Precious Lace (Lace #4) (6 page)

  "I know you do."

  I lay back on the desk and heaved a few more breaths, willing the oxygen to fill my lungs. 

  "That was an incredible ending to a stressful day, Mrs. Morgan."

  A smile lifted the corners of my mouth. Indeed it was, the memory of Nikki was long gone.  

  I spent Saturday unpacking a few things, mostly clothes, as Cate was the owner of most of the things in our apartment. Any furniture that had been mine I’d let her keep since I wouldn't need it at Carter's house. I felt bad to have moved in with her just a few months ago and here I was moving right back out again, but she assured me it was more than fine. Cate's parents had given her the gift of a substantial down payment on the apartment she owned on Chandler Street, so she assured me I was not leaving her in a bind financially.

  I'd hung clothes in the massive walk-in closet and wondered how Carter and I had gotten to this point. He'd managed to fully insert me into his life; just what he'd been doing from the start, forcing my hand, bulldozing and railroading, refusing to take no for an answer. He was lucky I loved him, otherwise I wouldn’t dream of putting up with him. 

  I wasn't entirely upset about moving in with Carter—more irritated at the way he'd gone about moving me in. After my realization at the restaurant, that I was the one putting a strain on our relationship because of my insecurities, I'd decided to go all in with Carter. He deserved it; we deserved it. Whenever fear would start to get the better of me I remembered our blissful few weeks in Aspen and reminded myself that we would work and our life together would be beautiful and happy. 

  "Everything okay?" Carter ran his hand up and down my leg. We were in his Aston Martin going to his parent's home late Sunday morning. 

  "I’m nervous," I whispered as I twisted my hands in my lap. 

  "They're going to love you."

  "How do you know?" 

  "Because I love you." He shot me a crooked grin. "Plus I've told them all about you. They're excited to meet you."

  "You didn't tell them everything did you?" I raised an eyebrow at him. 

  "That we're married? No, but I wish you'd let me." He frowned. 

  "I need to tell my parents. I need time." I stared out the window watching large brick homes with perfectly manicured lawns and perfectly symmetrical hedges pass by. 

  "It feels like you're ashamed of us." Carter stroked my leg in small circles with his fingertips. 

  "I’m not, Carter. It's just that no one is going to understand why we did it so fast. I don't even know why we did it so fast." I placed my hand on top of his and squeezed. 

  "I do. I love you. I wanted to make you mine. I wanted you in my life forever. It's as simple as that. And I don't give a fuck what anyone thinks. I wish you felt the same." I could sense his pain mingled with irritation. 

  "I do, Carter. It's just more complicated than that," I sighed. 

  "Not to me, it's not."

  "I know to you it's not. It never is to men." I rolled my eyes as Carter turned into a long driveway, heading toward a stately brick colonial with white pillars and black shutters. The lawn was a vibrant shade of green and a gentle sloping hill stretched out on either side. It was the classic, wealthy New England home in the classic, wealthy New England neighborhood for the classic, wealthy New England family. The butterflies that had been fluttering around in my stomach jumped into my throat.

  "Enough with the nerves, Mrs. Morgan." He placed a soft kiss on my lips after he put the car in park. I surrendered myself to his mouth and kissed him back, darting my tongue along his soft lips, silently asking to prolong the inevitable. He pulled back with a small smile. 

  "Later." The corner of his mouth lifted in a grin. I heaved a giant sigh. 

  Carter walked around the car and opened the door, helping me out, and then walked with my hand firmly locked in his to the front steps of his parent's home. He opened the heavy black door and all of a sudden we were bombarded. 

  His sister, Emma, sprinted up first. She threw her arms around Carter's neck and stood on her tiptoes to hug him. 

  "I’m so glad you guys are here!" she squealed and then turned to me and enveloped me in a tight hug. My eyes widened for a minute in surprise before I put my arms around her small frame and gave her a light hug.

  "It's so great to meet you! Carter has told me so much!" Her bright eyes shown back at me. 

  "It's great to meet you, too." I smiled at her genuinely. Her bubbly attitude was infectious and made me feel a little more at ease. 

  Carter's mom walked up behind Emma and embraced Carter warmly, kissing his cheek. 

