parted. Welcomed him in. Gave gracefully under his onslaught, and answered his passion with her own.
Carter drowned in her. His palm slid across her back, slipped in the open side of her dress and she made a hungry, needy sound against his mouth. Carter grumbled and his hand grew bolder.
"Okay, kids," a low voice said next to them, and through the fog of lust, Carter recognized Edgar's voice. "Don't make me get the hose."
He still remembered Edgar throwing buckets of water on Eloise and Atticus, so Carter knew Edgar would make good on his threat. Carter dragged his mouth from Ruby, struggling to breathe, but couldn't take his hands from her skin. She fixed Edgar with a glare that should have stopped his heart. "Edgar Chase, don't you…"
"They're about to start," Edgar said. He canted his head at the other side of the ballroom, where Logan picked up a microphone. "So you should be in the back with Natalia," and he pointed her toward a side room.
Carter, still dazed from the kiss and the warmth of her skin against his fingers, tried to decipher what Edgar meant. "Start what? Dinner isn't for —"
"Just get your ass up there," Edgar said, giving Carter a push, then dragged Ruby away and steered her to where Natalia apparently waited. Carter growled a little to see his brother touch her, but Edgar flexed and his higher rank silenced the lion.
Carter dragged his feet, looking over his shoulder to watch Ruby as she disappeared into the side room, and took his place on the dais next to Logan, Benedict, and Atticus. Edgar followed, patting his shoulder, and then Logan spoke into the microphone. "Friends, if I can have your attention for a moment. Natalia and I are grateful to have you all here with us today to celebrate my birthday. And some of you might be wondering why Nat isn't up here with me. Well, the reason is we have something else to celebrate — we're getting married. Tonight."
Applause erupted across the ballroom and cheers soon followed. Carter stared at his brother, but none of the others looked surprised. Logan hugged him, laughing. "Sorry, Carter. I didn't want to rub it in your face. But it looks like things worked out?"
Speechless, Carter slapped his brother's back and staggered back. A surprise wedding.
In a matter of minutes, the guests parted so a long red carpet could be unrolled. A door opened in the back of the hall and then Eloise and Sophia, both bridesmaids, walked the length of the red carpet. From the grumbles Benedict and Atticus made next to him, Carter figured those dresses had about as good a chance of surviving his brothers, as Ruby's dress did at surviving him once he got her alone.
Sophia just smiled at Atticus, but Eloise stuck her tongue out at Benedict as she went to stand on the other side of the dais. Out of reach. Benedict even started forward a step, before Edgar's arm slammed across his chest and knocked him back. Carter blinked, distracted for half a second when he noticed Kaiser on the dais with them, wearing a suit and carrying a Bible.
And then Ruby appeared at the end of the carpet, and nothing else in the world mattered. His mouth went dry but his palms grew sweaty, and his heart thudded against his ribs. The rest of the people in the room disappeared. Her eyes locked on his, and Carter never wanted to look away.
Even when she took her place next to Eloise and faced back down the ballroom to where Natalia, resplendent in a white gown, appeared, Carter couldn't look away from Ruby. He managed to see Natalia in his peripheral vision, but Ruby was his world.
Kaiser officiated a short but very sweet ceremony, and Logan and Natalia read their own vows. There were tears and laughter alike, but more laughter, and Carter could not have imagined the depth of the love radiating from Logan and Natalia if he hadn't found Ruby. If he hadn't been able to kiss Ruby before the ceremony, it might have killed him.
And then the string quartet set up for the first dance, while servers in fancy uniforms circulated through the crowd with hors d'oeuvres and drinks. The open bar at the end of the hall did brisk business. Carter desperately wanted to drag Ruby away and find a private room where he could reacquaint himself with her curves. But she stood with Nat and Eloise and Sophia,
posing for photos, and Benedict dragged him away to talk to someone about something. Carter barely listened, could not have repeated the man's name or how he knew the Chase family ten seconds after hearing it for all the money in the world. He only wanted Ruby.
It seemed only a blink but also an eternity of watching Natalia and Logan dance, avoiding the photographer, and trying to get enough food in his stomach so his stomach wouldn't growl when he finally got Ruby back to his room. And then he turned around and she was there, lips parted and begging to be kissed. "Carter Chase, will you dance with me?"
