Chapter 29
Tessa
Lucas. My Lucas.
A man who didn’t call me crazy. Instead, he saw my flaws and open wounds and pulled me closer, rather than pushing me away like a plague.
I regretted fleeing from the hotel shortly after calling Alex for help.
But I never thought that my disappearance would’ve affected him as much as it had, and now I felt even worse about my split-second, rash decision.
I wished that I could go back in time and make myself stay in that bed until he’d gotten out of the shower… Where would we be now if I hadn’t left?
“For what it’s worth, I didn’t bolt because I was afraid of you. I was running from myself more than anything. When I finally made it home, all I wished was that the warm robe wrapped around my body was you…” I was breaking, my barriers that surrounded me tumbling to the ground.
Lucas wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me into him until my body fell back onto the daybed. He hovered over me—the sky and stars serving as a backdrop to his gorgeous face, dimples on full display as he continued to smile broadly, a hint of mischief in his eyes.
“Well, while we’re out here, all alone. Why don’t we make that wish come true? Under the stars, above a city of lights. I don’t think there’s anything more memorable than this.”
“Why does it not surprise me that a man like you would turn an emotionally taxing conversation into an excuse for sex?” I hummed, rolling my eyes to hold back more tears before dropping my gaze to his white T-shirt as it dangled from his body, still concealing that gorgeous cut six-pack he carried with him.
“See, you already know me so well. Proving my point that what’s happening between us isn’t wrong. We’re meant to be. Now, get over here and let me show you the fireworks, princess.”
A laugh bubbled up from my throat as Lucas climbed the rest of the way over me, driving his face into the crook of my neck with a feral growl as he made quick work to remove my shorts.
The way both Lucas and Levi made me feel when I was with them was the very definition of a true sense of freedom. I couldn’t remember the last time someone made me laugh, or feel anything this close to pure joy—besides Theodore… and that was so long ago… before he left…
“Wait… you know what?” As if a light bulb had gone off, Lucas stopped undressing me and quickly shuffled himself off the bed. “I’ve got a better idea.” I rose onto my elbows, feeling a mix of annoyance and intrigue as he picked up his phone and tapped around on the screen.
“If ruining the moment is your better idea, then it’s working…
” I huffed mockingly. I could feel the heat building between my thighs, only to have him gallivanting around the fucking rooftop, shoving chairs and other random pieces of furniture aside.
“Seriously, Lucas… Was my flirty sarcasm not a clear indicator that I was ready to spread my legs for you?”
I guided myself to the edge of the daybed, sitting on my knees and crossing my arms over my chest as I continued to track his movements, growing more irritated by the second.
“Oh, you’ll spread them, but not before I give you a good reason to.”
“You’re pretty boy looks are reason enough, now get back over here before I change my mind.”
Unexpectedly, Lucas dropped the chair he was holding, and it crashed to the floor with a loud bang as he quickly ate up the space between us, towering over me before bending down to cage my body between his arms. I fell back in surprise, gaping up at him with undivided attention as my breath caught in my throat at just how fast he’d managed to move.
“I-I…” I couldn’t form words, my brain catching fire as his gaze seared into me, and not by way of anger or rage, but a deep lust and desire that left me breathless.
“If we do this your way, it won’t be as much fun…
” His voice was a low rumble, seductive in every sense of the term.
I felt as if my ovaries were about to burst like grapes.
Goddamn the way he affected me… “So let me finish what I’m doing, and then I’ll give my good girl the satisfaction of riding and using my cock until she feels like she can kiss the stars. ”
With a hanging jaw, I continued staring up at him, stunned and speechless. My response was nothing more than a look of astonishment. What the fuck do I say to that?
Lucas boldly smirked before pressing a tender kiss to my forehead, then pushed back off the mattress.
“Better.” He added before whipping around to pick up the chair that was tipped on its side, and resumed whatever he was doing.
I liked losing arguments for a change.
Fuck, it was hot.
Several minutes passed, and I hadn’t moved from where Lucas left me. I just stared blankly up at the night sky while listening to him drag stuff across the floor, making loud scraping noises and trying my hardest to hold back a laugh every time I heard him curse out of nowhere.
“Alright… Come here, princess.”
I lifted my head. Lucas was now standing behind me with a hand on his hip and the other outstretched toward me. It didn’t take more than two seconds for me to launch myself into his arms, taking in what he had done to the rooftop lounge.
He’d shoved everything to the side to create a vast open space for god knows what, with a single chair positioned in the middle.
“I’m not giving you a lap dance.” With a scowl, I glanced up at him through the corner of my eye.
“I wasn’t asking you to. But…” Lucas drew out the word as he took out his phone and tapped the screen before shutting it off and then tossed it onto the bed. “We are going to dance.”
