Luc (Rossi Brothers) Read online

  When she nodded, he popped the button free and sank to his knees in front of her. After helping her out of them, he took her by the hips and turned her around. He nodded at the couch, now at her back. “Sit.”

  She hesitated but did as he asked. Hooking his hands behind her knees, he tugged her to the edge and settled between her thighs. He leaned over her, hands braced on either side of her, and kissed her gently. He took a moment to enjoy the heady flavor of her mouth and the gentle play of her lips with his before releasing her. “Lie back.”

  She studied him, confusion in her gaze, before doing what he asked. He wanted her relaxed, but more than that, he wanted this to be good for her, something she’d remember, not something she’d regret when it ended. Which meant that as much as he wanted to plunge into her and slake his hunger, he had to take his time.

  He started at her feet, lifting her leg and kissing the arch, flicking his tongue over her ankle. He skimmed his lips up her calf next and kissed the inside of her knee before working his way up her legs. By the time he reached the apex of her thighs, he wasn’t sure who was trembling more.

  When he skimmed his hands up the insides of her thighs, gently pushing them open, Liz moaned softly. Her fingers curled along the couch’s edge, her body tensing. “Luc, please. Don’t tease.”

  “Shh. Relax.” He bent his head, tasting her. Another low moan vibrated out of her, this one full of agony and need. Her slender fingers dove into his hair, pulling at him, and any pretense of going slow deserted him. Need consumed him, and he lost himself in … her. Every shuddering breath. Every tremor that ran through her.

  When she finally came apart, her back arched and her belly and thighs shook, but she didn’t make a sound. It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever experienced, such a quiet, yet powerful display. He watched from his vantage point as he pleasured her, trying his damnedest to prolong her climax as long as possible. By God, he wanted to make her do that again, as many times as he could.

  When she finally went limp and opened her eyes, peering at him beneath heavy lids, he couldn’t contain his need anymore. Hands braced on either side of her again, he took a moment to enjoy the feel of her lush curves against him, her supple skin and sipped at her mouth. “Have I told you recently how beautiful you are?”

  She smiled and caressed his cheek before pushing upright, forcing him to straighten. When he was once again kneeling between her thighs, she shoved his boxers to his knees then nodded at the empty space beside her. “Sit. I believe it’s your turn now.”

  He took a moment to get rid of his boxers before sitting on the couch, then crooked a finger at her. “As tempting as that thought is, I’d rather be inside you.”

  She nodded and braced her hands on his shoulders, once again straddling his thighs. His body shook with the ferocity of his need to sink into her heat. He was gripping her hips, ready to pull her onto him …

  The condom.

  “Son of a …” He closed his eyes and dropped his head back against the couch. Disappointment stormed through him.

  She went still as stone. “What’s wrong?”

  The alarm in her voice made him open his eyes. Her gaze danced over his face. He sighed and dropped his hands to his sides. “I didn’t bring anything with me.”

  She searched his face, lost for a moment, then a fierce blush climbed into her cheeks and she sat back on his knees. “Condoms.”

  The word left her mouth on a thoughtful whisper, like she’d come to the same conclusion he had: they’d almost forgotten.

  He stroked his hands over her thighs. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t counting on this when I came over here this morning. In fact, I—”

  Her head jerked up, eyes wide. “Oh! No. That’s not what I meant. Of course, you wouldn’t. It’s … I …” Her shoulders slumped. “Oh, this is going to make me sound so desperate.”

  He touched her cheek. “It can’t be that bad.”

  She sighed. “I have some. I bought them the day I bought that bra and those panties. The same day I bought the dress I wore to Sam’s.”

  Wait a minute. She was essentially telling him … “You were wearing those panties at Sam’s?”

  “I have a black pair, too, but …” She nodded, the blush in her cheeks deepening. “Pretty much.”

  “Damn.” He sat stunned for a moment, the image filling his mind—that sexy little dress, the uneven hem falling around her gorgeous calves, the way the bodice clung to her breasts. That dress alone had turned him on. Now, the thought of her in that bra and a pair of black, lacy, see-through panties …

  She drew her bottom lip into her mouth. “Is that good or bad?”

