Josie Day Is Coming Home (33 page)

He plied her with caresses, ran his hands over her body
until Josie couldn’t tell where her skin stopped and his began. He nudged her
dress away and kissed her shoulder, his mouth skilled and inventive and
seductive. Wanting more, she pulled down the pale pink fabric and offered
herself naked to him, rewarded at last by the sweet feel of his mouth on her
breasts.

“Yes,” she whispered, and closed her eyes in
bliss.

There, in the flickering glow of Luke’s TV, in Luke’s tiny
carriage house apartment, in Luke’s big, strong arms, Josie felt more herself
than at any other time. She let herself go and simply
felt
, for the
first time in forever. The more she opened herself to Luke, the more he gave
her in return. More kisses. More sweet talk. More…just more.

She’d come here looking for rebellion. Instead, she’d found
warmth, acceptance…love. To her immense surprise, it turned out those were
all the things that really mattered. All the things that mattered between her
and Luke.

“Pink panties.” He growled the words in pure
masculine appreciation as his hands slid up her thighs and encountered the
slippery, skimpy nylon covering her. “I wondered about that. Wondered if
you were wearing anything at all under this dress.”

He cradled her derrière in his hands, kneading and caressing
with an urgency Josie loved. Breathlessly, she pushed his hair from his face
and kissed him once more.

“If I’m right, I won’t be wearing them for long.”

“Damned straight.”

With a powerful movement of his arms and shoulders, Luke
flipped her on her back. The sofa cushions caught her, pillowing the impact. He
followed her down, paused to fling away the wayward TV remote, stripped off her
dress.

“Mmmm. You look beautiful. All over.”

“So do you.” She smiled and held his mouth to hers
for another kiss, arching against him in abandonment. It felt easy to trust
Luke, easy to believe he’d make everything all right. “But you’re wearing
far too many clothes.”

Josie wriggled her hands between them, a task made harder by
the renewed attention he paid to her neck, her shoulder, her breasts. She found
his fly and worked feverishly at it, finally creating an opening big enough to
use as leverage. She pushed.

“Hang on,” he panted. “Easy on the
equipment.”

“I’m eager, that’s all.”

“I love that.” Luke propped himself on one elbow,
strong and sure, his biceps bulging at the edge of her vision. “I’m eager,
too. But first….”

He slid lower. Two seconds later, his fascination with her
pink panties returned. He kissed her squarely at the center of them, then
twined his fingers in the elastic and tugged them down, baring her fully. The
look of awe on Luke’s face then made her love him even more.

On the verge of telling him so, Josie felt his fingers
gently part her. She felt his mouth on her belly, on her thigh, on her…
oh,
God.
Clutching the sofa cushions, she let loose an uncontrollable moan. Her
body stiffened, then bucked upward. She might have known Luke would have an
incredible talent for this. After all, it involved making her want to scream.

Tenderly, he brought his hands to her hips. Held her steady.
Went on loving her. Josie curled her toes and shook all over, knowing there was
no way she could withstand this for long. Luke gave a wonderful rumble of
enjoyment, a rumble that vibrated all through her, and if she hadn’t been
gripping the cushions so hard, she might have come apart right then.

“You feel amazing,” he said, showing her with
another kiss, another lick, another subtle brush of his lips against her
exactly how much he meant it. “Warm and wet and…mmm.”

Josie nodded, her hair tangling around her face as her
breath came faster. Sensing her need, Luke proceeded with maddening
slowness…perfect slowness. Everything narrowed to the glide of his mouth, the
pulse of her body, the intimacy and beauty of the connection between them.

“Please, Luke…more,” she gasped.

Somehow, he understood. With a gentle, anticipatory smile,
he moved away. He levered upward, shucking his jeans in a hasty movement that
still managed to take way too long.

“Hurry up,” she said, sitting up to help.
“Let me.”

But by then his crumpled denims had hit the floor, and so
had whatever he’d been wearing beneath them. Luke stood before her proud and
hot and huge, and Josie felt her heart pound even faster as her fingers found the
steely length of him, naked for the first time. She glided her hand over him,
savoring the ragged indrawn breath he gave in response.

“No wonder your jeans looked so tight,” she said.
“No wonder you felt
so
good.”

