Infidelity, page 11
“Let me be the judge of that. Just relax, close your eyes and feel. Don’t think about anything. Just let me do this for you.”
“But...”
She put her fingers on his mouth, effectively silencing him, then began her assault on his senses. Starting with soft kisses over his eyes, she worked to the corner of his mouth, then down his neck. Luke braced his hands on her hips and held stock still. She ran her tongue over the pulse point in the hollow of his neck, and then brought her mouth to one of his nipples. With both hands caressing his chest, she twirled her tongue around his flat nipple, alternating between nipping with her teeth and suckling.
The fingers burrowing into her hips told Melanie her efforts were having their effect. Gaining more confidence, she continued her seduction. As her hands flowed over his stomach, his muscles tightened in their path.
When she reached the ridge of his boxers, Luke’s hand caught hers in a flash.
As she straddled his lap, she moved her bottom snug tight against him. Whether he wanted to believe it or not, the proof was in the pudding so to speak, and Luke was no bowl of Jell-O. No sir. What was growing underneath her, reaching for the core of her, was hot and hard as steel.
Melanie looked up and caught the shock in his eyes right before he brought his mouth down on hers.
Luke let go of her wrist and wrapped his arms around her, crushing her breasts to his chest. Their tongues battled for superiority as she savored the raw masculinity in his taste. It wasn’t enough.
She wanted to be skin to skin. To have his hair roughened chest brushing the softness of her breasts. While he wasn’t wearing anything but boxers, she was still fully dressed in a tank top and sleep shorts. It was too hot, the clothes were too confining, and she wanted out of them now.
Apparently Luke had the same idea. He dominated the kiss as he took over the seduction.
When he broke the kiss, he clasped her face in his hands and looked into her eyes.
“Do you know what you have done for me? I didn’t know...Damn Lainie, only you. I’ve wanted only you for so long.”
She smiled, and then lifted her arms over her head so he could remove her top. When it was discarded on the floor, Luke held her away from him and admired her full breasts.
“You are so fucking beautiful.”
Melanie laughed at his staunch admiration. What man with his hands full of boobs wouldn’t say that? But she didn’t take offense in his language. She gloried in it, and when he brought his mouth down and drew her breast into his mouth, she thought she had died and gone to heaven. He kept a steady pull on her nipple, and then switched to the other, taking the nipple between his teeth in a gentle bite, and then soothing it with the caress of his tongue.
White-hot lightning shot through Melanie and settled in her core. An ache gathered between her legs, and it made her hips move of their own will. Hunger for this man replaced the fear Tony had left behind. Never before had intimacy felt so overwhelmingly right.
Soft sounds of ecstasy came from within her, encouraging Luke in his ministrations. He lifted up on his knees and lowered her down onto her back. His hands were everywhere. Roaming over her skin, leaving flames in their wake.
As he stretched out over her, he lowered himself and helped divest her of her shorts. She heard his groan when he realized there were no panties under them. Kissing his way up the inside of her leg, Luke buried his face in the center of her, slowly running his tongue over the raw bundle of nerves that threatened to make her body explode.
With his thumb rubbing and his tongue plunging, Melanie was certain she was going to burst into a million pieces. When Luke thrust his finger deep within her core, Melanie screamed his name as her body convulsed around him.
Luke kissed his way up her body, having lost his boxers. She was so damn responsive it was killing him. He was rock hard and aching so badly for her. And holy shit, wasn’t that a fucking miracle? He had no doubt what-so-fucking-ever that no other woman could have done this for him.
He’d wanted to show her that making love could be gentle and sweet, but he ached so damn bad to be deep inside her, he didn’t think there was much control left in him. No matter what, this wouldn’t be rough and fast.
As he claimed her mouth in another toe curling kiss, her arms wrapped around his waist.
“Please, Luke, now. I need you inside me, now.”
He was poised at her entrance, but wanted to make sure she was here with him and that there was no way bad memories could intrude.
