Starting Fires (15 page)

“Wanna join us?” Wally asked.

I looked at Lucas, who was still watching me. As much as I’d like to hang out and forget about school for a while, I had a huge test the next day and wasn’t prepared. I kicked off my shoes and flung them in a corner. “I have to study for a test. Thanks though.” Lucas didn’t stop staring. His eyes followed me as I walked out of the room. I didn’t know what that was about, but if he wanted to talk to me, he knew exactly where I’d be.

Later that night, while I was lying in bed, Lucas texted me.

I can’t sleep.

I was having trouble, too.
I’m trying myself,
I sent back.

Haven’t seen you in a few days. School giving you grief?

Yeah, I have a big test tomorrow.

Well, then I guess you need your rest.

I didn’t like the tone of his words. They felt like a dismissal.
Yeah
was all I said.

He didn’t respond after that, and I felt incredibly unsatisfied. I knew he’d probably wanted to say more, but hadn’t. This is why I hated relationships. He was the one who texted me, and I was the one lying here trying to decipher what he wanted to tell me and why he hadn’t.

I huffed and threw a pillow over my head. Sleep eventually came, but it was unsatisfying, too.

 

Chapter 13

W
hile I was
preparing for a test, I peeked out of my window and noticed that Lucas’ car wasn’t outside. My studying was useless, because I was thinking about him almost the entire time.

Lacey was coming to pick me up around six for dinner. It was Thursday, so I wasn’t sure if the any of the guys would be there. I was sure there would be people I didn’t know attending, so I hoped at least one of them would make it. I’d even take Ian.

When Lacey arrived, Charles and Wally weren’t home, and I asked her if they were coming.

“Yeah,” she said and pulled into Lucas’ driveway. She honked twice and a few seconds later Ian and Lucas walked out. Lucas was wearing dark grey jeans and a white thermal shirt that was pushed up to his elbows. It had two gray buttons at the neck. They were open and showing off his tan skin. Unconsciously, I started smoothing my hair out and Lacey giggled. “You look fine. Chill out.”

Lucas got into the car behind Lacey, Ian behind me. I looked over my shoulder and gave him a close-mouthed smile that he returned. My smile turned into a full on grin when he rubbed his belly. “I’m hungry. We going or what?”

“Yes, sir,” Lacey said and pulled out of the driveway.

At the restaurant, Lucas lingered around the car until I started walking towards the front door. His steps fell in beside mine. “You look nice,” he said.

“So do you,” I told him and didn’t pull away when he put his hand on the small of my back. It was silly to pretend that I didn’t want him to.

Nicole’s dinner was in private room. There was a huge table set up and people had already arrived. I’d guess at least ten, and I only knew Charles and Wally. I walked over to Nicole and gave her a hug. “Happy Birthday,” I said and handed her my gift. She immediately opened it—even though there were several other bags around her.

She held up the shirt and beamed. “I love it!” she exclaimed, hugging me again. Lucas told her happy birthday too before we stepped back, letting others come talk with her. He followed me to my chair and chose the one next to mine.

We were busy talking when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and saw Michael. “Hey,” I smiled. “What are you doing here?” I waved off my question. “Never mind, that was stupid. You’re Nicole’s cousin. I forgot.”

He laughed and sat next to me. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“You, too.” Under the table, I felt Lucas putting his hand on my knee just as I was turning towards Michael. The movement pulled my leg out from under his fingers. It wasn’t intentional, and I hoped he wouldn’t get the wrong idea.

“How are things?” I asked Michael. “Getting better?”

“Yeah,” he laughed with embarrassment. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to talk your ear off about her all night. I’m sure you were getting annoyed. I know I would have been.”

“Nonsense.” I swatted his statement away. “We all need to vent sometimes. I didn’t mind.”

The waiter came out with water and I turned forward again. Lucas had his elbows propped up on the table and his hands crossed in front of his mouth. I wasn’t sure if Michael had ever officially met the guys, so I introduced him. Lucas gave him a small wave, while Wally and Charles engaged him in conversation.

Lucas was tense. I could see the muscles of his back tight and rigid. I wanted to reach up and rub them, but refrained. I wasn’t oblivious. I knew that his discomfort was caused by Michael’s presence. But if I had to suffer the Sandras, he could stomach the Michaels.

Nicole was wearing a tiara, and at least twenty people had arrived. When it came time to order, I realized I hadn’t even looked at my menu and ordered the same thing as Lucas. But he didn’t relax until Michael finished eating and walked away.

Done with his food, Lucas pushed his empty plate away and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his full stomach. Having only been able to eat half of mine, I put my napkin down.

