Chapter 10
Billie
I wake up to the best feeling in the world. Both physically and emotionally. I melt into Carter a little more, and when his hardness bumps my lower back, a thrill runs through me. He’s still sleeping, I think, and I turn slowly.
Smiling to myself, I watch my hand as it descends. There’s this desire with Carter that I’ve never felt in my life. It’s more than just sexual; it’s like… I want to please him. Want to make him feel what he makes me feel.
I slide my hand beneath his boxer briefs and grip him. He’s already so hard, and when it twitches, I gasp. I slide my hand up and down, absolutely loving how he feels. So silky and thick, I get a tingle between my legs knowing I’m doing this to him.
He hisses, and I lean up without letting my rhythm falter. “Hi.”
“Mornin’, honey.”
“Take these off.” I use my other hand to snap the elastic band, and he lifts his hips and works the material down his thighs. I notice a long scar on his shin that I didn’t before. I momentarily wonder where he got it, but on an upward stroke, I get rewarded with a drop of pre-cum.
“Christ,” he groans, and I sit up a little bit. “Come here.”
I shake my head. “I wanna watch.”
At my words, I get another twitch and a low rumble from him. He leans up on an elbow and sticks his hand in my shirt. He absentmindedly plays with my breasts, and I squirm, his touch spreading fire all over my body.
“I haven’t gotten a hand job since high school.” His words are labored, and I stop my movements, embarrassed that he hates it. “Shit, don’t stop.”
“Oh.”
“I love it. Fuck, you can feel how hard you make me. You’re about to make me come, too. Christ, everything you do feels amazing.”
I feel triumphant when I see the muscles in his stomach contract. “You wanna watch, honey? Here it comes.”
My fist tightens even harder, and when he pulses, I bring my other hand between his powerful thighs and cup his heavy sac. He groans long and hard as he comes in my hand and on his stomach. I’ve never seen anything hotter than that.
I bring my gaze back up to him to find him on his back with an arm thrown over his face. “Come here,” he mumbles, then sits up. He pulls me closer and pushes me to my back, then slides his hand between my legs. “How wet are you?”
“Very.”
He smiles and slides my shorts down, then, without hesitation, he slides two fingers inside me. They glide easily, and he groans. “All this from jackin’ me off?”
“Yeah, that was hot.”
“It was.”
I arch my back when he presses his thumb against my clit. “Carter.”
“Yeah, honey. I’m here. And I’m not gonna leave you again.”
Then he gives me my turn, and while we wash up in the shower, he gives me a bonus round.
Carter
“Find out who the fuck was there. I want their names yesterday, Graham.” I decided to contact him since he’s one of the firm’s PIs, but he’s also ex-FBI who still has contacts. I have a bad feeling in my gut about this thing, and I’m gonna pull in whatever stops necessary.
It’s enough, more than enough that I couldn’t do anything else to help Zoe, so I’ll be damned if I don’t engage every facet of my arsenal to protect Billie. It’s not overkill; nothing I do to keep her safe is too much.
“I’m on it. Christ, is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s actually not as upset as I thought she’d be after being forced to stand practically naked in front of a bunch of guys.”
He huffs out a laugh of disbelief. “For real?”
“Yeah, I think she’s putting on a show for me, though.” The way she dug her nails into me while she was sleeping last night gave so much away.
I end my call with Graham and drop my head as I gather my shit. I can’t think about what she went through without burning up. After our shower this morning, I ran to my place to get ready while she did the same in hers. But mainly, I needed to make that call. I’ve gotta get this shit figured out.
She doesn’t knock when she opens my door, and I love that. I want her to feel comfortable here ’cause this is where she’s gonna be for a long time. I walk over to her. “You look pretty.” I lean down and kiss the top of her head. She looks at her jean shorts and pink t-shirt and shrugs. She makes simple look beautiful. I told her I had a surprise for her today, so I grab her hand and lead her to my Jeep.
I love that she lets her hair down, so it blows in the wind. She doesn’t care that it’s going to be a huge mess, and Christ, that’s a turn-on. She’s so damn down to earth and just a natural beauty inside and out. It makes me want to put her in a fucking bubble so nothing and nobody can ever touch her.
When I stop at the back of a restaurant, she doesn’t ask any questions; she just lets me lead her in through the back. When I stop in the kitchen, she finally asks, “Where are we?”
“A restaurant.”
She rolls her eyes. “Duh, but nobody else is here.”
“They don’t open until later, but I know the owner, so it’s all good.”
“That would explain why you insisted I fill out an application for this place, then.” Her smile is back. “So what are we doing here?”
