Lace and Sin (Sinners Series Book 1) Page 11

  I feel how hard he starts to get as his lips make their way from my mouth down my neck. His warm hands slide under my sweater, and finally grab hold of my tits. How are his hands still so warm?

  I arch my back, pushing myself against him as I straddle him. The blanket falls down behind me. I pull his beanie off my head, and the cool air blows against my stomach as he lifts my sweater and exposes my breasts. He pulls my bra down a little, and sits up so he can reach them. He takes one nipple in his mouth, playing a little, teasing me, and then sliding his hands up and into my hair.

  We kiss like a couple of horny teenagers, eager to reach every part of each other – touching, licking, and kissing. It’s gentler though, with each touch of his hands or lips conveying the understanding, the empathy, and all the things we want to say but don’t.

  The more time I spend with Carter, the more I feel like I’m finding something else to focus on, something much nicer than hatred and vengeance. He gives me this sense of ease, even with a simple touch and it’s literally so liberating, so freeing to think about something else, to worry about something as trivial like whether he likes me or if he’s just using me for a good time. I’m kind of hoping it’s not the latter. As much as I keep telling him I don’t want a relationship, or I don’t usually do anything past a one night stand, I think I’d be pretty gutted if he left – especially after tonight.

  Before we manage to go too far up on this rooftop, which I’m kind of grateful for otherwise I’d freeze my tits off up here; he stops and rests his forehead against mine.

  “I’m sure this is as far as most people go on a first date” he grins.

  “Well, not wanting to sound too desperate, I guess I’ll just have to agree with you” I laugh a little and roll off. We both just lay there, his arm behind his head, both of us looking up at the stars.

  “Tell me something else about you…doesn’t have to be so major though” he says, keeping his eyes up to the stars.

  “I almost broke Alek’s arm once when he ate my peanut butter” I divulge.

  “I said nothing major” he laughs, “did you really do that?”

  “Yup. So hands off my peanut butter” I giggle.

  “Well, I broke my own arm jumping off Jimmy’s rooftop once, back at his place in the UK” he says and pulls his arm up, rolls the sleeve up a little and points to a spot on his arm. Not sure what he’s pointing to since his arm is covered in tattoos, I look at him slightly confused.

  He takes my hand and takes hold of my pointer finger, then starts to run it against his forearm. I close my eyes instinctively and feel the warmth of him, his muscles, until my finger runs over a little solid bump in his arm.

  “I had three pins put in my arm to hold it together because I did that bad of a job on it” he chuckles.

  “Battle scars hey?” I joke, but I wrap my hand around his forearm and then slide it upwards. I tenderly wrap it around his neck and then run my finger across his jaw. I roll slightly so that I’m leaning on his chest, my chin resting on my hand with my palm flat against him.

  He looks right at my face, eyes not straying from my own. He’s absolutely stunning. Not just his looks, I’m not that superficial - but in everything else, his ability to make me laugh and make me feel really desired and valued as a person, and not for what I have to offer someone. His exterior is this take-no-shit type but the more time I spend with him the more I see this kind hearted, sweet guy, who would do anything necessary for those he cares about. Am I one of those people he cares about?

  I admit I’ve given him a hard time since the beginning and acted like a total bitch sometimes, but I think that’s my automatic instinct to people trying to get into my life. God I feel horrible now.

  “Hey Carter.”

  “Mmm?” he asks, returning his gaze back to me after looking up at the sky again.

  “I’m sorry for being so difficult and a total bitch sometimes…”

  He cuts my off with a shake of his head, and runs his hand up from my arm and into my hair, running his fingers through the strands gently.

  “Don’t be sorry. You eventually caved so it’s all good” he grins.

  “Hey Carter” I say again.

  “Yeah babe?”

  “I killed my goldfish once when I was little, and cried like a baby when I had to flush him down the toilet.”

  Chapter 14

  Kayla

  We spent far longer up on the roof than Carter planned, so now walking down West 51st Street towards Fifth Avenue; there are only several people out in the winter’s cold air. Scurrying about in a hurry to either get home, or do late night Christmas shopping

  I don’t even ask where we’re going now - just content to walk wherever he leads me, with his warm arm still wrapped around me tightly. I might add I’m grinning like a total dipshit, and I don’t know whether to be freaked out about how comfortable and happy I am right this minute, or just allow myself to enjoy it.

  We turn right into Rockefeller Plaza, and I suddenly realise where we’re going.

  “Are you taking me to the ice rink?” I ask him.

  His only reply is a grin that I find myself swooning over. Yes I said swooning – My god what is happening to me?

  We get there just as they’re shutting up for the night, so I stand near the edge of the ice rink looking out at the last few skaters as Carter talks to one of the operators. I remember ice skating with my mum when I was younger, so I have to admit that everything we’ve done on this date has been perfect. After a few minutes the skaters make their way off and Carter comes back with a grin on his face.

  “They said they’re shutting up for the night so we can’t rent skates…but I guess we don’t really need any, right?” he wiggles his brows at me.

  “Why Carter if I’m not mistaken…are you suggesting we break onto the ice after hours?”

