Saving Hailey: Chapter 36

After the hot bath, I wrap myself in Carter’s hoodie and go to Dante’s main house, my head still pounding from the revelations.

“Better?” Broadway asks, peering up from a map spread across the bar counter.

“I’m okay, sorry about—”

“Don’t worry about it,” he cuts in, waving me off. “There’s no need to apologize.”

I send him a grateful smile, looking between the five men gathered around the bar. Ryder’s torturing his laptop keyboard, while Koby’s drawing lines over the map, his eyebrows pinched together in concentration.

“Come here,” Carter says, holding his hand out.

As soon as I’m within reach, he weaves our fingers and tugs gently, moving me to stand beside him, my shoulder brushing his arm.

“Ryder found Aalyiah’s call log,” he says, weighing every word. “You called her but you never met.”

“How do you know?”

He hands me a list of numbers, times, and dates. “This is your call.” He points to the very top of the page I’m holding. “Thirteen seconds. See the date?”

“The night before the accident… seven thirty pm.”

“My guess is you called to set up a meeting,” Ryder chimes in. “But we don’t know what was said. I can’t find any records.”

“Why are you so certain we didn’t meet?” I ask Carter.

“Because Aalyiah was dead the next afternoon, and you said it was dark outside when you saw Rhett. I think you went to meet her but stumbled upon him instead.”

I close my eyes, recalling the relevant flashbacks. “What if I met Aalyiah there the night before?”

“Then you’d have no reason to go back the next day,” Dante says. “Unless you and Aalyiah were supposed to meet up again, but given she took her life less than twelve hours later, that doesn’t make sense.”

“Nothing makes sense. Most of all why Alex would give me the evidence.” I snatch the wine Broadway opened earlier and top up my glass, pacing the room. “He said I was his insurance policy. He said he’d end up in jail if he didn’t finish the job,” I chant, spewing everything that seems important. “I need another trigger. Do you have pictures of the warehouse? Maybe my house? Where else would I hide the evidence if not there? How about Alex’s car? Maybe I’ll remember more of that night if—”

“Hailey,” Carter demands my attention. “Stop. You’re exhausted, pale, and shaking. What did your neurologist say? You can’t face everything all at once. Too much, too fast—”

I roll my eyes and sip the wine, still pacing. “Spare me, please. I’m fine and you know it. We’re running around in circles!”

Carter’s shoulders square back, annoyance tainting his features, almost masking his arousal. “You need to rest. And calm down. We’re leaving for the new safe house in the morning.”

“Why? What’s the point? We’re safe here, aren’t we? Only I know where the evidence is and since these triggers obviously work, we should try harder. Give me another!”

“And fry your brain?” he snaps, his patience long gone. “No. You can’t seeyourself when you get a flashback. You tremble, you cry, you fight… Sometimes you’re sad, sometimes you’re perfectly still, but you’re always so fucking scared… It’s getting worse. With every flashback you go deeper; today, you were so fucking deep I wasn’t sure you’d come back.”

He cracks his neck, dismissing that last thought, and gets up, towering above me. “I’m not putting you through it again unless there’s no other option.”

“There are no other options.”

I angle myself left, looking at Carter’s men and Dante, hoping one of them will back me up.

They don’t. Not even Broadway.

“Go to bed,” Carter tells me. “I’ll come over soon.”

◆◆◆

My stomach flutters me awake from a dreamless sleep. Carter’s warm, strong chest is flush with my back, the smell of his shower gel overpowering the warm air.

Another flutter, more intense when his lips draw a line down my neck, trailing a path of open-mouthed kisses into the crook.

I’m instantly hot and… wet.

My eyes fly open. I try moving onto my back but Carter’s too close and I end up pressing myself further into his chest. My stomach cramps pleasantly when I realize his hand is between my legs, his fingers expertly rolling my clit under two fingers, his hard cock jutting against my ass.

“Morning,” he whispers, biting my ear, his labored breaths transmitting heatwaves through my system. “How did you sleep?”

“Good,” I pant, angling myself back to give him better access, desperate for more friction. “Waking up is better.”

He smiles against my neck. “I couldn’t wait for you to wake up. You’re almost there, aren’t you?”

“Yes, don’t stop.”

“Wasn’t my intention.”

I grab his free hand, the one curled under me holding my throat, and move it over my mouth. We’re alone at the guest house, but I love when he muffles the sounds I can’t control.

“You’ll come for me now, then I want you on top,” he says, pressing his hand firmly to my lips. “I want you to ride me. I want a repeat of the night you stole my fucking heart, but this time, I’ll be inside you.”

All I can do is nod while his fingers work faster.

