Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
L uke gave up trying to finish his dinner. His folks had invited him over, but he’d declined. He was even more upset—and bewildered—about Kelsey than he’d been earlier in the day.
Her refusal of his flowers had stung. She hadn’t just declined them, she’d done the verbal equivalent of throwing them in his face. He hadn’t thought Paige showing up would be that damaging to their fledgling relationship, but then he wasn’t sure what to expect. Kelsey had tried to put on the brakes. She’d been honest about being hesitant. Maybe she just wasn’t ready.
Which sucked, because he was. If Paige dropping in had showed him anything, it was that Kelsey was different. Special.
He set his dishes in the sink, grabbed a beer from the fridge, and went to the living room to watch football highlights. He’d just turned on Sports Center when headlights flashed through the window as a car pulled into the driveway.
He set his beer on the coffee table and stood up. He walked over and peered through the blinds. It was Kelsey.
Anticipation thrummed in his chest. He’d hoped she would show up. Was she here to stay, or had she come to pick up her things? He’d find out in a minute.
He went back to the couch and sat down. He sipped his beer and tried to focus on the television. The lock on the front door clicked, and he tensed. He turned his head toward the door as she came inside.
She looked the same as earlier—her hair hanging loose and gorgeous, a light cranberry-colored jacket thrown over her long-sleeved V-neck tee and distressed jeans, and those sexy dark brown booties. Why they were sexy, he didn’t know. Maybe he just felt that way about everything to do with her.
“Hey.” She walked around the couch and moved into the living room.
He muted the sound on the TV. “Hey.”
She dropped her purse on the chair. “Mind if I sit with you?”
He sat in the middle of the couch, rather taking up the entire thing, so he scooted to the right. “Sure. I mean, I don’t mind.”
Her lips curved into a weak smile. “I knew what you meant.” She sat down, but on the edge of the couch. She clasped her hands together and rested them on her knees. “I wanted to explain about earlier. About the flowers.”
He turned the TV off and tossed the remote onto the table. Then he angled himself toward her, bringing his knee up onto the couch. “Okay.”
“First, I want to apologize. You couldn’t know this, but I have a problem with flowers. As in, I hate them. Please don’t ever give me a bouquet again.”
There was a vehemence and darkness to her tone that set off warning bells in his head. “Got it.” He wanted to ask why but sensed she was about to tell him.
She took a deep breath. The muscles in her jaw clenched. “Noah used to bring me flowers. After he hit me.”
Oh, fuck. Luke’s insides crumpled. He moved closer to her, but she held up her hand and shook her head. “Let me get this out.”
She took a deep breath, and he heard it catch, sounding like a shudder. He ached to touch her, but kept his hands to himself.
“I haven’t really told you about him. Not because I want to hide anything, but because it’s…difficult. We met in college, and honestly, for me, it was love at first sight, as corny as that sounds. He wasn’t abusive in the beginning.” Her expression softened, and Luke could see she was recalling happier times. He tried not to feel a stab of jealousy.
She went on. “I have a lot of good memories.” Her lips curved into a sad smile. “How else could I have stayed with him so long? At least, that’s what I tell myself.” She looked down at her lap. “It takes the sting from my shame.”
Emotion rushed through him—anger, frustration, concern, and anguish. He gently touched her chin and tipped her head up. “Hey, there’s no need to feel ashamed. I’m sure I have a lot to learn about abuse, but what I do know is that it wasn’t your fault. Not even staying with him for however long you did.” He cupped the side of her face.
She nuzzled her cheek against him. “Thank you. You’re right, and my brain knows that, but my heart, my soul…sometimes they forget.”
“I’m glad you told me a little about him.” He wanted to know more but was also a bit afraid. Luke already hated this man for everything he did know, for the pain he’d caused Kelsey. “And I will listen to whatever you want to share—now or in the future.”
