Chapter 19

“I don’t want her; I didn’t want her. It was a stupid drunken mistake. I’ll be there for the baby, but she means nothing as far as she and I are concerned. It’s you. It will always be you.” His fingertip traces my eyebrow gently, then smooths back a strand of my hair that’s fallen forward. I see only the truth in his eyes, which pushes me to find the courage to go on.

“How do you feel about the baby?” I ask. He frowns, wondering where I’m going with this, but he’s my Jake now, and I get to ask him this because he loves me. That thought gives me confidence and power, opening parts of me that I never knew I had. I want to know everything that’s ravaged my mind for weeks.

“I’d be lying if I said I was happy; I’m not. But I did this, and I need to take responsibility. I hadn’t ever thought about having kids, so this is all pretty overwhelming.” He screws his face up cutely, looking far too appealing.

“Don’t walk away from your child,” I state. I know better than anyone what it does to a kid emotionally for a lifetime to have a father who didn’t want to know. He kisses me softly on the lips. Each time he does this, a look passes over his beautiful face, a disbelief that I’m letting him so freely kiss me.

The feeling is mutual. Did I really torture him that much?

“That’s not me, Emma. I’m nothing like your father. I won’t walk away.” He gently pushes my forehead with his. “Can we drop this conversation for now? There’s something I would much rather be doing.” He grins with the glint of ‘Cheeky Carrero’ in his eye. All signs of doubt and vulnerability moving out and sexually confident Carrero moving back in, even his body suddenly grows bigger.

“Such as?” I smile. Deep down, a slight wave of insecurity moves into my mind, and I waver.

Is he going to leave me here? Where else does he need to be? Surely, he isn’t planning on leaving me here now? After this?

“Taking my girlfriend home and fucking her brains out. It’s long overdue.” He grins, capturing my mouth as I inhale sharply in surprise, a passionate kiss stilling my words. His hands firmly pull me into him again. This time harder, making his intention clear. I’m taken aback by his declaration, and my body tingles in anticipation.

Girlfriend? Me?

I squeal internally.

And what he wants to do…most definitely!

My body is practically convulsing in excitement. Only Jake could make vulgar words sound like the most romantic suggestion in the world.

***

The car journey to his apartment passes in a flurry of back seat grinding and fumbling, with me lying flat across the smooth leather seat and Jake heavy on top of me. His hands and mouth are all over my skin, pushing me to a searing heat that has me panting. He’s kissing me as though he’s been deprived for years, toe-curling kisses that have me begging for more. My fingers feel out his shirt and bow tie, undoing both so they hang freely open while his naked, strong chest is covered in my lipstick kisses, his jacket discarded on the floor.

If the internal, blacked-out partition of the limo hadn’t been there, I would be ashamed of what Jefferson would be witnessing. Jake almost has me on the seat, his desire set free, my body no longer out of bounds for him, and he’s making the most of it. His kiss chased all my inner voices and fears away; the doubts and panic are gone.

He bites, nips, licks, and kisses every exposed part of me. He explores me with his hands, sliding beneath my dress and under my panties, making me climax on the seat in a way I could never have imagined. His fingers explore my point of ecstasy as he devours my mouth with his. I have never done anything like this, never imagined I could allow myself or trust a man enough, yet it feels like heaven under his practiced hand. For once, his experience is not something that upsets me. I’ve never had the urge to do anything like this until Jake. He’s insatiable and irresistible, and, from the second he had me locked in this dark box of a car, I have been his.

He stills my hands, keeping his growing desire firmly locked away, as he says, “No…my turn first.” He has a year’s worth of fantasies about me to catch up on, and he wants to take his time.

***

With my legs weak and shaking from what he’s done to me moments before, I can’t walk from the car to his building, so he scoops me up with a look of a sexy devil and carries me. The doorman opens the door at our arrival, and Jake looks down, winking at me naughtily as I’m held in his arms, trussed up like a fragile prize. He looks like the cat that got the cream.

“That was just the starter, bambina. I have weeks of pent-up sexual frustrations to take out on you yet.” His voice is heavy and laden with intent, and my insides clench while held fast in his arms, melting under his scrutiny.

Oh, God!

There is no going back now; I am hopelessly his, and I want this more than anything. I hope I have the stamina to keep up with Jake Carrero.

He carries me to the living room of his apartment and places me carefully on my feet in the middle of the floor, leaving me standing; he takes my stole and bag and tosses them on a nearby chair. His fingers trail across my naked shoulder and down my arm as he walks away, igniting tingles, and my heart lurches up in rhythm. He walks to a credenza and pushes his phone into the station dock, putting on slow music that fills the air soothingly.

“Are you trying to seduce me, Carrero?” I smile coyly, biting my lip and watching him move around the semi-dark room. He seems nervous, much like I am, now that we’re here.

“I’ve learned that nothing is a certainty when it comes to you. I’m definitely seducing you.” His eyes meet mine as he slowly walks back to me. He cups my jaw with his palms, lifting my face as he lowers his head and kisses me slowly and deliberately. I open my mouth and kiss him back at a slight touch of his tongue across my bottom lip, letting my arms slide up around his neck. We move against each other firmly, so every curve and line meet, his kiss deepening and sending a spiraling pull of longing through my core.

His hands skim my ribs and waist and then come around me, cupping my butt as he lifts me closer to his height, my feet lifting from the ground. I point my toes to the floor and give a little squeak in response as I pull away to look at him.

“This isn’t your first rodeo, is it, cowboy?” I giggle as his embrace tightens, holding me high against him.

“First one that matters.” He grins and moves his lips to my throat, kissing and sucking, while I let myself go weak and close my eyes, sagging slightly as I let him devour me, my grip around his neck loosening as he slides me back to the floor. Each touch sends a thousand sensations to every nerve ending; my body erupts, and my stomach flutters so much that my insides tremble.

I slide my hands up to the back of the bodice of my dress, fumbling with the concealed corset fastenings, eager to be naked with him, but he stays my fingers, cupping them and pulling them away from the clips.

“We have all night; there’s no rush.”