Good Girls Don't Page 14

  Tessa sighed into his mouth. “I missed you,” she said, the words barely a whisper.

  The lurch of his heart scared the shit out of him. “You’re just using me for my body,” he joked in defense.

  “I know.” She sighed. “It’s so great.”

  His huff of laughter strangled on a groan when she snuck her hand down to press against his cock.

  “You’d better button your coat, Detective.”

  “You’re not helping.” He jerked his head toward the view. “Look. The moon’s rising.” She took her hands off him long enough for him to take a few deep breaths while she oohed and aahed over the view. “Are you hungry yet?” he managed to ask.

  She looked over her shoulder to run her gaze down his body. “Starving.”

  “Stop it,” he growled, knowing he’d spend the whole meal thinking about her mouth. Laughing, she led him into the restaurant like he was a puppy on a leash. Luke didn’t feel even a twinge of shame. She could put a leash on him if she wanted as long as that path led to being deep inside her body.

  Ninety minutes later, he was trying valiantly to focus on the conversation. It wasn’t that she bored him. Not at all. It was that she’d just swiped her finger through the last of the sauce on her plate and was now surreptitiously sucking her finger. “Sorry,” she said, totally mistaking his frown. “You’ll probably never take me to another nice place.”

  “No,” he said hoarsely. “Please.” When he gestured toward the béarnaise sauce on his own plate, Tessa laughed as if he were kidding. But a suitable replacement arrived in the form of the dessert tray. Tessa gasped and immediately ordered tiramisu, but Luke saw her eyes coveting the caramel cheesecake, too, so he ordered that.

  He poured the last of the wine into her glass, his mind registering that he’d only had one glass and she must be getting pretty tipsy. Then he went back to staring at her. Her dress dipped low enough to show off her cleavage, and it draped perfectly over her breasts, drawing his eye to every sweet curve. One slide of his hand and she’d be exposed to him. The thought haunted his every second.

  “…and I do want to talk about it. If you promise not to say anything.”

  Luke blinked and forced his eyes up. “What?”

  She slumped a little, pushing her dessertspoon around on the empty table. The plates were gone. “It doesn’t matter, anyway.” She sighed. “It’ll all be over in a few days.”

  Good God, what had he missed? “Tessa—”

  “Don’t look so worried. It’s nothing huge, just… I shouldn’t say anything, but I don’t want to keep any secrets from you, and the wine’s helping.”

  “You don’t need to—”

  “Eric has been working on a big deal with the Kendall Group for months, and I think Jamie has managed to screw the whole thing up.” She took a deep breath and let it out in relief. “There.”

  “Oh. So Eric doesn’t know?”

  “No. I’m trying to fix it. There’s still a possibility…” She trailed off, as if even she didn’t believe it. “There’s so much tension already. You don’t have any brothers or sisters?”

  “None.”

  “God, it’s so complicated.”

  He curved his fingers over hers and cradled her hand. “So what’s going to happen?”

  “If the deal falls through? I don’t know. I’m trying to pull something else together.”

  “By yourself?”

  She nodded, looking a little sick, but when the waiter approached with the desserts, her face brightened. “Oh, wow.”

  And then Luke was lost again, between the moaning and licking and sparkling eyes. He could picture her exactly…on her knees, wetting her lips, humming with pleasure.

  “This is so good.” Tessa moaned.

  “God, yes.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You haven’t even tried it yet.”

  No, but he truly hoped he would. Soon.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  TESSA HAD NO IDEA how close they were to Luke’s place, but she was counting the seconds down like a rocket launch. At the beginning of the drive down the mountain, Luke’s hand had been on her knee. Then it had slid a little higher, just to the edge of her dress so that her hem brushed his knuckles. After five minutes of torture, she was sure the heat must have imprinted his fingerprints into her skin permanently. She’d flexed her thighs, edged her knees apart, but he’d taken his sweet time moving higher. And he’d stopped well before he’d reached any interesting places.

