LOVE IN LOCKDOWN: A Charity Anthology

by Tracy Lorraine

  “No, that’s not it.”

  “So what is it? What are you saying now?”

  This is the chance for me to be up front with her. I’ve been back now for over a month and all I could think about was this anniversary so I could have this chance to see her.

  “I want you,” I tell her and her eyes snap wide.

  Her eyes widen and a little gasp escapes her lips. My spirits crumble when I see her shake her head.

  “No,” she says flat and plain.

  “I want to make it up to you, Amy.”

  “No Luke, I get that you’re used to women throwing themselves at you and being at your beck and call. God knows I’ve seen enough of them acting like your personal pets. I am not that kind of woman. I am not a toy and you will not treat me like one. You had your chance and you blew it.” Her eyes fill with tears as she says that and my damn heart squeezes.

  I don’t want to have blown my chance with her. I don’t want to accept defeat.

  Looking at her though makes me question if I actually have a choice in the matter.

  I watch her go up the stairs. She moves the wrought iron door stop away from the door, holds it open but doesn’t go through. Instead she allows the door to slip from her grasp and slam shut.

  She turns back to me and I feel like an even bigger ass when a tear runs down her cheek.

  “It’s completely beyond me how you think you can play with me the way you have,” she states balling her fists at her sides.

  “I didn’t. Amy I mean it. I really did think I was doing the right thing.”

  “It’s too late,” she says barely above a whisper taking hold of the door handle.

  She pulls but it doesn’t open.

  Another pull and nothing.

  I watch her and the door and a dark feeling fills the pit of my stomach.

  I don’t think that door opens from the inside.

  3

  Amy

  No, no, no…

  I pull on the handle harder and kick the door.

  Luke flies up the stairs and gives the door a try, yanking it hard and confirming my fear.

  We’re locked in.

  Fuck. We’re actually locked in.

  I didn’t think about the door as I moved the stopper and it closed. I didn’t even know that the fucking door only opened from the outside. We’d never really been allowed down here by ourselves before and every time it was always open .

  “We’re stuck,” Luke says and his wide shoulders slump.

  “There must be some other way out.” I look around the rows of aisles containing wine.

  We’d never been allowed down here by ourselves as children because the wine in this place is worth a fortune. But is that all there is to this room?

  I rush down the stairs and start looking down the rows to see if there’s another door.

  Luke follows me doing the same.

  By the time we get to the end of the main aisle, we are looking down where the rows split in two. We come up to a door indeed, but when I make a move to go, Luke reaches for me again, pulling me to a stop.

  “What are you doing? There’s a door.”

  “Amy, it goes down into the tunnels. We can’t go down there.”

  “What are we supposed to do, stay in here and wait?” Together. Damn it. That guy said they had enough wine so neither he nor the others would be back down here.

  And I doubt with the way Luke looked at him, practically fending him off, that he’d return out of mild curiosity over me.

  I can’t be stuck down here with Luke, and not after what he told me.

  He wants me.

  My ears and my skin are hot and I’m supposed to be standing my ground and making him see he can’t just pick me up whenever he wants like I’m one of his women.

  How dare he?

  He takes hold of my other arm and steadies me. I didn’t realize I was shaking.

  “Amy, we should stay here. No one has been in those tunnels for God knows how long. At least we’re in here together.”

  I tug away from him and march up to the door opening it.

  It’s dark as hell inside and there’s a dank smell that reminds me of wet dog and old clothes mixed together. Water drips in the distance like a tap not quite turned off.

  I look down there at the nothingness and the darkness and my heart sinks because he’s right, we can’t go inside. We can’t go down there. It would be very foolish to do so.

  I turn back to him and place my hand at my head. This is so bad. I don’t want to be stuck down here with him for God knows how long. No one would ever know what I went through last year after our little encounter.

  Heartbreak was just the beginning of the way I’d describe the feeling that swept through me when he ended something I wholeheartedly felt was real.

  It must be the put out look on my face that makes him reach for his phone.

  He tries to make a call but I can see that the signal won’t allow him to connect. I try my phone and the same thing happens. My phone just cuts straight away.

  Hope sparks in me when he pulls a little flashlight out from his back pocket attached to a keyring but as he shines it over the dark path it barely lights the way. It’s the kind of thing that would be helpful if you needed to search underneath the kitchen counter or somewhere like that. Not to light up a tunnel.

  “Amy, I know staying here with me might not be ideal but it’s safer,” he says pressing his lips together. “We shouldn’t go down the tunnels. Someone could come down any minute. People will miss us at some point and come looking.”

  A glance back to the dark tunnel path and I close the door making the old, forgotten smell of the tunnels whoosh over me as the door locks.

  He sighs and moves to go back the way we came.

  Part of me thinks of going to sit somewhere else to be away from him but that would be juvenile.

  He finds a little table by the oldest rows of wine and lowers to sit on it. He’s so tall though he makes it look like a chair.

