Sultry with a Twist (22 page)

Luke brushed her hair back and gazed at her beneath heavy lids. He whispered her name and hesitated to say something more. Then he buried his face in the curve of her neck and brought both hands down to grasp her hips, fitting his thumbs to the indents there. “God, I love these dimples,” he murmured. “You were made for my hands.”

When he settled against her and eased inside, June’s eyes rolled back with pleasure. He toyed with her a moment, stoking her desire, teasing her swollen entrance with shallow strokes and pinning her to the bed when she tried bucking her hips to impale herself. Releasing her, he leaned on one elbow, whispering, “Look at me.”

She locked eyes with Luke, and at once he rewarded her, pulling back and then driving in to the hilt with one powerful thrust that filled her to bursting and knocked them both against the headboard.

A sharp gasp of ecstasy tore June’s lungs, the dull ache at her temple barely registering above the bliss. As she brought her knees up to take him impossibly deeper, Luke pulled back, withdrawing so slowly she felt every ridge and bulge along his hot, distended shaft. His fingers brushed her scalp, eyes searching her face with concern as she writhed beneath him, silently pleading for more.

“Are you okay?”

She trailed her hands down to his backside and took one firm cheek in each hand. “Don’t stop.” Tugging at his steely buttocks, she rocked forward, guiding him inside once again. He seemed to anticipate her every need, plunging deep and slow, before switching to hard, quick thrusts when her body demanded it. Her hands flitted along his lower back, cupping his muscles as they bunched and flexed with each pump of his hips. The rush of pleasure, the mounting pressure, told her she wouldn’t last much longer.

After a sensual kiss, Luke extended his arms and pushed away from her body, holding himself above her so she could watch each long, glistening stroke, but she pulled at his shoulders, needing to feel his weight. She wanted to be crushed, surrounded, engulfed by his warmth, his scent. “Stay here,” she whispered in a shuttering breath, wrapping arms and legs tightly around him.
Stay
here
forever
.

Luke lifted her just long enough to wrap one arm around her back, drawing them even nearer, before covering her with his body. Once again, he knew exactly what she needed, and when he ground against her in a circular motion, June swore loudly and arched her neck off the pillow. The tempo increased as they moved in perfect harmony, sharing the same heaving breaths, both soaring higher and higher toward the peak. With the next slamming thrust, June’s inner walls clenched in erotic spasms, and she cried out, feeling him twitch inside her as they both pulsed in hot release. The waves of pleasure continued to crash inside her, one coming and then another and another, until Luke drove himself deep and stiffened, holding there and muffling a cry against her shoulder.

His closeness, all the pleasure he’d given her, caused a swell of emotion to surge up, and June couldn’t stop the words leaping off her tongue. “I love you, Luke.” Remembering how those words had caused him to bolt once, she wanted to hold them inside, but she couldn’t stop. “I love you. I love you.” She fisted his long hair, holding on for life. “God, I love you so much.”

“Shhh,” he whispered, brushing her cheek with his thumb. He silenced her with a soft kiss, but
I
love
you
continued to move on her lips. He didn’t pull away, didn’t flinch. Instead, Luke caressed her face and alternated between gentle kisses and intimate gazes, maybe—hopefully—showing her what he couldn’t say.

After a few minutes, June drifted back to reality, once again able to control her tongue. But pressing her lips together to restrain the words didn’t make them any less true. She loved Luke Gallagher more than ever. If there’d once been a part of her soul she’d held aside for herself, he possessed it now. She was helpless, vulnerable, but the warmth and safety of his arms staved off the cold shiver of fear inside her belly.

“God, Junebug.” Luke’s heartbeat began to slow—she felt it against her breast—but he gripped her thigh and rocked against her, and the beats picked up speed. “It’s not enough. I don’t think it’ll ever be enough.” His tongue found her nipple, and she felt him grow thick and hard inside her again. “More?” he asked, with a lazy rotation of hips.

“Yes,” June whispered, matching each slow stroke. She’d give him more. She’d give him everything.

