Always Hers Read online

  “In a way,” he growls. “But I got out myself.”

  “But this apartment?” I frown. “And it’s been you that I’ve been messaging with?” He clenches his jaw and nods somberly. I’m still in dreamland, but suddenly the dots start to connect, and I start to frown. “How long?” I say icily.

  His brow furrows, and I know he knows what I mean. “Aurora…”

  “How long?” I snap. “Carter how fucking have you been back from the dead without fucking telling people?! Without telling me?!”

  “I couldn’t,” he hisses. His teeth grind, and he looks away. There’s a heavy shadow on his face, and I immediately regret snapping at him. “Fuck, Aurora. Of course, I wanted to tell you! When I shot my way out of there—”

  My eyes widen, and he closes his eyes. “Forget I said that.”

  “You what?!”

  “Aurora, I couldn’t tell anyone I was back. The people who took me have agents all over the damn world. I’ve been…” he curls his lips in a snarl.

  “What is it?” I say gently. My hand slips into his, and our fingers entwine.

  “I’ve been hunting them down, angel. I’m been using the logins and network stuff I still have access to to hunt them down wherever they are, one by one.”

  “Killing them?”

  “Yes.”

  He answers too plainly, but it doesn’t scare me. Maybe it should, but I know the boy I had a crush on is now a hardened man. I know he’s seen things and done things. But he’s back, and he’s holding me like I always dreamed he would. I shiver at the intense way he holds my eyes, but God help me, it also has arousal burning in my core.

  “I couldn’t tell anyone before they were all gone, because they…”

  “Carter?”

  “They knew who you were,” he hisses. My skin chills, but he draws me close. He cups my face and his eyes burn hotly into mine. “I had your picture when they found me, and they knew who you were. The only reason I ever worked for them is that they threatened to hurt you if I ran.”

  My heart sinks, and I throw my arms around him. I hug him so tightly, and the tears wet his shirt. Carter just strokes my back, holding me just as tight. He leans down and kisses the top of my head.

  “So that’s why, Aurora,” he whispers. “I had to make sure they couldn’t hurt you before I exposed you.”

  “They are…” I look at him. “They’re all gone?”

  “All but one. Hasaan Bin Hadim, the group’s leader. But he’s in Pakistan right now hiding from me,” Carter says grimly. “He’ll be dealt with. But I know where he is, and that he’s out of help. That makes you safe.”

  “So now?”

  “Now, I can have you.”

  I gasp when he pulls me into him. Our lips crash together again, and I moan when Carter lifts me up into his arms. He turns and carries me across the floor of the gorgeous penthouse towards a sitting area by a windowed corner that looks out over Central Park.

  The lighting is low, and I moan when he sets me down on my heels and starts to kiss my neck. Carter’s hands move up the back of my dress, teasing me. His fingers slip under the straps at my shoulders, and I suck in a breath when he starts to push them off.

  “Carter,” I murmur quietly. I turn towards the windows, but he shakes his head and tightens his grip on me.

  “One-way glass,” he growls and looks into my eyes. “No one can see you, angel. Because this is all for me.”

  Carter kisses me ferociously, sending heat tingling through every single inch of my body. My nipples harden under my cocktail dress and sheer bra, and my panties grow wetter by the second. I squeeze my legs together, and I moan. But also, something clicks, like puzzle pieces I’m just managing to put together with the shock that he’s alive. I pull back from his kiss.

  “Hang on,” I whisper. “You carried my picture?”

  He nods. “Always. Everywhere.”

  I swallow. “And you came back here because of… me?”

  “I’d walk through hell to get back to you, Aurora,” Carter promises. His muscled arms circle my body, crushing me to his firm chest. It all starts to click.

  “Carter—”

  “I love you, Aurora,” he growls. He holds my chin gently in his hand, and he looks deep into my eyes. “I’ve loved you for longer than you know, actually. So yeah, damn right I carried your picture. Damn right I shot my way out of that hell to get back to you. And damn right I made damn sure no other man was going to take you for himself.”

  He kisses me so hard it feels like my lips will bruise. And I welcome that. I kiss him back just as hard, clutching his shirt tightly.