  There’s a wooden barrel opposite it. I sit on that.

  He’s watching me as I do. All I do is look at him, then look away. It’s enough to tell him not to even think of continuing our prior conversation.

  I’ve known Luke all my life and I don’t think I’ve ever gone more than a few minutes of not talking to him if we were in the same room.

  We’ve been down here for four hours now, in silence.

  Out of the corner of my eyes I’ve seen him attempting to try and talk to me but not doing it. I’ve just been staring ahead to the stairs hoping someone would come back down here.

  It’s now ten o’clock and I’ve gone through all scenarios in my mind.

  First I thought surely Shauna would be the one to come looking for us, then it dawned on me that if she saw that both of us were missing and she was the last person to see us she’d come up with some scheme so people would leave us alone.

  Then I thought maybe Ben would find us. Those thoughts ended as soon as they entered my mind though because when Ben is with Katherine he’s so into her that he can’t see anything or anyone else. I’m sure he would have stayed around at the party just long enough for people to take notice of his presence then he’d make his exit with her and the two wouldn’t be seen again until tomorrow.

  Tomorrow.

  That’s exactly what I’m thinking of now.

  It’s come to that.

  People will make they’re assumptions on where we are and probably only freak out tomorrow when they don’t see us at breakfast.

  The thought makes my stomach clench and I slip off the barrel and lower to the ground with my back against the wall.

  I look up when Luke stands and makes his way over to me, joining me on the ground.

  He doesn’t attempt to move when our shoulders brush against each other and not when our knees touch.

  Somehow I can’t move either.

  I look at him and once again I have that feeling of not knowing what t
o say. This guy has managed to confuse me big time and the fact that I haven’t spoken to him in four hours says a lot.

  “Don’t you dare tell me to move,” he states, eyeing me cautiously. “I’ve only kept quiet because I can imagine you running off into the tunnels to avoid me and then I’ll have to go after you.”

  “Or, you could just let me go,” I point out.

  “Amy you know I wouldn’t do that. Don’t let what’s happened between us ruin what you know of me in the past. You know I would go after you no matter what.”

  Suddenly I feel bad and as much as I hate to admit it, he’s struck something inside me that knows he really would come after me.

  We look at each other and I release a ragged breath.

  “Are you seriously going to sit here all night and not talk to me?” he asks. “We haven’t seen each other in over a year and it seems like a lot has happened in that time.”

  I notice the edge to his voice as he speaks. It makes me think of why he left the army. No one told me he left. It feels like something I should have known. Ben at least would have told me.

  “How come you left the army? I didn’t know you were back for good.”

  An uneasy look comes into his eyes. “I got a really bad injury.”

  I tense and my lips part. “What kind of injury? What happened?”

  “My men and I were captured in enemy territory and I was shot a few times. The bullet that hit my leg damaged it.”

  What is he saying to me?

  The air leaves my lungs and I straighten up, my heart starts racing, slamming in my chest.

  “What? No one told me about you being hurt.”

  “I asked them not to. I wanted to tell you myself.”

  “When did this happen?”

  “Six months ago. I was in rehab for four months. The way I walk now you can barely tell something happened to my leg, but there is permanent damage. Could be worse. I was one of two people who made it out alive so I have my life to be grateful for, even though they medically discharged me.”

  I can’t believe what I’m hearing. He went through all this while I was in Paris.

  “Oh my God Luke, I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay… like I said, I’m alive.”

  “I feel awful. I didn’t know. Why would you ask people not to say anything to me?”

  “Because…thinking of you kept me alive and, I didn’t want what I did to ruin it. I didn’t want to think of you hating me or not caring that …”

  My eyes water and my heart shrinks away. “You nearly died. You think I wouldn’t care if you died Luke?”

  He shakes his head. “Amy, I don’t think that or believe it, but I didn’t want to think about that. I know I hurt you.”

  I look away from him then back to meet his eyes. He said thinking of me kept him alive, that’s not something to take lightly.

  “You knew how I felt about you. You must have known for years. Why would you hurt me after spending a night like that with me? A night I waited my whole life for.” I’m talking too much, giving away too much emotion, but it’s my heart taking over now.

  He holds my gaze. “Because I thought you could do better.”

  I stare at him in disbelief and blink several times because I’m not sure I heard him right.

  “What? What do you mean?”

  “Amy, you said so yourself, you aren’t one of my women. The fact that you can even say that says a lot about me and what you know about me. I didn’t want to have this relationship with you that I’ve wanted and then hurt you. The fear of that made me freak out and I just thought it was best if you did better. I never realized in the process that I ended up hurting you anyway.”

  This is very different to what I believed.

  “Luke…” I sigh and he reaches out to cup my face.

  “While I was captured you were the first person I thought of. I realized I didn’t want you to do better. I want to be that guy, but I think… I’m too late.” He looks away from me. “There’s some damage that can’t be fixed. You’re right I’ve acted like I’m calling the shots. So I get it. What I don’t want is for you to hate me.”

