Electrified (41 page)

Once she and Carson left the big city and were on the large expanse of freeway, they sped by farms, green pastures, and gorgeous mountains. Lila took it all in like a little girl. She caught Carson smiling at her many times during the ride, and reveled in it for a second before begging him to put his eyes back on the road.

After shifting into high gear, Carson held Lila’s hand, rubbing his thumb back and forth over hers, lending her his strength and confidence without ever uttering a word. It was such a simple indulgence, holding hands while driving free, but it held such intense significance for Lila. She was free to be Lila and live, love, and move on.

Parking in Carson’s garage brought on a whole new set of jitters for Lila. She was there, at Carson’s place. Walking in from the garage, she caught a glimpse of his motorcycle parked next to the wall. She looked at the bike, then at him, and his brown eyes twinkled. “You want to go for a ride?” he asked, his dimples in full bloom.

She grinned and pretended to shoot her head. “No way. I was thinking with how fast you drive a car, I can’t imagine what you do on that thing. It’s probably scary.”

“Definitely scary. Scary fun. I missed my bike when I was out west, but not nearly as much as I missed being inside you the last few days. Come on.” He lifted her up, threw her over his shoulder like it was nothing, playfully smacked her butt, and carried her to the elevator. She laughed to herself as she remembered the last time he went caveman on her.

Carson lived in a posh, huge condo in the center of Philadelphia. There was nothing compact about it, as she recalled him telling her he had a “small place” when they first had coffee.

The space wasn’t homey like hers, though. She was saddened to see Carson had very little on the walls, nothing but beer in the built-in stainless fridge, and little more furniture than a sectional sofa and a huge entertainment center complete with the largest TV Lila had ever seen. The minimalist decor and feeling screamed
lonely
to Lila, but she would deal with that later because before she could take in any more, Carson scooped her up for the second time and showed her his bedroom, which held only a king-sized bed.

He gently placed her down on the bed and rested beside her, propped up on one elbow. They just lay there staring into each other’s eyes, Lila’s green and Carson’s brown, and let their gazes do the talking. Their eyes were both filled with equal parts love, lust, need, and want.

Both of them were two lonely, hopeless souls before they met. Neither believed they deserved something to last, a little touch of sweetness, and now that they had more good than they knew what to do with, there were no words to express it. Only actions.

Carson smoothed her long hair behind her back and pressed his mouth to hers. What started out as a soft kiss quickly grew to a delicious blend of lips, tongues, and teeth. They fed off each other’s heat, racing toward more tasting, touching, and melding their bodies together in the most magnificent of ways.

Lila knew he wanted to put his mouth elsewhere, kiss her where he hadn’t been in a while, and make her scream his name. Which she most definitely wanted, but she wanted to be the first to incite the passion. Forcing herself to pull away from his mouth, she kissed along his neck, lapped around his nipples with her hands slowly roaming south, then began inching down his body.

Her fingers found his button fly and opened his jeans, pushing them down and finally off with her foot. She grasped him, all of him, running her hand up and down his smooth shaft, caressing the silky tip with her thumb. Carson let out a deep moan right before she lowered her head and took him completely in her mouth.

She really didn’t know what to do, but took cues from his moans as she sank deeper on him with her lips. She slid back up and down again at a slow rhythm, moistening all of him, savoring his salty taste, loving her first experience with this.

This being her first blow job.

Carson lifted his hips so he could slide a bit deeper in her mouth, and she started to move a little faster. He wound his hands in her hair, keeping her at the current pace, obviously liking the faster way she was skimming up and down him.

She moved one of her hands up his abs and chest to slowly graze his nipples while she continued to suck him below with her mouth.

Now she understood how it turned him on so much to pleasure her with his mouth. The sounds he was making, the way he kept pressing into her, the sight of his head falling back on the pillow in ecstasy had her so turned on, she was ready for anything.

Carson broke the moment. “Lila, oh God, you feel incredible, but I’m not going to last and I want you.”

He stilled her and pulled her back up his body, then met her mouth with his and kissed her passionately. He stroked his tongue against hers before flipping on top of her and pushing her thighs apart with his legs. She could feel how hard he was against her core.

Her body had a mind of its own and was straining toward him, begging him to dive inside. She was wet and more than ready. She felt his hand brush over her dripping core, and without pause, he entered her, filling and consuming her at once.

For the first time since they met, they were Lila and Carson with no secrets or barriers between them. She was certain this made it even better. They were suspended in time as one; her body ached for more every time he slid in and out of her.

He held her hip tightly, rubbing his thumb along her scar as though he was scrubbing the memory from her mind and replacing it with a happier one, as he went deeper and deeper. She didn’t have to tell him what the scar was; she knew he knew. He was making it all go away with each time he drove inside her.

Lila squeezed his ass every time he landed in her depths, silently asking for him to not stop what he was doing. It was carnal, passionate, and beautiful all at the same time.

They devoured each other, and Lila felt her orgasm tunneling through her veins, seeping out from her bones, and igniting her soul. She couldn’t hold the force of it back, and when he gave her a long, soulful thrust, she came with Carson’s name on her tongue.

He shuddered inside her as she rode out the last waves of her climax, shivering all around him, reveling in hearing her name from his mouth. Her real name, all hoarse and gravelly, deep from his throat while he was planted inside her, surrounded by infinite pleasure and a feeling she’d never felt before.

“I love you, Carson.”

