Page 33 of Wasp

While Carter wanted us to wait until the morning to have a meeting with Tex about what we’d learned, I still couldn’t get over what I’d done that evening.

Now that Carter saw what I was capable of, I was more than a hundred percent sure he didn’t want to kiss me anymore.

Sighing, I rubbed my eyes then sat up in the bed.

There wasn’t another way of getting them to talk and I wasn’t trying to stay my entire life working as a bodyguard. My rig was sitting there, waiting for me to go back and I was missing my own bed.

Easy come, easy go.

It was well after midnight, and I couldn’t sleep. Thinking a shower would help, I stripped down, stuck a plastic shower cap to protect my hair and climbed into the shower. I set it as cold as my body could handle and allowed it to beat down against the back of my neck, draining down my spine.

“Goddess?” Carter called from somewhere in the house.

Fuck. Forgot to lock the door again.

I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead to the cold wall.

“Goddess?”

Turning off the water, I wrapped a towel around my body, removed the shower hat and poked my head out the door.

“In here.” I called. “Is something wrong? It’s late.”

When he finally stuck his head into the bedroom, I could tell from his eyes that nothing was wrong, but I was in danger.

Backing up, he stalked me into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

“There are moments in life when we have to make a decision and live with the consequences.”

Carter moved closer and closer until I was trapped between the vanity and his hard place.

“Um—” I managed.

“This is one of those moments.” He continued.

I sighed.

His mouth found its way to my neck, then around to my throat and thinking became a problem.

“You know what I want from you, Goddess.” He rasped, lifting his mouth to allow the world to shimmer back to me. “And I think you want it too—but I’m going to need you to tell me.”

“Why?”

“I need your permission to tear your world apart and put it back together again.” He growled. “If you decline, we can go back to being—friends.”

“We were never friends, Carter.” I replied, bravely. “From the way you’ve always looked at my body—friends don’t do that.”

“But we can pretend.” His voice cracked. “Because I’d rather pretend than not have you around.”

“Do you want to be my friend, Carter?” I nipped at his earlobe.

“If that’s all I can get from you.” He sighed.

I eased back a little and allowed the towel to puddle at my feet.

“How about now?” I asked.

Carter closed his eyes, the veins at his temple bulging with restraint.

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