Absolution (27 page)

Her other hand went to the front of his shoulder and pushed. “Luke—”

Hearing the fear in her protest, he captured her other wrist before pressing a soft kiss to the spot where his fingers had been, right at the notch between her collar bones. “Shhh.” He nuzzled just inside the neckline, breathing in more of her heavenly scent.

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She tried to break his hold on her wrists. “Luke, no.” Fear. He sensed it in her, growing, threatening to break through her arousal. So afraid he might reject her because of her scars. How could she ever think he would? Luke lifted his head to look into her face. Her jaw clenched, eyes pleading with him not to uncover her. “Roll over, sweetheart,” he whispered, watching as surprise filled the depths of her eyes.

She hesitated a moment, then allowed him to help her onto her stomach. Luke paused to sweep the hair away from her cheek and nuzzle at the thin scar beneath her jaw. Her pulse leapt against his lips, but the remaining tension in her body told him she was still wary of what he intended. He was going to take care of that. “Relax for me Em. Give yourself to me.” A shudder sped through her muscles, but she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, her body softening by degrees.

Luke praised her with low murmurs while he eased the robe off one shoulder, following it with his mouth, hands moving over her satin skin with loving propriety. He ached to fill her, to wrap around her tight enough that she’d feel safe enough to let go.

When he had the robe pulled down as far as he could without removing it from her entirely, he took her chilly hand in his and slid the sleeve off her arm.

Then he did the same to the other. With his fingertips he caressed the silky soft skin along her spine from nape to the tempting swell of her hips before sliding up to blanket her with his weight. She gasped at the contact and stretched out beneath him. His painfully hard cock nestled between the cheeks of her buttocks. Closing his eyes on a growl, Luke surged gently against her, loving the feel of her naked skin against his sensitive flesh. In answer Emily moaned and pushed back against him, more 218

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at ease in the new position. Her arousal building again because she felt secure.

Luke eyed the bottle of lube she’d left on his bedside table the other night. He’d use it to ensure she was as ready as he could make her, and to guarantee there would be no chance of discomfort for her. He wished she wasn’t self-conscious of her body.

There was so much he wanted to do to her, but he couldn’t until he’d taken her to the place where pleasure overrode thought. Before he could love all of her the way he wanted to, he needed her lost in a haze of sensuality, all her shields down. Damn. He wanted that so badly he shook. But he had to go slow. Seduce her into that place.

“Ohhh, you feel good,” she whispered, arching up like a cat.

Not as good as she did. “Let me give you more.”

Nibbling and kissing her neck and shoulders, one hand cupped the front of her left shoulder before sliding down toward her breast and moving right.

Instantly she stiffened again but he kept going, careful not to pause when his fingers found the IV

port embedded below her collar bone. His touch moved left again, and she released the breath she’d been holding.

He stroked the side of her breast, moving inward until he cupped it, her hardened nipple stabbing into the center of his palm. Emily bit her lip, watching him from her peripheral vision. His engorged penis slid deeper between her cheeks as he shifted his weight, allowing his hand enough freedom to rub against the straining nipple. She sucked in a sharp breath and arched her back to give him more room, but he didn’t change what he was doing. He kept sliding over that sensitive spot while she gasped and moaned, her legs instinctively parting to let him ease between them. So damn perfect.

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Luke nudged one of her thighs with his and pressed outward until she bent her knee, exposing the softness of her sex to his. She hissed in a breath when the head of his cock pressed against her, wriggling to get him closer. “Easy.” He slid his hand out from beneath the weight of her breast and grabbed the bottle of lube. When his fingers were coated with it, he used his knee to push her thigh up higher and reached under her hips. He took the time to caress her inner thighs and buttocks first, all around where she wanted him to touch, but never quite there.

“Luke,” she groaned, curling her lower back to give him access. “Please touch me.”

“I will, pretty baby,” he crooned against her nape. “You’re so soft.”

The skin of her mound was completely naked.

