Carly did exactly what he’d said and, sure enough, in under two minutes she could feel it building again. Oh, god, she wanted that big, hard cock all up in her lady business! She almost said that out loud when he whispered, “Now, relax. Totally. No more squeezing. Just feel it. I know you can.”
My god, he knows what he’s doing! she almost said out loud as she released her muscles and felt that weird tugging sensation sweep over her, the one that said her womb needed to be fed by this man. She wanted Ross. She needed him. The feeling was building and growing, pushing and drawing her in, and she couldn’t even speak. “Carly, honey, put your palms on the headboard and press, then bear down like you’re trying to push my fingers out of you. Come on. You can do it. Work it, babe. You’ve got it! Almost there. A little more …” He ramped up his speed again and she felt herself tipping, tipping, tipping over the edge …
“Oh, god! God, god, god! Oh, oh, oh!” she cried out in time with the pumping of her hips. Her vision was spotty, her breathing labored, and time seemed to slow as the tempo of his fingers decreased again. He was right—she was flying, soaring, her body out of her control. But she wasn’t afraid. It was Ross. He’d take care of her.
He’ll take care of me. Tears sprang into her eyes as he slowed and then stopped. Ross will take care of me. He’ll always take care of me. It hit her hard in her gut, the realization that, for all her swagger and braggadocio, she needed someone to take care of her, and she needed someone to take care of. She wanted to meet his needs, to see him satisfied, and to wake to him lying next to her in the morning, a sleepy smile on his face and his hair a mess. Jesus Christ, I’m falling in love with this guy, she told herself, and for the first time in her life, that idea didn’t scare her. He drew her out of her thoughts when he asked quietly, “You ready for me?”
“Yes. Oh, yessssssss …” she heard herself hiss, and that was replaced with a completely different kind of hiss when she felt the head of his hard cock breach her entrance. He pressed into her, and she was surprised at how easily he slipped inside. It had been a long time, but he was right—he’d gotten her completely ready for him. It was effortless.
What happened from that point on was exactly what lovemaking was supposed to be, and Carly knew it. Braced above her, he stroked into her, leaning down to trap her lips with his or nip a nipple. He looked down into her eyes and smiled. “God, babe, this is amazing. You’re amazing. I want you so bad, baby—I need you. I need this with you, Carly. You’re everything I want.”
“You’re everything I want too,” she whispered back, tears still in her eyes but a smile on her lips. This man … He met every need she had in spades and gave back more than he took. She wanted him. She wanted him to fuck her doggy style. She wanted to suck his dick. She wanted to ride him. Whatever he wanted, she wanted to do for him. Any dirty, crazy, sexy thing he could think of, she’d do, including the one thing she’d never done with anybody else. Yeah, he could have that too, because she wasn’t afraid. Whatever they did together, he’d take care of her. “And I know I’m safe with you, Ross.”
A deep chuckle rumbled up from his chest. “Yeah, everything but your body. I plan to ravage it. I’m going to have you every way you can imagine, little girl. Every damn way. And you’ll be so happy about it that you’ll beg for more. But I’ll never hurt you, Carly. Never.”
“And I’ll never hurt you.”
“I’ve gotta piledrive you, baby. I’m hurting and I need to come, okay?”
She nodded as he hunched over her. “Fuck me, Ross. I need it so bad.”
The relentless pounding he gave her was something she’d wanted for quite some time, and when he finally emptied into her, she’d already come around him at least three times. God, she was happy. She was more than happy. She was satisfied.
She’d never been satisfied with Eric. It had been about him and only him. But with Ross, he was determined she’d have what she needed before he took what he wanted. That meant something to her, and she realized with startling clarity that he was doing that because it meant something to him. Was it possible that he … No. Men didn’t fall in love with her. Oh, yeah, they’d be good friends, but that was about it. There was no way that …
Lying on top of her, panting and spent, his lips pressed against her ear, he whispered, “I’m falling in love with you, Carly, and I’m pretty fucking happy about it. I hope you can feel for me half of what I feel for―”
“I love you, Ross. I want to be with you.”
