He took a deep breath, his chest expanding against her shoulders, then let it out slowly. “Okay,” he said, lowering his hand. “Open your eyes.”
Lucie gasped softly before covering her mouth with her fingers and whispering, “Oh, my God.”
Whether it was a good “Oh, my God” or a bad one, he couldn’t yet tell. He hoped like hell it was the former.
Though he knew every stroke by heart, he studied the drawing and tried to view it through her eyes. Charcoal lines and curves depicted her on a chaise in the throes of passion, her back arched, her head turned to the side with hair spilling over the edge of the cushion. Her right leg hung off the couch, the ball of her foot planted on the floor for leverage. The other bent sharply at the knee, her toes pointed and raised several inches. Stretching down her body, her right hand disappeared between tight thighs, while her left hand reached across and caged her right breast, the turgid nipple peeking out between spread fingers.
His favorite part was her face.
Thick bangs partially covered her brow and the way it always furrowed when she experienced a burst of pleasure. With eyes closed, her eyelashes laid elegantly above slightly flushed cheeks in their wispy spikes. Her mouth was full, her kiss-swollen lips barely parted as though a gasp had just broken their seal. And the heart-shaped freckle sat at the corner of her eye. A tiny detail most people might not notice if it was missing, but to him it was the difference between it being any other woman and being Lucie.
He came back to himself when she took slow steps toward the canvas as though mesmerized. As she continued to take in the picture like she would at an art museum, he stood at the light’s edge with his hands in the pockets of his jeans and did the same with her.
Tonight she’d donned a pretty, bright pink sundress with spaghetti straps. The bodice fit her like a glove, nipping in at her small waist and draping over the small flare of her hips with the flowy hem dancing at midthigh with every move she made.
“Reid, I…” She trailed off, and he feared the worst.
“What do you think? It’s okay; you can tell me the truth.”
She looked over her shoulder with tears in her eyes.
“It’s magnificent. You’re remarkably talented,” she said, turning her attention back to the drawing. “You made me…” She took a deep breath and released it on a shaky exhale. “…beautiful.”
His steps echoed in the sparse room as he crossed the few feet to turn her and hold her in his arms. One hand framed her face and wiped away a single tear that trickled over her cheek. “That’s where you’re dead wrong, sweetheart. It took me several tries before I came even close to capturing your beauty.”
She smiled wanly. “You’re sweet to say so, but in a million years I could never look like that.”
Lightning flashed through the room with a clap of thunder, and rain began striking a discordant song on the window behind him. The storm seemed to be escalating along with his frustration.
Reid wanted to choke every person who’d ever made this woman feel less than the incredible creature she was. Not only was she every bit as gorgeous as she was in his drawing, but everything about her—humor, awkwardness, klutziness, compassion, dedication—all of it, made her far superior to any woman he’d known.
He was about to tell her exactly that when she added, “I mean, come on. If I looked like that, I’d have Stephen wrapped around my little finger.”
…
Temporary insanity. That was the only thing she could think of as to why she would say something so incredibly insensitive to Reid.
It didn’t matter that half of their situation was her mission to end up with another man, and that he had no emotional stakes in their anomalous relationship. Reid had given her a special part of himself by creating this amazing work of art for her—of her—and she’d just slapped him in the face by bringing Stephen into their night by mentioning his name.
She saw the tempest of his anger roll across his eyes, the muscles in his jaw flexing several times as though trying to prevent himself from unleashing his thoughts that were no doubt things that would make her cringe, and yet nothing she wouldn’t deserve.
“Reid, I’m so sorry, I—”
He didn’t wait for the rest, but spun on his heel and slammed through the door into the storm outside. She chased after him, stopping just outside the studio to see him eating up the pavement toward the street, his suit shirt already half-soaked.
“Reid, wait, come back!”
