Dangerous Beauty: Part Three: This is War (18 page)

“No,” she pouted.

~*~

Nathan pulled the comforter down until her face was visible. After he’d laid down next to her on the bed, he moved her messy hair away from her face. Gazing into her sad, hazel eyes he couldn’t help but smile.

Although he was still enraged by the wounds he had found on her body—and would be killing a few motherfuckers because of them—he was happy. Happy to know that both she and his child were healthy.

Nathan leaned forward and kissed her soft lips. Carter immediately granted his tongue entrance into her warm mouth and arched her body to him in complete surrender. Nathan couldn’t suppress the primitive growl that erupted from his chest. He loved when she did that, the way she gave herself to him. It was a sign of both love and trust.

He felt her soft hand cover the tattoo on the right side of his chest before it slid down to the top of the bandage covering his wound.

When Nathan pulled back from the kiss, her gaze fell to the bandage. She grazed her fingers over the bandage and then looked up into his eyes.

“Why did you go after him?” she questioned him.

Her voice was soft, but Nathan could tell by her tone that she was unhappy. Nathan took her hand in his and brought it to his lips for a kiss.

“Because he shot at my car, baby. A lot,” he answered. He remembered Silas’s attack very clearly. He and his guys shot the fuck out of Nathan’s car, then drove off like a bunch of cowardly pussies.

“Why did you go after them alone?” she asked, frowning at him.

Nathan released a tired sigh as his gaze fell down to her breasts, now peeking out of the top of the comforter. He didn’t want to argue his actions. He’d rather take a shower, and maybe fuck her against the shower wall. Damn, he could imagine her now. All wet and soapy, her hair soaking wet and sticking to her face, breasts bouncing up and down with every hard thrust he delivered into her perfect, tight, pussy—

“Nathan!”

Nathan snapped out of his thoughts with a frown on his face. “Dammit, Carter. I don’t want to discuss this. I’m fine—”

“You’re hard.”

Nathan’s brows rose at her words and he glanced down, confirming that he was indeed hard. He chuckled and looked over at her with a crooked grin, wiggling his brows suggestively.

Carter rolled her eyes. “I’m trying to talk to you, and you’re thinking about sex?”

“Of course I’m thinking about sex,” he said through a chuckle. “I’m lying in bed with my naked wife. You’re getting all worked up because I was in danger, and—I’m gonna be honest with you—it’s turning me on.”

Carter glared at him. “Why are you such an ass?”

“Because I know how much you love it.”

“Nathan!” she snapped. “Be serious. I was worried sick about you. I thought you died.”

“What do you want from me, Carter?” Nathan asked, irritated. “The motherfucker threw a power play. What was I supposed to do? Run away like a scared little bitch. Going at him alone, and surviving, was what needed to happen.”

“It’s just ironic, Nathan, that’s all. You did the same thing that you always yell at me for doing! You put your life in danger. Ran into a fight with no back-up.”

Nathan shook his head. “It’s not the same, Carter.”

“Why the hell not?” she yelled.

Nathan laid down in front of her and balanced himself on his elbows. When a smug smile spread across his face, he reached forward and pinched her cheek, knowing it would piss her off. “Because, sweetheart, I have more experience in these things then you do.” As soon as he said the words in a condescending tone, her features darkened with anger. Nathan smiled wider. An angry Carter equaled incredible angry sex.

Carter surprised Nathan and smirked. “You think I don’t know what you’re doing?”

“Is it working?”

Carter shook her head. “No. As much as I’d love to stay upstairs and make love all day, we both know that’s not possible.”

Groaning, Nathan fell back on the bed.
So much for angry sex
, he thought. He felt the bed shifting as Carter came to lie at his side, resting her head on his chest.

