17. Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
Carter
T he rain outside the hotel is rapping heavily on the opposite side of the window. I drift in and out, having a difficult time sleeping. I can’t get Lina or our kiss out of my mind. It was incredible. It took all my self-control not to take her up to my room and rip every single piece of clothing off of her wet body.
I pull the blankets up and roll over to my side. Sleeping in only my boxers and without a shirt in the crisp chill in the room isn’t ideal for most, but my body has become accustomed to sleeping in cooler weather since my days in the Navy.
A light knocking stills me. Who the hell is at my door? It’s probably the room next to mine. I hear it again, but this time, it’s louder, and the rhythm is longer.
That’s definitely my room.
Peering out of the peephole, my eyes land on a tall blonde woman bouncing up and down on each leg. Lina. My breath hitches, and I’m taken aback. What is she doing here?
I step back, unlatch the chain atop the door, and pull it open. She’s dressed in plaid pajama pants and a sweatshirt. “Lina, is everything alright?”
“I’m sorry to bother you, but I hate this hotel, and they always put us on the top floor—” she rushes out, attempting to explain.
I nod. “Alright—”
She glances around behind her. “I forgot to ask for a room on the bottom floor, and now there’s a storm, and this happened to me last time I was in Seattle—” she continues to ramble as I quickly organize her thoughts.
“Okay.” I nod again, opening the door wider while gesturing for her to come in.
She dips under my extended arm, still going on about the hotel. “I hate thunderstorms, and I’m terrified of hurricanes, tsunamis, floods—”
“I understand. Is that why you’re here? Are you scared?” I close the door behind me, inadvertently cutting off the light from the hallway that was brightening up the completely dark room a second ago. I can no longer see her, but I know she’s standing only a foot in front of me.
“Yes, I am,” she answers with a small voice, her tone noticeably embarrassed.
“That’s all you had to say.” I hold my hands out into the darkness as my sight adjusts. “I thought you were here to continue what went on in the rain earlier.”
“We’re friends, right?” I nod, but before I can speak, I feel her small hands slip into mine. “Thank you.”
I rub the inside of her palm with my thumb. “Do you want to stay with me until the storm passes?”
“You don’t mind?” I can’t see her beautiful face, but I can sense the tension in her muscles releasing. “I know it’s stupid, but I’ve always been like this.”
“It’s not stupid, and no, I absolutely don’t mind.”
Then I hear an unexpected light chuckle from her. “It’s fucking freezing in here. What do you have the temperature at?”
I rub my lips together, stifling laughter. “I need to be cold to sleep well.”
Lina’s hands slowly slip from mine. “Apparently.”
I flip on the light in the bathroom, illuminating the space. “I only have a king, but you’re welcome to sleep here until you feel comfortable returning to your room.”
Lina’s eyes dart between mine and the fluffy comforter on the bed. “No funny business,” she playfully warns.
“We slept together perfectly fine when you were sick.” I smile.
“I’m not sick now.”
I reach out and gently twist a piece of her wavy blonde hair. “Do you think things have changed?”
“We’ve always been this way.”
“I know”
“We’ll be fine,” she says in an upbeat but unconvincing voice before crawling onto the bed.
Watching Lina fold herself into my bed, I have to fight with my dick, burying the urge to throw her arms around my neck and cuddle her body into mine. She’s Brian’s daughter , I repeat under my breath. We can’t be together. With what I did at the masquerade ball and the kiss this evening, we’re playing a dangerous fucking game.
I inhale deeply, turn off the light switch, and then round the other side of the bed. While lying down, I keep my back to her. She barely moves, but the thick silence in the room is deafening. Only a brief moment later, a dense rumbling of thunder subtly shakes the windows. I feel Lina stiffen on the mattress.
“Carter?”
“I’m right here,” I speak over my shoulder, still trying to maintain distance.
“The building isn’t going to collapse, right? I mean, the storm isn’t that strong, right? We’re so high up.” Panic laces her voice. Wow, she is petrified.
Against my better judgment, I turn toward her. We talked about this, and I’m already going against it. Thinking she was still facing the wall, I am surprised when I come within inches of her face. “No, I don’t think the storm will cause the building to collapse.”
