First Rapture (The Rapture #1)(8)

“Get away?” she demanded. “As I remember it, you were the one running, not me.”

Okay. He had let her vent her grievances. Now it was time to assure her that he wasn’t a total jerk.

Well…at least not anymore.

“Believe it or not, I was trying to protect you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Really?”

“I was in a bad place,” he said with simple honesty. “You deserved better.”

“How could the son of a millionaire, the star football player and darling of every female in the state of Nevada possibly be in a bad place?”

The muscles of his jaw clenched, a familiar anger twisting his gut. He was sick to f**king death of people assuming that his father’s money somehow made his life a fairytale. Okay, he’d had it better than a lot of people, but living with Vigo Angeli was no picnic.

He narrowed his gaze, studying her pale, perfect face. “Are you really interested?”

“Of course.”

She didn’t sound particularly sincere, but he answered her anyway.

“I’d just come to the conclusion that after years of trying to emulate my father, I’d become a man who I didn’t particularly like, and respected even less.” He reached up to smooth her hair behind her ear, unable to resist the temptation to touch her. “I was determined to change, which meant I wasn’t going to take advantage of an innocent teenager who’d convinced herself she was in love with me.”

Madison stiffened as his fingers traced the shell of her ear, but she made no move to pull away.

“Then why did you come to the trailer?”

“Because I couldn’t get you out of my mind.” His fingers drifted to trace the perfect arch of her dark brows. “Those big hazel eyes pleading for my touch.” He caressed the cool silk of her cheek. “That slender body with its lethal curves. Your shy smile. And those lips…” He used the tip of his index finger to outline the mouth that had given him so many sleepless nights. “Hell, there’s not a man who could have resisted.”

“Ah. So it was my fault,” she said in dangerous tones, although she couldn’t disguise the flare of response that darkened her hazel eyes.

She was rapidly becoming as aroused as he was.

“The temptation was yours. The weakness was mine,” he murmured, his seeking fingers moving to follow the delicate curve of her neck. His c**k twitched in appreciation. Her skin felt like molten silk. He needed her spread across his bed so he could explore every inch of that creamy perfection. “A weakness it seems I haven’t outgrown.”

Cupping the back of her head, Luc leashed his greedy urge to crush her lips in a demanding kiss. Instead he lightly brushed his mouth over hers in a gentle caress.

Last time he took.

This time he fully intended to give.

Her hands slowly lifted to land against his chest, her breath quickening as she pulled back to study him with a guarded gaze.

“Wait,” she breathed.

Wait? He might not have realized it until she’d stepped on the balcony, but he’d been waiting for this reunion since he’d discovered she’d fled Vegas.

“Why?”

“You were explaining why you were such an ass,” she reminded him.

He swallowed a rueful sigh. Why was she dwelling on the past when the future promised to be filled with sensual pleasure?

“You looked at me as if you were picturing your Prince Charming,” he reluctantly conceded. “I panicked.”

Her body remained pliant, but he sensed a tangle of emotion behind her smooth expression.

“You didn’t want to be Prince Charming?”

His lips twisted, remembering his fierce pleasure as he’d taken her virginity. Hardly the behavior of a Prince Charming.

“I was more the big bad wolf type.”

“And now?”

He tugged her against his chest, his head dipping down to trace the line of her throat with his lips.

“Now I can be whatever you need me to be.”

Her hands clutched at his shoulders as he found the sensitive spot at the base of her neck, but she refused to melt against him as he wanted. Dammit. He needed to feel her pressed tight against his aching erection.

“Actually I’ve discovered I’m no longer a Cinderella wannabe,” she informed him. “I don’t need a man.”

He nuzzled downward, discovering the prominent thrust of her collarbone. Too prominent, he abruptly decided. Her slender body was beautiful, but she felt too fragile. Clearly she wasn’t taking adequate care of herself.

Something he intended to change.

“That would be a shame,” he murmured.

She made a choked sound, shivering as he reached the top curve of her br**sts. “A typical male response.”

His hand tangled in her hair, desire blasting through him as he felt her ni**les harden through the silk of her gown. A part of him desperately wanted to strip off her dress and take her against the French doors.

Another part wanted to take her back to his home and spend the next month making slow, delicious love to the woman who’d done what no other woman had done.

Remained in his thoughts long after he’d left her bed.

“Doesn’t your glamorous lifestyle ever get lonely?” he asked, his arms sliding around her waist to press her tight against his aching body.