He came to an abrupt halt, but didn’t turn around. With hands fisted at his sides and his wide shoulders heaving, he looked feral and dangerous, and God help her, sexy. Shivers ran down her spine and goose bumps raised over the flesh of her arms, but it wasn’t from the cool rain pelting her skin and drenching her hair. Even seething angry the man affected her on the basest of levels, and it both thrilled and frustrated her.
When he turned and stalked toward her with a menacing gleam in his eye, Lucie wondered if she shouldn’t have let him walk it off and apologize later as he backed her up to the brick wall. She knew she should apologize again, should say something, anything, but words failed her as she stared up at a side of Reid she’d never seen. His demeanor was positively animalistic, and it sure as hell wasn’t of the cute and cuddly kind.
“What is it about that asshole that has you so twisted up?” he shouted. “I’m serious, please tell me, because lately I’ve been trying to figure it out and I fucking can’t!”
Twisted up? If she was twisted up over anyone it was Reid. This was supposed to be a casual arrangement, nothing more than lessons on how to be the kind of woman who attracted a certain orthopedic surgeon so they could live happily ever after in her companionable relationship based on mutual interests and professional respect.
As it was now, she wasn’t sure what she wanted anymore. Actually that was a lie. Her brain told her she wanted Stephen. But her body—and Lucie feared even her heart—was screaming for Reid.
She shook her head, sections of her hair slapping against her cheeks. Hot tears spilled over her cheeks and she prayed they blended in with the raindrops so she didn’t look as pathetic as she felt. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
The peak of his faux-hawk arrowed slightly over his forehead, heavy with the water streaming from its tip. His shirt, a pale gray with silver pin stripes he’d left open at the collar and cuffs rolled up over his muscled forearms, was now soaked through and plastered to his body.
He braced his hands on the wall by her head and leaned into her personal space a little more. He imprisoned her gaze with a stare so intense she was helpless to look away, and when he spoke, his words were razor-sharp. “Are you thinking of him when I’m inside you, Luce? Do you wish it was his cock buried inside of you instead of mine?”
She’d hurt him. More specifically, the softer side of him. The side that made him a thoughtful friend and considerate lover. The side that touched her body as though his fingers worshipped every curve, then transferred that reverence to canvas.
So now his fighter half was taking over, fortifying his defenses with harsh and crass questions in an effort to disguise his wounds. But though it might be the fighter’s words pouring from his mouth, it was the artist’s feelings behind them. For the first time, she truly understood the duality of his nature.
Lucie shoved all thoughts of what she needed aside and focused on what it was he needed. Confidence settled over her as she framed his face with her hands, the short stubble of his beard tickling her palms.
“Never.” Surprise flickered in his eyes before his mask slipped back into place. “The moment you touch me, I lose myself to you, Reid.” Stretching up on her toes she placed a kiss on lips. “Every. Single. Time.”
Thunder boomed overhead as a strobe of lightning cast his animalistic features in a pattern of shadows and highlights revealing his intent. She only had a moment to prepare and then his mouth descended quicker than a viper strike and just as deadly.
She moaned and opened to him, reveling in the hot swirls of his tongue as his hands palmed her ass and pulled her in hard against his rigid cock straining behind his zipper. Arching into him she tried to obliterate every air molecule that separated them, needing as much contact with him as possible for fear she’d die without it.
He slipped a hand between them, moved her panties aside, and thrust two fingers deep inside. She broke their kiss, unable to stop herself from crying out to the storm above as the sudden intrusion rocked her to her core.
“Goddamn it, Luce,” he said gruffly. “I love that you’re always so wet for me. I’ve never felt anything so tight and hot. I want to live inside of you and never leave.”
Speech was impossible, so she made do with a pleading whimper and a roll of her hips to try and get him to move. It worked, but not how she’d meant it to. Instead of fingering her like she thought he’d planned, he pulled completely out and left her empty.
“Reid, please…”
“Don’t worry, baby, it’s only for a second.” She watched as he ripped the fly of his jeans open and pushed them down enough to release his erection. Long and thick, ridged with veins and capped with the smooth, round head, she had a sudden desire to drop to her knees and take him in her mouth, but he didn’t give her the chance.
