“Who am I? I just told you.” William beamed like a child who’d discovered where his mother hid the Christmas presents. “I am where the buck stops.” He looked from guest to guest. His face fell when he looked at Marcus. “Oh dear, was my information incorrect? I was under the impression that Kimchi was your favorite food! You haven’t touched it.”
“I once told someone that I loved Kimchi,” Marcus said quietly, replacing the dome on his plate. “I’d never tried it. I was simply trying to impress a young woman in the hopes of a late-night tryst.” He folded his hands, placing them on his belly, indolent and contemptuous enough of his host to not play his games. He looked long and hard at William. “How long have you been building up for this?”
Luke could feel his eyes widening. His father’s constant jovial mood was gone, vanished like so much mist. The look he gave Marcus was the look of a magician whose greatest trick had been exposed. Marcus had pulled the curtain back on the Wizard of Oz.
“My mistake,” William said flatly.
Chapter Seven
“Five dollars,” Dani whispered in Luke’s ear. Luke looked up from the book he was attempting to read. She doubted he could even have said what kind of novel it was. Or even if it was a novel. He’d been staring at the same page for the last half hour. As his mother was summarily uninterested in television and didn’t even own one of those ‘infernal devices,’ there had been little else to do, and they were forbidden by Luke’s father to leave.
Luke looked up at her, uncomprehending, and blinked. The light dawned in his eyes. He snapped the book shut and set it on the table. Marcus smiled behind the copy of The Golden Bough he’d settled down with in the corner.
Edwin, William, and Elaina were gathered around the dining room table, intently whispering to each other, some emphatic gestures indicating that the topic under discussion was their children. The open-concept design of the house left them in plain view; they fooled no one with their nods and smiles when it was easy to see the pointing fingers and head-shakings that they seemed to think were somehow invisible to everyone else. Luke smiled, and shook his head as he got up and took Dani’s hand, leading her through the side door and out into the warm Florida night.
Her heart pumping, they stole over the grass and found the small side door of the garage unlocked. Glory hallelujah, something was actually going right. They slipped inside, and he leaned against the side of the Cadillac. Dani nestled between his legs, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her nose to his.
“At last,” she tried to purr the words, but lost whatever sexy vibe she’d been trying to give off by giggling. So maybe she wasn’t a great seductress. He had to give her points for trying. Besides, they had a moment alone, no one else, no other talking or distractions, just the time alone.
“You know...” Luke said, holding her waist just above the hips and idly stroking her belly with his thumbs. It was all the more romantic because it was an unconscious gesture, a familiarity that showed his level of connection more than any words could have. “...the church is just down the street. We can walk down there...”
Dani pulled away, feeling as if someone had doused her in ice water. “Really? After all this time? All you can think about is that damn...”
“No.” Luke’s eyes went wide. Panicky. “I’m sorry, you’re right. You’re right.” He stood and grabbed her hands when she would have bolted. “I got obsessed.” He shook his head. “I think we’re all a little crazy right now. These past weeks...”
In the diffused glow of the streetlight filtering through the window it was hard to see details, but he sounded contrite. She balled a fist and bounced it softly off his chest. “I thought maybe you and I could have a moment. It’s been days. we were nearly married, people have been getting killed all around us, we’ve been on the run either from someone or to something. Not to mention your former boss let us go and is hunting us again...” She sighed heavily, maybe a little dramatically, but she felt a little dramatic right now. Wired and strung-out. Like she’d been in a combat zone for too long and had no idea when the bombs were going to drop. “How much more can a girl take? I need you!”
Luke held her hips and gave her a small shake with his grip. “You say the sexiest things.” He laughed, and she melted a little at the sound, realizing that, yes, he was trying. He got as focused as she did, only his focus right now was on the problem and her focus was... well... elsewhere.
Dani opened her fist and caressed his chest and down over his abs. So, he was being a jerk. I can be pissed, or I can get laid. She smiled at the thought. It wasn’t just about sex though, at the moment, that was a severe need. It was about sex with Luke. She wanted him. You’d think he could see that.
Assuming he was going to waste more time apologizing, Dani took the lead and grabbed the back of his head, pulling him down to her. She crushed her lips to his, ran her hands up the back of his shirt, and pressed herself against his crotch. Again, the thickness of him pressed against his pants, growing stiffer as she rubbed against him.
Silenced, his mouth attacked the nape of her neck, and she could hear his breath speed up, could feel the urgency in him that mirrored her own. She stood back, letting his legs wrap around her, and slipped her shirt over her head, freeing her bra. Bare-chested, she launched herself back into his arms, relishing the feel of his shirt on her nipples, the way his hands touched every inch of her back.
They fell against the car, entwined and heated, fingers exploring every inch of each other, desperate to be together, as if they’d never parted. Her hands grasped his face, held him as she covered his lips and cheeks with kisses. He cupped her left breast, playing with the hardening nipple, and she dropped a hand to rub him through the cloth of his jeans.
He unzipped her shorts, spreading the two halves wide apart, reaching under the panties and feeling the wetness of her. His touch was electric, and she nearly came just from the initial contact. Her breath caught, stopped, and restarted along with the beating of her heart.
“Oh, yes... please...”
Her murmured pleadings were lost against his mouth. She tore off his shirt and dropped her pants, standing in her underwear in the soft, ambient light. She reached for his zipper, making a show of pulling it down slowly, ever so slowly reaching in and...
The world exploded in light, with a clatter of noise, the soft whirr of a motor coming to life.
Dani screamed, and dropped to the floor as the garage door rolled up.