Hunting Truth (16 page)

I breathed deeply through my nose
and
tried to relax my
throat. Lucas waited patiently. When I felt my muscles go lax, I
nodded slightly and he resumed pushing forward slowly. I marveled
at the stretch that I felt in my throat; his girth was impressive.
For a second, thoughts of my gag reflex being triggered and me
retching shot into my mind. I immediately forced them aside and
concentrated on breathing deeply and keeping my throat relaxed. I
felt my jaw begin to ache slightly; my mouth truly was wide
open.

“
Well done,
gorgeous,” he whispered. “You’ve taken it all the
way down. Stay relaxed; I’m going to withdraw partway and then push
back in all the way. Okay?” His expression was one of awe and
pride.

I nodded
—well, as much as I could with his shaft in the
back of my throat. Pride flared through me at his words. I’d done
it. I’d taken his majestic cock all the way down my throat. I’d
tried deep throating before but never at this angle and I found
that men usually tried to force things along too quickly or
abruptly. I hadn’t thought I could do it. I was so happy that I’d
done it for Lucas. I thought of it as payback for all the amazing
things he did to my body.

Feeling proud and happy helped to keep me
relaxed and soon he was fucking my mouth in a slow, fluid
motion.
Suddenly, he
withdrew almost all of the way then stilled, reached forward and
lifted my legs into the air. Then he bent and began to lick my slit
with a firm, flattened tongue. Long, slow licks. I moaned around
his cock and he began to thrust slowly and gently. It was quite
literally the best feeling in the world. I’d enjoyed 69s but this .
. . this was like comparing tap water to champagne—both were
drinks, but so very different. It was an extreme 69 and I loved it.
Before long, he was fucking my mouth with his cock and fucking my
pussy with his tongue. His fingers gently massaged my clit and it
was all I could do not to arch my back or writhe under him. I
contented myself with digging my nails into his ass
cheeks.

I felt very warm and my thighs began to
tremble as my orgasm prepared to let loose. As my body jerked and
bucked, I heard him hiss that he was about to come. I felt him
begin to withdraw so I grabbed his butt and pulled him back in. His
hot, salty seed spurted into the back of my throat, almost choking
me. Swallowing around him was not easy—especially since I was
fighting gravity as well as the storm of my orgasm. I had to
release him and let him pull out; his throbbing cock still
spurting—it sprayed all over my breasts.

As my senses cleared, I looked up to gauge
his expression. I hated that I
’d not managed to swallow all of his essence; I felt a
failure. I wondered whether Lucas thought that too. I’d wanted to
do it to please him and to make him proud of me. I loved it when he
praised me. I’d had so little personal praise or attention during
my life that it was a novelty and it meant the world coming from
him. But I couldn’t see his expression because his head was thrown
back so I could only see his neck.

I closed my eyes and hoped he
wasn
’t disappointed. I
started when I felt a hand on the back of my neck, lifting up my
head gently. I looked up and saw Lucas smiling down at me. My
stomach muscles, that I hadn’t realized had clenched, relaxed
instantly. My neck muscles however, were stiff and painful and I
winced as he held my head. Instantly, concern flooded his features
and he crouched down, demanding to know where it hurt and how
much.

Immediately
, I was whisked off to the shower and placed under
the jets of hot water as he gently massaged my neck and shoulders.
I assured him that I was fine but his concern for my wellbeing was
obvious. Then I apologized for not being able to swallow but his
finger pressed against my lips, silencing me. He brought his face
down to mine and whispered, “You did amazingly well. I tried to
pull out because there was no way you were going to be able to
swallow at that angle. The fact that you wanted to and that you
tried so valiantly, makes me feel so proud and honored.”

