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incredible. With his blood still pumping furiously, Carter shrugged on his dinner jacket and followed her out the door of their TriBeCa apartment to the elevator. Kat pressed the elevator button, glancing at him as she did.
    “Don’t even think it, Carter,” she murmured, seeing his smirk and the middle-aged couple waiting behind them. “You will not get handsy in the elevator or in the car.”
    “I can be a good boy,” he uttered with wide, innocent eyes. “I promise.”
    He bent down to her ear, noticing her pulse thrumming in her neck. “But be damned sure that I’m going to take my sweet-ass time with your body later.” He breathed against her cheek, aching to lick her. “Every time I look at you tonight, I want you to imagine what I’ll do to you when we get home, every position, fast and slow, hard and soft; I’m going to do it all, Peaches. And even when you beg me to stop, I’ll keep going. After midnight, you’re mine.”
    He chuckled when she all but stumbled into the elevator.
    Poor thing didn’t know what the hell she was in for.

    The five-million-dollar Upper East Side residence was full of life when Kat and Carter arrived. Ben’s mother, Barbara, always liked to put on a show and her New Year’s Eve Charity Ball was always a hell of a spectacle. Kat clutched Carter’s hand tightly in hers as they wandered into the chandeliered lobby, knowing that in spite of the evening’s good intentions, the sight of such extravagance and the smell of high society would have his teeth on edge. He was still very skittish around the rich, in spite of the fact that he was possibly the richest man in the building. He was modest about his wealth, mostly because he hated the root of it, and detested those who gloated about the size of their bank accounts.
    Not that Carter was frugal. Far from it. He had an impressive bike and car collection, which he’d built up since he was reinstated at WCS. He lavished Kat with gifts of jewelry and clothes, in spite of her telling him in no uncertain terms not to; he cleared Max’s debts and paid for his rehab; and insisted on footing the bill for all manner of things even when he didn’t need to, including several of his own charities he’d become involved in. He thought little of the money that allowed him to live the life many envied, and thought little of giving it away.
    His unthinking kindness and generosity were what Kat loved most about him.
    Well, that and his dirty mouth.
    It had taken all of Kat’s willpower, as well as the thought of her mother’s face if they’d been late, to stop Carter from doing what he wanted in the back of the car. He’d never before looked at her the way he had when she’d stepped out of the bathroom. It instantly set Kat alight from the inside out.
    She glanced at the gilded clock on the lobby wall. Five hours until midnight.
    “You okay?” she asked him, reaching for a glass of champagne from a passing waiter.
    Carter glanced around and shrugged, taking a drink for himself. “Sure. It’s a free bar, right?”
    Grinning, she reached up and kissed him softly, wanting nothing more than to grab his ass through his dress pants. Christ, those bad boys were tailored too damned well. “I write a check,” she said breathlessly, “and at midnight, we’re out of here.”
    He chuckled darkly and cocked an eyebrow. “There’s my naughty girl.”
    Kat led Carter through the throngs of people, stopping every so often to introduce him to friends of her family, of Ben’s family, and acquaintances of her father’s from back in his political days. Everyone was thrilled about the couple’s engagement and, as expected, Carter was totally charming, laughing and taking genuine interest in the people he met. There may have even been a business card or two shoved his way.
    Carter’s height and size and the way he carried himself—all but prowling the room, shoulders rolling seductively like that of a keen predator—could be, and was,