Anywhere With You

by Stephanie Hoffman McManus

  I walked back around to the other side of the bar, carrying the cake carefully in one hand and the candles and knife in the other. I placed it down on the table in front of him and then shoved the candles in. “Anyone got a light?” I looked up and then let out a surprised squeak when I was dragged down into Luke’s lap.

  “Thirty-eight?” he growled in my ear.

  I gave him a grin over my shoulder. “They were out of twos so I grabbed a three instead. Close enough, right?”

  One arm curled around my middle, squeezing me tightly, his fingers digging deliciously into my side. “Funny, Ci,” his gravelly murmur tickled my exposed shoulder.

  Someone produced a lighter and lit the candles. Someone else dimmed the lights, and then Jess started singing and everyone joined in. At no point did Luke let go of me. When the last awful note of the final “youuuuuu” rang out, I leaned out of the way and told Luke to make a wish. His eyes held mine for another moment and then he blew out his candles.

  I plucked them from the cake and held one up to his face, forcing him to lick the frosting from it while I cleaned the other with my tongue. Luke’s eyes were on me while I did, and something dangerous sparked in their depths.

  “Where are the plates?” I averted my gaze before I started licking him next.

  Bre handed over the paper plates she’d been tasked with bringing, and I started cutting into the triple chocolate confection in front of me. Chocolate cake layered with a rich fudgy filling, frosted in a chocolate cream cheese icing, and garnished with shaved bits of dark chocolate around the edges and side. I cut the first piece larger than all the rest and slid it onto a plate for Luke.

  Once I’d served everyone else and there was a single sliver left for myself, I started to plate it, but then Luke held his fork in front of my mouth. “Share this one with me. It’s too much, I’ll never be able to finish it on my own.”

  I sincerely doubted that. I’d seen what he was able to put back. The guy could take care of an entire pizza and still have room to devour an order of those little cinnamon bites from the pizza place.

  Still, I opened my mouth and let him feed me the bite of decadent cake, closing my lips around the fork and sucking every bit of frosting from it.

  The next bite went in his mouth, and the next in mine, and hot damn there was something about that fork going from his mouth to mine that had me salivating, and not over the cake. We finished the slice off that way, him feeding it to the both of us until he was scraping the last bit of frosting from the plate. With a teasing gleam in his eye, he started to lift it to his own mouth. I caught his wrist in my hand and dragged the fork to my mouth, licking every bit of the frosting off it. Just for good measure, I even moaned a little and closed my eyes.

  A quiet groan escaped his chest, and when I blinked my eyes open again, raw and hungry desire blazed in his.

  Chatter among the group continued, but I was barely aware of it. What I was aware of was the growing hardness beneath my bottom. Luke made no move to shift me on his lap to hide it. He let me feel it, let me feel his deep breaths on my neck and shoulder.

  Something was happening. This was it. Tonight, everything was changing between us. And just like that, nearly two years of longing and wanting caught up with me. Every emotion I’d been suppressing began to bubble up inside of me and it was like nothing I’d ever felt for anyone before.

  This thing with Luke was what I’d been after my entire life. Passion. Fire. Excitement. I could have that all with Luke.

  Unlike the night we met, I was ready to give it a shot, even if he wanted me to give up the job. Yes, the money was unbeatable, but money wasn’t everything. I’d made enough, and I could find another job while I finished out my last two years of school.

  It might be crazy, and impulsive, but it felt right. Like I was meant to come here, to South Carolina and The Wild Orchid. I was meant to find Luke.

  The hour grew later and slowly good nights were said and the group dwindled down to just a few of us. Then it was just Jess and Leo and me and Luke.

  “I’ll help you get this cleaned up and then I’m going to head out too,” Jess announced. Leo killed the music and flipped more lights on.

  “No, you guys should go. I can take care of this and lock up,” Luke told her.

  “No, it’s your birthday.” Now that it was after midnight, it truly was. “You can’t clean up your own party.”

