The Tycoon's Seductive Revenge (12 page)

As sugar-coated as his words sounded, everyone seemed mollified.

Except Bill Marquell. As the police chief reached for the warrant, Carter snatched it, his expressive gray eyes scanning the document. When he finished, he promptly tore it in half.

Marquell slammed his fists on the table and rose menacingly. “You think you’re special, boy? That you can disrespect the law and not deal with the consequences?”

“What consequences?” Carter stifled a yawn. “The warrant expired last week.”

Fuming, Marquell snatched it back, read the dates. “Son of a—” He glowered at Judge Avery.

The judge shrugged. He treated Ellie to a sublime smile. “As I said before, it’s not exactly as it seems.”

The police chief glanced around like a cornered animal braced to attack.

Carter said, “I think you can show yourself out now, Bill.”

The use of his first name pushed the chief past the breaking point. Ellie sat back, prepared to duck.

Face glowing like a red light bulb, Marquell grabbed his cowboy hat, shoved a cigar in his mouth and headed for the exit.

Before leaving, he turned and pointed at Ellie and Carter. “I’m not through with you yet.” He stormed out.

Carter slid his hand over hers. “I know your freedom came at a high price, Ellie. And I know you hoped to sell those at auction. But I think for now your problems are solved.”

“At least this one is. Thank you,” she whispered. “I wouldn’t have thought to use the liquor to buy them off.”

“It worked. That’s what counts.” Smiling, he released her hand.

When Ellie didn’t let go, he adjusted his grip and laced his fingers through hers. Their mated hands rested on her lap, relaxed, secure. If only the rest of her future felt this safe. Despite their easy slide into relationship mode, nothing about their renewed connection was simple.

Would Carter buy the hotel? Did he plan to stay? How would this affair end?

At the thought of him leaving, a sickening sensation swam through her body. That’s when she knew.

Ellie was falling for Carter. All over again.

She let go of his hand, folding her arms tight across her stomach. Her mind condemned the realization, counting her a fool. Unfortunately, her heart wasn’t listening.

At midnight their guests indicated it was time to leave. She and Carter walked them to the door, helping them with their cases from the collection.

They said their goodbyes. Uncle Russert commended Carter for his quick thinking, then bid them goodnight, leaving her and Carter standing alone in the foyer.

His expression changed from remote to sultry. “Did you wear that dress on purpose, to drive me insane all night?”

“I wanted to get your attention.”

“You have it.”

He crossed the space between them in two strides. Hauling her against him, he captured her mouth with a heated kiss.

Her insides quivered with desire. She wanted to give in to his urgency, let him whisk her away and make love to her for hours.

But she needed answers.

After several attempts, she finally convinced Carter to stop kissing her and let her speak. “I want to know what your intentions are,” she said firmly.

“I’m taking you back to my room, getting you out of that dress, and tossing you into my bed.” He bent forward to taste her again.

She placed a finger over his lips. “I mean in the future. Where is this leading, Carter?”

“If you’re asking me what I want, I think that’s obvious.”

“What do you want from
me
?” she clarified.

“You are what I want.” His eyes blazed with fierce possessiveness.

“What about the hotel?”

He kissed her skin through the diamond cut-out of her dress, swirling his tongue along her cleavage. “That, too.”

“But what are your intentions,” she demanded.

When he pulled back, the angles in his face were sharp and foreboding, his expression unyielding. “You want it spelled out?”

Finally, she was getting somewhere. “Yes, I need to know before this goes any further.”

“I think you crossed that line in the lighthouse, sweetheart. And when you held my hand tonight. And how you’ve turned to me every time there’s a problem you can’t solve.” His odd tone sent a shiver of warning through her. “You need protection, and you want stay with the hotel as the manager.”

She nodded warily.

“And I want you in my bed. I want your body. I want your soul. When I buy this hotel, you will belong to me.”

Shocked, she felt a tide of indignation rush through her. “I’m not a thing you can possess.”

“That’s my offer, Ellie. Why I came back to El Dorado Island.” His gaze turned cool, calculating. “Did you think I planned to buy the hotel out of charity?”