Satin smooth against his searching fingers, the tender folds already damp with her arousal. He bit back a moan at the feel of her bare flesh. At least he could make that side effect of the chemo good for her, he thought, sliding his slick fingers over the exposed, delicate folds, up, up. She trembled and cried out, but he kept his touch slow and gentle as he aroused and moistened every inch of sensitive flesh before gliding his fingers down and pausing at the entrance to her body. Emily pressed her hips into his palm, demanding more. He kissed the nape of her neck. “Easy, Em. Let me take care of you.”

He slid one finger into her carefully, then two, enjoying the feel of her body stretching around him, hugging him in a jealous grip. Another moan left her lips. After a few gentle strokes he pulled out and followed the delicate folds to the hard bud of her clit, circling that fragile flesh.

“Ohhh,” she moaned breathlessly, opening her legs wider and straining back to bring the aching length of his cock into her. But he moved away, 220

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circling his fingertips around her taut clitoris before easing into her body again, searching for and finding the hot spot inside. The broken moan she gave almost made him come.

Tensing his jaw, he pressed and stroked with firm, slow pressure before withdrawing and feathering around her clit again. Softly. Just the way she liked it, the way she loved him to use his tongue there. Over and over until she breathed in shaky bursts and a fine sheen of perspiration dewed her skin. One of her hands grabbed the forearm he was braced on, fingers clamping tight.

“Let me see your eyes,” he whispered, straining to hold back the need to plunge into her. His cock throbbed in agony between her thighs, the tip already drenched with her silky juices.

On an unsteady breath, Emily opened her eyes and lifted her head to look at him over her shoulder.

Heavy-lidded from pleasure, but not quite blind. Not yet. “Please...” she gasped.

“Feel good?” he asked, slowing his touch, her intimate flesh warm and slippery beneath his caressing fingers. So damn hot and wet it tied him in knots.
Oh yeah
. His lips teased the edge of hers before he leaned to the side and penetrated her mouth with a slow, erotic glide of his tongue at the same time as his fingers pressed deep into her.

Gasping, she tore her mouth away and squeezed her eyes shut. “God—Please push into me...”

Damn he wanted to go down on her. Turn her over right then and lower his head between her thighs. He was dying to taste her again, the exotic-sweet flavor of her a haunting memory. She would feel so good against his mouth, his tongue gliding over her smooth, slick folds while she writhed and begged for more...

His cock pulsed in agony, screaming at him to slide into her. He growled at the thought, struggling 221

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to hold on. She needed to be able to trust him in this.

Needed to know he had complete control of himself before she could let go. She had to consciously trust he would take care of her needs first when she was helpless in his arms. She already knew it on a subconscious level, because she’d come to him. He had to prove to her he was worthy of it.

Relishing her uninhibited response, Luke petted and teased and stroked her softest flesh until she strained back toward him and whimpers of frustration tore from her throat. When she was finally ready, he fitted himself to her entrance and pushed slowly and firmly into her. She gasped and curled her spine, crying out as he filled her and retreated. Luke closed his eyes. She was so tight around him. So goddamn hot and wet he wasn’t sure if he could hold back. “Em...”

“Don’t stop,” she begged, squeezing his wrist tighter.

“I won’t.” Not even if it killed him. He had this one night with her. He was going to make it as loving and memorable as he could.

He gave her more. All of him. Long, slow strokes that stimulated every nerve ending. He took her higher and higher, caressing her clit with his fingers as he kept up with the gentle pumping. She was almost there. His own pleasure grew and expanded until it threatened to take over him, but he held on for her. Her breathing turned shallow, then a long, liquid moan spilled out and her head went back, eyes closed in rapture.

There. This was where he wanted her. Lost in the pleasure he bestowed. Helpless to do anything but feel.

He kissed the top of her left shoulder, fighting back the need to thrust until he came.
So close now
.

“Almost there, Em.” And once she got there, they were both going to die from the pleasure.

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****

Emily wanted to yell at him, but didn’t have the breath. He had her balanced on the absolute precipice, on that razor’s edge of pleasure, but he wouldn’t let her fall. She needed to. Her body was dying for the release. What was he waiting for? She lay still beneath him, trembling, willing him to give her that final caress that would hurl her over the edge. “Luke...” Her voice was ragged and desperate.

