He turned and kissed the inside of her thigh, causing her to catch her breath again. “It’s not my head that’s swollen, baby.”
She laughed, loving their sexual banter. It made what they were doing hotter, if that were possible, and more fun. He had a natural way about him that made her feel uninhibited. And he’d seen the photographs, so in some strange way they’d already shared a certain level of intimacy.
He slid his hands beneath her bottom and coaxed her lower body upwards. Then with a tantalising slowness that edged her towards madness, he inched off her knickers and garter belt.
“You enjoy feeling sexy?” he asked, his voice going husky, his eyes burning with arousal.
She nodded, a heated wetness pooling at her centre as she stared at his to-die-for face.
He moved lower, rubbed his jaw along her thigh making her breath hitch in her throat. She knew it to be impossible, but her heartbeat seemed to suspend in her chest as he parted the soft lips hidden amongst her curls.
“Time to get sexy for me, baby.”
More effective than any defibrillator, the stroke of his tongue on the cluster of nerve endings at her centre charged her body with an electrical impulse so strong she cried out.
She caught his ‘relax baby’ and sank back against the pillows, closing her eyes. She threw a forearm across her face as her limbs began to shake, couldn’t help her soft murmurs of appreciation as she surrendered to the devoted pleasure being lavished on her.
She tunnelled her hands into his silky hair, unable to stop the slight rotation of her hips as the muscles in her lower abdomen tensed and relaxed in delicious response to the motion of his questing tongue.
She moaned as a column of heat rippled outwards, her core in meltdown, her breath coming in soft pants.
Sensing the point of no return and desperate for him to join her, she tried coaxing him upwards. “Please, Luke…”
Her plea had him sliding two fingers inside her, and with a defeated moan she surrendered, allowing him to take her closer to the edge, her body shamelessly seeking the gratification he offered.
She came with a cry, her body convulsing with a series of powerful contractions that had Luke’s erection throbbing in time with his heartbeat.
Jesus!
She was so darn sweet and sexy and carnal, he had to fill his mind with something else—and quickly. He cast his mind back to their first meeting. This might have happened ten months ago if he hadn’t monumentally stuffed up.
When she lay quiet, sated, he slipped off the bed and took a condom from the pocket of his trousers. Her soft eyes followed his every move as he sheathed himself then slid across the bed to hold her again. He settled her against his chest, his body hot and pulsing with the full force of his libido.
Tucked into the crook of his arm, she gave him a dreamy smile. “That was incredible. I want to do it all again.”
He wasn’t about to argue.
“Would you like me to reciprocate, or are you excited enough?”
Luke groaned at the visual, rested his forehead against hers, careful of her injury. “Baby, I’m so turned on I could come right here.”
She gave a delighted laugh and nuzzled her face into his neck like she had when they’d first arrived home. “Well come on, Commander, don’t hide that heat seeking missile.”
She wrapped her long legs around his hips and he didn’t need to be asked twice. He rolled her on her back and pushed inside her warm, moist depths, groaning with pleasure as her internal muscles grasped him with a strength he wouldn’t have believed her capable of.
She sighed, moving her hips to accommodate him more easily and Luke slammed his eyes closed, cradling her warm body. Her hair brushed his cheek, as did her lips, and he marvelled at the softness of both. Her throaty voice murmured in his ear driving every thought from his head until there was her, and only her.
It felt right. It felt so damn right!
He kissed her swollen mouth, parting her lips and searching for her tongue, his body moving in a rhythm evolved over millions of years. She moved with him, her cries of pleasure urging him on and he drove harder, until he lost himself totally in her body.
And then his heart seemed to burst, and his brain fogged over, as with one final thrust he exploded inside her, triggering another orgasm in her so she convulsed around him, their bodies riding out the wave of passion in perfect synchronised harmony.
