My phone started ringing and it took all of my energy to look over and check it. I felt my stomach fall as I saw Carter’s name on the screen, and I quickly looked away from it.

I’d spent all day so far sitting by the pool, trying not to feel totally mortified. I was bored, embarrassed, and angry at everything that had happened so far. I wanted nothing more than to get the hell away from the mansion, but I knew that I couldn’t do it.

There was some commotion up at the main house, but I just ignored it. I had no interest in whatever stupid crisis was happening. None of it mattered to me anymore, not after that horribly embarrassing situation the night before.

I couldn’t even think about it without getting angry all over again. The fact that Carter would do that to me shocked me, but also drove me insane.

I took a deep breath and turned my phone off. I couldn’t let this distract me and get me angry all over again. I had just nearly fallen asleep but suddenly I was wide awake, anger bubbling beneath the surface.

I had to get up. I tossed my towel aside and dove into the pool. I started swimming laps, drowning out everything else but the repetitive motion of stroke after stroke. I’d get to the other end, do a turn, kick off the wall, and continue to the other side. Over and over I swam, not too fast but not too lazy either. I wanted to tire myself out, work some of the tension from my muscles. I wanted to feel sore by the time I was finished, sore like the ache between my legs that lingered from Carter.

It was impossible not to think about him, at least a little bit. He kept sliding into my consciousness, getting past my defenses, inserting himself into my mind. I resented that a lot, that I couldn’t just swim laps without thinking about that asshole. He wasn’t so important that I had to obsess about him, that arrogant ass.

I didn’t know how much time passed, but I just kept swimming. Eventually, I could feel the fatigue setting in. I felt heavy in the water and my strokes came harder with each new lap. As I hit the wall and turned to start another lap, I noticed someone standing at the side of the pool. I stopped swimming and looked up, surprised to see Carter himself standing there, gesturing at me.

“What do you want?” I called out to him.

“Get out of the pool,” he said. “I need to talk to you.”

I made a face. “You don’t order me around.”

He shook his head, an urgent look on his face. “It’s important. Did Cox talk to you?”

“Cox?” I shook my head. “I haven’t seen him.”

“Did you notice all the extra security?”

“What?” I did see some extra guys up at the house, but it hadn’t really occurred to me what that meant.

“Emily, please. I need to show you something. It’s important.”

His mention of security grabbed my attention. Under other circumstances, I probably would have blown him off and ignored him completely, but I could see something important was going on. Reluctantly, I got out of the pool and grabbed my towel, wrapping it around myself.

He was sitting on the chair next to mine, facing me. He had some papers in his hands that looked like they were written by a serial killer. They used that cheesy cut up thing where each letter was cut from a different magazine or some crap like that.

“We got this one today,” he said, showing me the paper.

I frowned, shaking my head as I read it. “What’s it mean?”

“I don’t know. But it specifically mentions that you’re in danger.”

“Is this connected with the dog?”

“Probably,” he admitted. “There’s more.”

“What?”

“I got this one after we . . . “ he trailed off. “You know. In the bath.”

“Yeah,” I said and took the paper from him.

I felt a cold dread in my stomach as I read the note. I had to read it a few times before the weight of it really settled in.

“What does this mean?” I asked him softly.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It means that someone knows something, or maybe they think they know.”

“Who sent these?”

“I don’t know that, either.”

“You got this after we had sex,” I said slowly.

He nodded, his eyes sad. “Right after. Cox called me into his office.”

It hit me then and I nearly wanted to cry. It seemed so obvious, but how could I have possibly seen this happening? Suddenly all of my brooding and anger felt stupid and childish, like I was some spoiled brat. From my perspective, he had been a complete asshole and had used me. But this new information told me a different story.

“Do you get it now?” he asked.

“This is why you wanted to talk last night,” I said.

“Right. I thought . . . “ He shook his head. “I wanted to protect you. I tried to explain.”

“But I ran off.”