Digging his fingers into the flesh of her cheeks, he hoisted her up, deftly moved her underwear aside, and drove himself in to the hilt. Lucie buried her face in his neck and clamped down on her bottom lip as darts of pleasure shot through her center. Immediately he retreated and thrust forward, setting a feverish pace that felt necessary for their survival.
The mineral scents of wet stone mixed with the floral scent of her drenched hair and the spicy cologne on Reid’s shirt. The sounds of rumbling clouds and rain pelting the world around them wrapped them in an elemental cocoon and almost made her believe they were the only two people on earth.
His mouth ravaged her lips, her jawline, her throat, her shoulder. The tips of his fingers gripped at the edges of where he penetrated her, his large hands spreading her apart to allow him as deep as he could go.
She dug her nails into his nape, mimicking the bite of the bricks at her back. Rain streamed down their faces, yet they didn’t blink as they stared into each other’s eyes, connecting their souls as he connected their bodies. In a million years she could never think of another man when she was with Reid. She wasn’t capable of thinking at all when she was in his arms.
Everything melted away except this moment, this man who had the power to consume her until nothing mattered but the way he filled her, stretched her…completed her.
All too fast she felt her climax bearing down on her. She didn’t want this to end. She wanted it to go on forever. Clenching her teeth she tried to hold it back, but it kept building and building.
“Let it go, baby. I want to feel you squeezing my cock. Come for me,” he growled.
In another half a dozen strokes his teeth clamped down where her neck met her shoulder and she lost her last thread of control. They came together in a cataclysmic explosion. He roared like the feral beast he’d become in the dark alley as he spilled his hot seed into her clenching sex.
Lucie shattered into a million pieces, dancing in the thunderous clouds above for a time before falling with the rain back to earth…back to Reid.
When they’d caught their breath, he gently lowered her to the ground, keeping his arms around her until he was sure her legs would hold. He cupped her cheek, kissed her lips, and said, “Let’s go home and get you out of the rain, hmm?”
She gave him a small smile and nodded. “What about the drawing? It’ll get ruined in the rain.”
“We can leave it here and pick it up another day. Come on. I’ll get you into a hot shower and then into bed.”
She arched a saucy eyebrow in his direction. “You didn’t get enough just now?”
Grinning he said, “I don’t think I could ever get enough of you, Lucie, but no, that’s not what I meant. I want to take you back, take care of you, and tuck you into your warm bed so I can hold you until the sun comes up.”
“Oh.” A sarcastic retort. A perverted line. An unsavory joke. Any of those things would’ve been the response she expected from him. But never something that made her insides turn to complete mush.
He locked the studio, kissed the top of her head, and tucked her into his side as they made their way back to the car.
Was it possible to physically feel the moment you lost your heart to someone? Because Lucie was fairly sure she’d just lost hers, and the spot where it should have been literally hurt.
Chapter Fifteen
“Thanks, Fritz. Run me a tab will ya?”
The man winked in response before attending the next bar patron as Lucie grabbed the large glasses of beer and carried them to the booth in the back corner of the room. Vanessa was on her cell, arguing with someone as usual.
“Absolutely not. I don’t care what they’re offering, we’re not settling. Look, I’m entering a very important meeting right now so I’ll call you tomorrow. Uh-huh, buh-bye.” Tossing her wild curls over a shoulder she dropped her phone unceremoniously into her purse with a dramatic exhale of relief as they performed their habitual clinking of drinks and toast to their health. “So what’s up? You haven’t called an EDM since you were freaked out about finals senior year.”
True. Usually Vanessa was the one calling for an Emergency Drinks Meeting due to her latest drama, whether personal or professional. She had a flair for melodrama, which made her amazing to watch in a courtroom, but it also meant she was either riding the highs life had to offer or drowning in the inevitable lows. Lucie had always been the even-keeled one. Yet another way they balanced each other out.
