Page 27 of Summer Ride

Feeling him chuckle and buck under her was the drug that she’d been itching for.

“Yes.” She arched into his hands as he cupped her breasts. “I need…” She reached under the waist of his shorts and cupped him as her eyes locked with his. “Fast. Hard. Now.” She kissed him again.

They tossed their clothes aside quickly as they raced to claim one another. It was a lot like the first time that they’d been together in this very room.

Only this time when he plunged into her, she knew she no longer had a firm hold on her heart. Whatever had happened over the past few years, one thing was abundantly clear to her. Carter had won her over. There was no going back.

She was head over heels in love with the man. And that knowledge somehow scared her even more than knowing Axel was out there somewhere, waiting for her.

Losing her heart meant that she’d be willing to give up everything for him. If he asked her now, she might just give him every last secret she’d held so tightly to. Every last thing that she’d worked so hard to bury in her past. The one thing she had sworn she would never reveal. To anyone.

Chapter Eight

It was obvious something had changed with Kara. He could feel it in the way she held onto him as their breathing settled and their bodies cooled down.

Her nails dug into his shoulders still, as if she was desperately trying to keep him from breaking the contact. He had no intention of doing that anytime soon.

Even the silence between them was different, the way the air sparked with the memory of their energy. She was either on the verge of saying something profound or… she was going to apologize and retreat without talking about what had just happened. What it meant to her. What he meant.

That had been her MO since that very first time with her. He didn’t know if he could handle that anymore. This, what was now between them, was so much more now.

“I’m…” she started, but his anger flashed and he interrupted her.

“Don’t,” he said in a harsh tone, causing her to tense. “Just don’t apologize.” He shifted, removing her from his lap. He stood up and pulled on his clothes.

“I… wasn’t going to. I was going to…”

He lifted his eyebrows and turned towards her, then waited.

“Okay.” She threw her hands up. “I was going to apologize, but not for…” She waved between them. “I was going to say I was sorry for leaving marks.” She motioned to his chest.

He glanced down and then smiled. “I guess I’m used to you taking off after…”

She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“I’m done with running. Besides, we both know I never get very far.” She smiled up at him. “I am living with you now.”

He took her hand in his and kissed her. “I’m glad.”

“And I’m done with hiding.” She lifted her chin slightly. “Hiding from my past, from…”

“Axel?” he suggested with a frown.

She shrugged. “He always used fear and intimidation to get what he wanted. To keep me… afraid.” She took a deep breath. “I won’t let him do it again. I’m no longer little scared Mary Ester Boyle. I’m older and so much stronger.”

“That’s right, you’re Kara Regan,” he said with a smile. He felt his heart kick once very quickly in his chest. “The woman that I love.”

He’d expected… well, he didn’t know exactly how she would respond to his admission.

But her eyes went soft and then she was hugging him. He waited for her to say those words back to him, but instead, she said, “Let’s have some lunch,” against his chest.

He’d stopped off and had grabbed two lunches, like he’d promised Kara earlier. He’d rushed as fast as he could after Andrea had texted him saying that he was needed in the pool house.

The moment Kara had stepped out of the back room, he could tell she wasn’t doing so great. She looked better after the sex than she had after the massage and had clearly needed him to take her mind off of the fear that was probably eating at her.

While they sat out by the pool and ate, guests enjoyed themselves all around them. The bar and dining area across the pool from the pool house was easily one of his favorite spots on the grounds.

There was a sand volleyball court off to one side and there was always a game going on, which filled the area with laughter and cheers.