by Elle Keating
“Don’t ever hide from me, Peyton.” She didn’t hear him crawl over to her before he pried her hands away from her face. “Are you under the impression that I’m mad at you?” he asked, tilting her chin so he could see her eyes. He was on his knees and sitting on his heels.
“Well, I kind of put you on the spot. If I wasn’t so nosy, you wouldn’t have been forced to share something so personal.”
He cocked his head and drew a deep breath. “I wanted you to know that I was adopted. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have told you.” His fingers drifted from her chin to the back of her neck. Her heart quickened at his touch and it practically leaped from her chest when his thumb stroked the base of her neck. “But I can’t deny that you hold the power. When I’m around you, the only thing I want, the one thing I crave is to hear you whimper with pleasure.” His words sent a jolt of electricity straight to her core. She felt his other hand slide beneath her shirt and trail his fingertips along her heated skin. He stopped short of her bare breast, causing her to bite her lip. “And hear you scream my name.” She almost drew blood from her poor lip.
“Luke…I…” A moan escaped her as she closed her eyes. She fisted the blanket beneath her in a death grip. He had barely touched her and he already had her aching with need and ready to beg…again. Never in her life had she begged a man for sex, but with Luke, with Luke it was different. She didn’t need to be in control with him, she didn’t want to distance herself from the actual act. She didn’t want to fuck solely for a release and get the hell out of Dodge like she had the rest of them. And she knew why. It was because she trusted him not to take. “More…please.”
“Open your eyes, Peyton.”
The second she looked at him his thumb brushed a nipple, causing it to pucker and pierce her shirt. Too much clothing. Not enough skin. She attempted to squeeze her legs shut to alleviate the ache between her thighs, but his hands flew to her knees. “No, open for me.”
She had never obeyed a man in bed. Because she had never allowed a man to give her orders before. She had always taken charge. Always put herself in a position where she could never feel dominated. She hadn’t cared if her requirements pissed off her former lovers. If they both came, then what was the big fucking deal?
But Luke’s command did not still her legs or prompt her to clamp them shut. Instead, her body responded as if by instinct, and she spread her legs. He remained resting on his knees, but now he was positioned between her thighs. “Raise your arms,” he said.
Another command.
Another automatic response.
Her arms shook as she lifted them above her head. His fingertips kissed the heated and very sensitive flesh of her belly as he slowly removed her shirt and tossed it to the floor. His eyes dilated as his gaze fixed on her taut and needy nipples. She needed him there. His mouth. His tongue. She needed him to suck and taste her. To bite and… “Oh God,” she moaned. His mouth encased one nipple while his fingers pinched and kneaded the other. He took her hard, forcing her to lie down until she was completely flat on her back. His weight, the friction it caused, only heightened her arousal and she became frantic. She gripped his t-shirt and forced it over his head. Shirtless, with only his lounge pants on and sucking her nipples into his wet, hot mouth, Luke was the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. “I need to come, Luke. Make me come.”
“You have no idea how fucking beautiful it is to hear you tell me what you need.” He sat back and with a quick swipe her pants were gone, and she was left completely naked and exposed before him. “I’ll take care of you,” he said. He crouched between her legs and slid his tongue along her swollen clit. Her body jolted at the unbearable sensation. She was just about to grab his hair and ride his wicked tongue when he laced his fingers through hers and pinned her hands at her sides. Writhing beneath him, her arms unable to move, she should have felt helpless…vulnerable…but she didn’t. Instead, she clenched her fingers around his as he licked and sucked her. As she ground her pussy against his mouth.
“Luke, I’m going to come.” She was panting. Groaning. Screaming at him to go harder, to suck, to give it to her. More. She needed more. His tongue felt amazing as he licked her pussy and grunted in apparent appreciation. His sounds sent tiny vibrations along that tiny bundle of nerves. So close…so painfully close. “Please,” she begged.
