Midnight Kiss (Men of Midnight #7) - Lisa Marie Rice Page 0,54

she had in her life had been gained by hard, assiduous work. Step by step, everything planned out.

Not this. This felt easy and natural. Meant to be. Going with the flow.

Luke didn’t look like he felt this was easy. His face was tight, almost suffering. When they got to the bedroom, he gently eased her down to her feet, but kept one arm around her. He was so much taller than she was and held her so tightly against him, she could feel the difference in their bodies keenly. Taller than her, stronger than her, but she didn’t feel intimidated at all. If anything, she felt like she held some kind of power over him.

He was looking down at her, face drawn, waiting.

“Kiss me,” she whispered.

His eyes narrowed. “Oh, yeah,” he whispered back. And kissed her. And kissed her. Mouth eating at hers, as if the boundaries between them could disappear. With the arm wrapped around her waist, Luke lifted her a little so that their mouths could align better. Oh, yeah. Her arms wound more tightly around his neck, their torsos breast to chest. She could feel a deep, regular thumping that she knew was his heartbeat. It wasn’t hers because her heart was beating a thousand times a minute.

He licked inside her mouth and she felt an electric thrill run through her, from the top of her head to the soles of her feet. He licked again and her vagina clenched, hard. At this rate, she’d die of overstimulation before they even made it to the bed.

Luke lifted his head, those light blue eyes glowing in the darkened room. The shadows turned him into an almost otherworldly figure, all sharp cheekbones and glowing eyes and teeth. He loosened his hold and she dropped down to her feet, rubbing against his massive erection while slipping down his body. Luke hissed in a breath.

“Sorry,” she whispered.

He flashed a grin, that beautiful face going from grim to amused in a second. “No problem,” he said softly. “Why are we whispering?”

They were whispering because this felt so … so momentous. Something huge was happening, something that would split her life into two. Before Luke and After Luke. But she didn’t have the words to say that, so she just shook her head.

Luke’s gaze was fixed on her face. “Hope. I want you like I want my next breath.”

“But?” Surely there was a but here?

“But.” Luke huffed out a breath. He was holding her by the shoulders, strong hands gripping her tightly. “Okay. This is hard.”

Startled, Hope looked down. Yep, very hard.

Unexpectedly, Luke laughed. “Yeah, that too. The thing is — God. I mean Felicity said you were very pretty and she was wrong. You’re beautiful, and – I’m messing this up.”

Hope was watching him carefully, trying to make sense of what he was saying. Ready to agree with him, whatever it was. If he was backing down, she’d smile, shoo him out, get into bed and stare at the ceiling all night, devastated. But she’d never let him know that.

“It’s okay.” She tried to smile, but it came out wobbly.

“No,” he sighed. “It’s not. Like I said, Felicity told me you were really pretty but it never occurred to me because I’m focused on the job, always.”

She blinked. “Okay.”

“Gah.” Luke shook his head. “What I’m trying to say is that I packed for trouble, not pleasure. I don’t think it occurred to me that you’d be irresistible.”

Whatever it was, it was her fault? Hope frowned and opened her mouth to reply but he beat her to it.

“I don’t have condoms, honey. I’m so sorry. It’s — it’s been a while for me and even if I did have some on me, they’d probably be expired. But I don’t have any at all, not even expired ones.”

“Oh, um …” Hope looked up at him. He was frowning. Even frowns looked so good on him. “Well, your friend Summer thought of everything when she packed that bag for me. She included, um, condoms.”

Luke’s eyes widened and his face lit up. “Yeah?”

“Yep.”

“Can you get them?”

“Yep. You’ll have to let go of me, though.”

He opened his hands and Hope went to the wheelie. The box was at the bottom and in a second she was holding it. It was brightly colored and there were flavors. She was pondering that when Luke snatched it out of her hands, picked her up and placed her on the bed. Actually he threw her. She bounced a little. His hands