Chapter Twenty-Five
Carina
“Why were you speaking to him?” Josh tore off his suit jacket and threw it over the desk chair.
Carina watched him pace the room. He was definitely pissed, but another emotion seemed to be competing for dominance. His fingers furiously loosened his tie, as if he needed the room to help him breathe. “He approached me, Josh! Not the other way around. I want nothing to do with him. You can’t see that?”
He raked his hands through his hair while taking in one deep breath after another. “I need you safe, Carina,” he said, his tone softening.
It would have been so much easier to be angry at him. It would have been so much less dangerous to accuse him of being an overprotective, overbearing ass. And though he might be a bit of each, he was struggling with something else, something that she wanted to help him through.
The scene with Morgan and her standing at Gabe’s kitchen sink flashed through Carina’s mind. No regrets. Carina wasn’t going to wake up tomorrow wondering ‘what if.’
She took two steps toward him and stopped. With her head held high, she asked, “Why do you care, Josh? Because we’re friends?”
He stared at her beneath long silky lashes. “No woman should have to deal with a man like Ross.”
No regrets.
She took another step. Carina knew that her heart was on the line, but she wanted him…even if it was only for tonight.
“Don’t come any closer, Carina.” His eyes were dark and full of lust.
She knew what she was doing wasn’t going to end well, but her common sense was going to have to take a back seat. One more step. “Why? Are you going to hurt me?”
He licked his lips and exhaled. “I don’t hurt women.”
“No, you just fuck them.”
Josh eliminated the distance between them and his mouth crashed into hers. He groaned as his tongue sought entry. Moaning, she sucked and nipped at his tongue. He lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he walked her over to the bed. Their tongues dueled, their teeth clashed as she wrestled with the buttons on his shirt. Too many clothes. She needed to feel him against her…inside her.
“I’ll never fuck you, Carina. But I will make you mine tonight.” Her heart sank and rejoiced at the same time. Carina didn’t want to focus on his choice of words, that there was a time limit. She pushed that thought aside. She would nurse her wounded heart later. Tonight she was going to know what it was like to be his.
He placed her on the bed, sank to his knees and gently removed her heels. His hands trailed up her thighs and stopped when he found her garter belt. “So goddamn sexy,” he said, unclipping one and then the other. Her stockings were stripped off and tossed to the side. His movements were painfully slow. Her soaked panties were uncomfortable…and pissing her off. He stood and pulled her to her feet. She didn’t know when he did it, but her difficult hidden zipper had been located and already undone. He slipped her dress from her shoulders and she allowed the black silk to gather at her feet, leaving her standing there in only her bra and panties.
His breathing hitched and he took her mouth again. But there was nothing slow, nothing gentle about his movements now. He was hot and needy, just like her. She struggled with the last two buttons of his shirt but in the end prevailed. His shirt and t-shirt joined her silk dress on the floor while she started with his belt. She was grateful when Josh tossed her hand aside and he undid his belt and removed everything below the waist in seconds.
Carina just stared. She licked her lips as she took in his muscular chest and tight abs. But as her gaze moved south, she felt her eyes grow wide with want and…fear. She hadn’t been with anyone in eight years. She suddenly felt way out of her league. Hell, she had no league. She was practically revirginized.
He laid her on the bed, pushed her thighs apart with his knees and settled between them. “You’re beautiful,” he said. He leaned in, but just when she thought he was going to kiss her he lowered his head and kissed her neck, the sensitive spot below her right earlobe. Her back arched into his kiss and he took that moment to unsnap her bra and discard it with the rest of their clothes. She needed to feel him. But when she went to reach for his cock, he took her hand and then the other and placed them at either side of her head.
“No. I’m going to cherish you tonight.” His kisses moved to her breasts and he took a taut nipple between his teeth. He bit down and then sucked deeply. Pain morphed into pleasure and she cried for more.
Her mind was swirling, her body on fire and tingling with each caress. He continued to suck at her nipples while his fingertips found the waistband of her soaked panties. That was what she wanted. She needed that last bit of clothing gone. She needed him there. “Josh,” she groaned.
As if reading her mind, he tore her panties away. The sudden rush of air against her clit made her tremble. He took her mouth again, giving her bottom lip a quick nip, before kissing her. She felt the palm of his hand against her drenched curls and she bucked into him. She didn’t care what she looked like. How desperate she had become. “Ah God!” she screamed. He inserted a finger and then another. Her muscles locked, her orgasm loomed. “More,” she pleaded.
He removed his fingers, leaving her feeling empty and raging out of control.
She disobeyed his silent directive to keep her hands at either side of her head and reached for him. “I want…you inside me.” She was panting, begging, needing.
On bent elbows he hovered over her and looked into her eyes. He kissed her tenderly, slowly making love to her mouth. She felt his shaft slide along her slick folds and with one gentle thrust, he was completely inside her. She had thought that her years of abstinence would make for an unpleasant and painful experience, but the burn quickly subsided and she was shaking with pleasure.
“Christ, you feel so good,” he groaned. He was breathless as he slid out and pushed into her again.
“Josh,” she whimpered. She couldn’t form a coherent thought. Every inch of her ached for him.
“Am I hurting you?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, it just feels…” She couldn’t find the words.
“I know.” His tone was serious, almost somber, and she couldn’t help but wonder where his head was right now. “Come for me, Carina.” She had been on the verge ever since he first touched her, but his command sent her dangling over the edge.
“I can feel you clenching around me,” he said, through quick, shallow breaths. His eyes were locked onto hers. His fingers gripped her hair. “I can feel you,” he said again. His reverent tone was her undoing, causing her heart to swell.
He drove into her. Harder. Faster. The rapidly building pressure was too much. And not nearly enough. She wanted more. She wanted all of him.
“You’re mine,” he groaned.
You’re mine.
She let go from that ledge she had been clinging to.
And fell so fucking hard.
Her orgasm rippled through her, causing her entire body to vibrate within his arms. Three powerful strokes later and he was right there with her, flooding her with his heat. The muscles in his back tensed beneath her fingertips as he rode out his climax. He was trying to catch his breath when he brushed a lock of hair from her face with trembling fingers. He looked so beautiful like this. Vulnerable but strong. His eyes searched hers. His lips parted. She didn’t know what he was about to say. She had no idea what he was thinking, what would happen in the morning, when reality set in. So she played it safe. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, so she could feel his heartbeat against hers.