She locked eyes with him as he slowly lowered his head and took her other nipple in his mouth. His fingers continued to toy with the first one, and every time she would groan in pleasure and close her eyes as he lavished one nipple with his lips and tongue, he would twist the other one firmly until her eyes opened again. When he noticed how her hips wiggled and gently thrust forward each time he gave her a little tweak of pain, he began giving her nipples and her breasts little bites until her pelvis was involuntarily thrusting toward him as she yanked at the rope around her wrists.

  “Jax.” She said his name almost on a whine. “Please.”

  Everything about her did it for him. Her smell, her taste, and her voice. “That’s right, little one. Beg me. I want you to beg me.”

  She yanked at her hands again at the same time she thrust her lower half toward. “Please, Jax … I … please.”

  “Tell me what you want.” He fisted a hand in her hair as he captured her mouth, plunging his tongue deep, signaling what he wanted to do with his cock. He held her head still as he took her mouth over and over again. When he raised his head, he looked into her big blue eyes, and one more time, she said, “Please.”

  “Carrie, I can’t wait anymore. I need you. Now.”

  Chapter Eight

  Carrie

  She kept her eyes on him, every cell of her body lit up, on fire for him. Somewhere in the back of her mind, there was a voice saying that this was a mistake, but the rest of her mind was quickly beating that voice into submission. She wanted him, and nothing could keep her from having him.

  She watched as he stepped away from her and reached for the hem of his black t-shirt. He whipped it over his head and tossed it to the side. She couldn’t help her mouth from dropping open. His caramel-colored skin was smooth, and the bulging muscles weren’t just on his arms. She wanted to feel the sinewy muscles of his chest pressed up against her breasts. And his abs… “That is not fair,” she said.

  He stopped as he was unzipping his jeans and peeked up at her face. “What’s not fair?”

  “That whole chiseled ab thing you have going. No matter how much time I spend at the gym, my body would never look like that, not in a million years.”

  His dark eyes swept over her, making her shiver. “Baby, your body is perfect. It’s the most perfect body I’ve ever seen, and I don’t want you changing anything, do you understand me?”

  “Yes, sir,” she said without thinking.

  At her words, she saw his hands noticeably clench the waistband of his jeans. “Jesus, Carrie, what are you doing to me?” He muttered the question almost to himself. And he worked quicker now, his movements more determined.

  He didn’t slide his jeans off as she’d thought he would. Instead, he opened the zipper and reached in to pull himself free, as if he couldn’t wait to be inside of her.

  “Oh, holy God.” She could feel her eyes go wide, and hoped they weren’t bugging out of her head. He was enormous. She couldn’t take her eyes off his cock as he slowly stroked the long, thick shaft with his hand, stopping only to run his thumb over the mushroom-shaped head.

  “Wow.” How the hell was that ever going to fit?

  As he reached into his pocket, he tilted his head at her. “What’s wrong, love? Bigger than you’re used to?”

  “I, uh…” Tell him! Good lord, he’s going to rip you apart. Tell him! “It, um, yes … much bigger than I’m used to.”

  He ripped open the foil packet he’d taken out of his pocket and sheathed himself quickly before stepping closer to her.

  Wrapping his arm around her waist, Jax pressed their lower halves together, and she felt his thick erection against her skin, hot and hard.

  Leaning the top half of his body away from her, Jax looked down in between him where his cock rested against her belly.

  Yeah, that thing is never going to fit.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll fit,” he said as if reading her mind.

  Her eyes jerked up to his face. His beautiful, chiseled face. He even had pronounced muscles in his face. So not fair.

  His hooded eyes glittered as he looked at her. “You need to know, Carrie, I’m not a gentle lover. I don’t go slow. I want to fuck you. I want you, hard and savage, and now.”

  She would have melted at his words into a puddle at his feet if her hands hadn’t been tied above her head. Words like that shouldn’t turn her on so much, should they? They shouldn’t make her pussy throb in response. Her pussy … she’d never thought in those terms before. But even though she didn’t know what she was missing, she suddenly felt empty without him.

