B00VQNYV1Y (R) (6 page)

Other women had seen it. Countless other women.

And in that moment she hated those bitches.

A small smile curved his lips, his eyes softening for a moment. “Mel, I’m going to need for us to get to a bed, or I’m going to put you up on the kitchen counter and knock cake all over the floor.”

Suddenly, she saw the stranger intertwine with the familiar. With her friend. And she felt smug because sure, those other women had had the sex god, but they didn’t have
him
.

“Well, we have to save the cake.” Suddenly she found herself being lifted off the ground again, thrown over his shoulder as he done last night at the bar. “Luke!” she squeaked. “This is becoming a really bad habit.”

This time, he slid his hands up to cup her butt. “Yeah, but I’ve also discovered it’s really effective. So I’ll probably keep doing it.”

He carried her down the hall, to the back bedroom. The curtains were open wide, the windows facing out over the empty lake, evergreen branches crossing over the view, providing a little bit of privacy. Luke didn’t seem all that concerned. Not about the sun filtering in like a golden spotlight, not about being seen, not about anything. Which was good, because she had quite a few concerns. It was nice to be with someone who seemed completely at ease.

She found the world inverting again as she landed on her back on the bed, Luke still standing to the side of it. Then he gripped the bottom of his black T-shirt, and wrenched it over his head. Her mouth went dry and she curled her fingers tightly in the quilt that covered the bed, needing something to anchor her to the earth. She’d seen him shirtless before. Countless times. And she always had to pause and check him out. His muscles were well-defined, his chest broad, his waist trim, just the right amount of dark hair sprinkled over his tan skin. But this was different. Now, she could look. Really look. She didn’t have to disguise it, didn’t have to hide just how much she liked what she saw.

Even better than that, she could touch him.

She pushed into a sitting position, scooting to the edge of the bed, pressing her hand against his stomach, trailing her fingers over his ab muscles. “Oh, good Lord, Luke,” she breathed.

He laughed, the motion causing his muscles to shift beneath her touch. “I hope that’s positive.”

She didn’t say anything, instead she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his hot skin, arousal piercing her like an arrow. She looked up, her eyes clashing with his. He was like a man carved from stone now, his brows locked tightly together, his mouth set into a firm line, his eyes nearly black. “Does that answer your question?”

He planted one knee on the mattress beside her thigh, and leaning in, he gripped her chin with his thumb and forefinger and tilted her face up higher, capturing her mouth with his. She thought her heart was going to beat right out of her chest. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Right now. With Luke.

Luke. Luke. Luke.
His name beat along with her heart, over and over again, bringing up her arousal, drowning out the nerves that were threatening to close in.

He pushed her onto her back, covering her body with his, settling between her thighs. Her feet were still hanging off the bed, and he still had one foot on the floor. But that didn’t matter. This was all working just fine. He sifted his fingers through her hair, rolling his hips forward slowly, his arousal making contact with the bundle of nerves at the apex of her thighs, making her internal muscles clench tight, sending a streak of white-hot pleasure through her veins.

“This is going to be better than cake,” he said, his tone intimate, husky. Something else new. Something else special.

“Gluten free?”

“I think sex is naturally gluten free.”

She laughed, which, considering her best friend was currently resting between her thighs, kissing her neck, was a bit absurd. “I guess it would have to be, or Hollywood would be a very different place.”

“Yeah, I suppose.” A small smile curved his mouth again and she stretched up, kissing him, because she couldn’t resist, and she didn’t have to.

He grabbed hold of her wrists, raising them over her head, his hold surprisingly firm. “I’m going to need to get those clothes off you, because I think I’m going to go crazy wondering just what you look like.”

“I didn’t think you would be like this.”

“Be like what?” He frowned, a deep crease forming between his eyebrows.

“You’re very commanding. I mean, you’re always kind of commanding, but it’s different right now.” He was so confident in this, clearly, an area of expertise for him, and she’d had no idea. She wasn’t going to say that though. Because it sounded stupid.