A sliver of moonlight escaped a gap between the curtains and cast a soft glow over June’s curls, picking up a mahogany hue Luke never saw during the day. He propped on one elbow and watched a strand of hair ebb and flow across her lips with each faint snore and exhale of breath. Smiling, he gently pushed it to the side. Shit like that would tickle him awake. She slept like a child, facedown with her mouth wide open, arms tucked beneath her chest. And she sure as hell deserved the rest. True to his word, he’d made love to her until they were both too weak to go on. So what was keeping him up now?

Adrenaline, maybe. Like a kid who gets a sugar buzz from eating a gallon of ice cream in one sitting, he’d gorged himself all day long. How did a guy come down from something like that? God, he wanted her again, right that second—had to restrain himself from waking her with hot kisses on the back of her neck. He felt like a horny teenager with testosterone oozing from every pore. Like that mythical box he’d learned about in school—Pandorama or whatever—he’d opened it, and nothing would ever be the same again. Especially since he’d broken down and allowed himself to feel June without the protective barrier of latex.

Even though she’d insisted they didn’t need one, Luke had used a condom each time, until they’d ended up in the shower. June had soaped him up real good, one place in particular, then rinsed him off and dropped to her knees to clamp those full, pouty lips around him. Steadying himself against the tile wall, he’d let her take him almost to the brink, and then stopped her. Something in him had shifted, no longer wanting the extra layer between them.
I
don’t want to come in your mouth
, he’d said and pulled her to standing.
I
want
to
come
here
—and dipped a finger inside—
so
you’ll feel me later against your thighs and remember everything I’m about to do to you
.

Then he’d settled her facing the bathroom mirror, propped her heel on the countertop, and entered her from behind, so she could watch every hot, wet stroke. He’d touched her where they joined, and she’d peaked again and again and again around his shaft. No sensation in the world had ever felt so good. As he gave, she took, burning a hole in the mirror with her gaze and repeating
I
love
you
like it was the only thing she knew how to say. It stripped him of all barriers, left him raw inside. And when she collapsed with the pleasure, he’d carried her like a rag doll back to bed and gathered her body against his, until they both fell asleep tangled in each other’s limbs.

There was no coming back from that. Nothing else—no other woman—would ever measure up. This realization didn’t exactly thrill him, but it was true all the same, and watching her sleep made his tense, knotted abdomen quiver. How could he let her go in a few days? Thinking about it made panic swell into his throat. Compulsively, he wrapped an arm around her waist and touched their foreheads together. Her hair smelled of his shampoo, her body of his sweat, and it brought a smile to his lips. For now, she belonged to him. Luke reminded himself of that fact and drifted back to sleep.

***

“Oh, sugar!” June’s shrill voice knocked him into consciousness, and he bolted upright, glancing around the room for trouble. Finding none, he squinted against the sunlight and turned to her.

“What?”

“I’ve been here all night! What’ll I tell Grammy?” A pink flush stained her cheeks, and the hair on one side of her head bunched above her temple like a bird’s nest. She clutched the sheet over her breasts, as if he hadn’t seen every inch of her body already.

“Well,” Luke said, moving in to nuzzle her shoulder and noticing the mark he’d left there last night, “you sure don’t want to tell her what I did to you in the kitchen with the molasses.”

“This is serious.” She palmed his chest and pushed him back.

Sure it was. A twenty-seven-year-old woman having sex—oh, the horror. Luke tried not to laugh. “Tell you what. I’ll call Pru and tell her I was too tired to drive you home last night. It’s not a total lie. I just won’t mention all the ways you tuckered me out.” Hopefully, Pru wouldn’t ask about the sleeping arrangements.

“Okay, I guess that—” June sat up straighter, her cheeks darkening from pink to scarlet. Taking her wrist in his hand, Luke felt her pulse quicken and raised one brow as a silent question. “You’re um,” she said, darkening from scarlet to maroon, “getting what you wanted.”

He pulled her palm to his lips, unable to deny he had everything he wanted.

June cleared her throat. “I mean, last night in the shower. When you said I’d feel you later on the skin between my”—cleared her throat again—“and remember what you did to me.”

Male pride coursed through Luke’s veins and sent a smile in motion across his lips. “Happy memory?”

“Very.”

Pulling the sheet away, Luke leaned in and swept kisses along the top of her shoulder. “We should make some more.” He trailed a hand over her breast, tightening her nipple to a bud, and continued lower, all the way down. “Memories.” But when he eased a finger inside, June gasped and flinched back.