“No. You’re coming around me. While I’m buried inside you.” He sat back, yanked his pants down to his knees, repositioned himself between her thighs and thrust into her.
He worked his cock in and out of her in slow but brutal thrusts. She stretched around him, accommodating his enormous shaft. She felt so full…and he felt so fucking good inside her. She grabbed his ass and forced him to get closer, close enough to feel his heart pound against hers.
“Fuck…Peyton. I’ll never get enough of you.” His words came out staggered, his voice gruff and choppy due to his labored breathing.
She spread her legs even wider and welcomed him as he drove into her. The sounds their bodies made as he impaled her, as her pussy soaked and coated his cock, made her lose it and she dug her nails into his ass. His head dipped and he groaned in the crook of her neck. His cock swelled within her. She clenched and tightened her muscles around him and he exploded inside her. The never-ending stream of semen that flooded her body triggered her own orgasm, causing her hips to lift off the floor. His mouth consumed hers as he kissed her slow and deep as her body shook beneath his. He swallowed her screams, allowing only her muffled cries of ecstasy to fill the silence.
Chapter Eighteen
Luke
“You never scream.” Another thrust. “You never cry.” Another disgusting grunt.
Luke squeezed his eyes shut and imagined that he was on a deserted island with Brennan and Gabe. He pictured them fishing from the surf, the sun kissing their sandy cheeks as they reeled in dinner. They would cook their catch over the fire and tell ghost stories. His brothers would try to be brave as Luke did his best to scare the shit out of them. Later, he would tuck his brothers in by the fire and kiss them goodnight. They would all sleep soundly because despite the ghost stories he told them, they knew there was no such thing as the boogie man, no such thing as…Warren.
“It’s because you know no one is listening. No one will believe you.” Warren gripped Luke’s chin and forced him to look at him. “It’s because no one cares.”
Luke jolted awake. Although the fire had died out he was covered in sweat. Peyton hadn’t moved; she was still sound asleep, nestled in his arms on his living room floor. She looked like an angel lying there curled into him, her legs entwined with his. But instead of the sight calming him or bringing the serenity he needed, especially after the nightmare he had just had, he was filled with dread and ultimately…acceptance. The fact that he had dreamt of Warren after sleeping with Peyton was all the confirmation he needed. If she knew the truth about Warren, the prostitutes he had slept with…Eden, she would leave him, but first she would most likely want to vomit, maybe actually do it. Because who wouldn’t? He needed to end this now. Before they were in too deep. Before he fell in love with her.
You’re already in love with her, asshole.
He gripped her tightly as that little voice in his head whispered the impossible. He couldn’t be in love with her. It was too soon. And he wasn’t built to fall in love. Panicked, he unraveled her from his body and slowly lifted her into his arms. Her hands found the back of his neck and she sighed. A small smile tugged at her lips as she nuzzled into his chest. He ached to kiss her, to feel her open for him and welcome him in. Sadness enveloped him and with the heaviest heart imaginable, he carried her into his bedroom.
***
It was only eight o’clock in the morning, but he had been awake for hours. Restless, Luke had dug Peyton’s car out of the snow, had run on his treadmill for an hour and showered. He was now sitting in his comfy living room chair, his feet propped up on the ottoman. His computer lay across his lap as he intended to get a lit
tle work done while Peyton slept, but he hadn’t touched it. He was too distracted and sickened over the fact that soon he would be telling the woman he was falling for that last night had been a mistake.
“Definitely one of my favorite looks. Where have you been hiding those?”
Her voice cut through his troublesome thoughts…his grief, and he looked up to find Peyton standing ten feet from him wearing only his white sheet. He rested his computer on the side table next to him. Before he could tell her to stop she walked over, kicked the ottoman away and dropped to her knees in front of him. “Just when I thought you couldn’t get any sexier, you go and wear these,” she said, removing his eyeglasses. She set his glasses on top of his computer and gazed into his eyes. “Good morning,” she said. Her hair fell in endless waves over her shoulders and down her back. Kneeling before him, her eyes drinking him in and appreciating what she was seeing, Peyton looked like a fucking goddess. A goddess he didn’t deserve.
