Girl in Luv

by Jay Crownover

  “I just wanted to say thank you for coming tonight.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Richard, I’m just so proud of you and this step you’re taking. Mom and I always knew you’d marry a good girl.”

  My back stiffened as the group laughed politely. Iker’s hand found mine under the table, his fingers lacing tightly.

  “No, really, Camille, you’re everything we imagined for Richard. Beautiful, elegant, and intelligent. We’re excited to welcome you into our family tomorrow. To Richard and Camille!”

  Everyone raised their glasses, repeating the toast.

  My lips parted, but the words wouldn’t come.

  “Now, enjoy the dessert bar!”

  The party stood, and Iker tugged me to the window. “I’m glad he’s marrying the girl who only acts good,” he said, tipping my chin up.

  “Yeah?” I forced a smile.

  “Yeah.” He lowered his face slowly, then brushed his lips over mine before kissing me sweetly, softly. “Because now I get to kiss you.”

  “Damn, get a room, you two,” Richard slurred, more than wasted as he walked over to us.

  I rolled my eyes at him. How funny that he’d been everything I thought I wanted, but now, standing here next to Iker, I couldn’t imagine ever marrying Richard. The two didn’t compare, not just physically, but in every other department.

  “Congratulations, again,” Iker said, but I saw the muscle in his neck flex.

  “Yeah, I guess my gain is...your gain, too.” He blatantly looked at me.

  “Right. I’m sure glad you fell for Camille.”

  Richard didn’t take his eyes off me. “Are you glad, Langley?” He swayed and threw his hand out to catch himself on the wall.

  “You’re drunk.” I was pointing out the obvious.

  “You’ve said that already tonight.” He tried to smirk, but didn’t pull it off. “So, Iker, what do you do in the army? I feel like I should know who I let in my family.”

  “We’re not family,” I snapped.

  “Tomorrow, we will be,” he said to me before swinging his head back to look at Iker. “So, what is it?”

  “I’m a cav scout. Nineteen Delta.” His arm wrapped around my waist, tucking me into his side. “First in, last out. That kind of thing.”

  It was clear Richard had no clue what any of the things Iker was saying meant.

  “Kill anyone?”

  I blanched, horrified. “Richard, what kind of question is that?”

  “Come on, don’t you want to know who you’re fucking?” He threw out his other hand, sloshing liquor out of his glass. “I want to know.”

  “You get one warning,” Iker cautioned, his voice level and low. All the scarier for it.

  “Or you’ll what? Don’t you know who I am by now?” Richard’s voice raised, which promptly sent every head swiveling in our direction.

  “I don’t really care who you are. I care how you speak to Langley.”

  “How I speak to Langley?” Richard laughed. “Oh, that’s fucking perfect. I’ve known Langley since we were twelve. I know that girl inside and out. Can you say the same?” His brows lowered and he looked at me. “Can he, Langley? Does he know you like I do?”

  “He knows me better.” It was true. I’d shown more of myself to Iker in the last few days than I ever had to Richard. Iker didn’t need me to be perfect. Didn’t need me as a showpiece or a trophy. Iker just needed me to be...me.

  My eyes surveyed the room and landed on Camille. I sent her a pleading look.

  She looked as stricken as I felt, and for the first time in my life...I felt bad for her.

  “I highly doubt that. I can’t figure out why you’d let this piece of trash touch you, when you could have your choice”—he swung his arm out again, losing the rest of the contents of his glass—“of guys from our...class, shall we say?”

  “Ass, we shall say!” I snapped.

  “You really are a dick, Dick,” Iker responded, still cool and collected.

  “Okay, honey, why don’t we—” Camille tried, making her way over to us.

  “Tell me, Langley, does he know about that little sound you make right before you come? Because—”

  I blinked, and a moment later, Iker had Richard pinned against the wall.

  “Oh, shit!” I heard one of the groomsmen shout.

  Whoever wasn’t looking our way sure as hell was now.

  “I told you. One warning. You don’t get to talk to her like that. Not now. Not ever. You gave up any right to her the minute you fucked her stepsister. Understand?” Iker’s words seethed anger, low and quick, but the look Camille shot me said she’d heard them.

  Richard’s complexion ruddied as Iker pressed his arm against the base of his throat.

  “Apologize.”

  Richard tried to push Iker off, but he wasn’t strong enough.

  “Apologize, now.” The threat was there, plain as day. Iker did not come to play and he had lost any patience he may have had for Richard’s bullshit not long after he met him.

  Richard’s eyes found mine. “I’m sorry.”

  Iker removed his arm and Richard sank to the floor.

  Camille darted around Iker, dropping to her knees in her white silk sheath. “Baby!”

