by Zante, Lily
“I’m tired,” she said, fumbling around with the embroidered beads around her neckline, distracting herself from the harsh reality that his words had subjected her to. He had reminded her once more that what they had wasn’t normal, and that she still played along with this lewd arrangement, even when, most days, it was no longer enough.
He planted a wet kiss along her nape, nibbling her delicate skin between his lips, making her shiver.
“You want this, don’t you?” he whispered, mistaking her reaction for arousal. Now it’s my turn to pay you back.” He moved her hair to one side then kissed her neck with a gentleness that was rare. There was nothing fast, and urgent now. He was taking his time, drawing tiny, wet kisses along her neckline while his fingers stroked her jaw.
She should have been happy. He’d let her take care of him, a daring a move as any she had ever made, and now he was asking her to stay. He was a master at raising her hopes then shooting them down. And now she was caught between giving in, and giving him up; a thought flashing through her mind of the rollercoaster ride she was on with this man.
“But what about your rules?” she questioned, finding the courage because he had a chink in his armor and she had nothing to lose.
“Screw the rules.”
“Why now?” she asked, as he unzipped her, then slipped the dress off her shoulders so that it pooled around her ankles.
“It’s been a trying day for me,” he said, stroking her shoulders gently. With her dress off, his manhood jabbed her in the back. He pressed in harder, teasing her, letting her know.
She was expecting too much, if she hoped that Luke Hunter was falling in love with her, but this gentle way he had, right in this moment, of touching her and talking to her and pleading with her to stay, made her think there would be better times ahead.
This man made her happy when he was happy, and he made her miserable when he was not, and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it.
“And you make things better,” he moaned, his hot breath warming her neck.
“Better?” she asked, sounding hopeful, giving in and sinking back into him. He was familiar now, each cell in her body recognizing everything about him, from the scent of his aftershave, to the feel of his arousal against her. His fingers on her and inside her, like his mouth all over her body—every part of him had already imprinted onto her.
She liked that he wasn’t rushing things, liked the way his hands circled around her hips and waist, slowly moving lower. Liked the way his lips made slow, sensual love to her neck and shoulders.
“Why didn’t you tell me you had a brother?” she asked, suddenly remembering. He lifted his mouth from her shoulder, his hands stilling around her hips but he remained silent.
“Because it wasn’t important.”
This was going to take digging. “Why don’t you both get on?”
“Because we don’t.”
“But you do with Amanda.”
“Yes.”
He wasn’t giving her much. “What about—”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said, unclasping her bra, then peeling down her panties. She heard the soft shuffle of him undressing quickly behind her before his arms came down around her and he pressed his naked body against her. She sighed, throwing back her head as she sank back against his chest. He pushed her back to standing, then quickly made his way down her body, still behind her before falling to his knees and pleasuring her with his fingers and mouth. She barely managed to keep standing, her knees threatening to buckle beneath her. She had barely managed to catch her breath when he pushed her onto the bed on all fours and thrust inside her.
And just as fast, he pulled out. “Condom,” he muttered, leaving her feeling cold, and exposed while he moved off the bed.
Her heart raced, and blood surged through her veins. In her fully aroused state she was about to tell him that the condom didn’t matter. That she might be pregnant. But before she could say anything, his cock slammed into her, and she cried out in ecstasy, and gratitude, and relief.
Her insides were like a raging forest fire as he owned her, pounding into her relentlessly, the let-up never coming. She could feel the tight pressure building in her belly, heat radiating outwards from her core, tipping her almost over, over, over, and just as she was on the precipice, he pulled out and turned her over onto her back. He thrust into her again, staring at her with an intensity he had never shown before. There was no ending of her body and his. They were one, and that was all that mattered. She needed him the way a fish needed water; without him she ceased to be. She was just an empty vessel, going about her day, but in his arms, she came alive.
She brought her knees up, opening up, letting him sink balls-deep inside her, making her moan in ecstasy. They came together, a tangled mess of heat and sweat, of hearts beating furiously.
Later, as they lay in bed, on their sides, his chest against her back, and holding her, she felt special. For one foolish night, she pretended that this was where she belonged.
Chapter 25
She could give a man a hard-on in a stiff breeze.
Kay’s back was turned to him when he opened the door, and a puff of steam rose past him. She spun around. Rivulets of water trickling down her hair and shoulders. “I didn’t want to wake you. I hope you don’t mind me using the shower—”
Seriously? “Why would I mind you using the shower?” He pressed his lips together, contemplating her words. “Am I that much of a monster?”
“I wasn’t sure, that’s all.”
“Do you mind?” she said, covering herself with her hands as best as she could.
“I’ve seen everything, no point in hiding it.”
“You have, haven’t you?” she replied, letting her hands slip to her sides so that he could see everything. Yes, she could definitely give a man a hard-on in a stiff breeze. He’d made love to her last night. It hadn’t only been pure animal rutting; he’d experienced something deeper, more fulfilling. And waking up with her had been just about the best thing. It sure beat waking up alone.
