He couldn’t move, a voice whispered in the back of my head to me.
I had left him three years ago. It was my turn to go to him, so I said a small prayer in my mind and started forward. My foot moved out in an unsteady motion. He turned, watching me, as I made the slow progress to him. One step at a time. My knees shook, my palms were sweaty, and my vision blurred as I focused on his face. I took that last step around the bar and stood inches away from him.
Now or never.
Please, don’t reject me, I silently prayed. I wasn’t sure how many rejections a girl could take.
“Luke.” I raised a hand.
His chest was moving up and down at a rapid pace now, and his eyes never left mine. The hunger was there, but he was holding back. My arm began trembling. I forced my fingers to spread out so my palm touched his chest. I felt his strength pulsating underneath my hand. Moving my hand lower, I could feel his heart under my palm, and I closed my eyes.
Please, Luke, I whispered in my head. Please, touch me back.
My forehead rested against his chest. I stood there, feeling him. One touch. I ached for it, and then his hands went to my hips. It was a light touch at first. I felt him take a deep breath at the same time, and then in a nanosecond, everything switched. His hands grasped me hard, lifting me in the air as he crushed me to his chest. I was placed onto the counter, and he was between my legs. Strong. Commanding. Hot. All those sensations blasted me at the same time. His touch was demanding as he gripped me to him.
“Bri.” His tone was hoarse.
I opened my eyes, seeing his burning brightly down into mine. Then I gasped softly. There was something else there, more than just desire. Recognizing it, my pulse raced, but I couldn’t let myself admit what it was. If I did, and if I was wrong, he would shatter me.
Slowly, so agonizingly slowly, his forehead came down to rest on top of mine as his eyes kept boring into me. One of his hands held a firm grip on my hip as the other touched my cheek tenderly. He traced his fingers over my cheek, down to my lips. His thumb held the underside of my jaw, and he tilted my head back. I felt like I was pleading for him to touch his lips to mine.
He tucked some of my hair behind my ear. “Are you sure it’s over with him?”
My throat had swollen, so I couldn’t talk. I nodded instead.
His hand trailed down my arm, taking hold of both of my hips again, and he tugged me to the edge of the counter. My legs fell open, wrapping around his waist. Every inch of us was pressing into the other, but I wanted to get closer. I had to. Too damn long we’d been apart. His touch was like oxygen to me. I began to move against him, rubbing up and down. My lips opened, and his gaze darted down, lingering there now.
He asked again, “You’re not going back to him?”
There was no way I could do it now, not after…I knew where this was going. His hand left the counter and slid underneath my legs. He tipped me backwards, slowly lowering me until I was on the counter. Under heavy eyelids, I watched him, feeling exposed as I waited for his continued touch. We had made out and slept in the same bed, but we had never been together. His hands held my hips, anchoring me, but he didn’t close the distance.
I couldn’t taste him yet, and the need was escalating. I was beginning not to care what happened later. I needed this night.
“Bri,” he murmured, his breath caressing me again. I couldn’t talk, so I sat back up. His fingers caught my shirt and pulled at the corner while his knuckles grazed my side. “What is this?” he asked, his voice gruff. “Just sex?”
I didn’t care. I didn’t respond, but I would take anything at that moment. If that made me pathetic or weak, so be it. I just needed him. Sliding my hands under his shirt, I pushed it up until he took it off. It was tossed to the floor, his eyes glancing up once to catch mine before falling back to my lips. Then I leaned forward, just a tiny bit until my lips pressed harder against his. I waited, my heart pounding all the way in my eardrums. The hunger was so deep, and then Luke let out a breath, and I knew it was time. His lips opened over mine, claiming me, and I arched forward to meet him.
Everything went up a notch. His hands lifted me from the counter, and I wrapped my legs tighter around his waist. Wherever he was going, it didn’t matter. As his tongue swept inside, a part of me sighed from contentment. This was it. This was enough. The taste of him was everything I had missed, and I couldn’t get enough. As he lowered me to a bed, I ran my hands over him, anchoring him to me this time.
He gasped against my lips, but then reared back and ripped off my shirt. He tore the straps on my bra so it fell away. As my fingers went to his jeans, his went to mine, but it wasn’t enough. He held me in the air and pulled off my pants. My underwear was torn away like my bra, and then he stopped, his chest heaving for air, and I lay back, panting the same. My pulse was pounding all over. I hadn’t realized how strong until that one touch from him.
It was blinding.
With eyes that were almost black, he watched me. Holding his gaze, I pushed his jeans down. His boxers went next, and he sprang forward. As my hand went to him, he bent at the same time to lift me further up the bed, coming with me as he reached for a condom at the same time. Holding himself up with one hand, he gazed at me, never leaving me as I began to caress him. He was hard. His heartbeat matched mine. I could feel it from him, and I licked my lips. One taste wasn’t enough. As he bent down and touched his lips to mine, I knew it wasn’t ever going to be enough.