Luke (A Redemption Romance #1) (10 page)

He pulled my legs straight up and over my head so I was folded practically in half. Holding my calves he jack hammered into me, his rhythm was so fast at that point, I started cumming, one orgasm rolled into the next and I didn’t know if it was one long one or multiple orgasms taking over my body.

Luke’s grunts and words of encouragement kept me right on the edge of bliss. His thrusting slowed and I felt the tension in his body increase as he released my legs, allowing me to wrap them tight around his waist, he moved down over me again and took my mouth - still moving - in a long and emotionally charged kiss. He pulled back from the kiss, but stayed close to my face, held one of his hands on each side of my head and gazed sweetly into my eyes as he too, fell over the edge.

His hot spurts filled my body, coating me inside. It was then that I realized he hadn’t put on a condom.

I was taking a low dose birth control pill, but only to help regulate my cycle. I’d never relied on it for actual birth control. The guys I’d been with had always worn a condom; the mini-pill was so easy to mess up and the hormone dose was so low I wasn’t sure it would hold up to the assault.

Luke felt my body go completely still, he looked at me more closely. “Did I hurt you?” I could see the perplexed look on his face as he asked.

“No, of course not. You didn’t use a condom.” I was pretty sure that I looked panicked - because I was.

Luke leaned down and kissed my forehead. “Sweetheart, aren’t you on the pill?”

“I am, but it’s a low dose, I’ve never relied on just that, I don’t think it’s as effective as some.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t even think. I just got caught up I guess. That isn’t a good excuse; it’s my job to protect you. I’m clean though, so”

“Oh god Luke, no, it isn’t that, I trust you. It’s just so early - I couldn’t ever - if I got - I couldn’t, I’d have to--”

“Shhh, baby, hush. It’s okay. If it happens, it happens. Can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.”

He could say that, but I would worry about it. Nolan had been gone just three weeks tomorrow. Luke and I had only spent one wonderful and horrible week together; there was no way to know how things would go from here. I could always go to the doctor tomorrow for the morning after pill, but I’d become really sick after taking the regular strength birth control, so I was sure with the higher doses in Plan B, it would be even worse.

Luke was right though, the deed had been done and if I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of the Plan B birth control, then I’d have to let it play out and see what happened. I just hoped that if I did get pregnant and we lasted that long, that it wouldn’t ruin what we had, or if we weren’t together, that I could handle a baby on my own.

I reminded myself that the chances of getting pregnant were really slim, so I forced myself to relax and not think about it – much.

I heard Rusty come into the room, the sweet boy stuck his nose onto the bed and sniffed at us. All of a sudden, I sat straight up. “Shit! I have to go.” I started to move, to slide out from under Luke, but he stilled me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Sadie is in the house, with everything that happened tonight, I forgot all about her.” My poor baby was locked up in the house; she’d been in there now about four or five hours, and through a thunderstorm. She always freaked out at the sound of thunder. The weather had been mild today, so I’d let her stay in the back yard when I’d been at Nolan’s; at least she hadn’t been cooped up all day.

“Don’t worry Rory, I’ll run over and grab her, you stay here. Did you feed her already?”

“Yeah, but it’s okay, I need to go home soon anyway, I don’t have clothes and stuff for work in the morning.”

“No baby, you stay here, warm, safe and naked in my bed. I’ll get Sadie and what she needs for tonight, you can go by your house in the morning to get dressed. I don’t want you out in this, especially in that rented truck and I really want you in my bed all night.”

Warmth spread over me at his sweetness. I did feel warm and safe here in his bed. “All right, thanks babe.” The endearment seemed to catch him off guard. He called me cute little names all the time, but I don’t know if I ever had, maybe a couple of times. He was standing next to the bed looking for his jeans, but in all of his naked glory turned back around to look at me. His smile was wide and lit up his eyes. It was a glorious sight.

