“Are you saying you didn’t?”
“No. But I never struggled like they did. Rick and Matilda took me in before I even went into the system. I was lucky but…”
“But what?”
“You saw Rick tonight. I’m a constant reminder of a painful memory. You know, they didn’t plan on having kids? Sometimes I think they felt so guilty for not noticing their friend was suicidal that they atoned the only way they knew how. By making sure I didn’t end up like him.”
His hands drop to my shoulders in a painful grip and gives me a little shake that startles me. “JD, that’s…” He fades off, incredulous. “It’s wrong. Completely wrong. I don’t claim to know what their initial reasons were, but that man’s actions today spoke loud and clear. He flew across the country to let you know he cared and wants to be more involved in your life. As far as he’s concerned, you’re his son.”
“I know it. And I know how lucky I am that Rick raised me. We all are. He’s a good man.”
“So are you.” Carter is massaging my shoulders, trying to work the tension away. “But for someone so skilled at observation, there are one or two things you refuse to see.”
“Like what?”
“How special you are.”
“Carter, I’m not—”
“I didn’t say perfect,” he interrupts. “But I’ve seen how you look at people, into people and know exactly what they need to hear, the way you did with Wyatt and Rick. I’ve seen the way you can find the humor in any situation, and how you share it to help other people find a little happiness in this world. That’s who you are. What you do. And if I can see it after a few days of being around you, I have no doubt your family already knows and loves that about you. You’re not an obligation, JD. You’re a gift.”
Before I can second guess myself I’m straddling his hips and kissing him like it’s been months instead of a few hours since I tasted his lips and tangled with his tongue.
I love his mouth. I love how his words make me feel. Admired. Seen.
I love the way he sees me.
Carter groans and digs his fingers into my hips, pulling me onto the erection already trying to tear its way through his jeans. “We can’t…not here…JD.”
Right here. I unbutton my pants and look through the windows at the dark lot outside, before twisting around to reach beneath my seat for the plastic bag I’d discovered earlier. “I saw this on the drive to the station. You must have had big plans for tonight, Zeus.”
A large box of condoms and two bottles of lube pour onto the passenger seat and Carter’s hands slide up to my waist. “You know I have plans. Let me get you home and show you, JD. Where I can take care of you. Where I have room to touch you. Make you come.”
“We were interrupted,” I tell him as I move to kneel beside him, pulling off my shirt and pushing my jeans and underwear impatiently down to my thighs. “We were having a great day, and then it all went downhill. I need to forget everything else and get back to that.”
I open one of the bottles and meet his gaze. “So take care of me.”
The thick liquid coats the tips of my fingers and I reach behind me, rubbing it into the skin I want him to touch. Then I take his hand, and guide it to the curve of my ass. “Touch me.”
When he starts to stroke and squeeze I bend over, open his belt and take his erection out with shaking fingers.
“Make me come.”
Chapter Ten
“Jesus Fucking—”
I take the hard length of him in my mouth with an appreciative hum, and the second his taste bursts on my tongue I want more of it. More of him.
Everything.
Carter swears softly and slips one hand into my loose hair, holding it away from my face so he can see what I’m doing. At the same time, I feel his thick fingers rubbing and pressing against me, relaxing the tight muscles until I’m opening for him and he’s filling me up. Yes.
“I thought I told you I didn’t want anyone else to see you like this,” he rasps, tugging my hair in sensual warning. “Now your sweet, sexy ass is bare. Anyone driving by could see it naked and open for me, begging to be spanked. Fucked.”
I moan with arousal. I love it when he talks like that. His gravelly voice soaked in sin. Spank me. Fuck me. Anything you want.
“Is this what you want, baby?” he croons, slipping out long enough to land a warm smack on the center of my ass. When he thrusts his fingers back inside, a third is forcing its way inside my tight hole. I whimper but push back into it, craving more.