Page 15 of Forever After All (Pine Harbour #2)

Carter

M omentarily leaning into Alice's body, I taste the beer on her lips and I deepen the kiss further, parting her mouth with my tongue.

I swirl my tongue against hers and imagine all the ways I've wanted to touch her since the day I met her.

She lets out a gentle moan into my mouth and I swallow the sound by reaching up to pull her closer to me.

Stop fucking kissing her.

My head is all over the place. I want to fucking murder her ex, but…

oh well, too late, he's already dead. It couldn't have happened to a nicer person. Fucking cunt. I don’t know how I managed to contain my rage hearing the pain, panic, and torment in her voice as she describes the months and months of abuse she endured.

How could anyone hurt Alice? My Alice.

How could anyone ever make her feel worthless, when she’s worth more than most people I've ever met? The world is a better place having her in it. As Alice lies boneless in my arms, a shell of the woman I know her to be, my heart breaks into unquantifiable pieces for her.

The room lights up when she walks in. Everyone loves Alice—and I mean everyone.

She is beautiful, my god, she's so fucking beautiful.

She is so funny, with the darkest sense of humour, and can make you laugh at times when you forgot that you even could.

She has swiftly become one of my best friends, and listening to her torture herself is too much to handle.

It really goes to show that true friends aren't always the ones you've known the longest, they're the ones who consistently show up for you.

I can't tell you how long I have wanted to kiss this woman. Actually, I can. I've wanted to kiss her for thirteen months, one week, one day, and about, oh, eight hours. The very second I saw her in my parent's home hugging my niece, my brain malfunctioned.

At the point in my life when I met Alice, I didn't know I would be retiring from hockey. I knew it would be coming; I just didn't expect it to be so soon. A particularly shitty knee injury caused me to end my career a couple of seasons before I'd planned.

I had absolutely no time for women at that stage in my life, and honestly, they were just a distraction to me. I’m no stranger to a puck bunny or two, and I have unfortunately been burned by that.

When I thought I might have found my future wife, it was just not meant to be.

I thought I might have proposed to Eleanor, but it always felt as though something was missing.

We went through the motions, but ultimately I didn't want to stay in a relationship with her and hold her back knowing I was never going to marry her or create a life with her.

I kept the relationship going for longer than I should have.

When I broke it off, she didn't take it well at all.

Eleanor spoke to the press, initiated lie after lie about me cheating on her, having multiple affairs, and it damaged my career and any future with a serious partner.

None of that was true of course, but the press made everyone think I was the world's biggest heartbreaker, and how do you possibly counteract the tidal wave of lies about you when their opinions have already been formed? Eleanor moved on with another hockey player soon after our break up, and they're married with kids now. I really hope she’s happy now. She deserves a life I couldn’t give her.

I just wish she hadn’t tried to destroy my reputation, but people do things in the heat of the moment, and I have no ill will towards her now.

To be left alone, I just let people think what they wanted, why try and win a battle that you're always going to lose? My friends, family, and teammates knew the truth, but by then the damage was done to my image.

I pull away from Alice and sit on the floor, creating a small distance between us that feels too far away and not far away enough, both at the same time.

"Alice, what the hell are you doing?" I ask, surprising myself by sounding angry which I hadn't intended. She has absolutely no idea the effect that she has on me, and this is pure fucking torture.

"I need to feel something. I need to feel anything apart from shame and guilt and hurt." She leans down and presses her forehead into mine.

"Alice, no. We can't do this. It's too fucking messy. You're too fucking messy right now." I was rock hard the second she kissed me.

Holy fuck, my willpower is strong but it isn't Fort Knox.

Everyone has a breaking point and I think I'm going to reach mine.

It would be a huge fucking lie if I said I hadn't thought about her long legs wrapped around my waist, or her long flowing hair wrapped around my fist, and every bad thing I've wanted to do to my friend since the day I met her rages a war inside my head.

