Chapter 17
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
LUKE
Duchess didn’t talk to me or look at me. We ate breakfast in silence and boarded my plane the same way.
On the flight, I finally asked, “Is this how it’s gonna be?”
She shrugged, maintaining her neutral stare out the window. Once we arrived at the private hangar, I helped her with her bag, and she barely gave me one last glance before she tried to step into her car. I shut her door, half in shock she was going to leave without even saying goodbye and half pissed off about it.
She just stood there for a moment before she finally met my gaze to look deep into my eyes.
“You’re fucking with my head.”
“Good. ’Cause you’re fuckin’ with mine too. I like you, and I want to get to know you, but you’d rather fuck me than tell me your name.”
“I’m not lost, Luke. You can’t save me, and I don’t want you to.”
“I don’t believe that. Not for a second. I see you, and that fuckin’ scares you.”
I didn’t know if I wanted to fuck her or strangle her… it may have been a little of both.
“You want to share sad stories, then you fucking start,” she bit.
“This ain’t about me.”
I’d be willing to get on my knees for her if that was what it took to get her to open up to me, but that wasn’t good enough…
I wanted her on her knees for me too.
DUCHESS
He looked at me like he wanted to cherish me and pull me into his arms and never let me go. It was as if I was standing on the edge of a cliff, ready to jump off, not knowing if land or water would be beneath me. My mind was scrambled with thoughts and emotions I couldn’t control, label, or even understand. It was one giant mess of roses. The same ones I hated but secretly loved.
I wanted him to kiss me again.
I needed it like I needed my next breath.
So I did the only thing that consumed me… the only thing that seemed right in a moment that should have felt wrong.
I couldn’t hide from him, and the worst part was…
I didn’t want to.
So I kissed him.
I kissed with the same ferocity of a million men going to war.
I kissed him like I was never going to see him again.
I kissed him like he belonged to me and I to him.
I kissed him like I was home; like he was my home.
And he matched every beat, every moment, every feeling and emotion times ten.
Our tongues did a sinful dance, which we only knew the moves to.
When he pulled away again, I thought I was going to scream. I wanted him to claim me as much as he was consuming me.
He kissed me one last time, confessing, “You can’t hide from me… you can’t run from me… I’ll always find you.”
“That’s very America’s Most Wanted of you.”
He smiled against my lips, leaning his forehead against mine. I turned into one of those giggly schoolgirls I always made fun of.
“Come to think of it, you’re probably already on that list.”
“I keep my hands clean.”
“Most made men do.”
“And what do you know about that?”
I leaned back against my driver’s side door, and he stood between my legs.
“Club life and organized crime go hand in hand.”
He eyed me up and down with an amused grin. “Look at you usin’ big girl words.”
“Money is god. It has a way of making people sell their souls to the devil for it.”
He narrowed his gaze at me. “You sound like you speak from experience.”
I smiled. “Trouble loves to find me.”
“Is that what your back spine piece represents?”
I shook my head. “You’re not allowed to psychoanalyze me if you want me to answer your questions.”
“Is that what I’m doin’?”
I arched an eyebrow, cocking my head to the side. “So what’s next in this foreplay you have going on between us?”
“What do you want it to be?”
“I asked you first.”
He laughed, grabbing my hips to bring me closer to him. “You know what I want.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t know what corner we’re taking.”
“I thought we already reached the finish line?”
“The finish line would have been us sleeping together last night.”
He grinned again. “We slept together all weekend.”
“Your finish line must be different from mine.”
My cell phone rang, cutting me off from what I wanted to say to him.
“I gotta take this.”
I nodded. “I gotta go anyway.”
He kissed me. “I’ll call you later.”
“Okay.”
We went our separate ways, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sad about it. We only spent two days together, and I was already getting attached to him.
This wouldn’t end well.
It couldn’t.
LUKE
I lay in bed, thinking back on our trip. I thought about the afternoon and how one thing quickly led to another—nothing was ever consistent with her, and I had a feeling it never would be. I was fascinated by her, with every part of her… from her hair to her eyes to her face and her lips.
Her mind.
Body.
Heart.
Which she so desperately tried to hide from me.
My phone dinged with a text, and I reached over to my nightstand. I didn’t have to wonder who it was, making me immediately smile when I saw her name. I swiped it over.
Duchess
Hi.
Luke
Hi back.
Duchess
What are you doing?
Luke
Lying in bed, thinking of you.
Duchess
That was about the cheesiest thing you could reply. Do I get a poem next?
Luke
I’m not much for poetry.
Duchess
Try me.
Luke
Roses are red, violets are blue, you’re so beautiful, and I can’t wait for you to sit your pussy on my face.
Duchess
Shakespeare ain’t got shit on you.
Luke
I wrote it just for you.
Duchess
Tell me something nobody knows about you.
Luke
If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you.
Duchess
If I go missing and the police pull my cell phone records, they’re going to see this text, so this is my fail-safe.
I laughed so hard my head fell back.
Duchess
Crime documentaries are my vibe.
Luke
Why doesn’t that surprise me?
Duchess
Are you alone?
I called her, and she answered.
“Are you alone?” I questioned before she spoke.
“Mm-hmm…”
“I wanted to hear your voice. It’s a nice voice.”
“Is this your way of avoiding my question?”
“Says the woman who won’t answer any of mine.”
“Fine. Ask me anything.”
I thought about it for a second. “Tell me something you’ve never told anyone.”
She admitted in the same neutral tone, “I see dead people.”
“Cute.”
She giggled. “I thought so.”
“Try again.”
She was silent for a couple of seconds, and I knew she was contemplating what she was going to reply. It felt like an eternity passed before she finally confessed with…
“I have nightmares most nights.”