Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Cloud Nine
The rest of Saturday moves by in a blur.
The gang obviously saw how my mood had improved when Luke and I showed back up at camp, but their assumptions were only half correct that we had made up from our fight by talking it out.
None of them guessed at the other half of the equation that involved Luke’s tongue in my mouth.
Still, my heart is light as a feather for the rest of the day, fueled by the knowledge that everything somehow turned out okay. It seems impossible that it had ever been wrong in the first place, and every time I look at Luke and see his return smile, I’m reminded that he sees me and understands.
It doesn’t hurt that we steal kisses from each other whenever we’re safely alone.
It feels like a secret mission to see how often we can do it without getting caught, making it more fun.
There’s swimming (with underwater kissing), kayaking (with cave kissing), and rock hunting (with not nearly enough kissing).
I feel like a teenager again with how often I want this man’s lips on mine, but it’s not just me.
Luke will go through as much effort to kiss me first. It’s exhilarating.
Later, sitting around the campfire while the sun goes down, we’re given an impromptu musical performance by Luke and Tiff. They didn’t plan it ahead of time, but Tiff always brings her guitar, and the moment Luke saw it, he insisted they revive their old high school ritual of singing duets.
They cycle through the Beatles’ Blackbird, Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, Queen’s Somebody to Love, Jewel’s Standing Still, ABBA’s Chiquitita, Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide, and so many others that I lose count.
I knew Tiff was skilled with the guitar, but I didn’t know she could sing.
She’s good, too. Luke’s velvet smooth voice is hard to match, but Tiff manages to hold her own in the spotlight with her flawless accompaniment.
Even though they haven’t sung together since high school, no one would ever know.
They know each other’s tones and pitch like the back of their hands, harmonizing and improvising as if it comes second nature to them.
I could see how it would be easy for Luke after his training and years of experience, but Tiff’s an anesthesiologist by day. I guess she’s allowed to have a passion for hobbies outside of work. I just never really paid attention to what they were.
But I smile to see Marcus watching with obvious pride as his wife has a blast showing off something she loves, his entire attention focused on her. He probably doesn’t even know Luke’s there.
It’s one of the best nights of the entire weekend.
By the end of it, I’m like a zombie, overtired from my lack of sleep the night before and completely exhausted from the day's events. I barely get to the tent and onto the air mattress before I pass out with Luke’s fingers in my hair.
A thunderstorm rolls in around 4 a.m., waking me up as rain hits the tent, lightning illuminating the sky.
It’s freaky listening to the wind blow against the tent walls, knowing that it’s not the safest place to take shelter if it gets bad, but the worst part of the storm seems to be miles away from us, with how distant the rumbles of thunder are.
Luke somehow manages to sleep through most of it, only stirring once or twice with the more significant thunder clashes.
It’s a marvel how comfortable and relaxed he is with his head on my chest, one leg draped over mine in a possessive way.
With every flash of lightning, I study the sharp lines of his jaw and how his golden blond hair looks almost silver in the light.
Rubbing my hand along his back, delicately tracing the curve of his spine with my fingers, I revel in the awareness that I get to do this now, and it’s welcomed.
The irony of us being in the same position only the night before, but under wildly different circumstances, still blows my mind.
To have him here now, curled into my side like he belongs there, almost feels too good to be true.
For a minute, I wonder if I’m imagining this whole thing. Maybe it was all just a dream, and when I wake up, Luke will still be mad at me for kissing him on that beach.
But then Luke stretches a little in his sleep, sighing as he resettles with his head nuzzled into the crook of my neck, draping his long arm across my chest, and there’s no way this is only in my head.
A smile spreads on my lips, and I lean down to brush a kiss over Luke’s hair, thanking all my lucky stars that we somehow made it here.
When we finally get up, it’s almost nine. The sky is dark, and it’s still pouring rain outside, which makes for a miserable trek across the campground to the toilets in the cold, but Luke and I manage to get there in one piece.
