The Undercover Playboy (Captured by Love Book 3) (12 page)

Yes, he had to. Not only to keep more people from being deceived, blackmailed
and killed, but to finally be able to chase after Cassie openly.

He packed his tools and went via the back entrance to the gallery’s parking area.

“Carter!”

“Susan,” he said in surprise.

“I was waiting for you.”

He was instantly on alert, and quickly slipped into his role. “Were you?” he said with a lopsided grin. “I’m glad. I was starting to think you were avoiding me.”

“No. I’ve just been
busy. Anyway, I was wondering if you’d want to go out to dinner tomorrow?”

“Why not tonight?”

Susan chuckled. “Impatient, are you? But I can’t tonight.”

He pretended to sigh in resignation. “Okay. Tomorrow, then. What’s your address?”

“How about I pick you up? And dinner’s my treat.”

“But that’s not very gentlemanly.”

“Oh, you’re so sweet,” Susan said, tapping his arm. “But don’t worry about
it. I know how cash is tight for you.”

“I meant if you’re paying for dinner, I should at least knock on your door and escort you to the car.”

“No need for that,” Susan said with a laugh. “Now what’s your address?”

He hid his smirk. There was no way he’d give a suspected criminal his address. “I’m too ashamed of my place. So why don’t I meet you somewhere instead?”

“Okay.” Susan mentioned a
fancy restaurant she wanted to take him to.

He whistled. “Can’t wait,” he said, making sure he gave her a seductive look.

“Me neither,” she said, getting into her car and starting the engine. “See you tomorrow!”

“Bye!” he called out as Susan drove off, excitement running through his body in anticipation of a breakthrough.

*****

T
he pepperoni pizza Carter ordered came a minute after he came
out of the shower. He settled in front of the TV, which was showing another episode of Cassie’s favourite home renovation show, and opened the box. It smelled delicious and his stomach did some grumbling. He doubted he’d eat as much as he usually did, though. Between aching for Cassie and raring to finally solve the Tellman case, his appetite had been almost non-existent.

He lifted a piece and
stared at it. Cassie liked pepperoni pizza too. What was she having for dinner tonight?

For fuck’s sake, Carter. Stop acting like a lovesick puppy!

He shook his head at himself and brought the piece to his mouth, only to freeze when his doorbell rang.

He replaced the pizza in the box and quietly went to grab his gun. He wasn’t expecting anyone tonight. With the stooges in the Tellman case being
murdered, he wasn’t taking any chances.

Quiet as a mouse, he went to the door and looked into the peephole. His heart banged hard around the walls of his chest. Hurriedly, he hid his gun, holster and badge in their special drawer in his bedroom before jogging back to the door and opening it.

“Cassie,” he said, breathless.

“Hi,” she said tentatively, looking past him. “I was starting to think
you weren’t home. Did I interrupt something?”

“No, I was just about to eat.” He moved to the side to let her in.

“Pizza?” she asked, sniffing the air.

“Pepperoni. And I’m also watching your favourite show. I was just wishing you were here with me and then you were at the door.”

The genuine smile Cassie gave him lifted the gloom he’d been suffering from for days. And just because he couldn’t
help himself, he went to her and cupped her face. “I missed you,” he whispered, hoping that the naked emotion in his face told her all he wanted to say but couldn’t.

Cassie’s eyes shone with the answer he craved. And just like that, he was a happy man again.

He leaned down to kiss her, but Cassie halted him.

“I’m here because I’m worried about you, Carter. The way you’re acting, you seem to
be in some kind of trouble.”

He curved his arms around her waist, pulling her to him. He felt her resist for a few seconds before she sighed her resignation.

“It’s not anything I can’t handle, babe,” he said, trying for a kiss again.

Cassie dodged his lips. But thankfully, she didn’t try to escape his embrace.

“If it’s as simple as you make it out to be, why are you being so secretive about
it?” she queried.

“I didn’t say it was simple, I said it’s not anything I can’t handle.”

Cassie’s eyes narrowed. “So it’s dangerous?”

“Well, it’s not a walk in the park...”

“Carter!” Cassie said in frustration.

