30. Luke
30
LUKE
W hat kind of an asshole assumes that a woman will take him back, after three years of silence, after he screws around on her while they were engaged?
I’ll tell you. The particular kind of asshole who drives a silver Porsche like the one in Daph’s driveway. I was seriously tempted to drag my keys along the side of that car, just because it would break Jerk Justin’s heart in a way no woman ever could. Having Daph wrapped around me is a thousand times better, so much better that I barely notice the sound of the car’s engine fading into the night.
I do notice it, though, and it brings me joy.
I feel the simmer in Daph, and I know she has to let it out before we can get down to business. I seat her on the counter and brace myself between her legs, touching my nose to hers. “Go ahead,” I invite. “Tell me.” I’m ready to be anything she wants me to be, even the consolation prize if she loves this loser forever. That’s how far gone I am.
It's a bad time to remember that tear when she told me about the wedding dress.
I would have to be a lot dumber than I am not to see that she and JJ come from the same world, that theirs might be a predictable match—as ours would never be.
Her gaze simmers. “He only came because he saw Rafe’s pictures.”
“That’s what it took for him to realize he’d abandoned the most beautiful woman on the planet? He couldn’t see it when you were planning the wedding?”
She gives me a poke. “That’s not all of what I’m about.”
“Of course not. You’re smart and sweet and sometimes funny.”
“Sometimes?”
I steal a kiss. “And other times you’re so perceptive that you terrify me.”
“As if.”
“Honest and true, Daph. I have no secrets from you. It’s not even possible.”
She sobers, studying me and I hope she sees whatever she wants in me. “He had a secret from me.”
“And he is an asshole for that, although it might have been worse if he’d told you all about it. His keeping it secret means he knew you would have an issue with his choice.”
“Of course, I did!”
“You weren’t playing by the same rules, Daph, and as much as it annoys me that he treated you so badly, I’m kind of glad that you did break up, because that meant you were single when I got here.”
She doesn’t smile. “Are we playing by the same rules?” Her gaze is searching.
“I’m hoping so.”
“Not the most reassuring reply possible.”
I lift a brow. “You cried about your wedding dress, like you regretted not marrying him. Like maybe you still love him.”
She looks so shocked that I’m mollified. “If I cried, it was because shopping for that dress was the last thing my mom and I did together.”
Oh.
“She said he would leave me when it suited him, that he wasn’t the kind of guy to stay married for the duration. She said he was all about appearances, and tonight, he proved that she was absolutely right.” She shakes her head. “I feel so stupid that I didn’t see it sooner.”
I pull her close, more relieved than I can say.
But Daph pulls back to look me in the eye. “Is fidelity new for you?”
“Not technically. I never see multiple women simultaneously, because in the past, I’ve never spent more than one night with any woman.”
“That’s not the most compelling argument.”
“I guess not.” I lean my forehead against hers. “This is new for me, Daph. I think it’s awesome to be with you, to keep having more and more. I don’t want to screw it up, but I don’t really have a map. Please tell me if I take a wrong step.”
“You really mean that?”
“I do.” She looks puzzled but enchanted, and I have no clue whether I’m playing this well or not. This going-for-the long-term thing is complicated.
“You should have given him one of your Medusa stares,” I say without meaning to do so.
She’s amused, which is progress. “But then I’d have a statue of him on my porch forever.” She shudders in mock horror and then I smile. We smile at each other for one of those long potent moments and I swear, the temperature rises in the house, maybe in all of Empire. She’s pleased and reassured now, her eyes glowing, her smile radiant. I could look at her all night when she’s like this, but really, I want to do something else all night.
There’s no mistaking the welcome in her eyes, so I bend closer, then capture her mouth with mine. We have a long sultry sweet kiss. She’s flushed and her eyes are shining when I pull back a little to survey her.
“I’m thinking we should celebrate your new blinds,” I say.
“What? How?”
“Right here,” I whisper in her ear, grazing the lobe with my teeth. “Right on this counter. Right now.”
“Oh!” she gasps. “But we can’t.” She retreats, putting her legs together so that I’m standing beside her, leaving me out in the cold.
But why?
“You did it again, Daph,” I observe, not moving away, waiting.
“Did what?”
“Left me without a script. What’s going on? Why can’t we celebrate? What did I do?”
She looks alarmed. “It’s not you or anything you did, Luke.” She heaves a sigh. “It’s me. I’m on.” She wrinkles her nose. “I’m cranky and I’m sore and I’m not fit company for anyone.” She sighs again. “No celebration tonight. Sorry.”
Oh.
“Don’t be sorry. It is what it is.”
“I am sorry.” She does sound grumpy and, in a way, she’s adorable like this. She makes me think of a wet kitten. I remember my mom, sometimes cranky, sometimes weepy, sometimes wanting to be alone and sometimes needing contact.
“Want a massage?” I ask.
“I couldn’t stand it,” she growls.
My mom told me once that the most helpful thing I could do was ask what she wanted, so I go with that. “Tell me, Daph. Should I stay or go tonight?”