He drew his hand away, feeling like the world’s biggest ass. Of course she was sore—he’d ravaged her like a friggin’ animal for the last twenty hours. “Sorry, hon.” He took her face in his palms and kissed each cheek. “Hop in the shower if you want. I’ll put on some coffee and call Pru.” And he’d keep his hands to himself, until she made the next move.

***

Standing back from the steaming shower jets, June hesitated a moment, reluctant to wash Luke’s scent from her skin. It was silly, of course. She’d probably heal and feel ready for intimacy again by nightfall, and even if she didn’t, he’d wrap her in his arms and his scent again. Maybe a small part of her was afraid he’d run away, and this would be the last time his essence would surround her so completely. Time to be brave, to have some faith.She moved forward and let the hot water carry away the physical evidence of their lovemaking.

When she stepped out of the shower and dried off, she noticed her clothes neatly folded on the countertop. She smiled, realizing she’d worn them less than an hour yesterday. Technically, they were still clean.

She padded down the stairs and into the kitchen in bare feet, while breathing in the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Luke used the good stuff, she could tell. When he turned and offered her a mug, June’s eyes automatically scanned his face for any signs of regret. He smiled—the signature Luke smile that crinkled his face and sucked the air from her lungs—and she sighed in relief. He kissed the side of her neck and pushed something into her palm.

“Ibuprofen,” he said. “I don’t keep much food around, but I tried to make you breakfast.” He gestured to a sandwich stuffed full of deli meat, and June’s stomach rumbled at the sight. She popped the pills into her mouth, washed them down with a swallow of coffee, and attacked the sandwich. Turkey, her favorite.

“Your grandma gave me a tongue lashing for not calling last night, but other than that, everything’s fine. She wanted me to give you a message. Your partner called this morning.”

“Oh, Esteban?” she said with her mouth full. She’d forgotten all about him.

“I guess.” Luke shrugged, pursing his lips in a quick show of disdain. “Said don’t worry about anything today, just rest up, and talk to him tomorrow.” She wondered if Luke’s reaction was fueled by jealousy, or reluctance for her return to Austin. Or both.

“He’s just a friend, you know.” Setting her breakfast down, she stepped toward Luke. “And old enough to be my father.”

“None of my business.”

June smoothed her fingers up and down the length of his bare chest and then wrapped her arms around his waist. “I like to think it is.” She rested her chin beneath his shoulder and peered at the stubble darkening his jaw.

His arms tightened around her, and he kissed the top of her head. “We need to get outta here soon. I listed the house while you were in the hospital. Four showings today.”

“What?” June’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. She glanced at the dirty dishes in the sink and the unswept floor. Had anyone finished planting the flowers out front? She hadn’t even walked through the rest of the house to see that everything was in order. “How long do we have?”

“Two hours, but you’re not lifting a finger. We agreed.”

June told him where to shove his agreement, and after a quick and heated exchange of words, Luke relented. He tackled the floors while she washed dishes and made beds. When June suggested picking wildflowers to add to the vase on the kitchen table, Luke volunteered for that chore, probably fearing she’d draw every snake within ten miles with her siren call of rotten luck. The mulch bed along the front walkway had already been finished, lined with mums, and spread with cedar chips. Though she’d wanted to add some evergreen bushes and ground cover, June had to admit the landscaping already had a simplistic, cozy feel.

They walked out to Luke’s truck, and he pulled her close. “Let’s go fishing,” he said. “Just you and me. I don’t wanna share you today.”

June smiled up at him, not particularly wanting to be shared. “Catch and release, and I’m not baiting my own hook.”

“Deal.”

Thirty minutes later, they parked in Grammy’s driveway and stopped inside to say hello and grab a quilt and picnic basket.

“
There
you are.” Gram turned from her place at the kitchen sink, waving a dish towel at them. “Worried me sick!”

“I’m sorry.” June paused to yawn. “I fell right into bed and forgot to call.” Technically, it was the truth.

“Hey,” Luke argued, holding up one defensive hand, “you already yelled at me today. I’m gonna get the fishing gear.” He kissed June on the head and scurried out the back door, escaping a lecture in the process.

If the kiss took Gram by surprise, she didn’t let it show. Drying her soapy hands, she shook her head and muttered under her breath, “Mm-hmm. Fell right in-ta bed.” She made a
come
here
motion. “No more bandage? Lemme see.”

