Carter Reed

by Tijan

  with Mallory. I asked him for some time alone, and he gave it to me. I’d been sitting on the bed ever since, just sitting there and thinking. As I processed through everything and realized what Carter had done for me, I was grateful. He bought my freedom while he himself wasn’t completely free. He said that he’d have to pay them for five years, but was that long enough? I didn’t think they would leave him alone after that. Then again, I wasn’t a part of this life. This was his life, his world. Judging by the power and wealth that he seemed to have, it was a world that he had thrived in.

  I waited until he closed the door behind him. He gave me a glass of water and a plate of food. My stomach grumbled as I saw the sandwich on it, but I left it untouched. My stomach said otherwise, but I couldn’t eat. Thinking of Mallory as a sex slave had taken care of that.

  “Emma?” He sat beside me.

  “How will we know if everyone’s been taken care of?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Franco is the one with the vendetta. When he’s dead, no one will be paid for your hit. You’ll be safe.”

  “But not you.” The words wrung from me. He wasn’t free of them.

  “Emma?”

  “You won’t be safe. You’re still tied to them.”

  He pulled me against his side and ran his hand up and down my arm. “You don’t have to worry about me. As long as I continue to do what I do, I’ll be fine.”

  “And if you don’t? If you stop making money for them?” It was my worst nightmare happening in front of my eyes as I imagined what they’d do to him. An image of his body flashed in my mind. It was like Jeremy Dunvan’s body, slumped over with blood coming from him, except it had Carter’s blue eyes. It had Carter’s chiseled cheekbones, his sculpted body, but it was lifeless and cold. I shook my head. That couldn’t happen.

  His hand fell away from my shoulders and slipped between us to find my hand. His fingers laced with mine. “That won’t happen. I’m not new to this, Emma. I’ve been working with the Mauricio family for years. My word holds weight with both families now. I will be fine.” Then he grinned. “But it feels nice to have someone worry about me. I’m the one people are scared of, not scared for.”

  I looked up, torn on the inside. “They don’t know you like I do.” They don’t love you like I do.

  His gaze fell to my lips and he whispered, “No, they don’t. No one knows me like you do.”

  When his head moved closer, I closed my eyes and felt his lips touch mine. There was a soft insistence from him and I opened for him. As his tongue swept inside and took command over me, it wasn’t long before I was lifted over him.

  I gasped as he lifted my shirt off, “Carter.”

  His lips found mine again. The need for him rose, threatening to take control of me. I shuddered as his hand slid up my side. My skin burned in its wake, sizzling for more. As he continued to explore my body, all the sensations and love I felt for him took over.

  I needed this. I needed him.

  I was blind with hunger as he switched our positions. He laid me down, poised above me, and his continued to taste every inch of me. Along with my shirt went my bra. Then my pants were next. As his fingers slipped underneath the straps of my panties, he slid them down with his thumbs brushing against the insides of my thighs as he went.

  I pulled him down to me and I wanted his shirt gone. When it was, when I felt the deliciousness of his skin under my hands, I tugged at his jeans. Carter reared back, long enough to kick them off and then he was back. He was between my legs, kissing me, touching me. He loved me with every touch and caress from him.

  When he slid inside of me, I held still, helpless against how my body trembled for him. Then he started to move and I came alive in his arms. As the rhythm grew and his thrusts went deeper and deeper, I wrapped my legs around him. I joined with him, in every manner. My body was his. He could do as he pleased, and as I skimmed a hand down his back, he trembled underneath my touch. His body was mine as well.

  We belonged to each other.

  As I felt the edge nearing, I held onto him as he continued to move inside of me. His hand curved around my leg and lifted it higher. I opened even more and he went deeper from the different angle.

  “Carter,” I whispered against his skin. My hand clung to him, holding onto him. I met him move for move. He thrust in, my hips went with him. We rode together.

  His eyes were open, bearing into mine. I felt myself stripped open to him, my soul bared, as his hips upped the tempo. Then it was time. I felt him tensing at the same time my climax ripped through me. Waves of pleasure slammed into me and I rode out each of them. As I finished, he let himself go.

  I skimmed a hand down his sweaty back, kissing his shoulder when he collapsed on top of me. “Carter,” I murmured.

  He let out a long breath. His body shook as it came from deep within him. His hand trailed up my arm and he lifted himself up, tracing my lips as he looked down at me now.

  We didn’t speak. I couldn’t. This man was mine. This very powerful being, sculpted to perfection with eyes that were of a wolf’s. He touched his lips to mine, a soft claiming as he whispered against them, “I love you so goddamn much, Emma.”

  “I love you too.”

  I was weak with too many strong feelings sweeping inside of me, too many and too powerful for me to name, but as I gazed up at him, I saw his strength. As I lay in his arms and as he turned for me once more during the night, our bodies moved together as one and I felt my own strength awaken inside of me. I had grown addicted to this beautiful man. He was mine.

  I would always love this man.

