Feels Like Falling (Dangerous Love Book 5)

by Elle Keating

  Having worked in a diner, Peyton was well-acquainted with biscuits smothered in gooey goodness. Needing two hands to tackle her snack, which was really a meal that could have fed a family of four, she attempted to set her mug on the coffee table, only to watch it slip through her fingers and crash onto the table. By some miracle the mug didn’t break, but she sure as shit caused a mess.

  “Damnit!” she screamed.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Luke said with a chuckle. “I’ll grab some paper towels.

  Peyton placed her creamed chipped beef down and practically dove to rescue the packet of papers lying on the coffee table. She scooped them up, but the damage was already done. Her eyes zeroed in on the words “contract” and “attorney” and she immediately felt sick. Thanks to her klutziness, she had most likely destroyed important legal documents. She gave the papers a good shake and was about to take them over to the fireplace to see if she could dry them out when Luke’s name jumped off the page and snagged her attention and coaxed her to read more. After several lines it was obvious that she had indeed stumbled upon a legal contract, one that would finalize the sale of a New York City property for a Luke McGinnis and one Ashton Coe.

  “Here we go. I figure we’d need the whole roll of paper towels,” he said his voice playful. She turned and faced him only to see his boyish smirk fade completely as his gaze went straight to the papers she was holding.

  “I’m sorry, Luke,” she said, offering him the soggy document.

  “Oh, that’s no big deal. I have an electronic copy.” Luke forced a smile and took the papers. He didn’t look at the damage but set the packet on the mantle above the fireplace. He then went to the coffee table and started to clean up her mess.

  “Please let me help,” she said.

  She was once again met with that forced smile, the one that didn’t quite reach his eyes, and he handed her a wad of towels. Each second of silence that ensued while they cleaned the table was like nails on a chalkboard. Something was off. It was as if the atmosphere had changed, the feeling you get right before the downpour. And though she couldn’t say with certainty what that something was, she knew it had to do with that contract. That distant look in his eye, the same one she had seen on several occasions before Italy, had returned.

  “Luke, are you buying property in New York?” she asked, soaking up one of the many puddles of milk.

  His hand stilled for a second and then resumed first patting and then giving the table a swipe. “The deal’s not final, but I’m considering it.” His voice was steady, as if he had practiced those two lines. He also didn’t look at her.

  “And Ashton Coe?”

  “She’s a business partner of mine. The New York property would be the second property we’ve purchased and turned into…an investment.”

  “Like property flipping?”

  “Something like that,” he said. “I’ll take that,” he said, nodding to the balled-up paper towels in her hands. She handed them over and he disappeared into the kitchen.

  Ashton Coe.

  How could saying this woman’s name in her head hurt her ears?

  She was being paranoid. That’s all. It was natural to get spooked when things started to fall into place. Lainey was getting married and was happier and stronger than Peyton had ever seen her. Luke had entered her life and proved that she could love and be loved and cherished. And Gus was moving on with his life after losing Gina by involving himself with his church and charity work. She needed to stop waiting for the other shoe to drop and enjoy the wonderful things that were happening in her life.

  Luke reappeared a minute later but this time, instead of a glass of milk, he held two glasses of wine. “Not sure if white wine goes with creamed chip beef, but I say what the hell.” That sexy smile she was madly in love with lit up the room, snuffing out all those stupid fears she had foolishly let in. He set the wine glasses on the coffee table and handed her the plate of creamed chip beef.

  “Thanks,” she said, taking a bite. It was absolutely delicious and though she would never say it aloud, it put Gus’s shit on a shingle to shame. “To answer your question…you know the one you asked before I decided to drown your living room in milk…Gus is actually fine with us living together. He’s very religious and a pretty traditional guy, but when he saw how lost I was when you left after dinner…well, he just knew.”

  “Knew what?” he asked, scooping up a mound of the creamed chip beef with a piece of biscuit.

  “That there was no other place I wanted to be than with you.”

  That easy playful smirk morphed into a sexy, heated, I’m-going-to-fuck-you one. “Say that again,” he demanded, placing his plate on the table, never taking his eyes off hers.

  Somehow with just a look, he had siphoned all the breath out of her. Without realizing it, the plate on her lap was no more and he was on top of her, ripping off the boyshorts and tank top she had slipped on after their last round of lovemaking. With one hand, he yanked off his white t-shirt and pulled his lounge pants down just enough to allow his cock to spring forward. The sight of his hard length, of the glistening head, triggered her primal need to receive him and she spread her legs.

  “There’s no other place I want to be than here…with you, Luke.”

  The need in his eyes, the desire that he never hid from her, made her core throb and a rush of liquid form between her thighs. He inserted a finger into her heat and gasped as she clamped down around him. “So fucking wet,” he said, his voice a strangled groan. His thumb caressed her clit while one finger, and then a second, did their magic, driving her dangerously close to the edge. She thrust her hips, timing it perfectly, and rode his hand until he pulled out and replaced his fingers with his cock.

  “Oh God! Yes!” she screamed, loving the pleasure-pain she experienced every time he entered her, every time she stretched to accommodate his massive cock.

