Saving Dallas (28 page)

Luke nodded his head in agreement
, “Thank you, brother.”

More hugs were exchanged and goodbyes were passed between our club and the support club.  It wasn’t long before we were back in the truck and headed towards Hattiesburg.  “Do y
’all have a lot of support clubs?” I asked Luke stifling a yawn. 

“A few. 
This is a love-hate world we live in babe.  We take care of the ones who love us.  We watch out for them and they watch out for us.  We take care of one another. It’s a brotherhood.  As for the ones who hate us, well if they have a good reason to, then we try to come to an understanding, but some just hate us because of the power we have.”

“
And just how much power do you have?”  I asked him curiously. 
I mean really.  What could they do? Move mountains or some shit?
“Enough,” he said smirking.  “You sleepy?”  I let out another ridiculously long yawn and nodded my head.  I had gone from being poisoned to bed rest to a bitch with a gun who had warned off a bunch of bikers.
  I was tired.

“I bet you think I sleep more than anyone you have ever met
,” I said trying to smile my adorably cute sleepy smile, although I was sure I looked like an idiot.

He smirked
, “Nah, I’m just boring.” 

“You are a lot of things Mr. Carmical, but boring is not one of them
,” I said curling up on the seat and resting my head on the window.  Luke grabbed my feet and pulled them into his lap, forcing my head to lie down on the passenger seat.  He took off my shoes and with one hand on the wheel, began massaging my feet through my socks.  “That feels good,” I mumbled. 

He tuned the radio to a classic country station and turned up the volume. 
I fell asleep with the words from The Possums “He Stopped Loving Her Today” in my ears and the skilled hands of Luke on my body. 

Chapter 22

In every romance movie I have ever seen, the woman always wakes from a nap well rested and looking strikingly beautiful.  Well, this was certainly not a movie.  I woke up when Luke shut the truck door only to open another one and grab my bags out of the back seat to haul them in.  I saw that he had my luggage from The Abbey and I was happy to know that he thought of everything.  I sat up and a puddle of drool had formed on my forearm. 

Thank God Luke had walked inside and I had a minute to get myself together.  I wiped my mouth on my shirt, trying to twist the wet spot on my sleeve so that it wasn’t noticeable.  Flipping down the mirror, I groaned as I saw the lines in my face that had formed from my wrinkled shirt. 
Man I looked like shit
.  I scrambled from the truck and made my way inside. 

“Ooh baby, you look like shit
,” Tiny said meeting me at the door.  He pulled me into his arms and I went willingly. 
Something about him
made me feel nurtured
.  “I’m proud of you,” he said leaning down and resting his head on top of mine.  I nodded into his chest and he let me go, turning me toward the door and ushering me in.  “Luke!  I found this stray wandering around your garage.”  He yelled to Luke who was somewhere in the house. 

“What?” Luke asked rounding the corner.  His face was scrunched up in confusion.  Tiny pointed at me and Luke softened.  “That’s no stray.  She belongs here
,” he said coming to me and planting a kiss on my forehead. 

“We’ll be in the clubhouse if you need us
,” Tiny said and headed out. 

“My baby has had a rough day.  What do you need?  I am at your beck and call
,” Luke said holding my face in his hands. 

“You have been at my beck and call since we met
,” I said my voice still thick with sleep. 
I had only prayed for one damsel in distress moment. God was an over-achiever.

“I like taking care of you.  It makes me happy
-happy- happy.” 

I smiled.
Luke watched way too much T.V.

“How long do you want me to stay?” I asked looking up into his beautiful, smiling eyes.

“Forever
,” he answered shrugging as if it were obvious. 

“I mean I have to go home and get some things if I’m going to be here a while
,” he smiled.  “I’ll take you home tomorrow.  Right now there is someone who is dying to see you.” 

He let go of me and opened the kitchen door.  Neo came charging at me, sliding on the slick wooden floors.  “Neo!” I said dropping to my knees so I could take him in my arms.  His tail wagged and he licked me, squirming in my arms then cutting out through the house showing his excitement.  He rounded the kitchen and came back through the opposite side that connected from the living room and barreled into me once again.  Neo had learned his way around here.  The thought made me smile.

I rubbed his ears and head, then his stomach as he flipped on his back in front of me.  I talked to him in that weird, high pitched voice people used when talking to a small child.  Soon he became bored, and I was relieved.  I didn’t have the strength to play too much.  Luke helped me off the floor then grabbed my hand and led me through the house to his bedroom.

“Bed?  Bath?  Shower?  Couch?  What
do you want baby?” 

At first I thought he was talking about where I wanted him to make
love to me at, but when he saw the look in my eye his demeanor changed. 

“Oh no, I mean do you want to go to bed or take a shower or just lay on the couch.”
 
I liked the first idea better. 
It was sweet of him to let me know that he was willing to wait while I recovered.  I would probably have to beg for it, but right now-even though I trembled at the thought of him touching me. I really needed a shower. 

“Shower
,” I said moving towards the bathroom.  I looked in the large mirror that covered the wall behind the sink and sighed. 
How did
my body change so much in just three days?
  It was only Saturday, yet it looked like I had been shut up in a dark hole for months.  I was pale, thin and looked nothing like I did the last time I stood in front of his mirror
.  Had that been almost a week ago?

“Don’t baby.  You look fine
,” Luke said coming up behind me and lifting my arms to remove my shirt.  He carefully undressed me as I watched unmoving in the mirror.  Every time an article of clothing left my body he kissed where it had been.  It was so intimate, but not in a sexual way.  It was reassuring.  I had never lacked confidence, yet when I was with him I felt like I may not be enough. 
Maybe it was because I had finally found someone who I cared for and cared about what they thought. 

