He set his jaw. “No.”
“Yes. You know why I’m here, so now there’s no reason for you to stick around.”
A part of him knew she was absolutely right. He’d finally figured out what was wrong, why she’d taken off and left her old life behind her. He could leave, tell Josh the truth, and be on his way. But another part refused to go. Rooted to his feet, he stared into her blue eyes that still glimmered with anger, bitterness and regret. How could he leave when all he wanted to do was take her into his arms?
“Go, Luke.”
“No,” he said again.
And then he pulled her toward him and captured her mouth with his. He pried her lips open with his tongue and plunged inside. In the back of his mind, a voice told him to slow down. Not to push her. Be gentle.
His mind swam in a sea of desire, and it wasn’t until her soft hands wrapped around his neck that he realized she was kissing him back. Fervently. Desperately. Their tongues dueled, greedily taking and demanding.
Still devouring her mouth, he slid his other hand down her small, warm body, crumpled the hem of her dress with his fist and shoved it up to her waist.
She wasn’t wearing panties.
He managed a strangled “Jesus Christ” as heat rushed through his blood. Then he rubbed his palm over her slick folds.
The air grew heavy with tension and sexual promise. Stifling a groan, he dropped to his knees and started kissing her smooth thighs. He dragged his tongue over her clit, enjoying the soft moans that exited her mouth. He wanted to bring her over the edge, make her come with his tongue, but his erection was too hard to ignore. After a few more licks, he rose to his feet and kissed her again.
Moaning again, Ellie unzipped his jeans, shoved them down and stroked his cock. A guttural groan choked out of his throat.
“I want you inside,” she murmured.
She didn’t have to ask him twice. He grabbed his jeans off the floor and pulled out the condom he’d stashed in the back pocket. He tried guiding her toward the hallway leading to the bedroom, but she shoved her tongue in his mouth again, making it difficult to breathe, let alone walk. Finally he stumbled forward and pushed her against the wall, and then he was back between her thighs, entering her with a quick thrust that had them both gasping.
“Oh fuck,” he groaned.
It was all going too fast, and yet too damn slow. Unable to control himself, he gripped her firm ass and pounded into her, fucking her hard. He held back, miraculously, until Ellie shuddered with release, and then he joined her over the edge. His orgasm ripped through him, searing every nerve ending and making him dizzy with pleasure.
Breathing heavily, he slowly pulled out, then chuckled when Ellie gave a small disappointed whimper.
A moment later the chuckle died in his throat. As his eyes regained focus, the sight of Ellie smashed into his chest like a sledgehammer. Her back against the wall, her dress hiked up, one breast exposed. Goddamn it, was he a Neanderthal? He’d just taken her standing up and screwed the hell out of her as if she was nothing more than a toy for his own pleasure.
Jerking back, he hissed out a breath. She’d told him her career was over, and instead of comforting her, he’d jumped her without once thinking about her feelings.
“God, Ellie, I’m sorry.”
He awkwardly rolled the condom off his dick and knelt down to pick up his jeans. He hadn’t even taken the time to remove his boxers, for fuck’s sake. What was the matter with him?
Shame coursed through his veins as he pulled his jeans up and zipped them. He wanted to say something more, apologize once more, but he lost his capacity for speech again as he watched Ellie gently push her breast back into the bodice of her dress and smooth the skirt down over her legs.
The questioning look in her blue eyes caused something inside of him to squeeze. Damn, she was beautiful. Achingly beautiful.
“Ellie.” His voice was hoarse and tinged with regret. “I’m sorry,” he said again, swallowing. “I should go.”
Chapter Ten
Twenty-four hours after Luke ravished her body, Ellie wondered if she’d simply imagined the whole thing. Maybe she’d fantasized it, or maybe she’d accidentally poured a couple of tabs of LSD in her tea last night and hallucinated everything that followed.
It happened. Deal with it.
Ellie sighed and rolled her stocking up to her thigh. God, it would be so much easier believing it didn’t happen. At least then she wouldn’t have to wonder why he’d deserted her like that.
“You coming?” Marlene’s voice startled her. With a tilt of her head, she saw Marlene lingering near the dressing room door.
“I’ll be out in a sec,” Ellie answered. “Go on out.”