“Mmm… that was good. Nice choice,” I told him.

“Stick with me babe, I won’t disappoint you,” he smiled.

I turned towards him propping my elbow on the table and grinned for no other reason than that he was looking at me. He adjusted in his seat to face me fully, leaning an elbow on the table, too. I realized then how much I liked being around him. His presence made me feel warm and put me in a constant state of happiness. He was about to reach up and touch my hair, when I heard my name over my shoulder. Michael had returned. He was sitting back in his seat and leaning in close as if he wanted to whisper something to me. I turned all the way around and leaned in.

He had a nervous smile when he said, “I’m about to leave, but I was wondering…” he hesitated. “I guess what I’m wondering is if you are, you know, seeing anybody.”

“Umm…” was all I could get out.

“Last time I saw you, you were single. Are you still?”

I felt Lucas sit forward and heard him carrying on a conversation with Charles. What was I supposed to say here? I guess I was, but didn’t feel like it. Since Lucas and I weren’t in any type of committed relationship, I told him the truth.

“Yeah.”

Michael looked relieved and then nervous all over again. I really hoped he wasn’t about to ask me what I thought he was.

“I was thinking maybe you and I –”

“You ready to go, Marzy?” Lucas cut him off. “Charles is leaving. We can ride back with him and Wally.”

“Do they have room for us?” I asked.

“You can sit in my lap,” he said and stood from the table.

His tone made me feel like I couldn’t argue—not that I wanted to. “Uh, okay then.” I turned to Michael. “It was nice to see you again.”

“Yeah,” he said and got up from his chair. I decided that if I ever saw him again, we needed to have a talk. He was a nice guy and it didn’t feel good to reject him.

“What about Ian?” I asked as we were leaving.

“He’s riding back with Lacey,” Lucas said.

“I’ll stay too then,” Wally said. “I wasn’t quite ready to go anyway. This chick next to me is totally down for it.” I pursed my lips and shook my head. Not caring about my judgment, he winked at me before walking back to the table.

I sat in the middle of Charles’ truck, which had a stick. To keep from getting my legs in the way while he shifted, I scooted close to Lucas.

We rode in silence, but the feel of Lucas up against my body made me breathless. These last few days without him being around had done nothing to squash my desire for him.

After Charles pulled into our driveway, Lucas and I lingered outside his car, looking at each other. Charles didn’t bother asking if we were coming inside and went without us. The desire to be alone with him, completely alone, was overwhelming. “I’ve never seen your house,” I said.

“You want to?”

“Yes.”

He started across the street and I followed him. I went in first, and honestly, it wasn’t what I’d expected. It looked like it was stuck in the eighties. All of the walls had wood paneling. The carpet was old and ratty. The small foyer led right into a living room that stepped down from the rest of the house.

“Over there,” he pointed to a door in the far corner of the living room, “is Ian’s room.” I felt his body press up against my back. “Around the corner is the dining room.” He placed his hands on my hips. “There’s the kitchen.” He bent down and kissed me at the base of my neck. I turned around and brought my hands to his chest.

There was only one room I cared to see. Stretching up on my tiptoes, I kissed him. His hands came around to my ass and squeezed. Pushing my hands under his shirt, I let my fingers roam across his chest. Our lips were eager, making up for lost moments.

Abruptly, he pulled away and spun me around, pushing me into a wall. His hand went into my pants and started caressing between my legs. I pushed my ass into him and moaned. When his other hand went down the top of my shirt, I asked, “Where’s your bedroom?”

“End of the hall,” he said at my ear.

I pushed off him and started moving backwards towards it, taking my shirt off as I went. My shoes came next. Slowly, he followed me, undoing his belt as he walked.

My hand found the knob, and I opened it, stepping inside. As I moved to the bed, Lucas appeared in the doorway. He stretched his arms up to the top of the frame, his pants undone, but still hanging on his hips. I shimmied out of my jeans and sat back on the mattress, grateful that I was wearing at least somewhat sexy underwear as he eyed me. After closing the door, he slowly moved to stand at the foot of the bed. “You sure about this?” he asked.

Yes, I wanted this. Without answering him, I reached behind me and unclasped my bra, throwing it at his feet. As I pushed my panties off my legs, I leaned back, giving him full view of my body. Seeing me completely bare for the first time, he gave a throaty groan and reached behind his neck for the collar of his shirt.

Bare-chested, he walked to the side of the bed. Sitting up, my hands went to his pants and I started slowly pulling them down. As soon as his dick peeked out of the top, I licked the end before wrapping my mouth around it. His forearm tightened and he brought a hand to the top of my head. “Mmm,” he said in his throat. Gently, I sucked while I pushed his pants all the way down. When they fell to his ankles, I went up to my knees and took more of him into my mouth. “Jesus,” he groaned, fisting my hair. “Lie back.”

