over all of us like that. Everyone was too afraid to set him straight because—I don’t know he can’t take it or something. He got all the help and since I was the stable one, I got ignored.”
His dark eyes searched my face, as if looking for something. He was so handsome it hurt. And since my eyeballs were already achy from the recent weep-fest, my gaze fell to the bed between us. I wanted his comforting arms around me again. It had felt so good for those short few minutes, to have a reminder that I wasn’t so alone in the world. For those brief moments, anyway.
His face clouded, and he swallowed. “Your family sounds clueless.”
I sank to the bed and sat on the very edge with a long sigh. “I guess you’re no stranger to that.”
“I, ah,” he sank to his edge of the bed and ran fingers through his dark hair. “I overheard a bit of your conversation with your brother. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”
I sighed. “It’s okay. I figured you had.” My eyes fixed on the far wall because I was too embarrassed to look at him.
“Are you—are you in some kind of trouble?”
I blinked, frowning, then turned to him. He must have heard more than I though. “I’m not sure, actually.”
“Is that what the lawyer letters are about?”
My mouth thinned. “I honestly don’t know. I’ve been shredding them without reading them.”
He frowned, his face darkening. “How can I help you?”
My eyes closed for a beat and then opened and I suddenly felt that wave of defeat wash over me again. “You’ve already helped me. Probably more than I deserved.”
And with that, I flopped back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, emotion rising in my throat again. Shockingly, tears threatened, poking little spears into the back of my eyeballs and I blinked furiously.
Lucas watched me, then lay on his side and reached a hand out to cup my shoulder. “Hey, hey. I’ll be the judge of what you deserve, got it? We’ll figure this out.”
Without even thinking about what I was doing, I reached up and curled my hand around his. Fingers intertwined immediately. Then Lucas reached up with his free hand to flip out the light.
Once the light was out, I didn’t hesitate another second. I couldn’t. I rolled over to him throwing my arm over him in an awkward sideways-lying-down hug. Slowly he freed his arm and lay it across my back, patting me reassuringly again.
Then he kissed my hair. I closed my eyes. This. This felt so good.
And that was it. I was lost with that one simple gesture as the cherry on top of his awesome caring-man sundae. My head tilted up and seconds later, my mouth was on his and we were lip-locked in one of the furiously hottest kisses I had ever participated in. Our mouths fused in a searing union, picking up right where we’d left off before we’d been so rudely interrupted.
Thank goodness. I thought I was going to be denied a hot make-out and hopefully more. His mouth moved over mine, possessing my lips with each press of his lips, each touch of his tongue to mine. And as it continued, he took more and more control, wresting it from me like the gentle repossession of an inappropriate object from a child’s grip.
His mouth was sure, firm but gentle. Passionate, hot, and yet there was something else behind it—a near-loss of control. Even now massive heat sparked between us, I could tell that he was holding back.
And the first thing I wanted to know was, if this was holding back, then what happened when this man let loose? And how in the hell could I get him to do that—and soon?
Because… wow.
He was burning me up now, just from kissing me. How much hotter could it get? Every touch of his lips zinged down crackling nerve-endings to pool in my core in a molten swirl of arousal.
My equilibrium turned on itself, the world going askew, when his hand slid down my upper arm and covered my breast, palming it expertly. Then his fingers zeroed in on my nipple, kneading it mercilessly. I arched my back and swallowed a shocked squeak.
In minutes he’d be in command of everything—my body, my pleasure, all of it. And I was ready to tender my most willing surrender. As a matter of fact, I’d be willing to wave my panties as a white flag—if I were wearing any,