Her gaze glowed with appreciation. “I don’t talk about him much. It’s not just that I don’t like to think of him—which I don’t—or the shame factor. It’s also the headspace. I spent a long time trying to dissect how I’d been so stupid and how I could’ve done things differently.” Her eyes darkened before she tipped her head down. “I wondered why I let him do that to me, why I didn’t retaliate. I thought of all the ways I should’ve hurt him in return.”
He grew agitated listening to the agony in her tone. He started thinking of all the ways he’d like to hurt the bastard. “It’s normal to want that. I want that. Well, not for you to hurt him,” he clarified. “Honestly, I’d like a shot at him. A man that would hit a woman deserves to suffer.”
Her head came up, her eyes wide. “He is suffering, I hope. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t deserve to take up any part of my life. I gave him far too much.”
He saw the grit and determination in her gaze, in the tense set of her mouth. “I have such immense respect for you,” he said softly. “To think that you’ve worked through this and come out stronger on the other side.”
She let out a light laugh and straightened, causing him to drop his hand from her face. “I’m working on it. I still have issues. As you saw earlier.”
“We all have issues, don’t we?”
“I guess. What are yours? Just reappearing exes?”
His issues. Yeah, those. “Reappearing exes whose hearts I’ve broken, apparently.” He stretched his folded leg out and put both feet on the floor.
It was her turn to bend her knee and turn toward him, resting her elbow on the back of the couch. “You didn’t realize that?”
“Not to the level that she said this morning.” He sent her a wry glance. “She’s still hung up on me.”
“I could see that.”
He smiled at the irony in her tone. “I admit I was a bit blind to…things. It took me a while to realize she was more into the relationship than I was. Moving back here gave me the distance I needed to break things off. Shit, that sounds so cowardly.” He turned his head to look at her. “In my defense, I didn’t see it. Like I said, I was a blind asshole.”
“I don’t think you meant to be an asshole. Or to hurt her. That’s not the Luke I’ve come to know.” She stared at him a moment. “Unless you’ve been hiding who you really are, in which case I’d have to leave. I can’t do that again. I need to know who I’m with.”
That socked him right in the gut. She’d been with someone who’d had some whole other side to him. He owed her the truth. Right now.
He turned toward her again, mirroring her position, complete with his elbow on the back of the couch. “I care about you a lot, Kelsey. More than I’ve cared for anyone. That said, I’m maybe a bit more than an introvert. Some might even call me a loner. I like my space. I honestly don’t know how good I’ll be at a long-term, serious relationship. Paige was the first one I’d tried, and it didn’t go well. There’s nothing I’d hate more than hurting you.”
Her gaze was guarded. “What are you saying? Do you want to stop seeing each other?”
Hell, he was botching this. He took her hands in his. “No, definitely not. I just wanted you to know about my…issues.”
Her eyes widened briefly, and her brows arched. “Oh, right. Issues. I did ask.”
“Yes, but I was going to tell you anyway. You deserve total honesty.”
A soft smile fluttered across her mouth. “Thank you. This morning when you introduced me to Paige, you called me your girlfriend. Is that true?”
He hadn’t given it any thought when he’d said it—the word had just come out. But it fit. “For me, yes. But you can tell me otherwise.”
She shook her head. “No. I think I’d like to be your girlfriend.”
Joy bubbled in his chest, and he smiled because he couldn’t not smile. He leaned forward and kissed her, a light touching of their lips. “Consider it done.”
She twined her arms around his neck and opened her mouth against his, kissing him with heat and fervor. He clasped her sides and massaged her through her jacket, then brought his hands around to push it from her shoulders.
She shrugged out of it and let it drop to the floor. Without breaking the kiss, she knelt up, rising over him. Her tongue plunged down into his mouth, teasing him. Every part of him ached for her.
Her fingers delved into his hair, her nails raking his scalp. She straddled him, her knees spearing into the couch on either side of his hips. He grasped her waist and pulled her down while he arched up. They both wore jeans, and they were too damn cumbersome to allow what he sought. He wanted her hot sheath bare and ready for him.
