was left was raw nerves and searing pain. “You have no right to show up on my doorstep after eight years of silence and say those words to me.
None
.”
Luke pushed himself forcefully from the chair. A trickle of fear spiked through Kayleigh’s bloodstream causing her heart to race and her breath to quicken. “And you have no right to tell me what to feel or what time frame I’m allowed to feel it in.”
Kayleigh wasn’t sure what was worse: his ridiculous proclamation of love, or her own foolish desire to want it to be true. “You don’t even know me anymore, Luke! How can you possibly love me?”
“I know you.” His anger was replaced by the trademark Blackwell self-confidence that piqued female interest throughout the county. Hell, the
world
. In a few quick steps, he’d crossed the living room and stood before her. Kayleigh slid from the arm of the couch down onto the sofa, her brain too full of Luke to function properly and her mouth too damned dry to form a single word.
He braced a heavily muscled arm on the back of the couch behind her and the other on the rest beside her. Kayleigh’s breath stalled as he leaned down, his mouth mere inches from hers. If she leaned in she’d get to kiss those full lips again …
“We’re a force of nature when we’re together. Unmovable. Unstoppable. Fierce and frenetic. You know it as well as I do. Get used to seeing me around, baby. I ain’t going anywhere anytime soon.”
He put his lips to her forehead. Such a simple, innocent kiss compared to what they’d done not thirty minutes ago. There wasn’t an ounce of guile in his expression as his gaze bore into hers. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Get some sleep.”
And as easily as he’d breezed through her front door, he took himself back out, closing it silently behind him. Kayleigh released the breath she’d been holding and it vibrated through her in microscopic tremors that tightened her abdomen. He was right. She couldn’t stay away from him any more than she could stop the sun from rising. Her body craved his on a primal level.
Get used to seeing me around …
Luke Blackwell was nothing if not stubborn. When he set his sights on something he got it. She’d given him her body easily enough tonight. Would she be able to resist him a second time? Or would she give him the opportunity to break her heart all over again?
Five
Luke slumped against the wall in the guest bedroom, his guitar cradled in his lap. He hadn’t slept at all after leaving Kayleigh’s house last night. Too keyed up for rest and much too wound up to just toss one off and call it a night. Going off into his own goddamned fist sounded about as appealing as getting a blowjob from a hammerhead shark. Nothing short of Kayleigh’s tight, wet pussy wrapped around his cock would satisfy him. The night hadn’t been a total loss, though. He hadn’t experienced such a surge of creativity in a long goddamned time. The words flowed, the music trickled from his fingers as though on its own. He had one song completely composed and another nearly finished. All thanks to Kayleigh.
Who knew a serious case of blue balls was the key to great writing?
Hell, there was no use kidding himself at this point. The inspiration that seized him had nothing to do with the need to get off. If that had been the case, he could have marched on down to the bistro and fucked the glossy-mouthed cashier senseless. What he’d gotten from Kayleigh last night was a hell of a lot deeper than a quick orgasm. And he wanted
more
.
“Lara says to tell you that you’re never allowed to leave.” Ryder poked his head in the doorway and leaned against the jamb.
Luke didn’t look up from his guitar, just kept strumming. “Why’s that?”
“Apparently, she enjoys being serenaded first thing in the morning.
I,
on the other hand, don’t like it quite as much.”
Luke snorted. He’d learned at an early age that the best way to deflect his classmates’ scorn was to