  Now her purse was crumpled in her clutching hands, but Tessa refused to ask for more. He was in the driver’s seat tonight. She was just going to sit back and enjoy the ride. Unfortunately, they seemed to be stalled.

  She wanted his hand between her legs. Wanted him to stroke her right here in the car. She wanted him to shove his hand down the top of her dress and take terrible advantage of her before they even made it home. But then her pretty underwear would be wasted, wouldn’t it?

  She had to be patient. Patient. Good things come to those who wait.

  As if in affirmation, Luke’s hand tightened on her thigh. For a split second of joy, she thought he was pushing his hand higher, but then his hot grip disappeared, and he put both hands on the wheel as he slowed and turned into the driveway of a town house.

  Thank God.

  He’d done nothing at all worth noting, but she was already shaky with need. Wet with waiting for him to touch her. She had no idea what it was about him that drove her wild, but just watching him walk around the car to open her door made her shiver. She’d dated quite a few guys in her life, but they’d all seemed vaguely like overgrown college students. Maybe it was this town. Or maybe that’s what men in their twenties were like. But Luke inspired all sorts of different feelings in her. As if she could lean on him and he’d never falter.

  A strange reaction to a man who sparked the kinds of rumors he did. But that didn’t stop her body from embracing it.

  The steady night breeze brought goose bumps to her skin when he helped her out of the car, but she barely felt it. She was too busy counting the steps to the door, cursing the time it took for the key to find the lock. He stepped aside to let her in, and even his politeness now seemed just another torturous delay.

  He tossed his keys on a table. “Can I get you a drink or…” His words trailed off when she turned to face him and his gaze slid down her body. Her nipples were tight from the cold, and she knew that this dress didn’t hide that in the least.

  “You’re driving me crazy in that dress,” he said hoarsely.

  “Really? I couldn’t tell.”

  His eyebrows rose at the challenge in her voice, and when he took a step toward her, she took a step back. Another step brought her to the wall, and then Luke was on her, his mouth harsh with lust.

  He’d never kissed her so roughly before, and she loved the edge of wildness in his touch as he cupped a hand over her breast. His thumb flicked her nipple. His teeth scraped her lower lip. She was glad she’d played coy. The waiting had been even harder on him.

  He didn’t hesitate for a second before reaching for the straps of her dress and pulling them down. The dress slithered down her body and pooled around her heels. Luke touched the silk beneath and pulled back to look.

  “Jesus,” he said. “You’re gorgeous.” Slowly, he touched his fingertips to the silk, tracing a delicate circle around her tight nipple. The feel of the silk caressing her areola made her shudder. He traced even slower, his breath coming louder in the quiet room. She watched his fingers, the way his roughness caught at the silk, the way he worshipped her…. Then his head bent, and Luke sucked her hard into his mouth. The silk went warm and wet against her. His mouth pulled.

  Tessa cried out and wound her fingers into his hair to stop him from escaping. He tightened both hands on her hips to make sure she didn’t escape, either. As if she would move an inch away from him when her sex tightened with every draw of his mouth.

  “Oh, Luke,” she groaned past clenched teeth.
He drove her mad. Everything about him drove her mad.

  His mouth lifted, and the silk was sheer where he’d wet it. He went to his knees, his gaze on her breast, on the drawn bud of her nipple straining against the fabric. His eyes rose to meet hers, and his gaze was fierce and wild as he dragged a thumb over the spot he’d kissed. Spirals wound down to her belly. Her clit throbbed.

  As if he knew just what was happening, he lowered his head and kissed just below her navel. Then lower and lower still, until he put his mouth over her covered sex and sucked just as he had at her breast.

  Tessa cried out and her knees nearly buckled. She spread her hands against the wall, fighting the urge to let gravity pull her down as his tongue pressed wet silk against her clit. “Yes.” The heat was so good. So wet. And then he lifted his mouth and there was ice pressed against her when he blew.

  “You’re so fucking perfect,” he whispered, his eyes devouring the sight of her through the underwear. When he put his mouth back to her, the kiss was lighter this time, slower. She found herself whimpering within seconds, curling her nails into the wall while her heart soared up.

