Foreplay: Six Full-Length Standalone Novels from Six New York Times Bestsellers Read online

  “—I texted you that.”

  His fists tightened on the headboard and his knee touched the bed now. It dipped under his weight, but he held himself above me.

  My heart was pounding, but I couldn’t keep his gaze. Too many different emotions were being stirred up inside of me. When I felt the throb start between my legs, I clenched them together and hoped it would go away. What was wrong with me?

  “You sent me a weak text and then you never looked at your phone again.”

  I clamped my eyes shut. He was right.

  “You were hiding from me.”

  Right again.

  His breath hit me on the side now. He had moved and I wondered where he was looking now. Was he closer to me? The bed dipped again so I wondered if both of his knees were on it now. I was still trapped between his arms, but he was so close to me. The throbbing between my legs grew. I wanted him between them. I wanted him against me, on top of me. A small whimper left me before I could stop it. I bit down on my lip and tried to keep another from escaping.

  His hand left the headboard and cupped my chin. “Emma.”

  Oh god. He had softened his tone. It was a sensual caress against my skin now. My leg moved back, just an inch. I opened for him.

  “Emma, look at me.”

  I shook my head. I couldn’t. He’d see.

  “Emma.” His lips touched the side of my mouth now and I gasped. I couldn’t hold back anymore as I turned into him. My lips brushed against his, but he moved back, just enough so his lips only lightly touched mine. He didn’t give in. He didn’t press them against mine.

  I wanted all of him, not just the soft feel of him.

  He moved even closer and his other hand left the headboard. It slid behind my waist and he picked me up. My eyes burst open and I wrapped my arms around him without thinking. He lifted me from the bed and moved me to the dresser. He sat me on top, grabbed my legs, pulled me to the edge, and then fit himself between them. One of his hands braced against the dresser while the other went to my back. He pressed me against him, all of me against all of him. My chest was crushed against his and my lips fell open. The throbbing was so insistent now. I was wet, ready for him.

  “Why didn’t you tell my men you were leaving your work?”

  I couldn’t hear him. The need for him had a haze over my mind. I only felt him, how his heart was still calm while mine raced. The front of his pants burned against me. He had thickened, pressed between my legs, and I opened them wider. Then he drew in a breath. He stiffened against me and his head dropped to my shoulder. His lips skimmed my naked shoulder in a soft kiss. My hair was brushed back and he pressed another kiss to my neck.

  I shuddered against him.

  “Emma,” he whispered now. “Why didn’t you tell my men you were leaving? They searched your entire building before they called me.”

  His voice grew insistent and I struggled to hear his words. When I finally processed his words, a small frown came to me. I didn’t want to talk. Not then, not anymore. My voice had grown hoarse, “I forgot.” My eyes widened, though the lust increased inside of me. What was he doing to me? “I forgot. Theresa mentioned Joe’s and we went over. I saw…” Who had I seen? Someone had distracted me. “I saw Amanda and felt bad.”

  “Why did you feel bad?” His hand brushed more of my hair away and skimmed down my back. He cupped the back of my thigh and pulled me closer to him. I couldn’t get any closer. I was plastered to him.

  My legs opened again, even wider.

  His chest rose against mine and his hand skimmed down my arm to my waist. He lingered on the inside of my thigh.

  I was burning up now.

  He repeated, “Why did you feel bad?”

  My arms wound tighter around his neck. I stuck my head against his chest and said, my voice muffled, “Because I left them.”

  I left them for you.

  I bit down on my lip from saying that thought out loud. He’d know how much I wanted him. I started to wonder if I had always wanted him.

  “Oh, Emma.” His hand cupped the back of my head and lifted me to face him. My eyes opened to slits as I peered at him. He was studying my mouth, his eyes dark with lust as he murmured, “They’re safe. You’re not. You need to be here with me, where I can make sure you’re safe. You pulled the trigger. You’re the one they want.”

  “Jeremy.”

