Authors: Julie Ortolon
“Not really.” She considered his question. When she’d been younger, she’d been very good at team sports. That drive had shifted over the years. “Actually, I think I’ve grown too used to fighting my own battles.”
“And rescuing others, apparently.” He gave her a scowl that was as playful as it was reproachful. “Let me clue you in, though. Blade can take care of himself.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” She frowned, realizing he was right. Why hadn’t she trusted him more while they were playing?
He grew somber as well, and she feared he was going to ask again if she was all right. She didn’t want to talk about her mixed-up emotions. She wanted to have fun. Fortunately, his concern vanished. “Before we have a second round, how about a drink?”
“I’d love one.” When he rose and headed for the kitchenette, she followed him. His apartment impressed her just as much today as yesterday despite the clutter she hadn’t noticed before. The scattered magazines, a dirty plate on an end table, and shoes kicked into the corner gave it a lived-in look. “God, I love this place!”
“You mean that, don’t you?” Luc looked at her as if she were a strange, yet wonderful beast.
“Well,
ye-ah
. What’s not to love?” They’d spent the first hour at Vortal Headquarters in the arcade gallery, with Chloe holding her own against the guys. The real fun, though, had started when he’d brought her up to his apartment to finally let her play Vortal. “It’s like a giant playhouse.”
He stared at her in wonder.
“Why do you keep looking at me like that?”
“I just never expected this from you.”
“What did you expect?” She cocked her head to study him.
“I don’t know.” He filled two glasses with ice. “For you to scoff, I guess.”
“Luc, do you know how lucky you are to have this?” She waved an arm to indicate his whole world. “You make a living playing games.”
“No.” He chuckled as he poured bourbon. “I make a living creating games. It’s actually a lot of hard work.”
“Yes, but you’re doing something you’re passionate about. That’s really rare.”
“You know what?” He nodded, as if truly hearing her words. “You’re right. I don’t think I’ve appreciated that enough.”
When he handed her the drink, she took a sip and choked.
“Do you want anything with that?” He frowned.
“Do you have any cola?” she breathed.
“Of course.” He grabbed a can from the fridge and added a splash to her drink. “Better?”
“Much.” She sighed in pleasure, not just with the drink, but with how the day had gone. The pig roast had been beyond amazing, until the last few minutes with Adelaide had brought too many strange emotions near the surface. She still puzzled over the odd encounter. Playing Vortal had given her the reprieve she’d needed. “I wish I’d discovered gaming earlier. Now that I have, man, it’s totally addictive.”
“So, you’re up for another?” he gave her a challenging look.
“What time is it?” She looked at her watch. “Oh good Lord, how did it get to be so late? I should probably go back to my grandparents’ house.”
“If that’s what you want.”
“Of course it’s not what I want.” She’d rather return to Pearl Island. Or stay right where she was.
“Can I tempt you to stay a bit longer?” He pulled an unmarked pizza box from the fridge and opened it toward her.
She started to groan, thinking that after the feast they’d had that afternoon, she shouldn’t be hungry, but hours had passed since then. Then she noticed the pizza in the box.
“Hey, this looks really good,” she said, eyeing the half pie topped with a variety of vegetables. “And surprisingly healthy.”
“Yeah, our chef does a good job.”
“Your chef?” She lifted her eyes to stare at him. “You have your own pizza chef?”
“He makes other things. In case you didn’t notice, everyone who works here is a guy. A single guy. Without a chef we’d either starve or have to subsist on a diet of pure junk food. That stuff corrodes the brain.”
They moved to the sofa where she sat cross-legged, taking up a slice of pizza. “Wow, even cold, this is awesome.”
“You should try it hot out of the pizza oven.”
Silence stretched between them as they ate, but she could feel him studying her. “What?” she finally asked, looking at him. “What are you thinking?”
“Nothing.” He hesitated. “I’m just surprised that you picked the world of Wizards and Warriors over High Seas.”
“Playing games is all about escaping, right?” She took another bite. “High Seas is too much of a reminder of Pearl Island. I wanted something different.”
Rather than keep things light, her words made him frown. “I hate that this business with the necklace has made you feel as if you don’t belong there.”
“It’s not just the necklace. It’s everything,” she stressed, then sighed. “I just feel like Pearl Island isn’t really my place.”
“I know exactly what you mean.” He nodded. “Like today. My family’s place on the bayou is a part of my life, and I do love it. Well, most of it. But it’s not really my place.
This
is my place.”
“And a great place it is.”
“It could be better.”
“I don’t see how.” She glanced about. “You have everything.”
“Not everything.” He looked at her with such longing, she had the feeling he meant her. Then his gaze shifted to her mouth. “You have sauce—” He motioned toward the corner of his own mouth.
“What?” Setting the half-eaten slice back in the box, she used her tongue to try to clear the sauce. “Did I get it?”
“No. Here, let me...” He leaned forward and wiped his thumb against the corner of her mouth. Her breath caught at the contact of his skin against her lips. He started to pull his hand away, but stopped as their gazes met.
Her pulse drummed as she saw desire flare in his eyes. He made no move to act on it, though, and she knew he wouldn’t. Not until she let him.
Did she have the courage to do that?
Yes, she decided. She’d rather take this risk than leave tonight without kissing Luc again.
Reaching up, she took his hand and moved it to the center of her mouth. Her tongue flicked out to lick the sauce away. His hesitation vanished. Slipping both hands into her hair, he leaned forward and covered her mouth with his for a deep, hungry kiss. She opened eagerly, welcoming his tongue, before he rained kisses over her face.