  When she closed her eyes and pressed her head to the wall, Luke’s hands slid to the tops of her thighs. His thumbs traced along the edge of her panties, over the tight tendons of her thighs, down to the hollow just below her sex. His tongue feathered against her sex, an incessant pleasure that never ended.

  “Oh, please,” she whispered. The edges of his thumbs eased beneath the silk. “Please, please, please.”

  He rubbed the plump flesh. His thumbs caught her wetness and dragged it over her.

  “Oh, God,” she gasped in desperation. She was so close, but he couldn’t get deeper, the fabric was too tight.

  Thank God he wasn’t so controlled tonight. He didn’t torture her. In fact, Luke barely lifted his mouth when he yanked the underwear down, and then his tongue was parting her, licking her, his fingers sliding along the seam of her body until they sank deep.

  Tessa angled her hips toward him, urging him deeper. His tongue worked magic and she gasped his name, then screamed it, then threw her head back in a wordless cry. The floor seemed to roll beneath her, but the wall held her up as her body shook. When the pleasure finally fell away, Luke put his mouth to her thigh, then her hip, her belly, her waist. All she could do was breathe until the dark spots in her vision faded.

  As Luke stood, she kicked the pile of clothing off her feet and fell to her knees. “Tessa—”

  “Shut up.” His back thunked against the wall when she swung him around, but before he could protest, she’d worked his buckle open and reached for his zipper. That kept him quiet. In fact, he struggled out of his jacket and pulled his tie free. He was still unbuttoning his shirt when she wrapped her hand around his thick cock. The skin was so hot and tight, stretched over his hardness. She gave a little hum of pleasure as she drew him free.

  “Ah, damn,” Luke breathed, working his shirt down his arms. She heard the tick of a button bouncing across the stone tile when he yanked the sleeves past his hands.

  She was glad he’d gone to the effort. When she looked up at him, he was one long expanse of lean muscle. She met his gaze past her lashes. His eyes blazed. His jaw clenched into a furious line. And then she kissed him.

  WHEN HER MOUTH touched him, it wasn’t a tentative taste, but a hot, openmouthed kiss that took half of him deep into her throat. Luke choked back a groan and tangled his fingers in her hair. Tessa’s moan of approval thrummed through his cock as her mouth tightened.

  He wanted to close his eyes and press his skull back against the wall so he could concentrate on every press of her tongue, but he couldn’t look away from her. Her flushed cheeks and golden hair, her pink lips sliding over him. The glistening moisture on his shaft when she pulled back before taking him deep again.

  “Tessa… Christ.” The idea of her innocence had clung stubbornly to his psyche, and this felt wrong. Forbidden. He had expected her to be tentative. Maybe even nervous. He hadn’t expected her to take him deep, to feel her throat tighten around him.

  “Mmm,” she purred.

  Shit, he was lost. There was no hope for holding out. He’d have to prove restraint and stamina later. Because right now her tongue was rubbing and her mouth sucking and…this was so wrong. This was Tessa.

  Yet the feeling was better than any fantasy he could’ve spun about her. His cock grew even harder until every draw of her mouth made him grimace with ecstasy. It only took a few moments of that pleasure before his control slipped. Luke cursed and his fist tightened in her hair.

  In response, she dug her fingers into his thighs and pressed so close that her mouth touched the base of his cock. He couldn’t stop from thrusting into her as his orgasm slammed through him. He couldn’t stop the low shout of primal joy that rumbled from his throat as she swallowed him down.

  Nothing—nothing—had ever felt so good as her mouth working him until the very last second of pleasure crashed down his spine.

  “Tessa.” He sighed, finally letting his head fall back against the wall. “Tessa,” he repeated, just to remind himself that it was really her. Because even after that, it seemed impossible.

  “LUKE?”

  “Mmm?” God, he’d make an effort at pillow talk if she wanted, but he felt drugged. The sheets were crisp and cool, her body was one long line of heat against him, and his skin still buzzed in some strange limbo between numbness and heavy pleasure. “What’s this?”

