His heart skipped a beat. «I know, darling. Hang on and I’ll get you into a bed.»
«I’m all right.» She straightened and squinted against the sunlight slanting through the windshield. «It’s a beautiful day.»
«Nice enough.» The grass on either side of the drive was starting to grow wild again. It’d be May before long, and if he didn’t see about having it cut, his house would look like it was parked in the middle of a savanna. «You wanna lay out in the sun instead?»
«No. It’s only that I didn’t notice it until just now.»
Hard to notice the weather when she’d been stuck inside a warehouse for the past eighteen hours. Alec eased the truck to a stop a few feet from his front porch and slid it into park. «If you can stand to eat before you pass out, I’ll find something in the fridge.»
«I’m not hungry.» Her seat belt clicked as she released it, and she climbed out of the truck and stretched.
The sun turned her caramel skin golden. Even in ugly green scrubs and a T-shirt, with her hair in a sloppy knot and shadows under her eyes, she was the most gorgeous thing on two legs. The smile felt awkward curving his lips, though God knew it shouldn’t by now. He’d been flashing it a lot since she’d wandered into his life.
It was a short walk to the porch, but he picked her up anyway. «You scared a decade off of my life, and now you’re going to let me smother you for an hour. You owe me.»
Her head fell back with a groan of protest, though she slid her arms around his neck. «Even if I didn’t mean to scare you?»
«Life’s not fair. And neither am I.»
She muffled a laugh against the side of his neck, though it quickly faded into a moan. «You may not be fair, but you smell good.»
Having her lips nuzzled against his throat was asking for trouble. «Reach down and open the door for me, would you?»
She slid her hand over the wood, feeling for the knob without raising her head, and pressed an open-mouthed kiss to his skin as she pushed open the door.
He was hard before the damn thing hit the far wall, his dick straining against the zipper on his jeans. Walking was uncomfortable. Walking with Carmen licking him was fucking well impossible. «Carmen.»
Her lips skated over his jaw. «Alec.»
The brand-new door Andrew had installed shuddered as he kicked it shut with more force than strictly necessary. In the next second, he had Carmen up against it, her long legs snug around his hips. «Don’t think I’m not already fighting the urge to rip your damn clothes off and check every inch of you to make sure you’re in one piece. If you don’t cut it the hell out, I’ll do it.»
She released him long enough to strip her T-shirt over her head, leaving her in a white cotton bra. Then she cupped his face between her hands and smiled. «I’m in one piece. And I love you.»
I love you too. But the words didn’t come, because she’d shattered his control into pieces so fine they could blow away in the wind. He couldn’t remember putting her down, but he didn’t think he’d ever forget the triumph of tearing the scrub pants off her body, or the blind relief when he slid his hands down her thighs and calves and found smooth, unblemished skin.
«I’m all right.» The murmured words didn’t penetrate so much as the feeling, the overwhelming sense of peace that matched her gentle smile. «I’m not hurt.»
The laces on her sneakers tangled under his fingers, and he snapped them with a frustrated jerk. Shoes, socks, they landed in the foyer in a haphazard circle, though one sneaker bounced down the stairs to the basement. Part of his brain marked its thudding progress as proof that time had slowed, because it seemed to take forever to skim her panties down her legs, but the shoe had barely settled on the cement floor below when he rose and turned his attention to her bra.
Simple. Gorgeous. Carmen. He fumbled with the fastening and bent the little metal hooks, but she didn’t notice. She tore at his shirt and gasped when he touched her bare skin, arching away from the door with a shudder.
Gorgeous and his. A hand between her thighs proved it, and he pushed two fingers deep into the slick, gripping heat of her pussy. Wet and ready, eager, so hot for him that he moaned as he crushed his mouth to hers.
She cried out against his lips, her nails sharp on his shoulders, and her hips bucked as pleasure welled through the foyer, a hot weight pressing in on his skin. Her gift, let free, and the boundaries between them blurred. No Alec and Carmen, just now and more.
His hands found his belt. His fly. The zipper broke and he ripped the denim, but a second later his cock was in his hand. He thrust into her, driving deep as he lifted her against the door and snarled her name.
Carmen bit her lower lip and shuddered again, her eyes glazed and unfocused. «I feel you. Everything.»
No way he’d last through one of her jaw-clenching orgasms with empathy wrapped around him tighter than the slick grip of her body. «Feel it all, sweetheart.» He caught her hand and pinned it to the door next to her head, twining their fingers together as he ground deeper. «Feel every inch of me.»
Her gaze sharpened as it met his, and the sheer adoration on her face thrilled every part of him. He clutched her thigh with his free hand and felt the bite of his fingers against her skin, felt the satisfaction she got from knowing he’d marked her. Intimacy beyond thought, beyond words or reason.
So he fell into it. Fell into her with every rough thrust, and she rewarded him with little spikes of ecstasy that shivered up his spine and whispered encouragement. She welcomed him, into her body and her heart. Open. Joyous.
His.
He buried his face against her throat and bit her, just a tease, and Carmen sucked in a sharp breath. «Yes» Throbbing pleasure tightened around them both. She was close, so close to the peak that she began to beg, whispers that quickly rose in volume as she shook.
Blood roared in his ears, pounding through him with the rhythm of their hearts. He thrust deeper, faster, chasing the perfect angle that would unravel that knot inside her and drive them both over.
And then he found it. Her head banged against the door, and her low, keening cry reached his ears a split second before the sweet rush of her orgasm hit him.
He came. Hard. Fast, out of control, riding her body’s spasms until he was spent and she was trembling. Her fingers combed through the damp hair at his temple, and every heaving breath pushed her chest closer to his.
She spoke in a whisper. «I’m sorry I scared you.»
For a second, he couldn’t remember what in hell she was talking about. «I’m just glad you’re okay. I need to keep you okay.»
Her soft laugh tickled his cheek. «Take me to bed and hold me.»
He could do that. He could do it damn near forever, which made the words easy. Right. «How about I take you to bed and love you?»
Carmen held him tighter. «Even better.»
Carmen woke to darkness and a delicious ache in her muscles that flared and subsided as she stretched gingerly under the light sheet. Alec lay beside her, his features indistinguishable until her eyes adjusted to the scant moonlight filtering through the window.
He stirred, his face still relaxed in sleep, and her heart thumped. Love. She leaned close and kissed him, her lips to the corner of his mouth, marveling at the tenderness that rose. He was strong, undeniably so, but he needed her as much as she needed him.
He murmured something, a rasping rumble more noise than words, and rolled toward her. One arm fell heavily across her waist, and her conscience stung. How often during the last day had he insisted she catch whatever sleep she could manage? She should have done the same for him.