by Jan Irving
“I know.” But she didn’t add she thought maybe it was a good thing Fred didn’t come in here anymore. The stern-faced man didn’t look like he laughed much, but Dharma was too charming for her own good.
“So how was it?”
Sian really did need to talk to someone. “Luke’s slightly…kinky.”
“Mmmmm.”
“You’re not shocked?”
“Hell no. He’s got that vibe. Kinda like his friend, but without Taz’s charming contempt for women.”
Sian grimaced.
“I think Luke’s afraid of showing that side of himself to me.”
Dharma shrugged. “Give him time.”
“I still have issues. Our age difference—”
“If he were an older man would it bother you as much?”
“Um.” She thought about it and then flushed. “No. Guess I’m a stereotype.”
“Just something to think on.”
“And then there’s the sister-brother thing.”
“Tell me truthfully, doesn’t the idea give you a bit of a forbidden thrill?” Dharma asked. “I mean, you are not related by blood so…”
Sian swallowed, and then nodded. “Sometimes. But tonight we go on a date. A real date.”
Dharma leant forward, putting her chin in her hand. “Oops. If I’m serious with a guy I like to hide from the world for at least a month.”
“Yeah!” Sian exclaimed with feeling. “I’m still getting used to being with him. I feel…vulnerable.”
“It’s just a meal, hon.” Dharma squeezed her hand.
“I know. I just can’t shake this weird feeling of depression, like we’re doomed.” She laughed. “Crazy.”
* * * *
“We’re so doomed,” Luke said, flipping through the Yellow Pages in the station.
“It’s just dinner,” Taz said. “Will you chill?”
“This is not one of your overnighters.”
Taz blinked. “Okay, I’m sorry. Shit, I thought sleeping with her would smooth you out.”
“She’s not a laxative.”
Taz grinned. “That’s my man.”
“I’m a wreck.”
“Spanking her.” Taz’s voice was thankfully lowered so the other men in the lounge area wouldn’t overhear. “Intense for your, what…third time?”
Luke stared at Taz in shock. How had the wily bastard known about that? He flashed back to the night before, lying with Sian on the sheets, his dick still heavy and pulsing. He couldn’t get enough of her. He’d ached to bury himself in her again, make her see she was his, but he’d known she was too sore to accept him and they’d wound up…experimenting.
Yeah, her over his lap, the beautiful peachy texture of her bottom under his hands, warming at the crack of his palm. And then he’d stabbed fingers into her and she’d come so hard—
“I know a restaurant,” Taz said, taking a sip of coffee from a cup with the Coffee Dreams logo. Shit. He’d been there, and that’s how he’d somehow guessed about Sian. She must be moving a little stiffly, either from the spanking or the many times they’d gone at it the night before.
Why couldn’t Luke have been a gentleman? Why did he have to use her over and over again?
But his cock twitched under his pants, reminding him why. Because she was soft and wanton and when he’d spanked her she’d been shocked at first, but then so turned on, screaming for it.
He shifted in his chair. “What restaurant?”
“Lucky Charm. It’s got candlelight, secluded booths. Very sensual.”
“Is the food good?”
Luke had already tried a few places, but they were all booked solid. Conventions, birthdays, anniversaries. Shit, he had to line something up fast because, if they got a call, he might forget the dinner plans, might not get a reservation.
“It’s Asian fusion.”
Sounded experimental, which Sian might like. Luke rubbed his hands down his thighs. Damn, he wanted this night to be different from all the other nights she’d gone out. He wanted everything perfect so she’d see they could do this. This date had to work out.
“Okay, I’ll give them a try.” He made the call and got in for dinner at eight. Perfect. “What else?” Flowers. Was it too much a cliché? He chewed his lip as Taz raised his eyebrows at him, sipping his coffee.
“Calla lilies,” Luke muttered, and pulled out his phone to check where the nearest florist was. Maybe he’d have time to visit this afternoon before dinner. If they didn’t get a call then he’d wind up missing the whole thing. It could happen.