  He shook off the memory, cupped her face in his palms and stroked his thumbs over her soft skin. “That’s a turn-on, sweetheart. God, I can’t tell you how aroused I was that night. I don’t think I’ve ever had this instantaneous reaction to anyone before. There is just something about you.”

  “God, what you must think of me.” She shrugged. “I wanted to step out of my comfort zone. I needed to move on, but doing it was, is, difficult. Buying all that stuff, including the condoms, kind of represented where I hoped I’d be able to go someday.”

  “Is that why we’re down here on the couch, instead upstairs in bed?”

  She met his gaze. “Does it bother you?”

  He couldn’t help his grin. “No. When I first came over, I couldn’t think about anything except being inside you.”

  She searched his face. “And now? Have I completely ruined this?”

  He took her hands in his, stilling their restlessness, attempting to reassure her … and because he somehow needed the connection like he needed to draw his next breath. She was so damned vulnerable, so open, no pretenses, and it flat out awed him. Wherever their relationship went from here, he’d never be sorry they hadn’t gotten up to go cook. He needed this time with her as much as she did. “No. I’m still desperate to be inside you.”

  “But?”

  “But you’re not entirely comfortable with this. You’re very skittish.”

  She gave a vague nod. “And you’re wondering if I even want to be here. I do, you know.”

  “No, that’s not what I was thinking, though I’m glad to hear you say it. Now I’m craving something a bit softer, a bit slower. I want to watch your face, your pleasure. I want to make sure this is good for you. I don’t want you to wake up tomorrow with regrets. I want you to wake up tomorrow with a smile.” He wanted the intimacy slow lovemaking brought, though the need to tell her lodged in his throat. The feeling scared the hell out of him. She scared the hell out of him.

  She went limp in his lap, her relief palpable. He pressed his mouth to hers, a series of small, tender kisses, and caressed his hands down her back to her bottom, pulling her tighter against him. Letting her feel his desire. She let out a quiet little whimper and arched against him. Her nails curled into his shoulders, biting into his skin in the most delicious way.

  He growled, sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, and gently bit down. “Go get the condoms, Liz.”

  She pulled back and met his gaze, another fierce blush washing into her cheeks. Then she leaned over, stretching to reach the end table beside the couch. She opened the drawer, palmed a couple of foil packets, and straightened. When she met his gaze again, one corner of her mouth hitched, and she shrugged.

  He smiled. He didn’t have to ask to understand the significance. She wasn’t ready for them to go in the bedroom yet. “Wishful thinking?”

  “Something like that.”

  He nodded at the condom in her hand. “Saddle me, sweetheart.”

  It was a corny joke, but it had the desired effect. The worry written on her face evaporated, a tiny smile taking its place. She shifted back on his knees and tore open the packet, quickly sheathing him. As she rose over him again, his tip nudged her slick entrance, and she caught his gaze. Something a lot tenderer settled between them this time. It pulled at the deeper part of him, at the loneliness of th
e last year. He gathered her as close as he could get her, until they were nose to nose, and she sank, inch by inch, onto him.

  He groaned. God, she was like being wrapped in heaven. The hot, slickness of her. The warmth of her skin against him. Her nipples rubbing his chest. He curled his hands around her behind, content to let her take her time, to draw out the pleasure.

  Not once did she look away, and every small thrust hurled them closer to the edge, propelling them faster and faster. He couldn’t even remember if he breathed. There was nothing but her, nothing but the hunger moving between them. They shared the same breath, the same pounding heartbeat, bodies moving in unison, surging together.

  The experience ranked right up there among the most erotic he’d ever had, because she didn’t hold back. She gave her all, and he couldn’t stop watching her, needing her pleasure when she finally tipped.

  With one last quiet little gasp, she tossed her head back, and her mouth opened on a silent, “Ahhh,” as she began to tremble. As her inner walls convulsed around him, he gritted his teeth, tried his damnedest to hold on to himself, to prolong her pleasure, but sensation overwhelmed him. With a quiet groan, he dropped his forehead to her shoulder and followed her into oblivion.