When he propped himself up on his elbows and looked down into her eyes, her whole world came together in one shining moment as the man above her smiled and gave her a kiss that was more romance than sex and more of a promise than she’d ever gotten from anyone else. “Unless and until you don’t want me, I’m yours, beautiful girl. All yours.” Then he frowned. “Why are you crying?”
“Because no man has ever told me he loves me except my dad and my brother!” And she dissolved into sobs. God, that was so not how she’d pictured their first time ending!
Terror filled her heart as Ross pulled out of her, and she wondered if he was going to jump up and run until he rolled to lie beside her and pulled her into his arms. Sobbing against his chest, she felt his hand come up and stroke her hair. “Oh, little girl, I’m so sorry you’ve been hurt that way, but that’s over. You’re mine now, and nobody’s ever going to hurt you again.”
She’d been so afraid of what would happen if Eric and Chuck found out about them, but suddenly, she didn’t care. They’d be fine. Ross would take care of her. She knew it. She wasn’t afraid anymore.
She was in love, and he loved her back.
Ross held the weeping woman in his arms, and he wanted to cry too. God, she’d been hurt so badly so many times, and he wanted to take all that away. It couldn’t be done in an hour or a day. It would take months and months of doing what he promised, making her first in his life, seeing to her needs, and being there for her. He knew that, and he was up for the challenge. His mind was running a mile a minute when he heard her ask, “Ross? Have you been married before?”
“No, babe. Never.”
“Have you been in love before?”
“Yeah. And it didn’t end well.”
“She hurt you?”
“Oh, I got hurt, but it wasn’t by her.” He hadn’t intended to talk about that, but she wanted to know, and he owed her an explanation. “We’d been high school sweethearts and went off to college together. Western State in Bowling Green. She decided she wanted to go home for the weekend and we shared a car, so she took the bus. They were on the Cumberland Parkway just the other side of Glasgow when a semi lost a front tire, crossed the median, and hit the bus head-on.”
“Oh, god, Ross.”
“Fifteen people died. She lay in the hospital in a coma for two weeks before they declared her brain dead and pulled the plug.”
“Oh my god. That’s horrible.”
“Completely took the wind out of my sails. I couldn’t keep going in college. I quit and came back home. Couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat. Couldn’t concentrate. Took me about two years to really come out of it. My parents, god love ‘em, they were super patient with me. They kept trying to help me find something that would ease the pain. A neighbor’s house caught on fire—faulty dryer wiring—and the trucks weren’t getting there fast enough. My dad and I went inside, got the man and woman and their little girl, and got them safely outside. My dad had burns on his forearms, but they healed fine. That was when I realized I could make a difference as a firefighter. I couldn’t save Lindsey, but I could save other people.”
“Lindsey. That’s a pretty name.”
“Yeah. Lindsey Ellen Carmichael. I loved her so much, and part of me still does. But it’s that hopeless kind of love, you know? The kind that says, ‘I still love you, but you’re gone and I’m still here, so I’ll put you back here in the back of my mind. I’ll always carry you with me, but you won’t be a driving force in my life anymore.’ Does that
make sense?”
“Yeah. Absolutely. Am I the first since …”
He knew what she wanted to ask, and he had every intention of being honest with her. “The first woman I’ve had sex with? Gosh, no. I mean, I’m no manwhore, but I’ve been with a couple of women. Dated them, spent time with them. Most of them did me dirty. One even claimed she was pregnant and tried to get me to marry her. Called her bluff—what a fucking liar! But somebody I felt the same way about as I’d felt about Lindsey? No.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Not until I met you.”
She sighed against his skin and he was pretty sure it was really the brush of angel wings. “I love you, Ross. I knew it the minute I picked up those baseballs and looked into your eyes. You had this mischievous, wicked sparkle in them that told me you’d be somebody I could fight against and you’d fight back, but you’d never hurt me.”
