Luke(36)

Fingernails embedded in his butt, head tossed back, dark and needy noises being ripped from her throat, she came completely undone for him. Again. Vaguely she heard him lose control, too, with a rough, guttural groan and her name on his lips as he sank over her hot, damp, replete body

Dazed, she held him to her, drowning in pleasure, drowning in him.

Unbelievably, she started to doze … all the way up until she realized they hadn't given a single thought to birth control.

Some health professionals they were.

*

A few minutes later, Luke got the bum's rush out Faith's door. On the porch in the cool night air, he turned to her just as she shoved his jacket in his hands and shut the door on him. "Faith—"

She opened it a crack. "I've got to get up early."

"Yeah." But that wasn't the issue and he knew it. He could tell by her glossy eyes and pale skin she was just as blown away as he was—hell, make that terrified—by what had just happened, by how they'd so completely lost it. "Faith, we didn't use birth control."

She let out a shrill laugh, then covered her mouth.

"You noticed," he said, then scrubbed his face with his hands. "I've never forgotten before. Christ, I'm so sorry. I swear to you, you won't catch anything—"

Another half-hysterical laugh escaped her mouth and with a sigh he pushed the door all the way open and gathered her resisting body close. "If it's a pregnancy you're worried about, we'll deal with it. Together. Okay?"

She didn't answer so he pulled back to see her face. "Faith. We face it together."

She dropped her hand away from her mouth. "We're professionals. I see the effects of teens not using birth control every single day— My God, I coach them all the time on the importance of abstinence, and what do I do? I get so completely carried away—"

"We," he interrupted. "It was a we thing tonight in the carried away department."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah." And there was no excuse, none.

"I mean, we even planned this," she said, baffled. "I even purchased—" Breaking off, she blushed.

"I did, too." He patted his back pocket. "Maybe I should pin them to my shorts next time."

She bit her lip. Glanced up at him. "Next time?"

"Isn't there going to be a next time?" Please, God, let there be a next time.

"But we were so stupid about it."

"We won't ever be again," he vowed, so shockingly close to begging he had to forcibly close his mouth.

"There's five weeks left," she said very softly.

"I want every one of them."

"That's what I promised you. But … for the rest of tonight I think I'd like to be alone."

Suddenly he wished he'd negotiated the sleeping part, too. It'd have been nice to stay with her curled in his arms all night long.

And while he was at it, he should have negotiated for more everything, since unlike all of his other sexual escapades—of which there hadn't been as many as he'd liked to think—he wanted more. Lots more.

"Good night, Luke."

He wished he could see her face, but she'd stepped into the shadows. Apparently he was the only one here dwelling over their decision. Not good. Not good at all. "Good night, Faith."

*

Faith didn't know what she expected the next night. She got out of the bath and put on a robe as she thought about it. Would Luke come, even though it was a weeknight?

Or would he wait until the next weekend, until after they'd worked together all day? Certainly the weekend would be more convenient for him, because she imagined his busy schedule wouldn't permit him much of a personal life on the weekdays, plus certainly he wouldn't want to see her again so soon—

Her doorbell rang and she nearly swallowed her tongue.

Oh God. He'd come.

No. No, it couldn't be Luke, he'd just seen her yesterday, surely he wouldn't want to…

The surge of hope and joy that whipped through her was nothing short of pathetic.

But it turned out to be Shelby, dressed to the nines in a little black cocktail dress and heels, her blond hair artfully piled on top of her head. She held a casserole dish. "Here," she said. "I made extra. High on the protein, no sugar."

Faith took the delicious-smelling dish. "You cooked for me in that?"

"No, I cooked for my date." She let out a wicked grin. "He's getting a casserole dish, too, but for him, I also made dessert."

"Hey, I want dessert."

"His comes in black silk," she said with a low, throaty laugh. "So you'll have to make up your own—" Breaking off, she glanced over her shoulder at the sound of someone coming up the stairs. Her smile turned speculative as Luke came into view. "Well, look at that … you might get your own dessert after all."

Luke lifted a brow at that comment. He wore black as well, but not silk; black jeans, a black T-shirt, and in the moonlight looked tall, dark and devastatingly handsome.

"Dr. Walker…" Shelby turned back to Faith and jerked her eyebrows so high they disappeared into her hair. "Just what Faith ordered." With a laugh at her own inside joke, she leaned close to Faith and kissed her on the cheek. "I'd say have a good evening, sweetie, but I can see that you most definitely will. Nightie, night. Don't do anything I wouldn't do now … well, on second thought, there's nothing I wouldn't do, so have at it."