We run into Marcus on the way back to our tent, and he informs us it’s supposed to rain like this until noon, but should clear up for the rest of the trip afterward.
It means no fire or home-cooked breakfast, though there are breakfast bars we can nibble on if we’re starving.
So, until the rain clears, there’s not much to do but hang out in the tents and wait it out, keeping ourselves occupied however we can.
When Luke and I make eye contact after that statement, the corner of his mouth pulls up into a devilish little grin, and my face goes hot at the implications.
Thankfully, Marcus doesn’t seem to notice the exchange, too busy grumbling about how cold the rain is as he hurries away to get out of it, leaving Luke and me to rush off toward our tent with sudden eagerness.
The zipper to the tent barely reaches the top before we’ve kicked our shoes off, and Luke grabs me, pushing me down onto the air mattress so that I’m on my back.
He straddles my hips, running his hands over my chest as he leans down and catches my mouth with his own.
He lets out a satisfied moan against my lips, smiling as he looks at me, his eyes traveling across my face with delight. My heart flutters in my chest.
“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this to you,” he murmurs, brushing the backs of his fingers down the side of my face before gripping me by the jaw, his hold tight.
It sends a little jolt of fear through me with how ravenous he looks, almost like he wants to eat me alive.
It shocks me how easily I would let him do it, too.
“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted you to,” I gasp out as Luke moves his mouth down to my ear, nuzzling his nose against my throat, his breath hot on my neck.
It sends a shiver down my spine that I can’t control, which doesn’t go past Luke’s notice.
He chuckles, clearly satisfied with himself and what he’s doing to me.
One hand snakes through my hair, moving my head the way he wants it, giving him the perfect opening to put his lips on my skin, sending waves of heat down my chest and to my core. I grip his arm for dear life, feeling like it’s the only thing keeping me in this reality.
Luke’s ultimately in control of everything we’re doing, something I’m not quite used to.
I’ve been with a few women who liked to be a little more dominant in the bedroom, but I always felt I was still running the show.
Every move we made was predicated on me being there to give them what they needed, knowing that I would ultimately get what I needed in exchange.
I did what they directed me to do, but no one ever really took charge of me with the zealous enthusiasm Luke has right now.
And he’s bossy about it. Whenever I try to redirect and take over as I’ve always done, he grabs my hands and forces them up above my head firmly, pinning me in place with surprising strength while he continues on his merry way, teasing and torturing me with his lips.
It’s infuriating, and yet I’m relishing every minute of it.
But I want more.
I can feel how Luke’s need matches mine, adding to my restlessness.
We’re both hard, straining against our sweatpants, our bodies pressed together in a way that enhances my discomfort at being so restrained, and the way Luke rocks his hips back sparks a noise from my throat that I didn’t even know I could make.
When Luke releases my hands, I desperately claw at the hem of his sweatshirt, wanting to pull it up over his head.
He stops what he’s doing and sits up, pulling away from me. His lips twist up at one end as he looks down at me with hooded eyes. “My, my,” he teases, his voice gruff. “Someone’s over-eager.”
“You’re killing me here,” I croak out with a jagged breath. My pulse is racing, all the blood rushing down to the one spot conveniently trapped between Luke’s thighs.
“It’s fun watching you squirm,” he says as he reaches out to grab my jaw, brushing his fingers through my beard.
But then his confidence falters slightly, uncertainty in his eyes, and his grip loosens, his hand falling away.
“What?” I frown. “What is it?”
“Are you sure you’re ready?” he asks, his eyes searching. “Because I don’t want to move too fast if… Well, you know. You’ve never been with a guy before. I don’t know how far you’re willing to go.”
The concern on Luke’s face melts my heart.
The genuine worry for my comfort in all this hits me like a wave.
I’m overcome with an emotion that’s hard to name, and it brings me up short.
I don’t think anyone has ever cared about whether or not I was comfortable in this kind of situation.
The pressure for me has always been focused on making sure my partners were at ease, and having that thrown back at me like this tilts my world on its axis.