Jaded (20 page)

He moaned into her shoulder, loving the exquisite torture. “Yeah, that’s the gist,” he said, kissing along her collarbone and up her neck, loving the taste of her. Without warning, he wrapped his arms tight around her and then flipped her onto her back, gaining control from the top.

She looked at him with eyes of fire. He pressed his lips to hers in a fervent kiss, then slid inside her, eyes fluttering shut as he was once again ensconced by her silky tightness.

Despite Luke’s best efforts to prolong the pleasure for as long as possible, their pace accelerated to fast and hard within seconds. She wrapped her legs around his hips and he sank even deeper, mind burning with thoughts of his release.

Isabella’s breathing had skyrocketed and he felt the familiar pulsation around his penis. She was close. She gripped his hips, his butt, the backs of his thighs, scrambling to push him deeper, crying out his name as his pace increased.

Lightning flashed in his eyes. For a few seconds, his whole body was numb with explosive pleasure. He thrust one last time, pressing himself into her long and hard as he released. He let out a ragged moan and buried his face in her hair.

Their gasps and breathlessness receded. Luke was left lying on top of her in a helpless pile, chest heaving as he struggled to understand what had just happened.

“Dear God,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around him and kissing his cheek. “That was amazing.”

“Yeah,” he mumbled, drowsiness overcoming him. “Yeah, it was.” He let his eyes drift shut as he got drunk on her intoxicating scent—her hair, her skin, everything about the moment was causing goose bumps to erupt all over his body.

After a few moments, he let out a groan. “Wow.”

She giggled. “You ever going to move?”

He paused before he admitted, “I can’t.”

She giggled again and started to stroke his head. He took a deep breath and gathered all the remaining energy in his body to hoist himself off of her. He collapsed next to her, turning onto his side so that he could watch her. This was a first. Usually, within thirty seconds of orgasm, he was pulling on his pants and bolting out of the room. But leaving Isabella was the last thing he wanted to do. He reached over to her belly and lazily traced patterns across her skin. He watched as goose bumps formed beneath his touch.

“Not bad,” she whispered with a grin, locking eyes with him, lazy yet alert. He recognized the familiar glow of satisfaction in her; he knew he emitted it too.

He grinned, knocking her chin lightly. “Yeah, not too bad, huh.”

“Can we do it again?”

“Now?”

“Well if you keep touching me like that, we’re gonna have to,” she warned.

“It doesn’t sound like much of a problem to me,” he said, fingers dancing lower, lower, until they found the warm flesh below. He rubbed his fingers over her womanhood, loving the wet silkiness below. Her eyes fluttered shut and she inhaled slowly.

He pressed his lips to hers, loving the deep, wet kiss he got in response. When they parted, he looked deep into her eyes. They were silent for a moment, exploring the depths of their gaze.

“What do you say we go for round two?” he whispered into her ear, fingers making circles over her hips.

She looked at him, giddy and laughing. “You must be able to read my mind.”

Chapter Ten

Isabella’s mind had been on fire since the night before. Luke’s stunning double-performance had left her completely numb to everything, and unable to focus on a single task. She was still trying to recover.

“Isabella? Isa
bella
?” Lizzie peered at her friend from over the top of her sunglasses. The two had joined for a midday coffee break to discuss recent events and unwind from the work week. “Are you listening to me?”

She snapped to attention, embarrassed that she’d zoned out on her friend. “Of course. I’m so sorry, Lizzie. I just...” She faltered, not sure if she should admit the destruction of her resolve.

“You got laid, didn’t you?”

Isabella blushed and buried her face in her hands. “Is it that obvious?”

“Girl, you reek of sexual satisfaction.”

She laughed, unable to ignore the memories that came flooding back to her. Luke’s naked body. His hot breath on her skin, at her ear, lips leaving a moist trail all over body. Deep, gravelly moans. That look he’d given her after they finished.
Oh, god
.

“It happened,” she murmured through her hands. “It totally happened.”

“And?” The look of impatience on Lizzie’s face made Isabella laugh. “I need the details! That man is too gorgeous!”