He rubbed the back of his neck, contemplating the turn of events. The whole goddamn tsunami of events that had happened this weekend. If he didn’t watch himself, he was going to get hurt. He had become so adept at placing women and relationships on the periphery of his daily life, far removed from his life goals and dreams, that Kay’s effect on him, her ability to make him sit up and take notice, was troubling.
For her, he had a craving the likes of which he hadn’t known in years. This weekend he’d allowed himself the indulgence of enjoying her without thinking too much.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked.
“I don’t remember us sleeping much.”
He couldn’t help but smile at that. “No.” He had slept well, though. Maybe it was something to do with her being there, next to him. Her body warm, and soft, and comforting.
“You’re beautiful,” he murmured, his compliment slipping out unchecked, because she was, and because he felt something for her. He looked at her, staring right into her eyes. It had been another lifetime ago that he’d felt this close to someone. Sex had served a need, but this woman filled something deeper than that. It unsettled him, as much as it anchored him.
“Do you mind!” she cried, half-laughing as she tried to cover her breasts, ignoring his compliment. If she was as shocked by his compliment, as he had been to say it, she hid it well. He didn’t say these things to women. He had learned to keep his thoughts to himself, just like he had learned to push the good ones away.
“No, and neither should you,” he said, staring right into her eyes. “You are beautiful, inside and out. I guess I’m lucky I met you.”
It was an awkward moment, one in which he had dared to be bare and transparent with her. She looked as if she didn’t know how to respond, and so she turned to the side, lifting her hands to her hair as the water ran down it.
“I’m making coffee.” This was another first for him in a lon
g time, having someone stay the night. After yesterday, seeing the family after so many years, having Kay over had been his salvation. “Did you want some?”
“You’re asking me to stay for breakfast?” Her mocking tone was hard to miss, even over the sound of the shower running.
“Not breakfast, just coffee,” he replied, jokingly.
“I thought so.”
“I’m kidding. What will you have for breakfast?”
That simple question seemed to have stumped her. “Just coffee.”
“Or we could go out and get something?” he suggested. His goddamn neck was still sore, and he’d have to pop a couple of pills, but still, having her around for breakfast was better than having breakfast alone.
“I have to go to work.”
He blinked, slowly, trying to decipher if this was her way of backing off. “It’s Saturday.”
“I know, but I have to go in. There’ll be lots for me to catch up on.”
“Just because you took one day off?”
“What can I say?” she said, throwing her hands up, directing his attention to those beautiful ample breasts. She turned the faucet off, and he handed her a towel.
“That’s too bad.” Too bad. He didn’t want her to go so soon, and it got him thinking if she really was just looking for an excuse to leave. He worked every day and there were things for him to look over daily, but they could wait.
He remembered that he’d bought her something. A second gift. After she’d given him cufflinks for Christmas, he’d felt foolish for not having anything to give her in return. He’d gone back to that lingerie store and picked up some sexy lingerie for her. Then, thinking that it was tacky and might send the wrong message—he didn’t want her to think that she was merely a plaything to him—he’d bought her a bracelet later as well. He’d noticed that she wasn’t a necklace or earrings girl and that she wore a watch and usually something thin and elegant around her wrists. So he had bought her a pretty diamond and platinum bracelet.
It was back in the office. If it was here, he could have given it to her. It would have been the perfect time to give it to her now. She knew more about him than anyone. The stuff about his mother? He’d never told Xavier, or the sports masseuse or any of the others. Nobody knew about that shit, not even Marie. His past was locked away in a cold and dark corner of his heart, but Kay had somehow managed to unlock it.
“I’ll put the coffee on,” he said. “Take as long as you want.”
~ ~
The aroma of fresh coffee filled the air.
“That smells good,” she said, walking into the kitchen later, still wearing the dress she had worn to the wedding yesterday. She didn’t like wearing yesterday’s clothes and underwear, but not in her craziest fantasies had she ever imagined she would be spending the night at Luke’s place.
She hopped onto a stool next to him, at the breakfast bar.
“Are you sure you don’t want to eat anything? We had a crazy night last night.”
Her stomach fluttered at his words. It wasn’t like him to talk about these things. Usually what they did was cut and dried; they met, had sex, and it was done with.
It filled her with a sense of joy, him saying what he had. “We did, didn’t we?” she agreed.
“I liked that you stayed the night.”
She had to school herself not to grin outright at that. Memories of him making her come all night danced inside her giddy brain. This was unexpected. Not just last night and staying over, but this morning, now. She’d half-expected the magic dust to have disintegrated, and that he would have been eager for her to leave, that she would be walking out in last night’s clothes with last night’s mascara running down her dirty face, but everything about him this morning indicated otherwise.
She hadn’t expected this.
“I liked that you asked me to,” she replied. His barriers had slipped so far down and he seemed to be saying what was on his tongue. It was eye-opening.
