Beware of Me (Dark Obsession 4)

Hell, yes. There was no other place that he wanted to be more. Ethan rose to his feet. He took his wallet from his back pocket. It was a damned good thing he was prepared because walking away from her would have ripped out his guts. He ditched his pants.

Her gaze slid over his body.

He put the condom on, rolling it over his erection, then he moved toward her.

Carly tensed.

“It’s okay, baby.” He fought to keep his voice sounding easy. Not demanding. Not animal-like. I feel like a fucking beast right now. Want her too much. “You’re calling the shots, remember? And it’s all about pleasure, for us both.”

She scooted back a bit. Most people he knew—his enemies—said he didn’t have a heart. That he’d lost it and what remained of his soul long ago, but when Carly scooted back, it sure as hell felt like someone had taken a knife to his chest…and that knife was sliding right into his heart.

He lay down on the bed. “Climb on top.” He figured that position would reassure her the most. Slowly, hesitantly, she did. Her knees pushed into the mattress on either side of his body, and her silken thighs slid over his hips.

“Now you do it,” Ethan told her. Control. Control. Control. Sweat was breaking out on his body as he fought to lock his muscles and hold the fuck still. “Guide me inside.”

Her fingers curled around his shaft.

His back teeth ground together.

She rose up, and then she slid his cock toward the entrance of her body. Because she was so wet and ready—he’d made sure of it—he slid right inside of her as she arched down against him.

She gasped.

His eyes squeezed shut. Control. She was freaking heaven around him. Hot and tight and better than he’d dreamed. Yeah, he’d had plenty of dreams about her over the years. Dreams didn’t even touch reality.

“You feel good,” Carly whispered.

She felt fucking fantastic.

“Can I…move now?”

He cracked open his eyes. “I’m yours. Do whatever the hell you want.” She probably didn’t get just how true those words were.

She lifted up, then pushed back down. Her movements were slow at first, tentative. Then she went faster. Harder. The back of his feet shoved into the mattress and his fingers flew up and locked around her hips. He wanted more, so much—

“Ethan?”

His hands jerked away from her and he grabbed the sheets around them. He fisted them, holding tight. If she said stop…

“I like…the way you feel…Ethan…So much…” Then she was moving again. Fast and hot and wild, and his hips slammed up against her because Carly’s rhythm was frantic and perfect. Just the way he’d wanted her. Out of control and desperate for release. No fear. No pain. Nothing at all there but the two of them and the pleasure they gave each other.

She came first. He felt her delicate inner muscles squeeze around him as Carly choked out a little scream that he would never forget. Her body sagged forward and his hands flew up, locking tightly around her.

And then he kept thrusting, loving the feel of her orgasm squeezing around him, and when his release hit him…

Hell, yes. The pleasure ripped through him with enough force to take his breath. Again and again that hard, rough wave seemed to batter him, and it was fucking insane. Too good.

The best of his life.

She was the best.

And when his thundering heartbeat filled his ears, when he heard the rough rasp of his breath, Ethan realized just how far gone he was.

Can’t let her go now. Can’t ever let go.

***

Keith Nelson unlocked the door to his apartment, a fancy piece on the West Side that had been in the family for years. He’d almost lost it a few years back, but luckily, his private practice had started to pay off. The place was his sanctuary now, his escape when he needed to step back from the world and the darkness that could linger there.

He flipped on the light switch.

“Hello, doctor…”

A man was sitting in his favorite leather chair, sprawling there as if he owned the place. He doesn’t. I do. Blood and sweat had paid for that place, no matter what others might think.

But Keith didn’t let his fear show as he squared his shoulders and faced the man in that chair. It wasn’t the first time he’d come home to find an intruder waiting for him. An overzealous patient had snuck in before, and Keith had dealt with the man.

When mental illness was your life, you learned very, very quickly, how to handle the deranged.

“You don’t look surprised to find me here,” the man continued. The light glinted off his dark blond hair.

Did the guy have a weapon? Keith didn’t. He used to carry pepper spray with him, but now that his patients were the non-violent sort—for the most part—he’d felt safer. Safe enough to travel without any sort of weapon.

