She looked up at him with her big blue eyes, but he forced himself to ignore their plea. If anything else but his sister’s safety were at stake, he’d probably be putty in the woman’s hands.
“Please?” He said nothing else. If nothing else, all his years in law enforcement had taught him the value of patience.
She hesitated for a moment and took a step back before speaking. “I really don’t know where she is. She asked me to cover for her because she was going on a date with a guy she’s really stuck on. I don’t know who it is, but I gather he’s someone new. She promised to give me details tomorrow.” Carly spewed it all out in one continuous stream, not pausing for breath. When she was finished, she heaved a sigh of relief. Her hands clenched the top of her robe tight, wrinkling the fragile material.
Nathan rubbed his hands over his face telling himself not to panic. So his sister was out all night with some guy he didn’t know. He could handle this. Carly’s soft hand patted his arm in comfort. “I’m sorry I can’t tell you more.”
Nathan nodded. He was totally convinced that she was telling him the truth. The sincerity of her words was all too real. “Did she give you any clues?”
Her brow wrinkled as she pondered, but finally she just shrugged and sighed. “I really can’t think of anything.” She hesitated for a second and thought some more. “But I got a feeling that although it’s someone new, she knows and trusts him. Does that make any sense?”
Unfortunately for Nathan, it was beginning to make too much sense. A picture was beginning to form in his mind and he wasn’t quite sure what he thought of it. Abel Garrett and his sister. It hurt his head to even think about it. It was one thing to intellectually know that your sister was a grown woman, but it was quite another to picture her in bed having sex with some guy, especially a guy you knew. He didn’t know what he was going to say to Erin, but he was certainly going to pay a visit to Abel first thing tomorrow morning. Well, maybe not quite first thing. He’d damned well make sure his sister had left first.
Shifting closer to him, she rubbed his back with her hand, soothing him. “Trust her, Nathan. Your sister is a good judge of character and is capable of taking care of herself. You and Jackson saw to that.”
He hung his head and tried to rub the tension out of the back of his neck. “I know you’re right, but that doesn’t make it any easier.”
“I know.”
Nathan didn’t want to leave. He was basking in Carly’s presence and the feel of her soft body pressed against his. But he’d done what he came here to do and it was time to leave. Turning abruptly, he headed for the front door. If he didn’t leave now, he’d probably lock her in the bedroom and make love to her all night long.
“Thanks for everything.” He tossed the comment over his shoulder as he neared the front door.
“Wait,” she cried.
Nathan stared at the door. He was so close, but there was no way he could ignore her soft plea. He made himself turn around and face her. “What?” His answer was abrupt, but he was holding onto his control by a thread.
“Stay.” Tugging on the belt, Carly opened her robe wide. Pushing it off of her shoulders, it pooled at her feet. She was totally naked.
Nathan couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her skin was the color of cream and he longed to lap at every inch of it. Her spectacular breasts were even more magnificent uncovered. Her pink nipples were puckered tight, and a neat covering of brown curls covered her pussy. She belonged to him. She always had. But neither of them had been willing to admit it until now.
“Stay,” she repeated.
Like a man finally coming home after being away far too long, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her towards the bedroom. “There’s no going back.” It was both a threat and a promise. She’d wanted him and she was getting all of him.
“I don’t want to.” Relaxing totally in his arms, she allowed him to carry her to bed.
Carly couldn’t believe that it was finally happening after all these years. Nathan was in her bedroom, and he wanted her. She’d fantasized about this moment since she was fifteen and had seen Nathan working out at the farm without a shirt on. As she’d grown older, and gotten to know him as a man, the attraction had deepened. She’d never met a finer man in her life and knew that he was the one for her.
Until this moment, she’d been too afraid to take a chance, but a voice inside her head had urged her to grab the moment. Go for it, the voice commanded. The scariest thing she’d ever done in her life was to drop that robe to the floor. For a second, she’d really thought he was going to leave, but then he’d looked at her. Pure passion burned in the depths of his eyes, like blue fire. She knew she’d made the right decision when he’d snatched her up in his arms. She’d always dreamed of being carried off the bed and being totally ravished by him.
The door closed behind him with a solid thump, shutting the world outside. Nathan carried her to the bed and carefully placed her in the center. Stepping back, he searched her face as if looking for something. She reached out to him, but he stepped back from her.
“There are some things you need to understand before we go any further.” He stood at the end of her bed, a large and unapproachable male.
Feeling slightly uncomfortable about lying there totally naked while he was still fully dressed, she started to pull a sheet over herself. “No.” She stilled at his command and looked uncertainly at him. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for her to comply. Slowly, she dropped the cover from her hands. Now she was more than a little nervous.
“I want you lying there naked, waiting just for me.” Nathan prowled around the room as he spoke. “If we’re going to have any kind of a relationship, then you have to accept that I’m in charge in the bedroom.”
Carly was slightly appalled by his blunt statement even as she found herself being aroused by it. Images of her being at Nathan’s every sexual whim filled her head and her breathing quickened. As if sensing her chaotic emotions, Nathan continued to explain.
“I respect you as a woman and an equal in life, Carly, but in here—” he swung his arm around to encompass the entire room, “— I’m in charge. You have to trust that I’ll never do anything I know would hurt you or demean you. This is about pleasure, both mine and yours.” His slow smile was filled with sexual promise. “I’ll be good to you,” he teased.
She was definitely intrigued by his proposition. She’d never pictured herself deferring to a man sexually. It sent a shiver down her spine, imagining what he would ask of her, what he would do to her. Even just lying here naked in front of him because he’d told her to was a huge turn-on. Her nipples were tight and she could feel the dampness between her legs.
Carly trusted Nathan implicitly, and knew that he would never ever hurt her. She wanted to please him, and if she was honest with herself, his very words had conjured images in her head that made her hot and achy. She’d always wondered what it would be like to be dominated sexually by a man, captive to his every whim, and Nathan was the only man she could ever trust enough to allow it to happen.
As if sensing her very thoughts, he walked to the side of the bed and looked down at her. “Spread your legs.”
She hesitated for a moment before spreading them slightly.
“Wider.”
He stood patiently beside her. Waiting. She sensed he was testing her resolve, so she opened her legs wider.
“That’s a good girl,” he praised her even as his fingers dipped between her legs and stroked her clit. Her legs started to tighten around his hand, but he withdrew it quickly. She moaned in protest.