He held her tighter, in case she was thinking of leaving. “I promise I’ll explain later, sweetheart. And when I do, you’ll understand why I can’t tell you right now.”

“I just don’t
know what to think. And what does Susan have to do with this? Why do you have to keep dating her?”

“They’re not exactly dates. And I swear to you I have
not
and will
never
sleep with her,” he added insistently.

Cassie shut her eyes.

“Trust me, Cassie. Please. I can’t tell you anything more right now. But believe me when I say it’s you I want.
Only you
.”

She opened her eyes, hope and plea reflected
in them. “Truly?”

“Truly, sweetheart,” he said with all the sincerity he could muster.

Cassie stared at him for a long breathless moment. Then she smiled. And that was all he needed to see.

“You asked me to trust you,” she said, her arms creeping around his neck. “I just want you to know you can trust me too. You might not be ready to tell me right now, but can you consider it, please?”

“Okay,”
he whispered, his heart dancing with joy. She was back with him!

Cassie rested her head in the crook of his neck and he revelled in holding her for a blissful moment.

“You should eat the pizza,” she murmured. “It’s getting cold.”

“I want you,” he said, squeezing her to him. “You’re hot.”

Cassie giggled.

Encouraged, he ran his hands on her ass. “I missed you wet and writhing and moaning so
loud the neighbours could probably hear.”

She tapped at his chest. “I’m not
that
loud.”

“You are,” he said with a grin.

“Prove it,” Cassie challenged, the smoking look in her eyes betraying her.

“It will be my absolute pleasure.” He lifted her in his arms and carried her to his bedroom.

This was so unexpected, but he wasn’t going to question Cassie’s sudden change of heart. The important
thing was she was here and no longer mad at him.

“Lights on this time,” he said. “Much as I enjoy having you in the dark, I’d rather see you while you’re writhing and screaming—”

“I do not scream,” Cassie said in protest.

“We’ll see.”

“
I do not scream,” Cassie reiterated as Carter put her down by the foot of the bed.

She didn’t scream during sex. Did she? Okay, maybe she did. But not loud enough for the neighbours to hear, surely.

Carter laughed—a low, sexy sound that did things to her libido. “Maybe I should record us on my phone,” he said as he worked on the buttons of her top.

“Don’t you dare,” she answered,
although the thought sent tingles to her moist centre. Ooh, what would it be like to watch Carter making love to her?

Carter pushed the blouse off her shoulders. “I’m just kidding,” he said. “If that fell into the wrong hands, I’d hate for strangers to watch you come. I don’t care if it was me giving it to you, but no one else gets to see you naked, much less having an orgasm.”

“You do know
that you get loud too, don’t you?” she asked as she lifted his shirt off him.

Carter snickered. “Babe, I make noises because I like making noises during sex, not because I can’t help it.”

“Well, I
can
help it too.”

“Really?” Carter asked, unclasping her bra and dropping it to the floor. “Prove it,” he said against her ear.

Her breath hitched. Yes, in the heat of the moment, she probably couldn’t
notice—or care—how loud her moaning got. But surely she
could
help that.

Carter was looking at her with a smug—and oh, so sexy—smile, waiting for her response.

She stared in his eyes as she undid his fly, ensuring she grazed his burgeoning hardness with her hands. His cock jerked and his mouth parted.

“I bet you have less control than me,” she said, biting her lip.

Carter’s brow lifted. “You’re
on, babe.”

“You’re gonna lose,” she said bravely.

Carter unzipped her skirt before running the back of his hand along the side of her breast. “We’ll see, won’t we?” he said, before he leaned down to capture her lips with his.

Oh, how she’d missed his kisses. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself against him.

A low moan escaped Carter’s throat.

Ha! She got the first moan of
the night. This game would be a piece of cake.

She cupped his hardness and caressed him through his boxer briefs. “Carter,” she whispered, kissing his neck as she rubbed him.

Unexpectedly, Carter lifted her up and dropped her on the bed. Then he swiftly pulled down her panties before picking up her leg and placing butterfly kisses on it, progressively moving upwards until he was kissing her
inner thigh.

Her breathing shallowed.

The smug smile reappeared on Carter’s face. “Do you want me to stop?”