I was glad to know that a simple thing like that could make him so happy. I’d have to remember that. I hoped that I could make Luke happy, and see that smile again and again.

Luke had been gone about twenty minutes when my stomach rumbled. I realized that I hadn’t eaten dinner. Sliding out of the bed, I found one of his T-shirts, slipped it over my head and walked down the stairs. I found some ham, veggies and a carton of eggs.

When Luke walked into the kitchen a little while later, I was just finishing up the omelets and putting them on plates.

“Damn, that is sexy baby.” I looked up at his smiling face and grinned back.

“I was hungry, figured you might be too.”

“Oh, I’m hungry all right, but I can eat food too.” He walked right into the kitchen and gave me a quick kiss. The domestic scene took me back to a vision I had of my parents. My dad always walked right inside the house when he’d been gone, even if it was for just a few minutes, and he would kiss my mom. It was a bittersweet memory.

Luke took both plates and walked them over to the table. Sadie had walked in with him, had come to me, rubbed against my leg and then ran over to Rusty.

“I love seeing you in my shirt Rory; your legs look sexy as hell like that.”

“Why thank you, sir, aren’t you sweet!” I replied in my best sugar sweet accent.

I walked by him at just the right moment, he reached out and smacked my ass.

“I’m not really into the Master/sub thing, but you can call me ‘sir’ if it turns you on baby. I’ll even give you a nice little spanking.”

“My god Luke!” I laughed out. Though I loved to read those types of books, I hadn’t ever dabbled myself.

We finished our meal and cleaned up, talking and laughing over nothing important. It was so nice to spend this time together without anything weighing on us.

Luke let the dogs out one more time, and then we headed up to bed. He’d brought me a small bag of stuff I needed, toothbrush, face wash, hair brush and hair ties, all the basics for a sleepover. He didn’t make any moves, didn’t do anything except kiss me and hold me in his arms all night.

“Mmmm.” Still groggy, I woke from an amazing dream. It had felt so real. Luke had been making love to me; I could feel his fingers and tongue on my body, even now as the pull of sleep left me. A movement behind me, a slow pull from between my legs had my fuzzy brain clearing enough so that I could turn my head and look over my shoulder at Luke’s handsome face.

His chiseled jaw was shadowed with stubble and the look of lazy pleasure in his eyes. I felt the push and pull again and realized that Luke was making love to me.

I giggled and elbowed him in the ribs. “Sorry baby, hope you don’t mind. I wanted to wake you up and thought that this might be the best way.”

I raised one eyebrow and shook my head in disbelief at his crazy plan. “I guess it’s all right, but in future, a cup of coffee sat on the nightstand would probably do the trick.” I tried to act irritated, but I failed. Of course I didn’t mind, he was absolutely amazing.

“Hmm, yes, I’ll keep that in mind; but I think I like this method better.”

I grinned and snuggled back into him as his hips moved. Luke made love to me, taking me over the edge and joining me in climax. The way he stroked and petted my body had all my nerve endings singing. I was certain I’d never woken this well rested and sated in my life.

We shared a shower, where we enjoyed each other’s touch, using the pretense of getting clean which lead to a few more orgasms between us. Once dressed in my jeans from yesterday and one of his shirts, we shared breakfast. Luke asked me about my day and I asked about his.

“I’ve got to work at noon, before that, I’ve got to get a workout in and catch up with some stuff around here.”

I knew that his schedule and mine would make us having a relationship difficult, but I also knew that many people were able to find a way. I wasn’t some clingy woman who had to have her man’s constant attention; I was perfectly able to spend time on my own. I also knew that in my situation, owning my own business, I was able to adjust my schedule to better accommodate his, as long as I had some advanced notice.

This wasn’t something I was ready to broach with him yet though. The last thing I wanted him to think was that I expected to spend every waking minute with him.