“Look at me, baby. Keep your eyes open and locked on mine. I want to watch you when you come again.”
As he looked deep into her dark blue gaze, Luke thrust himself deep inside. So close to the edge, he couldn’t help but close his eyes and hold his breath.
Heaven!
Home!
Love!
He couldn’t put a name to the number of emotions running through him as he held himself still, wrapped in the tight, hot core of the woman who meant so damn much to him. Finally, he took a breath and opened his eyes to look at her and found tears running down her cheeks.
“Lainie, tell me I didn’t hurt you. Aw, please, honey, tell me.”
She shook her head and with a shaky voice, spoke. “I just never knew it could be like this between two people,” she said with a slight quiver in her voice.
With a huge, smug, and oh, so male smile on his face, Luke started moving slowly within her. Melanie met each movement with one of her own.
“Aw, shucks ma’am. Ya ain’t seen nothing yet.”
All smiles faded as their rhythm moved faster, harder and deeper. So damn good, this was so damn good, he never wanted it to end. He wanted to prolong the feeling as long as he could, but control was slipping fast. He was at the edge of abyss, about to fly into oblivion.
When Melanie screamed out his name and her inner muscles clenched down hard around him, Luke couldn’t hold on any longer. He lost control and shot off like a cannon. Stars flared behind his eyes and he swore he stopped breathing for a moment. He was almost scared he wouldn’t recover. That his heart had given out on him.
Oh, God, who cares? I’m going to die a happy man.
He collapsed onto Melanie and promptly rolled them both to lie on their sides. Still connected in the most fundamental way, they fought to bring their breathing under control. Sweat-slicked bodies still moved slightly together and he found her mouth for a long passionate kiss before they both fell headlong into sleep.
Outside, looking up into the bedroom window, Joey Giordano watched the shadows slow their movement. So this is the way the bitch pays her respect to her dead husband? The whore is getting it on with Mr. Fucking Macho, while my brother lays cold in the ground? I don’t think so, bitch. No! Your day is coming. Your boyfriend can watch while I make you pay for everything. Then he can join you in fucking hell!
Chapter Sixteen
Luke woke the next morning with an instant awareness of the woman wrapped around his body. All soft and warm and so close it was hard to tell where he ended and she began. It was the first morning since being home from Iraq that he could honestly say, he’d gotten through the night without the recurring nightmares.
Of course, he’d lost track of the number of times they’d made love. They probably hadn’t slept more than three hours at a time, but those hours were met with peace, not war.
Rain pattered on the roof. He glanced out the window at the gloomy gray color of a spring storm, and smiled.
The sight, at one time, would have started him off in a foul mood for the day. This morning he could only think of what a great excuse it made to spend the morning in bed with Lainie. She’d rocked his world last night. Given him everything she’d had and then some, and in turn he’d shown her the pleasure and tenderness he’d never really known he had in him.
But it was there, and all for her. He’d loved her before, when they were teenagers, but what he felt for her now was so much more, so much stronger, and based on a reality that came with having seen the good and the bad in the world.
He was grounded when he was with her. She gave him strength of soul and peace of mind. Those things hadn’t existed within him for a long damn time. He had a lot of issues to work through, but for once, that didn’t seem like such a daunting task.
If he did some hard work, he just might have a chance at a normal life, with Melanie at the center of it. And didn’t that thought make for a gorgeous day? Rain or no rain, life was looking much brighter.
A scratching at his door caught Luke’s attention, but he knew exactly who it was. A routine had been established when he’d first moved in. Every morning he would get a visitor, looking for attention. Well, wouldn’t there be a surprise this morning? Laughing, he invited his visitor in.
The doorknob jiggled a couple times and finally the door was shoved open. Sarge came barreling into the room and lunged onto the bed landing directly on top of Melanie, who let out a bellow and jumped up.
Laughing out loud, all Luke could manage to do was pull Sarge closer to him and half off Melanie.