He laughed. “I think you’ve met your match!”
“I think I have too, and I love it. What we just did? That was exciting, but most of the time, I just feel … comfortable. I feel comfortable around you, settled and calm. And I feel relaxed because I don’t have to be on guard. I don’t have to protect myself from you. You’re protecting me from everything and everybody else. It’s like a mini-vacation!” She let loose a little laugh and it made Ross laugh too.
“I’m trying, if you’ll just let me!” He kissed her again, just a sweet, brief little thing, then pulled back and smiled at her. “I get that this is difficult for you, handing over control to somebody else, but believe me when I say, I’ll never, never take advantage of that vulnerability you feel when I’m in charge. Never. If you start to feel out of control in a scary way, say something and we’ll slow down, back up, start over, whatever it takes. I’m on your side, Carly. I want what’s best for you, always.” A big tear fell from each of her eyes and a sob broke in her throat. “Well, shit! I didn’t mean to make you cry again!” he said with a laugh.
“I’m sorry! I don’t know what’s wrong with me!” she cried through her tears.
“I do. You’re relieved. That’s the sound of relief, of somebody who’s been bottled up and tense and finally gets a chance to breathe.”
“That’s exactly it. How do you know me so well, Ross McEvers?”
“Because I know myself, and everything inside me is responding to everything inside you. And before you ask, Ross is my middle name. They call me that because my first name is what they call my dad.”
“Which is?”
He couldn’t help but chuckle. “Seamus.”
She pulled back, her eyes wide, and stared at him. “You’re fucking kidding me.”
“Nope. Scottish family. Seamus Ross McEvers. He’s Seamus Sean McEvers, my dad. My brother is Seamus Cullen McEvers. Ross was my mother’s dad’s name. That’s where it came from.”
“Mine is Michelle. It’s actually Caroline Michelle.”
“Caroline Michelle. That’s nice.” He rolled to his back, his free arm folded under his head, and the fingers of his other hand tracing little circles on her shoulder with his arm wrapped around her. “So can we agree that this is the first day of our new life together?”
She nodded against his chest. “Absolutely. Note the date. That becomes an anniversary for us.”
He grinned. “Us. I like the way that sounds.”
“Me too.”
“So, what do you want to do tomorrow?”
He felt her shrug. “I dunno.” She giggled. “Stay in bed?”
“I could go for that, but I’d really like to see the Alamo.”
“Well, we could go to the Alamo, sneak into one of the buildings, and―”
“Have sex on federal property?” Ross couldn’t help but laugh loudly. “No! I’m not going to federal prison for some pussy, girl!”
“It’s not just some pussy, mister—it’s my pussy!”
“That’s almost worth it, but the next pussy I got would be from some burly alcoholic biker named Horace. Nope. Not interested in that! Doesn’t sound especially romantic,” he said, howling with laughter.
When their laughter died down, Carly cuddled into Ross’s side and he wrapped both arms around her, squeezing her to him. He felt her sigh again and relax into him. “I love you, Ross.”
“I love you too, Caroline Michelle. You’re the woman I’ve been looking for all this time.”
“What are we going to do when we go back to Tarpley?”
“I’m going to love you. You’re going to love me. We’re going to tell your boss and your ex-husband to go fuck each other. You don’t have to worry about them, babe. Let me take care of all that. It’ll be fine.”
Ross wasn’t about to tell her, but for some reason, he had a feeling he’d just told her a lie.
Chapter 7
“That was impressive,” Ross said as they left the fortress the next day. “And it’s right next door to the hotel. Who knew?”
“Yeah. In the evenings they show movies right out there in front of the hotel. Anybody can come.”
“That’s pretty cool.”
“Come on.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the hotel.
“Again? Are you serious? We did it twice last night and again this morning! Don’t you think we should―”
“No! Not that! Gah. Typical man,” she said, laughing and rolling her eyes. “I want to show you something else.”