"For the rest of my life," he said, barely a breath of sound, and seized her hand, pulled her tight to his side. Almost tripped over his own damn feet trying to get to the cleared area in front of the string quintet. "Anywhere and everywhere. Even if there's no music."
"No music?" She laughed, and he loved the way her eyes sparkled. She looked happy for the first time in a long time, and he reveled in it. Wanted to bottle it up and roll around in it.
"We'll make our own music." Carter paused to kiss her, then twirled her around until her skirt flared out, and she laughed again.
The string quarter started playing the Etta James version of 'At Last,' slow and elegant, and Carter's breath caught. The perfect song, the perfect night, the perfect woman. Ruby felt it too, and melted in his arms. His heart soared. It took a moment for him to realize it, but she let him lead – didn’t fight to turn them as he moved, didn't pull against his grip. She surrendered, easy and supple in his arms. She looked almost drunk, and he couldn't speak. It felt like a precious secret between them – trust. Total and complete trust.
He loved the song but rejoiced when it ended, because that meant he could hold her closer. Applause rose from the crowd, and Carter ignored it to capture Ruby's face in his hands so he could kiss her again. She broke away, breathless, and braced her hands on his chest. Looked up at him with eyes a little shiny from tears. "I should say good night to Nat. Can you wait?"
"Forever, if I have to." He brushed his lips across the back of her hand as Ruby drifted away, but before she got too far, he pulled her back for another kiss. "But sooner would be better."
She smiled and swirled away through the crowd to hug Natalia. Carter managed to drag his eyes away from her long enough to take his leave of Benedict and Atticus, and shook Logan's hand to congratulate him as he searched for Edgar.
Carter frowned as he spotted his older brother retreating to the exit, hands shoved in his pockets, and Carter opened his mouth to call out to him. Logan squeezed his shoulder, though, and said quietly, "Let him go."
Carter cleared his throat and shook his head. "Will he ever be okay?"
"I hope so." Logan took a deep breath, and then turned Carter so he could see where Ruby and Natalia hugged and cried and laughed. "Let me worry about him. You've got someone else waiting for you."
Ruby looked up, gaze smoldering, and Carter's desire sparked. His lion grumbled in anticipation, and he walked away from Logan without looking back. Ruby laughed as he stalked closer, and she retreated a few playful steps. He caught her, drew her to him, and kissed behind her ear before he growled, "You're coming with me. Now."
She watched him from underneath long lashes, and her fingers trailed down his chest to toy with his belt buckle. "And here I was hoping I would come first."
He kissed her again before saying, "Only if you're good," then patted her butt. He captured her wrist and made a beeline for the exit, all of his focus on getting to his bedroom before his lion took over.
Chapter 22
The way he looked at me made my skin prickle and my stomach clench, and the hard strength of his body next to me on the dance floor almost made my knees give out. I could hardly concentrate enough to keep from tripping us both. Part of me wanted to stay for the party, but Natalia told me there would be many more parties, and after the last couple of weeks, Carter and I needed to celebrate. I wholeheartedly agreed, so barely an hour past the ceremony, Carter towed me through the empty halls of the mansion toward one of the far wings.
He didn't speak, just squeezed my hand in his, and when I cursed the high heels I wore for the third time, Carter fixed me with a dark look. "You're slowing me down."
I arched an eyebrow, heart fluttering at the challenge. "And what are you going to do about it, Chase?"
Without blinking, he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder, squeezing my ass. I slid my hand into the pocket of his pants and he jumped, arm tightening over my legs, and started growling. My heart thundered in anticipation as he shoved a door open, and then we were in his living room, then his bedroom suite, then he tossed me on the mattress and stared at me with such hunger, I knew immediately the dress was toast. Probably my bra, too.
Carter's eyes reflected pure gold at me as he shed his jacket and tossed it in the corner. But instead of springing on me and ripping away the dress, he eased into the wide chair in the corner. "Stand up."
I did, breath coming faster. I'd missed the command in his voice but the gentleness with which he treated me in public. I craved him. He got me addicted to him and I couldn't live without him. Carter watched me with narrowed eyes, feigning calm though I could hear his heart racing. "Take down your hair."