My heart swelled at his words and I hugged
him closer.
“And I’m
honored to have you. When I think how easily I could have lost
you—”

“
Shhhh!” His finger was back against my
lips. “Don’t ask me how but I know this, we would never have lost
each other, Issy. We would have found a way back to each other
eventually. We are meant to be. And know this: If we are ever
parted again, I would find you and have you back in my arms
whatever it took, however long it took, I would do it or I would
die trying.”

Out of nowhere, I began to sob.
Huge wracking sobs that shook
my whole frame. “It’s . . . okay . . . happy . . . tears,” I
managed in between sobs.

He held me under the jets of water, kissing
my forehead and caressing me with his hands until my sobs
subsided.

That night, we snuggled extra close and
slept the night through with li
mbs and hearts entwined. In fact, we were both still fast
asleep when the alarm sounded. We had sleepy kisses and cuddles
before falling into the shower together. A shower that took much,
much longer than was decent but left us both with color in our
cheeks.

W
e went down to Lucas’ office together to finalize my
designs for the second apartment at mini-Dakota after I’d had
Jenson look them over. The morning passed quickly with both of us
engaged in our work. Lucas had a late lunchtime meeting with Carter
so I wandered down to my favorite deli. Just as I was about to
enter, I caught sight of Scott on the sidewalk opposite. I called
and waved and invited him to join me for lunch. He looked hesitant
but he eventually decided to join me.

We ordered and took a table.
The atmosphere was a little
strained to begin with. He was clearly still uncomfortable from our
conversation the day before. I made an effort to be extra friendly
and instigated a chat about the imminent tour. He soon relaxed and
began chatting about it. I remembered about Lucas’ meeting with the
record company boss on Wednesday and raised the subject. I
should’ve known better.

His face clouded over and I
could
’ve kicked myself.
Of course he wouldn’t want to discuss anything that involved Lucas
. . . especially something that involved Lucas helping the band. I
tried to change the subject but he interrupted me.

“
Look Issy, I know he’s your boyfriend and
you think the sun shines out of his ass but he’s not the guy you
think he is.”

I could feel anger and resentment rising
within me. I took a deep breath to try to remain calm and not
exacerbate the issue. “Scott, you’re entitled to your opinion and
nobody says that you have to like him but you really don’t know him
at all. I know him a hell of a lot more than you do. Please, if
you’ve nothing nice to say about him, please don’t say anything at
all—especially when you have no idea what you’re talking
about.”

I almost recoiled from the venomous
expression on his face. “I do,” he spat, leaning right in towards
my face. “I know for a fact that he isn’t being honest with
you.”

I could feel my heart accelerating and my
color rising.
“And just
what is he being dishonest about?” I said as calmly as I could
manage.

He opened his mouth and then closed it
again. He sat back in his seat and his expression became neutral.
“Nothing. Just forget I said anything,” he said,
nonchalantly.

“
Oh yeah, that
’ll work!” I cried incredulously. I leaned in
closer. “I want to know exactly what you meant and I want to know
now. Don’t you dare hold anything back from me, Scott, or our
friendship is over. Do you understand?”

We were momentarily interrupted by the
waitress bringing our lunches.
I smiled and thanked her but as soon as she turned to walk
away, I stared pointedly at Scott and awaited his reply.

He clenched his jaw and took a deep
breath.
I could tell
that he was debating whether or not to tell me . . .
probably looking
for a way out of this without telling me
, I thought bitterly. I decided not to give him
time to think of one. “I’m waiting, Scott. You have ten seconds or
I walk out of that door and our friendship is over. For
good.”

He looked into my eyes and seemed resigned
to his fate.
I had no
idea which way it would go. He sighed and looked down at his hands.
“I don’t know everything that’s going on but you know how you said
that Lucas hadn’t been to a BDSM club or been in a relationship for
years?”

I nodded mutely, not liking where this
conversation was heading.