  “Nothing has ever felt this good,” he said through uneven pants. “Nothing has ever felt this right.” Peyton arched her back, grabbed his ass and forced him inside, farther, deeper.

  There was no slow buildup. No wave she struggled to surmount. Her orgasm ripped through her, taking her under, never once letting her up for air as she gasped and panted and cursed for more. His groans and the feel of his heat drenching her inner walls made her spiral out of control until she felt like she was flying, swept up in one orgasm after another.

  Still connected, her body pinned beneath him, he collapsed on top of her and in his exhale she heard it. He was at peace.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Peyton

  It was midmorning before Peyton opened her eyes and rolled over, only to come face to face with an empty bed. She remembered drifting off to sleep on the living room couch as she lay draped across Luke’s bare chest, but she had no recollection of how she ended up in his bedroom. Clearly, he had exhausted her.

  Luke strolled into the bedroom with a mischievous grin, carrying two travel mugs. “Good morning.”

  Peyton sat up but quickly realized that she was buck naked. His eyes were glued to her breasts when she gave him a sheepish “Morning.” His eyes darkened before his gaze slowly rose to her face. He cleared his throat and gave his head a little shake. She loved that she had caught him gawking, but she adored how cute he looked as he tried to cover it up and regain his composure.

  “So what were you planning on doing today?” he asked, sidling up beside her in bed. He handed her one of the travel mugs as he took a sip from his own.

  You. I would like to have you all day, if you really want to know.

  She imagined that he would have appreciated her unspoken answer, but she kept quiet, as she had a feeling that he had already made plans outside the four walls of his bedroom. “Not sure. Why?” she asked, unable to conceal her growing smile. “Did you have something in mind?”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.” Luke grabbed the mug out of her hand and then set both coffees on the nightstand. “But I think the v
ixen in my bed wishes for something else first.”

  All she could get out was a “Yes, please,” before her sheet was torn away completely and his body enveloped hers.

  ***

  Luke

  A little over an hour later, Luke and Peyton were walking through a Christmas tree farm holding hands and sipping coffee that they had to reheat in the microwave due to their impromptu midmorning romp. But there had been no way he wasn’t going to have her again. Sitting in his bed, that white sheet drooping low enough to see the swell of her tits and that come-and-maul-me look she had in her eye, Peyton was the drug he would never be able to kick. He was just so fucking grateful that her libido rivaled his own. Otherwise, he would be walking around with a hard-on all day long.

  “How about this one?” she asked, tugging him along until he stood before a tree that had to be over nine feet tall. Her eyes sparkled as she scoped out the Frasier Fir. For whatever reason, he had awoken this morning with the idea of going out and claiming their tree, the one they would cut down and decorate later as a couple. Moments before asking her if she was game, seconds after he had come inside her for the umpteenth time in a matter of hours, he had been second-guessing himself, thinking that she might think it was corny that he wanted to do this very couple-like activity. So when he finally got the nerve and suggested that they go tree hunting, he was relieved to see the smile on her face and the way she grabbed him and kissed him until he couldn’t see straight.

  It was while he was cutting down that mammoth tree and tossing it into the bed of his pickup that they shared their holiday traditions with each other. He told her how his family usually gathered for Christmas dinner at his parents’ house. The evening was always casual, no dressy clothes allowed. They would eat delicious home-cooked food, drink wine, and more often than not watch Jake play football on television. His parents and siblings missed having Jake at the table, but they knew how important his career was to him and how hard he had worked to get where he was. So, no one, not even his parents, would give him grief about missing Christmas dinner if the Eagles were scheduled to play that day.

  Peyton, as he learned, at least at the beginning stages of her career, often was unable to come home for the holidays due to work. But as she grew more famous and made more money, she realized that she could start calling the shots, which meant that for the past several Christmas Eves she had spent that night with Gus, Lainey and Walt. They would go to Christmas Eve Mass together and then head home for a quiet dinner with the movie It’s a Wonderful Life playing in the background. Afterward they would get into their pajamas, decorate the tree and eat Christmas cookies until they felt sick.

  With the exception of the getting sick part, he thought her Christmas Eve tradition was great. Which meant he didn’t want their relationship to disrupt her preexisting plans. But he also didn’t want to be away from her that night. Christmas Eve was several days away, so he had time to think about how to broach the subject of how they would spend the holidays and where.

  Once the tree was secured they climbed into the truck and made their way back home. His mind was still on the holidays and the thought that he may not be included in her plans when he felt her hand on his thigh. With one hand on the steering wheel, his other hand encased hers and gave it a squeeze. As if reading his mind, she saved him from worrying when she asked, “Would you spend Christmas Eve with me and my family? I’m not sure if you go to church, but I was wondering…”

  “I would love to. And yes, I typically do go to church on Christmas Eve.” He glanced over at her and was met with one of her breathtaking smiles. “Would you be willing to have Christmas dinner with my family? I really want you to meet everyone, especially my mom and dad.”