  My own voice haunted me. The bang of the gun came back and I felt the kickback in my hand again.

  “You have to be quiet. People will hear.”

  A sob escaped me and Carter lifted me from the dresser. My arms and legs wound around him, but my head dropped into his chest. Another sob came up and then another. I was crying as he lowered both of us to the bed again, but he held me as I continued. I couldn’t stop crying. As the night progressed, I cried myself back to sleep in his arms.

  —CARTER—

  Carter sat on the edge of the bed. He watched her. She had cried in his arms that night and he wanted to murder whoever caused her the pain. He couldn’t. She had already killed Jeremy, and Franco was a cancer. Struggling to keep his rage under control, he pulled out the nightstand drawer and studied his gun for a moment. It was his trusty friend, one that he had used so many other times when someone needed to disappear. He hadn’t used it in a long time. He hadn’t had to, but the temptation to take matters into his own hand was great. His arm shook as he tried to keep himself from reaching for it. It’d be so easy. He could slip out, no one would know. He would go to Franco and get into his house, but he couldn’t. Franco’s death was a political death. It had to be approved by his family. And even when he would die—and he would die—the Bertal Family would send another. They were all the same. They would do as Franco had done with Cristino. They would take over the last assignment and do more than they needed to prove their authority to the neighborhood.

  That couldn’t happen. When Franco died, it had to stop with him. No one could hurt her.

  Carter shut the drawer softly and left for the gym. His hands needed to pummel someone so the boxing bag would have to be it. As he went, he was already thinking of ways to ensure that Franco’s death would be the last of it.

  Two hours later, he was still considering ways to cement her freedom.

  ELEVEN

  I woke from an empty sleep. His arms weren’t around me. I didn’t feel his legs entwined with mine anymore and when I turned over, I already knew he was gone. The clock said that it was after six in the morning. There were no other lights on, not that I could see, but I rose and grabbed the robe again. I pulled it on as I went in search of him.

  I went through every floor and looked in every room. It wasn’t until I got to the bottom floor that I heard him. A light was on and shone underneath a closed door, but I heard thumping from inside the room. As I opened the door, I saw him in the middle of a gym. His black pants were still on, but his shirt was gone and sweat gleamed down his chest. His hands were taped and he was circling a punching bag. There was blood on his tape. I tried to find where he had been hurt, but I didn’t see blood anywhere else. Only sweat and muscles. They constricted and stretched as he continued to hit the punching bag, each illuminated in the stark contrast by the light. I wondered if there was an ounce of fat on him. It didn’t seem likely, but then he stopped as he saw me.

  He touched the bag to hold it as it swayed and his chest rose up and down from his breathing. His eyes narrowed when I stepped inside the room. “You couldn’t sleep?”

  I shook my head.

  I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to be near him, but I couldn’t say that. What would change then? I held my tongue, though my hands fought against me. They wanted to reach out to him. My feet wanted to cross the room and I wanted to feel his arms around me again. I swung my body back to keep myself from going to him.

  His pull on me was so powerful, too powerful. It scared me.

  “Emma.”

  I jerked my eyes up to his and gulped. His eyes had darkened as he w
atched me. Lust filled them, but there was more to his darkness. There was danger in them as well. That was what kept me from going to him. He was so dangerous.

  “You never looked at your phone, did you?”

  I frowned. My phone? But then I remembered. I shook my head. No, I hadn’t. And he’d been right earlier. I hadn’t looked at my phone because I wanted to run from him. I wanted to hide from what my life had become. I wanted to forget everything, just for a night.

  “Talk to me,” he urged in a quiet voice.

  I gasped as I heard a soft yearning in him. There was a pleading within him and my eyes went round. He was pleading me for something. Oh god. I couldn’t stop myself. I crossed the room to him, but I stopped right before him. I didn’t touch him. My eyes fell to his chest and it rose up and down in a steady rhythm. My hand lifted without my decision and touched where his heart was. My eyes widened as I saw my own hand in front of me. Why couldn’t I stop myself when I was around this man?

