Chapter 6

Braden

What is going on? Matt and Mr. Hagel are talking about something that I’m sure is important, but I can’t process any of it. It’s a good thing they haven’t put me in charge of flipping the burgers or they’d all be charred to a crisp. All I can see is Carly.

I know she is messing with me, acting like she actually likes these guys to get under my skin. Maybe my little raven is trying to force my hand in front of her family, and I don’t like any of this one bit. It’s pissing me right off and making me want to mow them all down and drag her to the forest where we can be alone again. I grab a beer and slam it back, but it does nothing to cool me off. I barely taste any of the food and don’t know how Matt hasn’t noticed something by now because I can’t take my eyes off of his little sister.

It’s a rough evening. Am I relieved when she yawns and says goodnight to everyone, finally setting me free? One of her suitors looks like he’ll follow her but thankfully he opts not to, and I don’t have to crack his head.

The night is over for me and to Matt’s disappointment I tell him I’m just too beat to catch up on his latest projects. I clap him on the shoulder and promise I’ll be up for some partying tomorrow, but if I don’t shake off this sudden obsession with Carly, it might be a promise I don’t keep.

An icy shower does nothing and neither does prowling my suite like a caged animal. There’s no shutting her out and no sleeping, not when the images of her in my memory have given me a raging hard on. I grip my stiff cock and stroke, gritting my teeth as I imagine Carly’s perfect little body riding me, her head tossed back in ecstasy as I make her come. I can hear the moan she made earlier replaying over and over. Groaning, I finish, unsatisfied and more frustrated than ever.

The next morning, I’m no clearer and find myself wishing I had just gone to Carly’s room last night. Surely whatever guilt I felt would be better than this restless hunger I feel now.

I follow my nose to where I’m sure a massive breakfast will be laid out in the dining room and stop as I pass the kitchen. Carly and her mother are in a heated argument. Mrs. Hagel is trying to keep up her sunny facade but it’s clear she’s unhappy with what she’s calling Carly’s bad attitude.

“I don’t see how your possible future is less important than this silly summer job,” she says.

Oh boy. I wait for Carly to bite back, but she’s surprisingly meek. “It’s not just a summer job to me, Mom. Can’t you understand that?”

My hands clench. She sounds almost broken. Not my strong, unflappable Carly.

“Your father went to a lot of trouble to make sure you have a nice time on this vacation,” Mrs. Hagel says, ignoring the question. “And you’re barely being sociable.”

Even I can translate what she’s really saying. Your father arranged all these eligible men. And you aren’t already engaged. Maybe not that dramatic, but she doesn’t think Carly’s jumping through their hoops enough.

“Just because I didn’t want to go on a hike with the boat guy?” Carly retorts and I hold back a snicker. There’s that fire.

She storms out of the kitchen, not noticing me hanging back. Before she reaches the dining room entrance, she’s accosted by one of the goobers. He tries to corral her into the room, but she swerves, almost running into the one who was a bit too handsy the day before. Her eyes are frantic as he puts his hand at the small of her back, pushing her toward the dining room and loudly suggesting they eat together before they decide what to do for the day.

Oh, hell, no.

I’m a few inches taller than the guy and easily outweigh him by forty pounds or more since he clearly doesn’t take the time to hit the gym after work.

“Hey, Carly,” I say. “Matt was looking all over for you.” A glance in the dining room shows that her brother isn’t already in there, so my excuse works. “It seems important.”

She looks grateful as I lead her away, but I ignore her until we’re outside my room, then I open the door and motion for her to go in. She raises an eyebrow at me but steps inside and I follow her, shutting the door behind us.

“Why don’t you just flat out tell them all to fuck off?” I demand.

“I told you yesterday,” she says, leaning back against the door as she looks up at me. “I’m not in control of anything. I get to do what I want, for now. I’ve always known they were going to pull the rug out from under me. My art degree might be useful in the company, so I get to at least study what I want, but the pushback on this internship has been extreme.” She pauses and sighs. “I’ve never had any real control over my life. These last few years in college have been an illusion. They’re going to end up pushing me into the mold they’ve always wanted, and I think I’m just too tired to fight it anymore.”

“Ah, Carly,” I say, tracing a line down the side of her face.

“Matt’s lucky he wants all the same things they do. It makes him seem even more like the golden boy, even though he doesn’t mean to be that way. And it makes me seem even more stubborn and bratty.”

She continues on, letting out her pent up feelings, and I can’t really say I’m surprised to hear a lot of it. There were a few times Matt tried to branch out during college but was always firmly brought back into line. He was content and happy, but like Carly said, that was pure luck. Thinking about her artistic and giving nature being stifled at her parents’ company, or even worse, having to be shackled to someone she didn’t care about, someone who wasn’t me, made me come to a realization.

No one was making decisions for my woman but her and I’m going to step in and make sure everyone knows that if I have to. Somewhere while she was talking I took her hands and she clung to them as she poured her heart out to me.

“It’s all going to end up the way they want in the end,” she says. “And I’ll get used to it and probably even be kind of happy eventually.”

“Fuck that,” I say, and she giggles weakly. I press her hands to my chest and repeat my sentiment. “What do you want to do right now?”

She shrugs, her palms splaying out on my chest. “I want to do something just for me.”

“Anything you want. I’ll make it happen. You’re always going to be able to make your own decisions as long as I’m around.”

She just keeps looking at me. It’s taking everything in me to wait for her go ahead, to not just take her against this door right now.

“Come on, Carly. Tell me what you want.”

She tips her head back, her eyelids lowering. “Kiss me again,” she says, barely a whisper.

I grip her shoulders, my whole body stiffening. “If I do that, I’m not going to be able to stop. Or let you go. If I kiss you the way I want to, you’re going to be mine and no one else’s. I don’t share. You think I don’t take anything seriously, but I don’t start things I’m not interested in doing for the rest of my life.”

Her lush lips curl in a smile. “I’m glad someone is taking me seriously for once. And I’m glad it’s you.” She pauses, rising on her toes. “I only ever wanted it to be you.”

I crush her to me, her soft curves molding to my body as her arms entwine around my neck. My mouth finds hers and my hands slide down her arms to grip her waist. Her gasp brushes my lips as I trace my tongue along the seam of her mouth. We both moan as she opens her mouth to me, letting me inside. She tastes of sweet orange juice and the heady fragrance of vanilla and honey fills my nostrils as I breathe her in.

She presses closer and my cock rises instantly at the feel of her clinging to me. Instead of pulling back, she tightens her grip around my neck, pulling her body up to rub against my rock hard shaft that’s straining against my jeans.

In this moment, there’s only Carly, trying to find friction against me. No one has ever felt as good as her, and in this moment I know I am totally fucked.

I mutter her name as I ease my hands under her top and she makes a disgruntled sound that our lips should be apart for a split second. Her velvety skin under my palms lights me on fire and I reach behind her to lock my bedroom door.

I pull away to look down at her, a warning and a question at the same time. I told her there’d be no going back. Not to the way things were. That isn’t how I worked. Carly is already mine.

She nods. “Don’t stop, Braden,” she says, pulling my head back down to claim her lips again.