Sadie and Rusty had been fed and let out, so I gathered her things and mine, gave Luke a quick kiss and headed home. Of course, I didn’t regret what happened between us last night, but regardless of what he’d said, I was still afraid of getting pregnant. I was afraid that if I did, Luke would feel obligated to stay with me regardless of his feelings.

I was afraid that if we’d broken up by then, that he would either try to marry me anyway, or somehow try to take over my life in an effort to be supportive. I knew that Luke was a take charge guy. I’d seen it many times, as recently as after Nolan’s death, and though I appreciated it in times like that, I had doubts that I’d be able to handle it all the time. If I could maintain my strength and control over my own life, I would be much happier. Regardless of what happened, I was determined that we take things slowly between us. It was obvious by our misunderstanding over the past few weeks that we needed to get to know one another’s personal and emotional needs.

Meeting our physical needs had been wonderful, but sex would not be the catalyst to form strong and long lasting bonds. My mental pep talk complete; I made it to my house, went inside and got ready for my day.

Sadie and I made it to the back door of the store and found a godsend. Reed was there, holding two cups from Café Fantasia and a little brown bag; that I knew from experience would hold something wonderful.

“Good morning. Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” Reed’s face lit up at the happy tone of my voice. Unlocking the back door, I opened it and held it open for Reed, then shut off the alarm at the panel just inside the back door.

“You seem better today. I wanted to check in with you to see how you were. I know last night must have been really hard on you.”

Mistaking the meaning of his words, my face flushed at the memories of last night with Luke. I must have looked confused, because Reed went on with the explanation.

“I mean, delivering all the letters, it must have been hard. Did you find everyone?”

“Yeah, it was, Hope took it especially hard. Everyone was home except for Jake.” A dark worry swept over Reed’s face, but it was gone before I could catch it and he spoke before I could ask about it.

“Why don’t you give me Jake’s letter, he’s hard to get a hold of these days. I’ll catch up with him and deliver it for you.”

“What’s going on? Is it Nolan or something else?”

“I’m not all together sure, he’s been more distant than normal the past couple of weeks. I’m not sure what exactly is going on but I’m worried about him.”

“Is there anything I can do? Maybe Nolan’s letter will help him. Obviously I don’t know what it says, but maybe it will give him some peace or closure.” My hopefulness was met with a look of sad resignation.

“Thanks Aurora, that’s sweet, but I’m not sure. If I think of something I’ll let you know.” I pulled the letter out of my purse and handed it over to Reed. I was worried about Jake, about every one of us. Jake seemed to more difficult to reach than anyone else. He was always distant, at least with me.

“So, what are you doing over here this early? I don’t usually see you until lunchtime.” My smile was knowing, I had a feeling that he’d wanted to see the beautiful Gillian as well as to check up on me.

“Oh, just was in the neighborhood and I know how much you love coffee.”

Reed stayed with me for about an hour while I moved about the store, preparing to open. Everything looked great. We’d gotten a shipment from a new designer the night before last, and Amber had worked for a few hours to get it set out yesterday. The display looked amazing.

The colors the designer had chosen were beautiful, champagne silks, coral blouses and an amazing light blue sheath dress made the area pop. Her use of color and fabric were the reason that this young woman was becoming extremely popular so quickly.

Sadie loped into the front and plopped her rump down next to Reed and looked up at him, waiting not so patiently for his attention. Of course, Reed obliged her, as he always did. As his attention seemed focused on Sadie, in a way too casual voice he asked, “So, what’s up with you and Luke?”

Totally taken off guard by his question, my head snapped up. I really didn’t know how to answer. Of course we’d slept together and intended to see where things went, but I didn’t have crazy romantic ideas about a future yet, it was way too soon for that. Besides, neither Luke nor I was used to being in a relationship and both had demanding jobs. His, of course, was more so, taking him out of bed in the middle of the night without notice.

Deciding to try and avoid answering directly I asked, “what do you mean?”