“I knew you had ulterior motives. I saw signs, the way you looked at me, the way you seduced me—”

“Wait, whose idea was it to cross the line from rivals to lovers? Because everything that’s happened between us since I showed up tells me you want me. You need me.”

A horrible sense of betrayal crawled through her veins. “On terms you get to decide? Where does that leave me?”

“Think about.” Ruthlessness pinched the corners of his eyes, and she felt as if he’d suddenly become a complete stranger, a man bent on possession, and revenge. “I’ll keep you here, Ellie, under my protection. You’ll never have to worry about money again. You’ll never have to worry about your position here. You’ll never suffer the advances of other men. You are mine. In exchange, you agree to my demands.”

“You can’t command me! I will not be some sexual servant at your beck and call.”

He shrugged. “Take it or leave it.”

The enormity of what he suggested left her raw and bleeding inside. “Why?” she choked out.

“You and your family treated me like shit.”

Hurt, she shot back, “That’s not true—”

“I came from poverty, raised by a single mom who sacrificed everything so I could be here today.” His nostrils flared. “You had it all, the shiny name, the mansion, a rich daddy who gave you whatever you wanted.” Raising his voice, he continued fiercely, “I gave you everything I had to give, but it still wasn’t enough. I didn’t have the credentials your father demanded so I could ‘deserve’ you. Now I do.”

Tears stung her eyes. “I didn’t care about those things.”

“You dumped me and got engaged to a man your father chose for you.” His gaze burned with rage. “I was nothing to you.”

“That’s not the way it happened—”

He cut her off. “All I needed was the chance to prove myself. But you wouldn’t wait. I’ve come back to the island to claim what was denied me.”

“My father was looking out for my best interests,” she defended.

Carter’s arm shot out to indicate the deteriorating state of the hotel. “Great job he did, too.”

She smacked him across the face. “Don’t you dare disrespect him.”

Recovering from her slap, he slowly turned his head so they were face to face again. Animosity sizzled between them.

“I’m the only person who will save you from Frank’s mistakes. I suggest you take my offer,” he stated, his expression stone, his voice devoid of emotion. “You bowed to your father’s wishes. Now you will bow to mine.”

“That includes denying me a choice?”

He shrugged. “You have a choice. Take it or leave it.”

“That’s not a choice! It’s an ultimatum.”

“I don’t care what you call it. I can walk away right now and leave you to your own devices.”

At the thought, terror struck her heart. Without him as the buyer, she didn’t have many options. She didn’t have
any
options. The truth shriveled her pride, her future fading before her eyes.

“Or,” he continued, “I can take you to my bed and shelter you from the consequences of your family’s failings.”

“I can’t be bought.” The sentiment sounded hollow, even to herself. She’d known the potential consequences of becoming his lover, yet she’d hoped to regain his love and respect in the process. “How can you be so callous toward me?”

“Isn’t that what you’ve set up for yourself? You won’t leave the island. You’re not qualified for any other career. Am I wrong so far?”

She shook her head, fighting to keep tears at bay.

“You’ve put yourself at the mercy of the next owner of the Montgomery Hotel.”

As he confronted her with the reality of her situation, her blood thinned. He’d backed her into a corner, one she’d constructed for herself. She didn’t see any escape.

“I’m the only thing standing between you and the future you want. You need me. Take my offer,” he said coaxed as sensual warmth returned to his tone.

“Please,” she whispered, desperation scraping her insides. “Don’t make me do this.”

“What will it be, Ellie?”

Frozen, her heart crushed by his conquest, she felt the walls closing in around her. Her eyes slid shut.

“Tell me you don’t want this.” His lips pressed against her neck.

He dragged his hot mouth over her skin. Sipping, tasting, fraying her determination and resistance.

“Tell me you don’t miss what we had.”

The stiffness in her limbs eased as his mouth seduced her body. She didn’t want to give him what he wanted, at the cost of what she needed. The price was too high.

“I can give you what you want, what you need,” he said. “All you have to do is say yes.”

One word. So simple, yet so impossible. She shook her head again, even as she felt desire winning the battle over her struggle for self-reliance.