  “Because you’re all fucking mine, Aurora,” Carter groans. “You’ve always been mine to have, and I’m done fucking waiting.”

  He tugs the straps of my dress and pushes my arms down. I tremble when the dress drops to a puddle at my feet. Carter groans and kisses me. His mouth moves across my cheek to my jawline, and then to my earlobe. I moan in pleasure as his stubble brushes my soft skin. His lips hungrily taste my body, as he starts to kiss his way lower.

  I moan passionately when Carter’s kisses keep going lower. He kisses down my neck, over my shoulders, and then down between the valley of my tits. I gasp in pleasure when his hands cup them through my sheer bra. His fingers roll over my nipples, and a puddle starts to form in my panties.

  Carter growls like an animal as he kisses down my body. His lips tease across my tummy, and I tremble with heat. I’m so wet that I blush, because I know he’s close enough to see the growing wet spot on my panties. I reach down to stop him and pull him back up. But Carter just takes my hands from his face, and he pulls one of my fingers between his lips. He looks up at me, sucking my finger and flicking his tongue over it. The eroticism has me groaning when he pulls away to kiss my skin again.

  Carter kisses lower, and his fingers slip under the lace waistband of my sheer black thong. He starts to peel them down. His lips kiss the skin as it becomes uncovered, until I’m shaking all over and whimpering.

  “Carter…” I reach down to stop him again, shyly. But Carter shakes his head and looks up at me.

  “No no, angel,” he growls. “I’ve waited too long to see all of you to stop now. I can’t fucking wait to see this little pussy.” He kisses my navel and peels my panties lower until they’re almost revealing everything. “And I can’t fucking wait to taste you.” He pulls the panties the rest of the way off and lets them drop down my legs. Carter Holloway, my forever crush, is kneeling in front of me, inches away from my utterly bare pussy.

  “Fuck, I’ve wanted this forever,” he growls. He moves closer and his breath washes over me like teasing silk. His hands slide up legs and grip my ass tightly. Carter moves in, and his tongue slowly licks my pussy. I moan loudly at the pleasure that spikes inside of me. I haven’t just never slept with a guy before, I’ve never done any of this before. Carter’s tongue is my first, and I want more.

  He grunts and buries his face between my thighs. His hands hold my ass tightly and they pull me against his mouth. His tongue delves between my lips, teasing up and down my pussy. I cry out pleasurably, and I grip his hair tightly as he tongues me. He moves to my clit and flicks his tongue across it, which makes me gasp in pleasure.

  “Oh my God, Carter! That feels… ohmygod!” I whimper and cry out. But he doesn’t stop for one second. His tongue flicks across my throbbing clit before pushing between my lips again to taste me. He growls savagely against my pussy, and the rumblings of his pleasure make me gasp for more.

  Carter looks up at me as he licks my pussy. His eyes are hungry and full of lust, and I’m unable to look away. He runs his tongue up and down my seam until I’m so close to coming. But then he pulls away and stands.

  I don’t even have time to open my mouth and ask why he stopped. I shriek when he scoops me into his eyes, whirls, and tosses me down across the huge, soft couch by the window. He pushes my legs wide apart and slides between them. I cry out when his mouth moves over
my dripping wet pussy again. His tongue slides up between my lips to swirl over my clit. He licks me hungrily and deeply, and his big hands pin me down as he licks the pleasure from me.

  I writhe beneath his tongue, slowly coming apart. My hand slides into his hair, and I shamelessly hold him there between my legs. Carter growls and tongues my pussy even deeper before he pulls up. His eyes slide up my body to my own gaze.

  “I want to taste you when you come, angel,” he growls deeply. “I want this fucking tasty little pussy to come so good for me so that you’re all wet and ready for my cock. I want you still buzzing from coming on my tongue when I sink into you for the very first time and claim you.”

  He falls back between my thighs. His tongue swirls around and around my clit, and his hands pin me to the couch. The pressure is building, and between his deep growls and his incredible mouth, I can feel my orgasm cresting. He starts to suck my hard clit between his lips, and I can’t hold back another second. I cry out his name when the pleasure overtakes me, and I start to come.

