Jill Shalvis - Luke

He was going to touch and kiss and lick every inch of her. Thank God. He was going to do that because she'd asked him to, because she'd told him it was what she wanted, and she did want it, so badly she was trembling in anticipation, but she also wanted much, much more-

Bending, he rubbed his jaw with hers, tenderly, sweetly, and gently laid her down on her bed, making her forget everything but him. With his finger, he leaned over her and smoothed the furrow she got between her eyes when she thought too much. "Uh-oh," he whispered. "You're looking tense." With a knee on the bed and his wide palms on her shins, he ran them up her legs. "Can't have that."

His hands slid over her knees and kept going, and her heart started that heavy drumming again.

"Cold?" he murmured. He'd reached her thighs. She managed to shake her head.

"Good." Sliding his hands around the back of her thighs now, he pulled them open, then looked down at what he'd exposed, and let out a low, rough, serrated breath.

So did she.

His hands were on the move again, over her legs, fingers outstretched… until they almost reached… the apex of her thighs. Now it was her turn to suck in a breath, her hips arching toward him, waiting, desperately waiting. Then he touched, and she cried out.

"You're so beautiful, so perfect." Carefully, slowly, he bent his head…

She felt his warm breath brush over her and went utterly still, suddenly a little unsure. "Um… Luke-"

"Shh…"

"But-" At the first touch of his tongue she nearly exploded.

At the second touch she did.

Brilliant lights, blood roaring in her ears, skin too tight for her body, heart threatening to burst out of her chest, the whole enchilada as she came wildly, helplessly.

And came. And came.

Finally, after what might have been two seconds or two hours, she was flat on her back, blinking at the ceiling, fists in the sheets, legs held open by Luke's wide shoulders.

He lifted his head from where he'd been kissing her inner thigh. "You okay?"

She considered. "I can't feel my toes."

He lifted up a little. "Better?"

"No."

His face fell, and she nearly laughed, but this was not a laughing matter. "Do you want to know what would make it all better?" she whispered.

He didn't look sure, and she nearly laughed again because how often did she get to see Dr. Universe look unsure? "What would be better," she said, "is you inside me."

His smile was slow and wide and stopped her heart. Then he gave her what she wanted, he was inside her, and her heart started up again in a slow, heavy beat because nothing, nothing, had ever felt so right.

"Faith." He cupped her face and leaned in to kiss her as he slowly withdrew, his hot, hard length dragging on her hot, wet flesh, and just when she started to whimper in protest, he came back with one long thrust. Then another. And another, and she felt that tight, unbearable, anticipation build back up.

"Again," he urged against her mouth. "Come for me again, Faith." And to ensure she did just that, he slid a hand between them, cupped a breast and stroked her nipple with a slightly rough thumb.

Gasping, she arched into him.

"That's it…" His hand skimmed over her quivering belly now, down, down, until his thumb could help keep up the rhythm in the wet curls between her legs, all while he urged her on with soft, sexy words no man had ever uttered to her before.

Fingernails embedded in his butt, head tossed back, dark and needy noises being ripped from her throat, she came completely undone for him. Again. Vaguely she heard him lose control, too, with a rough, guttural groan and her name on his lips as he sank over her hot, damp, replete body

Dazed, she held him to her, drowning in pleasure, drowning in him.

Unbelievably, she started to doze… all the way up until she realized they hadn't given a single thought to birth control.

Some health professionals they were.

A few minutes later, Luke got the bum's rush out Faith's door. On the porch in the cool night air, he turned to her just as she shoved his jacket in his hands and shut the door on him. "Faith-"

She opened it a crack. "I've got to get up early."

"Yeah." But that wasn't the issue and he knew it. He could tell by her glossy eyes and pale skin she was just as blown away as he was-hell, make that terrified-by what had just happened, by how they'd so completely lost it. "Faith, we didn't use birth control."

She let out a shrill laugh, then covered her mouth.

"You noticed," he said, then scrubbed his face with his hands. "I've never forgotten before. Christ, I'm so sorry. I swear to you, you won't catch anything-"

Another half-hysterical laugh escaped her mouth and with a sigh he pushed the door all the way open and gathered her resisting body close. "If it's a pregnancy you're worried about, we'll deal with it. Together. Okay?"

She didn't answer so he pulled back to see her face. "Faith. We face it together."

She dropped her hand away from her mouth. "We're professionals. I see the effects of teens not using birth control every single day- My God, I coach them all the time on the importance of abstinence, and what do I do? I get so completely carried away-"

"We," he interrupted. "It was a we thing tonight in the carried away department."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah." And there was no excuse, none.

"I mean, we even planned this," she said, baffled. "I even purchased-" Breaking off, she blushed.

"I did, too." He patted his back pocket. "Maybe I should pin them to my shorts next time."

She bit her lip. Glanced up at him. "Next time?"

"Isn't there going to be a next time?" Please, God, let there be a next time.

"But we were so stupid about it."

"We won't ever be again," he vowed, so shockingly close to begging he had to forcibly close his mouth.

"There's five weeks left," she said very softly.

"I want every one of them."

"That's what I promised you. But… for the rest of tonight I think I'd like to be alone."

Suddenly he wished he'd negotiated the sleeping part, too. It'd have been nice to stay with her curled in his arms all night long.

And while he was at it, he should have negotiated for more everything, since unlike all of his other sexual escapades-of which there hadn't been as many as he'd liked to think-he wanted more. Lots more.

"Good night, Luke."

He wished he could see her face, but she'd stepped into the shadows. Apparently he was the only one here dwelling over their decision. Not good. Not good at all. "Good night, Faith."

Faith didn't know what she expected the next night. She got out of the bath and put on a robe as she thought about it. Would Luke come, even though it was a weeknight?

Or would he wait until the next weekend, until after they'd worked together all day? Certainly the weekend would be more convenient for him, because she imagined his busy schedule wouldn't permit him much of a personal life on the weekdays, plus certainly he wouldn't want to see her again so soon-

Her doorbell rang and she nearly swallowed her tongue.

Oh God. He'd come.

No. No, it couldn't be Luke, he'd just seen her yesterday, surely he wouldn't want to…

The surge of hope and joy that whipped through her was nothing short of pathetic.

But it turned out to be Shelby, dressed to the nines in a little black cocktail dress and heels, her blond hair artfully piled on top of her head. She held a casserole dish. "Here," she said. "I made extra. High on the protein, no sugar."

Faith took the delicious-smelling dish. "You cooked for me in that?"

"No, I cooked for my date." She let out a wicked grin. "He's getting a casserole dish, too, but for him, I also made dessert."