Chapter 14 #2
He shrugged and lifted the quilt to look at her naked body.
Quickly, his breaths shortened and she could hear how he struggled to form words.
“I call it my summer philosophy. You see, I work all year long on my businesses, but during the summer I like to surf, hang out with girls, and read about the stoics. Abe calls it my “hot summer”.
“Sounds… sexy?”
“It used to be.” He slid in beside her, pulling the quilt up around them both.
She was already warm from the fire, but his body brought a different kind of heat, steady, strong, familiar.
“For the past few years it’s just been lonely.
Except for the philosophy part. I like spending time with Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. ”
Relief swirled through her and she curled against his side. His arm went around her automatically, and for a moment they just lay like that, the silence wrapping around them like the shadows of the old house.
“I should’ve protected you better,” he murmured, his voice rough with guilt.
“You did protect me,” she said, her fingers brushing his chest. “But neither of us could’ve known that the flash drive I found would cause so much trouble. I should’ve given that flash drive to Ben once we arrived at the hospital.”
“No,” Luke kissed her head. “I found a map beneath the seat of Damian’s bike and gave it to Ben. If I’d just left it alone…”
“I noticed that map as well.” She kissed the side of his neck. “We both did what we thought was right. There’s no going back and no reason for regrets.
His hand palmed the curve of her hip. “Maybe we shouldn’t... not here, not now—”
Her mouth found his, soft but sure. “It’s exactly now. Before things get worse. While we still can.”
He groaned against her lips, rolling her beneath him. The quilt shifted. The fire flared behind the grate, casting golden light over the old bed and her body beneath his.
He quickly shed his boxers, and his bare thighs were between hers, spreading her legs apart, his erection at her entrance. He’d said earlier that he wanted to take things slow, and she’d agreed. Except now an urgency had come upon her.
She needed to feel him deep inside her now.
His kisses traced the swells of her breast, his hands skimmed over body.
“Wait… Luke… protection.”
He raised his head, his eyes filled with shadows and a sly smile. He nodded toward the bedside table where a few condom packets lay. “I have brothers.”
She hit his shoulder. “They know?” If that was true, she’d be so embarrassed tomorrow.
His laugh sent shivers down her spine. “No. I stole them from Abe’s backpack.”
She couldn’t help but smile at his charm and his wild assumptions. Of course, she’d been leading him on all afternoon. So maybe that wasn’t a fair judgment.
“Okay, Surfer Boy.” She ran her fingers through his hair and pulled his head down until her lips caressed his. “Do you know how to use them?”
He flipped onto his back, forcing her to straddle him. It didn’t take long for him to open a packet and hand it to her.
She raised an eyebrow, liking his dare. Carefully, she removed the condom and rolled it over his erection. His hips bucked, and his eyelids closed. As she stroked him, from his tip to his tightened balls, he threw his head back and groaned.
Without asking, she repositioned herself and lowered herself on him until he stretched her out and filled her completely.
She closed her eyes and tilted her head back.
It’d been a long time since she’d last had sex, and she’d never been with a man like Luke.
So masculine, so physically powerful, yet also so gentle He was a man who knew what he wanted yet still let her take control, probably because he understood that she needed it.
Slowly, while Luke fondled her breasts, she began to ride him. A hot, prickly sensation began in her toes and worked its way up her body, leaving her skin damp and tender. So tender, in fact, that when he sat up to suck her nipple, she cried out until he covered her mouth with his hand.
“Shh.” He smiled and went back to sucking her nipples.
She’d forgotten they were in someone else’s house, someone else’s bed.
Suddenly, he flipped her over and drove into her so hard, her head hit the cast iron bed frame.
Still he suckled her breast. When he moved to her other breast, the tension in her lower stomach built and built, until she wasn’t sure she could handle the waves of pleasure and pain that blew through her like a violent storm.
Luke paused in his frantic movements, raised his head to watch her, and brushed stray, damp hairs off her forehead. “You are so beautiful. And you smell like lilacs.”
“That’s just soap.” She bucked her hips, needing him to start moving again.
But he just watched her while still buried deep inside her. “I can’t stop looking at you.”
“That’s nice.” She didn’t want to be rude, but she needed him. She gripped his waist and tried to shift lower, hoping to encourage him to finish what he’d started.
Instead, he kissed her softly, with one hand braced on the iron bed frame and the other on her breast. Then, slowly, he pumped his hips again and spread her thighs, forcing her to take him in deeper.
He worked his way from slow to fast, but every time she felt the waves of pleasure begin, he stopped.
She raked her fingernails up and down his back. “What are you doing?”
“Making this last and driving you crazy.” Laughter echoed around the room until he met her gaze one more time.
His gaze was so dark, so serious. Then, without notice, he drove into her with such power, such forcefulness, she forgot to keep breathing.
He moved forward and back, increasing the speed with every thrust, until he had to cover her mouth with his hand while she cried out his name.
The waves of pleasure and pain flooded her body, yet she kept moving her hips, desperate for more.
After at least another ten thrusts, he threw back his head and collapsed on top of her.
She couldn’t move. Could barely think. Their racing heartbeats echoed around the room. Still, they stayed quiet so as not to disturb anyone else in the house. Quiet, but not timid, as they began to kiss all over again.
As they made for the second time, the urgency was there, but so was reverence. This second round wasn’t about escape or distraction. It was about anchoring each other to this time and space. It was about this moment when it was just the two of them alone in the world—yet together forever.
* * *
Luke felt like the luckiest man alive as he and Holly lay tangled together beneath the worn quilt, her head on his shoulder, her breath slowly easing.
Outside, an owl called once and fell silent again. Inside, the fire cracked and settled. His post-sex glow filled him with light, laughter… and maybe even love. He’d only known her for a short time, but she’d already become everything to him. His heart. His happiness. His home.
After a long moment, Holly murmured, “They want guarantees.”
Luke blinked down at her. “What?”
“The MC. They want something they can take back to their people. Something that proves you won’t go to the feds, even after you hand over the map and flash drives. Something that makes them feel in control.”
“They want you and Eve,” he said harshly. “We can’t give them what they want.”
“No. But maybe we can give them what they think they want.”
He stilled and tightened his arm around her. “What are you talking about?”
She looked up at him, and he brushed her long, brown hair away from her face.
“Maybe the real play is to give the MC a false sense of security. Make them think they’ve won.
While you and your family—and maybe even the FBI— work behind the scenes to unravel whatever this smuggling route or payment network is. ”
Luke shifted so he could stare down at her. “Except Gage hasn’t heard from his FBI contacts yet, and setting something up with them by tomorrow morning isn’t feasible without a working relationship. Even if we call the local FBI office, it could take months to put together an operation.”
“Izzy has an FBI contact that helped her get away from her stepfather. Maybe she can help.” Holly kissed his nose.
“It’s what I’d do if I were trying to put together an operation quickly that distracts the MC.
An operation that would give the MC something shiny to hold onto while you and your brothers burn the whole damn plan down behind their backs. ”
A slow grin crept over his face. “You’re terrifying.”
“I’m useful,” she corrected.
He kissed her temple. “That too. But I’ll be right back.”
He slipped out of bed, naked, and found his phone on the dresser. After sending a few texts, and getting quick responses, he went back to bed and wrapped his arms around Holly.
For the first time all day, he felt a spark of clarity. A possible way out of this situation. Not an easy way out and sure as hell not a safe one, but a straight line that could save all of them.
And it had come from the woman lying beside him.
“You know we might be watching a wedding in the middle of a federal sting operation?” he whispered.
She smiled into his chest. “Sounds like fun. As long as there’s banana pudding.”