“Dude, you can think up types of flowers?”
“Shut up, I live with a woman.” And he picked up flowers for their kitchen sometimes. Sian liked dark calla lilies and sunflowers.
“I’m glad I don’t,” Taz said darkly. “No woman’s gettin’ flowers from me.”
“Not even Jenny?”
That shut Taz up.
“Do you think chocolates would be too much?”
“I think flowers are too much.”
“You seriously never—”
“No. If I want a woman I want her for sex. I’m upfront about that. I don’t dress it up. I want her to ride my dick, not get ideas about changin’ me.”
Luke let out a long breath. “Jesus, you are such a barbarian.”
“What’s up, guys?” Zane asked, looking cheerful as usual. And well rested. And tanned and golden. Geez, the rook was depressing, so young, so perfect, he gleamed. Luke only took comfort that Sian wouldn’t go for a guy who was even younger than he was.
“Nothing. Get lost,” Taz said, flipping Zane off like a bug.
Zane looked like a cross between kicked puppy and narrow-eyed fighter. He nodded to Luke but ignored Taz, who was busy ignoring Zane.
When Zane walked out of earshot, Luke said, “You are such an asshole. I thought you… Um.” He didn’t want to put it into words—that he’d figured Taz was hunting Zane, wanting to bed him.
“He’s not ready for me yet.” Taz took a contemplative drink of his coffee. “I think you’re right, I think this date is doomed. You’re a wreck, buddy.”
Luke put his head in his hands. Flowers, chocolates, Asian fusion. But what he really wanted was Sian to see him in a new light.
Chapter Eleven
Okay, Sian told herself. This was a fresh start. Luke would see her in a new light. She and Luke were lovers. Lovers. But she’d get used to that. He wasn’t a secret she had to keep. And they were going out on a date. That was totally natural.
She swallowed before dragging in a deep breath and staring at her reflection in the long mirror in her bedroom. She’d heard Luke get home about an hour ago, but he must have headed straight for his own bedroom, getting ready for their big night out.
And here she was in hers.
It was…weird.
How could she be so nervous about seeing Luke?
But the tall column of her black dress wasn’t just any dress. It suited her long, slender bones. The neckline came over one shoulder, baring the other. Her hair was up, secured with jewelled pins.
She looked like a barbaric queen, a sexy, wanton queen.
Sian buried her face in her hands. Did she know what she was doing? This was a fuck-me dress. Moreover, it was romantic.
It was the romantic angle that had her opening her closet for the tenth time. Probably there was enough time to change. Luke’s text message earlier had let her know dinner wasn’t until eight—
The knock on her door made her jump. Her heart thundered at she stared at it. After a moment she licked her lips and walked over, opening it.
Luke was in a suit.
The door swung open as it left her hand, her breath whooshed out in a long exhale and she just…stared.
Luke swallowed and his cheeks reddened.
The suit was a dark blue colour with a bronze tie. From the sheen, Sian knew it was silk, custom tailored so it fit Luke like he’d been dipped in it. On his wrist was the heavy gold watch Mr H
enry had given him for his nineteenth birthday.
Luke handed her a single dark plum calla lily wrapped in an orange ribbon.
Sian’s eyes filled.
“What? Jesus! What did I do wrong?” Luke looked panicked.
Sian cleared her throat. “Nothing. Just…perfect.”
Luke cocked his head.
“No, really.” She put the flower against her cheek, savouring that he’d brought her a favourite, that he knew what her favourite was.
“Hookay.”
“You look…”
“Yeah, I figured one good suit, you know?” Luke shrugged. “But you, baby…” He reached out and ran a callused fingertip along her bare shoulder. Sian shivered at his touch and his eyes darkened. “Are you real?”
“Very real. I was going to change it,” she admitted.
“What the fuck for? I mean… You look fine. Nice.”
“I see you’ve mastered the male art of bland compliments.”
“I don’t have fancy words. I just see that single strap breaking in my hand at the end of the night,” Luke said.
