Love and Always (A Pound of Flesh #1.5) (4 page)

Carter watched her, enraptured as he always was. “I love them.” He kissed her.

“Merry Christmas, baby,” she uttered against his mouth, making Carter wish that everyone would leave so he could feast on her body until Christmas morning. Her blithe demeanour was more than a little sexy.

It had been a very long time since Carter had enjoyed a Christmas Eve as much. Last year had been nice, but he and Kat hadn’t lived together then and, because they were both indecisive morons, each wanting to please the other, they’d traipsed from one friend’s party or meal to the next with no chance to make time for themselves. His gift to her that year of a key to his TriBeCa apartment had been a stroke of genius. She’d moved in by New Year’s. This year, being in their own home and doing what they wanted to do, spending time with family, made Carter feel truly settled, truly accepted.

“Thank you for this, Carter,” Eva said, holding the colorful handwoven scarf he’d given her. “It’s lovely.”

He smiled. “You’re welcome.”

“Isn’t it gorgeous?” Kat exclaimed with a mischievous glance in Carter’s direction. “I was so impressed when he brought that home. All by himself.”

Carter rolled his eyes and nudged her. “Shut up. I’m not utterly incapable.”

She laughed and kissed him soundly. Her breath was suggestive, warm bourbon and sweet popcorn. “Oh, I know.”

The woman was going to be the death of him.

When the clock in the hallway chimed two o’clock in the morning, the weary bodies of Nana Boo and Kat made their way up the stairs to bed after Carter offered to clean up. Kat had worked like a freaking dervish the entire day and deserved the break. Harrison and Eva helped him fill the dishwasher and wipe down while he checked on the progress of his roast ham in the slow cooker. It smelled incredible and would be perfect by the morning, ready for Christmas lunch.

With a large yawn, Harrison shook Carter’s hand, offering his congratulations and thanks again. “I’m really happy for you,” he said with genuine emotion in his large dark eyes. He kissed Eva quickly and disappeared up the stairs, leaving Carter alone with Kat’s mom for the first time since the engagement news.

The atmosphere in the kitchen changed imperceptibly and Carter suddenly wished he’d not had that last glass of Jim, which had made his head light and his feet heavy.

Carter rocked back and forth on his heels, thinking of his happy place upstairs, warm and sleeping in bed. “So,” he began, clearing his throat, “have a good sleep and I’ll see you in the morning—”

“Wesley.” Eva stopped him. His first name reverberated around the stainless steel appliances and granite worktops of the kitchen.

He took a deep breath and pushed his hands into his pockets. “Yes?”

“I meant what I said. I am . . . happy for you and Katherine.”

Carter let the hesitation wash over him. “Good.”

“But,” she said firmly, making Carter’s heart thump, “I would have appreciated a conversation with you before you proposed to my daughter. It’s common courtesy.”

“I know,” Carter said, dipping his chin. “And I apologize. Really. But it was a last-minute decision to do it when I did.” He gave a wry chuckle. “I’ve never done this before. I’m learning as I go.”

“I still have . . . reservations about certain things,” she continued, as though Carter hadn’t spoken.

Carter’s molars ground together when she paused. The fact that she was filtering and picking her words carefully was troubling. “I’ve no doubt you do.” He tried to relax and make his voice calm. “But I can assure you, my past is my past and I have no intention of it ever being a part of our future. You have nothing to worry about.”

Eva exhaled heavily and took two steps toward him. “I hope so. Because if you break her heart, hurt her by getting embroiled in something dangerous or illegal, end up back in that shithole on Staten Island, or treat her in any other way than she truly deserves, I will fucking end you.”

Her palm clapped Carter’s cheek twice. Firmly. “Merry Christmas.”

Well, fuck.

Kat shifted her face against the soft pillow under her right cheek. She wasn’t sure whether she was still asleep and dreaming or whether the warm, extraordinarily sensual kisses she was feeling at the base of her spine were actually real.

Keeping her eyes closed, she allowed herself to relax under the sensation of tender lips, erotic licks, and hums of pleasure coming from the far end of the bed. She sucked in a slow, staggered breath when she felt large, callused hands caress her naked sides, fidgeting slightly when they passed over her annoyingly ticklish ribs. A tremble of laughter against her thigh confirmed she was, in fact,
not
dreaming, before the kisses began to move languidly across the dimples of her ass and along her right cheek where a warm tongue left a wet trail to her leg—

“OW!”

Kat’s head shot from the pillow and snapped around to see a very smug and very naked Carter with his teeth still embedded in her ass cheek.

“What the hell?” She laughed at his expression. He looked ridiculously delicious with his mouth on her. She smirked as his eyes sparkled roguishly up at her. He released her flesh with a soft popping sound and licked and kissed it gently. It hadn’t hurt, but it would have been worth him biting her ass over and over just so she could watch his tongue do that again.

“Merry Christmas,” he said with a low husk. He rested his chin on her ass and rubbed his hands down the sides of her legs.

Kat ran a hand across her face. “Merry Christmas to you,” she answered as her palm landed heavily back onto the bed. “You wanna explain to me what the hell you’re doing taking chunks out of my ass on Christmas morning?”

He shrugged. “Because I can,” he answered nonchalantly, glancing at her engagement ring. “I was watching you sleep,” he continued, a pink hue appearing on his cheeks. “And you moved, and your ass looked spectacular, so I thought I’d wish it a good morning and a merry Christmas. You know, being courteous an’ all. It’s too pretty to ignore.” His hand wandered reverently over her bottom.

Kat rolled her eyes playfully. “Well, next time, go easy with the teeth on my pretty ass, Vampy McVamperson.”