  “Exactly” he beams and starts heading down the few steps. Instead of opening the little latched door he hops over the short barrier and almost ends ass up on the ice, waving his arms around trying to stay upright. I laugh - in fact I laugh so hard my sides hurt.

  “You good?”

  “I’m always good, Kay” he says with a smirk, as he finally gets himself balanced.

  Kay - I test the new nickname out in my head. Even though Kayla is already pretty short to begin with, I still find I actually like it.

  “Stop grinning at me and come over here” he chuckles.

  I tenderly slide my legs over the barrier and swing them around. I gently put them on the ice and stand up straight once I’m over. Not as bad as I imagined it to be without skates.

  He shuffles his way across the ice, and even though we’re not wearing skates it’s still as though we’re pretty much skating. He gets closer to me and tugs his beanie off, then slides it on my head again with a smirk. He tenderly moves my long hair to one side, and then gives me a quick soft kiss on the lips, before turning around and sliding around on the ice again.

  I stand there motionless for a few minutes watching him act like someone half his age, and then finally join him. Sliding my legs as if I was skating on proper skates, I find it’s still quite easy with these shoes on. We’re both grinning as we glide around on the ice, eyes never leaving each other, except to look at our feet every once in a while to make sure we don’t fall.

  "Summer or Winter?" he asks, starting another round of his entertaining get to know you questions. I stop sliding across the ice and just watch as he does his thing, sliding from one end to the other gradually. I tuck my hands into my jacket pockets, and watch as my breath comes out in a white puff as I answer.

  "That's kind of a tough one. I love the warmer days when it's so hot you just want to go swimming or wear almost nothing around the house, but..."

  "There's a but to that?"

  "But..." I continue, "I love winter, especially days like today when it snows, because it reminds me of Poland."

  He stops sliding and stands there across the ice just looking at
me. I slide my hands down over the beanie just double checking it’s still on properly, and try to walk closer towards him without landing on my ass. I’m not usually scared easily, or even nervous for that matter, but around Carter I’m finding myself questioning everything about myself – does my hair look okay? Do I look graceful sliding on this ice, or like a baby giraffe trying to walk for the first time? You know…the usual.

  When I'm a few steps away, one of my feet slides out a little to the side and I almost fall over, but luckily Carter grabs hold of my arms to steady me. I take hold of the front of his jacket for extra support as I look up at his gorgeous face. His wild, dark hair sticking up in a random mess, and his cheeks flushed a soft, rosy red from the cold air.

  "Hey Carter... “ I say, waiting for I don't know what. When he doesn't say anything, and just stands there holding his gaze on me, I finally grin and say, "I like you."

  It's moments like this that make me realise how much of a child I might be sometimes. Maybe it's the fact that I've never really gone through that whole first date thing, or the falling in love type of moments. I mean from the age of eleven all I thought about was how much I hated the world, how cruel it was to take my parents from me. I learned to take guns apart, not play with dolls. I learned how to fight, instead of what to do when you like a boy, or god forbid one likes you back.

  Carter tilts his head to the side a little as if contemplating his response, and just grins at me, "How much, Kayla?"

  "Hmm..." I make a big show of thinking, placing my frozen hand against my chin, and tapping my fingers lightly.

  "I like you..." I start, "Like bees like their honey" I finish lamely.

  "Are you saying I'm your whole world? You do realise honey is a bees whole life, right?" he grins and laughs softly.

  "Oh, that's a bit much for a first date, isn't it" I grin back, and surprisingly he just shrugs as if he wouldn’t even be bothered if that were the case.

  "Okay, Okay....I like you like..." I think for a moment, "Like a fat kid loves cake" I say. Shit I hope he doesn't pick up that I just said love instead of like. Honest mistake I swear. This one’s been floating around the internet for a while now so he’s bound to know it.

  "Heard it before" he grins, confirming what I was just thinking.

  "I just like you, okay?" I smirk up at him as he wraps his arms around my waist, and tugs me a little closer against him.

  "I like you too, Kayla."

  ***

  Somehow after our little declarations of mutual likeness like twelve year olds, we ended up at Jimmy's bar until he closed. We spent half the time talking shit with Jimmy, me listening intently while he told me stories of a younger Carter. I managed to get out of him that they used to steal cars for Mikhalov -which is most definitely interesting. Jimmy met Carter when they were sixteen, when they were partnered up for community service. Carter for breaking and entering, and Jimmy for possession of a gun (which apparently wasn't even his). It was interesting to hear they were both quite the trouble makers when they were younger, especially because none of this came up on Carter’s record when Alek looked him up. Then again I’m sure my records aren’t exactly reliable.

  Every time Carter left us to go to the bathroom, Jimmy would tell me how Carter's never brought a girl around to meet him, or that Carter's usually quite a private and reserved person. I found that hard to believe considering how persistent he was when we first met, or how literally the first time we went out together, he took me to Jimmy's bar.

  While we waited for him to close up we sat at the bar having a few drinks, while Jimmy counted his earnings for the night, and tidied up the counter and tables. I found myself not wanting the night to end, and one thing led to another we all ended up back at Carter's place.