Nervousness overcame me as I did as he asked. This was it. It was finally happening. My breathing was quick and already I could feel a cool sweat building on my skin. As he settled between my legs, his jaw clenched with pent up lust. Sensing my anxiety, he went down to his elbows and kissed me. It wasn’t greedy or aggressive, but soft, soothing my nerves.

I felt my body relaxing and spread my legs wider for him. Once he was at my entrance, my ankles went to his calves and I hooked them around, rising to meet him
. Slowly, his tip eased into me. He didn’t push further, so I used my hands to put pressure on his hips. As he gradually filled me, our mouths fell apart and we looked into each other’s eyes.

I had fantasized about this moment since I’d first seen him, and wasn’t disappointed. The heat between my legs was glorious. The twitching of my muscles was amazing. The ache in my body was perfection. But then I realized he was completely still. His eyes were closed and the expression on his face looked troubled.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Just… don’t move,” he said through clenched teeth. I squirmed a little bit, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. “Marzy…” he warned. “You move one more time, my next words are gonna be ‘
I swear this never happens
.’”

A giggle escaped me, and he started smiling, too, but his was pained. Once we settled down, he was still for a few moments before he pulled out and thrust into me again. My hands gripped his shoulders with the movement. “Damn,” he muttered, giving another thrust. As he began moving more rhythmically, he placed kisses from my ear to shoulder. His pace was slow and easy, allowing us to savor every sensation. Heat from his mouth bathed my neck and each of his soft grunts made toes curl.

Sex gave each of us a sound—whether we knew it or not. And his sound was primal, seeping through his heavy breaths. He was claiming me. His hand palmed the back of my head and he watched me. His eyes studied my face as I panted and moved with him.

I whispered, “Faster,” against his mouth. His fingers tightened at my head as he pushed harder into me, plunging rapidly with each thrust. He was relentless, his deep pounding pushing me further up the bed.

My nails dug into his back and the sounds of our lust and pleasure filled the otherwise quiet house. The faster he went, the more curses flew out of his mouth, until he rose up on his knees and gripped my hips, pulling them up. I tried to roll to meet him, but couldn’t keep up. Letting him take over, my eyes closed and I felt one of his hands slowly move to span my stomach, squeeze the side of my ass, and then caress my thigh. He touched me with devotion. With longing. And with need. Despite what we had or hadn’t said to one another, in this moment, I was his. Every part of me.

Wanting to see him, I opened my eyes and watched his jaw clench as he studied my body. I relished the enraptured groans that left him as he caressed new parts of me. Sweat was dripping down his chest and stomach, small drops easing along his abs and over his sparrow tattoo. As I admired him, my body tightened.

“Fuck,” he gritted out, watching us connect.

The tension was rising, and my muscles clenched tighter. Lucas gripped my hips hard and my back arched off the bed. His soft curses echoed in my ears as I gripped the comforter beneath me. I felt him everywhere. My body bowed and strained. I brought an arm over my head, pushing my face into it as I gasped and sobbed through my orgasm. I was still slightly convulsing when he dropped my hips and rose back over me.

“Goddamn it, Marzy,” he said, locking his arms on either side of me. Somewhat recovered, I went to my elbows and looked between our bodies. His hips rolled into me forcefully, and I started matching his pace. As if in a trance, I stared at our bodies, watching his thick length push in and out of me. Over and over. Wanting to see his face, I looked up and our eyes met. The need to kiss him overcame me.

Quickly, I rose up on an arm and gripped his neck, pulling his mouth to mine. As our tongues connected, we moaned. His thrusts suddenly quickened. His groans grew louder. His breathing became erratic. His mouth now barely responded to mine. I pulled back and watched his face contort. He pushed deeply into me and his lips fell open, shaky breaths leaving him. Clenching his teeth, he gave two more hard thrusts before collapsing down on top me.

A
hmph
left me as his weight settled. He kept his head buried in my neck as our breathing slowed. Still inside me, he started making an obviously fake snoring sound. I chuckled and swatted his arm. Smiling, he rolled off me.

As I lay next to him on the bed, I watched his chest rise and fall. A pleased and forceful “mmm” sound vibrated behind his closed mouth. I smiled and suddenly felt cold, our sweat cooling now that our bodies were relaxed. Propping himself on an elbow, he rubbed my stomach. “I’ll be right back,” he said before placing a soft kiss to my shoulder.