Whiskey and Lace (Lace Series) (3 page)

Eating spaghetti was an embarrassing experience in the best of times, but my nerves were on overdrive trying to eat with some elegance in front of Carter. 

"You've got sauce." His eyes gleamed in amusement as he gestured to the corner of my mouth. I blushed in embarrassment and slid my tongue along my bottom lip to catch the sauce. Carter's eyes widened for a moment and then he leaned in with a dangerous gleam in his eye. He touched the corner of my lip gently with the pad of his thumb and then slid it between his lips and sucked it off. My heart thudded in my ears. 

"You plus my tomato sauce tastes delicious." He grinned. I rolled my eyes at him. I twirled more pasta around my fork and took a bite, slurping the last errant noodles between my lips with a smile. 

"So ladylike." Carter grinned. My tongue darted out along my lips to clean up the sauce. Carter's eyes zoomed to my lips and watched with a lusty grin. 

"Done?" Carter raised an eyebrow.

"Not yet." I set my fork down and reached for my wine glass, sipping the red liquid and letting it swirl around over my taste buds. I closed my eyes and moaned softly at the rich liquid sliding down my throat. I heard Carter groan and my eyes flashed open just as Carter reached me and swung me into his arms. 

"Where are we going?" My brows knit together in confusion. 

"My bed," he mumbled through clenched teeth. Carter hauled me up the stairs to the top floor and leaned me back on his bed. He crawled over me, hiking my dress up along the way. He laved along my neck with his tongue and then pinched my flesh between his teeth. I pressed my hips into his hardness and tangled my fingers in his silky, toffee hair. 

"Oh God, Carter. Please." I panted.

"Please, what?" He kneaded the flesh of my breasts through my dress.

"Undress me." I arched my body into his. He hauled me forward and pulled the fabric over my head then teased the strap of my bra with his teeth before pulling it off of my shoulder. 

"So beautiful." he pulled the cups down, forcing the flesh up over the fabric. He pinched one nipple between his fingers and sucked the other into his mouth. A rush of heat drove straight to my center. Carter had the ability to drive me to the brink of orgasm with just a few simple touches. 

"Please, Carter," I moaned. He palmed my mound from the outside of my panties, giving me the friction my body craved. 

"Tell me what you want." His fingers ghosted over the fabric. 

"You, I want you. Fuck me, Carter." I writhed in his palm. 

"With pleasure." Carter grabbed the edge of my panties and tore them off of me. He flipped me over on the bed with my bottom in the air. 

"So sexy." He smoothed his hand over the curves of my body and then dipped his fingers into my center. "And always so ready for me." 

I heard the zipper of his jeans come down. I pushed my bottom further into him to urge him on and felt him against my cheeks. His hand came down in one quick smack and he slammed into me at the same time. The instant fullness was overwhelming and a groan escaped my throat. Carter twisted his hand in my hair and pulled hard so my back was arched for him. He pumped fast and furious, as if he couldn't get enough of me. 

"So fucking hot, Evangeline. Your body looks beautiful when I take you like this." 

My hands twisted in the bed sheets as I struggled to maintain control. My insides pulsed at his words. I knew I would come soon, I couldn't even think of stopping it. My walls began to quicken in anticipation. 

"Not yet, Evangeline." Carter pulled out of me just as quickly as he'd entered. He flipped me over and held both of my ankles above his shoulders. I bit down on my bottom lip; my body was so overworked right now I was straining to not fall over the cliff from the slightest brush of his skin.

"Open your eyes, I want to see you when you come." Carter slammed into me again.

"God, you feel so good." My hands clenched the top of his thighs as he pounded into me. A few errant locks of hair fell over his forehead and his skin glistened with a fine sheen of sweat. He looked undeniably beautiful and was all raw, primal male. One hand came down to press on my mound and he worked my sensitive center in circles with his thumb. He pressed and pinched and lightened his touch, only to repeat the process again. 

"I fucking love being inside you, Evangeline." Carter slammed and pinched and I fell over the edge, unable to hold my orgasm anymore. I felt Carter lose himself inside me and my body shuddered in pleasure as his thrusting slowed before he finally draped his long, lean form over me. I could feel our hearts pounding together furiously as we struggled to control our breathing.

