Suddenly she stopped, and when she opened her eyes, they were damp with the threat of tears. “My mother taught me those moves.”
“Oh, baby, I’m sorry.”
No one had called Julia “baby” before. Not that she’d ever wanted them to. She wasn’t a “baby” kind of person. She was an old soul at the age of four.
But hearing Luke say that to her made her heart unexpectedly melt. For just one moment, the idea of someone else taking care of her was overwhelmingly powerful.
He took her in his arms and patted her back in soothing circular motions. Then he paused. “You’re not wearing a bra.”
He slid his hand beneath her tank top as if to verify his comment. While there, his fingertips curved around her side and brushed the sides of her bare breasts. The soft light from the single lamp in the room created shadows on his face, but it didn’t hide the fact that he wanted her.
She stared at him.
He stared at her.
She circled her fingers around his arms and lowered them. Then she slid her fingers to his wrists, lifting his hands and guiding them beneath her tank top to cup her breasts. His calloused palms were warm against her skin.
Julia closed her eyes as supreme pleasure coursed through her. She licked her lips as he slowly and oh-so-lightly brushed the pad of his thumbs over the very tip of her nipples.
Her back bowed, arching her hips against his. Now his fingertips were splayed around her side, holding her upright as he explored her with his thumbs, trailing circles and abstract designs.
Using his tongue, he licked his way from the corner of her mouth, teasing her but not kissing her, down to her jaw, to her earlobe, to the underside of her jaw.
She tilted her head back to allow him more freedom and was rewarded with an erotic nibble along the cord in her neck. He paused to bathe the hollow at the base of her throat while he slowly shifted her tank top.
His hands now covered her breasts entirely, keeping them warm until he lowered his head to seduce her with the erotic curl of his tongue. Rough and wet, hot and wild.
She almost came right then and there.
Awash with a fierce need, her knees buckled and she stumbled, landing on his low bed, which she didn’t even realize was there until that moment. He came with her, and she kept him close by wrapping her legs around his hips.
His shirt was in the way so she got rid of it, ripping half his buttons in the process and not caring. Her tank top flew across the room as his fingers deftly undid her jeans and removed them.
“Daisy panties,” he noted with a satisfied growl.
He sounded as if he couldn’t have been happier if she’d been wearing a tiny thong.
She couldn’t have been happier when he slid his hand beneath the floral cotton underwear. Finding her wet silky folds, he delved into her feminine dampness. His moves left her gasping his name as shards of bliss shot through her. Seconds later, her panties were gone and his lips were boldly transporting her to a level of pleasure she’d never attained before.
Tiny ripples of elation continued to pulse through her body as Luke yanked off his jeans and put on a condom. Then he entered her in one powerful thrust, raising her hips so she could take him into her very depths. With a brazen cry of satisfaction, she closed around him, moving as he instructed, adding some touches of her own.
He surged in and out, deeper and deeper, the silken friction building into an ecstasy that went beyond sensation. She’d never felt more alive, never been so rocked to the core, never ascended to such dizzying peaks.
Her climax came with a divinely wicked fierceness and the knowledge that if this was being bad, she didn’t want to be good.
Julia woke shortly after dawn to find Luke sitting in bed, the sheets pooled around his bare hips as he stared down at her. He’d turned off the light at some point, but she could still see him in the shadowy room.
Who speaks first in a situation like this,
she wondered.
Luke answered that silent question by abruptly saying, “You’re sorry. You think I took advantage of you.”
She stretched lazily. “You suck at being a mind-reader. The sex was incredible, though.”
He frowned at hearing her reduce what they’d just shared to just sex.
“You do this often?” he demanded.
“Get drunk and seduce a man? No, not really.”
“You didn’t seduce me.”
“Of course, I did.” She ran her finger down his bare arm. “You were trying to be polite and noble.”
He snorted.
“Well, you were. And I made you break your cardinal rule about having sex with hysterical women.”
She’d done it again. Reduced it to sex. He should be relieved, not aggravated.
“You were upset. You wanted a distraction.” He made it sound like an accusation. What was up with that?
“I wanted you. You wanted me. We cured that itch.”
“You think so? Then why do I still want to do this?” He urged her legs apart. “And this . . .” He brushed his thumb against her clitoris. Instant surges of delight shot through her.
“I can’t imagine.” Her voice was unsteady.
“I can. Imagine. Plenty. You. Doing this.” He placed her hands on him, around his velvety heat. “Me. Doing this.” He placed his hands on her, sliding one finger and then two into her damp core.
“Mmmmm.” She pulled him to her.
Luke barely had time to put on another condom before he once again thrust into her, his entry smooth and swift, a sliding rush that was both wondrous and welcome.
The next time she awoke, it was morning and she smelled bacon. She opened her eyes to find Luke standing in the dining area of the room, putting plates on a pine table there.
“You made breakfast.” She sounded stunned.
He shrugged awkwardly, his broad shoulders bare, a pair of jeans hanging low on his hips. “It’s no big deal. Just bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast.”
Julia wanted food. But she was naked under the sheets and wasn’t about to parade nude across the room. So she yanked the sheets around her, toga style, and headed for the food.
“Mmmm, good,” she mumbled around her first bite. She was starving. “You’re good. Very, very good.”
“As a cook, you mean?” he teased her, offering her another slice of perfectly prepared bacon by holding it in front of her mouth.
“Mmmm.” She bit into the bacon. “That, too.”
“So you thought I was a good lover?”
“You were great. But you already know that.”
“So were you. But you already know that,” he repeated with a wicked grin.
She blushed. “I really had no idea. I mean it’s never been like that for me before . . .”
“Like what?”
“Like flying into the sun. Thank you.” She leaned closer to kiss him—intending it to be short and sweet but ending up being long and leisurely.