“Good girl,” he tuts in my ear and those two words tip me over the edge.

The orgasm wakes me up completely. My back bows and my thighs trap his hand between my legs. Carter buries his face in my hair, molding me further into his hard chest, his low groan amplifying the orgasm that strips my firewall.

“I love it when you come, pretty girl. You come with your whole body. Every muscle winds up tight and then you tremble, drowning in the high.”

He kisses my nape before he moves onto his back, head propped against the pillows. Holding my hand, he helps me straddle him the way I did all those weeks ago.

“We don’t need this,” he says, helping me out of my night dress, his hungry eyes roving my naked flesh. “Or this.” In one tug, he lowers his boxers, his cock springing out of the confinement, long, thick, and hard as it slaps against his stomach.

I grip the base, rise on my knees and scoot forward, taking him into me, my eyes holding his hostage while I slowly sink, not stopping even when I don’t think I can take another inch.

Carter has already proved he fits balls-deep inside me, so he’ll fit just fine, but this position is different than others we’ve tried thus far.

For once, I’m on top, dictating the pace.

Or so I think…

The reins don’t stay in my hands for long. Carter grips my hips, gently pushes me back, then pulls me in, his cock dragging along my G spot.

I grip his wrists, shaking my head. “Let me lead.”

He visibly struggles to move his hands lower and allow me a shred of control as I set the pace, grinding into him as he holds my thighs. Tingles start in my belly, the orgasm building faster every time I drag my clit over his abdomen.

“Eyes on me, Hailey,” he whispers, pressing his fingertips into my flesh. “I want to see your eyes when you come.”

It takes effort to hold his gaze, but I do, loving the possessive edge in his tone, the feral look painting his face. As soon as the orgasm rips through me, Carter seizes control.

It’s a miracle he let me lead this long.

Gripping both my wrists he tugs until I sprawl forward over his chest. He bends his knees and wraps me in his arms, holding me still while his hips thrust up fast.

“Oh God,” I mewl, nipping his skin. “That feels good.”

“You feel good. Fucking amazing. Bite the pillow, Hailey. It smells like Koby’s making breakfast downstairs.”

I do as instructed, stifling my gasps whenever he hits deep, dragging the head of his cock over my G spot. I’m falling apart at the seams, but not just because of the incoming orgasm.

It’s the way he holds me…

I’m splayed over him, heartbeat to heartbeat but he wants me closer. His arms are wrapped around my back, every flex of his muscles imprinted on my skin. He tangles his long fingers in my hair, cradling me to him.

There’s no space between us. No distance.

We had sex countless times at Lakeside. Breathless, wild, mind-blowing sex. We were always close, but this is different. More intense. As if he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he doesn’t hold on to me.

Swallowing the moans, I lift my head to watch raw desire dilate his pupils. A hot ball of liquid fire swells behind my ribs when I kiss him, slipping my tongue inside. He takes over immediately, still thrusting upwards and making me spasm.

Moving one arm to my lower back, he pins me to him, limiting my hip movements and allowing him even deeper.

Three hard thrusts send me hurtling toward orgasm.

Carter drinks my moans, hissing when my nails dig into his shoulders. “That’s it, that’s it,” he chants, forcing my forehead to his, those dark eyes seeing right through me. “That’s my girl.”

I can’t hold his gaze. It’s too much. Too fucking good.

My eyes roll back into my head and I bite my lip, manacling the sounds I can barely control. The orgasm zaps through me, the position we’re in somehow elevating the high. I’m shaking on top of him, my muscles spasming.

Carter flips us over during my moment of incoherence, working himself into me faster, every stroke more desperate. The bed bangs against the wall as he pummels me into the mattress, but it doesn’t faze him. I don’t think he hears it as he powers into me one last time and pulls out, wrapping his fingers around the hilt to send himself over the edge.

As hot as watching his cum spatter my stomach is, I have other plans. Whipping myself into position, I open my mouth, daring him to aim and shoot.

His eyes grow even darker as he kneels, yanking me closer by my long hair. “Stick your tongue out,” he grunts, jerking his length faster, the head bobbing against my upper lip.

He’s a sight to see, his dark hair falling haphazardly over his forehead, lips swollen from my kisses, chest glistening with our sweat.

Our eyes lock and warm, milky cum floods my mouth. Scooting forward, I close my lips around his tip, swallowing as he empties on my tongue. His fingers twitch in my hair, in time with his cock in my mouth and the low grunts falling from his lips.

“You’re getting greedy, pretty girl.”

I smile, wiping the corner of my mouth when he inches away. “I like the way you taste.”

He grabs my hips, tipping me onto my back and falls forward into a long, thorough kiss.