“Do you like it?” he asked, pressing his fingertips to her collarbone, then trailing them slowly down between her breasts, down to her belly button, lower.

She gasped. “It’s adequate.”

“Adequate?” His brows shot upward. “Really? That’s it?”

“I don’t know. Keep going.”

“Damned with faint praise.” He undid the snap on her jeans and her breath caught as he lowered the zipper, tugging the denim, and her panties down her legs. “Oh fuck,” he breathed, the word sounding like a prayer more than a curse. And for the first time she really believed that he wanted this.

She was so fascinated by all of this, so curious about what might happen next, that she forgot to be embarrassed about the fact she was completely bare to him from the hips down. She was too busy watching his face, looking at the hunger in his eyes.

He put his hand down between her legs and she gasped as his fingers slid through her slick folds, a shower of sparks raining down over her with each passing of his talented fingers over her sensitized skin. She curled her hands around the quilts again, her hips bucking off the bed as he continued to tease her. His lips were parted slightly, his dark eyes boring into hers as he stroked her.

Her eyelids fluttered closed, and she tried to force them open. She wanted to keep looking at him. Wanted to stay entirely present in this moment. Then he shifted, pushing one long finger deep inside of her, and she gave up, squeezing her eyes shut, letting her head fall back, a cry on her lips. She lost herself completely then, in his touch, his scent, in the desire that was tightening like a fist inside her stomach.

She rocked her hips in time with his movements, pleasure building, so fast, so intense, that she wasn’t certain she could withstand it. She gasped for air, trying to catch her breath, trying to fight back against the full-fledged assault being waged on her body. And just when she thought she would lose it, lose herself, break into tiny little pieces, the tension in her midsection burst, transforming into a million glittering stars that rained down through her as her release crackled through her body like an electric shock. She couldn’t hold back the short, sharp sound of need, and she didn’t care.

Slowly, as she came back to earth, back to her body, she opened her eyes. He was looking at her, something a lot like awe etched onto his handsome face. And she realized that he still had his jeans on, and she was still wearing her top.

“More,” she said. It wasn’t what she meant to say, but she couldn’t even think of what she meant to say. Her brain had been rendered completely useless by Luke’s magic hands.

He stripped her T-shirt over her head, unhooking her bra with a speed that spoke of skill, skill that she could only be grateful for now, before taking his wallet out of his pocket and throwing it on to the bed, then straightening and working his belt buckle, removing his jeans quickly and efficiently, and his underwear along with them.

She scrambled into a sitting position, unable to keep herself from openly staring at the sight of his naked body. He was… He was everything. More beautiful than she’d ever imagined any man could be. And big. Very, very big. She reached out, encircling his length, squeezing him tightly.

“Mel,” he said, her name rough on his lips.

“Do you know that you’re beautiful?” she asked. Dimly, she was a little embarrassed that she’d said that. Men weren’t beautiful.

Except he was. So it was just the truth.

She bit her lip, overtaken with the desire to do something she wasn’t entirely sure she should do. She had no experience. She’d never been this close to a naked guy before. And they hadn’t talked about what they liked. What he liked. This was about her losing her virginity, so maybe he didn’t want her to go touching him.

Too bad. This was her experience. So she was going to take what she wanted.

She leaned in, pressing her lips to the thick head of his arousal.

Suddenly, Luke’s fingers were threaded through her hair, pulling hard, his hold so tight it stung her scalp. “Mel. You don’t have to do that. This is about you.”

“Exactly,” she said, angling her head and tracing the length of him with the tip of her tongue. “It’s about me. And I want to do this. Luke, I want to touch every inch of you. Taste every inch of you. You have no idea…” She stopped talking then, because if she said anything else it would be too revealing.

As if begging the guy to let you give him a blow job isn’t revealing?

Yeah, it probably was. But, oh well.

She shifted, bracing her hands on his slim hips, taking him deep in her mouth. His hold on her hair tightened, a rough growl rising in his throat. Satisfaction flooded her, along with arousal that was building again, so much sooner than she ever would have thought possible.