Then there was no more time for words. He reached for her
and cupped her chin in his hand, then tilted her face up to meet his gaze. He
looked at her evenly. In his expression, Josie glimpsed emotions she never
thought she would. Caring. Wanting. Indescribable, indefinable tenderness.

This was more to Luke than a casual encounter, she realized
then. More than a meeting of bodies, more than a few laughs in the night. More
than the culmination of weeks of flirting. More, even, than mere rebellion.
This was sharing. Steamy, sexy, can’t-get-enough sharing. And maybe, just
possibly, it was love for him, too.

He smiled. “If you keep looking at me that way, I’ll
have to take you right here. Down and dirty. No holds barred.”

“Promises, promises,” she teased.

“You’re asking for it now.”

He laid her down and kissed her. Josie loved that even in
this moment, they were in sync—that even now, while they were both completely
naked, they still connected in that special way. With laughter and fun and
openness. She’d never found another person who understood her the way Luke did.
Who thought she was wonderful, exactly the way she was.

He trailed kisses over her body, leisurely and expertly
enough that she forgot her name, forgot where they were, forgot everything
except the thrilling pressure of his lips on her skin…there, there,
there.
He caressed her, whispered lovely, wonderful things to her, told her in ways
both sweet and raunchy exactly what he had in mind for her. And then, just when
Josie thought she couldn’t withstand another minute, somehow Luke made everything
better.

He entered her in one molten, incredible thrust. Moaning,
she rose to meet him. After that, there was nothing but loving, nothing but
sensation, nothing but the sounds of their breathing and the hot, sticky slide
of skin against skin. With a guttural sound of pleasure, Luke entered her
again. Again. The room blurred around them, losing all meaning as they grew
closer…closer.

“Ah, Josie.
I love you. Love you.
”

The words tumbled over themselves, hoarse and needful, but
Josie didn’t care. Jubilantly, she wrapped her arms even tighter around Luke.

“I love you, too,” she whispered.

Freed by her confession, she let go completely. There was no
holding back the orgasm that swept over her next, blinding and amazing and
absolutely soul-deep. Luke gazed into her eyes as she shook beneath him, loving
every thrust, every touch, every moment. She put both hands on his backside to
hold him to her, and that was all Luke needed. He came with a roar, a
sofa-shaking crescendo that seemed to surprise even him.

Long moments later, he kissed her. Even more than everything
they’d just shared, that kiss united them…made them one. In love.

“Wow,” Josie breathed. “Wow, wow, wow.”

“Yeah.” With a sigh of contentment, Luke pulled
her against him. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, then gave her
shoulder a tender nip…a soft kiss. “You’re amazing.”

“And
you’re
cuddling.” As far as she was
concerned, that made him her dream man for sure. Happily, she clasped his
forearms and hugged him to her. She wiggled her derrière, settling herself more
comfortably against him on the—thankfully—roomy sofa. “Go figure. Tough
guy Luke Donovan. A cuddler.”

He snorted. “So what? You’re a screamer. I guess that
makes us even.”

She gasped. “I am not a ‘screamer’!”

“Says you.” Languidly, he freed one hand to comb
her hair away from her face. His fingers, caring and sensitive, skimmed over
her temples. “But I was pretty close to you. I know I heard a scream or
two.”

The machismo in his voice made her smile. She probably
had
screamed. A little. Being with him had felt more intense, in so many ways, than
anything she’d ever experienced.

Smugly, she wiggled a little more. “I sure am loving
all this cuddling.”

A sigh. Then a husky admission. “Me, too.”

Even though she couldn’t see his face, the warmth in Luke’s
voice let her know his smile echoed hers. Feeling safe and satisfied and
oh-so-beloved, Josie snuggled closer and just let go. Neither of them said
anything about the
I love you
s they’d just exchanged. But Josie knew
they didn’t need to.

Now that her feelings were out in the open, she accepted
them completely. She loved Luke, and she was staying at Blue Moon. Nothing else
was necessary.

Not even a hint of rebellion.

Chapter Nineteen

I love you.