  “Sure I can. It’s my club and I’m your boss, and I’m telling you to get out of here.”

  “I’ll stick around and help him clean up,” I spoke up, and unlike when Jess offered, Luke didn’t protest. Leo and Jess said goodnight and Leo walked Jess out. Then it was just me and Luke.

  Suddenly, I felt a little less sure and a lot more nervous. I gathered up the board with the last piece of cake and took it behind the bar and wrapped it up for Luke to take home.

  He started pushing tables and chairs back to their rightful places and clearing the few bottles and garbage that had been left behind. I set his plastic wrapped cake on the bar and tossed the pink box in the trash, along with the few unused paper plates and plastic forks that remained. Once the bar was cleaned, I grabbed a couple bottles of water from one of the coolers and took a seat on the other side of the bar while Luke finished lugging one of the small tables and a couple of chairs to the other side of the room.

  When we finished and everything was where it belonged, he strode over to me and dropped down onto the stool beside mine. I held out one of the bottles. “Unless you want something stronger.”

  He took the water and we both cracked the seals and took long drinks. The cool water quenched my thirst but did nothing for the warm flush that heated my skin.

  “Happy birthday,” I said softly. “Now that it really is your birthday.”

  “Thanks,” he said, swallowing the long drink he’d taken.

  “Did you make a wish?”

  A slow, sexy smile graced his lips. “I did.”

  “What did you wish for?”

  There was a dangerous twinkle in his eyes and it sent a little thrill right through me. “I can’t tell you.” He swiveled on his stool and reached out, taking my arms, and dragging me round until our knees were pressed together. He slid forward slightly, spreading his legs and then he tugged my stool forward so that I was now resting between his thighs.

  “What do you mean, you can’t tell me?” I asked a little breathless.

  “I’m more of a show than tell guy, and my parents always taught me that if you really want something, you better make your own wishes come true, because nobody else will do it for you.” With that, one hand reached forward and curled possessively around the back of my neck, dragging my lips to his. I sucked in a sharp breath just before he claimed my mouth. His lips were hard against mine, seeking and demanding, and I was too completely lost in my is this really happening moment to truly appreciate what he was doing to me. And before I could catch up with reality, he was breaking away. My hands shot out and grabbed the front of his soft tee, wanting to drag his mouth back to mine.

  “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that,” his sexy, gravelly rasp had me leaning further forward on my stool. The hand that wasn’t still cupping the back of my head landed on my hip. We were both precariously balanced on our stools, holding each other steady, eyes wide–at least mine were–and locked together as he slowly closed in on me again, tilting his head. This time when his lips pressed against mine, it wasn’t a demand. He took the first kiss, hard and without permission–not that I wouldn’t have gladly given it. This one was a slow and gentle request, a caress of my mouth, a plea for me to give him what he wanted.

  And I did. Two years of suppressed wanting left me helpless to do anything else while my heart hammered away inside my chest as if it too had been waiting two years for this moment.

  My lips parted, his grip tightened at my nape, and I felt the slight dig of his fingers into my hip. His tongue swept into my mouth and oh sweet mercy,
I groaned; he still tasted of chocolate.

  My fingers curled tighter around the fabric at his chest, bunching it and tugging, wanting him closer even as I pressed in, until I didn’t know how I was still sitting on the stool because it felt like I was falling away. Falling into him.

  He rose from the stool without tearing his mouth away and I heard it skid back several inches as he must have given it a kick. I pressed my feet against the base of my stool and used it for leverage to push myself up. The hand at my nape slid down, and both hands slipped under my bottom to pick me up. My thighs squeezed his hips and I locked my arms around his neck, lifting myself even higher on his body, returning his greedy, hungry, desperate kiss with equal fervor.