Wrapped in an afterglow from which he never wanted to emerge, Luke held her for a long time, their limbs entwined. Eventually, their heartbeats slowed, and their bodies began to cool, and he shifted his weight and stretched out beside her, reaching for her in the candlelight.
As she snuggled against him, he stared up at the decorative pressed metal ceiling. There’d been times when he’d feared for his life, more so for the lives of the men under his command. There’d been times when he’d feared other things, like being permanently maimed by war, or never making love to a woman again.
Now, he feared for his heart.
He gathered her closer, knowing he could never deliberately hurt her. She didn’t know it, but he already had, when he failed to save her brother’s life. And he dreaded her rejection when she discovered his culpability.
It scared him, as much as the psychopath pursuing her.
Chapter Twelve
Luke disentangled his leg from the lilac-coloured sheet and rolled over, squinting at the illuminated numbers on Ally’s radio.
Five thirty.
No matter how much or how little sleep he got, his body was like clockwork. Even on Saturday.
Collapsing onto his back, he watched her sleeping the ‘sleep of the dead’. Last night had been a revelation. Beautiful in the extreme, they’d made love with all the unleashed power and intensity of a category five storm.
Bringing his hands behind his head, he interlaced his fingers and stretched out his shoulders. He knew he should get up and start work, but he quickly talked himself out of it. He was overseeing his client’s wellbeing right now.
He glanced again at her tousled blonde hair. Who really knew that this ice cool lawyer wore sexy undergarments beneath her conservative attire as if in silent protest at the establishment? Who knew that beneath the ambitious veneer lay a seductive temptress, the kind of woman a man would be eager to come home to every night?
“You can wipe the smug smile off your face, Commander.”
He rolled over, his body stirring at the sound of her voice.
Skimming her hair away from her face, he sidled up close. “The candle’s out. Your screams of pleasure snuffed it.”
With an effort she lifted her head, her unfocussed eyes moving between him and the burnt out candle. With a tired sigh she lowered her head onto the pillow.
“You’re full of it.”
He chuckled at her inability to wake quickly, slipping his arms around her warm body and pressing his lips against her ear. “Why are you tired? We only did it five times, not that I’m boasting.”
She sighed, looking like she wanted to go back to sleep, so he ran the tip of his tongue around her outer ear, making her shiver. He was hard again, couldn’t believe the more he had her, the more he wanted her.
She shifted her head onto his shoulder, and snaked her arm across his chest. “You seem pleased with yourself.”
He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “Didn’t we break some kind of record?”
“Thanks to my box of antique condoms.”
He laughed again. “I thought I was living in hope, bringing one.”
Her eyes zeroed in on the small tattoo on his right pectoral muscle. “What do these numbers mean?” she asked, gazing up at him as she pressed her lips to the series of numbers inked into his skin.
“Don’t worry about that now,” he whispered, wanting her again. He stuck the soft tip of his tongue into her ear canal and watched in fascination as her cherry coloured nipples hardened instantly.
“I want to know you,” she objected. “I
t’s only fair.”
He swallowed, lowering his head back onto the pillow with a sigh. It wasn’t common practice for him to make love to a woman then bare his soul. In the past, he’d kept the emotional and physical firmly separated, but it was becoming impossible to do that with her. He’d overstepped his self-imposed boundaries from the very start.
And now, she wanted to talk to him intimately, and he wished for her sake he was better at it.
“You know all about me,” she was saying. “You’d even seen me naked before last night.”
He couldn’t argue with that, or deny the jealousy he’d suffered when she’d danced with O’Callaghan. He was getting deeper into her with every minute they spent together. Couldn’t deny the way she’d jump-started his jaded heart.
“It’s a mate’s number. A good mate of mine who didn’t make it.”
Her limpid eyes swimming with sympathy, she used her index finger to trace the numbers on his chest. “You must have been close to get this done?”
He nodded, groaning inwardly with every question she asked. He didn’t want to talk about the awful stuff, not when they were naked in bed together and her fingers were stroking his chest. Couldn’t she at least wait until they were dressed?
