Chapter 24
aimee
My parents had been thrilled to welcome Lukas and Zara.
My mom kept sneaking knowing glances at me that I pretended to ignore.
Orion alternated from acting like Lukas’s best friend—reminiscing about skiing for Willow Creek—to glaring at him whenever he touched my hand or arm or some other part of me.
Annalise and Eloise grinned like evil geniuses, and I knew I was going to have to smother them while they were sleeping.
Zara gushed to my mom about how excited she was to have Brennan as her coach.
“My parents are flying back from the U.K. after the end of this trip, and we’re going to go meet him.”
“Brennan is wonderful. He was so good with Aimee, he’ll be good for you, too,” my mom said.
Zara wiggled happily in her seat, and I felt warm and happy and for what truly felt like the first time in an incredibly long time.
I didn’t feel so heavy. Finding out that Asher had been cheating on me and was planning on leaving me released something in me.
Knowing the truth has lessened a weight I’d been carrying for so long.
It was kind of hard to believe that I felt so different in such a short amount of time.
Before coming here, I couldn’t have imagined any of this—definitely couldn’t have imagined Lukas.
His arm was thrown over the back of my chair, the tips of his fingers grazing my shoulder, brushing back and forth every so often.
He was relaxed, joking with my family. And it felt so easy, natural.
An inkling of guilt wormed its way into my brain, and I shoved it away. I knew it was something I’d probably always fight with, but tonight was good. Asher didn’t get to ruin it.
The rest of the evening passed by with good food, laughter and great conversation.
Zara had claimed exhaustion and wanted to call her friend, so she’d left.
Annalise and Orion had disappeared not long after my parents had retired.
Eloise bowed out to take a video call with Cami and it left Lukas and I on a couch in front of a fireplace.
I was stretched out with my feet in his lap, his hands resting on my shins.
I watched the flames as they flickered and danced, occasionally pulling my gaze away to rest on Lukas.
His head was tipped back, his eyes shut and with the way the warm glow of the flames lit the high points on his face and cast the rest in shadow had him looking even hotter—something dark and mysterious and Eloise’s spicy romance books seriously needed to be tossed in the fire because my brain was going to wonderfully dangerous places.
“I’d say, take a picture, it would last longer, but I like the idea of you staring at me,” he said, teasing.
Heat crept into my cheeks, and I put my sleeve covered hands over my face to hide my embarrassment. I didn’t want him to see how his words, his voice filled me with giddy warmth.
“I wasn’t staring,” I mumbled.
“Oh, you definitely were,” Lukas teased, and I felt him shift slightly. “And I really don’t mind.”
He squeezed my shin and just his touch had more heat zinging through me. And I wanted more. Tonight had been so good—the perfect way to end a pretty amazing day—embarrassing moments aside.
His hands moved to pull my slippers off my feet. I peeked out from behind my hands and watched him drop them on the floor. And then, his thumbs were kneading into the sole of my left foot. I moaned and instantly clasped my hands over my mouth.
He paused and grinned at me, and then applied more pressure and I swear I died. I turned into a melted puddle on the sofa as he massaged and kneaded. After he thoroughly took care of my feet—I only moaned two more times—he moved up my leg.
The pain meds I’d taken for the slight knee pain had long since worn off. When he applied pressure on my thigh above my knee, I groaned. There was no stopping the sound, the relief his fingers were providing.
“I told you to tell me if your knee was bothering you,” he said.
“It’s only a little sore,” I said, and groaned again, my eyes falling shut.
I focused on the feeling of his hands, his fingers and wondered if I would ever be able to give this up.
I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to or if I would ever actually want to.
Somehow in no time at all, Lukas had crept into my life and it felt as natural as breathing and if he were to disappear, I’d crumble.
I felt his hands shift, moving up my thighs and his body followed and when I opened my eyes, I found him hovering over me, hands braced on the back and armrest of the sofa.
His hair fell messily, and I wanted to reach up and run my fingers through it, pushing it back and away from his face—to feel the softness of the dark strands.
I lifted my hand to his face as I watched as I ran my fingers over his jaw, loving the feeling of the stubble on his cheeks.
