“That’s not true. You make me feel things for you that I . . .”He raked his hands through his hair, looking for words. Excuses, she thought. No more.“Can it. I don’t fucking care. I’ll have Sadie bring me home around four. You’d better not be there. Since Bonheur and Sexy Sirens are both closed on Sundays, don’t make me lay eyes on you until Monday’s dinner service. Even then? Don’t talk to me. And don’t ever touch me again.”Luc didn’t say a word as she disappeared into the bathroom. His silence broke her heart all over again. Tears stung her eyes like acid drops. She knew what she’d said, but a part of her wished he cared enough to fight for her. Apparently not. Ridiculous, wishful thinking. She’d learned fairy tales were shit at fifteen. How had she forgotten that valuable lesson?After cleaning up, she dragged on a new thong and brushed her hair, marveling at the flushed, swollen-lipped woman in the mirror. She’d finally fallen in love for the first time in her life. What a mise
He pinned her wrist between their bodies again, and she felt her bra wrap around it. Then he groped around for the other. Damn, he was going to bind her with her own clothing. Hell, no. Never!Not caring if he broke her arm or slipped it from its socket, she reached back. He had her face turned right, and her left hand was free, so she couldn’t see. She’d have one chance to score on this. Thank God she kept her fingernails sharp.She reached back, aiming high and dead center. On the first try, she grabbed his balls. And squeezed mercilessly.He grunted and tried to back off, but she held tight, edged off the desk, and turned to him.“You bitch! I’ll fucking hurt you for that.”Alyssa stood over his crouched form, anger pounding her. “I’ll hurt you first.”She jammed her heel into his instep. Though he wore tennis shoes, she figured she’d made a bull’s-eye when he howled and began hopping on one foot. Then, just for fun, she twisted his balls.He screamed like a little girl. And she sm
Luc laughed bitterly. “No. I’m the last thing she needs.” He spotted Kimber’s brother returning with a tray filled with coffees. “Ask him. He’ll tell you.”Clapping his cousin on the back, Luc turned and spotted a triage nurse leaving her post to help a woman in labor. He sneaked in the door just before it closed, then wandered down the hall. Temporary rooms were set up in a circle all around the nurses’ station. A whiteboard in the middle of the room listed all the patients and their room numbers. Finding Alyssa’s room in the corner was easy enough. So was ducking in.Inside, the thin drape had been drawn. He could see her outline, but nothing more. She didn’t want to see him, and he respected that, so he didn’t tear it away, as he yearned to. Damn hard. Luc wanted to see for himself that she was okay, unharmed. But she’d made her wishes clear. Now would be his only chance to say good-bye.Behind the drape, he heard the beep of monitors, the pump of oxygen into her system. An IV stan
Ouch! “No comment. Please stop.”As they neared the car, the photographer followed, and Luc cursed and ran, urging Alyssa along.“I should follow you so you don’t have to drive me back here . . . after,” she suggested, keeping pace with him.“I don’t mind,” he insisted.She sent him a brittle smile. “You will.”What did that mean? Had Peter started misbehaving now that he was out on bail and awaiting his trial? Jack hadn’t said a word, damn it! He’d talked to Deke’s business partner nearly every day.“If we want to make a quick exit, it would be best if you just hopped in the car,” he pressed, unlocking it with his key fob.“I insist.”Stubborn to a fault. “Okay . . . Two blocks east there’s a quiet little Italian place. I don’t think the photographer will follow us there if we’re quick.”“They hound you like that a lot now?”He winced. “Just since I started doing the talk shows. I keep hoping they’ll go away. Does Italian sound good?”“Sure.” The word itself was enthusiastic, but the
“Yes. I want to be part of the whole experience. I’m ready to be a father. A great father.” Understatement of the millennium. “I will not let you down.”Luc hesitated before saying more. Would his enthusiasm lure her in? Or make her run in the other direction? A calculated risk. She was afraid, and he had to be careful.“Okay.” She nodded, looking slightly shocked. “Thanks. That would be . . . helpful.”He planned to be far more than helpful.“You know, there are advantages to being married,” he pointed out. “Financial, of course. But children are a lot of work. Having another set of hands would lighten your load, especially when they’re sick or up all night, or you need to work late. And what about safety? It’s been a concern for you lately. Having a husband around would add protection for you and the baby. You’d rest easier. The baby would have the stability of a two-parent family, a last name. The love of both a mom and a dad.”Alyssa froze. “You want me to marry Tyler?”Damn it! T
Alyssa took a deep breath and met his gaze. Her usually self-assured expression was gone. She looked shaken, anxious. Was she worried he’d discover her lie?Tamping down the ironic smile, he took her hands in his at the justice’s prompting. The older man paused and sent him a weighty stare.“Kiss your bride.”Now, this was something he’d been waiting for since she’d suddenly reappeared in his life last Saturday. Since that moment, they’d talked wedding details by phone and e-mail, the tone infuriatingly businesslike. Earlier this week, he’d had to take a damn PR trip to New York and hadn’t returned to Lafayette until yesterday. The simple ceremony hadn’t required a rehearsal, so he’d arranged a quiet dinner with his parents last night so they could meet her. He hadn’t been alone with Alyssa for a single minute this week. He hadn’t touched her since that disastrous night in her bedroom above the club.He was dying to kiss her.Luc cupped her face and leaned in. Alyssa clamped her hands
Luc frowned. “Aunts, uncles, cousins?”She shook her head. In truth, she hadn’t thought about them in years. She hadn’t dared contact them. Her cousins were likely married, had children. Her aunt Anna was probably retired from teaching school.“None. Could we drop it?”He looked ready to say something, then closed his mouth. A long, silent minute passed before he finally said, “If you ever want to tell me about your family, I’d love to listen.”“You said yourself we needed to look forward, not back. I think that’s an excellent suggestion.”Sighing, Luc gripped the wheel. “Are you hungry? You didn’t eat much lunch.”No, but she was starting to feel weak. Since becoming pregnant, she’d noticed that she couldn’t skip meals the way she used to. And most days until about two, she lived on crackers and apple juice.“I should eat.”He smiled. “I’ll take care of it.”Like he’d taken care of things this week. Most men would simply have asked when to show up. Instead, he’d arranged the invitati
As she chewed the chocolaty fruit, he tossed back the last of the champagne. The moment she swallowed, he consumed her mouth in a greedy kiss, tasting the sharp swirl of flavors, savoring the way she opened to him, accepted him deep inside her mouth. He wanted to be deeper.Clutching her hips in his hands, he probed her slick, creamy folds with his cock, then began to push his way in, straight to the haven he’d missed and yearned for over the past seven weeks.Tight. So damn tight. He always had to fight his way in, and tonight was no exception. One shallow thrust, another, a third . . . Each time he eased in a bit farther, her snug walls created a sinful friction that had him hissing in a breath. Teeth-gritting patience and destructive pleasure—both nearly undid him.Finally, he sheathed himself completely inside her. With an eager moan, Alyssa rose up to meet both his tongue and his cock. What was it about her? So lush, so perfect, so . . . whatever that he could never get enough?U