“Oh.” Heat warmed her cheeks.
“Yeah.”
Luke shifted and then one tanned hand went up to his collar, as if he wanted to tug it looser. Sian thought the last time she’d seen him in a suit had been at his mother’s funeral. And yet he’d worn one for her. He wanted her to know that, despite how this thing between them had started out, it was important to him.
And that scared her even more.
What if everything went wrong tonight?
* * * *
Luke circled around the block once more, feeling strange driving the Jaguar he’d borrowed from Fred. The car was smooth, but it wasn’t his truck and he felt like it was a put-on, just like the suit.
But he couldn’t forget the way Sian had looked at him, wide eyed with shock and appreciation. This was why a man dressed up for a woman and gave her flowers.
Well, no, he thought as he parked the car, then got out to go around and open the door for her. The real reason was sex, because a woman was more likely to be giving if she was treated well. But then he grinned, because that sure as fuck didn’t explain how Taz got so many women to lie down for him.
“What are you thinking about?” Sian asked as he shepherded her towards the restaurant. Then she winced. “Ouch. Another cliché. I just asked you what you’re thinking and earlier you said I look nice.”
Luke huffed out a breath. “Damn. This is awkward.”
“Yeah.” She nodded emphatically.
“Look, I know we got it all backwards. We’ve lived together for years and then we had sex.”
“Then why does this feel so…”
He squeezed her hand. “We’ll get used to it.”
She let out a long breath. “Okay. Sure.”
He grinned again because she sounded as shaky as he felt. He reminded himself he’d been eating with her for years. This was just a meal, he thought grimly. They could get through it.
He opened the door, catching the scent of deep, dark spice. The restaurant was candlelit as Taz had promised, the air warm with people. It was a good sign it was full already.
Sian looked around, closing her eyes and dragging in a deep inhale. “Mmmm. Szechuan.”
He hoped that was a good thing.
“Luke!”
The woman who reached out to grip his hand smiled up at him and Luke felt himself sliding into a nightmare. He recognised her. Marnie, the woman he and Taz had shared last month. Oh, shit. This could not be an accident. Taz had to have known.
Marnie’s long blonde hair slid around her oval face as she kissed his cheek. He could feel Sian watching them. His pulse thudded and sweat slicked his lower back.
“I’m Marnie, I own the place,” she said to Sian, smiling as she gripped Luke’s arm.
“You two know each other?”
“Oh, yeah,” Marnie said.
Luke tugged his arm from Marnie and gave Sian a direct look. “Do you want to go somewhere else?”
Sian hesitated, and Luke was sure her polite mask would win out.
“Yes, I want to go somewhere else,” she said. She’d obviously picked up something from him.
It was Friday night, restaurant hell night. Line-ups everywhere.
Fuck it. He took her hand, squeezing it as they left the little trap Taz had laid for them.
Outside, the fresh sea tanged the air and he felt immediately freer. He reached out tentatively and took her hand.
“Let’s walk,” he said.
They passed line-ups of people waiting to get into other eateries and clubs. Even the coffee houses were doing booming business, so they’d be hard pressed to get in anywhere. But it didn’t matter. Her hand felt delicate in his. The wind played with her skirts, giving him tantalising glimpses of her long, killer legs.
He wanted to push her into an alley and rub his palm against the warmth between those legs, hear her catch her breath, need him, want him.
“I just want to get lost with you. I want to be someone you just met,” he said.
“No, I don’t want that,” she said, surprising him.
“Would you have gone out on a date with me if I’d been someone who hit on you in Coffee Dreams?” he asked.
“I would have wanted to. I would have told myself you were too young, too gorgeous for me.”
“Gorgeous?” It made him feel better. They stopped so she could look in a window at some women’s clothing. She stared into the shop and he stared at her. In his opinion, nothing she saw there could eclipse what she’d chosen to wear for him tonight.
“Of course you are.”
“I need to hear you say that to me.” Jeez, and wasn’t he turning into a woman.