“Mel,” he said, his words strained, “Stop. Not like this. I need to be… I need to be inside you.”

She raised her head. “Well, technically you were inside me.”

She found herself flat on her back again, this time lying the correct direction on the bed, Luke looming over her. “You have a smart mouth. Luckily, you have a talented mouth too. That way you stay out of trouble.”

“I don’t know,” she said, looking up at him, at this naked man in her bed, “this looks a lot like trouble to me.”

He reached to the side and grabbed his wallet, taking a brightly colored square packet out of it. It was a condom. She recognized it. They were going to need that.

Oh, they were really doing this.

But she wasn’t nervous, and she wasn’t going to regret it. She wanted it. Wanted this. Wanted him.

He opened the condom, rolling it over his length slowly, then shifting, putting his hand between her thighs again, sliding one finger into her, then a second, stretching her slowly, gently. She never would have thought of that. She wondered if random guy from the bar would have done that for her. He wouldn’t have. She was sure of that. What Luke was doing took consideration, caring.

Suddenly, her chest felt so full it ached. And she realized that doing this with anyone else would’ve been a mistake. She didn’t just want sex, she wanted Luke. How she’d ever been so blind to that she wasn’t sure.

Because she’d decided it was impossible. But it hadn’t been impossible. He was here. They were here together.

He withdrew from her, settling between her thighs again, kissing her lips as he tested the entrance to her body slowly, carefully with the blunt head of his erection. He flexed his hips, stretching her inch by tantalizing inch. It stung, but only a little bit. It didn’t hurt, so much as it felt unfamiliar.

She felt him tense, then suddenly he thrust into her completely, a harsh growl on his lips as he buried himself in her body.

She squeezed her eyes shut tight, suddenly overwhelmed with a feeling of fullness that went well beyond the physical. He held her hips steady as he established a slow, measured rhythm, designed to build arousal and heat in her body again. It worked. Soon, she forgot about any discomfort, any pain. Soon, the pleasure had built to that impossible place again, so big, so tight, she was sure it would break her completely if she didn’t find release.

But this time, he was with her. This time, she could feel the tension in his muscles, see how tightly he was gritting his teeth, the tendons on his neck standing out with all the effort it was taking to control himself. But he was close to losing it. Close, just like her.

“Luke,” she whispered, as he thrust deep inside her again, his pelvis grinding against her in exactly the right way, “Oh, Luke, so good. So good.”

Then, his control broke, his movements suddenly becoming frantic, hard, so intense she could barely catch her breath. But she didn’t mind. “I’m sorry, Mel,” he whispered, burying his head in her neck as he froze above her, his muscles shaking, “Sorry.”

But she couldn’t figure out what he was apologizing for because just then the wave of pleasure broke over her, pushing her beneath the surface, threatening to drown her in sensation so sweet she didn’t even mind.

Dimly, she became aware of the fact that it was the middle of the day. That she could hear birds outside the window. That Luke was still inside of her.

And that she was absolutely, most definitely, not a virgin anymore.

Chapter Five

‡

H
ELL LOOKED A
lot more like a handmade quilt than Luke had imagined it would. Surely, he was in Hell.

Because he’d just screwed his best friend, the woman he’d sworn to protect. Bad no matter how you looked at it. But the icing on the damned gluten-free sex cake was that she was a virgin. Had been a virgin. She wasn’t one now.

Thanks to him and his indiscriminate cock.

Actually, his cock had been rather discriminate of late. But it should have been more discriminating. It should have saved him from this. Instead, it had encouraged him.

So, now he’d surely be consumed by hellfire.

Except he didn’t feel consumed by hellfire. He felt good. Damn good. Relaxed and about ready to go again.

No
.

He moved away from her, from the heat of her body, rolling onto his back.

“Luke.” Her voice was soft, and the touch of her hand on his chest even softer. He was an asshole. He was supposed to protect her. He was—

He couldn’t think anymore because she’d moved her hand down a lot lower than his chest. He caught her wrist and pulled her hand away. “Mel,” he said, his tone full of warning. “We need to be careful here.”