Gravity (Artistic Pricks Ink Book 1) (29 page)

The second I hit the button to unlock the door, he yanks open the door. “What do you want? You want to tell me again how sorry you are? How you never meant to hurt me, is that it?” He asks, when I stand to my feet. “I just want to know something before I get in my car and drive the fuck away from you for the second time tonight.” Slamming the door, he leans in and meets my eyes. “Did you think tucking the lies in-between all the little bits of truth you did give me would make it okay? Fuck, I saw the secrets in your eyes from day one, but I never thought… My God Kionna, was any of it ever even real to you or was I just another guy you toyed with?”

Not only does it hurt to hear him say that, it pisses me off. “Luke, everything I feel for you is real.” I explain, desperate to make him understand. “You have to know that much. Do you want to know why I had you come to the club?” I ask, reaching for his hands.

Luke’s eyes close tightly, but he doesn’t pull away from me. “No.”

“Yes, you do,” I reply, entwining our fingers. “It was not because I am sleeping with Mitch and was dying to rub it in your face. I’ve never been close enough to anyone at the club for them to even know who I really was. No one else will ever get from me what you will because they’re not you, Luke.” His eyes open; pulling back, Luke turns away to pace in front of me so I continue. “Yes, I should have told you about the type of dancing I do. You have no idea the list of regrets that I have, but helping Mitch is not one of them.”

Luke stops mid-step, his eyes meeting mine. “I see.”

“The first time we came here together was after your fight with Mitch. The look in your eyes that night was something I never wanted to see again, let alone be a part of the cause. When I saw Mitch tonight, I stepped in because I saw no other choice. You spend all of your life taking care of everyone else, but who takes care of you, Luke? I may have fucked up a lot of things in my life, but I won’t apologize for my loyalties lying with the man that I’m falling in love with. Everyone and everything else is just white noise when I look at you. Please, tell me there is a way to fix this.”

“You’re falling in love with me?” Luke asks staring at me, completely slack jawed.

I nod. “Yes. You have to know that as badly as you’re hurting right now, Luke, the only thing worse is knowing that I’ve caused it.”

In all my life, I have never known what it meant to be desperately hungry for something. Not until Luke Hanlon. His touch, his kiss; I am truly starving for them because I am terrified I will never feel any of it again.

Something changes in his eyes as he steps toward me, giving me the one thing that can quench the fire of desperation that has burned in my heart since he walked away from me. Hope. My heart is racing, every inch of my body trembles when he stops inches from me.

“Crystal was a stripper.” Luke whispers, his voice wavering. “The reason I left her wasn’t solely because of her occupation, though I never wanted that for her. What killed us, ultimately, was the fact that she gave a lot of private in her private sessions. When I told you I can’t deal with those places, I meant it. Now you know why. All the trust in the world isn’t going to change the fact that I don’t want the woman I’m with taking off her clothes for money. What is beneath those clothes is for me only, not for anyone with a wallet full of singles. I am not the kind of man who can be with an exotic dancer. It could never work, Kionna.”

Swallowing hard, I nod. “I understand, Luke.”

Breaking eye contact, I open the car door and accept his decision.

Kionna saying she is falling in love with me is something I can’t begin to describe, but it doesn’t change anything. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us if I didn’t tell her how I feel now. We would only be building a foundation on sand, waiting for the wave to come wash away everything we built.

Grabbing her phone from her car, she pushes some numbers and hits send. “We need to leave,” I say while lightning and thunder explode all around us, but she simply holds up a finger to silence me. It doesn’t rain much in Vegas. We are lucky to get a random spot shower here in the desert, but this looks to be a one of those rare big ones. “It’s not safe.”

“Ugh,” she sighs. “Kelly, it’s Ki. I didn’t want to do this by voicemail, but it can’t wait. Tonight was my last night dancing at Heaven on Heels. I’m sorry for all the problems I’ve caused tonight and I can’t thank you enough for all you have done for me. The truth is—” Pausing, she looks up me and smiles. “I don’t want to be someone’s fantasy anymore. I want the chance to be his reality.”

Grabbing the phone from her fingers, I toss it to the seat. I cup her face in my hands and meet those eyes that, even tear stained, are beautiful. “Dollface,” I whisper, floored by everything she has said and done since she pulled in here moments ago.

Kionna’s eyes flutter closed as she nuzzles into my touch. “Saying I’m sorry doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel right now, Luke.” Opening her eyes, she looks up at me as a tear slips down her cheek. “Just tell me what to do.”

“You’re already doing it.” I whisper, brushing my lips over hers. “Yes, you should have told me sooner; a lot sooner. But I need to admit I didn’t handle it well, at all. I get that you were only trying to protect me when you stepped up for Mitch. I’ll have to handle the regrets I have there. That can wait until tomorrow, when he’s sober.”

“Okay,” she whispers softly.

“I’m going to kiss you now.” I say, not waiting for an answer and crush my lips to hers.

Every ounce of what I have been feeling the last two hours, I pour into this moment.  Thunder rolls around us, the wind blowing harder as the storm approaches. But as dangerous as it is for us to be out here I don’t care. All that matters is us.

Kionna whimpers softly, her body going lax in my arms as I pull her tightly against me. Relief spreads throughout my body as I fully understand what she has just done. For me. My heart swells, all that has been building between us the last few weeks now coming to a head in this moment.