“I’m sure plenty of women have told you.”
“Look, Marnie was a one nighter Taz and I shared. I’m sorry about that. If I’d known, I’d never have taken you to that place.”
“I’m sure Taz counted on it ruining our evening,” she said. “But you’ve been honest with me about your dating.”
Luke laughed. “It was fucking, not dating. And it was either do her or come home and walk into your bedroom, push the sheet off and climb on you.”
Sian’s eyes were huge, mysterious as dark rain pools. Had he shocked her?
“Oh, yeah, I thought about it. I thought about spreading your thighs and putting my mouth on you and bringing you off so you didn’t get a chance to kick me out.” He throbbed now under his fine suit, wishing they were home in the shadows of her bedroom. He wouldn’t have to talk, just let his hands, his mouth and his body speak for him.
Impatient with feeling confined, he took off the jacket and put it over his arm. Then he put his hand on her bare shoulder, felt the shock of flesh to flesh. She gave a tiny shudder that zapped straight to his balls. If they’d been in her bedroom, he’d have sat on the edge of her bed, lifted her on him, felt her take him from root to tip as her grey eyes went dreamy and breath wisped out of her lips.
“Luke, I can’t think when you touch me,” she admitted in a shaky voice.
He cleared his throat. “It’s just too new,” he said. But he didn’t think that was what it was. He’d always had this intensity directed at her. He’d been blocked by the age difference, by their closeness growing up, but it had been there, his touchstone.
He couldn’t drop his hand. He needed to touch her skin. “Come on, we can get something to eat here.”
They were at the taco shack by the pier.
Sian grinned. “We haven’t been here in years.”
They used to come after school and share sloppy tuna tacos, eating them while they dangled tanned legs over the side of the pier, watching a few men fishing and boats drone lazily by. Now the pier was lit by big globes and the stars were touching the water as the moon rose, made pale in the sky by the falling sun.
“I love living here,” she said as Luke handed her a yellow pepper and an avocado pepper. He’d stuck to the cla
ssic, beef and cheese, brimming with spicy chillies. It was messy eating but damn, it tasted good to a hungry man after a long day.
Luke shrugged. “I know it’s not exactly fancy…”
“Stop. It’s more real than any of my other dates.” She wiped her lips with a napkin, looking perfectly content.
But he couldn’t help but compare the top-of-the-line restaurants she’d gone out to, and wasn’t reassured even though he sure as fuck couldn’t have eaten with her under the eye of a woman looking for another kinky hook-up.
“Next time I’ll plan it better.”
But she was watching the falling sun float like a shrinking yellow island. One tendril of hair had fallen from the way she’d swept it back from her face and he was abruptly back in the hallway of their house, remembering their first time together, remembering how her hair had been falling down when he’d tried to help her with her zipper.
“Let’s get out of here,” he rasped.
As if she knew what he was thinking, she went into his arms. He brought his mouth down hungrily on hers, groaning as the soft, lean silkiness of her body brushed him from her breasts to her thighs.
“Sian?”
Sian jerked at the voice and pulled away from Luke.
Luke frowned, then recognised one of their neighbours, Mrs Hutchingson. She had lived beside them for as long as Luke could remember, a busybody who was always telling Sian how to tend her flowerbeds. Luke had never liked her much, especially when he’d first moved in and she’d eyed his cheap clothing like she thought he’d try to jack her car.
“And Luke?” Mrs Hutchingson’s eyes were avid on them. “Were you…kissing?”
Sian swallowed. “We’re dating,” she said calmly. Only Luke could feel her tension.
“Dating? But you’re brother and sister.”
“No, we’re not,” Sian said, before Luke could tell Mrs Hutchingson where to stick her comment.
“You were raised together. I always thought—”
Sian turned to Luke. “Should we walk back to the car now?”
Luke pulled her close, feeling Mrs Hutchingson watching them as they headed back up the hill. “We aren’t doing anything wrong!” he burst out when they were out of earshot.