Carter skimmed my earlobe with his teeth and then pressed his lips to the skin of my neck.

"You are so beautiful," he whispered in my ear. I could only smile in response, my body still weak. He ran his fingers through my tangled hair and nuzzled into my ear, taking a long, deep breath. "You smell beautiful," he whispered. I sighed contentedly and then rolled and wrapped my arms around his body. I opened my eyes slowly a few beats later to find him staring at me thoughtfully. A slow grin spread across my face. 

"What?" He smiled. 

"You." I whispered. 

"What about me?" He traced the shell of my ear lightly with his thumb. 

"You're all lovey post-orgasm." 

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I suppose so." He kissed me softly on the lips. "Will you come with me to a dinner tomorrow? I'm meeting with a client and his wife, it's business, disguised as dinner." He traced my lips with his thumb. 

"You're asking me?" My eyebrows arched in surprise. 

"Of course." He pulled away.

"Usually I'm told where I'll be, at what time, and what I'll be wearing." I smiled at him. 

"I can do that too, if you like." He smirked. 

My fingertips traced along the lines of his collarbone and shoulder. "I can't go. I promised Cate and Sawyer I would go to the Japanese steakhouse that just opened around the corner. They've been bugging me for a week, but I've been consumed with someone else." I smirked back at him. 

"You're going with Sawyer?" His body stiffened instantly. 

"Yeah, why?" My eyes shot to his. 

"He's sure around a lot." Carter grumbled. 

"He's Cate's brother." I shrugged. 

"He wants to get in your pants, Evangeline." Carter's eyes bore into mine. 

"No, he doesn't." I rolled me eyes. 

"He does." Carter's fingers tightened into my bare hip. "I don't share, Evangeline." His eyes flashed possessively.

"Don't be such a caveman." I pushed him away with some force to let him know I was serious. "Sawyer and I are so old news. He's moved on, and even if he hasn't, I'm interested in someone else." I smiled and traced my thumb along the curve of his mouth. Carter's hand grabbed my wrist and held it tightly. 

"What do you mean he's moved on? You dated him?"

"A long time ago. In high school." I tried to pull my hand away.

"Did you sleep with him?" Carter's grip tightened on my wrist. I clenched my teeth in anger. 

I ripped my hand out of his grasp, "Yes, I lost my virginity to him when I was
sixteen
." Carter's eyes flamed with anger. 

His jaw clenched as the silence stretched between us. "When did you breakup?" 

"When I was a freshman in college."

"I don't want you to see him.
Ever
." His eyes narrowed at me.

"Too bad. He's Cate's brother, he's in my life." I rolled off of the bed and reached for my discarded dress.  

"Do you love him?" My head whipped around at his frank question. 

"Of course not. I thought I did at one time. But I was sixteen, Carter." I slipped the dress over my head. 

He regarded me thoughtfully. "I don't want you to see him. I can't stand the thought of his hands on your body, Evangeline. I can't stand that when he looks at you, he knows what you look like without your clothes on. I can't stand that he's been where I've been." A cold fury settled in his eyes. 

I ground my teeth together in anger. I slipped my shoes on and then turned and walked out of Carter's room, down the stairs and straight out of his front door. 

I walked across Beacon Street and through the gates of the public garden. I followed the winding path with angry steps. My phone buzzed in my hand and I looked down to see Carter's name flashing across the screen. I worried my bottom lip with my teeth. I hit silent and threw my phone into my bag. 

I didn't want to see him. I wasn't interested in talking to him. There was nothing he could say that could excuse his behavior. Thinking he could control who I could and couldn't see was absurd. 

Carter had me reeling from the day I'd met him. In the short time I'd known him he'd managed to consume my entire life. At least he'd shown his true colors before I'd gotten in too deep. 

I slowed my pace because I knew I already was in too deep. I would need time to recover from the sexy, dangerous, controlling, intoxicating Carter Morgan. 

I pulled my phone out of my bag and found eight missed calls and six new text messages in the few minutes it had taken me to cross the garden and exit onto Arlington. 

-
PICK UP YOUR PHONE!
The last text read. I sighed. He was trying to bulldoze me again. I threw my phone back into my bag with force and crossed the street and made my way home. 

