Hold on.

The key sounded in the door, and I lurched to my feet. The only other person with a key was Carrie. And if Carrie was here…I didn’t know whether to kiss her or yell at her for being so damn reckless. With her parents in town, the last place she should be is with me.

Her father had said no one was watching us, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t lying. The man was more slippery than an eel in salt water. I didn’t trust him one bit. She walked in, closing the door behind her quickly, her eyes locking with mine. All that mattered was she was here.

A fist of emotion knocked the breath right out of me, making it hard to breathe. I took a stumbling step toward her, then another. Yeah. I wasn’t going to yell at her. I was going to kiss her and hold her and thank God she came to see me because I’d missed her way too much. My fingers itched with the need to touch her, to have her.

All I could manage to say, amidst all the feelings she brought to life with her reappearance, was one word. “Carrie.”

“Before you say anything, I know I’m not supposed to be here.” She leaned against the door and breathed heavily, her eyes on mine. Her gaze dipped lower, lingering on the bandage on my chest, but then she tore her eyes away. “But I have a car now. Dad bought it for me. I told Mom I wanted one and the next day it was there. It’s ridiculous how easy it was, but it got me here, and that’s all that matters.”

I blinked at her. She had a car now? I hadn’t even known she wanted one.

She continued on, obviously not needing a reply from me. “I parked at the store down the street. Then I went inside, left through the back, and walked here. I won’t stay long, so no one will guess where I am. Don’t yell at me.”

I opened and closed my fists. “Why would I yell at you when I could kiss you instead?”

“Then do it already,” she said, her eyes flashing at me.

I let out a broken sound I didn’t even recognize and closed the distance between us. I didn’t stop until I had her pinned against the door, my body glued to hers. I ran my hands all over her, starting at her shoulder, then dipping down her side and brushing against her breast. Her breath hitched in her throat, and I yanked her against my body, knowing I should be sending her away but unable to.

Because I was fucking lost.

“You’re really here,” I breathed. “It’s not another dream.”

“I’m really here.” She tilted her face up, her nails digging into my chest. “Are you going to kiss me or not?”

I groaned and closed my mouth over hers, slipping my tongue inside her lips as if I were a starving man and she was my last supper. And if she was? Well, at least I’d die a happy man. She let out a whimper and clung to me harder, her tiny nails piercing my skin. I couldn’t give a damn.

She could draw blood from me as often as she wanted, as long as she was here.

Our kiss seemed to break something inside of me. I growled as I lifted her against the door, my hands on her waist. As I undid the button, she trembled and grabbed her shirt, breaking off the kiss long enough to rip it over her head before fusing her mouth to mine once more.

I tugged her shorts over hips, letting them hit the floor, then slid my hand between her legs, expecting to feel the smooth satin of her underwear. Instead, I touched bare skin, and I shuddered with the need that punched through me. It would drive me fucking insane from now on—wondering whether she had anything on under her fucking pants.

I let go of her and crossed the room in record speed, grabbing a condom out of my drawer and tearing it open impatiently. After I had the protection aspect of what we were about to do under control, I stepped between her legs and lifted her higher against the door. I wanted to take it slow and be all seductive and romantic and shit, but she was driving me insane with the little noises she was making and the way her hips rose toward me, begging for more. And I was a desperate man.

I broke off the kiss, my breathing harsh and my cock positioned at her pussy. “This isn’t going to be sweet or soft. Are you okay with that?”

“Yes.” She buried her hands in what was left of my hair and wrapped her legs around my waist. “Just hurry up, damn it.”

I groaned and kissed her again, plunging inside of her in one smooth thrust. When I was buried inside her all the way, I tightened my grip on her and pressed her against the door even harder to make sure she had good support. Then…I fucking lost all control. I pulled out of her and thrust back inside—hard and fast and rough. And I didn’t stop.

She clung to me, crying out my name. For a second I thought I hurt her, and started to pull back, but she dug her heels into my ass and held me in place, her hips moving restlessly against me. “Don’t…stop.”

I growled and plunged inside of her again, even harder. I wanted to tell her how much she meant to me, and how much I needed her in my life, but all I could do was move inside of her, making her moan and scream out my name and draw my blood.

Her nails raked down my chest to my abs, leaving a stinging sensation behind them, and I drove deeper inside of her. Her hands faltered over my bandage, but she closed her eyes and lost herself in the rhythm. When she started trembling, her thighs quivering around me, I positioned myself so that I brushed against her clit with each thrust and bit down on her neck. Within seconds, her pussy clenched around me and she tensed, her whole body going tight and hard.

I pounded into her once, twice, and one more time, my entire body shutting down from the force of the orgasm rocking through me. I collapsed against her, still supporting her weight with one arm, and dropped my head against the door by her shoulder. She breathed as unevenly as I did, and she held me close, her arms tight around me.

I didn’t want to ever move. I wanted to stay like this, buried inside of her against my fucking apartment door. Because once I moved, I knew she would have to leave, and I’d be alone again, with nothing but my thoughts to keep me company.

She lifted her head from my shoulder, looking up at me with her bright blue eyes. “I think we needed that. These past few days have been rough.”

“I know. I never thought I’d be one of those guys who needed his girl with him to be happy, but…” I shrugged and smiled at her. “I am now, and I don’t mind. What did you do to me, Ginger?”

“I don’t know, but you did it to me, too.” She blew her hair out of her face and eyed me. “What’s up with the bandage? You okay?”

I sighed and lifted her off the door, setting her down on her feet gently. She clung to me for a second, then seemed to gain her footing. Bending down, I picked up her shorts and handed them to her. “Yeah. I’m fine. Where’s your dad right now?”

She gave me a lopsided grin. “Probably still recovering from me yelling at him. I kind of told him to mind his own business from now on.” She stepped into the shorts and buttoned them, then took her shirt out of my hand and smiled her thanks. “Went all independent woman on him and everything.”

“Man, I would’ve paid to see that.” I snorted, picturing the look on her dad’s face while Carrie told him off. “I bet he didn’t know what to say.”

“Oh, he definitely didn’t.” She pulled the shirt over her head and leaned against the door, right where I’d fucked her. I would never be able to look at a door again without getting a hard-on. “It was pretty funny. I should have taken a picture of his face for you.”

I pulled on my shorts and sat down on the edge of my bed, not bothering with a shirt, and held my arms out for her. “Come here, Ginger. I can’t stand not having you in my arms for another second.”

She crossed the room and sat in my lap, curling up against my chest in a little ball. She rested her hand over my chest, right above my new tat. “Now answer me. What’s with the bandage?”