The words slipped out all on their own, and Lila realized that was the feeling she was experiencing so deliciously. Love. Love without strings or demands. Unadulterated love. She said and meant it, and had to believe Carson wasn’t lying when he told her earlier.

He whispered sweet words of love to her, and then proceeded to spend the next few hours showing her how he felt.

S
PENDING THE
entire day and night in bed, only getting up to answer the door for takeout, Lila didn’t see any of Philadelphia until twenty-four hours after arriving. She didn’t care. She was seeing all she wanted to see in Carson’s eyes.

Eventually, he did take a little time to show her around the city. She took in the architecture and history, met his friend Alex, who was somewhat like a brother and clearly important, but mostly enjoyed being alone with Carson at home with no pretense, making love, and exploring each other.

They even took a short ride on his bike. A short, painfully fast excursion where Lila lost herself in leaning into his muscular back, reveled in having her arms folded tightly around his waist, and thought if it weren’t so dangerous, motorcycle riding behind him wasn’t half bad.

After a few days, Carson made true on his promise to go to the Bahamas. Something he told Lila he planned to do without her when he finished the case that brought them together, but was going to be much better with her.

And it was so fabulous together. Just the two of them. After a week of indulging in each other on their veranda, in the sand with the ocean waves rolling in the background, and on the enormous bed in their cabana at an exclusive resort, Lila finally had to face going back to life and what that meant. She couldn’t stay in paradise forever.

It was easy to lose herself in the tranquility and easiness of being Carson and Lila in the most stunning place ever, forgetting where they came from, and what was waiting for her at home. She had a life to get back to, even though her identity had been destroyed. There were people she cared about waiting for her, depending on her for help and success.

She owed those people, and she had to get back to them. But she also owed Carson and wanted to stay with him. Did he want to stay with her? How would that work?

Their last evening in the Bahamas, while dining under the stars at a private table set for two outside their little bungalow, she asked Carson, “So, will we visit each other, see each other. How will this work?”

He set his fork down, sat up straight, and smoothed his hand across his face. “Li, baby, there will be no visiting.”

Lila couldn’t stop herself from frowning, her eyes immediately welling up with tears. She couldn’t control her face and emotions betraying her, showing every bit of her sadness and remorse.

“Lila, I’m kidding. Kidding. There will be no visiting because I’m moving to Vegas with you. That is, if you’ll have me.” He laughed loudly, bared his big beautiful smile, leaned over and planted a big kiss on her lips.

She brought her fingers up to her mouth, tracing where he just left, and tilted her head to the side. “What? How? You have a life, a job, a condo.”

“Is that an excuse? Are you looking for a way out? We never discussed your religion, is that it? The one you were raised in, it’s obviously not the same as mine, which is nonexistent. Is that a problem? I don’t know what to suggest. I only want to be with you, for always.”

She shifted in her seat. “It’s not an excuse! I don’t care what religion you are. I’m not the same person I was back in Brooklyn. I don’t believe in many of the old customs anymore. They didn’t help me when I needed them the most. I do believe someone was looking out for me, though, because I met you. And now you want to be with me? It’s just, I can’t believe this is happening. All my dreams are coming true. That’s not supposed to happen.”

Carson nodded and snared her gaze with his. “It’s true and should be for you of all people, you deserve it and more. Listen, I work for myself, and I want to be with you. Period. I can live anywhere, but I want to be with you. Does that work for you?” He got out of his chair, picked her up by her hips, and lifted her so they were eye to eye.

With her legs now wrapped around his waist and the biggest smile ever, Lila only said, “Absolutely!”

Sporting a tiny glint in his eyes and his dimple peeking out, Carson ended the conversation with, “I’m bringing my bike. No doubt about that.”

He kissed her before she could reply.

Two years later

C
ARSON LANDED
at the private airstrip, practically jumped out of the plane, hopped on his bike, and headed toward home. Screw debriefing his client. He solved the case, found the person of interest, delivered them, and wanted to get the fuck home. As soon as he had deposited the individual in question with the authorities, he’d demanded the plane get right back up in the air. He mostly flew private these days.

The flying, an added perk to his elevated career status, was only superseded by being able to charge exorbitant rates after he had handed the FBI such a big tip-off and case with Elon Finder and Mystique. He would have done it no matter what for Lila.

His private work was steady as usual, but now he could be even more particular in choosing jobs, since the FBI now called him to consult on certain cases they couldn’t get a solid lead on, or to pass along cases the government didn’t want to be involved with. He was in high demand, and he liked it that way.

Hence, his current client could wait. Their software programming was safe now. Carson found and apprehended the idiot who had tried to run away with the code for himself. Some people got so greedy, thinking they could have it all.

Like him. He did. He had it all. Yeah, he was a smug shit, but considering he came from not much, Carson was proud of where life had landed him.

Lila wouldn’t be happy he was on his bike. He hoped the fact he was home a day early would make up for it. She hated his fast driving, whether it was his sports car or his treasured bike.

It was who he was. He drove fast when they met. What did she expect?

With the wind buffeting his back as Carson pushed his speed a little faster, his thoughts drifted back to when he first picked Lila up in the rental car in Vegas. She’d gripped the side bar back then as though her life depended on it. To think of it, she still did as he continued to speed around town whenever they were out.

He could see her point.
Sort of
. What did she want him to get? A minivan?

No fucking way.

He ran through all of his options on his ride home. He had to settle on some type of compromise, because it wasn’t going to be just the two of them for much longer.