Small puffs of her breath feather my lips as she chuckles. “I know that sounds ridiculous.”
“Try to get some sleep.”
“Okay, you’re right.”
Less than a minute later, another loud crash of lightning and the banging of thunder hit the windows again. Lina comes at me with force. Before I realize what’s happening, her body is flush with mine, and her face burrows into my chest. Fuck . My muscles are frozen.
I quickly give in, resting one arm around her back and propping my head up with the other.
“Sorry, that was a reflex,” Lina apologizes, starting to back away.
I apply gentle pressure on her shoulder blades, keeping her in place. “Stay.”
“On top of the storm, your room is unnecessarily cold.” She hurries in closer than she was initially .
Under her delicate touch, the skin on my bare chest tingles. My dick grows and subtly prods her stomach. My eyes fly open. I shift my body back a little, creating space, but Lina moves closer. Pushing my dirty thoughts aside, I think of flying and baseball— yes, baseball —a man’s favorite distraction. I wonder who will be heading to the World Series next year? What am I thinking? It’s not even baseball season.
Go the fuck to sleep.
Lina softly rubs her core against my hard length. My eyes spring open once again. No fucking way. Then, she does it again, barely arching her hips forward to create some friction against me. She is doing this on purpose. Besides the low glow of the streetlamps outside seeping through the thin crack in the curtains, I can’t see much.
Keeping my head angled up, and my eyes focused on the white wall behind her, I try to ignore the possibility that she is doing it on purpose. She does it again, this time grinding with more pressure.
Fuck. I can’t take it. My eyes shoot down to meet hers. They stare up at me, hooded and flared.
I brush away her hair from her neck as she curves into my touch. My eyes find her lips. She bites the bottom, and I can’t even think straight. Everything around me stills except for the heavy breath that fills my lungs.
Lina slowly reaches up to cup the side of my face. “You are my comfort.”
Her words set my body ablaze in more ways than one. Without responding, something quickly passes through our gaze. With our eyes locked, Lina takes her hand from the side of my face and slides it between us until she glides it over my dick.
The moment her soft hand makes contact, her pupils dilate. She can feel how badly I want her. My dick involuntarily twitches, craving to be stroked by her warmth. But the rest of my muscles are tense and unsure. I run my fingers through her hair, then hook them around the back of her head. She, again, shrinks under my embrace.
Her hand quickly finds its way through the slit in my boxers and grips the base of my cock.
“Fuck, Lina,” I breathe out. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but this isn’t a good idea.”
Bringing her mouth to my bottom lip, she leaves a sweet kiss, killing every ounce of self-control I have left.
“Don’t talk,” she mumbles into the corner of my mouth.
I’m barely touching her, fearful of where this is going. I stay locked in place, letting her make the moves. This is dangerous and reckless—and I can’t fucking stop.
“Please, baby, I’m not—” Before I have the chance to finish my thought, Lina is sliding herself between me and the mattress, forcing my body on top of hers. Caging her in, I look down at her blue eyes with a million thoughts racing through my mind. What the fuck are we doing?
I want to stop. I want to protest more, but I can’t. I will succumb to whatever part of Lina she’s willing to give because I know I’ll never have all of her.
“I want to feel you inside of me,” she purrs, pumping me a few times. “It just feels right to have you, Carter.”
My head falls between us as I white-knuckle the fitted bed sheet, pulling it away from the mattress. After a few strokes, her fingers reach the elastic waistband of my boxers. She inches them down my legs while staring up at me with needy eyes. A shot of electricity rushes me, bowling over me like an unforgiving wave.
We’ve been playing these little fucking games for long enough.
Shifting my weight to one arm, I take my free hand and slip it under her shirt, gliding it over the dips of her hips and to her lower stomach. She sharply inhales, and quick goosebumps span her skin. I feel them under my touch, bringing a drop of precome to the head of my cock with anticipation of what we’re about to do.
We’re going to fuck. Oh my god.
Making my way down to the apex of her thighs, I pause before slipping my fingers inside.
