Nodding, he hugged her tightly. Whether the admission was the result of her trauma or if she truly meant the words, all he knew was the sudden sense of belonging wrapping around him in this moment.
He belonged with her. She belonged with him.
The sweetest yearning filled her voice as she whispered, “Make love to me.”
Carter shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I want to feel better, the way I feel when you hold me, when you’re inside me. It’s so right, so perfect.”
“I’ll hold you. All night long. I’m not going anywhere.” Carter wrapped her in his arms, bringing her close, closer than he’d been with any woman. He let everything drift away—his hatred of the man who attacked her, his apprehension over whether his finances would come through by tomorrow, his ideas about the future that seemed to shift before his eyes. “Go to sleep, Ellie.”
She nodded against his shoulder, resting her arm across his chest as he cradled her in bed. Eventually her breathing deepened. Her breasts rose and fell evenly against him as she succumbed to sleep.
Everything seemed so right in this moment. This was what he’d searched for since he left El Dorado. It had been waiting here for him all along.
Carter tucked a hand behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. He couldn’t make his heart of stone agree with his one-track mind anymore. Neither was cooperating with his original plans. His body was the most traitorous of all. Physically, he wanted this woman with a craving beyond logic, beyond obsession.
He needed Ellie. Plain and simple. Denial was a wasted fight.
Everything had turned out completely different from what he’d intended. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. It wasn’t supposed to feel this good, this right.
I love you, Carter .
The echo of her words twisted him up inside, wrenching in their beauty and sincerity. Despite his original pursuit somewhere along the way he’d earned her trust.
She’d given him her body, and now her heart. The most precious gift she had to offer—especially to him, considering their past and present.
And he didn’t even have to take it from her. She gave all of herself willingly, freely.
Unlike him, with his demands and ultimatums. Guilt clawed through his gut until he felt raw with anguish.
The idea of keeping her as his mistress disgusted him now, and insulted the powerful bond that they’d re-forged. Revenge hung like a faded, tattered flag, unrecognizable compared to the bright beacon it had been, symbolizing his ultimate conquest. His initial impetus was a shallow, malicious pursuit.
Carter was above that. And so was Ellie.
“Damn, sweetheart. What have you done to me?”
Moving to lie on his side, he stroked her hair, her soft tresses slipping through his fingers. His mind filled with the ramifications of pursuing a real relationship with Ellie.
She wouldn’t leave the island—that much he knew. But his life existed in the states, traveling for weeks or months at a time, researching and investigating new properties. His workload would more than double now that he’d resumed authority over all his assets again. He had hundreds of employees who counted on him. There was no way he could run a business from here, with spotty Internet access and unreliable cell phone service.
Honestly, he couldn’t see how it would work between them.
But there was something he needed to do. Right now.
He needed to give Ellie her choice and her freedom back. He reached toward his nightstand and found his phone.
He called Neville. “Hey, got a minute?” he whispered, not wanting Ellie wake up, or to know what he was about to do.
Neville said in a groggy voice, “Do you know what time it is?”
“No idea. Listen, I’ve changed my mind.”
Neville sighed wearily. “For God’s sake, what now?”
“The two-million we liquidated? I want to buy the entire collection Ellie put up for auction.”
Neville coughed. “You’re going to pay two-million dollars for some booze? Now I know you’ve lost your mind.”
Reaching out to stroke Ellie’s cheek, he said, “Love does that to you.”
“Sorry, I think I misheard. Did you actually say the word love ?”
“Don’t give me grief. Just wire the money to the account you set up for her. Tell her it was an anonymous buyer.”
“What about the Montgomery Hotel?”
Carter shrugged. “I have other things to concentrate on.”
“Now you’re finally making sense.”
Rolling his eyes Carter informed him, “I’m leaving tomorrow night for Miami. I plan to get my money back from these thugs who ruined the Pierce project. I’ll let you know my plans from there.”