LUKE: Complete Series (5 page)

“Next time I bring you here you’re going to sip it and savor it, slowly, tasting every drop.”

Oh, God.

“Can we leave now?”

“Ready to leave so soon? Are we not entertaining enough for you?”

“Really, Luke? You can’t think of anything more entertaining you’d like to do right now than sipping coffee with a bunch of people staring at you?”

He smiled as he studied my face. “There are a thousand other things I find more entertaining, and 999 of them include you.”

“So?”

He picked up his shot of espresso and poured the whole double-shot into his mouth. “Let’s go.”

“Only 999? What’s the one thing that doesn’t include me?” I asked, ignoring Lany’s scowl as we exited the café.

“If I told you I’d have to screw you senseless so you could forget.”

“That sounds like a risk I’d be willing to take.”

He opened the car door for me and grabbed my hand before I could sit down. “I like a girl who isn’t afraid to take risks.”

He kissed my hand then waited for me to climb in before he shut the door. Something had shifted between us. I could feel it in every part of me, vibrating down to my bones, humming like a guitar string in my fingertips. That nagging sense that I was being played.

When we arrived at Luke’s boat, Captain Craig was there doing stuff I didn’t understand, and this time he didn’t bother leaving Luke and I alone as he had a few days ago. I supposed that meant Luke and I would not be releasing this sexual tension anytime soon and I couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed with Captain Craig. As he and Luke discussed boat-y things, I had to stop myself from shouting, “Go away, old man!”

God. This is how it starts.
Luke was becoming like a drug and I needed a fix badly.

When I was a sophomore in high school, I got a crush on my lab partner in Biology class. He would come to my house after school every day so we could make out in my bedroom for exactly two and a half hours before my parents got home. We needed that daily fix more than we needed a good grade. Ryan loved to imitate my dad’s voice to make us think my parents had come home early.

I pushed aside this memory of my brother as Luke approached me near the ship’s wheel. “What do you need me to do?” I asked, eager for a distraction from my bleak thoughts.

“I need you to come with me below deck.”

“With
him
here?”

“Not for that.”

I followed him into the cabin where we’d had the most amazing sex I’d ever had with anyone just three days ago. He moved past the bed toward a small galley kitchen and the voice of the addict in my head told me we could probably sneak in a quickie without Captain Craig catching on.

“Why don’t you own a yacht? This boat seems a bit small for you,” I asked, as he stopped in the kitchen and began searching through the drawers and cupboards.

“I don’t want a yacht. This boat was the first thing I bought when I had enough money; even before I bought a car.” He looked up at me from where he was crouched in front of a cabinet. “I lived on this boat for more than a year when I was twenty-one. I love this boat. When I love something, I hold onto it.”

He finally found what he was searching for and I was glad for the diversion from the awkward silence that followed his last statement.

“Do you plan to go fishing?”

He held up the box of fishing tackle and grinned. “
We’re
going fishing. Come on.”

From fucking to fishing. This was not my idea of the perfect date with the perfect billionaire.

He led me a bit further down the dock to a small speedboat. He climbed in first then reached over, grabbed me around my waist, and lifted me into the boat. Our eyes met as he set me down and I couldn’t take it anymore. I clutched the back of his neck and pulled his face toward me. His lips burned against mine as his arms wrapped around my waist and lifted me off the floor.

A strange clicking sound interrupted us and he quickly set me down. “Get in the passenger seat,” he ordered me, as I noticed the gaggle of paparazzi waddling down the dock in our direction.

I climbed into the passenger seat and he pulled the boat out of the slip and sped out of the harbor toward the darkening sky.

“We’re like the Dukes of Hazzard of the sea!” I shouted over the roar of the boat’s engine.

“Your pants aren’t short enough, Daisy!”

The wind whipped my hair into a tangled mess as the boat sliced through the water. When the marina was far enough that we could no longer see the dock, he stopped and immediately began loading our fishing poles with bait. I had only gone fishing with my father and brother once. I hated the smell. As I watched him setting up the fishing gear, I wished I had gone more often.

“You weren’t kidding when you said we were going fishing. I was hoping it was some kind of metaphor.”

He laid the fishing poles against the side of the boat and spun the passenger seat around so I was facing him. “It’s not a metaphor. It’s a bogus excuse to get you alone.”

He knelt down and reached for the button on my jeans, but I pushed his hands away.

“What are you doing? People will see us.”

“There’s nobody out here.”

I pointed into the distance at a giant cargo ship, but he just rolled his eyes and went back to undressing me. He unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans before he yanked them off. I felt so exposed with my bare ass against the leather seat.

He stared at my crotch for a moment before he spoke. “Can you do me a favor? Can you let your hair grow out?”

“You want me to
grow
it out?”

His eyes pleaded his case for him and I couldn’t resist.

“Fine. But if I don’t like it I’m getting rid of it.”

“That’s fine. Stand up.”

He watched me eagerly as I stood. He lifted the bottom of my shirt and my skin prickled as he planted a soft kiss just underneath my naval. His hands gripped my cheeks firmly as he laid a trail of kisses over my belly and hips. His hand slid down the back of my thigh to the back of my knee and he lifted my leg onto his shoulder. My body shivered as he kissed the inside of my thigh.

