Road to Recovery (20 page)

“
Of course I am,” Lucas said
from behind Ryan. “But why am I lucky right now?”

With another transformation, laughing
once again, Ryan winked at Brooke. “Because you’ve got the second
most beautiful girl at the party.”

“
Next to Mom,” Lucas
said.

“
Of course.” Ryan smiled
brightly at his brother.

“
Now get out of here so I
can kiss my girlfriend,” Lucas exclaimed.

“
Lucas,” Brooke chastised.
“Don’t be so rude.”

“
Sorry,” he said, leaning
over to give her a quick peck on the lips. “Please excuse us, Ryan.
I would like to kiss with my girlfriend. But I will content myself
with holding her hand, since that is about all I can get away with
in public. If I’m even that lucky.” He sighed
dramatically.

Ryan watched Brooke as the blush spread
up from her neck to her face. Lucas threw his head back and laughed
at her reaction.

“
That’s my cue to leave.”
Turning around, Ryan headed back across the lawn to the rest of the
party.

But not before Lucas said in a much
quieter voice to Brooke, “I’ve missed you.”

***

Over in the corner by the grill, Thomas
and Michele watched Lucas climb next to Brooke on the hammock, then
stretch out beside to her.

“
What do you think?” Thomas
asked his wife.

She sighed. “Well, it’s pretty obvious
where Lucas stands. I have to tell you it makes my heart ache a
little to see my baby falling in love.”

Thomas put his arm around Michele to
give her a little squeeze. “You will always be number one in his
eyes. Don’t worry, darling.”

She poked him in the ribs with her
finger. “I’m not worried about losing my place. I’m worried he’ll
get his heart broken. I like her a lot. But she is so different
than him, so quiet and reserved.” She turned to look back at Lucas.
“Did you notice how often he reaches for her? You can see she
relents, but she never makes a move toward him. I worry it’s
one-sided.”

“
He talks about her all the
time,” Thomas reminded his wife, his fingers rubbing her
shoulder.

“
Yes, but he never
says
anything about her.
We don’t know that much about her. I feel she is another wounded
animal that Lucas is famous for bringing home. He always was the
one to help someone in need, but is there more than
that?”

“
Lucas is smart. He is a
good judge of character. I imagine he knows what he needs to know
right now.” He leaned down for a quick kiss on the lips. “Let’s let
them be.”

After indulging in a large buffet of
food, Brooke found herself back on the hammock with Lucas. Between
the setting sun and the swinging motion of the hammock, she fought
back a yawn.

Lucas turned to look at her in
amusement. “Tired?”

“
A little. It feels good to
get off my feet and lie down for a bit,” she confessed.

“
Sore? Your back or leg
hurt?” he asked, concerned.

“
Not much. I shouldn’t have
said that. I guess I’ve had too much wine. Makes me speak before I
think.”

She saw the annoyance flicker across
his face, then he said, “You don’t have to guard everything you say
to me. Haven’t we had this conversation before?”

Not wanting to argue, she snuggled into
his side a bit more. “Sorry. You’re right. And I’m too tired to
even argue right now.”

“
I like seeing you relaxed
like this. It’s not a side I see too often,” he said. Her eyes
started to droop a bit, so he swung his legs over the side. “Come
on, we can go home now,” he told her, then started to
stand.

“
There’s no need. I’ll catch
my second wind soon. Besides, it’s impolite to leave early.” She
tugged him back.

“
Stop. No one is going to
care if we leave now. They will assume I can’t wait to get my hands
on you in private,” he told her mischievously.

“
Lucas,” she said,
embarrassment crept up her neck more times than she could count
today. “If that’s the case, we’re definitely staying longer. I
don’t want your parents to think ill of me.”

He laughed loudly. “Oh, trust me, my
parents won’t be thinking ill of you or me if we left early.
Especially if they were thinking we wanted some privacy.” He stood
up fully despite her protests and reached out to pull her up.
“Let’s go home.” He frowned more when she tried to cover up her
wince of pain. “How about a massage when we get home?”

“
I’m not sure how good of a
massage it would be. But it’s worth a shot,” she said with a
teasing glint in her eyes.

“
Hey, I’ve been known to
give a pretty decent, if not thorough massage,” he exclaimed in
mocked outrage.

“
Really? Do you have
references?” She wanted to see his discomfort trying to form a
proper answer.

He had the grace to look away. “I guess
you will have to take my word for it. Then grade my performance
afterwards.”

“
Guess so,” she answered,
her eyes laughing.

***

Lucas woke up chilled and tried to
reach for the covers. And again, he found none. As always, they
were on the other side of the king sized bed, wrapped around Brooke
in her little cocoon of sleep.

She had been so tired by time he
finished with her massage last night, she’d fallen into a deep
sleep. Not wanting to wake her at that point, he pulled the covers
up and settled beside her for the night. Somehow she always managed
to pull all the covers to her side without waking him. He didn’t
think she was even aware of it.

Trying to gently tug the blankets back
without waking her proved fruitless. With a sigh, he shifted over
closer and slid under the little bit he managed to free. It wasn’t
nearly enough to warm him, so he pushed his stomach against her
back and wrapped his arm around her waist spooning her for body
warmth. Maybe in her sleep she would let him hold her, for once.
Even for a few minutes.

Unfortunately his body had other ideas.
Within minutes her soft curves pressing against him proved to be
too much for his good intentions. Well, he thought to himself,
maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to wake her up.