“With a single chair? In the center of the room? Uh-huh… sure…”
“Shh… just give it a second, princess. You’ll see.” Suddenly, music started playing over the corner-mounted speakers, drowning out everything else. I laughed when I recognized the song, knowing how ridiculous a song it was for his first choice.
“There is no way you listen to Jesse McCartney!” I accused with a playful shriek.
“What? A man can’t enjoy a little soulful pop music these days? I’m offended.” He chuckled lightly, feigning his sentiment with a hand pressed to his chest.
“Do you even know the lyrics or the meaning of this song?” Was he being for real? There’s no way this was his typical taste in music...
“Hmm… something about stepping up to the plate and being a man… allowing the right woman to have complete and utter control over him… and said woman having me right where she wants me.”
His hand settled on my hip, just below my waist, while the other interlaced our fingers together, just as Lucas began guiding me in an intimately slow dance. What about the chair?
We flowed together, swaying to the cadence before he twirled me outward, then reeled me back in, holding me tight with my back pressed against his chest and an arm around my waist. Lucas swayed us from side to side with the pace of the chorus, his cheek pressed against my ear as he serenaded along to the lyrics.
The moment was so corny but so adorable and swoonworthy at the same time, and I beamed to the point of my cheeks hurting from the size of my smile.
Was this what it felt like to fall in love?
To have a man sweep you off your feet and steal your heart all at once?
There was a reason he chose this song… the lyrics.
As the chorus faded into the next verse, Lucas guided me around the space he’d opened up, spinning me away from him and then catching me on my return with a low, impassioned dip.
I didn’t need to know the style of dance or anticipate every move that was coming. The control he had over my body made it effortless to follow his lead. I was on autopilot, letting him steer me in his direction.
On a second dip, I twisted my body to drape a leg over his hip, and he gripped my thigh without missing a beat, pulling it higher before lifting me to wrap the other around in the same manner.
Adjusting his hold, Lucas carried me back toward the chair, lowering me onto it, then dropped down to his knees in front of me.
Dancing with this man was exhilarating. He enabled me to surrender my control for once, and I’d allow him to sweep me away into the unknown.
With a kiss to the top of my knee, dragging his lips up my thigh, Lucas rose to his feet while pulling his shirt over his head.
Placing a hand on either side of the chair’s backrest, he tilted the chair, widening his stance to straddle my hips as I quickly gripped the rear legs at the angle, feeling as though I’d tip over if I didn’t.
Stuck at a forty-five angle, he began rolling his hips, grinding against my belly, and I chuckled as he managed to turn a romantic dance into a fucking striptease. But the view was more than I could ask for, I’ll give him that.
Trusting him not to drop me, I released my hold on the chair to run my hands along his hard chest, tracing my fingers through the outline of muscle. Everything about him was captivating. I could stare at his chiseled abs all fucking day and never get tired of the sight.
As my hands moved lower down his body, he slowed his movements, my fingertips sinking into the waistband of his jeans.
“Go for it,” Lucas whispered, and I popped the silver button, lungs turning molten. Between the dancing and his words, I found myself in a euphoric state—tipsy on passion and bliss.
A warm hand wrapped around the nape of my neck, his thumb trailing its way up to my chin, tilting my head back in the process as I listened to the sound of his zipper, slowly being drawn down by my fingers.
He leaned into me, soft lips pressed up against my ear as he purred sweet nothings that had me pressing my thighs together, breathing him in like a damning sin and begging for a fuck I knew he was ready to give.
“All yours, princess. Every solid inch.” I bit down on the inside of my lip, my body tingling in all the right places from the vibrations of his words against my skin.
“I only wish I had known years ago that a woman like you would be waiting for me to find her. One with a magnetic draw powerful enough to force me onto my knees without even trying. I’ve never belonged to anyone until the night I met you, and from that moment on, it was so fucking obvious. I am yours, Tessa.”
My eyes fell shut as I melted into his confession, and he claimed my air before I could even part my lips to speak, my heart rate accelerating from the rush.
With our tongues tangled, I didn’t even notice that he had switched his hold on me, finding myself drifting away in his arms before sinking into the softness of the daybed, just as his weight settled between my thighs.
“Lucas—” I pulled back, searching his dreamy eyes for an answer to a question I never saw myself caring to ask until now. “What is this?…” A reassurance I needed, to know I wasn’t making this all up in my mind’s eye.
He huffed with a charming smile as a gentle palm caressed the side of my face, and his gaze turned into one of deep-seated devotion.
“This… is us accepting the inevitable. This… is me having fallen in love with you.”
Love.
And if he could admit it out loud, then why couldn’t I?
What was there to stop me?
Why was I still fighting this feeling?