Lie to Me (Pearl Island Trilogy #4)(71)

“I know exactly what you mean.” He nodded. “Like today. My family’s place on the bayou is a part of my life, and I do love it. Well, most of it. But it’s not really my place. This is my place.”

“And a great place it is.”

“It could be better.”

“I don’t see how.” She glanced about. “You have everything.”

“Not everything.” He looked at her with such longing, she had the feeling he meant her. Then his gaze shifted to her mouth. “You have sauce—” He motioned toward the corner of his own mouth.

“What?” Setting the half-eaten slice back in the box, she used her tongue to try to clear the sauce. “Did I get it?”

“No. Here, let me...” He leaned forward and wiped his thumb against the corner of her mouth. Her breath caught at the contact of his skin against her lips. He started to pull his hand away, but stopped as their gazes met.

Her pulse drummed as she saw desire flare in his eyes. He made no move to act on it, though, and she knew he wouldn’t. Not until she let him.

Did she have the courage to do that?

Yes, she decided. She’d rather take this risk than leave tonight without kissing Luc again.

Reaching up, she took his hand and moved it to the center of her mouth. Her tongue flicked out to lick the sauce away. His hesitation vanished. Slipping both hands into her hair, he leaned forward and covered her mouth with his for a deep, hungry kiss. She opened eagerly, welcoming his tongue, before he rained kisses over her face.

“Oh God,” he breathed into her neck. “I’ve wanted this every single day since I left Pearl Island.”

“Me too.” Her head tipped back. “I’ve missed you so much.”

His hands skated over her rib cage as he trailed kisses down her neck. He stopped, though, with his mouth pressed to the bare skin at the open collar of her shirt, his hands just below her breast. The tension of restraint radiated from him even as her breasts ached for his touch.

Praying she wasn’t making a mistake, she lifted her hands to the button right between her breasts. He pulled back enough to watch as her fingers slipped the button through the hole. His breath turned quick and shallow as she moved to the next. And the next. When she’d unfastened them all, he took a deep, shuddering breath, then parted her shirt to reveal her lacy bra.

His warm lips placed a series of kisses on the mounds of her breasts above the demi-cups of her bra. Trembling with need from his tenderness, she arched into him, silently begging for more. And he responded. Oh, how he responded. He tugged one of the cups of the bra down so his mouth could close over the nipple. She whimpered at the exquisite feel of him suckling her, a sensation that shot down to her core and made her ache for more.

As he moved to the other nipple, lavishing it with attention, she shifted to her knees and leaned into him. His mouth never left her as she straddled his lap, making the denim skirt ride up. Her warm center settled against the hard evidence of his desire as she tore her shirt off and tossed it to the floor.

Reaching behind her, she unsnapped the bra, freeing her aching breasts. Then he was cupping them, kneading them as he sucked a nipple harder into the moist heat of his mouth.

With a cry of pleasure, she moved against his rigid length, wanting him inside her. Impatient, she attacked the buttons of his shirt with fingers that trembled. Finally his chest was bare, and she could touch him back. It wasn’t enough.

“I want you, Luc,” she whispered, raking her fingers through his hair. “I need you.”

His head fell against the back of the sofa, breaking the contact of his mouth on her breasts. She wanted to weep at the loss until she saw the heat blazing in his eyes. Without a word, he stood with her in his arms. Her legs wrapped quickly about him.

He started walking, every step causing delicious friction between them. He carried her into a dark room, where the only light spilled in through the open door. Then he lowered her to a bed. Their bodies separated long enough for them to scramble out of their remaining clothes.

He grabbed a condom from the nightstand before lowering his nude body beside her. She wanted to pull him on top of her, but he distracted her with a kiss as his hand moved down over her stomach, between her thighs. He slipped one long finger inside her as his thumb worked magic over her sensitive bud. The pleasure built and built until it ripped through her. Throwing her head back, she gasped in a breath and held it as light exploded inside her.

As the sensations faded, she released a shaky sigh of wonder, only to find him settling between her thighs. Before the tremors in her body subsided, he was pressing inside her. The pleasure began to build again as he moved in her, with her, driving her back up. This time they crested at the same time and drifted down together.

With her ear against his chest, she heard the thundering beat of his heart. A moment passed before he lifted onto his elbows so he could look down at her, their bodies still joined.

He kissed her forehead with such tenderness, her heart squeezed. When he moved to lay beside her, she mourned the loss of connection as their bodies separated. Then he gathered her into his arms as he had that night on Pearl Island. This time, she went eagerly, allowing herself the luxury of being held.

“Well,” he said after a while. “That was… more than I’d hoped for.”

His baffled words nearly made her giggle. Tipping her head to see his face, she smiled at him. “Was it?”