Chapter 16
Sixteen
C arter parked Josie’s car behind his truck and climbed out of the vehicle. Walking around to the passenger side, he opened the door for her. Once she stepped out, he scooped her up into his arms.
“You’re only supposed to carry me over the threshold, not down the alley, up the flight of stairs, etcetera, etcetera,” she reproved.
“I like carrying you,” he said. “It reminds me of the first night I ever brought you home with me. Of course, I’m going to hope that this night goes a little differently.”
She laughed. “You don’t think puking and passing out are appropriate wedding night activities?”
He paused at the top of the stairs. “My keys are in my pocket.”
Before Josie could ask what he meant, he shifted her in his arms, and suddenly she was draped over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. One strong arm gripped her at the backs of her thighs, and she was staring directly at his denim-clad behind.
“Carter Hayes, this is not romantic.”
“Of course it is,” he said as he unlocked the door. “We’re nonconformists.”
“I’m dizzy. All the blood is rushing to my head!”
His hand moved from the backs of her thighs up to her bottom, cupping one cheek. “Funny, I’m having the same problem.”
Once inside the apartment, he dropped the keys on the table and then lowered her until she could put her feet on the floor. Standing upright, Josie really was dizzy. She placed one hand on his shoulder and leaned back against the door.
“I am not a sack of potatoes or a bale of hay,” she informed him. “You don’t just prop me on your shoulder and carry me around like that!”
Carter was still kneeling in front of her, but he was clearly distracted. His hands were on her thighs, skimming beneath her dress.
Good lord, she thought, his hands. Callused and rough, but always gentle when it counted.
As he pushed the hem of her dress up, he hooked his thumbs through the sides of her panties and slowly tugged them down over her hips.
They snagged on her boots, and she reached for the zipper to take them off, but Carter stopped her.
“Oh, you’re leaving the boots on,” he said. “They’ve been driving me crazy since I saw you leaning against my truck.”
She wanted to say something funny, something witty and smart, but he was kissing her thighs. His mouth was hot on her skin. The soft glide of his tongue on her inner thighs was maddening. She pressed her palms against the door and closed her eyes, letting the sensation wash over her.
Each pass of his tongue, of his lips, and the gentle nip of his teeth moved higher, closer to the part of her that was so eager for him.
He hooked one hand behind her knee and draped one of her legs over his shoulder, opening her to him.
Then his mouth was on her. If he’d been gentle and tender while kissing her thighs, he was now ravenous.
His mouth moved over her hungrily, his tongue circling her clit, sucking deeply as if he wanted to consume her.
Josie buried her fingers in his hair, holding onto him as the world just fell away.
She couldn’t think. Couldn’t speak. She just trembled against him as he devoured her.
The intensity of her orgasm was shocking.
Her body quaked. Had it not been for his hand pressed against her stomach, holding her up, she would have collapsed right there.
What was even more shocking was that he was not stopping.
He continued the sensual onslaught, drawing out the pleasure until it was almost too much to bear.
Sobbing, breathless, unable to form coherent words, she just begged. “No more. Carter…it’s too much.”
Her reprieve was only momentary. Carter picked her up, carried her to the couch and lay down with her, his hard body pressed against hers.
Her dress just vanished. Her bra followed.
Lying there beneath him, wearing nothing but a pair of high-heeled boots, she felt decadent, sexy, and all those things that she’d always wanted to feel.
As she looked up at him, their eyes met, and it wasn’t just the hunger that she saw there. It was so much more.
“I never dreamed that when I pulled you down off that bar, this is where we’d end up. But I wouldn’t change a damn second of it. You’re perfect, Josie. And you’re mine.”
“God, I love you,” she whispered. “Even when you make me crazy…maybe especially when you make me crazy.”
There was no more talking. Carter stripped off his shirt, revealing the hard, lean muscles that just robbed her of the ability to think. His jeans followed, and then he was naked against her, skin to skin.
Locking her legs around his lean hips, she pulled him close. He surged into her, deep, hard, and it was so perfect. She held onto him as he rocked into her again and again, each thrust reawakening the intense pleasure of only moments earlier.
He kissed her neck, her collarbone, the curve of her jaw. And then his mouth was on hers, tasting her, teasing. His tongue moved between her parted lips, mimicking the actions of his body. It drove her over the edge, and she was shuddering beneath him, moaning his name against his lips.
She felt him stiffen against her, his muscles going completely rigid, and then the hot rush of his release inside her.
Afterward, curled together on the couch, Carter traced lazy circles on her hips, tickling her spine and generally being an adorable nuisance.
“We still have to tell everybody we got married.”
“We could,” he said. “Or we could just let Fontaine’s gossip mill do the work for us. If they’re going to talk about us, Josie, we ought to at least benefit from it.”
It was such a tempting idea. “Isn’t that a little cowardly?”
“Hell, yes, it is…and I am okay with that.”
She turned over so that they were facing one another, resting her arms on his chest as his hand shifted to her hair, twining the strands around his fingers.
“So…who do we tell to get the word out?”
Carter reached for his pants lying on the floor and fished his cell phone from his pocket. He scrolled through his contacts and then tapped Bennett’s name.
The phone rang twice before Bennett answered. “This better be good.”
Knowing what he’d more than likely interrupted, Carter grinned. “You’ve been walking around with blue balls for years. A few more minutes won’t kill you. I need to speak to Mia.”
“No,” Bennett said. “Call back later.”
Carter laughed, but pressed on. “Seriously, Bennett. This is important.”
Bennett sighed. “Fine. But you owe me.”
A second later, Mia picked up the phone. “Is something wrong?”
“No. Nothing is wrong, but we need you to spread a little gossip for us.”
“Who is we ?” she asked.
“Do you think you could tell people who would then tell other people that Josie and I eloped today?”
Mia’s squeal was deafening. “You didn’t!”
“We did, actually. And since everyone in town wants to talk about us anyway, we figured we’d kill two birds with one stone.”
“I’ll call Loralei…and Annalee. But you do know that shit is going to hit the fan over this, right? I mean, her dad is a minister, and you went and got married in a courthouse!”
“A grocery store, actually,” Carter corrected. “It’s a long story.”
After a few more pertinent details were exchanged, the call ended, and Carter looked at Josie. “It’s done. By tomorrow morning, the entire town will know.”
She rolled her eyes. “By ten o’clock tonight, the whole town will know!”
“It’s eight thirty now, so yeah, probably. I’m ordering pizza. I did promise not to let you starve,” he said.
Josie sat up and unzipped the boots that had gone from decadent and sexy to just hot and uncomfortable.
“At least when we go to church tomorrow, there’ll be witnesses, and my daddy can’t shoot you on the spot.”
His face fell. “We still have to go to church?”
“ Yes . And I’m not going to face this alone,” she said, as she got up from the couch. “I need a shower. Then you’re going to feed me, and then we’re going to bed where we may or may not sleep. I haven’t decided yet.”
Carter watched her walking naked across the living room. “Yes, ma’am.”
If getting that view meant he had to go and be preached to, he’d just learn to live with it.