“You think you’re so irresistible, don’t you?” she asked, trying for nonchalance.

“No. I think
you
are, so I wouldn’t be able to stop kissing, licking, sucking, fucking...” He tweaked her nipple.

“Mm. Yes to all those, please,” she murmured, his words arousing her further.

He grinned.
“Would you like to admit defeat early?”

“Defeat? No. I can enjoy getting made love to without making any loud sounds.”

Carter snorted. He actually snorted.

She sighed and pushed him onto his back. “Lie down,” she ordered, then pulled his pants off his legs.

“Oh, so your tactic is to keep my mouth, hands and cock off you until I give in?” Carter said.

She shrugged, settling herself between
his legs. “Did you miss this?” she asked, grasping his erection and putting it in her mouth.

The teasing look in Carter’s eyes transformed into tenderness so obvious that it brought a lump in Cassie’s throat.

“I missed
you
. All of you,” Carter said softly.

Oh, Carter.

The words
I love you
wanted to escape her mouth. But she didn’t want to be the first to say it. Instead she put her whole heart
into pleasuring him, hoping it would give him an indication that for her, sex with him had never been of the casual kind.

“Babe,” he groaned, his hips undulating as she tugged the base of his erection while laving the head with her tongue.

She increased her efforts, taking as much of him in her mouth as she caressed his balls.

Carter panted, murmuring how good it felt and just how much he’d
really missed her.

Oh, yes, he was close. She could feel it in the tensing of his legs. Just a few more sucks and then she’d stop—

Before she knew it, she was on her back, with Carter avidly paying attention to her breasts.

“I wasn’t done,” she protested. “No fair using your strength to make me stop what I was doing.”

His fingers found her clit and she couldn’t help her gasp. Okay, it was
more like a low moan, but definitely not loud.

“It’s my turn,” Carter murmured before taking her nipple in his mouth and rubbing her swollen nub.

Oh God.

She panted, keeping her volume to a minimum as Carter’s mouth and hands expertly brought her arousal to fever pitch. When she felt Carter’s fingers push inside her, she couldn’t help but cry out.

“So wet,” Carter groaned in approval, before
he kissed his way down her body.

She braced herself, knowing that what was coming next could make her lose this game of theirs. He was always so good with his mouth and it had been so long since— “Ahhh!”

She bit her lip to stop another sound coming out, but she couldn’t stop her panting. Well, loud panting wasn’t screaming, so she wouldn’t even try to stop. Not that she’d be able to, anyway,
with Carter’s tongue flicking her clit and his fingers making their way back inside.

“Good, baby?” Carter asked.

“Yes,” she gasped, torn between concentrating on keeping quiet and abandoning herself to the pleasure Carter was giving her. But she wasn’t ready to lose yet.

With a mighty effort, she pushed him away and sat up.

Undaunted, Carter went for her neck, kissing her there as he dragged
her down to the bed again.

“I want to be on top,” she whispered.

“Oh, you do?” But he acquiesced.

She straddled him and licked his nipple, before angling her hips and guiding his cock into her slick entrance. Heck, she’d planned to drive him crazy with her mouth again, but she couldn’t wait.

“Ahh, Cassie,” Carter groaned, throwing his head back in ecstasy as she started to move. “Missed you,
honey. Missed this so much.”

Oh, he said the sweetest things. Just for that, maybe she’d let him win. Or maybe not.

She rocked on top of Carter, watching him and seeing her rapture reflected on his face. She should get off him and make him beg out loud. But not yet. Because it felt too good and she couldn’t stop.

Carter pulled her down to him and wrapped his strong arms around her, trapping
her on top of him. Then he thrust from beneath her, grunting out his pleasure as he impaled her, over and over.

She was lost. All she could do was whimper her approval at his possession, her pleasure spiralling up and up until she had only one thought and desire—to climax with him.

“Carter,” she keened, beyond caring that she wasn’t staying quiet. She couldn’t focus on minding her noises when
Carter was making her delirious with ecstasy.

“Baby... Come with me...” Carter grunted, his breathing laboured as he maintained the pace of his thrusting.

“Yes... Oh, honey... Ahhh!” she cried out loud, her body convulsing as she came hard.