Hours. She didn’t know. But through it all, he wouldn’t let her move more than a few inches in any direction. Between her legs…God, she felt so hot, so swollen. Seconds later, as if he’d read her mind, he moved his hand to stroke her there, but it only made her frustration worse. Even through her jeans, the pressure built. The pleasure escalated. If only she could get these damned jeans off!
“Please, Luke,” she breathed, “let me go.”
“Not yet.”
“Please. I need—”
“I know what you need.”
“But—”
“This is one of those times I told you about,” he said, his hot breath scorching her neck.
“What times?”
“When I’m the boss.”
She tried to turn around, but he was relentless, holding her firmly as he teased and tormented her. She wanted him. Needed him. But he still wouldn’t listen. Wouldn’t release her. Instead he seemed hell-bent on pushing her over the brink right there in her kitchen, standing up, still wearing most of her clothes. Good God, what was he doing to her?
Suddenly he spun her around. Before she knew it, he’d swept her up in those rock-solid arms and was heading to her bedroom. She’d never been one of those tiny women any man could pick up, but Luke lifted her as if she weighed less than nothing.
He nudged the door open and lay her on her bed. Before she could even get her bearings, he fell onto the bed beside her. She circled her arms around his neck, and he kissed her long and hard and deep, his hands moving everywhere at once.
Suddenly he pulled away. Stood up. She felt a stab of dismay, only to have him reach down, unbutton her jeans, rip the zipper open, and tuck his fingers into the waistband to pull them off. Oh, thank God. Finally, finally, finally.
And his jeans would be next.
But before he could get her jeans off, she heard a knock at her front door. She sat up suddenly and looked toward the living room.
“No,” Luke said, pointing at her. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“But—”
He put a knee on the bed and pushed her to her back again, falling alongside her. She tried to argue, but he kissed the words right out of her.
Yes. You’re so right. Don’t know who it is. Don’t care. They’ll go away.
Another knock. Damn it.
“The door,” she said against his lips.
“To hell with the door,” Luke said, and dove in again.
But the knocking continued. Then she heard a voice from the hall outside her apartment. “Shannon!”
Shannon ripped her mouth away from Luke’s and sat bolt upright again.
“What?” Luke said.
“It’s my mother!”
Chapter 13
As Shannon scrambled to sit up, Luke sat back with a sigh. Thanks a bunch, Loucinda. Your timing is just perfect.
Shannon reached beneath her shirt to refasten her bra. She yanked her shirt down and ran her hands through her hair.
“What are you doing?” Luke asked.
“She can’t see me like this.”
“You’re answering the door?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she knows I’m here. My truck is out front.”
“Sooner or later she’ll have to go away.”
“You don’t know my mother. She never just goes away.”
Shannon rose from the bed. On her way to the living room, she stopped at her bedroom door for a few seconds and looked back, her eyes telegraphing a nervous command Luke read instantly. Don’t you dare let my mother see you here!
As she hurried to the living room, he felt a stab of anger. He’d been in a situation a whole lot like this before. He hadn’t liked it then, and he sure as hell didn’t like it now. And he’d be damned if he’d sit in this bedroom and be Shannon’s dirty little secret all over again.
He rose from the bed and walked to the doorway leading to the living room, his steps slow and deliberate. He folded his arms and leaned against the door frame, watching as Shannon faced her front door, running her hand through her hair one last time. Then she opened it.
“Hi, Mom,” she said. “What are you doing here?”
“I was beginning to think you weren’t home,” Loucinda said as she swept into Shannon’s apartment, a fluffy little Pomeranian pattering along at her feet. “But I saw your truck out front. What took you so long to answer the door?”
Luke felt an instantaneous sense of loathing. Loucinda North was representative of everybody in this town he’d hated as a kid, full of entitlement and overflowing with disdain for those she deemed less worthy than herself. And it was clear nothing had changed in that regard. Her