By the time I stop kissing her, both of us are breathless. The second my lips leave hers; the rain starts pouring down, soaking us. “My top is down,” I shout over the rumbling of thunder that shakes the ground beneath my feet.

Following me, Ki runs around the car to the passenger side to help me get the top up on the ‘Cuda before the rain ruins my interior. Securing the clasp on my side, I quickly get around the car to help Kionna so that we can get out of the weather.

“Get in,” I say, opening the door. “We’ll wait out the storm then head back to the shop. I don’t want you driving in this stuff.” I explain, since we can’t leave her friend’s car out here in the middle of nowhere.

Propping up the seat, Kionna climbs into the back and scoots across the car. Following her inside, I close the door behind me and sit beside her. Placing my feet on the either side of the console, I pull Ki onto my lap before burying my face in her neck just needing to breathe her in. Her hands slide up my shoulders before slipping into my wet hair, her touch making me crazy with how much I need her.

My lips move down her neck to her collarbone, pressing light kisses along her skin. Needing to feel her skin under my hands, my fingers slip inside the back of her shirt and absorb her warmth. I don’t need to say a word, everything is spoken in my touch. This is all about the connection we have on a bigger level. What we say without any words at all, what we feel.

Ki pulls away long enough to straddle me and tug her shirt over her head, revealing her bare breasts. Taking my hands in hers, she slides them up her abdomen slowly. “Luke, make love to me. No one could ever come close to touching me in the ways you do.”

My hands move up her back and into her damp brown strands. A growl rumbles up from my chest and I can’t hold back. Hungrily, I take her mouth with mine. Everything else is lost as our lips move in sync and our hands roam each other’s skin. Just as Kionna had said, even the storm becomes white noise around us.

Our movements are awkward as we attempt to shuffle from our wet clothing, but no less passionate. Stripping in the back of a car isn’t easy, and I am not exactly a pro at sex in enclosed spaces.

I whack my head on the roof when I lean up to shove my jeans down my thighs. “Dammit,” I mumble, making Ki giggle. “Come here,” I say once she is naked, pulling her to me.

Hitching a knee over my lap, she straddles me. My erection jerks in her hand as she wraps her fingers around my hardening skin. “I don’t have a condom, Kionna.” I blurt, cursing myself inwardly.

“Do you trust me, Luke?” She asks, softly. “Kelly requires everyone to be tested regularly, but I haven’t been with anyone but you in probably two years. I have a birth control implant, but if you—”

“Two years?” I shake my head in disbelief.

“I told you,” she nods then avoids my eyes. “I didn’t let anyone close.”

Tipping her chin up, I wait for her to look at me. “There have been a couple of women since Crystal, but none in a very long time and never bareback.” Brushing my lips over hers, I rub the head of my cock against her entrance, teasing the both of us. “I trust you, Kionna. I need you to know that. What happened before, that shit is done.” Gripping her hip, I guide her onto me inch by inch making her gasp. “No matter what happens now, hold on to me. To us. Believe in what we have here, baby. That the force that pulls us together is strong, because it is. Even when I was driving away from you tonight, as hurt as I was, all I could think about was turning around. I never would have been able to stay away from you. I can’t fight how much I need to be near you.”

“Luke,” she moans, rolling her hips against me.

Keeping my eyes on her, I cup her breast tenderly making her throw her head back and let out a long moan. “That’s it, baby.” I groan, pumping my hips. “Fall apart for me, I’m right here to catch you.”

Reaching between us, I brush over her clit making her cry out. Her fingers dig into my shoulders as she struggles to hold on to her control. Moving my hips upward, I thrust into her again and again to match each calculated touch as she rides the wave toward her climax. When she arches her back, Ki tumbles backward causing the front seats to slam into the dashboard and steering wheel as I follow her desperate to stay inside of her. The horn sounds and the wiper blades begin swishing back and forth across the windshield.

“Luke!” She cries, the rhythm we make shoves the seat up with every thrust of my hips. The horn beeps and the wipers all keeping time with us.

My body tenses; gripping the seat behind me for leverage, I take her mouth and swallow her cries. When my orgasm hits me, my knees nearly buckle. Kionna digs her nails into my back, clinging to me tightly. My lips leave hers as I still inside her, our eyes locking and all the missing pieces fall into place for me. Every word she said, all that she feels, it’s right there clear as day.

Sitting back in the seat behind me, I pull Kionna against my chest. The only sounds are the wiper blades and our breathing, as it normalizes. “Finish your story,” I whisper into her hair. “After your accident, you were in therapy. That’s where you left off, I want to know the rest.”

Turning in my arms, Kionna sits so that she can look into my eyes. “After months of therapy, I was back to dancing. When the open auditions for the same show came back around, I went, hoping to get my old spot back. I wanted to prove that I didn’t let my injury beat me.” Her voice cracks as a tear slips from her cheek. “The dance world is a cruel place sometimes and people talk, so everyone knew who I was. There was gossip, a lot of it, and none of it was good.”

“Kionna,” I start in an attempt to soothe her, the pain in her eyes as she relives this is almost too much for me to watch.

“The producers wouldn’t even let me audition. They called me an ‘undesirable liability.’” She continues, “They black listed me; no one would touch the broken dancer. Even if they did let me dance when I went to auditions, I was never taken seriously for the spot so I gave up. Then I found Kelly.” Her voice is small. “Well, I should say she found me.”