Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
17
MATTEO
Just before I convinced myself I was going to call someone to check on Carter, or better yet, go after him myself, X sent me some images to look at. He wanted me to see if I could identify any of the people at a gathering of government officials. He thought there might be a key in one of the images to help uncover who Carter’s family was working with.
I was most of the way through the pictures—with no one standing out to me—when I heard a car in the driveway. I tensed, my hand going straight for my gun. I pulled it out and slowly made my way to the door. When I glanced outside, I saw Carter pulling up. I watched as he got out of his SUV and walked toward the cabin. Damn, I loved the way he moved, especially as he surrendered to me. He would do that again. Neither of us could live without it.
I shoved my weapon back into the waistband of my sweats and opened the door. “Welcome home, honey.”
“Go inside,” he ordered.
Something about the nervous tone in his voice made me do exactly that. I backed up, closed the door behind him, and locked it. I was about to ask him where the hell he’d gone when he dropped to his knees in front of me.
I stared at him, frozen, my heart pounding so hard I thought I might pass out.
“I don’t hate you.” His voice shook as he spoke. “The only time I ever did was right after you left when I thought the worst of you. I thought you were a traitor, but I couldn’t understand why you’d let me go. I figured you just lost your nerve at the last minute, but the shot you took was so fucking perfect. It had to have been planned.
“I started to doubt everything then. I told myself it was just because I wanted you. I hated the idea of you making a fool out of me. I couldn’t stand that I’d failed to see who you really were.”
“So how do you feel about me now?” I reached down and gripped his chin, forcing him to look up at me. When he didn’t speak again, I slid my other hand into his hair and pulled hard enough to hurt. “Just say it. It’s not going to get any easier.”
“I don’t know what to say. I…care about you. I never fucking stopped, but that’s crazy, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
“You’ll have time to think about it. Because you’re mine, and I won’t let you go.”
He smiled and relief raced through me.
“You know what I’m going to do now?”
“What?”
“I’m going to punish you for refusing to just tell me that earlier, for making both of us suffer.”
“You never talked about how you felt either.”
“I can’t live without you. How’s that?”
A small smile curved his lips. “It will do for now.”
I shoved him back onto the floor. He grunted when his head hit the hardwood, but I didn’t stop. I stretched out over him and dragged his wrists over his head, pinning him. “I should tie you up or put you in chains. I want to keep you naked and available for me anytime I want you.”
“Never.”
“Are you so sure?”
“Yes.”
“I think you’ll give me anything I want. I could make you beg me to restrain you.”
His eyes widened, and I smiled. He was turned on by the thought, just like I’d known he would be. He might think he wanted to be in charge all the time, but he loved the way I forced him to surrender. He also loved to fight me. That was exactly what I wanted tonight. “I’d enjoy watching you try to free yourself, to do the best you could to hurt me despite the restraints.”
“I would get free, then you would regret ever trying to hold me like that.”
“Would I?”
He laughed. “You’re so fucking filthy, maybe not.”
“I’m no worse than you.”
I abruptly let him go, pushed up off him, and gestured toward the window. “How private is it out here?”
He narrowed his eyes. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking you should run.”
“The last time you told me that, I was in danger of bleeding out.”
He looked down, breaking our eye contact. “I knew you’d make it. I knew exactly where that bullet had gone.”
He was lying. He’d been scared. “What if you’d been wrong?”
“Then I wouldn’t have survived my time with the cartel.”
“Fuck, Matteo….”
“How private is it here?” I needed to focus on what I intended to do to him now, not the past.
“Ford and Jay are in town. They have a caretaker, but he won’t come anywhere near the cabin. We’re on our own.”
I smiled at Carter, knowing I looked evil as fuck. He shuddered, and it was all I could do not to shove him back down to the ground and take him right there. It could be a preliminary to the chase, but I wanted to draw this out. I wanted him scared and wondering what I intended to do to punish him.