The next morning I woke up with a massive headache from tossing and turning all night. Carter had been trying to call me and I'd kept hitting ignore. Cate asked me what was wrong, but I wasn't willing to talk about it considering our blowout involved her brother. 

My brain needed to process it all first before I made any decisions. Carter and I had gone from a brief introduction at a party to fucking in his office a week later. All I could think of was getting a large dose of caffeine into my system. 

I stepped into my walk-in and looked for something warm to protect against the October chill. While I made good money, I wasn't rich by any means. Designer clothing was the one thing I was willing to splurge on, and the other areas of my life had been known to suffer for it. I didn't own a car; it wasn't necessary in a congested city like Boston anyway, so I saved on a car payment and insurance. I was also pretty frugal in other areas of my life. I didn't eat out often and other than rent, my bills were pretty low. Not everything I wore was designer; I adored my worn pair of Gap jeans just like the next girl, and I've never found a consignment store I didn't like. Beautiful clothing was an art form; it had the ability to transform my mood. 

I finally settled on a Burberry sweater dress that had black and navy stripes and a scoop neck. It was casual and comfy, but still was fitted enough to be flattering. I put on a pair of ankle boots and headed for the coffee shop in the hopes of chasing Carter Morgan from my brain and getting some work done. 

I sat working for a few hours, sipping a triple vanilla latte when a hulking figure loomed over my table. 

"Evangeline." 

My heart leapt into my throat at his icy voice. I licked my lips nervously and looked up into his steely blue eyes. The air left my lungs. I did not want to do this here. I didn't want to do this at all. 

"Is something wrong with your phone?" He ground threw clenched teeth. 

"No." I held his gaze. 

"Then why the fuck aren't you answering it?" I blinked at his harsh words. 

"I'm not doing this, Carter."

"Oh, we're doing this." He closed my laptop and shoved it in my bag. I crossed my arms and huffed at him. "I deserve an answer, Evangeline." He flung my bag over his shoulder and hauled me up by the crook of my elbow. 

"I can walk, thank you." I wrenched my arm from his grip and headed for the doors of the coffee shop. He grabbed my elbow again and hauled me into the back seat of the Bentley. 

"Drive," he snapped at Parker in the front seat before the privacy glass went up. 

"What the fuck is your problem?" His eyes bore into mine. 

"My problem? You trying to dictate who my friends are is my problem." I crossed my arms and glared out the window. 

"He's your ex, I don't think that's too much to ask," Carter snarled. 

"Well, I think it is. Are we done? I've got work to do."

"Will you at least look at me?" Carter's tone softened. I took a deep breath and willed myself to relax and think rationally. I turned and glared at him. A small frown played across his lips. I sat silently waiting for him to say more. 

"I wish you weren't mad at me." His eyes were soft and genuine. 

"I wish you weren't a controlling, insecure stalker." I spat. His eyes shot up in surprise at the venom in my voice. 

"He's in your life?" His eyes watched me. 

"Yes," I deadpanned. 

"Forever?" 

"Maybe." 

Carter took a deep sigh. I could see the thoughts turning over in his mind. "You don't want him?"

"No."

"What if I say that I can live with him in your life then? Will you not be mad at me?" I couldn't help the grin that lifted the corners of my mouth at his childish question. 

"I don't know, Carter. You can't tell me who I can be around. I don't love being around Sawyer, but he's Cate's brother, so he's around. And I'm not giving up Cate, ever." I trailed off. 

"I want you back, Eva." His hand brushed down my arm and he wrapped his fingers in mine. "I'll do anything if you'll come back." He squeezed my hand. I sat looking at our hands intertwined. I didn't know if I could deal with his mood swings; if I was willing to. When it was great with Carter, it was so great, but he could make me angry enough to spit bullets. I heaved a sigh and worked our brief relationship over in my brain. 

"I've told you I want you back, Eva, and you've said nothing." Carter turned my body to face him. 

"You piss me off, Carter." I glared at him. 

"I piss a lot of people off." He continued to watch me. "But we're good too, right?" The corners of his mouth lifted in a small grin. 

"Yes," I admitted, still a little angry. "I can see Sawyer?"

Carter heaved a sigh. "Yes, I don't like it, but you can."