  "We're so glad you could come, Evangeline." She turned and wrapped me in a soft hug. I awkwardly placed my arms around her; hugging was not something we did often in my family, but it did make me feel welcome.

  Carter's brother and dad trailed behind the women of the house and nodded and exchanged friendly greetings. 

  "Everyone. This is Evangeline. Evangeline, this is everyone—my mom Kara, Emma, Derek, and my dad James." Carter squeezed my hand. 

  "Hi," I said softly. 

  "Let's head out to the deck. Food is nearly ready." Carter's mom placed a hand on Emma’s shoulder and hustled everyone through the foyer and towards the French doors on the opposite end of the house. 

  "Can I help with anything?" I offered. 

  "Not at all, Evangeline." Carter's mom smiled as she placed a hand on my shoulder. "Just make sure that boy of mine gets you something to drink."

  "What do you want, love?" Carter wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pressed a kiss on the top of my head. Kara's eyes flickered in delight. 

  "Whatever you're having?" I looked up at him. 

  "A beer?" 

  I scrunched my nose and shook my head. 

  "We have wine or lemonade," Kara offered. 

  "Wine would be good." I smiled up at Carter.

  "Sure thing. I'll bring it out to you." He guided me out the French doors to the patio. I sat down next to Emma and she immediately asked me about my job. I knew from Carter that she was interested in fashion so I wasn't surprised. 

  "Carter says you’re a fashion editor." 

  "Yes, I work at Trend29."

  "Oh, I love that website! I'm a bit of a shopaholic. Carter said we'll get along great!"

  I laughed at her exuberance. We chatted for a while about fashion and her future. She was enrolled at Boston University for marketing and hoped to own a boutique someday. I told her Cate was a designer, and surprisingly she had heard of her. Emma was more up on the fashion scene than I’d thought. 

  Carter set a glass of red wine in front of me as his dad pulled steak and seafood kabobs off the grill. Carter's mom brought an assortment of sides to the table and everything was served family style. 

  The weather had just the slightest chill in the air but was still warm enough to enjoy the last fall days before winter slipped in. Carter's mom asked us how we'd met then about the charity ball that Carter and I had attended. She explained that she was involved with that charity so Carter was a generous supporter. Everything was delicious and the wine had loosened me up enough to enjoy the conversation. 

  Carter's family gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling; they were exactly the kind of family I’d always dreamed of having. While things weren't ever bad in my own family, I was often lonely as an only child and my parents were more reserved. Not the sort of family that overflowed with love and affection as Carter's seemed to be. 

  Carter's hand caressed my thigh under the table and he shot me sexy glances every once in a while. The love shown in his eyes—he looked like the happy, carefree Carter I'd seen in the photo on his desk in Aspen. When conversation turned to the Red Sox, Carter leaned over and whispered in my ear. 

  "Let me give you a tour." His breath washed over my skin and my nerve endings tingled. He gripped my hand and we stood and walked through the house. He took me straight to the stairs off the foyer and I arched an eyebrow. 

  "What about the living room? Or the kitchen?" I giggled. 

  "I really just wanted to show you my bedroom," he said. Those few words sent shock waves straight between my legs. Arousal throbbed through my veins and had my head buzzing in anticipation. The wine no doubt had my body teetering on the edge of lust.

  He led me up the stairs and down the long hallway to the last room on the left. He opened the door and we walked into a tasteful navy blue bedroom with pale wood floors and white trim.  

  I walked around the room, Carter's hand held tightly in mine. The two windows on the far wall overlooked the sprawling back lawn and had a view of the loving family sitting around the patio table, laughing, smiling and exchanging stories. It made my heart swell with happiness. 

  "I love your family." I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned my head into his shoulder. 

  "I knew you would." He kissed me on the head. "They love you too."

  "How do you know?" 

  "I can tell. I think Emma and mom love you more than me." He pulled away with a grin and gave me a peck on the lips. He slipped his hands low down my back and locked them above my bottom. The gesture was sweet yet still suggestive enough to cause the blood to thicken in my veins. I slipped my hands up under his shirt and smoothed them along his soft skin. I explored and stroked as he rocked me back and forth with a gentle rhythm. 

  "I love you." I looked up at him with a soft smile. 

  "I love you, too," his husky voice said before he lowered his lips and kissed me slowly. Our tongues danced together, smoothing and searching and caressing. I kept one hand under his shirt stroking his chest and the other slid out and up his torso to tangle in his hair and pull his lips firmer to mine.