  “Like I said this morning… there’s no place I’d rather be than with you.” Peyton snuggled into his shoulder and he kissed the top of her head.

  He almost followed her contented sigh with one of his own when he thought about what she had almost uncovered last night as she attempted to rescue that damn contract from being saturated by her spilled milk. How could he have been so careless? Leaving it out like that. To chance that she might discover that he was linked to Ashton Coe, the owner of five, soon to be six, sex clubs.

  He couldn’t go on living what felt like a double life. He wasn’t that man anymore, the kind of man who fulfilled his needs by sleeping with faceless women. Peyton had changed him and made him realize that he deserved love, that he was capable of making a woman like her happy.

  She was happy. With him.

  He decided right then and there that she would never know about Eden. In time Luke would eventually get the courage to tell her about Warren and the hell he had lived through. He would share that piece of his past, how disgusting he felt whenever that bastard touched him, violated him. He would answer any questions she may have about that awful period of his life.

  But Eden? The prostitutes? No, he could never tell her how he had coped and risk losing her. Because he would. She would be gone the second she learned about them. Which meant it was time to permanently and legally cut all ties with Ashton.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Peyton

  Luke was either trying to fatten her up or just loved to cook because she awoke the next morning to the smell of eggs and scrapple. She smiled as she shuffled out of bed and threw on the t-shirt and shorts she had been wearing for all of five minutes last night before Luke insisted that naked was a better look for her. A delicious dull ache between her legs caused her to wince a little, but she loved the pain and why she was walking to the kitchen a little slower than usual. But the slight discomfort she was feeling evaporated the minute she rounded the corner and saw a shirtless Luke spooning a mountain of eggs onto each of the two plates on the island.

  “You’re up early,” she said, drinking him in. She would never get enough of him. He was absolutely gorgeous.

  “I have a little work to take care of at the winery, but I shouldn’t be too late. Would you like to go out to dinner tonight or stay in?” he asked, his brow raised and his lips curled to form a naughty smile.

  Stay in. Definitely.

  Before she could answer with a smile that told him that she very much wanted to order in and shut the world out, Peyton heard her phone vibrate on the coffee table. “I better grab that. It’s probably Lainey confirming our appointment with the wedding photographer this morning.” Peyton picked up her phone and looked at the incoming number. It was a local number, but she didn’t recognize it. Knots formed and twisted in her stomach as she stared at those digits. Her thumb hovered over the dismiss button for a few seconds before biting the bullet and accepting the call.

  The second she heard the policeman’s voice, the same officer she had spoken to when she had called and reported that Shelby had violated her parole, she knew.

  “When did you find her?” Peyton asked.

  The officer cleared his throat. “Around three a.m. this morning. We wanted to be sure it was her before we called you. The coroner reported that she died of a drug overdose…heroin.”

  Heroin. Though her mother had dabbled in numerous drugs when Peyton was a kid, heroin had always been her drug of choice.

  “If you want to come view the bod…uh, your mother…she will be at the Bay Bridge Hospital morgue, at least until tomorrow. I can meet you there if you…”

  “No, I don’t need to see her. I said my goodbyes a long time ago.” Peyton waited for the tears to come, to feel something that resembled compassion, but she couldn’t bring herself to mourn the woman who had nearly destroyed her. Peyton took a deep breath and said, “But thank you, Officer…for offering.”

  “Not a problem,” he said.

  Peyton was just about to end the call when she happened to look down and saw her splayed fingers pressed against the kitchen counter, at how familiar they were.

  “We have the same hands, Mom. Look! Our pinkies both curve up a little. Isn’t that neat?” Peyton asked, looking up at her mom.
Her mom had just finished her shift at the 7-11 down the street and was kicking off her sneakers when Peyton thrust her pinky finger in her face.

  “Yes, baby. They are the same,” she said, smiling and looping her pinky with Peyton’s. “Now go grab a book for me to read to you and Lainey.”

  Peyton shook her head at the sweet memory. There were only a handful of those that she could still remember. “Officer, please have the hospital bills sent to me.” She swallowed the lump that had formed as she remembered one of those times her mother had acted like a mother and cared for her. “I will also be the one making the funeral arrangements.”

  “I understand. Then we’ll be in touch soon.”

  Peyton thanked the man and ended the call.

  Peyton didn’t get a chance to even set her phone down on the counter when Luke came over and wrapped his arms around her. He didn’t say anything. He just stroked her hair and let her bury her face into his chest. She expected the tears to come or at least pool and make her eyes burn, but they didn’t. Her breaths remained slow and steady. “Now it’s over,” she murmured.

  Luke pulled her closer into his protective embrace before he looked down and raised her chin with two fingers. His eyes searched hers before he pressed his lips gently to hers. It was soft, with no hint of passion or hunger behind it, but it was the sweetest kiss she had ever experienced. This man knew all her dark secrets, the ugliness, and he loved her anyway. Luke smiled and his hand fell away from her chin. He then withdrew his phone from his pocket and started to dial someone. “I’m just going to give one of my employees a call. Ask him to cover for me at the winery.”