“Yeah, well. I can’t blame you.”

“I thought you were just tossing me aside.”

“No,” he said. “I’d never do that.”

“Never?”

“Maybe to others. Maybe in the past. But I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“This is serious, Carter.” I handed the paper back to him. “Someone is threatening me.”

“I know. That’s why I had Cox double security again. And he’s supposed to be with you.”

“I don’t see him near here.”

He nodded gravely, looking away. “I’m aware of that.”

“What are we going to do?”

“We should back away,” he said softly, looking at me.

Before I could answer, there was a buzzing sound in the distance. Carter perked up and looked around, his eyes wide. The buzzing wasn’t too loud or too near, but it was distinct enough that we could both hear it clearly.

“What’s that?” I asked him.

“Drone.”

“One of ours?”

He shook his head. “Can’t say.”

“What should we do?”

“Come on, follow me.”

He stood up and took my hand, dragging me along with him. We walked quickly, nearly at a run, as the buzz got louder. He took me over to the pool-house, a little shed not too far away. He threw open the door and dragged me inside, throwing the door shut behind us as he pressed me up against a wall, his arms wrapped around me.

My breath came fast and ragged. At some point during our escape, my towel had fallen off, and I was pressed against him wearing just my bikini top and bottom. His suit was wet from my body where I was held against him. The sound of the buzzing slowly receded, and we never actually saw the drone.

He slowly looked toward me, and it became intensely apparent that we were pressed close together in a dark, private space, both of us breathing deeply. We had just dodged something, though neither of us knew what it was, but the specter of danger was still hot in the air.

More than that, the memory of his body in the Turkish bath was still fresh in my mind. The hurt I felt the night before was still there as well, but it wasn’t so bad now that I understood what he was trying to do. Maybe he hadn’t gone about it very well, but he did have my best interest in mind at least.

“Seems that we always find ourselves in these situations,” he said softly.

“What situation is that?”

“Compromising.”

I stared at him for a second, my mouth hanging open, until he kissed me.

It was stupid, so damn stupid, and we both knew it. We had just ran into a pool-house together because we were afraid of some malicious and evil force that was out to get us. We didn’t even know if that buzz was a good drone or a bad one, and more likely than not it was a good one. Still, we clearly both were afraid of whoever wrote the notes, and we both knew that we shouldn’t be anywhere near each other.

Instead, I unbuckled his belt as he kissed me.

Excitement pulsed through my veins, hotter and deeper than anything before. This was so damn wrong on so many levels, but for some reason that only made it that much hotter. What the hell was I doing, unbuttoning his pants and reaching down into his boxer briefs? His cock was hard as hell as I started to stroke him, not being slow or gentle.

He kissed my neck, grunting, his hands on my body. He pulled up my top and teased my nipples as he shoved his other hand down my bottoms, finding my soaking wet pussy.

“Oh shit,” I gasped as his fingers pressed inside me. He wasn’t being gentle, either. There was an unspoken intensity between us, and we both knew what we wanted. We didn’t have time to be gentle and nice and we both knew it. If we wanted this, we had to take it.

And Carter was going to take it. He pressed me harder against the wall, lips on my nipples as he pressed his fingers deep inside of me. I gasped and moaned as he teased my clit then fucked me with his fingers, sliding them in and out, lips kissing my breasts.

“I knew you were a bad girl,” he said softly. “But maybe I didn’t now how bad.”

“Shit. We both know this is wrong.”

“Very wrong,” he agreed, his fingers deep inside of me. He pinned my one hand back over my shoulder with his other hand. “Very fucking wrong.”

“It’s stupid,” I said, half-moaning.

“But you’re not going to stop me.”

“No,” I gasped.

He pulled his other hand out of my bottoms and quickly untied them. My bottoms dropped to the ground as he hooked my legs under his arms, lifting me into the air and shoving me back against the wall.