“Peyton, I need…”
“Luke, let me show you what I need.” She tossed that white sheet to the ground. His traitorous body reacted, drawing a naughty smile from her mischievous lips. She gripped the waistband of his sweatpants and pulled them down past his knees, exposing his throbbing cock. She took him into her hands and licked the underside from root to glistening tip. He knew he should stop her, tell her that he couldn’t be with her again because he was ending things, but then she fed him into her mouth and all those chivalrous thoughts went out the window. He clutched the armrests as she took him to the back of her throat. Her tongue swirled and lapped while her lips applied the most amazing amount of pressure. “I want you to control this,” she said, peeling his fingers from the armrests and placing them on her head. “Please.”
She wanted him to set the pace? And she said please?
Although her leisurely licks were mind-blowing, he fisted her hair and thrust his hips. She didn’t flinch or choke but opened wider so he could fuck her hot mouth. She looked up at him, her mouth stuffed with his cock and met his eyes. His balls clenched in her hands. “Come here,” he demanded. She released his cock with a smack of her lips and he lifted her onto his lap so she could straddle him. “I’m coming inside you,” he said, lowering her onto his cock. She melted around him, her heat drawing him in.
“Too many clothes. Need you against me,” she said. She tore off his shirt but never missed a beat. She rode him hard, taking her pleasure, grinding her breasts against his chest. Forehead to forehead, they gazed into each other’s eyes. “You feel so good…like nothing I’ve ever felt before.” She didn’t break eye contact, not even when she bit her lip and clenched around him.
His own climax mounted, and he pounded up into her. “Peyton…” With one final thrust he emptied himself inside her. She rolled her hips, extracting each drop, draining him until he was dry and then collapsed against him. He buried his nose in her hair as she rested on his chest. He never wanted to forget her scent, how she felt as her body tried to calm down after she climaxed around him. He didn’t want to say goodbye to her.
Her fingers circled his neck and she sighed. That sound she made. Her exhale mixed with a contented whimper. It was so incredibly sexy. Her fingertips trailed down his back.
Maybe he didn’t have to say goodbye. Maybe he could try to…
Her fingers stilled over his raised flesh.
His throat went dry and his dick went limp inside her. Struggling for control, for air, he lifted her off him and stood. He didn’t look at her. He couldn’t out of fear of what he may see in her eyes. He yanked up his pants and threw his t-shirt back on as fast as he could, covering the scars on his back, the ones she had unintentionally ripped open. “I…I can’t do this. I thought I could, but…you need to leave.”
“What? I don’t understand. You want me to leave? Now? After we just…” Her voice cracked. She snatched the white sheet at his feet off the floor and covered herself. “Look at me, Luke. At least give me the fucking courtesy of saying that to my face!”
Standing before him, her cheeks flushed, her eyes ablaze, she looked like she was seconds away from slapping him across the face. He almost stuck out his chin as an invitation. Because he deserved it, he deserved the way she was looking at him. “I’m not the man…”
“I’m not the man for you?” she asked, cutting him off. Cutting him off at the knees. “Is that what you were about to say to me…again? Really?”
Almost a full minute passed as they stared at each other. Her lower lip started to tremble, and her eyes welled with tears. The realization that he had caused that, that she was shaking in pain and anger, gutted him.
“I didn’t take you for the use ’em and lose ’em type.” She folded her arms over her breasts. “How could I have missed that?”
“I didn’t use you, Peyton. That was never my intention.”
The words came spewing out before he could stop them. He should have kept his mouth shut and let her believe that. It would have been a hell of a lot easier.
“No? If it wasn’t to get off, then what was your intention?”
“Not this. I never intended to hurt you.”