“I’m going to cook for you.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I know it’s kind of an unconventional date, but I thought it’d be cool.”
Her face lights up, and she bounces on her toes. “What are you going to make me?”
“Fried chicken.”
She raises her eyebrows. “You can make fried chicken?”
“Yes. And we’re doing it here ’cause it stinks up my apartment way too much.”
“How?”
“My dad is a chef.”
Her head tilts to the side and scrunches up her lips. God, she’s cute. “I have an idea.”
Twenty minutes later, I’m laughing my ass off. Her idea is awesome. I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun. How nothing else, not the past or anything else registered on my mind is fucking rad.
She challenged me to a cook-off. Apparently, this is one of the recipes she says she’s good at, so I agreed, feeling slightly guilty that I haven’t told her we’re at a restaurant my parents own. If there wasn’t so much going on right now, I’d tell her, but I don’t want to pile even more on her plate and make her feel uncomfortable here.
She pours some flour in a bowl, and when she sets the bag down, a white puff of dust coats her face. She giggles as she tries to wipe it off, and I grab a towel. “You missed a spot.” I gently dab it off and don’t miss the opportunity to kiss her again.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
I watch in awe as she breaks down an entire chicken. “Are you just gonna stand there? Afraid I’m gonna kick your butt?”
“Oh, honey, you have no idea.” I roll up my sleeves, and we cook next to each other. I love being in the kitchen; since I don’t hit the waves anymore, it’s what I do if I have any free time. It’s in my blood and something that brings me comfort at the absolute worst of times—when all I can think about is how much it fucked me up when Zoe died. Being in the gym helps to take aggression out, but being in the kitchen centers me.
Not a lot of girls would like this sort of thing, but I knew she would. And it’s another reason I like her so damn much.
She gets lost in what she’s doing, and I almost burn my chicken from being so mesmerized by her. We finish frying at the same time, and instead of plating, we just drop our finished meal into a basket.
As it’s cooling, we clean up real quick, then I grab the baskets and lead her out into the empty dining room. “Wow, it’s really beautiful in here.” She looks around and twirls in a circle to get the full view.
I walk behind the bar and grab a couple of glasses of water as she’s looking at the décor. My parents’ restaurant is beautiful. It’s classy without being pretentious. Welcoming without being too open.
There are large slabs of wood in the center of the dining area to accommodate large parties and along the sides, the same type of timber only smaller. The chairs are black metal with the same color cushions and hanging above each table is a vintage chandelier.
“Ready to have your mind blown?”
“You’ve already done that, Carter.” She smiles shyly, and my heart skips a beat. “But I’m afraid this is one battle you won’t win.”
I motion for her to go first, and she takes out a chicken leg that I fried. As she’s chewing, her eyes light up and she covers her mouth. “This is delicious.”
I raise a brow, not surprised.
“But not as good as mine.” She drops the bone and licks her fingers. “Go ahead… scared?”
All I want to do right now is reach across this table and pull her onto my lap so she can ride me. But with everything she’s been through, I know that’d be fucked up on my part. Plus, the employees could walk in any minute and no way in hell do I want anyone seeing her like that. So I grab a leg of hers instead and salute her with it.
When the juice of the chicken hits my tongue, I can’t hide the moan that tears through me. “Holy shit,” I mumble as I take another bite. “This is phenomenal.”
“Thank you.”
I immediately grab another piece as soon as I finish the first. She giggles as I go for a third, and that sound from her makes me hard.
“Where did you learn to cook like this?”
Melancholy sweeps through her as she sighs. “My mom.”
My gut is telling me to leave it be for now since she never talks about family, so I simply smile, and say, “I can’t wait to meet her.”
The sound of some pots and pans banging around makes her jump. “It’s okay. They’re just getting ready to prep for the night,” I reassure her. “Are you ready to go, or do you want dessert?”
“I have the cookies I made. I was going to give them to Reginald, but I can always make more.”
“Who the hell is Reginald?” The fact that I’m fucking jealous just because she mentioned another man’s name makes me realize how deep I already am with her.
“He’s the bus driver I always see on my way home from the market. He’s very friendly and very old,” she emphasizes. “So I started bringing him cookies if I ever made them.”
I lean back in the chair and look up just as Geoff comes out through the kitchen doors. “I thought that was your Jeep.” He sticks his hand out to me, and I shake it. “It is.”
Billie catches her breath and smiles at Geoff. “Hi there.”
“Geoff, this is my girl, Billie. Honey, this is Geoff. He’s the sous chef here.”
The shock on Geoff’s face makes me smirk. Anyone who knows me knows that me being in a relationship is a huge deal. Calling someone mine… that’s life-altering.