She moaned into his mouth as she ground against him. He dug his hands into her ass, desperate for more. She ran her hands down his back and grabbed the hem of his T-shirt. Her fingers grazed his bare flesh as she drew it upward. They pulled apart long enough for her to tug it over his head and throw it over the back of the couch.
They renewed the kiss, their mouths open and hungry. She gripped his shoulders as she plundered his mouth. Then her hands skimmed over his collarbones and down his chest, her thumbs flicking his nipples as they moved south.
Desire beat through him, taking him to new heights of arousal. This was more than sex. This was a connection he’d never felt.
She tore her mouth from his and kissed along his throat, pushing him back against the couch as she descended. Her lips and tongue trailed along his flesh. Again, she stopped at his nipples, teasing them briefly before she continued toward his waistband.
Her hands made quick work of his button and zipper, undoing his jeans with effortless precision. His cock was hard and ready, so eager for her touch.
She tugged at his jeans, working them down over his hips. He came up off the couch to help her, and she soon stripped them away from his quivering body. He watched as she settled herself between his legs and inched his boxer briefs lower, slowly exposing his aching cock.
She looked up at him, her tongue darting over her lips as she gave him a wicked little grin. He snagged his fingers in her hair and moaned her name.
Without bothering to pull his underwear completely off, she put her lips on him. Her wet heat surrounded the tip and then her mouth descended as her tongue stroked his length. He tried to hold himself in check but couldn’t. He thrust up into her, and she took him to the back of her throat. He felt her swallow, and the contraction sent blood screaming to his balls. This was not going to last long.
She seemed to realize this as she eased back and used her hand to work his shaft for several strokes. He squeezed his eyes shut as pleasure cascaded through him. God, the ecstasy was almost unbearable.
She took him deeper again, sucking hard. Lights danced behind his eyes. “Kelsey, I’m not going to—” His orgasm built, but she pulled way with an audible smack. He heard her breathing, hard and fast, and just barely managed to hold on.
“Should we move to the bedroom?” Her voice was dark and husky and so damn seductive, he couldn’t stand it.
He sat up and pulled her to straddle his lap. “I don’t care where we go. I just want you. Now.”
She pulled her shirt off and unfastened her bra, letting it fall between them. “So take me.”
With a grunt, he cupped the underside of her breast and pushed it up as he lowered his mouth to devour her nipple. She thrust her hands into his hair once more, tugging at the strands, but he was heedless of any pain—just a persistent, thrumming lust that only she could satisfy.
But it was more than lust. So much more. He couldn’t wait to come with her, but at the same time didn’t want it to ever end.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and stood.
She sucked in a breath. “Whoa. Luke .” She wrapped her legs around him as he carried her to the bedroom. He lifted his mouth from her breast and claimed her lips. Their tongues met in a deep kiss that seemed to speak all the words he couldn’t form just now.
In the bedroom, he stood her at the end of the bed, then undid her jeans. Gently, he pushed them down over her hips, along with her underwear. She sat on the edge of the bed, and he knelt to take off her boots so he could get her completely naked. Realizing he wasn’t completely naked, he stripped his underwear off then pushed her legs apart and knelt between them.
She opened her eyes and there was a silent, still moment where they just looked at each other, their bodies barely touching. He stared into her pale-blue irises and gently touched her inner thigh, dragging his knuckles along her soft flesh. Her eyes narrowed infinitesimally, and her lips parted.
He worked his hand higher until he grazed her cleft. She opened her legs a little more, and he used his thumb on her clit, stroking and pushing then tweaking it between his fingers. Little pants escaped her mouth, spurring his need ever higher.
Keeping his gaze locked with hers, he slipped his finger into her. She wilted a little and clasped his shoulders. He slid in as far as he could go, then withdrew. Her fingertips dug into his flesh. This time, he put two fingers into her, thrusting slowly. She gasped, and her eyes finally closed. “ Luke .”