The man rose. His jacket eased back just a bit, and Keith saw the holster there. Gun.

His mouth went dry.

“I have some questions about one of your patients,” the blond man said as he closed in on Keith. “And you are going to tell me every single thing that I need to know…”

***

Someone was pounding on the door. Ethan cracked open one eye and growled. He was comfortable. Carly was on top of him, she was soft and smelled so sweet, and the last thing he wanted to do was move.

But someone was still pounding. Hell.

“Ethan?” Now Carly was awake. And that meant that she’d move away.

Whoever was doing that pounding had just made Ethan’s shit list.

“What’s going on?” She blinked a bit blearily at him. Faint rays of light drifted through the blinds. Day had come. Day and, no doubt, more trouble.

“You stay here,” he told her. “I’ll go find out.”

But the sleepiness was already fading from her eyes as full awareness flooded back. She looked down at her body, realized she was naked, and hurriedly jumped from the bed, dragging the sheet with her.

Unfortunate.

“I’m not just staying here!” She’d rushed to the closet and was dressing frantically. “It’s my house. My door! I’m going to see what is happening.”

And she was kind of like a whirlwind as she dressed at a rapid-fire speed. He made a mental note. Carly was not into pillow talk. Then Ethan grabbed his jeans and yanked them on. He didn’t bother putting on a shirt because Carly was already rushing down the hallway.

He followed a few paces behind her, and then he saw her put her eye to her peephole. “It’s the FBI agent,” she said, her voice hushed. “Again.”

Agent Monroe was getting on his nerves.

She looked over her shoulder at him. “Charles is out there, too.”

The door pounded again. “Ms. Shay!” A male voice called. No doubt, Victor Monroe’s voice. “Open up! The last thing you want is this conversation happening out here for all your neighbors to hear.”

She yanked open the door. “I figure my neighbors can already hear plenty.” She glowered at him. “And actually, just so you know, the one across the hall isn’t even here. She’s been

out of the country for weeks.”

Ethan closed in, slowly. Charles met his gaze and gave an apologetic shrug. “Saw him coming in, boss,” Charles said.

He’d stationed Charles as a watcher outside the building. Only Charles should have called him and given him a head’s up on the situation. Not let the FBI get so close.

“He moved fast,” Charles added, “so I figured I’d follow him up.”

Right.

“What’s happening?” Carly demanded. “Why are you here?” She backed up until her shoulders hit Ethan’s chest.

He liked that she’d moved closer to him. He hoped that she knew he would always have her back. Always.

“The local cops got a call about two hours ago,” Victor announced. “Seems that a neighbor of Dr. Nelson’s got worried. She went to take her dog out and saw that his door was wide open. When the cops went inside, they found signs of a struggle, and the good doctor, well, he seems to have vanished.”

“What?” Carly demanded.

Ethan’s lips twisted. “Let me guess. You think I had something to do with his disappearance?”

But the FBI agent shook his head. “Actually, I don’t. At least, not directly. We had eyes on you, so we know that you didn’t leave this apartment. Now, do I think you hired someone to attack him? Maybe. But my instincts say someone else took him. Someone who wanted to know just what Ms. Shay had confessed during her sessions with him.”

“The man who attacked me in the parking garage,” Carly said.

Victor nodded. “It’s possible that you weren’t even his original target yesterday. The duct tape, the rope, the handcuffs? All waiting in the parking garage? You weren’t even supposed to come out that way, but Dr. Nelson was. Maybe the attacker just took you because the opportunity presented itself. Nelson could have been the abduction target all along. After all, he’s the weak link. No protection. No Ethan Barclay threatening to destroy anyone who gets close to him.”

Ah, so Victor had heard about the orders Ethan had put out. He’d let it be known—loud and clear—that anyone coming after Carly would have to deal with him.

Victor put his hands on his hips. “So now Ms. Shay, the danger around you is going to mount even more. Dr. Nelson didn’t tell me anything. He held onto the old patient/doctor confidentiality bit, but how long do you think that attitude is going to last if he’s being tortured? Don’t you think all of your secrets will be coming out of him…sooner or later?”