When I was completely naked, Luke turned the shower on and walked up behind me placing his arms around my waist and resting his head on my shoulder; meeting my eyes in the mirror. 

“I love you,” Luke said, never taking his eyes from mine.

“I love you too
,” I said, turning my face so I could kiss his cheek.

“How about I make us a picnic and we watch a movie on the couch?” he asked smiling.  I knew I would probably only make it through the previews but just the thought of cuddling with him made the idea perfect. 

“That would be great.” 

He straightened kissing me on my head, and then left the bathroom.  I rummaged through my bags, finding my toiletries and stepped into the steaming shower. 

Maybe I should have stayed another night in the hospital.  I was so damn tired.  This shit refused to go away. 
I felt like every ounce of energy I had was gone.  I must have used it on our near death experience.  At least it went to good use and wasn’t wasted on something like a shower.  With a little effort and a lot of time I emerged from the shower shaved and clean for what felt like the first time in eternity.  I decided to pamper myself a little even though I didn’t feel like it
. 
I knew I needed it after spending a few days in the hospital
.
I put an exfoliating mask on my face, lotioned my body and dried and fixed my hair back to its former glory.  I found a pair of ridiculously short pajama shorts and a matching tank top. 
Maybe Luke wouldn’t have any visitors inside tonight. 

When I walked into the living room the scent of popcorn filled the air an
d I noticed movies scattered all over the couch.  Luke was no-where to be seen in the living room, but I found him digging through the cabinets when I came into the kitchen. 

Luke was shirtless and wore only a pair of sexy pajama pants that had my mouth watering.  The muscles in his back flexed as he reached in the top cabinet to try and find something that must have been shoved to the back.

“You need a chair or something?” I asked mesmerized by the way his body looked doing something as simple as grabbing something out of the cabinet.  I tried to keep my focus on anything but him.  My panties were already wet at the thought of my nails running down his back as he drove into me.
 

“Nah, I got it.  You have to hide shit around here or everyone…”  He trailed off when
he closed the cabinet door and his eyes found my body.  They started at my face that was framed by my shiny brown hair, then to my hard nipples that poked out of the thin material of my top, onto my short shorts and down my smooth legs to my bare feet. 

“Damn baby.  You trying to kill me?”
he asked, finding my face with his eyes once again. 

I bit my lip and shook my head, praying it would be enough to
convince him that I wasn’t that sick
. 
I could tell he was struggling.  He didn’t want to be too forward or make me feel like all he wanted was sex, but I could tell by the burning look in his eyes that he wanted me just as much as I wanted him. 

I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his neck.  The stretching movement caused my shorts to rise and make the cheeks of my barely covered ass tingle from the air in the room.  Luke placed his hands on my waist-a safe area-and shook his head at me.  “This is not what I had in mind baby.  I just want to take care of you
,” Luke said in a low voice. 

“Then take care of me.  Please, baby.  I need this.  I need you
,” I begged looking up at him desperately.  He groaned in defeat as his lips found mine.  I wasted no time invading his mouth with my tongue.  I have missed this.  Damn he tasted good.  Luke reached around me and slid his hands under my shorts.  He groaned when he found the bare flesh hanging out the bottom of my panties and squeezed tighter lifting me and wrapping my legs around him. 

My hands roamed his face and shoulders while my tongue caressed his as he carried me into the bedroom and gently laid me down and climbed on top of me. 

“Make love to me Luke, “I breathed, tilting my head back to let him kiss my throat and neck.  He raised my shirt and found my hard nipples and took them into his mouth.  I moaned loudly as he gently sucked each one while kneading his hands into my thighs and waist then up my stomach and finally in my hair. 

“You drive me crazy
,” he said taking my mouth over with his.  I lifted myself up off the bed, trying to find something of his I could grind into.  I needed that connection or I would explode.  His hand found the elastic band on my shorts and was instantly inside rubbing me softly through my panties. 

“Fuck you are so wet.”  He sat up on his knees in between my legs and looked down on me.  My stomach arched off the bed with my deep breathing.  I was completely breathless and it had absolutely nothing to do with what happened to me three days ago, but it had everything to do with the man looking down at me.  Everything about Luke turned me on
;  the tattoos that ran down his perfectly sculpted arms, the abs that were so cut you could count each once, the strong chest that rose and fell with every breath he took.  But these were nothing compared to the eyes that were looking so deep into mine, I felt like he could read my mind.  I could see all the way to his soul through his eyes.  I could measure the depth of his love for me; endless as the ocean. 

The look on his face was that of need and compassion.  He looked at me like this each time he made love to me
, and each time it made me feel more important to him than the last.  I knew this was going to be amazing.  I knew just by the look in his eyes that he was going to prove how much he loved me and how sorry he was that he couldn’t be there for me by making love to me in a way that only he could. 

Luke seemed to remember what he was doing and slid my shorts down my legs taking my panties with them.  I was left in nothing but my tank top lying on the bed beneath him.  He leaned down over me, pressing his length against my opening. 
My breath caught in my throat at the anticipation of what was to come.

“I would move heaven and earth for you Dallas.  I will spend the rest of my days making you happy.  I have loved before, but never like this.”

He rested his weight on his arms and leaned down so that his forehead was touching mine and we were nose to nose.  I closed my eyes and inhaled the scent of him.

“I need you Dallas
,” he whispered to me.  My heart clenched at the desperation in his voice.