“Oh, real funny, Mr. Jokes. Get the hairy beast off me.”
The corners of her mouth were trying to crinkle up, and he could tell she was fighting not to smile. Quite a woman, his Melanie. After regaining control of his laughter, Luke leaned down and took her mouth in an eye-opening kiss.
“It’s your fault. This is Sarge’s morning routine. He jumps up on bed, gets an invigorating rubdown and then we start the day. You’re ruining his morning.”
Sitting up in bed, Melanie’s mouth dropped open and she slammed her hands on her hips. “Me! I’ll have him know he interrupted a very promising dream, just as it was getting good. Talk about ruining a morning.”
Luke smiled smugly. “A dream, huh? Did I happen to be in it?”
“Why, it just so happens, you were.”
He wiggled his eyebrows and scooted closer. “Care to enlighten me?”
“Hmmm, I guess I could.”
Luke followed the path of her tongue as she wet first her top lip, then her bottom, extremely slow.
Damn, that tongue would feel mighty fine slowly going over his own mouth.
“Well, from what little I remember of it, we were in a cozy little log cabin in the middle of the woods. There must have been three feet of snow outside and you’d just started a fire in the open fireplace. I was lying on the rug in front of it and you came over to lie down next to me.”
Luke liked where this story was going and wanted to hear more. “Uh huh, keep going.”
“From nowhere, it seemed a bowl of berries and cream appeared on the floor next to me. I took a berry and dipped it in the cream and fed it to you. You were a little bit messy and had some of the whipped cream left on the corner of your mouth. So I slowly leaned over you and licked the side of your mouth. You know how I hate a mess.”
Luke leaned back against the headboard, swallowed hard and closed his eyes. He could see them in his mind. In front of the fire, feeding each other the fruit. He relaxed and listened to her soft voice.
“The cream was sooo good. I wanted more, but I didn’t want any berries. So, after I dipped my finger into the bowl, I slowly ran it down your chest. Stopping just at the ridge of your unbuttoned jeans. Did I mention your shirt seemed to have disappeared? Anyway, moving between your legs, I bent down and drew my tongue up your chest, savoring every bit. Somehow the cream managed to spread over your nipples. Well, I couldn’t have that. I suckled and kissed and nibbled until every bit was gone. Can I show you?”
Luke had long since grown hard and was aching to have her hands and mouth on him. Just her husky voice and softly spoken words were driving him crazy.
“Oh, honey, please do,” he said. Eyes still closed, he anticipated her touch. Goosebumps broke out on his skin and his hips rocked involuntarily.
“Keep your eyes closed. I have just the thing to replace the cream.”
He knew she was talking about the chocolate sauce they used on their midnight ice cream snack. They never took it back down to the kitchen. He felt the bed shift, and then shift again, as she retrieved the syrup. Her breath on his neck was warm as she leaned close. Then the cool sensation of the chocolate syrup as she spread it across his chest. Good Lord, she was killing him.
The bed shifted again and her warm breath transferred to his ear.
“Feel the sensations, Luke. This is where my dream ended, but for you, it’s where it picks up.”
He heard her snap her fingers, but it didn’t really register until he felt a wet, rough, tongue dragging across his chest. His eyes snapped open to find Melanie rolling around on the end of the bed, holding her stomach with one hand and covering her mouth with the other. Who did the wet tongue belong to? Sarge’s big brown eyes and hairy face stared up at him as he licked the chocolate sauce off Luke’s chest and shoulder.
“Jesus H. Christ, dog. Get the hell away from me.”
Luke jumped off the bed in one bounce and gave Melanie a hard stare. She was laughing uncontrollably; she couldn’t speak. Tears ran down her red face.
“You think that’s funny do you?”
“I-I’m s-sorry. I c-couldn’t resist.”
“Really, we’ll just see how funny you think it is when I tickle you so much you wet your pants.”