He wrapped his other hand around her neck. “Open your eyes. Look at me when you come.”
He withdrew his hands until she acquiesced. Her eyes came open, and in their depths, he saw pleasure and awe and something he couldn’t define. He imagined he looked the same. At least, that was how he felt.
“Tell me when you’re close,” he rasped. He pumped into her faster now, his thumb flicking her clit. He brought his face closer as he held her nape tight in his grip.
Her breathing came faster as her hips moved with his hand. “Yes. More.”
He quickened his pace, driving into her as her impassioned cries filled the room.
“I’m close. So close.” Her eyelids fluttered. “I can’t.”
“Look at me.” He cupped her neck and brought his lips almost to hers. He could feel her breath.
Her muscles contracted around his fingers as she cried out. He claimed her mouth as he took her cries into himself, kissing her deep and hard.
After she quieted and her body subsided, he withdrew from her, going to his nightstand to grab a condom. When he returned, she took it from him and stood up from the bed. “My turn,” she said, her gaze dark and commanding.
He arched a brow. “What do you want?”
“You. On your back.” She pivoted and lightly pushed against his chest.
He fell back as he watched her. She was lean and beautiful, her nipples dark pink peaks atop lush, silken globes. Her waist tapered to slightly flared hips, and her long legs beckoned him to bury himself between them.
She came around to the side of the bed and leaned one knee down as she bent to slip the condom along his shaft. Her touch sent him to the stratosphere, reminding him of how close he’d been in the living room. Then she threw her leg over him and positioned herself above his hips. She gripped his cock and brought it between her thighs.
Slowly, she came down, her sheath taking him in. He tried to hold back, to let her take charge, but he just wanted to grip her hips and drive into her. Forcing himself to lie back, he directed his attention to her breasts. They swayed above him, tantalizing and gorgeous. He reached up and cupped them, his fingers tweaking and pulling on the nipples while he massaged the soft flesh.
She took him inside her to the hilt, her hips grinding against his. Her inner thighs hugged his hips as she rocked against him, slowly at first, teasing him. Buried in her wet heat, her muscles clenching around him, Luke fought to keep a handle on himself. But then she began to move faster. He didn’t want it to be over. Not yet.
He rose off the bed and snaked his hand around the nape of her neck, drawing her down so he could kiss her. She held him by the shoulders and angled her head to kiss him, her tongue plunging deep into his mouth. After a moment, she broke free, gasping as her hips worked over him. He took her nipple between his teeth, tugging the flesh before soothing it with his lips and tongue.
She pushed him down, her palm flat on his chest as she rode him faster. She arched up and ground down, her hips snapping against his. He tried to hang on, but he was too far gone. Pleasure rushed through him and plunged him headfirst over the edge into pure ecstasy as his orgasm tore through him. He yelled and bucked and barely thought to touch her, putting his fingers against her clit and coaxing her orgasm forth.
She bored down on him so hard that it was like coming a second time. White lights danced behind his eyes as he rode the wave of bliss.
A moment later, she bent over him, her breasts grazing his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close as he pressed his lips to her temple, then her cheek. She turned her head and kissed him, her lips moving gently over his. Her breath, soft and sexy, mingled with his, and he could only think that he never wanted this moment to end.
He brushed her long hair back from her face and cupped her head, kissing her as he rolled to his side. He stroked her cheekbone, her jaw, and she sighed into his mouth.
Reluctantly, he left her. “Be right back,” he whispered.
After disposing of the condom and cleaning up, he came back to the bed. She’d crawled under the bedcovers, her body curled up and her hair tossed carelessly over the pillow. He climbed in behind her and gathered her close.
She sighed again and pressed a kiss to the back of his wrist. “Good night.”
Contentment filled his soul. “Good night.”