Page 18 of My Sweet Cherry
The song continued to play, competing with the volume of our singing. Our voices grew gradually louder and by the time we got to the chorus, I was practically yelling. “Oh baby, baby, baby.” I rocked my head side-to-side with the words, dancing along, and when I looked back at Carter, he was grinning.
He reached over the center console in the car, grabbing hold of my thigh, and I suddenly forgot the words. All my focus went to the feeling of his fingers wrapped around my leg and a swirling in my core that settled between them. I adjusted in the seat slightly, just enough for him to tighten his grip.
I watched his hand, chewing on my lip while the music faded into the background. I became more aware of the warmth of his skin and the way the seat vibrated just slightly as he sped up. “We’re almost there,” he said when a slower song started to play. Even the heavier bass and smoother beat didn’t stop my heart from pounding frantically against my chest.
When we pulled over on the side of the road, Carter put the car in park, and I scrunched my nose. There was nothing here. It was just a mostly gravel parking lot with a few trees. In the distance, the Chicago skyline was starting to sparkle. The sunwas setting, and it reflected off the windows, mixing with the lights that flicked on a few at a time the darker it got.
“Isn’t that view something?” Carter asked when he noticed me staring. He reached over and turned the radio down until it clicked off, and the only sound left in the car was our breathing.
“It’s beautiful,” I said, tearing my eyes away from the view just long enough to see the skyline reflected in his dark eyes.
“It is. So are you.” I couldn’t look away while he stared at me, and I could hardly breathe beneath the weight of the silent tension hanging in the car. “I haven’t really brought anyone here before. I come up here to think sometimes. It’s quiet, and nobody really knows we’re here.”
I giggled. “You sound like you’re warning me.” Carter laughed.
“If anyone needed a warning, it would’ve been me the first time I saw you at that bar.” He shook his head, likely feeling less embarrassment than I did when he remembered the way I choked on the tequila shot I took in front of him. “The warning would’ve said: if you kiss her, you won’t stop craving more.”
“Is that how you feel?” Where had the bold feeling come from? I imagined it kicked in somewhere in the second verse. “Are you craving me right now?” His eyes darkened.
Carter hooked his finger under my chin, holding my stare to his. “I haven’t stopped craving you since that first taste of cherry lip balm. Maybe longer.” Then he leaned across the car, and I tasted how badly I’d been craving him too. Not that I had questioned it since the night he brought me home from the party.
Something came over me—a feeling that caused me to swing myself over the center console and into his lap. When I did, my ass hit the horn, and the loud honk echoed in the silence outside the car.Nobody can hear us.I cringed anyway until Carter laughed. He reached beside him and pulled a lever, sliding theseat back and allowing me to fall into his lap with one leg resting on either side of him.
“You’re not the only one,” I said, planting my hands against the car seat behind him and leaning in to kiss him again. I sucked his tongue into my mouth, swirling mine around it while his lips pursued mine. When he wove his hands into my hair and deepened the kiss, I hummed, eager for more. I wanted this man to consume me.
Our breathing got heavier, and the window next to us fogged slightly. I rolled my hips, grinding against his lap. The friction felt like shockwaves and need that ran through every part of my body. When the cotton panties I wore brushed against my clit, an involuntary moan slipped from my lips. He swallowed the sound just before his hands moved to my hips.
“Beth,” Carter groaned. When he gripped my hips harder, forcing me to sit still, I realized I had been rocking them more than I thought. I was chasing something—the shockwaves, the excitement, the feeling of having Carter as close to me as possible. Whatever it was, the feeling was overwhelming, and it felt even warmer in the car.
“I want you to have it,” I said, resting my forehead against Carter’s. He closed his eyes for a lengthy second and when he opened them again, they were heavy.
Then he shook his head, and a shiver of regret rolled down my spine. “Not here,” he said, lifting me off his lap and helping me back into the passenger seat. The leather felt cold, and I missed the racing of his pulse against his skin. “Not like this.”
“What’s wrong?” I stifled the feeling of wishing I hadn’t said it. It was true. I wanted to give Carter a part of me that I had hesitated to give to anyone else.
His movement was swift, and he returned his finger to that spot under my chin that it fit perfectly cradled against. “If I’m going to be the first to make your entire body tremble, then I’mgoing to take my time and leave you wet, breathless, and in my arms inmy bed.” Carter kissed my forehead and then the corner of my lips. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Oh, ow,” I said when he backed me against his front door and the handle dug into my lower back. I gasped, stepping closer to him. When my chest met his, I almost stopped caring about the knob trying to wedge its way somewhere uncomfortable.
“Are you okay?” Concern covered Carter’s face when he framed my cheek with his hand, staring at me like he was searching for the source of my pain to be spelled out on my face.
I giggled. “Doorknob.”
“Let me get that.” He chuckled, unlocking the door and opening it to reveal a dark living room. A sliver of light came from under Benny’s door, but the rest of the apartment was quiet. Carter put his finger up in front of his lips as if to remind me to be quiet. “This way.”
Carter took my hand, leading me through the living room and to his room on the other side. When the door closed behind us, it was like we were in a different apartment. I forgot all about the light under Benny’s door and the doorknob that may have left a small bruise on my back—all I could think about was the aching feeling between my legs that needed to be soothed.
“Come here,” he said, grabbing me by the hips and pulling me gently toward him. His hands grazed the hem of my shirt, his fingertips brushing against my bare belly beneath it. “Tell me what you said again.”
I had said a lot of things to him tonight, but I didn’t have to think very hard to know which one he was referring to. “I want you to have it,” I whispered. Then I lifted my arms, allowing him to pull my shirt over my head. My skin buzzed beneath his stare when he traced the lace line of my bra.
“You want me to have what?” he asked before he placed his lips against my collarbone. I held my breath when his fingers trailed my spine to the clasp on the back of my bra; as he unclasped each hook, my heart started to beat faster.
“Me.” I was breathless before my bra hit the ground and when it did, I suddenly became aware of how exposed I was in front of him. When I shivered, I became aware of how stiff my nipples felt. His eyes narrowed, so he must have become aware of it too. “I want you to by my first.” My cheeks warmed from embarrassment and lust that had probably been building for much longer than I could comprehend.
Carter grabbed the hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head and tossing it to the side, and his muscles rippled before he reached for me again. He tucked his fingers into the waistband of my jeans, controlling my steps toward him. “You look incredible.” His hands left a trail of static on my skin when he traced them up my bare sides and toward my chest. “My sweet cherry.” His voice was almost husky when he closed his hand around my breast.
“I don’t know what to do,” I admitted, unsure of what to do with my hands while his were causing currents of electricity to start with his fingers and end between my legs. I pressed my thighs together as a whine slipped from my lips.