With that he dove at her, capturing her under him and trying to tickle her squirming body.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. No! Stop! I give. I give.”
They were rolling around on the bed, with Sarge barking and bouncing on top of them, trying to get in on the fun. Tickles turned to kisses. When he had her pinned on her back, the phone rang. After the third ring, Luke swore and made a wild grab, answering the phone.
“Yeah!”
“Wow, you get up on the wrong side of bed or something?”
“Something.” Luke growled at Dan on the other end of the phone. “Sorry, didn’t mean to snap. You just caught me in the middle of something. Where ya’ been? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you since yesterday afternoon.”
“My phone completely died yesterday. I had to get a new one this morning. Anyway, I just got your messages, what’s up?”
Luke looked over at Melanie, who gestured for him to keep talking and headed to the door with Sarge. She mouthed bathroom to him and left the room. Luke filled Dan in on what happened on the mountain and the brake failure yesterday. Christ, was it just yesterday?
“Your buddy, Detective Fuller, is investigating. I’m waiting to hear from him this morning. He said he’d call with anything they found on the mountain.”
“You think it’s Giordano?”
“Who the hell else would it be? He’s the only wacko we know that has a beef with Melanie. We know he is out of town, on so-called family business. He can’t be accounted for because the sick bastard is here.”
“I’ll cancel the rest of the meetings for today and tomorrow morning and head back. We need to find this sonofabitch before he does some real damage.”
Luke didn’t know where the nagging feeling was coming from, but he had a gut feeling Dan should stay where he was. He couldn’t justify it. It just was.
“No, you stay there. We need the business and I’m not going to let Melanie out of my sight. Besides, Detective Fuller has already warned me not to interfere in his investigation. So let’s give him the next two days. If he can’t come up with anything by the time you get back, we do our own thing.”
“I guess. Is Mel okay? She holding up with all this?”
Luke could hear the brotherly concern in Dan’s voice and wanted to reassure him as best as he could.
“She’s better than fine. She’s pissed, fighting mad at this guy, and she’s not going to let anyone beat her down again. Your sister is pretty amazing.”
“That she is, my friend, that she is. Sounds like you two had a good talk on that mountain before the shit hit the fan.”
Luke knew what Dan was getting at, but he wasn’t ready to talk about it with Dan.
“We did, and you and I are due a talk in the near future. Thanks for being there, pal. I owe ya.”
“You don’t owe me anything, Luke. We’re friends. It’s what we do.”
“Yeah, well, anyway, I’ll keep you posted till ya get back. How’s it going on your end?”
“Most excellent, dude, on all counts. I’ll call ya later.”
He heard Dan laugh and then disconnect. Smartass!
Luke pulled on a pair of jeans and found a t-shirt. About to go in search of Melanie, the phone rang before he even hit the hallway.
“’Lo.”
“It’s Detective Fuller. The CSU found some stuff on the mountain. Can you and Melanie meet me at the barracks in Fair Haven? There are some things I think you should see.”
Shit! Now what?
“Give us forty-five minutes and we’ll be there.”
“I’ll be waiting,” the detective said, then disconnected.
Chapter Seventeen
Melanie and Luke made it to Fair Haven in forty minutes and were escorted into Detective Fuller’s office.
“Thanks for coming in.”
Melanie studied the detective. He couldn’t have been older than thirty-five, but at the moment he looked double that. His suit was rumpled, the dark bags under his eyes and the stubble on his chin attested to some long hours at work.
“We didn’t have much choice, Detective. I want to know what you’ve found out about the person who shot Luke. I want this over.”
She’d thought about it on the drive up. Last night with Luke was wonderful. More than ever, she wanted endless nights and days with him, but she couldn’t enter into a relationship with this shadow hanging over her.
Tony had done enough damage to her psyche. His brother was not going to finish her off. She finally had something to live for. That was, if Luke felt the same way.
Don’t even go there. You have enough trouble right now without borrowing more. But she so wanted the fear to be gone.