He sucked in a sharp breath and I reveled in how affected he seemed to be.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said softly and a small smile pulled on my lips.
I was still tracking my progress over his face, watching my fingers as they touched and danced across his skin and as they ran along his scalp, pushing back his hair, getting tangled in the locks.
“Aimee,” he breathed and suddenly his lips were on mine, his body pressing mine into the sofa.
His hands were on either side of my face, moving my own hair out of the way.
I shifted my legs wider and he fell into their cradle.
I gasped and he took the chance to deepen the kiss, his tongue plunging in and devouring me and I couldn’t get enough.
I was burning and the feel of him between my legs had me hot and lightheaded.
I wanted more.
The words must’ve slipped past my lips, because Lukas suddenly stopped and pulled back. I whimpered at the loss.
“Look at me,” he said.
I blinked my eyes open meeting his gaze.
“I would like nothing more than to bend you over the back of this couch and fuck you senseless,” he said, and I sucked in a sharp breath, need pulsing through me. “But we need to lay out some rules before I do that.”
I furrowed my brows in confusion, because I wanted nothing more than to feel him in me and over every part of me. A pulse beat in a quick rhythm between my legs and the feel of him resting there—I wanted to press and move and find the release that was building ever higher.
“Rules?” I asked, my voice breathy.
“I told you I have plans, but I need you to set the pace, tell me what you’re good with and what you’re okay with.”
My breath caught in my throat and Lukas shifted slightly so he could bring his hand up to my face.
He tucked loose strands of hair back behind my ear and searched my eyes for understanding.
The logical part of me understood what he was saying.
That as much as he wanted to, he would go at my pace, do whatever I was comfortable with—I had pretty much no experience and I knew that, that wasn’t the same for him.
The illogical part of my brain that was stupid horny and really annoyed he stopped kissing me.
He said he’d fuck me and then rescinded the offer.
My fingers tightened unintentionally in his hair, pulling and he groaned.
His hips involuntarily jerked, and the noise that fell from me would have been embarrassing any other time, but right now I didn’t care.
“Aimee, I—”
I growled, cutting him off. “I swear if you don’t start kissing me again and deal with the aching between my legs that you put there, I will never speak to you again.”
It only took a second, one moment of hesitation before his mouth was on mine, claiming and devouring.
It didn’t matter that I barely knew him, that for the last year and a half I’d been slowly dying.
It didn’t matter that we’d started on wobbly footing, and I was rushing into this.
All that mattered was the feel of him and the way he made me feel—horniness aside.
Lukas made me feel safe and wanted and was this beacon of light that I didn’t know I needed.
I’d spent so much time since Asher’s death just existing, trying to make it day to day—some days easier than others, and other times just wishing that darkness would claim me.
But Lukas—he was like a cleansing fire, a flooding river rising up to wash everything clean.
He was spring rain that renewed life and signaled a change in the seasons.
His lips trailed across my jaw and down my throat and I shivered at the feeling of his lips on my skin and the tickling of his breath.
He rolled his hips as he kissed and sucked and licked along my throat.
I further relaxed under him, moving my hips to match his own and the tension building was beautifully antagonizing.
I wanted more. His hands trailed over my body, skimming my sides, his thumbs brushing over my breasts, over my nipples.
I gasped and dragged my hands from his back to his face and brought his lips back to mine.
His tongue immediately swept in, and I let him take control.
His hips rolled again, and I moaned into his mouth.
Then one of his hands moved lower, and lower, slipping between our bodies.
I whined at the loss of pressure until I felt him cup me through my leggings.
He rubbed lightly and I jerked, the sensation new and utterly pleasant.
“More,” I begged.
He chuckled, pressing a kiss to the swell of my breasts.
His hand moved, and I nearly whined when I felt him sliding under the band of my leggings and when his fingers hit my bare core I gasped and gripped his arm tight.
I vaguely wondered if he could feel my heartbeat under his hand as his fingers slid through the dampness gathering between my legs.
He pressed and swirled my clit and if he hadn’t brought his mouth back to mine, my moan would have woken the whole lodge.