  Chapter Eight

  They lay on the floor sometime later. Hours, minutes, Liz couldn’t be sure. Her head rested on Luc’s shoulder, her legs tangled with his, as she sifted her fingers through the dusting of dark, wiry curls on his chest. She’d forgotten this, too. How wonderful the press of a warm body beside her could be. It was in the small things, like his strong arms holding her close or the soothing thump of his heartbeat beneath her ear.

  She skimmed her fingers down his side, delighting in the shiver that ran through him. “You asleep?”

  She knew he wasn’t. While his body was relaxed, his hands had yet to stop caressing her curves, setting off a series of goose bumps dancing along her oversensitive skin.

  He let out a quiet rumble of a laugh. “Just about. You wore me out.”

  At times, making love to Luc could be every bit as intense as the man. She knew now why he’d only had three previous partners. He gave all of himself. He swept her away, until she was so caught up in watching his reactions, in his touch, she couldn’t think at all. At least, not about anything but the power moving between them.

  The longer she lay there, though, the more the emotions she’d known would come began to creep over her. The pain and guilt. She wanted to allow herself to get lost in him, but a nasty voice in the back of her mind still insisted she was cheating on Daniel. It wasn’t rational, but she couldn’t reconcile it either. How did you release twenty years of marriage?

  Attempting to ignore the pain trying to squeeze the air from her lungs, she slid over top him and lay along his length. “What’s the matter? Can’t keep up with an old lady?”

  The left corner of his mouth quirked upward. Amusement glinted in his eyes as his warm palms curved around her backside, pulling her tight against him. “Oh, I wouldn’t count me out yet.”

  She gasped and rocked against him in turn. How it was possible to still want each other this way, she didn’t know, but just that fast, her core throbbed, eager for yet another round. “How’d we end up on the floor, anyway?”

  Her memory was filled with sensations, naughty snapshots of the last four hours. His mouth caressing her skin. Her breasts. Her belly. The insides of her thighs. She recalled the huff of his breathing in her ear as he thrust into her, but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember how they’d gotten onto the floor.

  His body shook with his quiet laugh. “I believe that was your fault. You missed the end of the couch and took me with you.”

  Never. Never in her life had she gotten so caught up in a man she’d lost all track of herself, let alone her surroundings. “I don’t even remember slipping.”

  He lifted his head, his stomach muscles bunching, his voice a husky murmur in her ear as he skimmed his mouth along her shoulder. “I’m pretty sure you were a little busy right then.”

  Clearly she’d been mid-orgasm when they fell off. The thought made her giggle in spite of herself. She stroked a hand over his shoulder. “Hope I didn’t hurt you.”

  “Oh, I most definitely wasn’t complaining.” He rolled onto his side, and, hand gripping her backside, pulled her tight against him and thrust against the softness of her belly.

  Their earlier playfulness evaporated, something somber erupting in his dark eyes. She touched his cheek. “What?”

  “I have to go soon.” He dropped his forehead to hers. “I like to spend as much as time with Alyssa as possible on my days off. To make up for when I’m at work.”

  She brushed her mouth over his. To reassure him. To divest them of the tension rising between them. “I figured as much.”

  Luc took her mouth and rocked against her, burying himself inside of her in one slow, slick thrust. Liz gasped at the sweet invasion. He claimed her mouth in a tender kiss and began to move within her, thrusting slowly and deeply. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, buried her face in his neck, and immersed herself in him. The pounding of his heart. The almost painful grip of his fingers on her backside. Even his scent filling her lungs every time she inhaled dragged her further into him and sent her hurtling toward the delicious abyss.

  Her climax struck out of nowhere, a luscious bubble that burst inside of her, sending a rush of bone-melting pleasure flooding through her. Luc groaned from down deep, his thrusts slowing, his body trembling against her as he found his own release deep inside of her.

  He dropped his forehead onto her shoulder, his arms tightening around her. He seemed every bit as reluctant to let her go as she was to let him. They lay that way for some time, quiet, clinging to each other in the aftermath.