He pressed his hips and thighs flush
with hers, then slowly inched his hand up and down her stomach,
from her ribs, to her side, to her stomach and back again. Creating
goose bumps that he felt under his hand in the process. Small
circulator motions continued, and he felt them rise on her skin
under his hand, caressed them into submission, and then caused
more.

Leaning forward, he placed small
feather-like kisses on her exposed neck. Then trailed his tongue
from behind her ear, down the lean curved expansion of her neck to
her collarbone and back up. Kissing, tasting, feeling her body’s
reaction to his touch.

Slowly, she started to stir. Her hips
pressed back into his groin ever so lightly. With that
encouragement, he let his hand wander further up her ribs, until
his fingertips grazed the underside of her breasts, and left
another trail of goose bumps in his wake.

He took it as a good sign when her back
arched, pushing her breasts further into his hand and her backside
into his groin. Cupping her now, he massaged her with as much skill
as he showed last night while he continued to place open-mouthed
kisses on her neck, alternating between biting and sucking her
skin.

With a low moan in her throat, she
started to shift her face toward his, but he held her still on her
side. “No, just stay for now,” he whispered in her ear, then felt
the shivers her body released.

Moving his hand further down her hip
and between her legs, he discovered her dampness through her
panties, which was all she was still wearing. He could feel the
heat radiating off her, and continued to rub small circles around
the silky material, pushing it into her, letting her feel the
texture against her most sensitive bud.

Her moans were coming more frequent.
She shifted her legs apart, encouraging more of his touch. “That’s
it, baby. You like that, don’t you?” She could barely nod her head
in agreement.

Maneuvering one finger under the lace
edge surrounding her leg, he found how ready she really was when
she arched into his touch. He wasn’t nearly ready for her to reach
the end, no matter how much her body was begging him.

Torturing her more, increasing her
urgency, he slid his finger up and down the length of her,
spreading her excitement around. To the top where he circled around
her bud and back down again, where she equally wanted satisfaction.
Teasing her, bringing cries of frustration from her again and
again.

“
Please, Lucas,” she
begged.

“
Not yet. It’s my time to
play. My time to make you beg, just a bit more,” he
promised.

Again and again, he brought her right
to the edge, stopped and then started all over again. He could see
the endless torment drove her mad. She begged him, pleaded, but he
showed no mercy. Her growl of frustration burned his blood, made
him even harder than he thought possible.

He edged her panties down her legs, but
when she would have rolled to her back, he held her on her side.
“Stay here,” he ordered her, quickly removing his underwear and
sliding a condom on before he moved against her back.

“
Just a little more. Just
need to feel you and touch a little more. Never want to stop,” he
mumbled between kisses on her neck as his fingers now had better
access with the barrier of her panties gone. Up and down, around in
circles, inside her and back out again, his fingers continued the
torture.

At last, moving his hand to her thigh,
he nudged it up and slightly in front, and then positioned himself
at her entrance. Slowly he entered her from behind and then
withdrew. He pushed in a bit further and back out again, all the
while continuing to tease her in the places he knew she loved the
most.

He was finally fully sheathed inside of
her. She felt so tight like this. Squeezing him, surrounding him
with her wetness and warmth. The slightest movement of her hips
would be all it would take to send him over the edge. Not yet, he
wanted more.

Holding her as still as possible, he
brought her more pleasure with his hand. “Don’t move, baby. Stay
exactly like this. I want to make you come. No movements,” he
demanded of her.

He was breathing heavily, his passion
beyond anything he had felt before. “Just let your body go. Let me
feel you squeeze me as you come. Make me come by squeezing me tight
inside of you.”

Between his words, his hand, and the
fullness inside of her, her resistance was completely gone. Her
body started to convulse around him while he continued to rub and
whisper in her ear. “That’s it, baby. Keep squeezing me. Oh my God,
so good. Don’t stop.” He ended on a groan and released inside of
her. Her contractions squeezing him harder and taking him deeper
inside of her, until he could do nothing more than lay there
stunned, unmoving, the sound of their heavy breathing the only
noise in the room.

After a few moments he quickly rolled
away to take care of the condom, then returned and leaned into the
curve of her back. He yanked the covers over the both of them, like
he wanted to do when he woke up a while ago.

Before he could say anything, he
realized she was passed out cold.

***

“
I’m in no rush, why are you
packing so early?” Lucas asked as Brooke threw the last of her
clothes in her suitcase.

“
No rush. I want to be ready
when it’s time,” she explained. “Besides, it’s been a long weekend,
and I’m sure you’ve got some things you need to do,
right?”

“
Not really. Are you trying
to get away from me?” he said with a smile.

“
No,” she hurriedly assured
him. “But you have to drive back here again, so that’s almost two
hours in the car for you. Maybe I should have driven my own car on
Friday after all,” she added thoughtfully.

“
It’s not a problem, Brooke.
I never would have suggested it otherwise.” He walked closer to her
and pulled her in for a hug. “I had a great weekend. I’m glad we
had this time together. It was good, wasn’t it?” he asked, holding
his breath.

Smiling at his question, she assured
him. “Yes. It was great. I had a great time. You never really know
what to expect when you spend so much time with someone. Especially
early in a relationship.”

“
I’m glad. It was good for
me too.”

When she moved out of his arms to
finish packing, he decided to change the subject, hoping she would
get the hint. “Well, at least you get to sleep in a bit longer
tomorrow than I do. I don’t know why they had to schedule a meeting
at seven in the morning? After a holiday weekend no
less.”

He was pretty sure she knew where his
thoughts were going, but didn’t take the bait. “If you didn’t live
so far way, you could sleep in longer,” she mused, but never looked
up from her packing.