“Not yet,” I said. “I want to see you smile first.”
“Then come closer, Caroline,” he said wickedly.
“In a minute,” I said. “Please give me this.”
Peter’s eyes sparkled as he folded his hands behind his head and laughed.
“Just what are you going to do me?” he playfully asked.
“Everything that you need.”
My hands were steady as I surrounded his shaft and slowly moved my fingers up the length of his throbbing piece. Twisting his flesh, my pace intensifying as he licked his lips, I asked for his eyes, his pupils spinning in his head as he met my gaze.
“How does this feel, Peter?”
“I’m smiling, aren’t I?” he said.
“That’s what I wanted to see.”
Massaging his piece with my thumb, I came to a stop and buried my head in his lap. I brought my lips to his glistening tip and started to run my tongue across his shaft. His entire body quivered under the feel of my hands, my mouth, and I gripped his thighs, my lips parting to completely taste his desire which was about to burst.
“Thank you, Caroline. I…”
“Wait,” I said as I lifted up and flattened my palm to his side. “Thank me after this.”
Diving deep again, my throat felt like a bottomless pit as he throbbed against my eager tongue. I strained to watch his face as I licked and sucked him to a place where he twisted the sheets in his hands and groaned his delight towards the sky. This was what I wanted, to take care of him, to show him that I was strong, that I was all too eager to drink all of him down, only coming up for air when his lust drained to a stop.
“Peter…” I said thickly.
His taste still coated my lips as I crawled up his body and kissed him hard. He grabbed my hair and licked his own lust from my lips, and I smiled with a sigh as I came to rest in the crook of his strong arms.
“Now that’s something you can really thank me for,” I whispered.
“Obviously,” he started as he traced the line of his lips with a tender touch. “But I wanted to thank you for something else.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“For choosing me,” he said. “For giving me the chance.”
My lips dotted his again, and I stroked his face and smiled into his eyes.
“I think we’ve both more than earned it.”
Chapter Ten
Peter kept me in his arms as we nibbled on the cold pizza.
“It’s always better the next day,” I said.
“So are you,” he laughed.
He kissed a strand of cheese from my lips, and I licked the sauce from his chin.
“I could do with a drink,” I said.
“Now that you have something of a full stomach, I think I can get down with that.”
He quickly placed a call to the front desk and settled back at my side.
“On its way,” he said. “But no more wine for you.”
“But, Peter, I…”
“It does things to you,” he said. “Makes you sad. Makes you say things you don’t mean. I think you should stick to softer drinks for a little while.”
I took another bite of my pizza and scrunched my nose.
“So what’s on the way,” I said. “Good old fashioned soda pop?”
“I’m a little more daring than that, Gypsy.”
At the sound of a knock on the door, he kissed my cheek and leapt to his feet to answer the call. Even without wanting to, I still imagined Morgan appearing to lure me from the room again, and when Peter disappeared from my line of sight, I wrapped the sheet around my body, stretched to my feet and reached to bring him back to by side.
“Peter…?”
“Someone here that you just have to meet, Caroline!” he called from the doorway.
I knew the squat, silver-haired lady on sight, and even though he had told me something of the helping hand that she lent, I didn’t realize how much it meant until she took my hands and smiled.
“Glad to see you back here in one piece!” she beamed. “And believe you me, if I’d known that that other fella was such a piece of bad news, I’d have cut him right off at the pass.”
“From what I heard, you did your fair share of another kind of cutting,” I said with a grimace.
“Men like that don’t deserve the right to even try to plant the flag, if you know what I mean.”
“Some of them can’t even do that much,” I said more to myself than to her.
She cocked her head to the side before kissing one of my cheeks and then the other.
“Well in case Romeo failed to fill you in, the name is Nellie,” she said.
“I know,” I whispered into her hair. “And I… thank you so much for what you did for us.”
“Happy to help,” she said.
Her arms reminded me of my mother’s, and as she spied the cooling spread covering the room, she reached back into the hallway and hoisted a twelve pack with a surprisingly strong arm.
“A little early to be sure, but nothing wrong with some hair of the dog,” she laughed.
Nellie tore the cardboard open and cracked open a can before taking a quick swig.
“I brush my teeth with the stuff,” she said. “And I’m still standing.”
“Thank god for that!” Peter said from behind me.
Peter’s hand was on my arm as I mirrored Nellie’s movements and flipped the lid of a fresh can. Chugging hard, I brushed the bubbles from my lips and smiled at the pallet cleanser working its way down my throat.
“And thank you for this,” I said. “Thank you for all of it.”
“Looks like someone had her special night,” Nellie said with a gleam in her eye.
“It was special,” I said as I looked up into Peter’s eyes. “I think it’s the end of a lot of bad dreams.”
Peter smiled as he gently stroked my back, and Nellie laughed as she grabbed another can for the road.
“Best news I’ve heard in a long time,” she said. “Now, you just give me a ring if you need reinforcements.”