“Well, okay.” She dragged him along behind her, through the front doors and down a hallway, then down another hallway until it emptied out into a big room. “Wow.”
Ross stood in the middle of the original entrance, staring up at the huge stained glass ceiling. “Yeah. Wow. Rumor has it that a whore jumped off the balcony,” she said, pointing to a particular spot, “right there.”
“And she’s one of the ghosts?”
Carly nodded. “Yep. And there are a bunch of others. You know that bar down there in the main hallway?” He nodded. “Teddy Roosevelt used to rally his Rough Riders there.”
“No shit?”
“No shit. They say sometimes you can walk by there and see him sitting at the bar.”
“That’s cool!”
“Yeah. Let’s go upstairs. It’s creepy up there.” She headed for the elevator and waited until the door opened. The ride up was silent, and she didn’t know if he was interested or terrified. She’d had a couple of weird encounters in the hotel in the past, but overall she found it fascinating. When the doors opened, she made a hard left into the upstairs corridor. “Okay. Come on.” As they walked, they approached a stairwell on the left. “Don’t look down it. Just keep watch from your peripheral vision as we walk past. Here we go.” They passed it and she heard him gasp. “Well?”
“I saw somebody on the stairs! But they’re not there!”
“Exactly. I’ve seen that every time I’ve been through here. Just wait. It gets creepier.” She escorted him all over the hotel, stopping when she felt a drafty spot.
“This is weird,” he whispered at one point.
“Now I’ll show you something that’s really weird.” They made their way down the elevator, down another hallway, and back up.
“Oh. We’re going back to the room?” he asked, a wicked gleam in his eye.
“Yeah. Back to the room.” They wandered down the hallway until they’d almost reached the end. “You’ve got the key.”
He stepped up to the door and slipped it in, but nothing happened. “It’s not working.”
“I bet it is.”
He tried again. “Nope. It won’t.”
She chuckled. “Look at the number on the card and then at the number on the door.”
He glanced down, then back up. “That’s weird. I know our room is on this side of the hallway.”
“Yeah? You sure about that?”
“Yeah! I mean, we’ve got a view of the street out front, and these rooms over here would have a view out the back.”
“Okay. There’s our room over there. Let’s look.”
; She watched as he crossed the hallway, stuck the key card in, and opened the door, then headed straight for the window. “Wait. That’s the street. But it’s over …” He stared at the door, the window, and back at the door.
“Go open the door and look out in the hallway.”
When he did, she started to laugh. “Wait. No. That’s not …” He turned to her and glared. “What the fuck is going on?”
“People have reported this over and over through the years, their rooms switching sides of the hallways.”
His eyes went wide. “That’s not possible.”
“And yet, here we are, back on the right side of the hallway.”
Ross closed the door gently, then crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the bed, a glazed look in his eyes. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.”
“And you still don’t believe it, right?”
“No. Not really. But yeah. I just saw it. What the hell?”
“This hotel plays tricks on people all the time. It played a trick on you last night.”
He stood, stepped up to her, and pressed his hands around her waist. “And what trick was that?”
“It made you think you’re in love with somebody.”
“I am in love with somebody, and not just anybody. I’m in love with you.” The kiss he gave her repeated that very statement. She could feel it, all the warm, sweet days and hot, passionate nights that kiss promised to her, and she wanted it all more than anything she’d ever wanted in her whole life.
“And I’m in love with you. Hungry? Want dinner?”
“Oh, I’m hungry all right, but not for food. Get those clothes off, beautiful. I want you. Right now.”
She couldn’t shuck off her dress and underwear fast enough. Ross wanted her, and she damn sure wanted him. By the time she got undressed, he had his shirt and shoes off and was working on his belt and fly. Carly’s hands reached out, grabbed his waistband, and pulled him to her. “Here. Let me get that.” When his belt, button, and zipper were undone, he reached for them, but she pushed his hands away. “Nope. I can handle this, and you’re gonna let me.”
Fighting For Carly Page 7