Isabella sighed. “I’m not sure I have the words. I really don’t know how to describe it...”

“Well, try,” her friend suggested.

“Perfect?”

Lizzie sighed exasperatedly. “Okay, that doesn’t tell me much.”

Isabella wasn’t sure where to begin. Between the insane sexual energy, mind-blowing orgasms, slippery kisses, and sticky lovemaking, not to mention the overtone of tenderness and affection that she hadn’t experienced in—
god, it’s been forever
—she really had no idea how to even articulate the night she’d shared with Luke. She had a thousand different things to say about Luke and his sexual prowess, if not more. Her heart started racing and she itched to go home and be near him, even if he was there with the crew.

“I have never had such a satisfying experience,” Isabella said at last. “I mean that as much as a person can possibly mean that. And I don’t know if I have the words for anything more. The man is...incredible. He’s not just gorgeous; he’s also sweet, and handy, and funny, and smart, and...I don’t know; he’s changed since he met me. I can feel it in him.”

Lizzie’s jaw slowly dropped open. “Do you hear yourself?”

“What?”

“Honey pie, you sound like a woman in love.”

She waved her hand in the air, dismissing her friend’s words. “Oh, please. You know I’m over all that.”

Lizzie eyed her with a wide grin. “Sure you are. You know, that’s how it happens. Just when you make the decision to live without love is when love shows up at your door.”

Isabella narrowed her eyes. “I’m still living without love, and men. I just...indulged a little.”

“Fair enough. Anyway, what are you doing after here?”

Isabella was suddenly embarrassed to admit the truth. “Just going home.”

Lizzie arched a brow. “Why are you blushing?”

Isabella laughed, feeling hypocritical. “Because my first response was going to be, ‘to see Luke.’”

Her friend erupted into laughter. “So the truth comes out. I may be on to something, here. You better watch yourself, young lady.”

“Oh, come on, Lizzie,” she said. “You have nothing to worry about.”

But as she and her friend parted ways, Isabella found herself rushing to her car, eager to be back with Luke. She couldn’t get home fast enough; thoughts of his muscled body wrapped around hers forced her over the speed limit. Once she was home, she stumbled out of her car and rushed to get inside, determined to catch a glimpse of him at the very least. When she opened the front door, thoughts of Luke disappeared momentarily as she noticed the staircase was missing.

“What the
hell
?”

A nearby worker turned at the sound of her voice. “Welcome home.”

She gaped at the emptiness, pointing. “Where did that go?”

“Around.” The worker shrugged. “It’ll come back, don’t worry. It’ll just look different.”

Isabella’s heart resumed beating and she began combing the house for Luke, not just to catch a glimpse but also to get some answers. She found him in the kitchen, leaning over the counter examining some blueprints.

She cleared her throat, palms heating up and heart resuming its usual fast pace in his presence. “Hey.”

He swiveled around to face her, and a smile broke out on his face. “Where ya been all day?” He looked genuinely happy to see her; her heart swelled in her chest, but she resisted the urge to rush toward him and press him to her body.

“I’ve been running errands and met up with Lizzie for coffee.” She was lost in his gaze, suspended in the surreal moment that was shuddering between them; a mixture of passion and lust and tenderness that almost stole the breath from her throat. She had totally forgotten about the staircase, or how she might make it upstairs later.

The question, “Do you want to go someplace private?” was on the tip of her tongue, but as she opened her mouth to speak, Luke spoke.

“Did you have fun last night?” he asked, a smile dancing over his lips.

“Tons of fun,” she whispered, feeling the blood rush from her head to between her legs.

“Maybe we can do it again sometime.”

“I might enjoy that.”

“Maybe sometime real soon.”

She nodded, wetting her lower lip.

“Maybe a lot of times, even,” he whispered, his dark eyes taking her in.

Her heart melted. She was tempted to invite him into his bedroom so that the elusive ‘sometime’ would become ‘now,’ but the thought reminded her of the other more pressing question on her mind.

“Um, Luke? How am I supposed to get into my bedroom each night?”

He laughed. “We’ll get you a ladder, or something.”

