“Are you kidding? I came all this way, go out on a limb to reach out to my connections to help you and now, just because I left you alone for a few minutes, you’re going full dick on me.”
“I swear to God, Harper, if you call me that one more time....”
“What? Dick? Stop acting like one and I’ll stop saying it.”
That was it. Before he even knew what he was doing, he twisted around and his palms shot out, slamming into the wall and caging Harper, leaving her precious little space between the wall and his body. “I think it’s time for you to learn that I don’t give idle threats.”
“And I think it’s time for you to learn what happened to the last guy who tried to put his hands on me.” She stared into his eyes, not one ounce of fear showing.
He shook his head. “Don’t even fucking do that. Don’t compare me to some son of a bitch like that. You know I’m different.”
She let out a laugh. “Oh really? And what exactly makes you so different?”
“The difference is you want me to.”
Her mouth fell open, and for once she appeared speechless. “Are you crazy? I don’t want you. How can I make myself more clear?”
Lucas bent down, running the tip of his nose along her neck, and took in a deep breath of her scent. Even with that tiny bit of skin contact, he could feel her heart beating away. It was beating so fast, he was pretty sure he could feel the ripples in the air around him. “If you don’t want me, why is your heart a little jackhammer right now? I know you’re not afraid of me. You’re not afraid of anything.”
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to hurt you.” Her shaky voice gave her away just the tiniest bit.
“If you were afraid of me, you wouldn’t be here right now, would you? Walking alone into a hotel room with a strange man.... Not a smart move.”
“You’re not a strange man.”
“I’m a stranger,” he said harshly into her ear. “You barely know me, and yet here you are, all alone with me. And you want to know what makes this worse?”
“Yes, please continue to blame all this on me,” she said dryly.
“What makes this worse,” he continued, “is that you know exactly what I want from you. You know how close I am to the edge, and you know that I’ve been unable to stop myself from imagining taking every last stitch of clothing off your body and exploring every inch of you with my fingertips and my tongue and my cock until neither of us can walk anymore. And yet you still came in here with me. So what exactly am I supposed to think?”
“You’re supposed to think....” She trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.
“So, Harper, for once in my godforsaken life, I’m going to pretend I’m a decent man for three seconds and let you walk out of that door. God help us both if you don’t. Three.”
Harper blinked and glanced toward the door. “You’re blocking me.”
Using every ounce of strength he had, he forced himself to remove one arm from the wall. “Two.”
Against all odds, Harper still stood there. She always seemed so put together and confident, but right now she looked like a deer in headlights. Frozen with indecision.
“One.”
“Lucas, I—”
It was too late. He’d given her a chance to make her choice, and she’d chosen wrong. It wasn’t his fault. He gave her every opportunity. From now on, he couldn’t be held responsible for anything that happened. As if possessed by some other force, his hand slammed back to the wall as he leaned his body in, closing the distance between them. He let out a small groan of approval as his body pressed against hers.
Everything about her felt perfect. Even through her tight jeans and leather jacket, he could feel the curves of her body pressed against him. She seemed to fit in the right areas and was soft in his favorite places. When God had been creating women, this was the pinnacle of what he’d been working toward. The perfect female body, the perfect person, and now here she was in his arms. He still expected her to start screaming or breaking his ribs any moment, but when his lips pressed over hers, to his surprise, she parted for him.
He kissed her softly at first, going against every instinct he had. He’d been with so many different women, and he knew every different way to make them scream. But with Harper, as corny as it sounded, it was like his first time. Not just how every sensation felt new and startling, but he seemed to forget everything he knew. Instead of working through it like a math formula, he followed his senses. Right now, kissing her was enough to send his thoughts spiraling out of control.
Tilting his head, he opened his mouth and let instinct take over. He kissed her with everything he was worth, removing one hand off the wall to cup her jaw as he held her in place. His tongue just touched hers, and then she nipped his bottom lip, letting him know that she was just as much under the spell as he was.
He didn’t know how long he stood there kissing her. Exploring her. Could’ve been a minute—it could’ve been ten. Nothing made sense with her.
But soon, even this amazing, earth-shattering kissing wasn’t enough. Harper pressed herself against him, her hips rubbing rhythmically against his cock, and he knew there was no way in hell she was getting out of his hotel room without him being inside her first. Removing his hand from her jaw, he wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up as he strode deeper into the room toward the king-size bed.
As soon as she hit the bed, Harper started to tear at her clothes, but Lucas didn’t give her a chance. He went down on top of her and immediately covered her with his body, spreading her legs at the same time so he could press his cock right against her hot core.
He couldn’t think coherently anymore. There were no sentences or goals. Just single words, like hot. Wet. Naked.
He buried his head in Harper’s neck, inhaling her scent as he nipped her flesh lightly. She started to pull at his shirt, and he didn’t fight it. He sat up just enough for her to get the material off, and he threw it away. Then he gave her the same treatment, pulling at her shirt and tossing it aside.