“Give in to me. I’ll take care of you.” His lips trailed up her neck, along her jaw, a fiery path promising pure ecstasy. His warm breath stirred the hair by her ear. His tongue flicked over the rim, probing the canal.

Ellie inhaled sharply. How easy he made the offer sound…

No matter how much she wanted to deny it, she needed him. Despite his devil’s bargain. Temptation battered her judgment. Confusion and carnal need tangled inside her.

“Let me take you.” His teeth tugged at her earlobe, while his hands hand cupped her bottom, revealing his taut desire. “I can give you everything you desire.”

She moaned in surrender.

“Tell me you want me.”

“I—”

“Say it.”

She wanted to lose herself in their sexual synergy. She wanted pleasure to overcome her fears. “Yes,” she whispered faintly.

“Say it again.”

“Yes, I want you.”

“That’s my girl.” He scooped her into his arms and carried her to his suite.

There, he laid her down on the silky sheets. He stood over her as he undressed. The vision of his naked body, muscular and hard and perfect, dissolved her troubled thoughts.

At this moment, he belonged to her as much as she belonged to him. For this brief time, they were equals.

Pulling back the sheets, he joined her. Ellie traced her fingertips along ridges of his flat stomach as he undressed her. He released a sound of encouragement, and she felt emboldened to touch him everywhere, sliding her palms across the smooth expanse of his skin, excited by the way his arms flexed as he unzipped her gown and slid it off her body. Her hands curved around his broad shoulders, embracing the incredible sensuality he delivered, offering the emotional investment that had been missing at the lighthouse.

Within minutes his skin was scalding to the touch. He raised himself over her and settled between her thighs. “I’ve wanted you in my bed for so long. I’ll be good to you, baby.” His words came in hot puffs against her breasts. “You’ll never have to worry about anything again.”

That vow alone held tremendous appeal. No one had taken care of her or looked out for her best interest in years. Surrounded by self-centered and self-destructive men since Carter left, she desperately missed that sense of security, of effortlessness, that he dangled in front of her.

His mouth closed on one nipple, his tongue flicking, teasing. She sighed, sliding her hands into his hair. He tended to her breasts one at a time, licking and sucking, driving her mad with desire. His mouth traced the underside of her breasts.

Then he traveled down her stomach, his tongue dipping into her navel. Descending further, his teeth scraped her hipbones. Her hips rolled forward, begging for more.

With a low laugh, he murmured, “Soon.”

His mouth explored her legs. He nibbled her ankles, kissed the arches of her feet, swirled his tongue along the backs of her knees. He tended to her exclusively, making her feel precious, cherished.

“Please,” she begged, spreading her legs.

She felt him smile against her inner thighs. “Your wish is my command.”

Then his mouth was there. Licking, tasting, and sucking on her, driving her toward abandon. She squirmed under his exquisite attention.

He held her down.

She moaned. “Don’t stop...oh, God.”

Tremors trickled through her. He cupped her backside, held her against his face, and didn’t stop until a piercing burst wracked her body with delicious spasms.

Ellie whimpered. Still, he didn’t stop until she couldn’t take anymore. Arching and writhing, she wanted to feel him inside her. “I need you, Carter.”

In the light of the moon, his silver eyes gleamed with triumph. “It’s about damn time you admitted it.”

Carter lifted himself above her. Arms outstretched, hands flat on the mattress, he settled his weight in the cradle of her thighs.

With a searing thrust he entered her to the hilt. Ellie cried out as he filled her completely.

Carter lowered his arms to curve around her. One hand cupped her neck. The other pressed against her lower back.

And he made slow, sensual love to her.

It felt so right being with him, her hips rolling to meet his thrusts. No man had ever reached her the way Carter did. He wrapped around her soul and refused to let go.

Moonlight illuminated his smooth skin. She marveled at his muscular silhouette, the way his body moved with hers. “I’ve missed you,” she admitted in the heat of passion. “I’ve wanted you back since the day you left the island.”

“You have no idea...” His thrusts deepened.

Her body reveled in their mutual surrender. He rocked with her. Seconds, minutes, hours passed as he drove her to the peak again and again.