  I shake my head at him and he returns his gaze to me. “I don’t hate you,” I say.

  He runs a finger along my jaw and my nerves scatter. “Don’t you?”

  “No,” I breathe, feeling my control slip.

  Hearing his excuse doesn’t make what I went through right. I honestly don’t think I’ll ever forget it.

  Hearing it though, allows me to understand and I wish he would have let me make up my own mind, instead of deciding for me.

  Now that I’m at that place again in my heart, I know it has always been the thing to get me in trouble. Being this close to Luke with him looking at me and touching me the way that he is, is dangerous if I want to maintain some control.

  When he leans in I don’t move away. My body betrays me succumbing to the need and desire I’ve always had for him. When his lips brush over mine it’s like the last year never happened. It’s like I can’t remember that horrible morning when I woke up to find him standing by the window of the hotel room with that look on his face that told me he was about to ruin the perfect night we had.

  His lips press to mine and the need for him makes me want him too.

  4

  Amy

  Luke runs his fingers through my hair bringing me closer to his lips to deepen the kiss. That’s when the heat of his lips on mine sings through my veins. Emotion washes over me in waves of scandalous pleasure that only increases. But then he pulls away and gets up.

  “What? Why did you stop?” I ask, barely able to get the words out.

  He runs a hand over his beard and his silver eyes darken to a molten steel.

  “I don’t want you to think sex is all I want. I just…” His voice trails off when I reach up to cup his chin.

  Without my heels I always feel like a dwarf when I stand next to him and reach up like this.

  “What if I wanted you to take me?”

  “I… can’t say no to you,” he says barely above a whisper.

  “Then don’t, not again.”

  With that he reaches for me and reclaims my lips. In seconds the kiss turns hungry, then greedy. Needy.

  It speaks of the passion that flows through us. It’s the kind that leaves nothing open for question.

  When he reaches for the hem of my top I lift my arms allowing him to slide it up and over my head leaving me in my flesh colored bra and the little wrap over skirt that floats over my thighs as he kisses me.

  I start to tug on his clothes too and in seconds I have his shirt off unveiling the masterpiece body he has. I had the best time ever last time exploring the tattoos that line his abs.

  The eagle on his right pec and the dragon on his left followed by the line of Arabic writing that oozes sexiness.

  But then my heart squeezes when I catch sight of the scar a bullet would have left on his right hip. Instinctively I reach out to touch it and run my finger along the slightly raised skin.

  “I’m okay,” he says cupping my face.

  I don’t want to even think about what would happen if those bullets were higher. I could have lost him and I would have been in Paris caught up in my angst.

  We kiss again and this time I know there’s no more room for slowness or exploration.

  The need for each other makes the possession more, so much more.

  He practically rips my bra off me and my skirt. I step out of my panties as he

  undoes his belt buckle and frees his massive cock from the prison of his jeans.

  He reaches in his back pocket for a condom and I watch in delight as he rips the wrapper open and sheaths his length with it.

  Once it’s on he turns me to face the wall and I press my hands into the concrete, looking over my shoulder to watch what I can of him. He grabs my hips and lines the fat head of his cock up over the slick opening of my pussy.

  He rubs over the lips and
presses in.

  A gasp falls from my lips and I turn to face the wall dipping my head so that my hair falls forward over my face when he plunges into me. Oh my God, that feels amazing.

  He starts pumping and speeds up filling me so my walls stretch to take his length and width. Mindless moans of ecstasy fall from my lips and he groans too as he starts pumping harder and faster.

  His pumps turn into fucking and fire races over my skin, burning me up from the inside out.

  I’m so glad we’re in the wine cellar and thank God no one came down here to get us. I pray now that if anyone has that they’ll stay outside until we’re done.

  He starts jackhammering and my breasts bounce painfully against my chest.

  His balls slap over my mound and his cock pulses inside me, signaling he’s near his end. The thought takes me there, straight to the place where the tension has been brewing and coiling inside my body.

  On the edge of a breath a greedy orgasm takes me and I cry out. He starts fucking me harder and his ruthless cock sears me from the inside, branding me, as he makes me his.

  One more pump and he thunders into me taking me over the edge. In that moment I know I never want to go back to where I was before. What I want is to be with him too.

  5

  Luke

  We’re on round four…

  I don’t think I could be happier for being stuck anywhere.

  I’m taking this round slow because all the other times were so fast.

  I’m out of condoms and this time we’re going in skin to skin.

  I can’t wait to be inside her feeling her pussy walls wrap around my dick.

  Fuck, I’ve gone crazy.

  Jesus Christ I can’t get enough of this woman and it’s like the more she gives me the more I want.

  We’ve moved from that aisle we were down to much further into the cellar so we can get a heads up in case we do get rescued.

  Where we were before was way too risky. It was just by the stairs and anyone pushing that door open would have gotten a very scandalous view of me and Amy pinned against the wall as I fucked her over and over again.