  Then I was spinning and set down roughly on top of the bar. “I need this,” he said gruffly against my skin as he laid hot kisses down my jaw and neck. I buried my fingers in all that hair as his lips traveled further down my body and his hands shoved my shirt up so that his lips could scorch a path up my stomach and over my ribs.

  I squeezed my legs tighter around his denim clad hips, pulling his hardness against my center. My head tipped back and my mouth fell open on a breathy gasp as he rocked his hips, hard, sending a wave of pleasure up my spine. He worked my shirt higher and then my hands were yanked from his hair as he wrenched the shirt over my head and cast it aside. Where it landed, I had no clue because the second it was gone, he grabbed a handful of my hair, and my head was yanked back as his mouth explored every dip and curve from my throat down between my breasts and along my ribs. I writhed beneath him, my core rubbing against denim, creating much needed friction.

  His mouth closed over one breast, biting and sucking through the thin layer of lace. My back arched and I dragged my nails down his back, digging my fuck me heels into his ass. One fell off and I just dug my bare heel in harder as he continued his ministrations with his mouth on one breast and then the other, making sure they got equal attention.

  “I need more. More,” I whispered between harsh breaths.

  A deep groan rumbled from his chest and he raised his head, meeting the desperate plea in my eyes with a dark, needy look of his own. “Not here. Not on the bar,” he rasped and then scooped me into his arms, my legs still locked around his waist.

  He carried me toward the back and the rooms there. My fingers reached for the hem of his tee, slipping under it to touch bare skin. I pressed my palms flat to his abdomen and slid them up his chest, feeling every ripple of muscle as he moved. I shoved them further, dragging the edge of his shirt up higher until my hands slid over his shoulders and his tanned, broad chest was exposed and begging for my lips. Or maybe it was my lips that were begging.

  I bent my head and pressed them just below his shoulder and trailed little kisses down. When I reached his hard nipple, I pulled it between my teeth and gave it a flick with my tongue before scraping my teeth over it and letting go. I heard his hiss of breath and felt his hands dig into my ass.

  My back hit something hard, which I knew to be a door. One of his hands left my ass and fumbled with the door until it gave way and fell open.

  We lurched forward and then I heard his booted foot connect with the door, kicking it closed behind us and sealing us in the dark, sensual room that was designed to fulfill needs exactly like ours.

  My mind was instantly catapulted into the past and the only other time I was in one of these rooms with Luke. I’d wanted him almost as badly as I did right now, but after he informed me that I couldn’t have both the job and him, I’d given up on the idea that I’d be here again with him. I’d used these rooms countless times since then, but always I was in control. I decided what happened and what didn’t. It was up to me how far things went.

  I’d never felt more out of control than I did right now, in this moment. I was completely at his will and I would have let him do anything he wanted to me.

  “I’ve wanted this for so long.” The confession slipped from my lips on a breathy sigh before I even realized I was saying it. And then it was too late to take it back.

  “God, me too,” he groaned into my neck, biting down on the sensitive point where it connected with my shoulder. I shuddered in his arms and then I was falling backward. The leather cushions of the settee came up to meet my back and instantly Luke’s body covered mine. “Tonight, I’m going to be selfish. Tonight, I’m saying fuck it all and taking what I want, what I’ve wanted for so damn long,” he growled against my flesh.

  What about when tomorrow comes? The thought prickled the back of my mind almost like a warning, but it was gone before it really had time to take root, because the next instant Luke’s hands yanked the cups of my bra down, and then his palms were rough, hot, and heavy against my bare flesh, kneading and massaging a chorus of breathless moans from me. He dipped his head and laved at one breast with his tongue, eradicating all coherent thought from my brain.

  He caught my puckered nipple between his teeth and I sucked in a sharp breath as my back shot off the cushion and my nails bit into the flesh just above his ass. I pulled my knees up to cradle him closer and slipped my hand beneath the waistband of his jeans and boxers to get a handful of his firm ass and drag him against me. He pumped his hips and my head slammed back on the cushion.