“
Yeah, well I happen to know that he was
lying on both counts. He frequents Odyssey, the same club that I
took you to, and he’s . . . let’s just say he’s very close to the
manageress . . . and I do mean
very
close.” He was almost sneering by the time he’d finished
speaking. My stomach contracted as I absorbed his words but, almost
immediately, a little voice in my mind reminded me of Scott’s
inherent dislike of Lucas and his apparent jealousy of our
relationship. Then I recalled seeing Joel talking to Scott. I
instantly suspected foul play and my stomach muscles relaxed a
little. I remembered that I hadn’t had a chance to fill Scott in
what had happened since I’d fled from Lucas after Joel’s surprise
visit but I wanted to hear what he had to say about Lucas before I
told him. I thought it best to hear what he’d got to say before I
corrected him.

“
What makes you say that
, Scott?” I asked, trying to maintain a
neutral tone.

“
I say it because it’s true,” he retorted
smugly.

“So you say but how do you know these alleged
facts?”

He glared at me coldly. “You know me
better than to doubt my word, Issy. When have I ever lied to you?
In fact, when have you ever known me to lie, period?”

I had to agree with him; he’d always been
honest with me. But I had no reason to doubt Lucas either. Although
I knew that if Joel was involved, there was every reason to
disbelieve Scott’s revelation. I suddenly knew what had happened.
Joel had filled Scott’s head with lies that he’d readily believed
because of his grudge against Lucas. So he didn’t think he was
telling lies—he’d simply believed Joel’s tale.

I smiled and shook my head. “No, Scott.
I
’ve never known you to
lie and I don’t think you are telling lies . . . at least not
intentionally. You’ve just been misinformed that’s all. What you
say isn’t true. And you don’t know all there is to know about Joel
. . . or Lucas.”

He looked at me with a mixture of
disbelief and pity.
“And
you just don’t want to hear the truth because in your eyes he can
do no wrong. But he can and is—he’s doing you wrong. He’s no saint,
Issy. I guarantee you that he is far from perfect.”

“
I never said he was perfect,” I snapped
then, realizing how defensive I sounded, I continued in a calmer
tone. “Lucas would be the first to say he wasn’t perfect and, to be
honest, Scott, who is? Certainly not me . . . or you.” I maintained
an impassive expression as I awaited his reply.

I saw what looked like annoyance flicker
across
his face. “Some
people stray further from the path of perfection than others.” Then
his features softened with what could only have been pity before he
continued, “I just hate to see you being lied to and cheated on. I
take no pleasure from telling you this, Issy. Believe me, I’ve
struggled with my conscience since I found out. Should I tell you
or shouldn’t I? I just wasn’t sure what to do.”

It was as if a cold hand had taken my
heart in its grasp and squeezed slowly but surely. For some
unfathomable reason, although I didn’t want to, I somehow believed
that Scott was telling me the truth. Suddenly I felt a burning in
my chest and I think I was on my feet and heading for the bathroom
before my brain registered the bile surging up from my
stomach.

I raced inside the bathroom and violently
threw up. I was thankful I hadn’t had a chance to touch my lunch.
My skin was cold and clammy as I sat back on my heels.
Scott thinks Lucas
is cheating on me! At a sex club . . . with the gorgeous
manageress.
As my brain
registered it, my stomach protested again and I threw myself
forward once more, over the toilet.

When I was sure that my stomach had
settled, I washed my face and ran cold water over my wrists to ease
the nausea.
On shaky
legs, I made my way back to the table. Scott was nowhere to be
seen—I looked all around the deli but he’d gone. I saw a serviette
with my name scrawled across it on the table top. I sat down and
opened it out flat. The note read:
I didn’t mean to upset you, Issy. But if
you want to know the truth, you need to see with your own eyes.
I’ll show you. Just give me the word. Scott x.

I frowned, unsure how Scott would show me
the truth. I sat for a moment until my weak legs and pounding heart
had steadied. I took deep breaths and decided to try to push the
issue from my mind. I’d judged Lucas unfairly once before. I
resolved not to make the same mistake again.