  The man I thought I’d lost forever is back from the dead. Back from the dead and making me come for the very first time on his tongue.

  4

  Carter

  There’s never been anyone but her. It’s not just a sweet thing to say, it’s the literal truth. I haven’t told her yet, but I want her to know. There has never been another girl; not once. I have never once touched any other woman.

  Some men would laugh at that. Hell, most men would laugh at that. We live in a world where men are encouraged to go out sow their wild oats—to fuck everything they can, as often as they can. But I’ve never been one to play by the rules. And none of that has ever appealed to me. But that might be because I fell hard and early for Aurora Dawes, and she ruined any other girl for me.

  I’ve had opportunities. God knows I’ve had a lot of them, actually. Vanity aside, I did well with the genetic lottery, I know that. Strong jaw, broad shoulders, and I’m six foot three. I was the varsity quarterback; I was in the most popular frat on campus for my short stint there before the Marines. Women have thrown themselves at me before, with zero subtly.

  I’ve turned them all down, because none of them were her.

  But Aurora was off limits. She was my little sister’s best friend, for God’s sake. She was too young for me, and by the time that wasn’t an issue, I was fighting in the Middle East. And then, I was a captive and the world and her thought I was dead.

  But now I have her. Now, at long last, after a lifetime without, and a year in hell, Aurora is mine. She’s wrapped in my arms on the couch, and we look out through the privacy glass at the lights of the city and the jewel of the park below us. I’m partially amused that she’s naked and I’m still dressed. But that’ll change soon. Tonight, she’s all fucking mine. All of her.

  “How did you know?” She says gently. She turns and looks up at me and smiles. “I mean about the whole… you know.” She blushes. “Mr. ParkAvePlayboyX,” she giggles.

  I grin. “The assholes I worked for had tools most people don’t, bought off the black market from Russian hackers. They used it to track government officials online. You know, find out if that general is posting under a screen name somewhere that could be used to discredit him or turn him.” I smile grimly. “I told them I was doing that, but instead, I was following you.”

  “So you were stalking me.”

  “Yes.”

  Aurora blushes deeply. “So you saw…”

  “When you posted,” I growl with anger in my voice. Not at her, but at the thought that I could have lost her to some asshole who bought her. “Yes. And it forced my hand; made me put my plans into motion sooner than I thought I would.”

  Aurora looks down with a small mouth. “I didn’t want to…”

  “I know, angel,” I say gently. I hold her a little tighter.

  “I—my mom is sick, Carter. She’s putting on a brave face, but she… the treatments are draining us.” She laughs a joyless laugh. “Actually, they have drained us. That’s why, Carter,” she whispers. “That’s why I thought the only thing I had left was to… you know.”

  “Not anymore,” I growl ferociously. “Look around you, Aurora,” I grin. “All of this, it’s mine.”

  Her eyes widen in realization and she looks at me with shock. “What? How?”

  “I took it.” She frowns curiously, and my smile grows wider. “The Jihad Brotherhood had me watching people, but they underestimated me. Or maybe they didn’t think it was even a possibility. But I didn’t just use their hacking software to track you, and watch you,” I growl. “I used it to track their own finances and figure out their bank accounts. When I left…” I spread my arms wide. “I cleaned them out.”

  She shakes her head in disbelief and smiles widely. “That’s insane! You know, Luke…” she goes still and looks at me intensely. “Wait, I need to tell you something you might not know.”

  I smile. “Luke’s alive. Yeah, I know. We’ve talked, actually,” I chuckle. “Can’t believe he is, and I can’t believe he managed to get himself into the same shit I did. Only I think he walked away with a boatload more than me.”

  Aurora frowns slightly. “So, he knew you were back?”

  “Only since earlier tonight, angel,” I say gently.

  “And your mom? Or Sienna?”

  “Soon,” I growl.

  She turns to look at me again. “You’re putting off letting them know you’re alive for… me?”

  “Yeah,” I say with a small chuckle. “But also, I had to make sure it was safe. I knew the Brotherhood had threatened you. But I didn’t know if they also had their sights on my family. I’m going to tell them, Aurora,” I say with a rough voice as I look into her eyes. “But first, you. Because you’ve always been first.”

