Chapter 38 #2
“Let’s be whole together,” she said as she rested her fingertips on his mouth, Luke pulling her index finger in, sucking on it until she gasped and pulled it away as he moved to kiss one shoulder, then the other, fifteen years folding in seconds, like their bodies together, his kisses brushing her nipples, Luke sucking one into his mouth, making her arch up.
“You have no idea what you do to me when you make that sound in your throat, Kylie. Knowing I made you make that sound is even better.”
“Luke,” she whimpered, surprised by her own reaction. “I want you in me.”
“Already?”
“Can we? Now? We have all night, right? I can’t explain it. There’s just–” Her voice thickened with tears. “I need you.”
“Of course. Thought you’d never ask.”
“I’m on the pill,” she whispered. “And it’s been a while for me, too.”
“Then come here, Kylie. Let me love you a new way. Let me love you all the ways I can.”
As she parted her legs he surprised her, pulling her up over him, straddling his hot, strong body, his hands gripping her hips, eyes utterly focused on her, appreciative expression making her feel more sensual than ever before.
A shift, a hip rotated just right, and then he was in her, hands moving to her breasts, her shoulders going back as her hands found his chest, the free fall sensation of giving herself fully one she’d never felt before.
“You mesmerize me,” he said into the night as he began slow strokes upward, Kylie bending down for a kiss, the motion making him hit a spot deep inside that turned her body into a flashpoint.
“You make me feel so special. So welcomed. You are my place in the world, Luke. You. Not the town. You.”
“Wherever we are, as long as we’re together, we’re in the right place,” he whispered, gently pushing her long hair off her face, moving with deeper thrusts as he closed his eyes, tensing slightly, Kylie’s body reacting to his with intensity.
Their lovemaking was brief, blinding, and oh, so good as they came together, their kiss fast and heated, their climaxes a surrender to a love that took too long to be found, but was there all along.
As they both went still, Kylie collapsed on top of him, his breath in her ear, and she floated in a sweet, warm abyss, ageless and timeless, held in his arms.
Nothing was finer.
“Hey,” he murmured in her ear, kissing the top of her head. “You okay?”
“I think I’m in another dimension.”
“If you see any fairies, follow them back to me.”
“I’ll look for the glitter trail.”
His chest bounced with laughter. “Now there’s an image.”
“I’ll never get lost when I’m with you. Remember?”
“I remember.”
He took in a long, shaky breath. “I was wrong, earlier. About soulmates.”
Kylie froze. “You were?”
“Yes. I - I feel a connection to you I’ve never felt with anyone, ever. You’re my one. It’s so strong, and so good, and so — ”
Kylie stopped him with a kiss that she felt with her whole heart, Luke’s hands on her back, telling her without words this time, at home with his touch.
She rolled off him and curled against his side, looking through the opaque curtains, red, yellow, and blue light orbs filling the scene.
His stomach gurgled, hers following seconds later.
“Food,” he said. “This place have room service?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Because we’re going to need it for the next day or two.”
“Day or two?” she gasped. “You plan to keep me in this hotel room for that long?”
“We have a lot of catching up to do.”
As she laughed, her stomach made a noise of protest again.
“Let me see if they have pineapple pizza with glitter,” he said, stretching his arm over her head, pretending to reach for the phone.
“Hah! You order with the television remote.”
His eyes paused on her, staring, before he said, “This is real.”
“Yes.”
“Really real.”
“Mm hmm.”
“Kylie Hood, I love you so, so much.”
“Luke Luview, I love you, too.”
“I hate my last name at times like this.”
“It’s quite the tongue twister.”
He grinned at her, then dove under the sheet. “You order food with the remote while I do some tongue twisting…”
He was right.
This was definitely real.
The warm, thick bicep pressed against her cheek was the first clue that she wasn't at home.
The deep, definitely male voice that said “mmmmmm” as his hand cupped her hip was the second clue.
But when Luke's mouth spread into a grin before he nuzzled her neck and whispered, “Good morning, darling,” she knew she wasn't dreaming.
Last night had happened.
For real.
A quick peek at her naked body against his made a zing of excitement shoot through her, mind still caught between fifteen years ago and now.
She was in bed with a boy.
No.
Oh, no.
He was alllll man.
A man who kissed her cheek, slid out from under the covers, pulled on boxers and walked over to the small coffee maker. Without asking, he made two cups of coffee in the double-shot machine.
As they brewed, he grabbed something from the nightstand, then walked to the large picture window and pulled back the curtains.
Bright light pierced the morning air.
Enormous billboards and skyscrapers dominated the view.
