But Carter was still in work mode. Not even an impressive set of newly divorced...assets could pull his attention from where it needed to be. He’d always been a “business before pleasure” kind of guy. Even when the pleasure promised to be very pleasurable indeed.
“Whoever gave the watch to you has good taste,” the woman said, her voice trailing off as obviously as her interest in Carter. No boy toy for her, then.
“Thanks.” He tipped his head her way.
He wasn’t like Kingsley, Jaxon or any of his brothers who had the kind of looks that made women stop in their tracks then offer up their life savings for a night or two between the sheets.
No, he wasn’t as handsome as his brothers. He was, however, big and intimidating. And he was smart. The one who put his native skill set and law degree to good use to keep the family successful and thriving.
Yes, if he’d been one of his brothers, the woman would’ve probably still kept trying to get into his pants, figuring that although there was no money, being close to beauty like theirs for even a short time was worth any effort. But he wasn’t one of the pretty ones, and that was okay.
With the woman suddenly intent on getting more champagne from the flight attendant, Carter settled down to enjoy the ride. He turned to face the window with its view of the clouds and, far away, another passenger plane flying at a lower altitude. His eyelids grew heavy. Then a familiar dream took him.
* * *
Birds chirped loud and cheerful outside his fifth-floor window and sunlight flooded into his single college room. The hard lines of a wooden chair pressed along his back, butt and thighs, and in front of him on the desk sat his half-finished homework.
Why hadn’t he finished his homework yet? Class was in just a few hours.
While vague thoughts of getting back to the homework floated through his mind, his room door burst open. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen rushed through it.
Jade Tremaine. She looked like the sweet girl next door. Permed hair down to the middle of her back, a gorgeous face completely free of makeup. Her body, slender yet curvy, had a thick booty that usually starred in his juicier fantasies.
“Carter!” She was crying.
“Jade, baby, what’s wrong?”
The sadness on her face carved a hole straight through Carter. If she let him, he would move the world to get rid of her tears. Her smiles made him happy. Her laughter made him laugh too. Everyone around them noticed Carter’s obsession and assumed they were more than friends. But Jade already had a boyfriend, and she wasn’t a cheater.
“Carter!” Jade fell into his arms, still sobbing.
This was a dream. After more than ten years of living with it, Carter knew every move he would make while trapped inside its illusion. And he knew how different it was from the real event that happened between them years ago.
Jade’s slender body heaved against his.
“He cheated on me...” Her voice had wounds in it, large enough for wailing sobs to break through. “I can’t believe it. I really trusted him.”
Anxiety turned him inside out at the sight of her obvious pain. He would do anything to make things right for her. “Tell me,” he practically begged. “Tell me what I can do.”
But Jade kept sobbing on him, the same words falling from her trembling lips again and again.
“Just hold me. Please.” She trembled like a leaf caught in a hurricane. “Carter...” Her body felt cool and delicate against his.
“Please, don’t cry.” His voice sounded hoarse and desperate to his own ears. He needed to make everything okay for her. Carter’s mind was in tatters, nothing like the logic and control that usually ruled his day-to-day life. “I’ll fix whatever you want.”
Slowly, the need to help her became tainted with lust and inconvenient desire. His hands wrapped around her slender arms and her skin felt like silk. “Jade, let me help you.”
“Yes, yes.” And she lifted her mouth toward his.
And with that, Carter knew how to help. His body and his love were what she needed.
Happiness surged in him.
Yes. This he could do.
He pressed his lips to her damp cheek and tasted her tears. A soft whimper left her parted lips and curled around his sex, hardening him. She cried out again and gripped the front of his shirt. Her sharp nails sank into his skin, deep and agonizing, but Carter moved into the pain.
“It’ll be okay,” he said. “I’ll take care of everything.”
“Yes,” she whispered and her breath was like perfume.
They fell into his bed. A California king with sheets that brushed soft as sin against his suddenly naked skin. Carter throbbed with want to protect her and to possess her. Both impulses burned through him and scorched away every piece of reluctance he might have had before.
Her bare skin was a balm to everything that hurt; her kisses tasted of the most sacred of elixirs. With each touch of his hands on her skin, poetic nonsense invaded Carter’s head. He couldn’t think, could only feel.
He should stop. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t what she needed.
But she writhed against him, the most sensual and passionate woman he’d ever been with. “Yes, Carter...” Her tight body welcomed him. “Yes. Love me. Make everything else go away.”
Yes. God, yes.
Jade panted into his open mouth. Her legs wrapped around his waist.
Her agonized sobs turned into cries of pleasure. She moaned his name. “You’re perfect...Carter. So perfect.” Her hand settled on his chest, over his heart, as they moved together. She threw her head back, baring her long throat. A smile curved her lips. “Yes!”
Yes, their pleasure was perfect.
His body moving firm and hot inside her, Carter reached for Jade’s face. But his hand passed through her cheek.
Her smile fell away. “Carter?”
Suddenly, he couldn’t feel her around his sex anymore. He could see her, but couldn’t touch. She kept disappearing, piece after piece. “No!” she sobbed out.
“Jade!”
As she disappeared around him, Carter’d never felt so helpless in his life.
He screamed out his frustration, grabbing desperately for her but his hand passed through her body again and again. He was losing everything.
Jade’s sobs got louder. She trembled like she was ready to fall apart, but Carter couldn’t touch her, couldn’t comfort her anymore.
“Jade! Stay!”
But she didn’t. Her body faded away until only her sobs lingered in the air, ripping into his ears like knives.
* * *
The jolt of the plane hitting the runway yanked Carter from the dream.
He hissed and jerked upright, opened his eyes in time to see the woman next to him give him a faintly worried glance. The pain faded. Sound drained away. But his body remained on edge and faintly aroused.
Just like always.
Ten years of having the dream and it was still as powerful as ever. The panic and regret that came with it were things he could happily live without. But he didn’t know how to get rid of the dream, or those feelings.
A deep breath in. A deep breath out.
Okay.