“A ladder. Just what I like to climb down in the morning when I’m half-awake and in my slippers.”

He winked at her. “You could always stay at my place.”

His place
. Like they were a couple or something. She couldn’t keep the shiver of happiness from running up and down her spine.

“What do you think about going out to dinner again sometime soon?” she asked, trying to pretend as though she weren’t hoping and praying he would accept.

“I’d love that. How does tomorrow night sound?”

Like heaven
. “Yeah, good.”

“And hey, Bella, I wanted to talk to you about something later. Find me when you have some time, okay?”

“What’s it about?”

“Just something I’ve been meaning to tell you for awhile,” he said. He winked at her and shifted his gaze back to the blueprints. Isabella floated from the room and let her mind drift to images of their hot night together. Just as she was replaying the moment of climax, the phone rang.

She picked it up without looking at the caller, her mind still suspended somewhere between thoughts of Luke and reality.

There was a pause, and then a deep voice that made her blood turn to ice said, “Isabella.”

It took her a few moments to place the caller, but when she did, the phone almost slipped from her fingers. “David.” She paused. “What do you want?”

There was a deep breath from the other side of the phone. Her chest tightened. She couldn’t imagine any reason why her ex-boyfriend would be calling. Not after what he’d done, and how much he’d hurt her. Especially not after so much time had gone by. “How are you?”

“I’m really good,” she said, not surprised by how firmly she meant it. Despite all that, old emotions crept to the forefront of her mind, familiar pangs of betrayal and heartbreak streaked like lightning across her mind. “Why are you calling me?”

“Let’s just say I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time.”

“Hmm. Does that mean you’re bored with whatever girlfriend you have now?” She’d said it without meaning to, but was happy it had come out.

“No.” He sighed. “Issy, I have no one. I’m all alone.”

She shuddered. “Oh, she’s gone? What, did you cheat on her and she left you?”

“I broke up with her. There was no cheating.”

She thought about this for a moment before she said, “That’s nice. Is that why you called?”

He sighed. She could almost see him rubbing his temples, massaging away his stress. “No. I called because...” Now she could picture him biting his lip in that endearing way, and gnawing on the inside of his cheek as he contemplated his words. She felt a lump form in the back of her throat. “I called because I miss you.”

“Oh, that’s sweet.” She struggled to keep her voice monotonous, to keep the emotion from appearing in her voice. “Listen, David, I gotta go...you didn’t call at the best time.”

“When would be a better time?”

“Never.”

She slammed down the phone, staring at her hand on the receiver as she struggled to calm her racing heart. A tumult of emotions simmered in her heart, but she was unwilling to begin sorting through them. The most prominent thought in her mind was:
How dare he. How dare he even try.

The door creaked and Luke peeked his head into the room. “Hey. Who was that?”

She sniffed hard and wiped away a tear that she didn’t know had fallen. “Nobody.”

He eyed her cautiously, entering the room slowly. She wondered if he’d caught on to the shift in moods, so drastically different from before the phone call. “You sure?”

“Yeah. It’s uh...it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

He offered a smile and exited the room.

She stared after him for a while, picturing him in David’s place.
Be a realist, Isabella. Quit living in your fantasy world.
She was a fool to think Luke wouldn’t hurt her the way David had. She was a fool to think that in a year or more, Luke wouldn’t be the one calling her up after a heart-wrenching break up. She was just a fool.

You’re lucky he called and reminded you of your promise to yourself,
the sane side of her mind said.
You don’t want to go back to that, not after so many failed relationships and no hope in sight. Play it safe.

She sighed deeply and let her eyes drift shut, heart twisting like a knife in her chest as she forced herself to be honest. She didn’t want to get hurt, and she didn’t want to risk having another failed relationship. All the drama, all the tears and heartbreak and broken promises and false hopes were just wasted time when she could be doing other things with her life, pursuing her career, and so much more. And she knew exactly what this meant for her now.

Be honest with yourself. Even though there is a man in your life who makes you swoon, makes you come to the brink of insanity sometimes, a man who keeps you up at night and then invades your dreams, it doesn’t matter.

None of it mattered. Luke had to go.