He took a second to enjoy the sight of Harper beneath him, wearing only that black lacy bra and jeans. He bent down slowly, like a predator, and pressed a kiss in the hollow of her throat before traveling down her breastbone. Once in the valley between her breasts, he cupped one mound in each hand, enjoying the weight and feel of the soft, warm flesh. He couldn’t wait any longer. He pushed the bra up and got to work kissing, nipping, and licking each rosy peak. He thrived on the sensation of Harper wiggling and thrashing beneath him. This woman drove him crazy, and now he was going to repay the favor.
When she finally looked as if she were going to lose control, Lucas pulled back altogether. He was going to make this the most pleasurable experience she ever had and make her suffer at the same time. He pulled away from her, taking his hips away. Before she could ask what he was doing, he grabbed her by the hips and flipped her over. Harper, always one to surpass his expectations, didn’t even ask what he was doing. She simply reached beneath her to undo her jeans so Lucas could peel them off her ass. Goddamn, it was a perfect ass, too. Just the right amount of jiggle to it, firm and perky all at the same time. The perfect little peach. He scraped his teeth along the soft curve, biting down just enough to make her moan.
As he pulled away, he gave her rear a firm tap, making just enough noise to echo off the room and earn a gasp from Harper. He undid his own jeans and reached for his wallet when a horrible realization struck him. “I don’t have a condom,” he admitted. Why didn’t he have a condom? He always had condoms.
“I’m on the pill. Please. Lucas, I need you.”
Damn, any thoughts about safety flew out the window at the sound of her pleading for him. Her wish was his command. He shot forward on the bed, just enough to arrange himself behind her. Then, as soon as he was at the right angle, he slid in and with one swift stroke, his cock was surrounded by her wet heat.
Lucas let out a loud groan. Holy fuck, she was perfection.
He had to hold it together. He had to make her come. If it was the last thing he ever did on this earth, he was going to make this woman orgasm around his cock.
He reached around her body until his fingers found the tight nub at the top of her sex. Then he pressed down hard as he withdrew and slammed back in. Harper let out a high-pitched scream, and it was like dumping a bucket of fuel on his fire. He was nothing but an animal at that point, holding her clit firmly as he thrust in and out. And then, the second he felt her tighten around his cock and she screamed her release, he followed suit with his own. His arms went around her and held her impossibly tight as wave after wave of orgasm went through every muscle in his body.
He struggled to catch his breath as he rested his forehead against Harper’s back.
He had to go back to work soon, but for now, for just these few minutes, he didn’t think he was capable of moving.
Harper nuzzled deeper into Lucas’s shoulder. She knew this was going to end. In just a few moments, they’d get up and everything would be different. Rather, everything would be the same. At least they’d pretend it was.
Harper knew that she had to get up eventually.
Almost in unison, she and Lucas rolled away from each other. “How do you usually do this?” she asked.
“Do what?”
“The morning after. You pretend like nothing happened? Run out as soon as possible so the girls don’t hope that there’s a chance between the two of you? Or do you make a nice breakfast as a thank-you?”
“Ouch. Feeling an icy breeze blowing in over here.”
“I wasn’t judging. I was just... curious. I mean, this whole thing is so weird. You’re the more experienced of the two of us, right?”
“Experience is relative.”
“Relative or not, you are. So what do we do now?”
“Well, now that I’m more... collected, we go back to doing our jobs. Hopefully before the stupid forty-eight-hour countdown runs out.”
“Closer to twenty-four hours now.”
“Fuck. We’re never going to find her in that time.”
“We could.”
Assuming the countdown had started the second they showed up at the house, which was a safe assumption, they had just over twenty-four hours. The situation wasn’t looking great, but Harper didn’t like the word impossible. It tended to make her want to prove people wrong.
This was a good thing. What was the best way to cut through the awkward one-night stand? Distraction.
“Leo will get back to me in a few hours. Let’s move on down the credit card list. There was a hotel charge. We can go see if anybody from the hotel remembers her. Maybe she mentioned where she was going.”
“Let’s check out the coffee shop first.”
“Coffee shop? Why would that make a difference?”
“Because I went to the coffee shop with her. It’s down in SoHo, nowhere near the hotel she stayed at. Chances are, if she’s still around the city, she’s been back to the coffeehouse.”
“And you said your relationship with her wouldn’t help us at all,” muttered Harper as she started getting dressed.
“I didn’t recognize it at first. The credit card receipt didn’t say the name of it, just the address.”
“And you remembered the address?”
“Not off the top my head, obviously. I looked it up while you and your boyfriend were having your private chat.”
“Are you serious? I seem to remember when you were coming on to me—you were bragging about how worldly and experienced you are. Now all the sudden you’re bringing out the caveman jealousy for me?”
“I don’t mind you fucking other guys. It just bothers me that you lie about it.”
“Wait, wait, wait. You think I’m fucking Leo and lying to you about it?”
“No. I think you two used to have a thing and now you’re lying to me about it.”
“We weren’t even together! We still aren’t together, for that matter. What reason would I have to lie?”
“I have no idea. I think that bothers me more than the fact that you’re lying to me.”