His response drew a malicious laugh from her throat. “I’ve survived a lot worse than you, Luke.” With the remnants of a smile, one that made him nauseous, she gathered her sheet in her hand and disappeared into his bedroom. Just two minutes later, she emerged completely dressed in the outfit she had worn last night. She didn’t look at him as she walked across the room to the front door. As if he was invisible and not standing there watching his heart being ripped from his chest, she unlocked the front door and left without looking back.
Chapter Nineteen
Peyton
She needed to calm down and get control of her emotions. But no matter how hard she tried, those fucking tears spilled out, blurring her vision and making it nearly impossible to drive. About a mile from the winery, she pulled her car over to the side of the road and cried her eyes out. How could she have been so stupid? How did she not see it? He had played her so well, pursuing her, making her feel special and needed…only to tell her to leave his house seconds after he fucked her for the third time in twelve hours…after he finally got what he wanted. She had never felt so used and for her, that was saying something.
Peyton took a deep breath and dried her eyes with her shirt sleeve. She didn’t have time for this shit. She was running late, which would undoubtedly cause Lainey to worry. She needed to call her sister. Peyton grabbed her purse from the passenger seat and reached for her cell phone…which…fuck! Wasn’t there. She threw her purse back on the seat and slammed her fist against the steering wheel. Goddammit! There was no way she could go back to Luke’s and retrieve her phone. She had been humiliated enough.
Pissed, she pulled away from the curb and made her way to Lainey’s. The second she pulled in front of her sister’s house, Lainey came barreling out her front door. Peyton exited her rental car. “Oh, thank God! I was getting so worried. I tried calling you, texted you twice. Then I thought I may have screwed up our plans and I was supposed to meet you at the bakery or something,” Lainey said.
Peyton forced a smile. “Sorry. I think I may have lost my phone and I…”
“Peyton, what the hell is wrong?” Lainey desperately searched her eyes and then zeroed in on her tearstained cheeks. “You look like you’ve been crying.”
“No, I just got zero sleep last night,” she said, lying through her teeth. “And I’m a little cranky because I really don’t feel like traveling halfway across the world tomorrow. I’d much rather spend my time with you, not traipse down a runway.”
The worry in Lainey’s eyes dissipated somewhat, suggesting that she believed Peyton’s half-truth. She didn’t want to travel to Italy for work and leave her sister, but ‘cranky’ didn’t capture how she was feeling right now. Heartbroken, furious, gutted…those words painted a more accurate picture.
“You work too hard. After Naples, well, can you take some time
off?”
Yeah, she was taking time off alright…an indefinite leave of absence was what she needed.
“I’m seriously considering that.” Peyton reached for her sister’s hand. “Now, let’s get moving. Don’t want to keep Francesco waiting.”
Peyton started to pull Lainey toward her car when her sister said, “No way. I’m driving. You’re exhausted.”
Peyton indulged her sister and the two of them slipped into Lainey’s sedan and headed to Francesco’s bakery for the cake testing.
***
“How are we supposed to choose? They are all amazing. Even this one, and you know how much I hate white chocolate,” Lainey said, attacking her sliver of cake.
“So beautiful. How I love to see a woman eat!” Francesco’s eyes lit up as he emerged from what Peyton assumed was the kitchen with a second tray of cake slices. He uttered a few more sentences, but they were all in Italian. His smile grew, making it impossible not to smile back at the older but charming gentleman.
“You are making this decision very difficult, Francesco. Do you enjoy torturing us so?”
Francesco set two more plates in front of Peyton and Lainey. Buttercream icing topped one cake slice while the other was smothered in chocolate. The chocoholic that she was, Peyton stabbed at the chocolate slice and took a bite. It was so decadent, so rich. It was hands down the most delicious piece of cake she had ever tasted. “Mmm,” she moaned, finishing the last of her cake.
“That must be some piece of cake.”
She knew that voice, that velvety tone.
“Luke, my boy. So good to see you.” Francesco rounded the counter and gave Luke a hug. Peyton turned and stared at the two men.