He smoothed the hair away from her face with one broad palm, his other fingers stroking where she was wet and aching and desperate for his touch. His lips brushed her ear, the faint prickle of his beard forming goose bumps over her violently sensitized skin. “Yes baby, so good...” His voice was like black silk sliding over her. The low, velvet murmur wrung another shiver out of her heightened body.

He pressed tight against her back, an unyielding wall of hot, hard muscles, the thick length of his erection buried deep inside her. Stretching and filling her beyond bearing. The heat of it stole her breath. His fingers stayed torturously close to her throbbing clit. Near enough to tease, but not close enough to give her the final caress she needed to send her flying. She was mindless, focused on nothing but the orgasm that hovered maddeningly out of reach. But he took her yet again up to the pinnacle before stopping his caressing fingers at the critical moment that would have detonated the charge inside her.

A soft shriek escaped. She couldn’t take any more.

“Shhh,” he whispered against her damp temple, the passion-rough edge of it raking over her senses.

“You know I won’t leave you this way.”

But you will leave. It’s only a question of when.

She shook her head to erase the thought. God, 223

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she needed to come. Just a little more pressure, something.
Please.

But Luke maintained that slow, steady rhythm with his hips and fingertips, at once soothing and devastating. Her fingers dug into his wrist like talons. “
God
—”

“Mmm. You there, sweetheart?”

At insanity? Yes
. She nodded, desperate, beyond caring how she looked or that she was begging for release. “Please...”

His low, erotic purr of approval vibrated in her ear, then his hips drove hard against her. His fingers continuing their torment between her thighs as he thrust strong and deep. The air locked in her throat. Too intense. She couldn’t bear it.

“Ah yeah,” he whispered. “There it is sweetheart...”

She was going to die from it. The pleasure was too deep, too huge. Her mouth opened in a silent scream.

Luke anchored her firmly to the mattress. “Let yourself go, Em. I’ve got you.”

She didn’t have a choice. Her body clamped down around his burning erection with a hard spasm. A high, choked sob escaped. Lightning gathered and seared her nerve endings. Brilliant colors exploded behind her eyelids, and she screamed as the orgasm finally hit. Wave after wave of unrelenting ecstasy roared through her. And the whole time Luke’s arms were tight around her. She teared up.

When it was over she lay sweating and gasping, her lids so heavy she couldn’t lift them. Aftershocks rippled through her inner muscles as she clenched around Luke. He was scalding hot inside her, still thick and hard because he’d waited to ensure her pleasure before he sought his.

Out of nowhere, a lump formed in her throat, 224

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expanding until it threatened to choke her with the pressure of the unshed tears burning her eyes. It was as though her orgasm had ripped away any hold she had on her emotions and torn down her protective shields. A quiet sob ripped out of her, and she covered her face with her hands. Trust her to come unglued at such an intimate moment.

But Luke wouldn’t let her hide. Before she could gather enough strength to move, he pulled out and turned her onto her back, then gently pushed back in to join them face to face. Instantly her arms encircled his muscular back. She tucked her face into his throat and prayed he hadn’t seen the terrible scars on her chest.

Luke was still hungry for her, lodged deep inside her body, but she felt the difference in him when he closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers.

His protective shields were down too. He was hard as granite inside her, wanting her, but his heart was open when it hadn’t been before. It choked her up more. She’d needed that, even more than his lovemaking. To hold him as close and hard as she could while he gave himself to her in return. But now that she’d gotten it, the tears wouldn’t be stopped.

Another sob came, harder than the first, but she couldn’t cover her face and her mastectomy scars at the same time when he raised his head. When she tried, Luke merely caught her wrists and lightly pinned them on either side of her head.

“It’s all right, Em. Tears are part of this,” he whispered, bending to kiss them away. He moved gently within her, another tender caress that soothed as much as it stimulated. It broke the seal on the dam of her tears. They came out in a quiet rush while he stayed above her, eyes on her face as he murmured soothing things she didn’t quite catch.