  Jax reached down to grasp her hips. “Wrap your legs around me,” he said against her mouth. His hands cupped the round globes of her ass, supporting her as she did what he instructed. She wrapped her legs around his waist, feeling his large erection pressed against that sensitive spot on her pussy.

  She moaned out his name, and he captured her mouth again, his tongue rubbing against hers in a sensual dance as he lined himself up. He rubbed the engorged head over her swollen sex, getting himself slick with her wetness. Then, she felt the head of his cock against her opening. She felt him nudge the head gently inside of her, but before she could get used to the feel of him, he thrust himself forward hard as he yanked her hips against him.

  She wrenched her head to the side as something tore deep inside of her, and a white hot pain shot through her. Her hands clutched at air as she cried out, her eyes squeezing shut.

  Then, stillness.

  Panting hard, she opened her eyes to look at Jax’s face and watched a range of emotion play over his beautiful features—shock, confusion, concern, and finally anger.

  He started to pull back. He was going to leave her. She tightened her legs around him, crossing her ankles at the base of his back.

  “Dammit, Carrie.” He practically growled her name.

  “I don’t want you to stop.” It hurt, it still hurt, but the pain was dissipating.

  He looked at her for a long moment. “I’m not stopping, but why didn’t you fucking tell me?”

  “I just … it didn’t come up,” she said lamely.

  “It didn’t come up?” He looked at her with his jaw clenched so tightly that a muscle stood out in the side of his neck. “I am so going to punish you for this.”

  “Punish me? But, I—ahh” Her words ended on a cry as he pulled out and thrust back in.

  “We’re not talking now, so shut up.” He leaned his head down, taking her mouth almost savagely this time. He stayed still inside of her until his kisses had her so hot that her lower body was trying to thrust against him.

  Only then did he move. He pulled out again, slower this time, and slid back in. He slid in easier now, the pain turning to something … good, his cock dragging across nerves that she’d never known existed.

  “Jax.” His name came out on a whimper as he set a rhythm for her. He would pull nearly all the way out then thrust back in, grinding his pelvis against hers, sending sparks shooting from her clit to the rest of her body.

  As his thrusts quickened, she felt something inside of her begin to build. His fingers sank into her hips in a bruising embrace. He held her tightly the whole time, so there wasn’t an uncomfortable weight on her arms and shoulders.

  His lips tore away from her mouth, and his face buried in her neck, and Carrie sensed his control slipping away. “Carrie, please, please come,” he begged.

  She wanted to come, needed to. Even though she’d never felt this, she knew that whatever was building inside of her was about to overflow. Almost like a balloon that couldn’t hold any more air, but was blown up so tightly that if one more breath was added, it would be too much.

  One last hard thrust of Jax’s cock was the one last push she needed, and the balloon inside of her burst. “Oh God, Jax.” She cried out his name, every muscle in her body spasming. His name became unintelligible on her lips as he continued thrusting, fucking her through her orgasm. She twitched from head to toe, shudders rolling through her body. She’d never felt anything so powerful. It was so intense that she wanted it to stop, but she also wanted it to never stop. Nothing made sense. There was no logic, no thought, there was only him.

  Every muscle in Jax’s body was rigid. She opened her eyes to look at him, and when she locked eyes with him, he let go. “Fuck, Carrie.” He thrust deeply one last time and held himself still as his body jerked. She felt his cock bulging and releasing inside of her as he emptied himself.

  Chapter Nine

  Jax

  Jax’s arms encircled Carrie’s waist as he squeezed her tightly to him, not ready to let her go. Her legs were still wrapped tightly around him, and as he drifted back to earth, the emotions came back. She’d been a virgin, and she hadn’t told him. He should feel horrible for putting her in a situation where she’d felt forced to open herself to him. But he didn’t feel horrible. He’d offered her the chance to say no, and she hadn’t taken it. Instead, she’d given herself to him. She’d offered herself up and hadn’t hesitated.