I tilted my head as Nellie waddled away and rested my head to Peter’s chest.
“She really took him down?” I asked. “That woman?”
“Sort of surprised me, too,” he confessed. “But that little old lady has mad skills.”
I only wished that she had had the chance to ply her trade with Morgan. Maybe even my father if she ever got the chance. Taking another drink, I sank bank to the floor, and Peter followed my movements, keeping close to my side.
“Glad she was in your service,” I said as I took another drink and felt his lips on my brow.
“Same here. If you’d been with that maniac for one more minute…” Peter groaned around the memory, and I steadied my fingers under his stare.
“But it will be alright now?” I asked him. “They… none of them will come back?”
“To hear Nellie tell it, she had him running scared. Swanson’ll point them in another direction. And we don’t have to worry about Morgan for one more day.”
I drank again and held him close. He plucked another piece of pizza from the box and fed me gently until I pushed the crust away and wiped the crumbs from my lips.
“Still good?” he asked.
“Better than good,” I said. “I have you, right?”
“Just you try and get rid of me.”
There was no way that was ever going to happen, and I offered no resistance as he lifted me into his arms and carried me back to the bed, just like in my dream. Only this time, when I blinked and managed to focus again, he was still there, just him, and I caressed his cheeks as he kissed my hair.
“Can I… can I just look at you a little?” I asked him.
He honored my request without another word and rested beside me with a smile.
“You really like everything that you see, Gypsy?” he gently asked.
His stubble still tickled some, but I’d take a full grown beard if it meant that I got to feel
his arms around me.
“I do, I whispered. “I love you for saving me.”
“Caroline, I…”
“And not just from Morgan,” I said. “I… so much… a lot of things came out last night.”
His tightening hold suggested that he was right there on my wavelength, somehow remembering the sudden truth of my father’s most heinous crimes. In my sleep, more and more of it came back. It was why my father hated Adam, jerk that he was aside. It was why he always said that I was getting too close to Sabrina. Because if Bree had ever found him out, she would have given Nellie a run for her money and left him a state where he’d never be able to hurt any woman, daughter or not, ever again.
“Caroline… I’m sorry if it hurts,” he said.
I shook my head and kissed him quickly.
“It’s all good when I’m with you,” I said. “Be with me again.”
My tongue wrapped around his, and I felt him pushing me into the mattress as he peeled the sheet from my body.
“Sure you don’t want another piece of pizza?” he said cheekily.
“I’m only hungry for you.”
He started slowly, his hands running up my thighs before my stopping between legs.
“Can I make you mine?” he asked.
“You’ve already had a taste.”
“And you’ve made me want more than your mouth.”
I lowered my head to kiss his tip, but just the thought of having him inside me was too much to resist, and I sprawled out on the bed as he seized my hips and kissed my mound.
“You down with me going deeper?” he asked. “Promise it’ll feel good.”
“Please,” I moaned. “I want more of that.”
He slipped inside me and started a slow thrust. His fingers were tender as they ran across my breast, and I curved my back at the feel of his lips around my hard nipple.
“How can you be so strong?” he purred. “After everything that you’ve had to…”
“It’s easier with you,” I said. “Better, too.”
Peter moaned into my ears and I spread my legs to let him push deeper. He seemed to hesitate until I wrapped my leg around his waist and strained towards his mouth.
“This is better, too,” I said. “Better than anything I’ve ever had.”
His face stared to darken, and I watched with baited breath as he fell into my memories and started to grit his teeth.
“No,” I pleaded. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Caroline, I can’t forget…”
“If I can deal with it, so can you,” I whispered.
He steadied his stare, and I wrapped my arms around his back as he kissed my breasts and trailed his lips towards mine.
“You’re not crying anymore,” he observed.
I nodded as his flesh consumed mine, my muscles finally vibrating around a far more pleasurable sensation as he pressed his fingers into my back, his touch mindful of Morgan’s marks. I could live on the taste of his lips, but I still pushed him back to take in his face as he stroked my sides.
“Only good feelings from now on?” he moaned.
“Depends on what you do to me next,” I said naughtily.
Peter started to kiss me when he pulled back and looked towards the ceiling.
“Did I… did I do something wrong?” I asked.
“You? Never, Gypsy. But…”
“But what?” I asked.
“One night and you’re suddenly so playful?”
I stretched towards his lips with a smile.
“That’s all you,” I said. “You make me feel so good.”
“I want you so much,” Peter said as he kissed my cheeks and plunged deeper inside me.
“I need you more.”
I had no choice but to moan at the feel of fingers locking around mine, but his hold was nothing compared to the feel of his piece releasing inside me. He hesitated, asking me if I was sure, and when I quickly nodded my head against the pillows, he filled me and finished with a soft kiss.
“Every time with you feels like new,” I said. “And I want more of that.”
“You’re going to have it, Gypsy,” he promised. “Only this time it will be forever.”
