His One Desire (10 page)

“But we messed things up so badly. We—”

“Yeah, we messed things up. But maybe we were doing the best
we could. Even your dad. He was just trying to protect you, you know.”

Kali pulled back and stared at him. “You’re saying that you
can forgive him?”

“Yeah. I can. I think what he did was lousy, but I
understand why he did it.” He paused. “What about you? Can you forgive him?”

She was silent a minute. “I never used to think so,” she
said finally. “But now…I’m not sure. We haven’t spoken in so long. He’s reached
out to me a couple of times, and I’ve never responded. But maybe I should.”

They held each other in silence for a minute, thinking about
everything they’d talked about. Luke actually felt lighter, as though the ghost
of the past had been clinging to his back, weighing him down.

“We still haven’t finished the game,” Kali said suddenly,
raising herself up on one elbow.

He smiled at her. “We haven’t?”

She shook her head. “Nope. I still have one more turn.
So…truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“Okay. After your career started to take off, why did you
make all those action movies? You have so much talent, so much passion. Why
didn’t you ever work on a project that would have brought that out?”

He grinned at her. “The truth? I wanted to make money. I
wanted to make so much money that no one could ever look down on me again, or
think of me as a charity case. Especially you.”

“I never looked down on you, Luke. And I never thought of
you as a charity case.”

“I know that now, but I didn’t then. After high school I was
so angry with…well, pretty much everyone. My career in the beginning was one
big
fuck you
to the world. And later, when I had enough money and box
office clout to pick and choose my movies, I’d gotten into a rut. And nothing
inspired me to get out of it.”

Until you
, he wanted to say—but there was a weight
of expectation behind that statement that he wasn’t sure Kali was ready for. He
knew what he wanted: to leave L.A. and his Hollywood career and move to New
York. To work with Kali on
Ghosts
, and to be with her.

But that was a lot of intensity to lay on her this soon. And
he wasn’t going to screw things up by rushing. There would be plenty of time
later to talk about the future.

He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “As much
as I’ve enjoyed spending time with these towels, what would you say to
finishing the night in my bed?”

She smiled at him. “I’m tempted, but…I’m also feeling kind
of overwhelmed. I could use some time to process. You know?”

No, he didn’t. He didn’t need time to process. But Kali was
cautious when it came to matters of the heart, and he’d already promised
himself not to rush her.

He kept his voice light, trying not to betray how much he
hated this idea. “So…separate rooms tonight?”

“I think so. And then, tomorrow, we’ll talk.”

He rolled her onto her back and covered her with his body.
“Just talk?”

He knew he was playing dirty, but he couldn’t help it. There
was a chance that once Kali’s rational side took the reins, she’d try to push
him away again. But right here, right now, she was his.

A surge of possessiveness rocketed through him. When
tomorrow came, he and Kali would have a civilized discussion about their
future. But there was nothing civilized about the chemistry between them.

“Fight me.”

Her breath was coming in little pants as she gazed up at
him. “What?”

“Try to fight me.”

She stared at him, and for a moment he didn’t think she’d do
it. But then she began to struggle, her body twisting and her hands pushing
against his chest. He felt her excitement in the sudden slickness of her pussy
and the hardening of her nipples, and as he pinned her down with the weight of
his body, his own excitement rose until he thought he’d explode then and there.

His wallet was on the floor beside them. He grabbed Kali’s
wrists in one hand and his wallet in the other, taking out the last remaining
condom and tearing the foil open with his teeth. As he slid the latex sheath
over his throbbing erection, Kali jerked one of her hands free and slapped him
across the face.

She froze, stunned at what she’d done. Luke stared down at
her, equally stunned, his cheek burning where she’d struck him.

And then savage arousal fired his blood.

He grabbed her wrists again, jerking them over her head and
pinning them down. He pushed her thighs apart with his knee and drove into her
hard and deep, astonished all over again at how tight she was, how hot and wet
and perfect for him.

Kali cried out his name. He angled his thrusts to grind
against her clit, and her legs wrapped around his waist as her head thrashed
from side to side. He drove her mercilessly until he felt her body tighten and
flutter around him, and in the next instant his own climax seared his nerve
endings and melted his bones, his cock spasming as he buried himself inside
her.

For a minute, all he could hear was the pounding of his
heart and the rush of blood in his ears. When he could function again, he
kissed Kali’s forehead, her cheeks, her lips.

I love you.

But he couldn’t say it in the afterglow of great sex. They
were amazing together, and he wasn’t sorry that he’d just reminded her of that
fact…but he wouldn’t use it against her. Sex was only part of the equation
between them.

But he wasn’t a saint. When Kali said, “My God, that was
incredible,” he kissed her again and said, “Just something for you to think
about when you’re alone in your bed tonight.”

* * *

Just something for you to think about when you’re alone
in your bed tonight.

As if she could think about anything else.