  Would he have taken her if he’d known? He certainly wouldn’t have been as rough, he knew that. He pulled back to look at her, and she tried to adjust her shoulder with a little grimace. Shit, her arms. He looked up to see her hands a bit pale but still pink.

  Carrie winced and gave a little cry as he pulled out, letting her feet slide to the ground. She didn’t say anything, but hung almost limply in her bonds at that point. Satisfied and glowing. She had a little smile on her face that had Jax’s cock twitching again. He disposed of the condom and tucked himself into his jeans, then buttoned them up as he took in her body. As much as he wanted to do nothing more than carry her upstairs and take her again, he had business to take care of. They had business to take care of.

  As her weight rested on her wrists, her hands quickly began taking on a purplish hue, and he snatched up the knife where he had deposited it on the table. Supporting Carrie with one arm, he raised the knife and deftly sliced through the ropes, freeing her.

  “Ow.” She grimaced as her arms fell, and he knew it would be uncomfortable as the blood rushed back into her limbs.

  “It’s okay, love. Come here.” He carried her to the couch where she’d sat earlier, then covered her up with a blanket, massaging her shoulders.

  With her nakedness hidden, she looked up at him a bit sheepishly. “Are you mad at me?”

  “Mad?” She was worried that he was mad at her? This beautiful, sweet woman. All she’d wanted was to trust someone. No matter what she said, she wanted … needed someone to take care of her, to love her.

  Love her. That’s not you, Jax. You’re not capable of that.

  “Carrie, I’m not mad at you. I just wish you’d told me. Why didn’t you?”

  She shrugged one sexy shoulder. “You would have stopped,” she said simply. “I didn’t want you to stop.”

  Her whole life she’d waited to give herself to someone, and she ended up choosing him at that moment. He didn’t understand. He needed to put a stop to this now. He wasn’t the man she thought he was, and he needed her to understand that.

  “Carrie, I don’t know what you think this was, but we can’t—”

  “Hey, Jax! I forgot to…” Ben burst into the room at that moment.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  “Well,” his friend took in Jax’s shirtless form and leered in Carrie’s direction, “you two certainly didn’t waste any time, did you?”

  Carrie tucked the blanket tighter underneath her chin, and Jax turned to shield her from Ben’s prying eyes. “What the fuck are you doing back here, Ben? I told you to contact the client, and we would talk in the morning.”

  “I did talk to the client. He’s, uh…” Ben looked at Carrie. “He’s not happy.”

  Fuck! Just from the look in Carrie’s direction, Jax knew his partner had told the client about her even though he’d told him to keep his damn mouth shut.

  “Goddammit, Ben, I told you—”

  “Look, you can yell at me all you want to later, but you need to hear this. Put some fucking clothes on, and meet me in the living room.” Ben slammed the door, setting Jax’s teeth on edge. He didn’t take well to being ordered around in his own home.

  “Fuck.” He got up and reached for the t-shirt he’d discarded earlier. “Get dressed, Carrie.”

  The blonde had the blanket wrapped around her like it was a shield, trying to cover as much skin as she possibly could, as if he hadn’t just been inside her and had her nipples in his mouth.

  “I can’t,” she said.

  “You can’t? Can’t get dressed? Why not?”

  She gave a little huff and rolled her eyes. “You sliced the buttons off my blouse, remember?”

  He couldn’t help but grin. “Right.” He tossed her his t-shirt. “Here. Put this on. I’ll get another one.” His grin faded as his eyes trailed to the door. “I have to go deal with Ben. I’ll be back shortly.”

  “Jax,” she started.

  He had a hand on the doorknob and turned to look at her, arching a brow in question. There was so much he wanted to say.

  Carrie blew out a breath. “Nothing,” she finally said.

  He gave her a long look then finally turned and walked out of the room.