Lucie took another drink to bolster her courage and then voiced her problem aloud for the first time since it had wormed its way into her head. “I think I’m falling for Reid.”
Her friend let out an obnoxious whoop like she’d just won a few hundred bucks on a scratch-off she expected to be worth nothing. “I thought you said something was wrong, but this is awesome! Congratulations, honey, he is one fine male specimen. Mm-mm-mm. What’s he like in bed? I bet he’s fantastic, right? Damn! I want every last detail, including length, girth, and if it hooks to the side.”
“For the love of God, will you please lower your voice?” Lucie hissed. “I am not giving you any details of his anatomy.”
Cue gigantic, pleading kitty-cat eyes. “Don’t make me beg, Lucie. The men in this town aren’t even worth the effort to tear the foil wrapper off a condom, much less talk about the disappointment afterward. You have to tell me what it’s like to ride a stallion like him.”
Lucie clapped a hand over her nose and mouth until she’d successfully swallowed her beer without choking on it. “What makes you even think we had sex?”
“Now you’re insulting my intelligence.”
She snorted. “More like your freaky sixth sense.”
Vanessa shrugged. “Tomato, tomahto. C’mon, give me something.”
Glancing around to make sure no one was eavesdropping she said, “Yeah, okay. We’ve…”
“Screwed like rabbits?”
“Been intimate,” Lucie said with a quelling look. “And it was…”
“Phenomenal, out of this world, good enough to make you instantly bend over and grab your ankles every time he looks at you?”
Lucie stared with mouth open and eyes wide. “That was a little over the top, even for you, Nessie.”
“Sorry, I got carried away. Continue.”
“It was wonderful.”
Vanessa screwed up her face like she’d just swallowed stale beer. “Wonderful? You can’t come up with a better adjective than wonderful?”
Lucie gazed at the ceiling in thought for a moment, then back at the crestfallen woman across from her. “Nope. It really was wonderful, in the true sense of the word.”
“Okay, fine, I get it. I need to wait till
you’re drunk before I’ll get any of the good stuff out of you.” Lucie laughed and thanked Fritz’s daughter when she brought their next round just as they were finishing the others. “So why is it a bad thing you’re falling for Reid? I must be missing something because I don’t see any evidence to support that theory.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I’ve only hung out with the guy a couple of times, but we both know I’m an excellent judge of character. The guy is full of win.” Holding up her left hand she started ticking off character traits on her fingers. “Insanely attractive, funny, charming, rich, insanely attractive, successful, friends with your brother, and he obviously carries a torch for you. Did I mention insanely attractive?”
“No, I don’t think so,” she said wryly. “And what’s with the torch thing? It sounds like something my grandmother would’ve said.”
Vanessa rolled her eyes. “First I’m too lewd for you, now I’m too prim. Fine, the guy obviously has a hard-on for you. Is that better?”
“Yeah, that’s perfect. Just what I want is a guy who likes me for a little easy side action.”
“That’s not what I meant,” she said, her green eyes softening. “I see how he looks at you. He’s totally into you. Like, really into you. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he—”
Lucie held her hand up. “Don’t. Don’t say it because he doesn’t. It’s not like that for him.”
“How do you know?”
Leaning back against the high back of the booth she met her friend’s determined stare. “Come on, Nessie, you’re not my mother. You don’t need to soothe my ego. Men like Reid Andrews don’t fall for girls like me.”
“Why is it so hard for you to believe you’re worthy of a good man’s love? You’re the most beautiful person I know, inside and out. He’d be a fool not to fall for you.”
Lucie lifted her glass and took several large swallows. Could Vanessa be right? Could Reid really have feelings for her? She thought back over the last few weeks, her mind cataloging things into columns. Things a friend would do versus things a lover would do. The lover column was filling up fast with the friend column sitting pathetically low. Butterflies took flight deep in her belly as she looked up to see a smug grin on Nessie’s face.
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