AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Carter was staring after me. “I’m not available?” I asked.
“Your brother?” His eyes were still glinting with something I couldn’t recognize.
“I didn’t need you to protect me.” I didn’tneedhim to step in. I had justwantedhim to.
Carter slid his hand up my arm and yanked me into him. He leaned his head down until his mouth met my ear and whispered, “I’m not protectingyou.I’m protecting myself.”
I leaned back. “Protecting yourself?”
He resumed his previous position, his arm holding me by the elbow. His lips weren’t touching me, but they might as well have. I could feel the air blow across my ear as he spoke, sending chills up my spine. “Seeing another man’s hands on you is fucking infuriating, Penelope.”
My knees went weak and my stomach dropped between my legs.
Yes, please say more things like that.
I straightened myself and tried not to appear affected by his words. I was far too into the game we were playing.“Well, I’m not done dancing.”
“What does that mean?”
I inhaled and craned my head so that my mouth was at the base of his neck. “It means, if you don’t want anyone else touching me, you better do something about that. I’m not leaving.” I turned around again, walking back to the center of the dance floor.
I found Macie at the corner of the dance floor, talking to Dom. He caught my eye and waved at me again, more exaggerated than before. I waved back. I noticed him looking Macie up and down, eyes lingering on the hem of her sparkly dress. He craned his neck toward the dance floor. She laughed, and I thought I may have seen her blush before she shook her head. She pointed above them, toward the second floor where I knew Jeremy was sitting. Dom nodded, then held his hands up in front of him as if surrendering. Macie shrugged before they both ended up dancing again. They didn’t touch. Macie took over the space as she had before, almost as if she was a force of nature. Dom watched her as if he’d never seen anything like it.
Only a moment later, a pressure came to my lower back, mixed with the scent of fresh rain. I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. Both hands slid slowly from my back and onto my hips. I put my hands over his to let him know it was okay. I pushed my body lightly against him to show him I approved of what he was doing.
He took my hands and guided them up to wrap around the back of his neck. I felt his hands then melt down my body as his arms coiled around my waist. I felt electric as our bodies moved in sync to the rhythm of the music. It felt almost artistic as we painted the dance floor, him the hand and me the brush. He spun me around to face him as my hands interlaced behind his head. He explored my body and a sense of familiarity washed over me. It was the same way he moved against me during that kiss all those years ago. I let my head drop back, focused solely on his touch. The club, the people, and even the music, seemed to melt away as we danced. I closed my eyes and felt his presence all around me. The heat of his body, the way his nose glided up my neck and against my cheek, coming to rest against my forehead. One song could’ve passed, or twelve, I had no way of knowing.
I opened my eyes to find him looking down at me. Forehead to forehead, nose to nose, mouth to mouth– almost. I could feel his breath against my lips, hot and wanting. That hunger was back in his eyes and I was sure mine were giving off the same thing. The past and the future made no difference to me now. Everything around me ceased to exist except for him.
“Kiss me,” I begged.
A tortured sound rose from the back of his throat. He closed his eyes and leaned in until his lips feathered against mine. He exhaled against my mouth. “Not here, Pep.”
“Take me home, then.”
He smiled against my lips, but it still wasn’t enough. He shook his head softly. “Not when we’re drunk.” I admired his resolve because I had none. If he offered it up, I’d fuck him in the bathroom right now.
He must’ve read my expression, my disappointment. Because he leaned into my ear, close enough that I’d be able to hear him clearly. That there’d be no mistaking his words. “Penelope, when I kiss you, I need you entirely sober. The only thing I want intoxicating you is me.”
He pulled back and studied me. All I could do was blink. And blaze. And melt.
“Take me home anyway. Let’s go home and go to bed.” If he would give me nothing else tonight, I just didn’t want the touching to stop. I wanted to fall asleep in his arms.
“Anything for you.”
I felt a little empty as his hands pulled away from me, but he grabbed my wrist and maneuvered us through the crowd. We spent less than a minute grabbing my purse and saying goodbye to our friends. Dom seemed to be getting along well with Macie, and as usual, Jeremy was glued to his phone. I almost felt bad leaving them there, but not bad enough to ignore how good it felt to leave with Carter.
Carter ordered us an Uber, and after arriving back at the villa, I was already sobering up. We readied for bed in silence, and I was thankful I had remembered to set up the hide-away bed before we left. I looked over at Carter as I pulled the covers back and crawled into it. He leaned against the wall that separated the front door from the kitchen. “I won’t hold what you said in the club against you. Do you want me to sleep on the floor?”
“Get in the bed,” I demanded as I turned over and flipped out the light. In the second it took the room to fade from light to dark, the bed dipped and two strong arms came around me. One across my pillow and underneath my cheek, the other across my stomach. His knee tucked between my legs and his chin at the base of my neck. His fingers stroked a circle around my thigh, soothing me to sleep.
Somewhere in the darkness between dreaming and consciousness, I thought I heard him whisper, “You’re all I ever wanted, Pep.”
Chapter Sixteen
Carter
ASHARPRADIATINGPAINin my kneecap woke me from my sleep.