“I want you.” She removes her hand from the base of my dick and wiggles out of her pants.
“Take off your shirt,” I demand. “If we’re going to do this, I’m going to do it my way.”
Lina pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and nods before crossing her arms to pull her shirt over her head. Both of her full breasts stare right at me, making my mouth water. I can’t help myself. I lean in and pull one into my mouth, running my tongue around her pebbled nipple.
“Oh, Carter,” she moans, her eyes roll back.
While I switch to the other breast, tasting all of her sweet skin, I take two fingers, spread her open, and then slip them inside of her.
“Fuck,” I grunt out, my muscles weakening. “You’re so wet.”
“I’m always like this when you’re around.” She bucks into my hand, craving more.
I need to feel her now, or I’m going to blow my load on top of her stomach, and that would be embarrassing because I’m not a fucking teenager anymore. But this is how she makes me feel—a burning and heady desire to be with her, on her, and in her.
I slide my fingers out, and she sinks into the bed, her body slightly trembling. Then I stick them into my mouth and lick them clean. “Exactly how I remember.”
Lina moans in satisfaction, watching me enjoy what she’s giving me. Her fingertips graze the skin on my arms while she circles the tattoos on my shoulders. Underneath me, I feel a gentle movement of her legs spreading. I take that as an indication that she does want this. The lightning and thunder have eased up a bit, and the dense silence in the room causes me to get hit with a bolt of regret. My face hardens, and my muscles are still.
“No, don’t change your mind,” Lina begs, shaking her head. How can I tell her no when I want this as much as she does? Maybe it will work. Perhaps we can hook up every once in a while to temper our intense needs.
I lower my mouth to hers, sweeping my tongue across her lips. “I’m not.”
Lina lifts her head, meeting my lips for a deep kiss. This is the second time I’ve kissed her, and it’s better than the first. I don’t know how that’s even possible. Our tongues move slowly, licking and intertwining with one another while I hook one of my arms behind the back of her knee, bringing it up and pressing it into her chest. My mouth entirely devours hers softly. But with a purpose. Then, with one gentle yet firm thrust, I push into her.
A tight murmur slips out between our connected lips .
“Fuck. I don’t have a condom,” I grit out, getting lost in the way her body sucks me in and barely lets me move.
Lina’s nails dig into my ass as she desperately tries to hold me in each time I slide out. “I trust you,” she whispers. “Do you trust me?”
Do I trust her? Yes, I do.
“Yes,” I say, moving away from her lips, letting my forehead rest against hers.
Our bodies move in rhythm with one another. It’s not frantic or chaotic. It’s deep and sensual. Gliding my hand under her raised ass, I fan my fingers across her skin, getting a good grip, then guide her hips to match mine. Her arousal coats me, making the inside of her thighs and my dick wet and slippery. The slapping of flesh fills the room in the most intoxicating way.
“Goddamn, Carter.” Lina shakes. The lower half of her body is stiffening, and I feel her insides clench around me tighter. She’s about to come, and I cannot fucking wait to experience it.
Letting her leg fall from the position at her chest, I lower myself on top of her. Bracing myself on bent arms on either side of her, I cup her head and hold her body in place. “Eyes on me, baby.”
Lina’s eyebrows pinch together just before I bring my lips to her forehead. I breathe in her scent, appreciating the intimate moment we’re having.
She nuzzles my nose while I continue to roll deeper inside. Her eyes are locked on mine, and with each arch of my hips, I get closer to letting go of myself. Now she’s trembling underneath me and lets out a soft whimper before tucking herself into my chest and breaking my eye contact for a moment before she looks back up.
There she is. Sweat mists her forehead, and suddenly, I feel it coming—a euphoric and fierce orgasm. My legs lock into place. Lina grabs the side of my face, bringing my mouth to hers once again before letting out a heavy groan as her pussy tightens around my cock.
“Oh fuck,” I grunt, painfully pulling out to finish on my boxers, lying off to the side of the bed.
From the corner of my eye, I see Lina on her back, her lungs rapidly moving up and down as she sucks in gulps of air. Out of breath, I fall to my back on the bed, lying beside her. What the hell did we just do?