Four
Luke
I lay awake listening to Laura tossing and turning in the room one floor down from me.
I’d never realized how sound could carry in this place.
I’d never had company here, so this was the first time I’d noticed how rustling could carry through the open space, especially if we left doors open and I flipped on the monitoring system.
Yeah, I’d done that. Because I wanted to be sure she was okay. At least, that’s what I told myself.
After a few minutes, the rustling stopped, but my heart clenched when I heard a sniff, followed by a muted sob.
“That’s it,” I muttered, getting out of bed and walking into the hallway to take the curved staircase downstairs. I was halfway down when I remembered I only wore my black silk pajama pants, but screw it. I couldn’t leave her in misery.
I stood in front of her door for a full minute, before finally reaching out and knocking. “Laura, can I come in?”
“Yes,” she answered softly.
I pushed open the partly closed door to see her sitting up on the bed, the blankets piled around her, her back against the headboard and her arms around her knees. I strode into the room and sat next to her on the edge of the mattress.
“Baby, are you okay?”
She nodded, sniffing again. But the city lights coming through the window illuminated the tear tracks on her cheeks.
“Talk to me,” I said. “Please.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she said, with a soft, watery laugh as she ran the back of her hand across her cheek.
“I’m so happy. Really. I’m so glad to be here.
And you’ve been so great. My knight in shining Hugo Boss.
But I don’t know. I was lying here in this big bed, staring right out at the Central Park, and I just couldn’t stop crying. ”
Before I even thought twice, I gathered her into my arms. She came willingly, her small body almost melting into my touch.
I wondered if maybe she hadn’t gotten a lot of physical affection from her family or another man, though I definitely didn’t want to think about that.
Still, every touch I’d given her since pulling her from her car had been met with the thirst of a dying man in the desert.
“Will you stay with me?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” I answered honestly. It was difficult enough not to kiss her, not to claim her lips and push her back onto the mattress. She fit so perfectly against my body, I never, ever wanted to let her go. “You should really try to get some sleep.”
“I thought you weren’t going to tell me what to do,” she replied wryly.
I took a deep breath and turned to correct her, but when I caught the humor in her gaze, saw her biting her lower lip to hide a smile, I shook my head.
“You’re a brat.”
My brat. My spoiled, sassy, gorgeous brat who I would marry and put my babies into the first chance I got. And we’d raise a pack of spoiled, sassy brats of our own. Then we’d have spoiled, sassy grandbrats.
“You just went somewhere,” she said, cupping my chin in her palm and peering into my eyes.
“Somewhere you don’t want to go, yet,” I confessed, pulling her hand into mine and kissing her fingers.
“I’m not telling you to go bed. I’m just saying you’ve had a hard day, probably a hard few months really.
You’re safe here. You should get some sleep.
Tomorrow, we’ll go out to breakfast and talk about what we’re going to do. ”
“What do you mean?”
“Tomorrow,” I insisted. Unable to resist it any longer, I leaned forward and softly pressed my mouth to her tempting lips, lips I’d wanted since a second after I’d lain eyes on her the first time.
I’d expected the kiss to be chaste and comforting, but my little monster had other ideas. Her arms snaked around my neck and pulled me closer, her tongue running over the seam of my mouth.
With a deep groan, I opened to her probing, running my own tongue over hers, drawing a whimper from her. I pulled her tighter against me, her breasts pressed to my chest as I tangled my fingers into her dark, wild locks.
“I’m sorry,” I said, pulling back from her. “Laura, I can’t do this right now. We…can’t.”
What the hell was I saying?
“What the hell are you talking about?” The glare she gave me would have made most men quake. I was stronger than that, though with her, barely.
“Look, God knows I want you. I mean, baby, you have no fucking clue how much I want to bury myself inside you and never leave. But you must be at the legal limit for stress. And I don’t want you ever to regret our first time.”
“You think I’d just sleep with you all willy-nilly because I’m stressed?” She narrowed her gaze at me. “I’ve been stressed since the sixth grade. This is that caveman shit I don’t like, Luke. Don’t presume to tell me what I’m thinking or feeling.”
“Jesus! I need a God damned handbook with you,” I snapped.
Before she could respond, I pulled her into me again, crashing my mouth over hers, as I pushed her body onto the mattress so I could lie over her.
