Chapter 34 #2
I chewed the inside of my lip and glanced out the window above the kitchen sink. Hot sun poured in through the glass. How could I articulate the feelings swirling through me right now?
I think I love you.
I think I want this. Tennis matches and coming back to this house every day. Helping Luna through all her tough times—together.
It scared me, wanting something that looked so different from what I’d pictured for myself for my whole life. Was I getting carried away?
When I met his eyes again those deep brown pools said I could tell him anything. So I shared a shorter version of the truth. “I’m feeling really attached. But it’s new and we’ve only gone on one official date, and I understand if you’re not ready to tell Luna and—”
I stopped myself when Luke opened his mouth to speak.
He cupped my chin in his calloused hand. The intensity of his gaze burned. His thumb moved to press gently on my lower lip, and I sucked in a breath. “I can guarantee you,” he said slowly, “there is no way you’re any more attached than I already am.”
I nodded as my heart galloped.
“I’m ready to tell her,” he said. “But I don’t tell her about things that are casual or temporary. Is this casual for you? Temporary?”
I shook my head no. I couldn’t speak with his thumb pressing into my lip, begging me to lick it, or pull into my mouth.
“Good. It isn’t for me, either.” His eyes seared me, like me admitting I was emotionally attached had unlocked some new level of lust in him.
I gave in to the urge to swipe my tongue across the pad of his thumb. He groaned before pulling my face into his.
The kiss was wet and urgent. We’d barely had a moment to ourselves since Saturday night.
I’d thought about it over and over. I wondered if he did, too.
His body was telling me yes right now. I dug my fingers into his back, through his shirt, pressing our bodies together as tight as I could, desperate to line up my hips with his.
When I did, his hands gripped my waist.
And then turned me around.
He walked us up to the opposite counter, in front of the window.
I had to grip the edge to stand upright.
His whole body pressed into my back. I could feel his erection, and I rolled myself back into it.
His hands moved greedily from my hips to my chest, gripping my breasts through my dress, before dropping lower, lifting my skirt up, and flattening his entire palm between my legs.
I nearly cried out, forgetting our surroundings.
He bent his neck down from behind me, capturing my mouth with his, our tongues swirling from this new angle.
I’d pictured a bed for our first time, but in that moment, if he lifted the back of my skirt and asked for permission, I’d let him take me just like this.
But he didn’t.
Instead, his fingers slipped into the front of my underwear, down to my wet, swollen clit. His fingertips worked small circles exactly where I needed them, just like he’d done with his tongue on Saturday. Fast learner, I thought, already dangerously close to finishing.
When he moved his mouth to my neck, the combination of his soft lips and coarse beard on the sensitive skin near my throat sent sparks through my entire body. “I don’t think you’re going to need much more instruction,” I whispered.
He chuckled. The sound was deep and guttural, with a slightly sinister edge to it. I shivered.
“Maybe not,” he murmured before pulling my earlobe gently between his lips.
His arm banded across my chest, his hand cupping my breast, while the other remained pressed firmly between my legs, working magic. My knees started to tremble with the impending release. He held me tighter.
“Shhhh,” he whispered as I bit back the cry that wanted to expel from my lips when my muscles contracted and released with sweet agony.
I turned around and pushed my fingers into his hair, burying my face in his neck as I came down.
A few breaths, then I reached for his belt, eager to reciprocate, eager to touch the erection that’d been pressed adamantly into my backside while he’d focused on my pleasure.
As soon as I undid the buckle and moved my unsteady hands to the top button of his shorts, the sound of rushing water through pipes upstairs abruptly stopped.
Luke grabbed my wrists and pushed my hands back to my sides. “We can’t.”
“I know.”
He looped his belt back through the buckle and paced, adjusting himself. He turned to look at me, shook his head, and chuckled darkly. “Grown adults, sneaking around like a couple of teenagers.”
I giggled. “I know!”
He came back and stood in front of me. “We’ll tell her when she gets back from my parents’, alright?”
“I think that makes sense.”
On Sunday, Luna would go to Pennsylvania to spend a week with Luke’s parents before she went back to school. From the way she talked about it, they’d done the same thing for years.
“You sure?” he asked.
My brow furrowed in confusion. “Sure that I want to tell Luna?”
He nodded.
“Of course,” I said.
“Okay.” He held my gaze for a moment before continuing. “And then, I mean, we can’t ever get caught doing…that”—he gestured to the space between us—“I think that would be mildly traumatizing.”
I huffed a laugh and nodded in agreement, feeling my cheeks heat.
“But I feel like you could stay over after that. I don’t think it’d be a big deal if she saw you, knew you were there, in my room?”
“Yeah. I mean, if she knows we’re together, I think that would all be perfectly fine and normal.” Like parents, my brain filled in. But I didn’t want to say anything like that yet. That seemed a bridge too far—for Luke, for me.
He smiled, liking my answer. “It’s a plan.” His hand reached out and squeezed mine, then footsteps sounded on the stairs.
Luna sat in one of the stools in the kitchen, looking at us expectantly.
“What do you want to do for the rest of the day?” Luke asked her.
“I don’t know,” she huffed.
“Want to go up island to the fair? Ride some rides?” he asked.
Her eyes widened with excitement. “Yeah!” She turned that enthusiasm in my direction. “Are you coming, too, Val?”
How does he ever say no to her?
“Yes. I love that fair. I used to go to it when I was your age.” I smiled at her. She popped off her chair and scurried back upstairs. To get ready to go, I assumed. I turned to Luke. “Let me call Mimi and see if she wants to come, too.”