She wondered if this was what people like Tobias and Savannah experienced, this heady feeling of wanting to grin all the just because every cell in her body tingled with happiness. A happiness that came from being near him, doing nothing more than sitting here and drinking coffee.
“How’s your throat?” she asked, her gaze dropping to his jaw. “Is it your throat? Or your neck?”
“I’m not sure. It hurts to swallow.”
Poor man. She almost lifted her hand to his face to cup it. It had been easy enough to do last night, but she wasn’t so sure this morning how to be around him. “I didn’t know you weren’t feeling too good.”
“I’ve had this pain for a couple of weeks. I think I need to go back and get it properly seen to.”
“Don’t leave it any longer” she cautioned.
“It’ll be fine,” he said, dismissing her concern. “I might have forced myself to stay for the party if I was feeling 100%.”
“You left because you weren’t feeling well?” She didn’t quite believe him.
“I’d been popping pills all morning.”
“In secret.”
He shrugged.
“You should call your sister and explain. She seems nice.”
“She is.”
“And your brother?” she asked, tentatively broaching that sore subject.
“Let’s have a good morning, and not talk about him.”
“Okay,” she said slowly, reluctantly abandoning the list of questions she had about him. “You should try and make it up to Amanda, somehow.”
“Take her out to dinner, you mean.”
“You don’t do dinner.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Can we let that go?”
“Are you breaking all your rules for me?”
He looked away. It wasn’t the reaction she had expected.
“Forget I said that,” she added, hastily, not wanting to push things.
“It’s forgotten.” He tapped his fingers on the table. “Maybe we could all go out as couples for dinner?”
She tried not to show her total surprise. “Amanda and her new husband, and you and me?”
“Didn’t realize you had to spell it out quite like that, but yes.”
“It feels as if I’m looking at a new you. It’s like your brain got partly rewired after the wedding.”
He was so full of surprises this morning, so nice, and loving, and caring. She much preferred this nice version of Luke, and now she found herself holding her plans in check. She had considered ditching him after the wedding because she couldn’t do this any longer, but she had seen that he could be different. That once she had probed deep enough, once he’d let her in, she had discovered his frailty, his softness, his decency. She understood that he sought comfort in his sexual interactions, but the way he was talking to her now made her feel less like a sex object and more like a girlfriend. It made what they had seem more like a relationship than a hookup.
He turned sideways on the stool, so that his entire body was facing her, reminding her of what it had been like to lie snuggled up against him last night. “The rewiring was nothing to do with the wedding,” he said.
“No?” She took another sip of her coffee, trying to suppress the hope rising within her.
“Seems like fucking you in every conceivable position did that.”
Her smile dropped as fast as her hopes had risen. He might as well have ripped her heart out.
“It’s your fault,” he continued, not noticing her silence, “you being so goddamn sexy. It’s hard for a man like me to keep his hands off you.”
She was speechless, and it was suddenly hard to breathe. His words had sucked the air right out of her lungs. “That’s what they all say,” she replied, finally, as her in-built survival tactics kicked in. “It’s a miracle I can walk straight this morning.”
“You weren’t complaining last night,” he replied, flashing her an I-can-make-you-come-all-night smile. Her heart had already plummeted to her ankles by the time she’d drained
her coffee cup. “It was pure, filthy, dirty sex, and you know how much I love that,” she said, returning his wide, full smile, even though she was dying inside.
“We must do it again sometime,” he told her, the light in his eyes suddenly dimming as she stood up. His brows lifted, as if he didn’t quite understand something.
“I’ll see when I can next pencil you in,” she said, looking around for her handbag.
“You’re leaving?”
She couldn’t get out fast enough.
Chapter 26
“You look pale,” said Marie, sitting across the desk from him.
“Been a tiring weekend.” It could have been a lazy weekend. At least, a lazy Sunday, had Kay not rushed to leave so quickly yesterday. Maybe he shouldn’t have been as direct about the sex and about how she made him feel. He wouldn’t have, had she not reminded him that he was starting to break his rules for her.
“You shouldn’t have driven there and back,” Marie suggested, giving him a disapproving nod. She hadn’t been happy when he had told her that they had left soon after the wedding. “Not staying for your sister’s wedding reception. That’s unheard of.”
“I saw the wedding,” he maintained, trying to keep his cool.
“And would it have killed you to stay for the reception?” she asked, fueling his simmering anger. He’d been annoyed with himself before he’d come into work this morning. Sunday could have been so much better if it had worked out, if he’d managed, for once, not to lose his shit over things.
Coming to work and dealing with a pissed off Marie made things even more shitty. “Can you drop it, please?”
“Family relationships are hard,” she held a finger up, mom-style, making him snap his mouth closed. “It was your sister’s wedding, Luke. Her wedding. Would it have killed you to sit down for a couple of hours?”
He swallowed. Marie didn’t know what she was talking about, and he was beginning to lose his patience.
“Quit going on about it, Marie. You’re as bad as Kay.”