He takes a breath as he paces the room. I stay quiet. I want to give him the space to say what he needs to.
“Instead of spending what little time we had together, Jolene chose to shut me out. She was either fighting with me or giving me the silent treatment. Then she began refusing to have sex with me. In public, though, she projected this happy image. Anyone would have thought we were the happiest couple out there.” He stops pacing and his eyes find mine. I suck in a breath at what I see there. His memories are killing him. “I thought I loved her. I spent every day trying to get through to her, trying to fix our marriage. Trying to figure out what the hell she needed to see or hear to know that I loved her. But you know what? You get to a point where you don’t know how you feel anymore so you just keep feeling the way you think you should be. I always swore I’d give my child two parents. I know now that’s what I was fighting for. I wasn’t fighting for Jolene, because how can a man who’s fallen out of love fight for a woman who doesn’t even know how to love?”
I have no answer to that.
I remain silent, waiting to see if he has any more to say.
He does.
“My mother decorated this house. Jolene wasn’t interested because it came from Mum. And I had no desire or time. I was too damn busy just surviving. Work, fatherhood and marriage were enough for me to deal with. Mum and Jolene fought as much as Jolene and I did. And in the end, I let them go for it. I stopped trying to get the two women in my life to even be able to fucking agree on what colour the sky was.” He takes hold of my arms. “This is not the bed I slept next to Jolene in. The week I discovered the truth, I went out and bought a new bed.”
“That’s not what this was about, Luke,” I say softly.
“I know.”
He’s given me more than I thought he would. And if I thought my heart hurt for him before, it hurts more now. I reach up to touch his face. “You’re a strong man. Thank you for telling me all that when I know you don’t want to revisit the past.”
“I just want us to move forward, Callie. I’m willing to do whatever it takes for that to happen.”
I move into his arms and pull his face down to mine. Brushing my lips across his, I say, “It’s happening, Luke. I want this as much as you do.”
“Thank fuck,” he says, lifting me into his arms.
I cling to him while he carries me to the bed. When he places me down, I sit and watch as he rips his shirt off and then removes the rest of his clothes. The mood between us has shifted from fun to intense. We need each other more now than earlier; we need this to continue moving forward.
He sits on the bed in front of me and strips his shirt off me. He then repositions me so I’m sitting on his lap with my legs wrapped around him.
Skin to skin.
We join in a way we haven’t yet.
Deep.
Sensual.
Slow.
Luke kisses me as if he will never have enough from my lips. It’s slow and it’s thorough, and it blazes need along every one of my nerve endings.
I feel the same way.
I squeeze my arms around him as if I never want to let him go.
Because I don’t.
Luke is mine now.
“I want you without a condom,” he says when he finally stops kissing me. “I’m clean.”
“I am too. And I’m on the pill.”
His lips find mine again in another slow and intense kiss while his hands move to massage my breasts. I could get used to these kinds of kisses. They might be slow, but they’re almost more demanding than when he kisses me hard and fast. These kisses are deliberate and exacting—they’re wringing every last ounce of pleasure from our lips.
I begin rocking against him, more than ready to have him where I want him. His erection is pressing against my pussy, teasing the hell out of me. Driving me wild with want.
Just when I’m about to drag my lips from his to beg him to fuck me, he grabs my hips and lifts me so he can position me to sit down, taking him inside as I do. His movements are slow as he tests how ready I am for him, but as he fills me, I can’t help myself—I push down to take him all the way.
“Fuck,” he growls, placing his hands on my ass and pulling me close to him.
I wrap my arms and legs tightly around him, grinding slowly.
Oh, God.
So good.
While I’m grinding and rocking on him, he grips my hair into a ponytail and pulls my head back. He then drops his mouth to my neck so he can kiss and suck my skin.
When his teeth sink into me, I moan and rock a little harder. My fingers claw at his back. “Luke…” I moan again.
He doesn’t stop.
He continues sucking and biting my neck, causing chaos in my mind. Between the rocking and grinding we’re both doing, and his mouth on my neck, and the way he’s pulling my hair, I may come sooner than I usually do.
Luke owns me completely.
My body.
My thoughts.
My heart.