“You’re thanking me for what specifically?” he murmured.
“For everything. For understanding.”
“Mmmm.” He nibbled on her fingertips.
“And for that move . . . what did you call it?”
“Butterfly whiplash.”
“Mmmm.”
He peeled the sheet from her body. “Maybe I should demonstrate it for you again, so you’ll remember this time.”
Julia never realized that making love in a chair could be so awesome, but Luke grabbed a condom and showed her just how to make the most of their position . . . with her on his lap and him lodged deep within her.
Later that afternoon, Julia sat at Luke’s dining table and tried to make sense out of her life. Recognizing that she might need some time alone and that she wasn’t ready to face her mom yet, Luke had gone over to Algee’s to watch the football game.
The minute Julia was alone, she realized that solitary meditation might not be all it was cracked up to be. But by then Luke had left and calling him back would only make her look like more of an idiot.
Note to self: Get a plan. Fast.
Julia found a pad of paper and a pen and started writing.
OPTIONS:
- Move elsewhere in the country.
Too much trouble.
Would need new job. Like it here.
- Move elsewhere in Serenity Falls.
Get an apartment and leave Angel et al in house.
Town would talk, and too expensive anyway.
- Kick my family out.
That one definitely had appeal, but what kind of person would that make her?
A smart chick with backbone.
And one without compassion.
- Move in with Pam.
She only has a small one-bedroom place, so that isn’t really practical.
- Move in with Luke.
Julia immediately crossed that line out. Where had that thought come from?
The man kept his bed and a punching bag in his living room.
And a couch. One that looked like something from the brand-new IKEA catalog, now that she thought about it.
She couldn’t see Luke thumbing through home furnishing catalogs, though.
She could see him telling Adele to order him a couch like he’d order a pizza.
It was obvious to her that this was not a man who put down roots. Despite having ordered a new couch. And a bed, too, now that she looked at it.
What did she really know about him? He’d been in town two months now, and she still had no idea what he’d done in the twelve years he’d been away from Serenity Falls.
Sure, he’d let it slip that he’d been in the Marines. But that was it.
What else did she know?
That he was an awesome kisser. That he knew just where and when to touch her. That he hadn’t taken advantage of her last night despite the fact that she’d wanted him to. But that he had allowed her to seduce him and had given her incredible pleasure in return.
That he looked great in black leather and jeans on the back of a Harley. That she wanted to be there with him, riding off for a wild weekend of hot sex.
And that was so
not
like her. She wasn’t the type of woman to get sidetracked by a bad-boy image.
But there was more to Luke. At Christmas dinner, she’d seen the way he interacted with Tyler and Algee. All three of the town’s outcasts had drawn together like companions-at-arms. And he’d been thrilled with the Harley-Davidson book she’d gotten him for Christmas. He’d clearly put some thought into the presents he’d gotten her—a silver daschund and a silver hot dog charm on a lovely chunky silver bracelet. And a set of daisy underwear—from prim briefs to outrageous thongs.
Yes, he was cocky.
Yes, he was exasperating.
Yes, she was falling in love with him.
And yes, she knew that wasn’t a very smart move.
Julia stared down at the pad she’d filled with her neat notes and tidy handwriting.
Lots of words, but still no plan. Not a good thing.
Chapter Thirteen
“Are
you okay?” Angel asked the instant Julia walked in the door later that afternoon. Her mother’s hands fluttered as if they were doves that wanted to land on Julia but were afraid to. “I’ve been worried sick about you.”
“I can’t talk to you yet.” Julia thought she could. That’s why she’d come home. Well, maybe not the primary reason—that was because this was her house and she’d left it with only the clothes on her back. Plus, she couldn’t hide out at Luke’s, making love with him forever—as tempting as that might be. Or sit at his dining table like a wimp making useless lists.
She’d thought she’d regained enough control to come home and deal with her mother. She was wrong.
Note to self: Not ready yet. Definitely not ready yet.
“You’re angry.” Angel’s hands came together in a wringing motion. “I understand that. You feel I betrayed you.”
“Please don’t tell me how I feel.”
“Okay, then
you
tell me how you feel.”
“I just told you I can’t talk to you right now.”
“I know.” Angel nodded. “I should listen. You need time. Your aura is disrupted.”
“Do not talk to me about reading auras. I’m sick of hearing about things that aren’t true!”
“Auras are true.”
“This from a woman who lied to me my entire life about who my father really was!”
“I explained.”
“Yes, that you’d already told Skye before you told me. I’m the family joke.” Julia’s voice shattered with the humiliation and pain she still felt inside.
“No, you’re not! Don’t say that.”
“Why not? That’s how you and Skye view me. As the stupid, sensible one who doesn’t know how to have fun. As the good girl. Well, that’s changed.”
“Oh, honey.” Angel shook her head and looked at her with such sad, sad eyes. “I hope you didn’t do anything you’ll regret.”
“This from the woman who last night was mocking my ability to have an orgasm?”
“I wasn’t mocking.”
“Well, for your information, I do not recite the Dewey Decimal System when I come. I’m sure that will reassure you.”
Angel hung her head. “We were wrong to tease you. How can I make it up to you?”
“By telling me my father’s name,” Julia immediately said.
“I can’t do that.”
“You mean you
won’t
do that.”
Angel wrung her hands again, her narrow face displaying her agitation. “You don’t understand.”
“You’ve got that right. I
don’t
understand. If you weren’t going to tell me the entire story, the entire truth, then why tell me anything at all? Why not leave me in blissful ignorance? Didn’t you stop to think how this news might affect me? Or were you too wrapped up in your own guilt to care about that?”
“I did care. I do care. That’s why I was so conflicted about telling you.”
“Oh, but the runes told you to do it now, is that it? Or the tarot cards? Or tea leaves?”