Page 51 of Cursed Touch
Before her thoughts could become darker, he guided her forward. She had been in her shop hundreds of times, so when he approached where the counter was, she stopped. Carter chuckled and urged her further, her brows pinching in confusion.
“I didn’t want you to lose too much business after the break-in, so with everyone’s help, you can open tomorrow,” Carter said and pulled off the blindfold.
The afternoon sunlight made her blink a few times. Once her eyes focused, she slowly spun in a circle. She raised a hand to her mouth as she took it all in. New display cases, better than her last ones, filled the shop, and her counter had been shifted.
“With Serena’s help, I picked out some display cases to replace the broken ones. I’ve added a security system to help prevent any future problems, and with my sister’s and Serena’s business insight, we made a few interior design changes which will hopefully help business.”
Vanessa noted the subtle cameras, two pointing toward the back and front doors, one on the register, and two more at angles to catch everything else. The paint on the walls was changed from white to a blue-green, which reminded her of the ocean. Fun modern light fixtures that had to have cost a fortune lit the space in the most beautiful way.
Vanessa envisioned her bank account, and everything became blurry with unshed tears. “I don’t know if I can pay you back.”
Carter grabbed her hands and squeezed. “There’s nothing to pay back. This is our gift to you.”
She ignored him. “This is too much… How in the world did you guys do all of this in one day?”
“A lot of us chipped in our time,” Joel said, a huge grin filling his face.
Vanessa let go of Carter’s hand and embraced the bear of a man. “Thank you,” she said into his large chest. Pulling back, she turned toward Peter. “You knew all about this, didn’t you?”
Peter shrugged, his lips twitching. “It was Carter’s doing. We just helped.”
“Do you like it?” Carter asked.
She turned to face him, and she found worry lines marring his forehead and his eyes filled with anxiety. Vanessa took her new shop in one more time and grinned. “I love it! It’s honestly what I dreamed of and planned on working toward but I couldn’t afford. Please, let me repay you…”
Carter shook his head and moved forward to tip her chin up. Their eyes met and held before he spoke. “I’ve been waiting for you to enter my life, and I’m going to do everything humanly possible to take care of you.”
Chapter 24
The rest of their week went off without a hitch. Vanessa had fought him a few different times about wanting to pay him back, but each time, he resorted to kissing her senseless. It was not a bad solution to the increasingly annoying argument. Her little whimpers told him without words that she was not complaining over his tactics either.
Each morning, they woke in separate beds and got ready for the day. They met in the kitchen and enjoyed light conversation as they drank their coffee and ate breakfast. One of Peter’s men was always near, watching Carter’s home for any danger lurking nearby.
Thankfully, nothing had happened, but that also meant they were no closer to discovering who was supposedly on her trail. And the cops still had no leads on who had broken into her shop.
Every day, a piece of his heart broke off and became claimed by Vanessa. She was an easy woman to love, not that he was there yet. She was sweet, funny, kind, and witty. They worked together in the kitchen a few nights too. Carter taught and fed her some family-favorite meals his father had shown him how to cook, and Vanessa treated him to some delicious desserts she could bake thanks to her grandmother.
The only place in their relationship where nothing progressed was with sex. The blame fell on him. He kissed her and pleased her in other ways when they fooled around, but he still feared what would happen when they bonded. The coward he was, he had not even told her.
Instead, each confused and hurt expression she threw his way—when he stopped things from getting too heavy—sliced him through the heart. And he let them. He deserved to be beaten for making her feel unwanted.
It was not that Carter did not want her. He just could not set his fears aside. Vanessa was his soul mate, yet he could not bring himself to lay claim. She deserved better than him.
Her thighs clamped around his head. “Oh my God!” she cried, and he worked his tongue and fingers at a clipped pace. Her back bowed off the couch again, and her legs fell away.
Carter removed his fingers and licked them clean, savoring her taste. Her chest rose and fell, and he could not stop the smug grin on his face. Her hair was a beautiful mess on the couch and a sheen of sweat made her body glow in her post-orgasm haze.
He shifted to behind her, then pulled her back to his bare chest and smiled when her ass scooted toward his raging erection. He ran a hand over her hip as he put his nose to her neck and breathed her in.
“I should be concerned over the fact you won’t let me take care of this,” she said and rolled her hips, teasing his straining dick. “But I’m too spent…”
He smiled against her hair. What she said was exactly his plan. Each night they would fool around, and he made sure to give her enough orgasms to exhaust her.
With the TV’s soft glow on her, he ran his fingertips along her smooth skin. Carter explored her soft belly, then they traveled up her ribs to the plump flesh of her breasts until the pad of his thumb teased her nipple.
Vanessa swatted at his hand. “Mmm… no more. If I come again, I think you’ll break my vagina.”
He chuckled, and his hips moved forward without thought. “I’m pretty sure it’s not my fingers and mouth that want to break your pussy.”