Gritting his teeth, he did his best. “The greatest asset a soldier has is the man standing next to him. We worked in Special Forces together for a long time.”
“Did he die on your watch?”
His stomach clenched. Her brother had. “No, he was killed when a Blackhawk went down. I was home by then.”
“And you had the tattoo done after you left?”
“How did you know that?”
“Martin told me tattoos that reveal nationality are banned.”
Her mention of Martin was like a douse of cold water. “I’m sorry. It’s hard for me to talk, Ally.”
“I know, but how do you unburden yourself?”
“I don’t. I live with it.”
“That’s a tough gig, Commander.” She moved to the Celtic iron cross tattooed on his bicep. “Are you of Irish stock?”
He sighed, embarrassed at the question. “I got it when I came back from my first tour of duty, when I was young, stupid and drunk.”
To his relief she didn’t press him further. He’d had it done after his fiancée shot through, craving a level of pain that would diminish the ache in his chest.
“Well I love them and the scars even more so,’ she said, kissing the two inch scar on his shoulder. “It’s your story. Like the photographs are mine.”
He threaded his fingers through her silky hair. “Your story makes for prettier viewing.”
“That’s a matter of opinion.” She ran a fingertip over the raised scar on his shoulder. “What happened here?”
Luke held his breath. It had to be co-incidence. She couldn’t know.
“Enemy gunfire. The same spray of bullets put one in my lower back. I was lucky it didn’t hit the spinal cord.”
She went still, her eyes troubled, and he sat up quickly and threw off the sheet, wishing he hadn’t been so honest. Nothing like war stories to kill the mood. Swinging his legs to the floor, he raked his fingers through his hair.
He was done talking.
“Luke?”
He flinched as she touched his back, recalling her words as he pushed himself to his feet. I’m cursed. Every man I ever cared about ended up dead.
“You knew you weren’t going to like the answer, Ally. So why ask?”
Confused, and more than a little hurt, Allegra watched him leave the room and go into the bathroom. What did he mean? You knew you weren’t going to like the answer…
Of course the thought of him being injured filled her with horror, but she still wanted to know part of his history. The bits he was allowed to share with her, or wanted to. She groaned and flopped back on the pillows, covering her eyes with her hands. Maybe it was all too soon.
Hearing Astro bound into the room with a sharp yelp, she sat up. “Come here boy.”
She dragged the satin nightdress over her head and reached down to pat him. “It’s okay. It’s only Luke in the shower.”
But he trotted to the door, looking back as if expecting her to follow.
With a sigh, Allegra trailed him into the hallway, heard Luke turn off the shower. “You want to go outside?”
The dog looked at her expectantly.
“Stay,” she said quietly. Her stomach grumbled and she felt like tea. “He’ll only be a few minutes.”
As she passed through the lounge room, she glanced at the balcony door, curious to know if the Toyota was parked on the street again.
Pulling aside the curtain, she recognised the car immediately. It was parked across the street and up the road a bit. She let out a relieved sigh. It had to belong to a neighbour, probably someone working shift work.
She reached up to straighten the curtain, and froze. A dark shape moved in her peripheral vision.
The hairs on the back on her neck stood up.
Her heart squeezed in her chest.
Someone was standing there, on the other side of the glass.
She turned her head a fraction.
A man in a black balaclava.
Allegra’s hearing diminished and her scalp tingled as a burst of stress hormones sent blood gushing to her heart and lungs. Her stomach constricted, and for a few moments she failed to coax her paralysed limbs into action.
But she screamed long and hard until her throat burned, wheeling away as he took a backswing and drove something resembling a bat through the glass. He smashed the door with a deafening crash, sending projectiles of glass and wood across the room.
Allegra saw everything in slow motion as she dived for the lounge, her arms coming up instinctively to protect her head as she fell forward. She heard the bathroom door crash open, Luke shouting her name and Astro barking frantically.