  Finally, he lifted his head enough to meet her gaze. “I have to go. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay.”

  He nodded, kissed her softly one more time, and pulled away. They spent the next few minutes getting dressed in silence. A sudden, awkward distance rose, contradicting the intimacy they’d shared and creating a wall between them. Luc had once again become a stranger.

  They had to release the fantasy and return to their real lives now. In a few minutes, she’d have to watch him leave, not knowing if she’d see him again. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to see him again. Only that she hated seeing him leave. And that she hated the distance with every fiber of her being. While his reasons made him a good father, that he was leaving at all just felt … wrong.

  Standing by the door a few minutes later, memories and emotions swamped her, hitting her hard. The moment was too damn familiar. Two and a half years ago, she’d watched Daniel walk out a door just like this, wondering the exact same thing—if she’d ever see him again.

  Luc kissed her softly, the gesture awkward yet somehow still tender, and moved outside toward his SUV parked at the curb. As he climbed inside and closed the door, an avalanche of emotion collapsed on top of her. She managed to close the door behind him before the tears refused to be held back.

  This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. As much as she yearned to let go, to be carefree and single, at the end of the day, she was still alone. Unbearably, overwhelmingly alone.

  She slid to the floor, closed her eyes, and let the tears come. Bruce, who’d been sleeping quietly somewhere in the house, trotted to her side, lay down beside her, and set his head in her lap.

  • • •

  Seated on the couch in the living room beside Sam, Liz wrapped her trembling hands around her mug of Earl Grey and took a sip of the warm, citrusy tea. Sam had arrived a half an hour earlier for their weekly teatime. This morning, Liz desperately needed her best friend.

  With anybody else, she didn’t kiss and tell, but she’d been telling Sam everything for most of their lives. Including the first time Daniel went from being her best friend’s hot, older brother to her first kiss. What she needed most this morning was Sam’s no-nonsen
se advice.

  Liz peered at her over the rim of her cup as she took a careful sip of the hot liquid. “I slept with him.”

  “Oh my God.” Eyes widening, Sam leaned forward, quickly depositing her teacup on the coffee table, and sloshing a bit of the liquid onto the tabletop. As she blotted it up with a napkin, she glanced at Liz. “Details. And don’t you dare leave anything out.”

  “I decided to take him up on the cooking lessons. Before he died, I promised Daniel I’d learn. It was on our bucket list, you know?” Gripping her mug tightly in her hands, she looked down at her tea and shook her head, remembering. “I figured if I could learn how to cook, I could stop eating alone at all the restaurants in town. Going into them doesn’t do much by way of making me feel any less alone.”

  Exactly why she usually ordered takeout—so she wouldn’t have to see the looks of pity tossed her way, or be asked to join another couple’s table because she “looked so lonely.” Of course, takeout also meant she ate at home, in her empty house, alone. Bruce provided beautiful companionship, but he wasn’t human. She missed that the most.

  “And?” Sam nudged her thigh and rolled her eyes, the corners of her mouth twitching. “Don’t hold out on me now.”

  Liz shrugged. “When he showed up, we kind of stood there, looking at each other. The moment was all awkward and filled with so much tension, I thought something would snap.” A shiver of remembrance ran the length of her spine. “And then it did. Next thing I knew he had me against the wall.”

  “You had up-against-the-wall sex?” A slow grin curled across Sam’s face. She nudged Liz’s thigh. “Go, you.”

  Liz’s cheeks caught fire. She waved a flippant hand in the air, a sort of la-de-da gesture, and jerked her gaze to her lap, picking at the frayed edges around the small hole in the right knee of her jeans.

  “No. He pinned me there and kissed me.” She narrowed her eyes and jabbed a finger at her best friend. “And if you mention any of this to him, I’ll disown you.”

  “Of course not. You know me, sweetie. He won’t know you told me unless you tell him.” Sam made a crisscross motion over her heart. “Girlfriend’s honor, remember? Besides, at work, he’s my boss. We’re professionals.”