Afterward, while rummaging through Blue Moon’s kitchen for a
fortifying snack for himself and Josie, Luke guessed he should have resisted
those words. But somehow, because of her, he hadn’t wanted to. As he’d looked
into her face, as he’d felt her so warm and wonderful beneath him, something
had happened. It was almost as though his heart had just…opened. He’d felt
it. He’d said it. End of story.

I love you.

And when Josie had said it back to him? There weren’t any
words to describe the way he’d felt then. Humbled? Awestruck? As ecstatic as a
guy who’d just found a mint condition ‘68 Harley Davidson KR lowboy flat
tracker? Yeah, those all fit. And then some.

The truth was, Luke hadn’t wanted to resist those words.
Hadn’t wanted to resist
Josie.
It wasn’t part of the macho code, wasn’t
admissible in a room full of bachelors, but what he’d said was true. Including
that bit about her screaming, damn it. Luke didn’t care who knew it.

Inspired by the thought, he paused in his search through the
cupboards. Man couldn’t live on snack foods alone.

“Come here, you.” He pulled Josie closer.

She came willingly, dressed in a short silky robe with her
hair rumpled and her skin damp. They’d showered together—upstairs in the west
wing’s deluxe refurbished bathroom, where the enormous tiled shower left plenty
of room to make the most of steamy water and slippery bodies. Now, he kissed
her.

“This isn’t getting us any closer to sustenance,”
she complained, sliding her hands down his back. She cupped his bare ass,
pulled him into his favorite soft, snug spot between her hips, gave a low purr
of approval. “Especially with you naked like this. If we’re not careful,
we’ll have a repeat of the shower incident.”

He grinned, remembering. “And that would be
bad…why?”

“Because we need to pace ourselves.”

“Screw pacing. Let’s go for a record.”

“And because I feel a little weak in the knees.”

“That’s because of all this good lovin’, baby,” he
said, his voice purposefully deep.

She guffawed.

“Are you laughing at my sexual prowess?”
Impossible. “You’re trying to goad me now.”

“So what if I am?”

“I’ll have to abandon the search for snacks and teach
you a lesson.”

More laughter. “No way. I’m starving.”

“Then don’t poke the bear.”

Putting on his sternest face—but feeling a little relieved,
if the truth were told—Luke went back to opening cupboard doors. He had his
studly moments, but damn. He wasn’t a machine. Three times in three hours? That
would be a world record.

Listening to Josie cheerfully humming behind him, he pushed
aside two packages of hot dog buns and a canister of Kool-Aid. He spotted a box
of Ding Dongs
way
in the back. If he could just reach past the granola
Josie had bought in a doomed attempt to “healthy” them all up, he’d
be in business.

“Hey, Luke. Knock, knock.”

Almost had it…. “Who’s there?”

“Turnaround.”

“Turnaround who?”

“Turnaround and get a surprise.”

Huh. She was slipping. That one wasn’t even funny.

“‘Turnaround’ isn’t even a real name.” He glanced
over his shoulder. “It doesn’t fit the knock-knock dynamic.”

She dropped her robe.

His argument went right out the window. So did his quest for
the Ding Dongs.

“Now you’ve done it.” He examined her satiny skin,
her luscious curves, her sassy, come-and-get-me smile. “Looks like it’s
world record time.”

“Looks like it.” Josie blew him a kiss. “
If
you can catch me, tough guy.”

She bolted for the door, her cute derrière flashing him as
she went. After a rueful shake of his head, Luke followed. Thirty seconds
later, he caught her on the stairs. She shrieked and started laughing as he
hauled her in his arms. He kept climbing, action hero style.

In her bedroom, he dropped her on her four-poster.

“That’s for making me chase you,” he growled.

“It was the least you deserved,” she said
breathlessly, “for dissing my knock-knock joke.”

“Oh, yeah? Try it again.”

“Okay. Knock, knock.”

“Shut up and kiss me.”

“Hey. That’s not how it’s—”

“I love you, and kiss me.”

“Now
that’s
more like…
mmmph.
”

Tired of waiting, Luke pressed his mouth to hers in an
urgent kiss. Now that he was on the road to record breaking, he had half a mind
to try out every room in the house. He felt pretty sure that Josie—given her
moans of enjoyment and the sexy way she wiggled against him—would go along with
his plan.