  I rose from the bed and pulled on a robe that hung from the bathroom door. When I went into the kitchen, I looked around and started the coffee pot. As it brewed behind me and I began to look for more food to start breakfast for everyone, I knew that I had changed. Maybe it was that I had almost been killed, that I had seen it with my own eyes, or maybe it was knowing what would’ve happened to Mallory if I hadn’t pulled that trigger. I wasn’t sure which it was, but I had been changed. The culmination had occurred inside of me. I wasn’t quaking anymore. I wasn’t whining about losing my freedom or the inability to join friends for drinks without being babysat.

  None of that mattered anymore.

  It was done. Men had died because of me.

  I no longer cared. I should’ve, but I didn’t.

  Or maybe it was how I felt like one with Carter now. I felt his power inside of me. My body grew stronger as I thought of the last time. The primal way he had taken me still sent reverberations through me. It wasn’t that I was protected or sheltered by him, it was being with him and being loved by him, that made me feel his power. It was overwhelming and intoxicating.

  “Morning,” Theresa yawned behind me.

  I turned and saw her anew. I knew she wasn’t different. I knew it was me, but she looked weak to me. She saw it too. Her hand had risen to scratch behind her ear, but when she locked gazes with me, her hand fell away. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open slightly. Nothing else was said. She shook her head and her eyes narrowed. Then she pulled the ends of her robe tighter around her, crossed her arms over herself, and mused, “You look different.”

  I unwrapped the bacon and placed slices into a pan. The sizzling from the oil started as I glanced back at her. “Did you sleep?”

  “Yeah, surprisingly.” Another yawn came over her and she rested against a counter. “Did you?”

  Images of our lovemaking flashed in my head and a jolt of pleasure rushed through me. A faint grin came over me, but I nodded. “I did.”

  “Is he still asleep?”

  My hand tightened on the pan as I heard her derision. We both knew who she meant. My back straightened, but I took a calming breath. “Yeah. Is Noah?”

  I heard a soft sniffle behind me before she replied, “I wouldn’t know.”

  I turned now and saw the agony in her depths before it was masked. “I’m sorry, Theresa.”

  She sh
rugged. “Yeah, well, what can I do about it? Brianna made her wishes clear last night. Noah’s not going to go against them. Even if we did almost die.”

  “You know that Scott Graham started that riot last night.”

  “I didn’t, no.”

  I tensed as I heard annoyance in her tone.

  “Is that what he said?”

  Okay. Anger boiled up as I regarded her. I’d had enough. “You have some poor misconceptions about last night, Theresa. Let me correct them for you right now.”

  She straightened from the counter but remained silent.

  The tongs I held in my hand came down hard on the counter beside me. “You saw what you saw. You saw Carter kill your friend, but he was a man that was sent to kill me. And yes, Theresa, he was going to kill me. Scott Graham might’ve been nice to you when you went to Octave, but he was selling information to a man that wanted me dead.”

  “Stop,” she hissed. She had grown pale with each word I said. Her chest rose up and down at a rapid pace. “Just stop, Emma. You sound crazy.”

  I was calm. I was cold even. “A little more than three weeks ago I came home and found my roommate being raped. He was going to kill her or worse. And he was going to do the same to me because I was there. I shot him, Theresa.”

  She flinched as I said this.

  I hardened inside. I didn’t care. She needed to hear the ugly truth. “And because I knew Carter and I trusted him, I went to him for help. He’s been protecting me ever since because the man I killed is the son of another mobster.”

  Her eyes went wide, but I saw the thoughts flying in her mind. She was connecting the dots. It was a matter of time and when her eyes filled with renewed horror, I knew she had figured it out. The name Dunvan fell from her lips in a whispered gasp.

  “I killed Jeremy Dunvan and his father has been looking for me. I think you can guess what he wanted to do with me when he got me.”

  “Oh god.”

  I waited. I needed to know what she’d do with all that information. If she went to the authorities, she’d be condemning me as well. Then a different thought came to me and I felt sick. The back of my hair stood upright and I looked over. Carter was in the doorway. I knew he was waiting like me. He needed to know how she would react now that she knew the rest of it.

  When his eyes caught mine, darkness flashed in his depths.

  That was when I knew that she wouldn’t get the chance to go to the authorities. Carter would ensure my safety, no matter the cost. I turned back to Theresa and hoped against hope that she would let it go because if she didn’t, she was going to die.

  Carter would take her life to save mine.

  “Stop asking questions.”

  Our heads snapped up and over. Noah stood in the other doorway, fuming with fisted hands at his sides. He jerked forward into the kitchen as his eyes were latched onto Theresa. “I told you to stop asking questions. You have to stop now! I mean it, Theresa.”

  She straightened in defiance. “And what if I don’t?” She rolled her eyes. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

  A low growl wrung from him as he cried out, “Are you kidding me?”

  She paused, caught in the headlights of his glare. Then she swallowed tightly.

  “You’re in a safe house of a guy you know has mob connections and you’re being snide about seeing him kill another man?” His eyes flashed in fury. “What part of that sentence is ludicrous? The. Whole. Thing! Think about it, Theresa!”

