But she wasn’t old Frankie any more. She was new Frankie. She was a strong, independent woman who didn’t have to rely on a man to give her confidence or a purpose in life.
She was a nurse, and a damned good one. She could support herself, and although she might not earn enough money to replace the Louboutins and Manolo Blahniks she intended to auction off, she’d be happy, content in the knowledge that her hard work had paid for the things in her wardrobe.
New Frankie didn’t let hot men walk away from her. She gave them a reason to stay.
Grabbing the bottom of her scrub top, she pulled it up over her head. “Please tell me this room has a lock on the door, Lucas.”
She was proud of the flirty, breathy quality she injected into her voice. She sounded in control of the situation. A modern woman out for what she wanted. He didn’t need to know her legs shook like overcooked spaghetti.
“I don’t…” Lucas looked between Frankie and the door. He stared at her breasts and swallowed deeply. Stepping forward, she licked the place she’d seen his Adam’s apple bob up and down in his throat. Moving her mouth around, she nipped his ear lobe gently before pressing her mouth to his.
Lucas paused for a moment before his hands came up, framing her face as he took over the kiss—moving it from pleasant to X-rated in less than two seconds. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close.
At some point she was going to have to examine the way he made her feel; she knew that, but right then, as his hands moved to her shoulders and then down over her chest, she couldn’t think any more. His fingers dipped inside her bra, squeezing her nipples so they formed hard, jutting peaks.
She gasped as his mouth replaced his hands and a pool of hot desire settled between her legs. Frankie couldn’t remember feeling this turned on, this needy, even in her very early days with Joey. Lucas made her body come alive in a way she hadn’t experienced before.
Frankie remembered that she was supposed to be in control. Not reliant on a man. This was all about her, about her liberation from the life she’d led. She lifted his head up.
“Lock the door and lay down.”
Lucas chuckled. “You getting all dominant on me?”
“I am. Now hurry up, this break doesn’t last forever. My boss is a slave driver.”
“Yeah, I can imagine you wouldn’t want him to find you like this.” Lucas looked around the room before grabbing a mop and shoving it through the door handle to act as a lock.
Frankie put a hand on her hip. “Like what, exactly?”
“Like you can’t wait to strip every bit of clothing from his body.”
She grinned, crooking her finger at him in a ‘come hither’ gesture. “What do you think he’d say if I admitted I wanted to lick and kiss every inch of him after I’d stripped him?”
He grinned. “I think he’d be outraged. But secretly, I think he’d kind of like it.”
Two steps forward and he was close enough for her to reach out and put a hand down his pants. “Kind of like it?”
She squeezed his erection, then ran her thumb over the sensitive tip. Lucas groaned, long and deep, as though the sound had travelled the length of his body before bursting through his partially opened lips. “Okay, I think he’d love it.”
“That’s better.” Frankie took her hand away from him and pointed at the sleeping bag. “Now lay down.”
Lucas complied, his face relaxed. It was the least self-conscious she’d ever seen him. He made no attempt to move his face to one side to hide his scars as he had done in the past. Maybe he was slaying his own demons at the same time as her.
Snuggling into his arms, she pressed her mouth against his. This time she kissed him slowly, taking time to build the tension between them. Lucas skittered his fingers along the small of her back, directly above the waistband of her trousers.
The gentle touch was driving her wild. She wanted his hands all over her body, back on her breasts, inside her, teasing her until she couldn’t take any more. “I want you, Lucas.”
“Uh…there’s one thing I forgot in this little room of yours.”
“You didn’t?” Frankie dropped her head onto his chest. “Tell me you didn’t forget our supplies?”
“I didn’t want to presume, I….”
“Didn’t think at all,” Frankie grumbled.
Lucas reached up and pulled her trousers down. “I think there’s still things we can do.”
Frankie shivered as his hands cupped her bottom. “Such as?”
“This.” He reached up, unsnapped her bra and drew a waiting nipple into his mouth. He rubbed a hand down the front of her underwear. “And this.”
The baby chose that moment to make a sigh of contentment in his sleep. Frankie groaned, this time from sheer frustration. “I don’t think I can do this in front of the baby.”
“He’s asleep. He’s not watching.” Lucas moved his mouth to her other nipple.
“No, really, how do new parents do this?”