Yeah, that wasn’t going to work, Reed was way too smart. He knew me well and he knew Luke, too.

“Well, I think you know what I mean, but let me spell it out for you. The week after Nolan died, you guys seemed like you were together. Then, once the funeral was over, you acted like a workaholic, always here and you started avoiding your phone. After a few days, you started to disappear, I couldn’t get a hold of you, I asked Luke about it, more than once, he only told me that he didn’t know where you were, that he hadn’t seen you; nothing more.

The week after the funeral, he was irritated, snapping at everyone around him, no mention of you at all. Then, last week he was downright pissed off. I’ve known Luke over ten years, in all that time, at home, on deployment, on the job, at a bar with the guys, wherever we were he always mentioned you, always had something to say. Nothing important, nothing big, but every time I saw the man he would mention you in some way. Then after the one of the hardest weeks in all of our lives, he’s an ass and doesn’t talk about you at all. So, what gives?”

I stood staring at Reed, who had straightened to his full height, Sadie having moved to her bed behind the counter. His look was direct, but determined. I could see that he wanted answers that I honestly didn’t have and wasn’t sure I wanted to share.

“Look Reed, I-” shaking my head, I tried to find the words, to find something to say. I was surprised to hear that Luke had always talked about me, I hadn’t known that. I didn’t know what that meant. I talked about Luke all the time, I’d liked him so long, he was just a regular part of my life, and sometimes my girlfriends teased me about it. “I - we’re good. I took him the letter last night.” I left a lot out of that statement, unsure of how much Luke would want me to share.

“Okay, that’s good; did you guys get your shit figured out? When we had lunch last week, you looked like a kicked puppy, I saw him that same night and he looked like shit. He was a total ass and drank more than he usually does. You have any insight into that?”

“Reed, I’m not sure what you want me to tell you. I don’t really know exactly.”

“Reed! Mind your fucking business!” Luke's voice boomed from just inside the doorway to the back room. Both of our gazes swung to him and I could see the anger boiling on his face. Shit, I really hoped he wasn’t that angry with me.

I tried to think back over the past few minutes, remembering anything I’d said that he might have taken offense to. Not remembering anything, I figured that I was probably okay. How long had he been standing there and how much had he heard.

Reed shut his mouth and just looked between the two of us. Luke walked straight to me; wrapped one arm around my back, his other hand caught in my hair as he angled my head and kissed me.

Pulling back, he looked into my eyes and said quietly so only I could hear him “I wanted to stop by and see how you were feeling this morning.”

Cocking my head to one side in question. “I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?”

His grin was instant, the anger melting from his face when he moved in to whisper in my ear “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t too sore.”

“My god Luke!” I laughed, stepped back and shoved his chest.

I heard Reed’s laughter and peered around Luke to see him. His arms were crossed over his chest and a smirk was on his face. “Well man, I guess you’ll be in a better mood Wednesday night now.”

Luke turned around to look at him, releasing my hair, but still clutching me around the waist. I could feel the tension return to Luke’s body when he met Reed’s gaze. It seemed like the men were sizing each other up.

“Reed, I appreciate your concern, but Rory and I are good. Don’t worry about it, yeah?”

“All right, but listen, I’m here, I’m going to be here, for her and for you. But Aurora and I are friends; that isn’t going to change. I’ll always worry about her; I’m always going to watch out for her.”

“I’ve got her now Reed, she’s mine, I know you’re close and that’s cool, but it’s my job to take care of her.” Luke’s words made me extremely happy and pissed all at the same time. I knew where Reed was coming from, but Luke could think again if he thought he was going to
take care of me
.

“Boys, I’d like to remind you both, that, first of all, I’m standing right here and am fully able to answer for myself; second, I am a grown ass woman and don’t need anyone to take care of me. I am used to taking care of myself. I appreciate both of your concern, really, but don’t make me sound like some helpless maiden. Please, it just makes me want to sic Sadie on both of you.”