“Carter,” I whispered, my back and throat arched for him.

He placed a kiss there, licking.

“I need you inside of me.”

He grunted, tightened his hold on my thigh, and slipped two of his fingers inside of me. They went deep before he pulled out and then pushed back in. As he continued, his tongue swept against my neck.

I gasped. My hips moved so his fingers slid even deeper.

Then he pulled my mouth to his, and his lips claimed mine. His tongue swept inside, brushed against mine, and then grew more demanding as his fingers continued their onslaught.

“Please,” I whimpered. He’d held himself away from me all week. My body had been strained from wanting him, all damn week. I wanted him, not his fingers. I wanted all of him. “I want you.”

His fingers continued their attack. They picked up speed, and I couldn’t hold onto him anymore. It was building and building. I felt it nearing. Before it was there, so close, I shoved off the wall so only my head touched it. I pushed my hips against him and he growled at the last thrust before I exploded in his arms.

My body trembled as the waves washed over me. Carter held me up. I had gone limp in his arms. He pressed a tender kiss to my shoulder, then slid a hand underneath and cupped my breast.

I wanted my dress gone. I wanted his clothes gone. I wanted his body on top of mine and with nothing between us. As I gazed down at him as he still held me, he saw what I wanted and lowered me back down to the floor. Then he pulled me against him, pressed another lingering kiss against my lips, and whispered, “Not here.”

My eyes closed and my head fell to his chest.

He pressed another kiss. “Soon.”

My body had melted into liquid and I was a puddle at his feet.

His fingers helped smooth my dress back in place and then took my hand in his. When my hair was brushed back and I looked presentable, he grinned down at me and took my hand. His voice was hoarse, “As soon as we get home. You won’t walk for a week.”

I wish.

Images of the two of us flashed in my mind and I grew wet again. He was going to be the death of me. A part of me knew that once I felt him inside of me, it wouldn’t be enough. I would want more. I would never be satisfied, and when he made me come, that’d only been the teaser. My body was primed and ready again. My hand slid down his muscular back. It felt all the ridges, all the dips and curves. A dark pleasure spread through me when I felt his muscles contract as he turned his head to see me.

This was mine.

He was mine.

He groaned and had me against the wall in a second. His hands grabbed my hips and positioned me at an angle before he slammed his into mine. I felt the bulge in front of his pants. That was for me. All for me. He bent over me and lowered his lips just above mine as he thrust against me.

I couldn’t breathe. My hands held onto his arms. The muscles there also moved underneath my touch, as if wanting more.

“This,” he growled in a whisper against my lips. “This is what I wanted that night. I couldn’t contain myself and I had to taste you, but tonight is the night I really have you. You’re mine, Emma. You always have been.”

I nodded, so weak against his touch.

“Mine.”

He was mine as well, but I didn’t say it. Not yet, though everything in my body was aching for me to do so.

He took my hand again and led the way out into the hallway. People stopped and watched us as we left. I knew it was because of him. Carter was lethal. His body was carved and molded to perfection. His eyes were cold while his face resembled an angel’s. Everyone knew who he was, where he had come from. Even the media went into a frenzy when he was seen in public. However, he moved like a ghost, how he trained his men to be, so those moments were rare, and this moment wasn’t any different. His staff had seen him before, but they all went quiet in the presence of a deadly panther.

A wave of possession rocked through me. My legs shook as I remembered my climax. This creature who held my hand was mine, as I was his. I belonged to him and I gasped in silence as I felt his claim sink into my blood. It went deep to the bones. Everything in me belonged to him, and as I followed him through his club, I knew that I was becoming addicted to him. My hand yearned to touch his back again, to slide across his muscles and so much more.

I bit down on my lip. This ache wasn’t going to go away. The ache between my legs and the ache that resonated deep inside of me grew every time I was with him, every time he looked and touched me.

A soft sigh left me and he glanced back.

I was scorched by his gaze. His wolf eyes saw into me. I was stripped bare to him, no matter what I wore or how many walls were around my heart. He saw through everything. His hand tightened around mine, and he lifted it. His lips grazed against the top of it. My eyes closed, the ache doubled between my legs at that soft caress.

“Sir.” A man stepped out of the shadows. Another guard.

Carter stopped as he listened to what the man had to say. He spoke quietly so I couldn’t hear, but both glanced at me.

“What?”

His eyes narrowed and darkened. His hold on my hand became possessive.

I asked again, “Carter? What is it?”

He turned, his decision made, and he curved a hand into the place between my shoulders blades. He started to walk with me down a hallway. As we got further along, I saw Mike waiting for us and then I recognized it was the same box where I had left Noah and Theresa. I dug my feet in. I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew he was going to leave me there. Something came up and he needed to handle whatever it was, but I didn’t want to be left behind.