Hope Flames

by Jaci Burton

Page 31

  Author: Jaci Burton

  She nodded as she met him in the kitchen and opened the cooler to unpack the sodas and leftover food. “Yeah, it does. Does anything outside need to be secured?”

  “I’ll handle it. ”

  “Okay. I’m going to head up to take a shower. ”

  “I’ll do that myself after I finish outside. ”

  Emma grabbed a quick shower and slipped into a cotton sundress, leaving her hair damp. Luke showed up just as she was finishing combing out her hair.

  “Wow, you look gorgeous. ”

  She laughed. “My hair’s wet and I have no makeup on. ”

  He kissed her shoulder. “I like you that way. ”

  He was so . . . different from Vaughn, who’d preferred her dressed up, made-up, always perfect.

  She took a deep breath. “I’ll let you take your shower. I think I’m going to make us some iced tea. ”

  “Sounds good. I’ll be right down. ”

  She brewed the tea, then poured it in the pitcher, adding ice. By the time she gathered up sugar and sliced lemons, Luke had reappeared in a pair of shorts and a sleeveless top, his hair still damp from his shower. He slipped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

  “You smell good. ”

  She took a deep breath. “So do you. I made sweet tea. I can brew a pot of unsweetened if you’d rather have that. ”

  “Bite your tongue. All tea should have sugar in it. ”

  She grinned and poured two glasses of tea.

  Thunder had started rumbling outside. Emma glanced at the dogs, all three of them asleep in the living room, unaffected by the gathering storm.

  “They must have had an eventful day,” Emma said.

  “Lots to bark at outside. Protecting the homestead, you know. ”

  They took their glasses outside and sat on the front porch. It was still warm, but windy, the limbs of the trees stretching back and forth, the waves of the lake kicking up powerful crests as the skies darkened further.

  “I’ve always loved storms,” Emma said. “The sound of thunder, the crack of lightning, and the smell of rain. God, I love the smell of rain. ”

  “It’s a pain in the ass when I’m working, though. People don’t know how to drive in it. ”

  She looked at him. “And you have to deal with a lot of accidents. ”

  “Yeah. But days like today, when I’m off work, I love the rain, too. Being here where it’s quiet and all you have to deal with is nature, it’s perfect. When we were kids, my brothers and I would build forts in our rooms during thunderstorms and pretend we were mighty knights defending the castle during a siege. ”

  She laughed. “Obviously you all had good imaginations. ”

  “We had to do something. Three rambunctious boys forced inside due to weather? You can imagine the potential for destruction. ”

  “You could have read books. ”

  He cocked his head to the side and gave her a look. “Come on. I mean, books were fine later, when I was older. When we were young we wanted to be doing something, not reading about someone else doing something. Though my dad read to us. And would watch movies with us. That’s where we got the warrior and castle ideas. ”

  Again, not his mother. Sad. “I like that you envisioned yourselves as knights. ”

  “We’d use broomsticks as our swords. I gave Logan a black eye during a particularly vicious sword fight one stormy afternoon. ”

  She laughed. “Oops. Did you get in trouble?”

  “Nah. My dad accepted that we were boys. It’s not like we were fighting—just having some fun. And Logan laughed about it. ”

  “You got lucky. I always got in trouble for fighting with Molly. ”

  “I imagine your fights weren’t physical like ours were. ”

  “True enough. We mostly yelled at each other, then I’d get the blame for starting it because I was the older sister, when half the time it was Molly bugging me or taking one of my toys. ”

  “Younger siblings can be a pain in the ass sometimes. ”

  “Yes. I’d try to escape from her a lot. Fortunately, during stormy days she’d crawl onto my mother’s lap. She was afraid of storms. ”

  “And what would you do?”

  “I’d sit on the porch like this, as long as I could anyway, until the rain would drive me inside. Then I would cuddle up alone in my room with my blanket and read. ”

  “Oh, no. One of those bookish types. ”

  She laughed. “Yes. I’d sink into one of my stories and get lost in it while the world outside thundered and crashed around me. But inside I was safe and warm, with a story to keep me entertained. ”

  He reached over and slid a curl between his fingers. “Sounds pretty perfect to me. But you weren’t afraid of storms. ”

  “Never. ”

  “Me, either. We’d have been out playing in them if my mother hadn’t complained she’d have to do our laundry when we got muddy. ”

  “Little boys are supposed to get muddy. ”

  “That’s what I thought, too. She wasn’t much for anything that would cause extra work for her. ”

  “I’m sorry. ”

  He shrugged. “It’s no big deal. ”

  She slid her hand in his. “But it was, wasn’t it, Luke?”

  Her gaze met his and lightning arced across the sky, followed by a loud crash of thunder that drew their attention. The clouds burst, and rain came down in sheets so thick you couldn’t see. The wind whipped around them, rain lashing the porch. They grabbed their glasses and dashed inside.

  “Wow, that was rather abrupt,” she said, shaking the water droplets off.

  They went into the kitchen and dried off with a towel.

  The rain came down hard for the first thirty minutes, then settled into a steady, light shower after that. Emma and Luke curled up on the couch in the living room to watch.

  “Did you have fun water-skiing today?” he asked.