Carter snorted, raised himself onto his palms, and prowled slowly up her body. Jesus, he was magnificent above her, oozing sex and strong masculinity. His muscles tensed and relaxed as they carried his weight, causing the ink to rise and dip with each movement. Kat rolled onto her back, and smiled up at him when the tips of their noses touched.

“Hey,” she murmured. His body settled carefully onto her.

“Hey,” he replied before he pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was patient but wanting, and made Kat sigh and wrap her arms around his neck.

Morning breath be damned.

He hummed and cupped her head in his hands, deepening the kiss just enough to make Kat gasp and arch underneath him. She smiled when he rubbed himself eagerly against her hip, growing harder with each pass of her tongue in his mouth. Carter pulled away when she shook with laughter.

“What?” he asked with an amused expression.

“I was just thinking,” she answered while tapping her chin with her index finger. “You bite my ass because you think it’s pretty; maybe I should do the same to your cock. Because I think it’s exceedingly prett—”

She squealed when his hands tickled her sides mercilessly, stopping her mid-sentence, pulling her onto his chest, as he rolled onto his back, trapping her against him.

“Don’t!” Kat muffled her shrieks of laughter into his shoulder. “We have guests!”

“I don’t care,” he said with a wide smile. “Let’s get one thing clear, Peaches, my cock might be a lot of things,” he grumbled, holding her tightly. “But
pretty
is not one of them.”

He kissed her again when she laughed and patted her ass with each word. “Hard, awesome, and huge: these are words you
can
use, but for the love of God, not
pretty
.” He tried his hardest not to smile when she snorted with laughter, but failed terribly. He cupped her face and gave her a pleading look. “Dammit, woman, give my dick some dignity.”

“Oh, I’ll give it something,” she promised.

He hissed when she grasped his cock, rubbing her palm down to his balls. It may have been an underhand move to distract him with sexual favors, but Kat didn’t care. Seeing his mouth drop open as she touched him was more than worth it. He was stunning. He panted her name when her grip tightened.

“That feel good?” she asked, licking the inked orchid on his shoulder.

“Fuck yes.”

“Can you be quiet?” she teased. “We have guests.”

“Turn around and I’ll bite your pretty ass to keep quiet.” He moaned through his laugh when her hand sped up. “Christ, keep doing that and I’ll do whatever you want.”

He pulled her face down to his so he could kiss her senseless. He moved his hips, hunting out her hand, and groaned when she cupped his balls. His head dropped onto the pillows, his eyes rolling back. He rubbed his palms down her shoulders to her biceps, gripping her hard. “I missed not making love to you last night.”

Kat had no doubt that he’d have tried to wake her up when he’d come to bed, but she’d been dead beat. She kissed his pulsing neck, nibbling his Adam’s apple, which tasted warm and sweet from his cologne. It tingled on her tongue and made her skin flush hot. She moved her hand up and down twice more. His moans started getting louder when she rubbed her thumb over his wet tip, the muscles in his jaw jumping as he got closer to release. As amazing as it would be to have him come all over her, Kat wanted to play with him some more. She softened her touch and gradually released him, sitting back on her heels.

His eyes fluttered open and his body relaxed back into the mattress, returning to earth. “Kat?” he asked with a long breath. He glanced down at his rock-solid cock bobbing against his stomach and frowned at her. “What? Why?”

Kat smirked triumphantly and crossed her arms over her bare chest. “Maybe that will teach you to keep your teeth to yourself?”

Carter’s mouth dropped open. Before she lost her resolve or he had a chance to grab her again, Kat lifted gracefully from the bed and pulled a pair of sleep pants and a hoodie from a chest of drawers.

“Oh, come on!” Carter exploded. “You can’t be serious, baby?” He groaned with open palms gesturing wildly toward his twitching cock. “I’m . . . it’s . . . look, I’m sorry. Just touch it a little bit?
Please
. . . It’s Christmas. Come on, I won’t take long. You could even put it in your mouth, if you wanted. I’d be fine with that. It’d take two minutes, tops.”

Kat’s shoulders shook with laughter while she brushed her hair in the mirror. There was no way in hell she could look back at him spread-eagled, glistening, and hard for her. She’d be naked and riding him in a matter of seconds and, as nice as that thought was, having her mother in the house was kind of a libido killer. The same certainly couldn’t be said for Carter. The man was shameless.

“I won’t bite your ass again,” he continued insistently. “I promise. No matter how pretty
or
epic it is.” She could hear the smile in his voice as he begged.

Collecting herself once she was dressed, and keeping her eyes on his face as she turned around, she shook her head. “I’m going to go downstairs and make breakfast for everyone.” She wandered casually toward the bedroom door, feeling his dark, lustful eyes on her the entire way. She pointed to him indifferently. “I suggest
you
have a cold shower . . .” She failed to hold in her smile and looked pointedly at his erection. “The pair of you.”

She laughed loudly and bolted out of the room when two pillows flew like bullets after her, hitting the door and the wall in the hallway.

“You’ll pay for this, Lane!” he called out to her with a lighthearted groan and chuckle.

Kat smiled to herself and rubbed her chest as it exploded with warmth. “I’m counting on it,” she muttered, skipping down to the voices of the rest of her family coming from the kitchen.

Best. Christmas. Ever.

The rocking sound of Led Zeppelin could be heard down the street from O’Hare’s. Carter smiled as he made his way into the bustling body shop two days after Christmas, waving at Paul and the rest of the boys who weren’t under or inside the fuck-hot cars littering the shop floor. Seeing the place busy was more than Carter could have hoped for. While Max was in rehab, he wanted to ensure that Max’s family business continued making a roaring trade without the debts he’d built up with his coke habit and stupid business dealings.