“Ugh. Get dressed. We don’t have any more time for breaks. We need to find Lily.”
Before Lucas had a chance to respond, she slammed the bathroom door shut.
Harper drove to the coffee place. She didn’t care whether Lucas had been there three times and she didn’t know where she was going. She needed to distract herself with something. Something to keep her mind off how stupid the fact that she’d given in to Lucas was. Something to keep her mind off how crazy he was being. Something to keep her from replaying their time in bed together over and over and over again. None of this was good for her sanity.
She needed to keep her wits about her and whenever Lucas was around, she tended to lose her head. She’d had some stupid idea that maybe by being with him, she’d be able to stop constantly thinking about being with him. Shockingly, that little plan had backfired spectacularly in her face. Now, instead of just using her imagination, she had vivid memories of exactly how he could be.
And damn if he didn’t back up some of that arrogance with talent. Maybe all that arrogance....
It was right around four o’clock when she drove by the coffee place. It seemed to be some fancy artistic hangout from the looks of the outside, but she wasn’t able to find parking for another block.
It was right on the verge of rush hour, so the crowds were just beginning to leave work. She had a feeling parking would be much worse soon. Once the car was parked, it took another thirty seconds for Harper to get her door open because traffic was so heavy. Whenever she was gone from New York, she missed it like crazy, and then when she got here, all the little annoyances rushed back to her. To be fair, right now it was one big annoyance that was causing her to be so grumpy. That annoyance happened to be walking right next to her, his butt looking much too good in those jeans. And once again she found herself remembering exactly how that butt felt as she was squeezing it.
She blinked away the memories and tried to force herself to focus. “So have you remembered anything else about Lily that could be helpful?”
“If I had, wouldn’t I have told you by now?”
She blinked a few times. Well, apparently she wasn’t the only one feeling a little grumpy.
“All right. So how often did you have coffee with her?”
“Umm... two, no, three times.”
“Three times? That’s a lot for you, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know. She was only on break for a week. I kept her entertained while all her friends were out of town. It didn’t seem like too much to me.”
“I’m just saying that if you’re half as good as you keep on saying you are, aren’t you concerned about a girl like Lily becoming too attached to you over the course of three coffee dates? Remember, she was only eighteen.”
“That’s legal,” Lucas pointed out quickly.
“Okay, fine, but you don’t know the experiences she’s had. You’re the first real man she’s ever been with, I bet. And, I admit, you have your charms. You’re nice, polite, and sometimes you can even be respectful. It would be easy for a young girl to get swept up in all that. Especially when you’re giving her all of your attention.”
“So you’re saying it’s my fault that she made off with a hundred thousand dollars of Daddy’s money and framed me?”
“Of course there’s going to be blame to share. And obviously, anyone who commits a crime takes the bulk of that blame. But we don’t live in some black-and-white world. There might be a little bit of blame on your shoulders too.”
“What do you want me to do about it? Turn myself into the police? Apologize for seducing a young, vulnerable girl?”
“I’m just asking you to recognize that might’ve happened. You spent so long thinking about how lucky this girl was to be with you that you never considered the
damage you would be doing.”
“Are you talking about you or Lily right now?”
A blush crept up Harper’s cheeks and she refused to respond to Lucas. Just then, they reached the coffee shop, and she shoved the door open, letting it shut back quickly in his face.
The entrance to the coffee shop was littered with various posters and advertisements. A lot were for local theater productions, some for acting lessons, art lessons, gallery openings. She had suspected this was an artsy place before, but now they were practically hitting her over the head with confirmation.
Once they were past the vestibule of the entryway, the ordering counter was right in front of her. To her left, she could see a room filled with soft, mismatched, eclectic furniture. She had a hard time imagining Lucas coming here. Would he and Lily hang out on one of those couches and talk about art?
Lucas strode up to the counter while he reached in his back pocket to grab his wallet. “Afternoon,” he said to the barista in front of him. “I’d like a double shot of espresso, and to know if you’ve ever seen this girl before.” He set his phone on the counter, the profile picture of Lily visible for the barista to study.
“Umm....” The barista, a girl with bright purple and pink hair, bit her lip as her brow furrowed in frustration. “Oh. Lily. Lily.... Crap. I can’t think of her last name. Lily Riley? Lily Rhinestone? I dunno.”
If Lucas was excited at this development, he kept to himself. “When’s the last time you saw her?”
The girl frowned. “What’s it to you?”
“She went missing and her parents are very worried about her,” said Harper.
“But Lily doesn’t like her parents all that much,” said Lucas quickly. “Her parents had some PI looking for her, and he’s probably been here already. The difference is that if the PI finds her, he’s gonna drag her back home, kicking and screaming. I just want to make sure she’s okay.”
“Oh yeah? I got parents like that. Why won’t they just trust us and leave us alone?”
“I wish it was that simple. Unfortunately, I’m worried about Lily too. It’s not just overprotective parents. She hasn’t been online in over a week and hasn’t accessed her bank account once, not even to use a credit card. I just want to make sure she’s okay.”
Lucky Girl (Lucky Alphas Book 2) Page 10