Stealing Home(44)

I had to fight the smile I felt from seeing him so turned on and growing more impatient with every second I stalled moving closer. When I was only a couple steps away, I stopped. “So do I.”

I lifted an eyebrow then gave his hard chest a shove. He fell back onto the couch, landing with a sharp exhale.

“What did I tell you about being on your feet?” Moving between his legs, I stared down at him. Seeing him like this stole the breath from my lungs.

His eyes read a hundred different emotions, his body expressing one—desire. “Does it look like I’m on my feet anymore?”

Shaking my head, I nudged his legs open farther with my knees. They fell open without hesitation.

“You took my feet out from under me, right along with the rest of me.” Luke’s hands came around the back of my thighs as he stared up at me. “I don’t want any of it back either.” His finger skimmed around to the front of my thighs and stopped when it reached the bottom button. He worked it free, never breaking his stare. “This is going to make me sound like some lovesick kid, but I don’t give a shit.” He swallowed and pulled me closer. “Allie, will you be my girlfriend? I know we won’t be able to tell anyone, but I don’t care. I’ll know. You’ll know.”

He had me in his grasp, ready and willing for the taking, and he was asking me if I’d be his girlfriend? Even when I thought I was starting to figure him out, Luke Archer still surprised the hell out of me.

“Are you asking me to go steady?”

His hands returned to my thighs, disappearing beneath the shirt. “Well, I did already have a secret crush on you, pretend I didn’t like you, then I opened with the worst pick-up line ever, so my pride’s already gone.”

I was smiling from the reminder—at least right until his fingers reached the apex of my legs.

“Will you be my girlfriend?” His knuckles ran over me, his eyes darkening when he felt how ready my body was for his.

“I don’t know. Does this mean I get to wear your letterman’s jacket?”

Luke leaned his head over the back of the couch, watching me as he touched me, not missing the slightest of gasps or the faintest lowering of my lids. From the way he was studying me, it was almost like he was taking mental notes to refer back to later. “It means you can wear whatever part of me, have whatever piece of me you want.”

God, what was happening? Luke Archer was asking me to be his girlfriend like he was some lovesick high school boy at the same time he was touching me in ways no boy would have the first clue about. Before the part of my brain that processed logical thought shut off, I considered my answer. Did I want to be Luke’s girlfriend? Did I want an official term? A defined commitment? Did I want to open myself up to the disappointment and heartache that came with a real relationship?

My experience told me I didn’t. My future told me I did.

“Honesty,” I whispered, sealing my eyes closed as I concentrated on what I needed to say. “I need it. All of it. The last serious relationship I had, he ruined me with a lack of honesty. I need to know I can be honest with you and that you are being honest with me.”

Luke’s fingers pulled back just enough to let my mind work more succinctly. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s behind me now.”

“Are you sure?”

My eyes flew open. “Of course I’m sure. Why?”

Luke’s hand found mine. “Because you’re bringing it up now. Is your fear of being hurt and betrayed and lied to really in the past? Or is it in the same room with us now, waiting for the chance to come between us?”

My forehead creased as I considered what he was saying. “It’s behind me.”

Luke nodded. “Good. Because I don’t want to pay for some other *’s mistakes.”

Here we were, having serious conversations when we both clearly had sex on our minds. I’d never been asked by a naked god to define a relationship, and I’d never hashed out my insecurities with a man who was so desperate to get laid, the veins running down his neck looked ready to pop.

Nothing about Luke Archer was what it seemed. I loved that about him. It was also what I feared about him.

At the same time I felt like I knew all I needed to know about the man in front of me, I wondered if I’d even scraped the surface. “That’s good.” I leaned over to splay my hands on his wide chest. “Because I don’t want to pay for some bitch’s mistakes either.”

Luke’s chuckle came from low in his chest. “You won’t have to. But you do owe me something”—his eyes darted to his rock-hard dick—“and it’s time to pay up.”

Heat coiled up my body, pulsing between my legs. “Time to make good on my promise.”

I lowered onto my knees in front of him, my hands skimming down his chest. When I wound a hand around him, he flinched.

“Fuck, and now I’m about to come like some lovesick kid too.” His eyes sealed closed when I glided my hand along him a few times, groaning when my grip tightened.

Fanning my hair over one shoulder, I lowered my head between his legs.

Before my lips could wrap around him, his hands flew to my shoulders, stalling me. “Allie, I didn’t mean this . . . I just meant I wanted to have sex with you.”

His grip tightened when I blew a warm breath over his skin. “And I’m about to have sex with you.” My eyebrow lifted at him. “With my mouth.”