But rather than undo his jeans button, Luke reached for his piercing.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Removing it.’ His eyes, dark green now, hot and intense, stared back at her. ‘I don’t need it anymore.’
Oh God. Her stomach swooped, yet as much as she appreciated the sentiment, it felt wrong. ‘No, stop.’ She crawled over to him, placing a hand over his. ‘This is part of you, part of the journey you’ve taken. I don’t want to erase your past.’ Her fingers toyed with the simple silver ring and when he cursed under his breath, she smiled up at him. ‘Plus it’s freaking sexy.’
‘Christ, Mia, it is when you touch it.’ His big body shuddered again, and she felt dizzy with power. Bending her head she pressed a kiss his chest, her mouth running over the hot skin of his pecs, across the ridges of muscle.
‘Mia.’ Her name was a strangled moan. ‘You don’t know what you’re doing to me.’
She placed a hand on the hard bulge in his jeans and squeezed gently. ‘I’ve got an idea.’
He swore again, then grabbed at her wrist, moving her off him. ‘Right, that’s it, I’m too close to embarrassing myself. It’s your turn to take some clothes off.’ His eyes trailed up her body until they met hers. ‘And my turn to tease the hell out of you.’
‘Okay. I’m on board with the teasing.’ Her new-found confidence wasn’t quite as solid as she’d hoped it was though, and alongside desire, she felt a skitter of the nerves from earlier.
‘Stop it.’ His voice was gruff, his expression frustrated yet his eyes soft as he cupped her face. ‘I want you, Mia. Your short yet perfect legs captivated me when you wore that yellow dress. Your breasts have been the stuff of my fantasies ever since I was crushed against them at the Chill Factore. As for the rest of you, I’ve danced with you, felt the length of you against me, even moulded my hands across that pert bum before dragging them back to your waist and reminding myself we were only friends.’ He smiled. ‘I know your body already. Taking off your clothes, seeing you naked, is just the cherry on the top of the most delicious cake I’ve ever wrapped my big mitts around.’
Slipping her arms around his neck, she rested her head against his chest. ‘How do you always know the right thing to say?’
His hands shifted, sliding down her back, drawing her tight against him. ‘I don’t. I’m sure I’ll do more than my fair share of pissing you off.’ His eyes searched hers. ‘But I see you, Mia. I get you.’
Inside her chest, her heart shifted and Mia knew what had gone before had been nothing. Affairs she’d had with guys she’d liked, been attracted to, enjoyed for a while before they’d hurt her, bruised her ego, crushed her confidence. This, with Luke, felt huge. Life changing. Yet on the flip side, it also meant Luke didn’t just have the potential to hurt her. He could crush her.
Did she trust him to be careful? To be the person he claimed he wanted to be, and not the one he’d spent all his adult life being?
His eyes pressed hers, and she saw how deeply he felt this moment, how much he meant what he said. So she took a deep breath, and a huge leap of faith, and pressed her lips against his.
Luke had been on permanent arousal for what felt like the entire evening, ever since Mia had come into the bar.
Now he had her back in his arms for a second time, and he wasn’t going to let anything stop them. Not the doubts he felt she still had, nor the single doubt he still had – that she would ever really trust him. The only way he could earn her trust was over time, and he planned on having lots of time with Mia.
Maybe even a lifetime of it.
The thought made his insides clench. He’d thought of a forever once before, and been rejected. Was he seriously thinking he could go through all that again?
But then Mia’s lips found his, and his mind short-circuited. All he could focus on was the sweet taste of her, the scent of her, fresh as spring blossom.
Unerringly his hands worked their way under her top, lifting it over her head to reveal her simple white sports bra. He smiled, enjoying the cleavage it created, yet also the fact that this was Mia, true to herself, not trying to pretend to be anything other than who she was; sporty and unfancy.
‘Bet you’ve not seen many sports bras.’
For a split second he worried they were going backwards again, her thinking of his past, yet when he looked at her face, he saw only dry amusement. ‘I like it.’ He slid his fingers beneath the elastic, and at the feel of her full breast he hardened even further behind his fly. If he didn’t get his jeans off soon, he was going to burst through the damn things. ‘I think I’m going to like what’s beneath it even more.’ With that he eased the bra over her beautiful full breasts, lust raging through him as his eyes feasted on her now naked chest. ‘Bloody hell, I’ve died and gone to heaven.’
She laughed, which caused her breasts to jiggle, and his jeans to feel even more cramped. Yet as much as he wanted to get shot of them, to peel off hers and get them both naked, he wanted to worship her breasts even more. So he ignored the ache and took one of her proud pink nipples into his mouth.
‘God, Luke.’ Her hands clasped his head as he licked and sucked, his fingers busy on her other breast where his mouth couldn’t reach. In the end it was she who pulled back, chest rosy red, breath coming out in pants. ‘You’re driving me crazy. Get your clothes off.’
Chuckling, he tucked his hands under the waist of her jeans and peeled them over her legs. ‘Not until I’ve got yours off first.’ The humour died the moment he slid off her underwear, leaving her flushed and naked before him, all rounded curves and soft lines.
Beautiful. Yet when he sought her gaze, he saw her vulnerability. And when she spoke, he heard it as her voice caught. ‘You now.’
‘You’re perfect, Mia.’ He ran his hands over her breasts, across the gentle curve of her stomach. ‘Absolutely bloody perfect.’
‘That’s bollocks and you know it.’ But when her eyes dipped to his crotch, the corners of her mouth curved upwards. ‘Though it’s clear you like me.’
‘I more than like you.’ Deciding he was done with the teasing, he reached for his jeans button and flicked it undone, carefully sliding the zipper over his swollen dick before yanking the jeans off his legs.
‘What happened to the strip show?’
‘Shelved for a day when we haven’t had what feels like a million hours of foreplay.’ He grabbed a condom from the bedside table and slid it on before climbing onto the bed next to her, running his hands across her breasts and over her stomach before sliding a finger inside her heat.
Her hips arched off the bed. ‘Yes, God yes.’
Easing over her, mindful of his size yet unbearably turned on by the feel of her beneath him, he gazed into her eyes. ‘If I don’t get inside you in the next few minutes, I think I’m going to explode.’
Her smile was half sensuous, half mischievous. ‘If you don’t get inside me in the next few seconds, I’m going to flip you onto your back and climb on top of you.’
‘Fuck, that’s sexy.’ Unconsciously his hips thrust against her thigh, the image burning through him. ‘You reckon you could do that?’