  He’d picked up her legs and draped them over his lap, pulling her closer. Emma had to admit, she didn’t mind this at all. She tilted her head back to look at him. “I had a great time. Thanks for taking me. ”

  “Thanks for driving the boat so I could get in a little skiing. ”

  “I enjoyed it. ”

  “Oh, right. That whole control thing. We were going to discuss that. ”

  She arched a brow. “No, I don’t believe we were. ”

  “Yeah. You said you liked being in control, and then I got hard thinking about you being on top. ”

  She laughed. “I think this conversation played out entirely in your head. ”

  “Did it? Huh. So about that control thing. ” He laid his glass on the table and pulled her on top of him. His hands splayed across her back, then started a slow trek south, stopping when he grabbed her butt.

  Her body started up a fast rush of pleasure. She wriggled against him. “So not subtle, McCormack. ”

  He quirked a wickedly sexy, bad-boy grin up at her. “I wasn’t really going for subtle, Dr. Burnett. ”

  She palmed his chest. His body was warm, a storm raged outside, and she couldn’t think of anyplace she’d rather be than right where she was.

  “No, you’re definitely not being subtle. ” The hard proof of that rocked between her legs, igniting her passion. She surged against him, lost in his eyes, which, when he was laughing, were a light greenish blue, but when filled with passion, like now, turned dark as a churning sea.

  “So, it’s storming outside, Emma,” he said, brushing her hair away from her face. His touch ignited her pulse rate as his hand lingered at the side of her neck. “Do you want to play indoors?”

  “Swordplay?” she asked.

  Luke laughed. “Yeah. Swordplay sounds good to me. ”

  Luke watched the change of emotions on Emma’s face, from playful to sexy to downright temptress as she bent and brushed her lips a
cross his. His breath caught as she slipped her tongue between his lips.

  She was just so damn sweet, a mix of innocence and sultry vixen that tightened his balls and turned him into a walking erection every time he was around her. She smelled good, her laugh drove him crazy, and she had a wicked sense of humor. Package that up in a body built for a man’s hands and a mouth made to worship, and she was damned near perfect.

  And as she moved that lush body of hers over his, she unraveled his senses. He let his fingers trek across her bare shoulders and over her back, feeling her breasts rise and fall against his chest as her breathing deepened.

  “I like this dress,” he said, smoothing his hands over the soft cotton that clung to her curves. “When you put it on after your shower, I wanted to take it off of you right away. ”

  She sat up, looked at him, that sexy, fuck-me look in her eyes making his dick harden even more. “Is that right?”

  “Yeah. ”

  “I can take it off. ”

  He tightened his hold on her hips. “No. Actually, I’d like you to keep it on. ”

  Her eyes gleamed with wicked desire. “I can do that, too. I’ll be right back. ”

  She slid off of him and disappeared upstairs while he took several deep breaths. The rain had intensified again, sheets of it pelting against the windows. Lightning flashed just as thunder banged so loud it startled the dogs, who all lifted their heads, looked around for a few seconds, then went right back to sleep.

  Emma came back downstairs with a condom packet in her hand.

  He smiled. “Smart thinking. I’d hate to be interrupted. ”

  She reached underneath her sundress and made quite the show out of shimmying out of her panties. While he never got a glimpse at the goods, he held his breath as the white cotton underwear slid down her legs.

  “God, that’s sexy, Emma,” he said, when the underwear pooled at her feet and she stepped out of them, then straddled him again.

  “I’m glad you think so, because I’ve never been much for stripping in front of a man. ”

  He grasped her hips and grabbed a handful of her dress. “Good to know. ”

  She reached down and laid her palm over his erection. “Now we need to get you inside me. ”

  Heat flared throughout his body, his balls quivering in response. “Oh, I think we need more foreplay. ”

  “Who’s in charge here?”

  He laughed. “You are. ”

  “I know what I need. I’ve been watching you all day, with your tanned body on the boat and out on the water, your skin gleaming in the sun. ” She raised his shirt, sliding her hands underneath. “All I could think about was getting you naked and inside me. That’s about all the foreplay I can stand, Luke. ”

  He liked her way of thinking. And knowing she wore nothing under that dress had his hard-on raging.

  “Then let’s get to it. ” He leaned forward and pulled his shirt off, while she helped him by raising up enough so he could slide out of his shorts.

  She reached for him, curling her fingers around his shaft. “Now this is what I need. You, naked, with me on top of you. ”

  He reached for the condom packet, his fingers shaking as she stroked him. “You do too much of that and we’ll be finished before we ever get started. ”

  She leveled one hell of a naughty smile at him. “Oh, I bet you have a lot more willpower than you think. ”

  He applied the condom and lifted her dress, her beautiful body exposed to him as she slid over him, onto him. She gasped and he swallowed, hard, as he entered her, filling her.

  “Emma,” he said, barely able to find his voice as she seated herself fully on him. He grasped her hips and stilled her, looking up at her. “Hang on a sec. I just need to feel you. ”

  She stared down at him, her body quivering around him, beckoning him to thrust, to give her what they both needed. He drove into her. Emma tilted her head back, her eyes shuttering closed as she rode him.