Page 68 of From London, With Love

Carter reaches forward, placing one hand over mine, stopping the absentminded tapping of keys I hadn’t noticed I was doing. He doesn’t move to grab my hand, just rests his atop it.

“Every time you call me Mr Lawrence, I find myself fighting a losing battle. A battle in which the loss is looking increasingly more desirable.”

I’m so often astounded at the way he renders me tongue-tied with these little one-liners. It’s nothing like the men—boys, really—I’m used to, with their cringe-worthy and often entirely laughable lines. Don’t believe me? I once had a guy tell me I looked like I made my bed every morning. Another told me they wanted to call me beautiful, but beauty is on the inside, and they hadn’t been inside me, so couldn’t say for sure.Thisis the weird shit I’m used to and always had a response for, yet it’s the things that come out of Carter’s mouth that make me look like a fish trying to breathe above water.

“Come here.”

For reasons unknown, or perhaps reasons I refuse to read into, he possesses a magnetic force that pulls me in inexplicably. I stand in place, noticing there’s not even an inch between our knees. Carter spreads his legs, entrapping me between them, and I take an involuntary step toward him.

My heart skips a beat, and the ridiculous urge to run surfaces again when Carter lets my hand go, instead resting his hands on the outer sides of my thighs. The skin beneath his palms sears, but I can’t tell if it’s due to the increase in my corebody temperature, his own warmth, or both. Despite the heat, I’m frozen in place.

Carter drags his hand up the outline of my body at a torturously slow pace, but when he reaches my waist, his soft touch turns possessive. He tugs me forward, making me straddle his lap, a knee either side of him. A spark shoots through my core at the feel of his hardening dick pushing against me. With my skirt riding up around my waist, my underwear is my only barrier. I can’t stop my traitorous arms from snaking around his neck of their own accord, betraying the cool demeanour I’m aiming for.

Before I can open my mouth to ask what on earth he’s doing, his lips find the soft skin of my neck. My body tenses momentarily before relaxing into his embrace, the air leaving my lungs.

“Good god, you smell incredible,” Carter says on an exhale, his warm breath contrasted by my goosebumps.?

His wandering hands slowly make their way around to my back, fingers toying with the bow, keeping my top secured. One fingertip skims the back of my neck. A jolt of electricity shoots through every nerve ending in my body.

I close my eyes and pray Carter doesn’t notice the way my skin heats under his touch. Any hope is extinguished when I open my eyes and find him staring at me intently, the shadow of a smile playing on his lips.?

“Why are you looking at me like that?” My voice is unrecognisable in this deeper-than-usual octave. I don’t even have it in me to care right now, too turned on by the man beneath me.?

“Like what, love?” Carter murmurs, his accent continuing to makelovesound like the sexiest word known to mankind. I’d argue it is.?

“Like a man starved.” I just manage to get the words out, feeling overwhelmed by the way his mouth roams over my skin.?

Carter doesn’t respond right away. Instead, he continues his slow assault of kisses until a soft sigh escapes my lips.?

“Because that’s exactly what I am. I’m starved of the taste of you.”

My breath hitches. The last rational cell in my brain gives out as he tugs on the bow he’s been toying with. My shirt falls effortlessly from around my neck. The slightest of whimpers leaves my mouth involuntarily, and it’s the wakeup call I didn’t realise I needed.

“Carter!” I exclaim a little too loudly in his ear as he drags his mouth up the column of my throat.?

A hum against my skin is his only response.

“Carter, you have to stop. Look at where wearefor goodness sake.”

Carter appears completely unaffected as his lips trail ever so slowly across my chest, getting dangerously close to my recently exposed bra.

Looking up at me, his lips barely leaving my skin, Carter’s mouth stretches into a wicked grin. “And?”

“And? What do you mean ‘and’?” I gasp, baffled at how utterly calm he is. “We’re in the fuckingboardroomCarter, anyone could walk in right now.”

At this, he chuckles. He fuckingchuckles.

“You mean to tell me this isn’t our office?” Carter feigns confusion. Frustration heats my blood to a near boil.

“This is no time for jokes, Carter.” Breaking the connection of my hands behind his head, I bring one arm around and slap his shoulder.

“If someone were to walk in right now, they’d get one hell of a show.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“Did it not?” Carter lets his hands fall to either side of my waist, gripping my hips. A gasp slips free when he drives his hips upwards, colliding with my increasingly aching centre.?

“You’re insufferable, did you know that? This is ourworkplace. Have you lost your mind?”

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