  I move close, and I taste her lips slowly and deeply. The kiss grows deeper, and I groan when I feel her moan eagerly into me. My cock thickens and aches for her—dying to sink into her sweet pussy. But there’s so much more of her I need to taste first.

  I push her back down across the couch and kiss down her neck until she’s practically panting. I pull away to tug off my shirt and throw it away, and then I’m right back to kissing her. This time, I flip her over. Aurora moans when she stretches out face-down on the couch. I push her long gingery-red hair aside and kiss down her neck. She shivers at my touch, and I keep going. I kiss down between her soft shoulder blades, and down the smooth skin of her back.

  My hands slide over her and pull that peach of an ass up high. Fuck, she’s so fucking wet—dripping for me, like she really is a peach I’m going to devour. I grip her ass and spread her open for me. It’s somehow both lewd and intimate, seeing all of her like this, spread for me and me alone.

  My cock twitches when I lick her again. My tongue tastes her deeply, and my pre-come spurts into my boxers. God, she tastes like sugary heaven, and I could live right here with my tongue buried in her sweet little pussy forever. I tongue her slowly and then move to her clit. Aurora moans for more. Her body arches and aches for me when I suck her hard clit between my teeth and roll my tongue across it.

  I move up and down her pussy, teasing her clit and then plunging my tongue deep inside of her. My cock throbs even harder when I lick my way higher. I spread her open, and Aurora moans a guttural, gasping moan when my tongue swirls around her asshole.

  “Whoa… oh God, Carter! What are you…” But her words fail her when she moans loudly. I know I’ve just shocked her, but she can’t ignore how good my tongue feels on her naughty hole. I groan and lick her ass harder. I tease her little hole with my tip and push it in. My hand moves between her legs to rub her clit, and I keep my tongue on her until she’s trembling. A second later, she cries out, and I feel her come again for me.

  Aurora turns and looks at me hungrily. She pushes me back and spins around to mash her lips to mine. “I want you,” she growls. It really is a growl, too, like Aurora’s a lioness about to pounce. “Carter I always w
anted you. I always wanted…” She frowns and licks her lips. “You’ve been watching me?”

  “Always,” I grunt.

  “Then you know there’s never bee—” Aurora blushes. But I already know. “I’ve never been with anyone. I mean, I haven’t just not dated, I’ve never done anything with anyone before… All of this…”

  I groan and pull her close to kiss her softly. But my kiss grows deeper, and soon she’s moaning at the ferocious way I’m kissing her like she’s mine to claim. “Neither have I,” I growl.

  Aurora pulls back and her eyebrows raise in shock. “What?”

  “No other woman, ever,” I say as I hold her gaze with mine. “Because none of them were ever you, Aurora. And I was always yours and yours alone.” I grab her, and I kiss her hard.

  5

  Aurora

  Kissing him is like a taste of heaven. Feeling his strong arms hold me tight is everything I’ve ever wanted. And now, finally, we’re here. Finally, Carter Holloway is all mine.

  Truly, really all mine. I mean the man is sinfully good looking, charming, and has those eyes that make girls go crazy. He was the star quarterback in school, and I know he was in a super popular frat for the small time he went to college. I’ve always hated to imagine it, but I’ve assumed Carter’s been the type of man to have a different woman in his bed every night. Not because he’s a scumbag, but just because of who he is, and what he does to women when he’s near them.

  I’ve wanted him for forever. I’ve loved him for just as long. But I never had a claim on him. I was always just his little sister’s gawky friend. But here I am, kissing his lips and straddling his rock-hard body, naked.

  I can feel Carter’s big erection throb against me, and I moan. Holy fuck, he feels so hard and so big pulsing between my legs. I grind against him and moan into his lips. His hands move all over me before settling on my ass. He starts to move me, like he’s helping me grind on him. I whimper eagerly, and I kiss him even deeper. But he already has me naked, and he’s already made me come like crazy, twice. It’s honestly a crime that Carter Holloway is still wearing pants right now.