  He opened his eyes expecting her to be looking toward some picture or random knickknack in his room, but then he felt her hand touch his side. Oh.

  He closed his eyes again.

  “Is this where you were shot?”

  “No. That’s where I was stabbed.”

  “Stabbed?” Gasping, she pushed herself up to stare down at him. He was still trying to ignore her, but he opened his eyes to take in the view of her breasts.

  “Luke!” she slapped his chest impatiently.

  “What?”

  “How did that happen?”

  He sighed when he realized all his lethargy had vanished. Tension crawled back into his muscles like swarming ants. “I was stabbed.” When she started to growl, he added, “During an arrest.”

  “Oh, my God, were you okay?”

  He watched her breasts as she bounced with emotion. “I’m alive, right?”

  “Luke. Up here.”

  He shook his head. “If you want to have a conversation, I suggest you lie back down. Or put on a shirt. But preferably lie down.”

  She flounced down, her elbow pressing into his ribs until her arm finally settled its warmth across his stomach. Her fingers feathered against the scar.

  “It was pretty bad,” he said matter-of-factly. “Hit the intestines. Sepsis. All that.” All that. He’d been in the hospital for weeks. He’d nearly died.

  “I’m sorry,” Tessa said, her words whispering over his shoulder. “Was it here in Boulder?”

  “No. L.A.”

  “Oh.” She didn’t ask any more. Didn’t press him. And maybe that was why he said it, answering her unspoken question without really answering it.

  “My mom came out. She stayed with me, so I wasn’t alone. I moved out here a few months later.” Of course, Tessa couldn’t know what he meant, but her hand flattened and covered the scar as if she could heal it. It had been the lowest point of his life, lying in that hospital bed. He’d known he was close to dying. He’d felt death pushing him into that thin mattress, holding his limbs down. In that moment, he’d wanted one person with him. Just one person. And she hadn’t come. After everything they’d been through, she hadn’t come.

  Tessa kissed his shoulder. He closed his eyes.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked. He shook his head. He didn’t want to think about Eve. She had no place here.

  “Where were you shot?”

  “In my back, across my shoulder blade. It was minor.”

  “Another arrest?”


  “Yeah. It was my first week on the job.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  He felt a smile tug at his lips. Thank God he could laugh about it now. “I’m not kidding. I wasn’t even supposed to be in danger. I was in the hallway of an apartment during a big bust. One of the dealers fired his gun and the bullet came right through the wall and grazed me. You can’t imagine the kind of shit I took for that. My nickname for a while was Magnet.”

  Tessa’s head popped up. “Magnet?”

  “Bullet Magnet. They joked that I wasn’t safe to stand near. It was no big deal, but I was a rookie, so it took a while to wear off. Hurt my pride.”

  “Oh,” she said. He cracked an eye open to find her frowning down at him.

  “Really, it wasn’t that bad. After a while.”

  She smiled and laid back down. “Poor baby,” she crooned, and Luke chuckled and pressed a kiss to her head.

  “I had to work hard to prove I wasn’t a bad luck charm.”

  “Well, you make me feel safe,” Tessa said softly.

  “Safe from what?”

  “I don’t know. Safe from myself.”

  He drew his chin in to try to look down at her, but she shook her head.

  “I feel like I don’t have to think with you.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a compliment.”

  She smiled against his skin. “It is. I’m glad I came over.”

  He squeezed her closer. Her mouth brushed a kiss to his shoulder. He was sinking again. Tingling with relaxation. “Me, too,” he whispered, then as an afterthought, “Maybe we should do it in the bed sometime.” She was still chuckling when Luke closed his eyes and slept, the sound of her laughter nothing more than a soothing dream.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  TESSA SMILED AS LUKE kissed her again. The big cottonwood in her backyard shaded them from the dim morning light. She didn’t want to get out of his car. Didn’t want to go into her empty house. They’d finally managed to have sex in the bed that morning, and she would’ve spent all day there if she could, curled against him, lying under him.