“WHAT’S wrong?” Alyssa asked as Luc sped through the night, toward her house.Three a.m. wasn’t the best time for a heart-to-heart, but he exuded a fuck-off vibe like she’d never felt from him before. Something grim rolled off him in choking waves, and though she knew he wouldn’t welcome the conversation, she felt his pain and couldn’t remain quiet.“Nothing.” He bit out the word.“So you always run red lights for the hell of it?”Luc’s body tensed. “Shit. Sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”“Did He-Man say something to upset you?”His hands tensed on the wheel. “Deke is still looking at your security system. He’ll call in a few when he’s done.”A non-answer. Luc was good at evasion. Then again, maybe this had nothing to do with his cousin.“Look, if your foul mood has anything to do with what happened in the kitchen earlier—”“It’s over, it’s done, and it’s not happening again.”Like hell. She crossed her arms over her chest. “I gotta tell you, Chef, I don’t think your new girlfriend
Suddenly, she lifted her sultry blue gaze to him. “Need something?”A loaded question. Yes! In fact, he feared he’d gone beyond wanting her to needing her.Luc drew in a shaky breath. No. He just needed to get laid. His sex drive had finally reasserted itself after Kimber and Deke’s decision to become a couple—and exclude him. Alyssa just happened to be the first female in a fifty-foot radius.Except . . . if he’d met her yesterday and she looked like she’d be the sort of mother he had in mind, he would have hustled her into bed and into a relationship as fast as he possibly could. He didn’t just want her; he was beginning to like her. And that made her all the more dangerous.Nor did her pretty pink nipples, hard and bobbing on the water’s surface, help clear his thoughts.“Alyssa, don’t do this to me.” God, he barely recognized his own voice. “Please.”She raised a brow at him, dragged the loofah across one breast, over her nipple, licked her lips, and let loose a little whimper. Lu
Luc took another long swig from the bottle. “I’m . . . sorry.”“I get it. In your head, we’re from different worlds. You’ve put me in my place, and I won’t overreach again.” She stiffened her spine and headed for the stairs, then turned back to him. “For the record, Tyler’s visit was about the break-in at the club. At tonight’s sweep, he thoroughly investigated the entire upstairs. Seems that my stalker left me another knife and ‘love note’ embedded in the pillow of my bedroom at the club. And this one not only called me a whore; he said he’d put a stop to me for good very soon.”*********ALYSSA marched up the stairs. One foot in front of the other. Get to your bedroom. Shut the door.No damn way was she showing Luc Traverson her tears. She’d already given him too much power to hurt her. And he’d used it thoughtlessly.“What did you say?” he demanded. A moment later, he darted up after her and grabbed her, spinning her around to face him. “The same pervert who broke into your car bro
“More,” he growled.Breath catching, she hesitated. But despite her trepidation, she could refuse him nothing.She parted her legs again, until the muscles of her inner thighs strained. Need was a pool of heat shimmering and undulating in her blood. Emptiness thrummed inside her. Everything cried out to be filled with his cock—and all the blazing passion that came with it.He grabbed her hips, then slid his hands to the small of her back and pulled up. At his silent command she arched for him, bending her knees, thrusting her breasts toward him.“Perfect,” he murmured, then perched himself above her body, the rasp of his chest raking hers, making her tingle.A hard press of his lips against hers morphed into a sweltering line of kisses down her neck, collarbones, then straight to her breasts. As he cupped one, he devoured the other, his mouth a hot shock to her system. He sucked hard on her nipple, and she felt the draw all the way between her legs. He thumbed the other simultaneously
“Come again, sugar. For me.”He tiled her hips until they pressed completely against his, then rubbed her up and down his cock, forcing friction on her clit. Alyssa undulated with him, her groans becoming whimpers that turned to a plea, then . . .“Luuuucccc!” She screamed his name as if it were a twenty-syllable word as her cunt clamped down on him. He used all the strength in his arms and thighs to keep her moving.The pleasure was excruciating, scorching, beyond anything he’d ever experienced—or imagined. The sensations roiling around inside him melded into a tight ache in his balls. Then, primed, the orgasm began to explode.Luc grabbed her tighter, clutching her hair, throwing an arm around her waist. Oh, fucking hell. This was going to bring him to his knees. Destroy him. It swelled and built and converged, big as a mountain, powerful as an earthquake.“Alyssa,” he gasped. “Oh, God. Shit. I can’t . . . Oh, my—” To merge with her in every way possible; it was his most basic insti
A moment later, she heard a car door slam. Tyler was back in record time. She breezed past Luc, headed for the restaurant’s front door.He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her close. “Where are you going?”She jerked free and lunged for the door. Luc didn’t want her . . . but he didn’t want anyone else to have her. Alyssa refused to play that game. Hopefully, dishing back some of his own medicine would put some distance between them.Smiling tightly, she quipped, “Maybe it is time I let someone else scratch me.”THE mock dinner service was winding to a merciful end. The evening had been flawless. The muggy afternoon had given way to a cooler evening, and Alyssa had thrown open the doors to the patio, bringing the outside in. The food had been impeccable, the help she’d hired perfect. Not a hint of an undercooked steak or overcooked vegetables. The waitstaff had been deferential and efficient. Patrons all around smiled—and Bonheur had secured lots of future reservations.Professionall
So he was past the anger and knew he’d pissed her off, and accordingly wheeled out an apology. But . . . “In other words, it’s none of your business if I fuck Tyler, but you still think I am and will try not to growl at me about it?”“It doesn’t matter what I think. It’s your life, and I have no right to tell you how to live it. I have four days and some change left here. I’d rather spend the time enjoying you than fighting with you.”“So let’s put all the emotion behind us so we can fuck like rabbits for four days?”God, why didn’t he just slap her in the face instead of slowly stabbing her in the heart?“I meant that you’re right. I haven’t been a monk since we first got together, and it’s wrong of me to expect that you have no other life. I don’t know whether you and Tyler have something going. I’m not passing judgment. All I’m saying is that I’d rather spend time with you, whatever we choose to do, than argue.” He sighed, and shot an enigmatic dark stare at her. “You’re a fascinat
Problem was, he actually liked Alyssa. As a woman. As a person. And whatever they had, it wasn’t just sex.Worse, last night, he’d gotten this odd pleasure in taking care of her. She worked so damn hard, fulfilling the needs of her businesses and her employees before seeing to her own.Once he was gone, who would take care of her?Tyler.God, even the man’s name burned like acid in his gut. He squeezed his eyes shut. Why the hell should he be so jealous of another man when he was the one lying naked beside her?Because it’s not going to last.Shoving the ugly thought away, he propped himself up and looked at Alyssa’s clock. Ten eighteen. Wow, they’d both been exhausted, sleeping a good nine hours plus.Suddenly, she rolled over slowly and opened her eyes. Her lashes batted slumberously, her makeup smudged beneath her eyes. Rather than resembling a raccoon, she looked vulnerable.Once she saw him, Alyssa glanced away, vague panic on her face. “What happened?”Damn it, she was pulling a