Sleeping in her own room had seemed like such a rational,
sensible idea when she thought of it. She needed some distance, didn’t she?
When Luke was touching her, her body overwhelmed her brain. And there’d been
moments when she’d felt such intense tenderness and affection towards him that
she’d scared herself. It was all too much, too fast. She needed time to make
sense of everything.

Of course now that she was in bed, alone, all she could do
was toss and turn and think about Luke.

And then the doubts came flooding in.

Luke had a life in L.A., and she had a life in New York.
Long-distance relationships were tough under the best circumstances, and you
could hardly call these the best.

She’d have to be crazy to believe she would be enough for
Luke in the long term. That he would resist all the temptations of his
Hollywood life—all the women throwing themselves at him on a daily basis—for
the privilege of seeing her a few times a year. Did she really think she was
that special? That Luke would ever—

Suddenly she sat straight up in bed.

She was thinking the same exact things she’d thought back in
high school.

She was running herself down…and Luke, too. She was making
assumptions about her own worth, and about what Luke wanted, that had no basis
in reality.

And just like in high school, she was making a decision
about the two of them without giving Luke a say. Because she was afraid.

She was afraid of being rejected. Of not being enough.

And then, slowly, a single question surfaced in her mind.

Would being rejected be the worst thing in the world?

No. It wouldn’t. Being too much of a coward to go after what
she wanted—
that
would be the worst thing in the world.

She lifted the phone receiver from its cradle and dialed
Luke’s room. It only took two rings for him to pick up.

“Yeah?”

“It’s me,” she said, her heart beating ridiculously fast.

“Hey, you,” he answered, his voice so warm and deep and rich
that a tingle ran through her body. “What’s up? Can’t sleep?”

She shook her head, and then remembered they were on the
phone. “Nope.” She hesitated a moment, and then came out with it. “I miss you.”

He chuckled, and the tingle turned into a full-fledged
shiver. “You do, huh? It’s only been an hour since we said goodnight.”

“I know. I…” She took a deep breath, and stepped off the
cliff. “I wanted to tell you that I…want to be with you. If that’s something
that you want. I know it’ll be tough, living so far apart, but we could—”

“Kali.”

For one horrible moment, her heart stopped beating. Oh, God,
she’d been wrong. Being rejected
would
be the worst thing in the world.

She cleared her throat. “I shouldn’t have called like this.
I’m sorry. I—”

“Kali. Shut up a second, would you?”

She shut up.

“I’ve been lying here in bed thinking about you, and
wondering how the hell I was going to stop myself from rushing things. I was so
scared I was going to screw everything up by going too fast. But now…” He
paused. “We didn’t tell each other what we wanted ten years ago, and I’m not
going to make that mistake again. I want to be with you, too. I want to work
with you on
Ghosts
. I want to move to New York City and ask you out on
a lot of dates. And after a few months of that, I’m going to ask you to marry
me in the most cheesy, romantic, over-the-top way I can think of.”

Her eyes squeezed shut as a tidal wave of happiness crashed over
her.

“You can’t be thinking about marriage,” she said
breathlessly. “We’re just starting to get to know each other again.”

“Yeah, I know. That’s why we’ll go on all the dates first.”

“But you talked about marriage like it’s a foregone
conclusion.”

“It is. I’d ask you to marry me right now, but I figure
you’ll need a few months before you’re sure. Plus, that’ll give me time to come
up with the perfect proposal.”

She hadn’t known it was possible for the human heart to
contain this much joy. “What if I have special requests? You know, like doves
or swans or clowns?”

“You want clowns at your marriage proposal?”

“Well, sure. That way, if someone happens to sing ‘Send in
the clowns,’ I’ll be able to say ‘Don’t worry, they’re here.’”

He laughed then, a full-on belly laugh, and Kali found
herself grinning at the receiver.

“It’s not every action movie star who would get a Sondheim
reference, you know,” he told her.

“I know. That’s why I love you, Luke. Because you go against
type.”

A beat went by. “Say that again.”

She couldn’t seem to stop smiling. “You mean about you going
against type?”

“No, the other thing.”

“I would, but…”

“But what?”

“I’d rather do it in person. Also, I’d rather do it naked.”

Another beat. “Give me two minutes,” he said, and then she heard
a dial tone.

Forty-five seconds later, he was at her door.

As Luke scooped her up and carried her to the bed, she had a
sudden vision of what her future would be like with this man.

And for the first time, she knew that real life was better
than any story she could ever imagine.

Kate Grey believes that good romance should make you
sigh and good erotica should make you squirm—in the best possible way. Her
dream is to create the perfect blend of romance and erotica, and she’s going to
keep writing until she’s satisfied. You can email her at
[email protected].

Books by Kate Grey

By His Desire

His One Desire

• Chapter One
  
• Chapter Two
  
• Chapter Three
  
• Chapter Four
  
• Chapter Five
  
• Chapter Six
  
• Chapter Seven