June obeyed, and after Grammy had inspected the wound to her satisfaction, she held out her arms for a quick hug.

“Good to have ya home,” Gram said, nodding at the back door. “Now go on, and catch up with Lucas, but remember”—she lifted one finger in warning—“you’re sleepin’ in your own bed tonight. Y’understand me?”

June suppressed a smile. “Yes, ma’am.”

***

She met Luke at the shed, and they walked hand-in-hand to the pond. A slight chill on the breeze hinted of fall’s arrival, but the sun warmed the back of June’s neck. The scents of freshly mown grass, cedar trees, and Luke’s aftershave swirled inside her head, and she wished she could bottle the smell and breathe it in on cold, dark days when life seemed bleak. It was more soothing than any drink she’d ever mixed.

Luke wasn’t really interested in fishing. June could tell from his choice of bait: a pair of discarded rubber worms coated in faded pink glitter that looked less appetizing than pond sludge. Had he been serious, he’d dig for night crawlers in the rich soil beside the pond, or trap a few crickets in the underbrush. But that suited her just fine. She wasn’t really interested in fishing either. While he cast their lines into the water and situated the poles between two heavy rocks near the cattails, June spread the patchwork quilt in the shaded grass.

Soon, they cuddled together on the blanket, Luke on his back with one arm folded beneath his head, and June snuggled beside him, wrapped in his other arm. She rested her palm on his chest and felt his heart beat slow and steady, and for several minutes, they said nothing. At one point, he claimed her arm, studied what remained of her bite wound, and brushed a kiss over the two tiny scabs there. Some swelling remained, pink and puckered, but all things considered, she’d escaped relatively unscathed.

A chorus of mating calls croaked, buzzed, and chirped from the shallow water, and June smiled, figuring love was in the air today. Which brought a question to her lips.

“Do you believe me when I say I love you?”

If she hadn’t felt Luke’s muscles stiffen, she would’ve repeated herself. But he heard. He understood.

After a long minute, he said, “I believe that you believe it.” She turned his words over in her mind while he absently stroked her arm. “You love the man you think I am,” he continued, “but not the real me. You don’t know the real me. There’s not much to love.”

June’s pulse quickened. She hated to hear him talk like that. It wasn’t just the dismissal of her feelings, but Luke’s genuine disdain for himself. It both angered and saddened her. “Let’s pretend we never grew up together,” she said, propping herself on one elbow. “That we met for the first time when I came back to town. This is what I’d see: a man who works hard to help his neighbors—not for money, or because the court ordered him to—but because it’s the right thing to do. A man who takes care of his friends. He makes sure I get home okay after work. He’s patient. And a generous lover. Really, really generous.”

Luke smirked and tugged her on top of him. “You’re confusing generosity with greed.” His hands traveled down the length of her back and settled on her bottom. “I’d be inside you right now, if you weren’t so sore.”

“Don’t change the subject.” June kissed him softly. “I know the man I’m in love with. Better than he knows himself.”

“You think so?” He rolled her back onto the blanket and leaned up, looking out over the murky water. His voice darkened. “Ever heard of an OTH?”

“No.”

“Other Than Honorable. It’s how I was discharged from the army.”

June’s mouth fell open, not from disapproval, but because she couldn’t believe he was talking about it. Caressing his arm encouragingly, she asked, “What happened?”

“The short version? I beat the shit out of my commanding officer.”

She couldn’t stop her brows from ratcheting skyward. But she knew Luke. He must’ve had a good reason. “And the long version?”

He pulled in a deep breath and sighed loudly before glancing down at her. “You really wanna know?” When she nodded, he eased back onto the quilt. He took her hand and splayed her fingers, fidgeting with them as he spoke. “I told you a little about my ex-wife, Ada. How it was really bad between us?” June nodded, and he continued. “When I knew it wasn’t gonna work, I asked for an annulment, but she wouldn’t have it. Probably ’cause she hadn’t gotten her green card yet. Anyway, she’d been sleeping around behind my back. I think she knew I’d divorce her, and she wanted to snag another soldier first—someone who’d bring her back to the states. An officer this time. Eventually, she hooked one. My boss.”