  We stood kissing like teenagers in his bedroom for long moments before he pulled away. 

  "You know..." He rested his forehead against mine. "I’ve never had a girl in here." He slid his large hands over the curve of my bottom and stroked softly. His soft, kneading fingers caused arousal to dampen between my thighs. The wine was no doubt making me much more susceptible to his seduction than normal, if that were possible.

  "Never, Mr. Morgan?" I quirked an eyebrow at him in surprise. 

  "Not for lack of trying." He gave me a devilish grin. His hands slipped further down the cheeks of my bottom and pulled the fabric of my dress up so he could stroke the top of my thighs. 

  "Carter," I whispered into his neck. My head was swimming with need. I couldn’t think straight if I wanted to. 

  He captured my lips with his own and walked us back toward the large bed. He pushed me to sitting without breaking the contact of our lips. My neck was stretched to meet his soft mouth as he held his palms behind my head, and leaned over, pressing his lips to mine. My body arched to meet him and I knew it was an erotic image that would be emblazoned in my brain forever. 

  "You're so beautiful." One hand smoothed down the curve of my neck and palmed the flesh of my breast through the fabric of my dress. I moaned and arched my neck back further with pleasure. "Have I told you today that I’m the luckiest man alive that you said yes?" His lips whispered against my own. I groaned in response and wrapped my fingers around his neck, pressing his lips back to mine. 

  He pulled away from me and reached for the hem of my dress. "Bottoms up, beautiful." I lifted my bottom off the bed and Carter peeled the fabric from my body. My hair spilled around my shoulders and Carter dropped the dress and fisted both of his hands in my hair, pulling my lips to his own. 

  "Not here, Carter," I whispered. 

  "Definitely here," he growled. My breathing picked up as I grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head, breaking contact with his lips only for a moment. Our mouths crashed back together as my fingers fumbled with the button on his jeans. I pulled the zipper down and my eyes were heavy with lust as his thick erection was revealed. It always took my breath away when I was reminded he wasn't a man that liked to wear undergarments. I pulled his jeans down just enough to free his erection before I wrapped my hand around it and covered him with my mouth. Carter groaned and his hips arched into me as one of his hands tangled in my hair, holding my head softly, the other kneading my breast. He licked at my nipple through the lace of my bra, causing it to stiffen in an aching peak. My mouth moved up and down his length and I swirled my tongue whenever I reached the swollen head. 

  "I need to be inside you." He pushed my body back on the bed and locked both of my wrists above my head in one of his big hands. I moaned and writhed beneath his glorious body as his eyes appraised me. Arousal flooded between my legs and a hot knot of need landed straight in my belly as his eyes took me in. He pulled the fabric of my panties down my legs and discarded them on the floor near his feet. 

  "Wrap your legs around my waist." He held my thighs in his palms and kneaded the flesh. The rough denim of his jeans between my thighs doubled my arousal and I pulled his body tighter to mine as I locked my ankles around him. I felt his erection nestle between my legs and my breathing picked up as I watched him. He smoothed his hands up and down my thighs and was rocking into me softly and gently. 

  "You are so beautiful." He leaned down over me and sucked on a nipple through lacy fabric. My breath caught in my throat and I arched into him. "And so responsive." He took his erection in one hand and slid it between my slick folds, rocking up and down, teasing me and caressing the slick flesh. 

  "Can you be quiet, Evangeline?"

  I nodded my head in response. 

  "If you're not, everyone will know what we're doing up here." He continued to slide up and down my center, gathering the wetness and spreading it around. My heart pounded in my ears as a soft groan escaped my throat. 

  "I can be quiet." My hand went up to knead my breast. 

  "Fuck." Carter's eyes flashed to my hand as it pressed and pinched the sensitive flesh. Then he thrust into me, filling me fully and causing my breath to catch. I arched my back and tightened my legs around his body, sliding him deeper. His hands locked on my hips and he continued to rock in and out of me, sometimes slow and deep and other times quick and shallow. His eyes were locked with mine as his breathing escalated and he pushed me into a state of bliss. My eyes finally closed and I bit down on my lip to keep from moaning. His hands tightened on my hips as his rhythm picked up.