She fell across the lounge, the hard curve of its arm striking her in the abdomen, knocking the wind out of her. Then Luke burst into the room in a pair of low riding jeans, gun at his shoulder as he swept the room with a laser-like focus.
There was a thud and a grunt from outside as the uninvited visitor dropped to the ground. Her attacker fled down the street, his footsteps pounding on the bitumen.
Allegra slumped forward, her left arm stinging, unable to get her breath after the sickening contact with the hard arm of the lounge.
“Ally!”
In the one fluid motion Luke stuck the weapon in the back of his jeans and sank to his knees beside her, eyes scanning her body, hands gentle as he checked for injuries.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, his eyes wild. “God, Ally, are you hurt?”
When she couldn’t answer, he scrambled to his feet. Grasping her under the arms he stood her up, stretching out her ribcage until the breath came back into her lungs.
“That’s it,” he urged her on, his voice heavy with concern. “Nice, big, slow breaths.”
Gradually, the feeling of suffocation vanished, leaving her with the weakness that follows a sudden burst of adrenaline.
“I’m okay now.”
Luke eased her down until she was sitting on the lounge, then squatted next to her and examined her arm.
Allegra’s stomach heaved at the sight of her blood covered limb, and for one crazy moment, wondered whether she’d been shot.
“It’s glass from the broken door.” He glanced at her, controlled fury evident in his voice. “A piece caught you just below the shoulder.”
She looked towards the shattered door, her body wracked with tremors. A length of wood, the type used in construction, lay discarded on the balcony.
“Hold the dog, he might step on the glass and he’ll keep you warm.” Luke deposited Astro in her lap. “Hold tight Ally, I need to grab a few things.”
He disappeared for a minute, returning to drape a blanket around her shoulders, and push her feet into a pair of shoes. “You have to keep warm.”
With
a loud rip, he tore a clean tea towel in half, winding it around her upper arm and tying it firmly. “It’s a surface cut of about an inch. I removed the piece of glass.”
Surprised, she tried to stop her teeth from chattering. “I didn’t even feel it.”
“Your body’s in fight or flight response. Everything’s heightened, including your pain tolerance.”
He glanced at her, his mouth set in a grim line. “Come on, let’s get you out of this room.” Bending down, he hooked an arm under her knees and scooped her, and the dog, into his arms.
“Is your tetanus shot up to date?”
She nodded as he carried her into the bedroom and laid her on the bed. Then he sat beside her and pulled her into his arms, forcing Astro to wriggle out from between them and settle indignantly at the foot of the bed.
“I’m sorry.” He buried his face in her hair, breathing heavily. “It’s my fault. I made a mistake.”
Alarmed by the regret and self-blame in his voice, Allegra rallied, horrified he felt responsible for the actions of someone clearly deranged.
Gathering every ounce of strength she could muster, she caressed his face, framing it between her hands. “No, that’s not true.”
“Yes, it is.” He took her hands away and stood, swept a hand around the room. “I should never have slept in here last night.”
His declaration sent a fresh chill down her spine, and Allegra shook her head, hot tears stinging the backs of her eyes.
“Don’t say that,” she whispered. “You don’t mean it.”
He pointed to the door. “I should have slept on the couch like before. If I’d stayed out there and done my job properly, I would have caught the bastard.”
Allegra stared at his angry face, her heart filled with sympathy. It was his way of expressing frustration and distress. “You can object all you like, but I’m not going to agree with you. It wasn’t your fault.”
Bending, he pulled the blankets firmly around her, his jaw clenched tight, a muscle tensing in his cheek.
“I knew the balcony was the most likely point of entry, and I left it unguarded.”
“Luke …”
But he wouldn’t listen, just turned and walked to the door. “He could have killed you. Now lie there, and do as I say.”
Hot Lawyers: The Lee Christine Collection Page 13