  “What are you thinking?” His voice grew rough. His heart picked up its pace underneath my hand.

  I sighed to myself. It was soft and quiet, but it was everything. It was my surrender. I closed my eyes and I stepped into him. His arms wound around my waist and then my head rested on his chest. It was right to be in his arms.

  “Emma. You need to talk to me.”

  I nodded, choked up now. My hand wound around his waist and formed into a fist on his waistband. As I bit my lip in a poor attempt to hold myself from jumping him, I lifted my head and gave him a fleeting smile. “I wanted to forget for the night.”

  He nodded, his eyes darkened even more.

  I couldn’t look away now that my eyes had connected with his. The words tumbled free now. “I wasn’t hiding from you. I was hiding from everything. I’m sorry that your men contacted you and you had to come back from Greece.”

  My heart skipped a beat. He had come back for me.

  I continued, stumbling over my words, “Everything is different, Carter. Nothing’s the same. Even my job changed yesterday. It’s all,” better, “different. Everything is different. I’m different. I’ve changed and I,” don’t know how to handle that, “don’t know what to do now.”

  I clasped my eyes shut against my thoughts.

  “Hey.” His hand skimmed up my arm to caress my cheek. “When my men called and said you had disappeared something changed in me too. I would do anything for you, Emma. I thought Dunvan found out about you and took you. I was ready to come back and start a war. When they told me you were having drinks with your co-workers, I could’ve gone back, but I didn’t. I came home. I needed to see you. I had to make sure that you were okay. You were in bed when I got home. You were sleeping. You looked so innocent. I wanted to murder Jeremy Dunvan for what he did to you.”

  I shook my head. “He was hurting Mallory—”

  “He hurt you too.” An alarming tone came from him. “He changed your life. For that alone I will not stop until all of his men are in the ground.”

  My hands fell away from him. What was he talking about? I shook my head again. “You can’t.”

  “I can,” he growled. His hand flexed against my back and he held onto me as I had with him. “When you came to me, I wanted to torture Jeremy Dunvan, but I couldn’t. You already killed him. His father won’t stop, Emma. He’s still searching for what happened to his son and they know about Mallory.”

  My eyes bulged out and I bent over. I couldn’t breathe. Panic filled me.

  His hand didn’t move from me. He kept me chained to him. “They know he was with a girlfriend, it’s only a matter of time before they find her.”

  I gasped for breath. It wasn’t coming. Something was blocking my air.

  “I can’t protect her—”

  I shook my head, fully panicked now. I gasped out, “You promised me. You said that—”

  He jerked me against him. His eyes drilled into mine. “I said what I needed to get you here. You never would’ve left her if I told you the truth.”

  “NO!” I ripped out of his arms. Then I turned and started for the door.

  “No,” he growled as he grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

  I struggled against him, but he lifted me in the air. He carried me further into the room, into the shadowed corners, and he pressed me against the wall. I was trapped again. I had nowhere to go. He held me up as he had held me in the bed that first night. His legs paralyzed mine and my arms were helpless under his hold. His chest was against mine again. He lowered his head to my neck. His nostrils flared and he skimmed my skin with his lips.

  I shivered as sensations flared inside of me. But no, Mallory—I tried to struggle again, but it was useless. I was melting instead.

  He whispered against my neck, “You can’t go to her. You can’t, Emma.”

  I whimpered. My legs started to soften.

  “That man wasn’t your boyfriend.”

  I shook my head, but it wasn’t a question. Another whimper left me.

  “I found out who he is and where he works. I know that he works with your roommate. He loves her, doesn’t he?”

  Another nod. Another submission. I groaned and my head fell against the wall. I was starting to need only him now.

  Carter whispered against my neck, an edge in his voice, “That man would do anything for her. What do you think he would do if Franco’s men took her?”