“Oh God,” he breathed into her neck. “I’ve wanted this every single day since I left Pearl Island.”
“Me too.” Her head tipped back. “I’ve missed you so much.”
His hands skated over her rib cage as he trailed kisses down her neck. He stopped, though, with his mouth pressed to the bare skin at the open collar of her shirt, his hands just below her breast. The tension of restraint radiated from him even as her breasts ached for his touch.
Praying she wasn’t making a mistake, she lifted her hands to the button right between her breasts. He pulled back enough to watch as her fingers slipped the button through the hole. His breath turned quick and shallow as she moved to the next. And the next. When she’d unfastened them all, he took a deep, shuddering breath, then parted her shirt to reveal her lacy bra.
His warm lips placed a series of kisses on the mounds of her breasts above the demi-cups of her bra. Trembling with need from his tenderness, she arched into him, silently begging for more. And he responded. Oh, how he responded. He tugged one of the cups of the bra down so his mouth could close over the nipple. She whimpered at the exquisite feel of him suckling her, a sensation that shot down to her core and made her ache for more.
As he moved to the other nipple, lavishing it with attention, she shifted to her knees and leaned into him. His mouth never left her as she straddled his lap, making the denim skirt ride up. Her warm center settled against the hard evidence of his desire as she tore her shirt off and tossed it to the floor.
Reaching behind her, she unsnapped the bra, freeing her aching breasts. Then he was cupping them, kneading them as he sucked a nipple harder into the moist heat of his mouth.
With a cry of pleasure, she moved against his rigid length, wanting him inside her. Impatient, she attacked the buttons of his shirt with fingers that trembled. Finally his chest was bare, and she could touch him back. It wasn’t enough.
“I want you, Luc,” she whispered, raking her fingers through his hair. “I need you.”
His head fell against the back of the sofa, breaking the contact of his mouth on her breasts. She wanted to weep at the loss until she saw the heat blazing in his eyes. Without a word, he stood with her in his arms. Her legs wrapped quickly about him.
He started walking, every step causing delicious friction between them. He carried her into a dark room, where the only light spilled in through the open door. Then he lowered her to a bed. Their bodies separated long enough for them to scramble out of their remaining clothes.
He grabbed a condom from the nightstand before lowering his nude body beside her. She wanted to pull him on top of her, but he distracted her with a kiss as his hand moved down over her stomach, between her thighs. He slipped one long finger inside her as his thumb worked magic over her sensitive bud. The pleasure built and built until it ripped through her. Throwing her head back, she gasped in a breath and held it as light exploded inside her.
As the sensations faded, she released a shaky sigh of wonder, only to find him settling between her thighs. Before the tremors in her body subsided, he was pressing inside her. The pleasure began to build again as he moved in her, with her, driving her back up. This time they crested at the same time and drifted down together.
With her ear against his chest, she heard the thundering beat of his heart. A moment passed before he lifted onto his elbows so he could look down at her, their bodies still joined.
He kissed her forehead with such tenderness, her heart squeezed. When he moved to lay beside her, she mourned the loss of connection as their bodies separated. Then he gathered her into his arms as he had that night on Pearl Island. This time, she went eagerly, allowing herself the luxury of being held.
“Well,” he said after a while. “That was… more than I’d hoped for.”
His baffled words nearly made her giggle. Tipping her head to see his face, she smiled at him. “Was it?”
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Can you stay?”
The reminder of her family brought her back down a bit. “I wish I could, but it would just make things worse. Especially since my mother’s engagement party is tomorrow.”
“You sound like you’re dreading it.”
“I am.” She dropped her head to his chest. “I wish I didn’t have to go.”
“Hey.” He nudged her head back up. “Would it help if you had someone there to give you moral support?”
“What do you mean?”
“I could attend the party with you.”
She laughed dryly. “You would hate it, believe me.”
“I had doubts about you liking my family’s pig roast.”
“Opposite end of the spectrum.” Sitting up, she swung her legs off the bed and wondered where all her clothes were. “I’m not going to torture you with an evening at my grandparents’ house.”
“I wouldn’t mind.” He sat up as well. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he kissed her shoulder. “It would be worth it if my being there made things easier for you. Unless having me there would make it worse?”
“I don’t know.” She tried to imagine Luc in the stiff, sterile environment of her grandparents’ house. A yearning to have him at her side leapt inside of her, but could she ask that of him?
“Chloe,” he sighed and rested his check against the top of her head. “You don’t have to fight all your battles alone.”
She shifted to face him. “You’d really come?”
“Do you want me to?” His brows drew together in a frown.
A turmoil of emotion swamped her at the thought of having him by her side so she wouldn’t have to face the night alone. “I do.”
“Okay then.” Relief washed over his face. “I’ll be there.”
Chapter 19
Standing in the garden, surrounded by polite gaiety, Chloe tried not to look at her watch every thirty seconds. Where was Luc? Had he changed his mind about coming? Become distracted and lost track of time? Even if he was shooting for fashionably late, he should have arrived by now.
She wished he was standing beside her already. Wished it with a strength that surprised her. The party had started less than an hour ago, and already her head throbbed with a tension headache.
Taking in the crowd, she searched for a person she actually wanted to talk to. There was no one. Her mother stood with a group of her friends on one side of the garden, showing off the egg-size engagement diamond Harold had given her, while Harold stood with a group of men on the opposite side. Each time Diane’s laughter rang out over the music of the string quartet, Harold glanced over at her. The look of adoration that softened his pock-marked face twisted Chloe’s heart. In the past, she’d longed to protect her mother from heartache. This time, she worried for the groom-to-be.