  I let Alek know where I was going and quickly told him about our little visit to the Mikhalov building. Somehow in his mind he sees that as a wasted opportunity to get into Abram's office, so I ignored the messages that came telling me I'm distracted, telling me I'm letting Carter mess with my head. I especially tried to ignore the one that said Carter was just going to forget about me in a week or so after he got bored, and that guys like him don't want a happily ever after - but hey, who even said that's what I was after?

  Okay, the more I thought about it, the more I kind of wanted that though. I wanted to be rescued for a change, I wanted to feel that admiration from someone and know that they wanted you around, would do anything to save you type thing. Either I was used to too much of a crazy life, or I watched too many action movies where the guy rolls in and saves the girl in the end.

  I shake my head slightly, and focus on the things in front of me.

  "I call bullshit" I say confidently as I sit across the table from Jimmy, Carter sitting at the head of the table next to us. Jimmy keeps a strong poker face as he turns his cards over - a nine of spades, a nine of hearts, and a random three. He grins once they're all facing up, and we see he was in fact bluffing.

  "Ha, I knew it" I say proudly, especially because I seem to catch either of them every time they bluff in our late night game of Bullshit. We decided that every time you get busted lying, you have to have a shot. So now an hour or so into the game, Carter's dining table is covered with playing cards, random bottles of alcohol, shot glasses, and small sticky patches of where the alcohol spilled while pouring shots.

  He scrunches his face a little before picking up his shot glass, filling it to the brim with tequila, and lifting it to his lips.

  "If I'd know this is how the game was going to play out, I would've gone home after work" Jimmy laughs and coughs a little after having his shot.

  Carter laughs but then puts down the cards in his hand and stretches out, arms lifting up and reaching outwards. His shirt lifts a little, and I catch a glimpse of the tattooed skin above his waistband. I involuntarily find myself licking my lips, and quickly look back up to his face to find him watching me with a huge, cheeky smirk on his face. Busted.

  "Hey Jimmy, I think I have a bottle of Belvedere in the freezer, you mind getting it?" Carter suddenly says.

  "Sure, I gotta piss anyway" he replies and stands up, putting his cards face down on the table, "No peeking" he adds, and makes his way down the hallway to the bathroom.

  I sit there silently, looking at my cards, looking down the hallway and back onto my cards again as if I forgot what ones I just saw in my hand. Carter stands quietly, takes the few steps closer towards me and squats next to me. He pulls the leg of my chair with a loud scrape against the floor, so that we’re now face to face. He flattens his palms over my thighs, and slowly inches his way higher. I feel his warm touch sending a spark of excitement straight to my core, as his hands make their way further upwards. His fingers slip under my tank top and run gently against my waist band, then continue their journey upwards.

  "Jimmy's gonna be out in a minute" I say, barely getting the words out of my mouth.

  He doesn't stop though, instead moves his hands higher and pulls down the cups of my bra with a devilish grin. I close my eyes and tilt my head back, letting this sensation take over me, the feeling of his rough and slightly calloused hands touching me.

  I want him to never stop, yet at the same time knowing he has to, because Jimmy is literally a few rooms down and bound to enter to an eyeful of tits if Carter doesn't cut it out. We hear the toilet flush and the bathroom sink running, so Carter fixes my bra, and then regretfully slides his hands out from under my top, placing them flat on my thighs again.

  "You want to stay over tonight?" he asks softly and tilts his head a little, giving off this lost puppy dog vibe that I don't think he realises he's throwing off. I quickly look at the time and see that it's just after three in the morning, and find myself nodding to his question. I mean come on, who can say no to someone who looks like him, especially with the face he's making.

  He wraps his hand around the back of my neck and pulls me a little closer, pressing his lips softly to mine, just as Jimmy comes back from t
he bathroom.

  "Well...I think that's my cue to leave" he says and rocks back onto the balls of his feet, hands deep in his pockets.

  "Aww, you don't need to leave, I'm sure Carter can keep his hands to himself for a little while longer, right?" I ask and see the small shake of Carter's head.

  Jimmy laughs, "I'm sure I'll get to know you better sooner or later darlin, looks like you'll be around a lot more these days, right?" his gaze looks between Carter and me, and I'm too afraid to look at Carter to see if he's shaking his head like crazy with a silent 'No' in Jimmy's direction.

  Would that bother me? If Carter told me to leave, and said he'd had enough of whatever this is would I be hurt? Deep down I know the answer to that, and my face automatically splits into a grin when Carter answers the question verbally.

  "Yeah, she'll be around. We'll catch up with you tomorrow, yeah?" he says and gets up from his spot in front of me. Firstly, he's kicking Jimmy out so we can do naughty things because it seems that no, he can't in fact keep his hands to himself any longer. And secondly, I'll apparently be around and catching up with them tomorrow, meaning he's not sick of me yet, thankfully. All this then reminds me of the little ' I like you' moment we had earlier, making me grin like a kid on Christmas morning. I am so fucked.