"I don't know about you, Carter, but I think a little mess is exactly what I need. I need you to help me feel something, anything." Her words are desperate.

I scramble to my feet and push my back and palms against the windows, feeling the cold permeate through my shirt and against my hands.

Staring at the floor, I refuse to look into her big green eyes.

"Alice, this is a bad fucking idea." The words come out shaky as I try to regain some composure. "Such a fucking bad idea."

Standing from the chair, Alice approaches me. I look up to see her tear-stained eyes staring into mine. Watching the evidence of the pain on her face is like a knife twisting in my gut.

"Carter, I need you. I need you to make me feel. Please, just make me fucking feel. Please. " Begging with a single tear rolling down her cheek, she takes my hand and holds it to her chest. Through her sweater I feel her raspy breathing beneath my palm.

"We're just friends, Alice. But, fuck, I want to ruin that." By the fabric of her sweater, I pull Alice towards me and crash my lips to hers, feeling her warmth against my body. I pull away long enough to say, "I've got you, princess. You can trust me."

Then she melts into me.

"I know. I would trust you with my life, but why did you call me princess?" she asks, sounding a little confused.

"It's 'princess' when I fuck you and 'Alice' when I don't. It's less messy this way." I nod, trying to convince myself.

I am so fucking screwed.

"You need to tell me what you want, princess," I affirm the nickname.

"I want you to touch me." She calls on me to touch her, and I need to be sure she wants this.

"How do you want me to touch you?" I ask, sweeping her hair off her shoulder. I run a fingertip along her collarbone that pokes out from the neck of her sweater. "Tell me what you want. I need to hear you say it."

"I want you to have sex with me." The words coming from her mouth send me over the edge and every last shred of my resolve breaks. I pull Alice towards me. Cupping her ass, I lift her off the floor.

She wraps her legs around my waist, but panics a little. "Fuck, put me down," she protests.

"Why?" I look into her eyes, genuinely confused. Having her wrapped around my waist means she looks taller than me like this. Sexy.

"Because I'm heavy! You'll hurt yourself," she protests and wriggles her legs trying to break free of my grip.

"You're perfect, I don't give a fuck if you're heavy, princess." I grip her ass in my hands, and give it a firm squeeze.

"A man has never picked me up like this before," she says, relaxing into my arms like a seat.

"They shouldn't have skipped arm day then." I reach up to kiss her once again, and she whimpers a little into my mouth, sending shockwaves to my dick. I walk us over to the countertop, and sit Alice down on top of it, pulling myself away to really look at her.

She's dishevelled, her hair is everywhere with mascara stains on her cheeks, but she's never looked more beautiful.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Alice? Like, really sure?" I need to know that this isn’t going to be a regret in the morning.

"I'm sure." The way she pants the words at me causes me to glitch, and then she pulls her sweater over her head.

Yep, the girl of my dreams is sitting in front of me in her bra and pants. Holy fuck, teenage Carter would be shitting his pants with excitement right now.

Alice stares at me, reaching her hand out for me. Her hair cascades off her shoulder and reaches her waist, framing her soft stomach, which is visible above the band of her pants. Every inch of her is begging to be kissed, and her beautiful tits threaten to spill out over the cups of her bra.

I'm doomed.

Alice jumps down from the counter, and her thighs jiggle a little as her feet touch the ground. She walks up to me, pressing herself into me. Wrapping my arms around her, I grab her by the ass and pull her closer so she can feel the bulge beneath the fabric of my jeans.

"Undress me." She says the words so confidently, without confusion or hesitation.

"Yes, ma'am," I reply and reach up to unhook her bra.

Dipping my head down to her shoulder and peppering kisses on her soft skin, I slowly pull the straps of her bra away, so it falls to the floor, and I swallow—probably audibly.

Her large, perky tits demand to be touched, so that's exactly what I do.