  She frowned at him.

  “You’ve always known who Carter was to me. I owe him my life, Theresa. My life! But that doesn’t make him any less dangerous. He’s been good to me and I will always be grateful to him for everything he’s done, but you’re talking about him like he’s five. He is a killer and she’s spelling it out to you. She’s leading you down the damn road, but you have to stop and think about what she’s not saying.” Noah stepped closer to her. He begged her, “Please let this go. Please, Theresa. He loves her. He snapped Scott’s neck because of her. What do you think he’ll do to you?” He reached for her hands and gripped them hard. Her tiny hands disappeared underneath his. “He’ll make you disappear and the only reason I’ll know about it is because of this conversation, right here. He’ll do it when you won’t be expecting it or it’ll look like an accident. I have no idea, but I know he’ll do it and it’ll happen because you’re threatening her life. Don’t you get that?” He lowered his head so he eye-level with her. “Please get that, please, please get that, Theresa. Stop. Talking. About it. Just stop. That’s all you have to do.”

  “But,” she opened her mouth as tears flowed down. Nothing came out. Her eyes jumped to mine, and I didn’t do anything. He was right. She needed to hear it. Then her mouth shut and she fell back into the counter. She would’ve fallen if Noah hadn’t been there.

  He swept her up and turned to Carter. “She won’t say a word. I promise.”

  Carter narrowed his eyes.

  “I promise, Carter.”

  He looked to me as if to ask if I should believe him. I didn’t do a thing. I couldn’t. I had no idea what Theresa would do or what she would think a month away, or even a year, or ten years, if she would remain silent. So I gave him no answer.

  The corner of his lip curved as if to say ‘thanks a lot’, but his eyes were still flat.

  “Carter?” Noah pushed.

  He stepped back to let them through. That was the only response he gave to the unspoken plea from his friend. Noah’s shoulders sagged in defeat and he hurried them out the door. A car was outside.

  When they shut the door behind them, I commented, “He thinks you’re going to kill the woman he loves.”

  Carter watched me. “Should I?”

  Twenty-four hours earlier and I would’ve been pleading for her life. She was innocent. She was pure. She meant no harm. But now I had changed. Theresa had become a friend, but everything shifted last night. Carter was my lover. He was my family. He was my only ally. And because of that, because she held a threat to his life, I told him, “I can’t lose you.”

  Then I picked up the tongs again and turned off the stove. The bacon was burned by then so I removed the pan and left.

  Carter never did anything with Theresa. I asked him one night what he intended to do. He had men watching her, but that was his only response. When I asked what would happen if she contacted the police, he shrugged. “I don’t see it coming to that. She cares about you and if she did anything, I’d take it to Noah first. I’m not completely heartless, Emma.”

  She never did anything, which I had to admit made me relieved. After two weeks, nothing happened regarding Franco Dunvan either. He went missing and my gut told me that his body would never be found. There were no reports on the news about the upheaval that happened that night. It made me wonder how many other mob events happened that the general public had no idea about. I never asked about Franco, but I figured I was safe when Carter told me that I could go out with only two guards. That was fine by me. So much had changed, myself included. Work wasn’t the same. I had never chatted much with the other girls, but I chatted with them even less now. When I would go for coffee, I never looked to see who was in the breakroom. I got my coffee and returned to my office.

  The new promotion was nice. I had more freedom over my hours and I didn’t have Mr. Hudson breathing down my neck. In fact, I was his boss now and he had to report to me. I was lenient with him, but I knew there’d be a day when I would enforce those duties. However, that day wasn’t now.

  I worked closely with Theresa on the new account. Her excitement had waned, which made sense and I didn’t take offense to it. That meant that she had listened to Noah’s pleadings. One time I asked Carter if he still sparred with Noah in the mornings and he surprised me when he said he did. I thought their friendship would be strained, but it seemed like they went on as if nothing had happened.

  It was the end of a week and I was about to leave. But as I stepped outside and saw
the car waiting for me, I turned to Mike. He and Thomas stayed with me. They were the regulars. There were others, but I liked knowing who guarded my life the majority of time.

  His hand fell away from the car door. “Maybe coffee today?”

  I nodded and turned back inside. I went through the front lounge and headed for the café. Carter was gone again. Unlike the last couple times when he never told me where or why he was leaving, he explained to me the night before that he was going to Japan. He was brokering another business merger for a new website program. I nodded. I only cared about when he was coming back and I knew it would take at least a full day. It would be the longest we had been apart since the night he killed Scott Graham.

  When I went inside the cafe, Amanda was behind the register. She signaled for someone to take her place and gestured towards a back booth. It was our old booth. When I saw that she grabbed two mugs and a coffee pot, warmth flooded me. It felt good to be falling back into our old routine. It made me feel like I still had one other friend.

  “New threads?” she asked as she slid into the booth.

  I waited as she filled both mugs. “I got a promotion. It requires better clothes.” That was half true, but I wore the clothes Carter bought for me when I first went to live with him.