“I’m mad at you, bubby,” she whispered before she wrapped her arms around his waist. “I was trying to be strong. I kept telling myself I had to get out of there because you were hurt and looking for me—”

“I
was
looking for you, Carterina.” Nathan pushed her hair back from her face. “But I’m not hurt, baby. I promise. Everything happened really fast. They shot up the car then drove away. I blocked a bullet from hitting Kyle with my body. Not the best shield to use, I know, but I had to think fast. I pushed Kyle out of the car because I was about to do something stupid—”

“Stupid is right, Nathan.” Carter looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “You could have been killed. What the hell would I have done then, Nathan? I’m pregnant. Our child would have grown up without a father. That was the only thought that kept running through my head!”

“But I’m fine, baby.” Nathan encircled his arm around her waist and kissed her lips. “I’m alive,” he whispered, “and I’m right here. I told you I’d do whatever I had to do to protect you and that was something I had to do. Trust me.”

“I do trust you.” She place her hand on his face. “I just can’t lose you, bubby. Nobody in this world is more important to me than you.”

Nathan took her hand in his and kissed the palm. “I feel the same, my beautiful wife.”

“I know you do.” After a few more gentle kisses, Carter rested her head on his chest again.

“Tell me everything that happened to you, Carter,” Nathan said softly.

With a nod, she did exactly what he’d asked. Remaining quiet, he listened to her relay her experience from the moment she had woken up in a luxurious viewing room, to the moment she, her father, and twin brother arrived in Russia. Nathan tried to keep his expression calm even though he was a little more than freaked out about this whole situation.

Carter had a brother; not just a brother, but a twin brother. The revelation was as confusing as it was shocking. Nathan wouldn’t have believed it to be true had he’d not seen the man sitting downstairs in his kitchen.

And then there was the whole
resurrection of Spook Steele
subject. Although Carter had told Nathan the story her father had told her, he still had many unanswered questions. He watched as Carter spoke softly of the discussion they’d had and silently wondered if she had the same questions he did. By the tone of her voice it seemed she didn’t. She sounded confident in her father, like he could do no wrong in her expressive hazel eyes. Carter looked content, and happy with her father, but Nathan wasn’t feeling anything close to happiness. He was a little … bewildered by the whole situation.

“So your father knew that Silas was visiting you?” Nathan asked, trying his best to feign impassivity.

Carter nodded. “Yes, he allowed it until the big fight. That’s when my father had to cut his face so that he would stop for good.”

Nathan remained tight-lipped when she mentioned the cutting of Silas’s face. There were a few parts of the Adrien Stone meeting that Nathan had wisely chosen not to relay to Carter because of the state she’d been in. He didn’t tell her about the fight Robert had with Silas—that resulted in the cutting of Silas’s face—he didn’t tell her about Silas visiting her, and he damned sure wasn’t going to out Anastacia’s lie about the nature of her and Silas’s relationship. Telling Carter that her mother and biological father were married was a big ass hell no in Nathan’s opinion, especially now that she’d had the pleasure of meeting the mother fucker. Nathan could tell just by the way she said his name that she detested Silas Steele.

“Interesting,” Nathan muttered.

“I know what you’re thinking, Nathan,” Carter said, staring into his eyes. “I already asked my father why he wouldn’t just kill Silas. I’m not happy about his answer, but I’m trying my best to understand it. To forgive him for lying to me. He said it’s not easy for someone to kill their brother …”

Not even if he beat the shit out of the woman you loved, tormented her life, took her children away from her, and threaten to take your daughter?
Nathan’s nostrils flared with stifled anger. That was a bunch of fucking bullshit, and his poor, beautiful wife was trying to be a good daughter and accept it. She was very forgiving. Nathan himself knew he wouldn’t be so forgiving of something like that; he was an expert grudge holder. Her father had had a choice that day he took a knife to Silas’s face, and the choice was simple:
choose your daughter and the woman you love, or choose your brother
. He’d chosen his brother.

Nathan kissed Carter’s forehead and changed the subject, deciding he’d just let it go. It wasn’t Robert’s responsibility to protect Carter anymore, it was Nathan’s. Robert didn’t have to choose Carter over his brother, because Nathan would. If Silas ever came anywhere near Carter Salerno again—in this life or the next—Nathan would torture the man until he begged for mercy.