  Agony speared me. I already knew.

  “He would give you up in a heartbeat,” he clipped out. “You know that. You know what he would do. He wouldn’t even give you a heads-up, Emma. They would take her and he would walk into Franco’s office without a second thought. And that will happen. Franco’s men knew Jeremy was with someone, they’re searching for her right now. As soon as they question her, and they will, your name will come up. If she doesn’t give you up, he will.” His hand had a cement hold on me. He was claiming me. “He will do that to make sure the woman he loves is safe. And I would do the same for you.”

  My heart stopped. Had he just—I opened my eyes and saw the stark need in his.

  “I have been protecting you since you were a child, Emma. I’m not going to stop now.”

  It was for AJ.

  My stomach dropped as I realized that. This was all for my brother. It was like he reached in and squeezed my heart. It was a painful hold that I couldn’t stop. He kept squeezing as he continued, “My men have to know where you are at every minute of the day. They’re going to come for you, Emma. It’s only a matter of time, but when they do, they’ll learn who is protecting you and it should stop them. Once they find me at your side, this becomes another matter. Franco Dunvan will take his claim to his Family Elders and they will make the decision on whether or not he can pursue retribution for his son. If they do, they’d be starting a war against me.”

  I blinked back tears. I didn’t know what to think anymore. He was right, this was beyond me, but he was doing all of this for me. Then I shook my head and I cleared my throat. I had to think again. I needed to push all emotions aside. I had to focus.

  I rasped out, “And what about your family?”

  “What do you mean?”

  I pushed him back an inch. He was a force in himself on my sensations. Already my body wanted him back again. “When Franco finds out that you’re protecting me, it’s not between him and you. Right?”

  He nodded.

  “And he has to go to his family for approval to come for me?” A searing pain stabbed me as I realized what they would do to me if that happened. I pushed past it. “So if he needs approval with his family, then don’t you? Doesn’t your family need to approve of you protecting me?”

  His eyes softened and his hand touched my throat gently. He murmured as his thumb rubbed against me, “They already have.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Moving closer, he rested his forehead against mine. “I’ve been protecting you since I joined the Mauricio family. You were why I joined them in the first place.”


  What? I—what? My eyes implored him for further explanation, but I couldn’t speak.

  He grinned to himself and moved to press a kiss at the corner of my mouth. He didn’t move away like he had before. He stayed there and I felt his tongue brush against my mouth. “Those men were hunting you down after they killed AJ. They wanted his family wiped out. I killed them and then I went to Mauricio. Your safety was part of my condition to join his family. You will always be safe. That’s been my first priority, even over the family itself. My elders know that. Anything I do for you will always be cleared with my family.”

  But—I couldn’t think. What he said—it didn’t make sense. None of it made sense. He had been protecting me this whole time? But—

  He pressed a kiss to my cheek and sighed. His hand trailed down my arm in a caress. “I tried to keep you safe. I wanted you to live your life free, but when you came to me, I couldn’t allow you that freedom anymore. You have to be with me. You have to stay with me and let the men know where you are at all times. I can’t risk the chance that Franco might go against his family and take you without their approval. He’s crazy enough to do that. And if he does, if he gets through my men,” he shuddered against me. His arms tightened their hold on me. “I need you safe. I need to be able to contact you at all times.”

  I nodded and flinched at the same time.

  “What’s wrong?”

  I couldn’t tell him. I didn’t even know. A storm erupted inside of me and as he explained more and more, the storm spread throughout me. Then I started to break down. I couldn’t understand all of it, not the fullest extent, so I clung to the bits that made sense to me. I needed to stay with him. Franco Dunvan could still come after me. I needed Carter. That made sense to me so that’s what I held onto.

  “Emma.”

  I looked up as some of the panic started to subside. I could breathe again. I could think. But, my heart started to thump in my chest. His hand rested there, between my breasts, and my heart doubled its pace. I choked out, “I won’t hide anymore. I understand.”