  I pulled my hands free and went right for the fasten on his jeans, tugging at the zipper and button. His slid one arm under my back and snaked it up to tangle his fingers in my hair and pin my head down. He brought his face to hover over mine, his warm breath feathering across my lips. My hands stilled. I needed nothing more than his mouth on mine at that moment. A smile snaked across his lips when I struggled to lift my head to get to his mouth. He leaned in, my lips parted but just before his mouth brushed over mine, he pulled back.

  “Bastard,” I breathed, earning a throaty chuckle. He raised himself up on his other arm.

  “You’re mine, sweetheart.” He released my hand and pushed up so that he was kneeling over me. I had his pants undone but as I went to shove them down, he caught my wrists in his hands. “Which means we’re doing this my way.” He raised my hands above my head and pressed them into the cushion, the warm leather creaking slightly as his weight bore down on me and his body covered mine again.

  I wriggled beneath him and tried to tug my hands free to no avail. He transferred them to one hand, gripping them tightly and bringing his other hand down to my bare stomach, spreading his fingers wide and skimming higher.

  “You’ve been torturing me with this body for two years now. You can be damn sure I’m going to take my time returning the favor.” His hand traveled up between my breasts and over my collarbone and came to circle the base of my throat. “You’re going to be writhing and crying for me by the time I’m done.”

  A soft, mewling whimper escaped me. His words and his hand around my throat were doing ridiculous, spine tingling, toe curling things to me. I was well on my way to making his promises come true, because that’s exactly what they were. Promises. Dark, depraved promises. He would see me writhe and cry and beg before the night was over.

  His hand released my throat and grabbed my bra strap, dragging it down my shoulder and he sank his head into the crook of my neck, tracing the curve of my shoulder with his tongue, and then he started nipping and sucking at the sensitive skin there. When he bit down hard enough to make me gasp, my back arched up off the cushion. His hand slid beneath my back and popped the release on my bra clasp.

  He continued to tease and play and torture my senses, wringing the pleasure from my body, removing pieces of clothing one by one until I was beneath him in nothing but the teal thong that matched the lacy bra he’d long since removed and bound my hands with. And the prick still had his jeans on.

  “I can’t take anymore,” I breathed, panting heavily, working my hands against the lace restraint.

  “Yes, you can.” He shifted his body and snaked his hand between us, shoving down the last barrier that kept him from right where I wanted him – no, needed him. I was beyond want at
this point.

  “Oh, fuck,” he growled when he discovered just how primed I was, and another whimper escaped me when he slid two fingers inside me while his thumb found the little nub of pleasure that sent tremors through me.

  It didn’t take long at all for him to break me apart completely, and when I did, I shattered. I felt like my entire body came up off the settee and hit the ceiling before slowly drifting back down. My breaths were ragged, my chest was rising and falling rapidly, and my heart beat against its cage.

  Luke knelt over me, a look of supreme satisfaction on his face. “That was fucking beautiful.”

  Oh, sweet Lord, his eyes roved over my flushed body, drinking in every inch of me. His teeth scraped over his bottom lip and my already depleted body lit up again. This time I wanted to be able to touch him everywhere.

  I managed to break my hands free and push myself up with a frenzy I didn’t think I had left in me. My hand shot out, going for the waistband on his jeans and started shoving them past his hips. “I need you inside me right now, Luke. No more teasing and playing, I need you,” I said breathlessly.

  He groaned and readjusted us, sitting back and pulling me astride him. His jeans were past his hips and I could see him straining against the dark red boxer briefs that were the only thing holding him back now. I grabbed his shoulders and settled myself on him. I grazed my fingers down his chest following the light spattering of hair down to the trail that started just below his navel and disappeared beneath the band of his boxers. I slipped my index finger beneath the band and snapped it. I slid my other hand over his shoulder and down his back. His hips arched up and then I curled my fingers around the tight band of elastic.