“I don’t know!”
“Tell me how you feel.”
“Irritable.”
I take a chance on teasing her. “No, really? I never would have guessed.”
She swats my shoulder and I chuckle at the quick glimpse of her smile. “I’m crampy, cranky, cold and sore. I smell like an abattoir –”
“Not even close, Daph.”
I get a look for that. “What would you know about it?”
“Crappy job number seven, I think it was. When you think about it, someone has to clean up those places. It paid well, but not well enough.”
I watch understanding dawn in her eyes. “You don’t eat red meat, do you?”
“Not often. Not anymore.” I smile at her and she smiles back, just a little. I lean against the counter beside her. “Go on. You were documenting your shortcomings.”
“And you were refuting them.”
“Got to contribute to the greater good. Be part of the solution, you know.”
Her smile is fleeting. “I look like a train wreck,” she says with heat. “I even have a zit.” She points to her nose but any blemish is so small that I can’t see it. She surveys me, a heat in her eyes that is downright erotic. “And you look so delicious that I could gobble you up with a spoon, but I can’t .” The last word is so fierce that I’m startled.
“Why not?”
“Oh, please. Don’t mess with me tonight.”
I turn then, pulling her into my arms. I lean my forehead against hers, my fingers finding and kneading the tightness in her shoulders. “You do not look like a train wreck.” I kiss her temple, feeling her melt a little. “You’re as gorgeous as ever.”
“If you keep lying to me, I will hurt you.”
I smile, untroubled, and roll my thumbs against the tightest spot in her shoulders. She sighs and closes her eyes tipping her head back and almost purring. “You’ve got it backwards, Daph,” I murmur. Her hands have found their way around my waist. “I think you’re always gorgeous because I’m crazy about you, not the other way around.”
I don’t give her a chance to argue. I just claim a kiss, one that quickly heats up. I’m surprised how passionately she returns it, proof positive that she is horny. Her nails are digging into my shoulder, her leg hooking around my hips to draw me closer. Her tongue is beyond wicked and I can’t help thinking of the possibilities.
“Not fair,” she breathes, pulling away. Her eyes are stormy. “I want and I can’t have...”
“Why not?” I whisper and she looks at me.
“But we can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Um, because it’s gross.”
I scoffs. “Who told you that? Jerk Justin?”
“Among others.”
“That just proves how unworthy they were of worshipping at your feet.”
“I’m serious!”
“So am I. I can feel it, Daph, radiating off you. You’re ready to go wild, and that has to be worth the price of admission. I can’t wait to find out what it’s like to see you lose control.”
She eyes me like I’m insane. “You really think that?”
“I think it’s worth finding out. And really, I’m in for anything that drives you crazy.”
“But it could be awful.”
“It could be great. There’s only one way to be sure.”
“You can’t go down on me,” she says.
I wiggle my hand and sing the words “I’ll use my fingers.”
“And your imagination.” She smiles at my delight that she’s caught the reference. “ Brass in Pocket .”
“The Pretenders,” I agree. I have a feeling it’s the song that will haunt me for this whole encounter. I slide my hand under Daph’s ginormous T-shirt and cup her breast. She shivers at my touch, even through her bra, and her eyes widen. “Aren’t all the good bits more sensitive?” I slide my thumb across her nipple slowly, liking that it’s already beaded to a point, and feel her shudder.
“Oh my God,” she whispers, and once again, her nails dig into my shoulder.
“What about the other good bit?” I whisper in her ear, even my breath making her tremble in the very best way. She’s so responsive that I’m the one who’s raging now. “I’ve always wanted to make you shout loud enough that the neighbours call the cops,” I confess. “Maybe this is the night.”
“My neighbour is Cameron. That might take some doing.”
I feel myself grin. “I’m up for the challenge.”
“Maybe you’ve been training for it for years.”
“If you’re going to snark, I’m going to have to think of a way to keep you quiet,” I threaten, then claim her mouth with a kiss that just won’t stop. By the time I lift my head, Daph looks resolute.
She pushes me aside and I have time to think I’ve somehow blown it before she jumps off the counter. Her hands are on my belt buckle and she backs me into the counter as she unfastens it. “I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, but I thought I might mess up,” she says and I can’t believe my luck. My jeans drop and her fingers are under my briefs. I am so ready for whatever she has planned. “But you’re right, there’s only one way to know for sure.” Her hand closes around me, the softness of her palm and the strength of her fingers against my bare skin. I almost come on the spot, especially when I see the look in her eyes.
Then she bends down to kiss me and I slide my fingers into her hair, hearing myself moan as she takes me into her mouth. It’s perfect, both gentle and demanding, and when she begins to move, I know I won’t last.
“I’ll make you pay for this,” I manage to say and she pulls away to laugh.
“I’m counting on it,” she says, sounding both wicked and sweet.
She’s going to own me, body and soul, and I don’t even care. Maybe she does already. I can only think that it’s totally worth it, just for this.
And I will make her scream the house down tonight.
Guaranteed.