Reaching up to cup her chest in my hands, I skim each nipple with my thumb, and she hums under my touch.

Finally having her, touching her, and caressing her naked body in my hands shatters any doubt I had about having feelings for her.

I want her. Every single fucking inch of her.

The safety net of clothing has gone. I knew the second I touched her everything would change.

"Fuck, you're so beautiful, princess." My fingers trail over her delicate skin.

We're just friends.

I pull my own shirt off over my head so we’re chest to chest, and she reaches up to touch me, delicately dancing her fingertips over my skin.

Each touch lingers and I feel her everywhere.

Alice presses her palm to my chest, and I look down to where our skin touches.

Stepping back from me slightly, she drags her fingers down my torso, stopping at the zipper to my jeans, before looking at me with her big green eyes, waiting for approval to touch me.

I nod, and she undoes the button then slowly and tortuously lowers the zipper, not taking her eyes off mine.

Reaching inside my jeans, she wraps her hand around the base of my cock.

"I want you." She strokes my length slowly. "I need you." She strokes again, and I snap.

Grabbing her by the wrist, I pull Alice's hand free and drag her across the room. I slam her body into the floor-to-ceiling window and envelop her in my presence as she squeaks from the cold against her skin. I kick off my pants and hurriedly pull Alice's to the floor.

The only thing between me and a naked Alice is her fucking thong, so I rip it off.

"Carter, what the fuck?" She giggles. “They were my favourite.”

"I'll buy you some new ones," I mumble into her skin as I gently bite her neck, and she writhes as my teeth dig into her skin.

Stepping back, I drink her in, hoping that the sight of her is burnt into my memory until the day I die.

There is a reason why people have painted women who look like Alice since the dawn of time, and that's because she's art.

A fucking masterpiece. Her pretty manicured toes lead to her long legs and her long legs are the stairway to goddamn heaven.

We're just friends.

"Turn around. I want you to watch the world go by as I fuck you," I demand.

"Are you crazy?" she screeches at me, and tries to move away, but I reach out and grab her by the hips, keeping her firmly in place. "Let go of me, Carter. I swear to god." She wriggles, and I just dig my fingers into her pillowy skin further.

"Keep still and let me make you feel good," I urge, holding her in place.

"Someone might fucking see us," she hisses at me.

"Good, princess. Let them watch. You see those lights down there?"

She turns to look out of the window, and she nods, sucking in a shaky breath.

"That’s a boat on the water," I whisper into her ear, and she shivers a little. "Now, hopefully there is someone on that boat." I nip her ear lobe, and she arches her back into me, letting out an almost inaudible moan.

"You know that we can see the boat?" I ask, and she nods again. "Well, I'm sure they can see us too," I whisper lower this time. "Let me fuck you and let the world watch."

"You really are fucking crazy," she protests, but leans forward a little, rocking her bare ass against me. I look down to where our skin touches, at the dimples at the bottom of her back and remind myself to say thanks to a god I don't even believe in.

"I've been called worse. You want me to help you feel alive, princess?" I ask the question, admiring her beautiful form.

"Yes," she begs. "Oh my god, yes."

"Then let the world watch." A low growl escapes my throat. "Part your legs for me and put your hands on the window."

Immediately, she responds to my demand. I tap her back, urging her bend her forward slightly, then slowly begin to rub my cock at her entrance, holding it there until she pushes back, trying to claim me. I hold Alice in place, savouring the last seconds of our friendship.

She gasps as I reach around to pinch her clit.

"You begged me to help you feel something, princess, so I'm going to help you feel everything." I drive my hips forward, and she moans at such a low frequency I feel it vibrate through my body.

"Carter, I—"

I don't let her say another word, before pulling back and driving forward again, an animalistic noise tumbles out of her mouth as she takes all of me. The warmth of her insides coats my girth and over and over again, I push myself into her. Feeling her squeeze and tighten around my length.

We're just friends and we just fucking ruined it.