  Chapter Ten

  Carrie

  Holding the t-shirt to her face, she took a long sniff. My God, the man smelled so good. His scent had to be some sort of drug. Tossing the blanket aside, Carrie quickly pulled the shirt on then went in search of her skirt. Once she was dressed, she rubbed her sore wrists. At least she wasn’t tied up anymore. Not that it had been all bad.

  Part of her thought she would wake up and find out this was all a dream. Things had changed so drastically in the last few hours, she still couldn’t quite wrap her mind around it. A priceless painting was smuggled through her gallery, she’d been held at gunpoint, kidnapped, and then she’d lost her virginity to her kidnapper. She hadn’t even decided if she fully trusted Jax yet.

  Loud male voices pulled her out of her reverie. She inched closer to the door. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they didn’t sound happy. Opening the door, she could hear little snippets of the argument coming from somewhere down the hall to her left.

  “Why the fuck would you tell him about her in the first place?” Jax was saying.

  “It doesn’t matter. You’re missing the point, man. You can’t let her go. He wants her dead.” Ben’s words sent an icy fear shooting down her back. She strained to hear more, but the voices became muffled again.

  Why would someone want her dead? She thought they’d had a good cover story. Apparently, it wasn’t that believable. She noticed how severely her hands shook as she closed the door to the library. Would Jax kill her? He’d just made love to her.

  Don’t be an idiot, Carrie. It wasn’t making love. It was fucking. Even though he’d been her first, she damn sure hadn’t been his. She was being delusional if she thought she held a special place in his heart. Even if she did, was that enough for him to put his life on the line? Or enough for him to give up twenty million dollars? She highly doubted it. Even if he couldn’t bring himself to kill her, he’d probably just have Ben do it.

  The burning anxiety in her chest spurred her into action. She had to get out of there before they came to the realization that they had no choice but to kill her. What was she going to do if she left? She couldn’t walk down the mountain. Searching the room frantically for some sort of inspiration, her eyes landed on the set of keys on Jax’s desk. Of course! When he’d brought her into the room, he’d deposited her on the couch and tossed his keys on the desk.

  Rushing to pick up the keys, Carrie tried to remember the layout of the house in her head. The garage was down the hall to her right, past the kitchen. The men’s voices were coming from somewhere down the hall to the left. She actually might have a chance to get out of there. With the garage at the opposite end of the house, she could start the car and leave without the men hearing it.

  Carrie quickly slipped her shoes on then inched to the door. Opening it a fraction, she listened closely and still heard muffled voices from down the hall. Now was her chance. She would have to be fast … and quiet. On second thought, she slipped her shoes back off. Clutching her heels in one hand and Jax’s keys in the other, she slid out the door and tiptoed down the hall in the opposite direction of the voices. When she reached the kitchen, she sped up, all but running to the garage door.

  When it creaked open, she went completely still, barely breathing, listening as hard as she could for any sounds. When she heard nothing, she opened it just enough to slide through the doorway, then shut it quietly behind her. Once in the garage, she exhaled. Then she looked up and nearly did a fist-pump when she saw that Jax had left the garage door open.

  Once in his SUV, which resembled a small bus, she locked the door. She was a bit scared to start it for fear the engine would alert the men inside the house, but she knew she was running out of time. As soon as the engine turned over, Carrie threw the car into reverse and backed out of the garage. She sped down the driveway without looking back.

  It wasn’t until she reached the end of the drive, that she realized she wasn’t quite sure where she was. Shit! She’d always been directionally challenged, and since she’d been lying down in the backseat when they’d driven out to the house, she had no idea which way they’d been going.

  Looking around the car wildly, her eyes landed on the screen on the dash. A GPS. Of course! It was just like the one in her Lexus. She just rarely used it since she was familiar with her small community. As she punched in her address, she could have sworn she heard an engine starting up somewhere behind her.

  Oh no! Hurry, hurry! She breathed a sigh of relief when the directions to her brother’s house popped up on the display. She’d go directly to Tate’s. He would know what to do. She turned out onto the road and sped down the mountain toward town.