I eased a step closer, wobbling a bit in the heels, but reached into my hair and started pulling bobby pins out by the handful. Even with the hairspray and a few extra pins, it came loose in a long dark cascade down my back, and he made a hungry noise. I smiled, about to jump in his lap, but Carter held up his hand. "Wait. Stay where you are."
I wanted to touch him. I needed him to touch me. "Carter…"
"Strip for me." He leaned back in the chair until the darkness almost hid his expression. "The dress. Take it off. Slowly."
Lust surged and I almost couldn't breathe. My body felt full and over-heated and desperate, aching for him. But if he wanted a strip tease, I would give him a strip tease. The faster I turned him on, the faster I could pull him on top of me, pull him into me. Feel his hard length pressing into me, splitting me open. I moaned at the thought, and my fingers trembled as they brushed over my stomach. I'd never hated clothing so much in my life.
"Slowly," he repeated, voice mostly growl.
"Whatever you say, baby," I murmured, and turned slowly so he could see my back. He was an ass man, definitely. I fussed with the zipper on the side of the dress, looking at him over my shoulder to gauge his reaction, and let the dress slip from my shoulders. It slid a hairsbreadth at a time down my sides, revealing pale skin with excruciating slowness.
Carter made a hungry noise and shifted his hips in the chair, the evidence of his arousal obvious. I bit my lip to keep from smiling as I dropped the dress the rest of the way and let it pool on the floor at my feet. Then it was only silk thigh highs, a lacy thong, and a low-back bustier.
I bent slowly forward to pull at the heels, and again he snarled loud enough to make me jump. Carter growled. "Leave the shoes on. Face me."
I did. Desire flooded my core at the sight of him, on the verge of a shift just from lusting after me. He wanted me so badly he almost lost all control. I tried to look innocent, widening my eyes and biting my thumb.
His teeth flashed white in the dim room. "Take off the thong. Now."
I hooked my fingers under the scraps of fabric at my hips, and eased it down until it fell around my ankles. And I stood there, reveling in his attention, as Carter's hungry gaze raked across every inch of me. His fingers bit into the arms of the chair, and he lifted his hips in a slow thrust against the air that almost made me climax.
His chest rose and fell in deep breaths, coming faster and faster, then he managed to say, "Come here. Take off my pants."
"Whatever you want," I said, and his fingers tore through the buttery leather of the chair. I took the three stalking steps to the chair before I knelt and pressed myself between his knees. My hands shook as I undid his belt, then the fly, then I struggled to maneuver the zipper around his hardened cock. He h
elped, lifting his hips again, and I managed to slide his pants off entirely.
Carter, breathing hard, tangled one hand in my hair as he drew me in for a kiss – demanding , bruising. When he pulled back I nearly fell at his feet, seeing stars. But he released me and said, "The boxers. Off."
My nails raised goose bumps on his flesh as I ran my fingers up his chest and then back down to the waist of his boxers where the head of his cock peeked out. At some point he'd pulled off his shirt, but as I stripped the rest of his clothes away, I didn't care. I couldn't take the wait and touched his silky flesh, encircled him with my hand and slowly stroked the length of his erection. Carter groaned and his fingers worked into my hair. "I didn't tell you to do that."
"You didn't tell me not to," I murmured, and leaned forward to kiss the tip. I licked around the head and then up the whole length, squeezing the hardened flesh as I did so. I moaned as I took more of him in my mouth, and Carter cursed, hand tightening against my scalp.
Before I could do much else, he pulled me away and set me back on my heels. He breathed hard, eyes wild, and just as I thought he would throw me on the bed and teach me a lesson, he pointed at the chair. "Kneel here."
I straddled his thighs, trying to grind on him to satisfy my own aching need, but Carter held my waist to keep me from impaling myself. I wanted him so badly I held his shoulders and arched my back, hoping to distract him with breasts, but he held me tighter. He grabbed the bustier and tore it to pieces, casting it aside, and squeezed my ass. Carter pulled me close, until his cock was trapped between our stomachs and he could lick and suck on my breasts.