“Tell me about your brother, baby,” Nathan said.

Something lit up in Carter’s eyes and a big smile graced her lips. She turned her body to lie on her stomach next to Nathan and he chuckled, amused by her excitement.

“He’s made that good of an impression, huh?”

She nodded emphatically. “He’s amazing, Nathan. I think I love him. Is that weird? I know we just met, but I really care about him.”

“No, baby.” Nathan laughed softly. “He is your twin. Of course it didn’t take long for you to bond with him.”

“He’s perfect, Nathan. His personality comes off a bit strong at first. He’s not really used to being around people again yet, so he may seem a bit … mean. But once you get to know him he’s so sweet, loving, and innocent.” She frowned for a moment. “Well, at least I think he’s innocent. We started off a little rocky because I scared him, but then I kind of had a little … umm …” She cleared her throat uncomfortably. “Mental breakdown, but it turned out to be okay,” she said brightly. “It humanized me for him and he loves me now. I want to call and talk to mom, but he’s scared, and secretly, so am I. Oh yeah, his name is Gabriel, did I tell you his name was Gabriel? I love my brother so much!”

Nathan chuckled softly. “All right, all right, calm down.”

She giggled. “I can’t, Nathan. Finding Gabe and my dad really made getting kidnapped seem like something that was supposed to happen. As fucked up as that sounds, it’s really what I feel.”

“Adrien Stone had mentioned that Silas had a son,” Nathan said, reaching forward to fiddle with strands of her hair.

“He did?” Carter asked. “You didn’t mention that.”

Nathan nodded. “It was rumored the boy was dead.”

“Wow.” She gazed off into the distance, obviously lost thought. After a moment she brought her eyes back to his. “Can he live with us?”

Caught off guard by the question, Nathan dropped the strand of hair in his hand and frowned.

Carter immediately began to plead. “Please, bubby,” she begged.

“Uhh … Carter—”

“Bubby, wait,” she said, stopping him mid-sentence. She sat up on her knees before easing back on her heels “I know how much you love our privacy, so I convinced him to live in our pool house. It is perfect for him, and gives us all of the privacy you desire.”

“And he wants this?” Nathan asked. “He’d rather live on our estate than have his own place?”

“He will have his own place. The pool house. It’s a beautiful house, bubby. And it has that private little pool for him. It just needs a little cleaning.” She reached forward and ran her fingers over his abdomen. “I want him to be close, Nathan. This way, he and I can continue to get to know each other, and you can become best friends with your new brother in-law.” She smiled. “He wants to go to college. That’s his dream. He doesn’t know what he wants to study yet, but we talk about his options often. And he’s been helping me, too. If it hadn’t been for him these last few days I wouldn’t have eaten anything. I can’t keep food down right now, and he’s been taking care of me. He held my hair every time I got sick, brought me cool rags when the headaches set in, and brings me salted crackers and fresh fruits to eat. It’s the only thing the baby likes.”

Nathan smiled. He briefly placed his hand to her belly before he sat up and kissed her, cupping the nape of her neck with his hand. Once he parted from her lips, he looked into her eyes and whispered, “Okay, baby. Whatever you want.”

Carter smiled wide. “Really?”

Nathan nodded. “He’s been taking care of my wife and child, my home is his home for as long as he wishes to stay.”

She squealed and lunged into his arms, sending them both falling back on the bed and laughing.

She kissed his face repeatedly. “Thank you, thank you! I’m the luckiest woman in the world.”

Nathan laughed. “You’re damn right you are.”

Carter smiled, bit her lip, and lifted herself up with her hands to climb on top of him fully. Nathan arched an eyebrow as he watched her leaned forward to kiss him, her eyes bright with mischief. Right before their lips touched, she reached between their bodies and took hold to his now semi erect cock.

Grunting, Nathan bit down on his bottom lip hard when her hand wrapped around him, stroking him until he was fully erect.