Page 44 of Luke

Luke raised up on his elbows, keeping their bodies as close together as he could as he slowly, slowly entered her. They both moaned at the contact as he filled her, holding eye contact as he did.

He continued his slow torture of them both for several minutes. Luke slid from her and then buried himself again. It was a sort of pleasure pain that neither one of them was willing to stop.

“Move up,” Luke said, urging her to shift onto the bed all the way.

She did, having completely forgotten that their legs weren’t even on the bed. Luke went with her. Her moving while he stayed within her was another experience altogether, one she relished.

Once they were both fully on the bed, Luke held her gaze again as he picked up the pace. It didn’t take much for her to reach the edge, teetering on the precipice of something more, something she was climbing to, reaching for.

Luke slid his hands between them, finding her sensitive spot and applying just the right amount of pressure. She closed her eyes as she flew over the edge with Luke right there with her.

It took minutes for her breathing to slow and her heartbeat to return to something that could be considered normal. Luke was the same as he finally rolled over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling.

There were no words that could describe what had just happened. It was more than sex, an emotional connection that was undeniable. That was making love.

“Come on,” Luke said, pulling her from the bed.

He led them both to the shower where they took their time cleaning each other off until they were both ready to step out. Luke stayed in contact with her body in some way. She loved it.

They got into bed under the covers this time and she curled up against him, her wet hair splayed across the pillow behind her. Her head was rested on his chest and both of his arms wrapped around her.

Sleep was threatening to claim her as she felt Luke’s breathing even out. She held tight to the words that had been playing in her mind as she drifted into her own deep sleep. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she was speaking but she couldn’t stop it as those words spilled out.

“I love you.”

Chapter Twenty

Luke

“It could just be an empty threat,” Ryker offered.

Everyone except April was gathered in Luke and Paisley’s living room to discuss the email that she’d gotten. Luke was pacing near the window as they tossed out ideas about what his father’s next plan could be.

Luke needed to focus, but his mind kept replaying Paisley’s whispered words in the dark last night. She hadn’t mentioned what she’d said so either she didn’t remember or was expecting him not to have heard her. Either way, he hadn’t brought it up, knowing this meeting was coming.

“I don’t think it’s an empty threat.” Cade, who’d been quiet up until now, finally spoke. “But I think we are looking at it the wrong way. It has to be something that wouldn’t link back to him, and he’d need someone else to do it.”

“He’s right,” Luke added. “We need to think outside the box.” He turned to Matt. “Who has he been talking to?”

“No one new. That doesn’t mean he isn’t passing on messages somehow.” Matt tapped on his laptop.

“Do you have anything that’s suspicious in your history?” Cade asked Paisley.

“Cade,” Luke warned.

“I’m not asking to be judgmental. We already like you.” He softened his tone at Paisley. “I need to process what he might do. I know you were a foster kid, but is there anything you were accused of, ever, that might come back up now?”

Paisley worried her lip again as she thought, and everyone waited for an answer. “Nothing that I can think of. My closest sister was—is an addict, but that’s all I’ve got. Even then, I didn’t do drugs or get accused of it and it’s easy enough to prove that.”

Cade gave her a sharp nod. “If you think of anything, let us know, no matter how small.”

“I will.” She nodded at him.

“In the meantime, we know that he’s going to go after Ashley for whatever backward reason and we have her watched,” Cade said.

Ryker snorted. “Mostly.”

Luke tried not to feel guilty that he wasn’t there with her. She wouldn’t want him to be, but if something happened, he’d never forgive himself.

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