“Oh, Luke.”

I gripped the back of the seat to steady myself as his lips moved up my thigh. He kissed me gently, paying attention to the entire area, before his tongue traced a light circle around my clit.

Savor it, slowly, tasting every drop.

Luke was a connoisseur and expert of many things, but when it came to this, he was a master.

“Oh, that’s so good,” I breathed, moaning as he slid two fingers inside me and coaxed me further into this new addiction.

He feasted on me, patiently and tenderly, doting on every inch of me. His tongue stroked and flicked at just the right pace. I wanted this moment to last forever, but it didn’t take long before a strong surge of pleasure bellowed inside me and I cried out with ecstasy. He gripped me tighter to steady me as I exploded and collapsed in his arms. I was a weak, quivering mess as he lowered me gently onto the seat and suddenly I realized I wasn’t just panting; I was crying.

“Hey, are you all right?”

He brushed my hair away from my eyes and the look of concern on his face made the tears come even faster.

“I’m sorry. This has never happened to me before,” I said, as I hastily wiped the tears from my cheeks.

He stood and grabbed my hand. “Come here.”

I heaved a deep sigh before I stood and he pulled me into his arms. He kissed the top of my head as I sobbed into his chest. There was no way I could betray him. I was falling in love with him.

3

Luke walked me out to the marina parking lot and handed me the keys to his car so I could drive myself home to get ready for the party.

“And no ball gowns,” he said, his hands cradling my face. “It’s just going to be us and a bunch of programmers and they all work from home. I’ll be lucky if they change out of their pajamas for this thing.”

He kissed me deeply as I clutched the front of his shirt. I was done for. He let go and walked away quickly, as if he were also trying to escape this potent energy drawing us to each other. He glanced over his shoulder and smiled just before he reached the docks. I sighed as I climbed into the driver’s seat.

I had never driven a sports car, but I knew from watching enough television and movies that I needed to go easy on the gas pedal or I’d turn the car and myself into junkyard decor. I slipped the key into the ignition and pressed the start button. The engine roared to life and a chill lifted the hairs on my arms. I pressed down on the brake pedal, shifted into reverse, and slowly eased my foot off the brake.

The car didn’t move. I would have to put my foot on the gas to coax it out of the parking spot. My heart pounded as a dozen horrible, bloody scenarios flashed in my mind. I placed my foot lightly on the gas pedal and as soon as I barely pressed down the car jumped to life and screeched out of the parking space. I hit the brake and my body was thrown back against the seat.

“Shit!”

After a few more false starts that turned me into a nervous wreck, I finally managed to pull out of the marina parking lot. I drove a steady thirty-five miles per hour the entire way to my apartment, which felt like ten miles per hour in this beast. I could feel the car purring around me, urging me to push it harder, faster, but I kept my wits about me and somehow managed to make it to my apartment in one piece.

I parked the car in the alley behind our apartments, too afraid to leave it on the street. I showered quickly and changed into a fresh pair of jeans and a tank top. When I made it back to the alley, a crowd of teenage boys had gathered around the Bugatti. They watched me in awe as I approached the car.

“Is this your car?” one wide-eyed boy asked.

“Yep,” I replied, as I deactivated the alarm and slid into the driver’s seat. “See you later, boys.”

I arrived at Luke’s boat just as the catering company was leaving. I climbed the gangway and Luke rushed over to help me into the boat.

“Fuck. You look hot,” he said, as his gaze wandered over my breasts and down the curve of my hips.

He had also changed into jeans and a plain white T-shirt that was stretched taut across his strong shoulders.

“You’re looking pretty steamy, yourself. Very country boy meets city boy. Want to hit the hay, partner?”

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and my hip twitched at the tickling sensation.

Luke glanced at my pocket then back at me. “You can answer that.”

“I know. I just don’t want to,” I said, as I grabbed the belt loop on his jeans and pulled him toward me.

It was probably a call from my colleague, nemesis, and admirer at NeoSys, Milo Yates. He was probably calling to remind me, for the millionth time, of the importance of this assignment, and how the future of NeoSys and my family’s security hung in the balance.

“What do you want to do?” Luke whispered in my ear.

He kissed my neck and my knees weakened as his cock hardened against my belly.

“I want to repay you for what you did for me today.”

I grabbed his hand and led him toward the boat’s bow. I couldn’t help but admire the beauty of the ocean, sparkling under the warmth of the late afternoon sun. The sky would darken soon and all of this would soon twinkle with moonlight. Even with the storm clouds closing in on us, this place was magical.

“Where are the paparazzi?” I asked, as we reached the forward pulpit and I resisted the urge to climb onto the railing and shout,
“I’m the King of the World!”

“The thugs with cameras?” Luke replied. “They went home. I had a little talk with the security guard at the marina entrance and he’s going to make sure they don’t bother us again.”

I pushed him back against the railing and reached for the button of his jeans. “Do you think we’ll be on the cover of the tabloids tomorrow?”

He smiled as I unzipped his pants and slid down to my knees. “Probably. But nothing they can print will change anything between us.”

I inhaled deeply before I took him into my mouth. I kept my eye on him as I took him in deeper. He gripped the railing and groaned as he leaned his head back.