She responded immediately, her nails digging into my back as she splayed her thighs, allowing me to fall between them.
Thank fucking God I was wearing pajama bottoms. As it was, my erection was pressed against her core, and even through my pants and the cloth of her skimpy sleep shorts, her heat radiated from her to me.
Lust was making me act rashly. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew I couldn’t take her tonight. No matter what she thought, this wasn’t the right time. That didn’t mean I couldn’t tease her and tempt her with a taste of what she had to look forward to for the rest of her life.
“Luke, I want you,” she whispered, breaking away from the kiss to meet my gaze. “Please. Just, make me forget about the rest of the world.”
“I will,” I promised her. “But I’m not fucking you tonight.”
“Why not?” she pouted.
“Because I don’t like that caveman shit where you tell me what to do.”
“You’re kind of an asshole.”
“And you’re kind of a hellion.” I shrugged. “We all have our crosses to bear.” I ran a hand down her chest, cupping one of her supple breasts and rolling her taut nipple between my fingers. “But don’t worry, baby. I won’t leave you wanting.”
Her back arched at the intimate touch, a gasp rasping from her throat. My cock jumped in response, and I couldn’t wait to hear all the arousing sounds she’d make for me.
“I’m going to eat your pussy,” I whispered against her ear.
“And I don’t want you to try to keep quiet.
I want to hear every word, every shout, every scream.
There’s no one but me to hear you, and every sound you make belongs to me.
I’m going to earn them, to memorize them, so I know exactly what makes your thighs shake while you fall apart for me.
So, don’t you dare hold out on me. Understood? ”
She nodded, her eyes wide and her chest heaving while she drew quick, shallow breaths.
I pulled at the hem of her shirt, lifting it over her head and tossing it to the floor. Dipping low, I sucked one of her nipples into my mouth, teasing the bud with my teeth for a moment before switching to the other perfect mound and repeating the action.
She moaned, and the sound was like heaven. Her reaction to me caused my precum to leak into my pants. I could already feel the sticky fluid, and I was afraid avoiding fucking her would be even more difficult than I’d thought.
Sliding down her body, I trailed my tongue over her skin, pausing to lick at her bellybutton until she squirmed and giggled. When I reached her shorts, I pulled them down, exposing her to me.
Her scent was like honey, and I couldn’t wait a moment longer to taste her. I slid my arms under her thighs, spreading her wider until I could see the dampness clinging to her pink folds.
“My God, Laura, you’re fucking beautiful,” I said, looking up her body to stare into her eyes.
She met my gaze, but her lip found its way between her teeth again as if she were embarrassed.
“Don’t be shy. I’m the only man who will see you like this ever again.
This is mine. All of you will belong to me. ”
“You’re the only one who has…like this,” she whispered, her fingers burying in my hair.
“All mine,” I repeated.
I leaned forward and ran my tongue up her slit. Her hips bucked, and a deep sigh escaped her. The tension in her body made me think she was so close to her orgasm that, if I touched her just right, she’d fall over the edge.
My thumb found her clit, and I pressed hard, fast circles over it as I slid a finger inside her channel. She cried out, her body spasming as the climax washed over her lithe body, her knees squeezing my shoulders.
“You’re so fucking wet,” I whispered, adding a second finger to her soaked pussy. “I can’t wait to feel this gripping my cock. I’m going to love fucking you.”
I slammed my fingers into her, bumping her clit with my knuckles as I finger-fucked her until she screamed my name, her body shaking with a second release.
“Stop!” she cried, sinking onto the mattress and panting. “Please, oh my God. Stop. It’s too much.”
“Are you sure?” I teased, sliding my fingers in again.
An aftershock rocked her body, and she sobbed, clutching at my arm and pulling it away from her sensitive core.
I climbed up her body and kissed her softly. Her eyelids fluttered, each time staying closed a little longer.
“You should get some sleep,” I told her again.
“Don’t leave,” she whispered, rather than chastise me, a sure sign she was spent.
“I’ll never leave you,” I promised.
I pulled her into my arms, and she laid her head on my chest, her fingers running back and forth over my pecs. In minutes, her breathing had evened out, and she’d fallen into a deep slumber.
“I love you,” I whispered, before placing a kiss on the top her head. “And I’m never, ever letting you go.”