I felt drowsy and satisfied as I came to rest in his arms, and Peter stroked my hair for several long seconds before startling me by pushing me away with the force of his arms.
“What do you think you’re…?”
“Fresh air,” he said. “I need to see you in the daylight.”
Peter pushed the curtains aside, slipped a robe over my shoulders and carried me outside to the balcony. I moved to cinch the robe around my waist as he zipped up his pants and sat at my side.
“Nice, right?” he said. “Just you and me and a little piece of heaven.”
That’s what it was when he kissed my brow and held me tight to his chest, I thought.
“Happiness, right?” he asked.
I gazed up at the clouds and murmured my assent when he reached into his pocket.
“With everything else that happened,” he started, “I almost forgot about this.”
My mother’s gold was right there under his fingers, and he started to clasp the catch shut around my wrist when I shook my head.
“You…. how did you…?”
“First clue that something was up,” he said. “I knew there was no way you’d just leave this behind.”
No way at all, I thought. Unless it was a sign that my mother could link her life to a monster and just leave me behind without so much as a warning. Did she know what he would do? Had she known as much when she was still alive?
Peter kept trying to close the gold squares around my wrist when I pushed him back and started back to the room. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nellie tending a bed of flowers, and I flew to the bed and buried my head in the sheets. It… it had happened. And as good as Peter felt, I suddenly didn’t know if I could ever get past it.
“Gypsy?”
He gingerly rested against the side of the bed and stroked my hair. Even his softest touch was enough to turn my eyes to his, and as soon as I met his gaze, I saw his tears.
“It’s not all good,” he said. “You’re remembering too much.”
He was right, and I tried to choke all the bad thoughts down when he cupped my chin in hands.
“But you can tell me,” he said. “I want you to trust me.”
And I did. If nothing else, I did at least trust him.
“Peter, I… it’s more than that. I love you.”
He tried to pull back, but I wouldn’t let him go.
“Love me?” he asked.
His eyes seemed hopeful as he pulled the bracelet away, looking as if he didn’t want anything to spoil that chance even though he could hardly believe his ears. My mother’s gold was precious, but his eyes were the finest jewels that I had ever seen. And I felt that even my mother would understand as I reached for his face.
“Is that too much?” I asked. “Not what you wanted to hear maybe?”
“Stop talking,” he said.
He pushed his lips to mine, and I basked in his kiss as he pushed me back to the bed. My legs spread to take him in but he simply settled at my side and stroked my hair.
“I… I love you enough for you to tell me the whole story, Gypsy.”
I felt as if a great weight was lifted from my shoulders, and I parted my lips to tell the tale when I shuddered in his arms.
“Caroline?” he asked. “What is it?”
“Can you… can you really stand to hear it?”
“Of course. Because it’s not your fault.”
I nodded against him at the sound of that and held him close as whispered into his ear.
“Then I’ll tell you,” I said. “I’ll tell you all that I can remember.”
Chapter Eleven
Peter listened as I spilled out a story that was almost more than he could stand.
My father had taken some time after my mother’s passing before crying
in the night and beckoning me to his bed. Being a dutiful daughter, I had climbed into my parents’ bed and tried to hug his pain away.
“And… and for a little while it was no more than that,” I said. “Like totally innocent. I kind of thought that I was helping him, you know?”
Peter pulled me closer to his chest and said that it was just what a sweet innocent little girl would do.
“Until it wasn’t that,” I said. “And he was… he was inside me.”
Peter held me closer, his hand still in mine and I clutched it like a life raft as I turned my head away.
“I think… no, I know, that’s why I jumped on Adam the first chance.”
“But you never told him about it,” Peter said.
“Like he would have known what to do with it,” I snorted. “It went on for about three years until I refused to let it go on. Then I think I just blotted it out but sometimes I would see him watching me and feel uncomfortable as if I could sense the danger and what might happen. But until last night I had managed to keep the memories hidden.”
Tears filled my eyes and Peter cradled me close to his chest and kissed my hair.
“It’s over now and I’ll make sure he doesn’t touch you again,” he said.
“But lately he’s been far more controlling and I think he’s…” I whispered.
“He can’t do anything if you’re with me so you don’t need to worry any more, Gypsy.”
I nodded and fell into his kiss, and Peter fondled my hair, whispering every word of love that he could call to mind into my ears.
“Now you keep talking,” I said with a soft smile. “I just want the sound of your voice.”
“Think that can be arranged.”
Peter pulled me closer and I sighed as I settled against his chest.
“Whatever happened,” he started, “it’s not your fault, Caroline. Never was.”
I began to relax at the sound of that, and he kept kissing my hair as I met his eyes.
“And if you need to cry,” he continued, “you just cry.”
My lip quivered, and he reached for my face as I took hold of his hand and spoke softly.
“Bree always said that I was selling myself short when I was with Adam,” I said. “But better to be cheated on than what… what my own father…”
The Corrupt Billionaire COMPLETE Box Set Page 29