Luke pressed his palms against the wide glass windows, body strong and muscled, the ripple of his back making Kylie look.
And look.
And look.
Then she couldn't hold herself back any longer. She had to touch.
As she climbed out of bed, she grabbed his Henley shirt, a warm burgundy cotton weave sitting in a puddle next to the bed. It smelled like Luke as she pulled it over her head, then came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his bare waist and snuggling in.
“The view is amazing,” he said, turning just enough for her to see he was wearing glasses.
“Oh!” she peeped. “You look so different!”
Fingering one stem, he laughed. “I’m half-blind without my contacts, and I had to take them out last night. I’ll put them in so I go back to being me,” he joked.
“No,” she said. “You’re you. You’re always you.”
He took the glasses off and kissed her, full and with heart, a surge of desire making Kylie want to drag him back to bed.
Instead, he wrapped her in his arms and faced her toward the city.
“So many people,” she murmured.
“So much crime,” he pointed out, frowning as she looked back at him.
“Once a cop, always a cop?”
“Something like that.”
Luke’s phone buzzed. He picked it up.
“Colleen’s texting me.” He tapped the screen and initiated a call, putting it on speakerphone as Kylie slipped back into bed, pulling the covers up, sipping her delicious cup of coffee.
“Luke?” Colleen said, appearing onscreen from her couch, her cat, Sandwich, nosing the screen. A tuxedo kitten, the bitty girl had a pink nose with a tiny mark on it, and big eyes.
“Who else would answer?” She gently moved Sandwich away as he asked, “How’s Harriet?”
“She’s fine.”
“What’s up?”
“Umm…”
He let out a low growl. Kylie knew instantly why Colleen was texting, and burst out laughing.
“The entire town has gone crazy with speculation about you two. They all know Luke went to New York to chase you down, and people keep driving by your house, Luke, looking for your Jeep.”
“Of course.”
Silence.
“Oh, for goodness sake, Colleen, spit it out.”
“Was it yesterday or today? Because if it was today, I get my tires.”
“And if it was yesterday? Who wins?”
“Annabeth Khouri.”
Kylie scrambled across the bed and covered Luke’s mouth with her hand, imploring him with a wide-eyed appeal.
“It was yesterday,” she hissed.
He looked at the clock by the bed. “True.”
“I do not want Annabeth winning that bet!”
“Why not?”
“Because she shouldn’t benefit from our–you know…”
“I know all about our you know, and I want more you know... you know.”
“Luke?” Colleen’s voice came through the phone. “Kylie? You two realize I’m hearing every word.”
Kylie and Luke winced.
“And as much as I want that money, fair is fair. If you two waited to schtup until after midnight–”
“Schtup?” Luke choked out at the word.
“Then I win. But if it was yesterday, then Annabeth wins.” Her voice turned sly. “It’s going to grind her up, Kylie, to take the money. Nadine bought her the spot in the betting pool anyhow. She wanted Luke, you know.”
“Oh, yes. I know,” Kylie said, touching Luke’s thigh with a possession she thoroughly enjoyed.
“That time she showed up at my house with a box from Greta’s, wearing a trench coat, high heels, and nothing else might have been a clue,” Luke added.
“She did that?” Kylie and Colleen said in identical voices of outrage.
Suddenly, Luke wasn’t making eye contact.
“We need more ice,” he muttered, reaching for the ice bin.
“You’re in your underwear,” she reminded him, taking a moment to enjoy the view.
“Ew. Gross,” Colleen said. “I think it’s time to end this call.”
“It was time to end this call before it started,” Luke shot back.
“Annabeth it is, then,” Colleen declared. “I’ll let the town know.”
Luke and Kylie groaned in unison. “Do you have to? Our sex life is no one else’s business.”
Deeply amused giggles poured forth from the phone’s speaker.
“The entire town just wagered nearly five hundred dollars on your sex life, guys. You're in major denial.”
“Bet's over, right?” Luke said into the phone, kissing Kylie's earlobe. She shivered.
“Yep!”
“And what we do is our business again, and no one else's?” he persisted.
Colleen practically brayed through the phone. “That has never worked for any soul who lives in Luview, Maine. You know that. Why?”
“Then let the gossips move on to another topic, sis,” he said as his kisses grew more urgent, Kylie's body heating up in response. “Kylie and I are busy with another bet.”
He ended the call and flung the phone under the bed.
“Bet? What bet?”
“I'll bet you I can make you...”
She shrieked, then gasped, then moaned as he did exactly what he promised.
Because that's what a Luview does.
They love you.