I gasped, surprised as how easily he lifted me. His pants were half-off and his cock was hard as hell as he pressed himself inside of me, lowering me down along his hard shaft.

“Oh fuck,” I moaned as he thrust deep inside of me. I was pressed against the wall, my arms around his neck, his cock deep inside of me.

“That’s right,” he said. “This is what I should have done last night. I should have ripped off that lingerie and fucked that tight cunt with my tongue until you were screaming for my cock.”

“Yes,” I moaned. “You should have.”

“Instead, I’m going to fuck you right here. Punish you for running away.”

“Shit, yes. Punish me.”

He fucked me hard and rough, slamming into me, supporting my body against the wall. It was hot and rough and fast, almost the opposite of what it was like in the bath. He wasn’t trying to butter me up or take things slow, he was simply fucking my body and taking me.

He slowly lowered me to the ground then spun me around, spreading my legs wide. He spanked my ass hard, a loud slapping sound in the otherwise empty space.

“God damn, I love that sound,” he said. I looked over my shoulder at his grin. He was stroking his cock as he slapped my ass again, and I moaned.

“Don’t tease me,” I begged. “We don’t have much time.”

“I have as much time as I want,” he said.

“We can’t get caught. You know that.”

He slapped my ass again then grabbed my hair and pulled my head back. “Fuck getting caught,” he whispered in my ear, and then pressed himself deep inside of me.

I gasped as I took him in again, bracing myself against the wall. He took my hips and fucked me furiously, hard and rough.

“Is this what you wanted?” he asked, pulling my hair back.

“Fuck yes,” I moaned. “God, yes.

He slammed into me, not being gentle or slow. We were two animals sweating and rutting in the dark, desperate for each other’s body. I needed to take every inch of him, needed him to fuck me and pull my hair, and take me the way I loved to be taken. The fact that it was so damn forbidden and wrong at this point just made it so much hotter. I was dripping wet as he slid in and out, pounding into me, fucking me, treating me like the dirty girl I was.

I felt his hand reach around my hips and work my clit as he wrecked me, slamming in and out. I moaned, head tipped back, on the verge of coming. I couldn’t hold it back, couldn’t stop myself. It was all so fast and hot, so intense and powerful that I had to give in to what was happening.

“You bad girl,” he whispered in my ear. “You love that this is wrong, don’t you? You love getting fucked by your daddy. You love taking my thick cock.”

“Oh fuck yes, Carter,” I moaned. “Please, don’t stop. I’m so close.”

“You want to be my filthy girl. You don’t care if I’m married to your mother, or that people want to keep us apart. You want your wet, tight cunt wrapped around my thick cock and that’s all you care about. You’re a filthy fucking girl and you love it.”

“Yes,” I moaned, the orgasm slamming through me. “Yes, I’m fucking filthy.”

I came hard, his cock and his fingers unrelenting. I slammed my hips back, hair cascading around me, taking his every inch, the orgasm overwhelming me.

“Fuck,” he groaned, his thrusts getting faster and more insistently. “Fuck girl. I’m going to fill this pussy up.”

I moaned as he came inside of me, my orgasm finishing as he grunted against me, overtaken by his own orgasm. It was hot, intense, and a mess, and it was exactly what I wanted all day. Slowly, he finished, and pulled himself out of me, leaning back against the door.

I smiled at him and put my bottoms back on. He shook his head and managed to get his pants back on, sweating slightly and breathing deep.

“Shit,” he said. “I told myself I wasn’t going to do that.”

“Same.”

“Guess we both fucked up, then.”

“Are you complaining?”

He walked over to me, cupped my cheek, and kissed me. “No,” he said after a moment.

I stared at him, surprised by the way he looked at me. I didn’t know if he was aware of it himself, but he looked at me like he never wanted to look away, and for a second it stole my breath.

I never imagined someone could look at me like that. The moment passed, though, as he went to the window to make sure nobody was around. We had to sneak out and make sure people didn’t catch us, but I still had that look burned into my mind.