  Iker sent one glare toward two of the slowly advancing groomsmen, and they backed away.

  “I told you that he wouldn’t fit in here!” Camille shrieked at me. “Look what you’ve done! This disaster is all your fault.”

  Iker held out his hand to me.

  “Are you serious? Like she’s going with you now,” Richard spat.

  Iker didn’t flinch, didn’t lower his hand, didn’t say a single word.

  He just waited for me to choose.

  I could stay here, surrounded by what I knew, comfortable in my little cage, or I could take his hand and gain freedom.

  The want came with the risk.

  I stepped forward and took Iker’s hand, strong and steady. As we left, I paused, looking down at Camille and Richard. “You guys have a great night. We’ll see you tomorrow. Might want to sober him up a little, first. He says really stupid things when he’s drunk and you don’t want him to look hungover in your precious wedding photos.”

  Camille’s jaw dropped, but I was too giddy to care.

  I had Iker and my freedom.

  I could finally breathe.

  Rebellion felt almost as good on the inside as it looked on the outside.

  Iker

  If I were someone else, someone who had enough money to pay for the damages, I would trash this hotel room. I was that pissed off.

  It felt like everyone who had anything to do with this damn wedding took lessons in how to be exceptionally terrible, and I hated how Langley just accepted all the crap they were shoveling her way without question. I appreciated that the girl was willing to suffer in silence for her father—after all, I’d taken more than one hit in defense of my own family. But at some point, she had to realize enough was enough. It was her father’s job to shield her, not the other way around. If she wasn’t going to take the initiative to fill him in on how awful things were for her, I was going to have to find the time to have a chat with the man before I disappeared from her life for good. If anything, the phone call I’d taken from the L.T. right before dinner had driven that point home—I didn’t belong in Langley’s world.

  I flinched when I felt Langley’s hand rest on my tense shoulder as I paced angrily from one side of the hotel room to the other. The contact halted my jerky steps and I took a calming breath before meeting her concerned gaze.

  “I feel like I should apologize, but I know I didn’t do anything wrong. I knew everyone was going to be upset and judge you when I roped you into this. I had no idea it would be this bad, or that everyone was going to lose their damn minds.”

  She gasped when I caught her hand in mine and slowly backed her toward the massive bed in the center of the elegant hotel room. I grabbed her other hand and kept moving until the back of he
r knees hit the edge of the mattress. She went down without a fight, even as the position moved the hem of her dress up dangerously high on her smooth, tanned thighs. I kept both her hands trapped in one of mine as I leaned over her.

  I traced the furrow between her pale eyebrows with my free hand, and ordered, “Don’t you dare apologize for their bad behavior. Not now. Not ever.”

  She had been nothing but adorable and accepting since the night we met. She was the only thing keeping me from thinking all rich people had lost their damn minds.

  Her blue eyes practically glowed as she stared up at me. The center of my chest throbbed painfully when her teeth suddenly bit down on her plump, lower lip.

  “I won’t apologize for them. Or for the fact that I’d rather spend time with you than pretending we’re all one happy family. I’m not sure I would have survived this week without you, Iker. I don’t know how to thank you for being here with me. I will be forever thankful I sat down next to you at the bar that night.” A soft smile tugged at her lips, forcing me to bite back a groan.

  She was stretched out beneath me like a very tempting buffet, and there was no way I could ignore the way all her soft and yielding parts lined up perfectly with the parts of my body that were getting harder and harder with each minute that passed.

  “Your gratitude isn’t at the top of the list of things I want from you at the moment, Langley.” Surprisingly, neither was her money.

  It was impossible to think of anything besides her velvety skin and slight curves when we were pressed together so tightly there wasn’t even room for a deep breath between the two of us.

  Her plush, pink lips twitched again, and this time I didn’t bother to control the growl that rumbled out of my chest. I lowered my head so our foreheads touched and tried to convince myself the best thing for both of us would be for me to get up and walk away from her right now. Unfortunately, neither my dick nor my heart were exactly on board with that plan. In fact, it was the first time I could pinpoint both of those parts of my anatomy agreeing on one girl.

  “What do you want?” Her tone was breathy and her eyes were making all kinds of dangerous promises. I wanted to take her up on them so badly I could taste it.

  I wanted time.

  More of it.

  All of it.

  But it was the one thing no one could give me, and the one thing I couldn’t take for myself.

  “Too many things to name, but I don’t think what I want and what you need are the same thing.” I was equally as conflicted as I was turned on.

  Would it be fair to her to take things to the next level when the fact that she was paying me still lingered between us…and when she didn’t really have a clue what being with me meant?

  “What is it you think I need?” My entire body stiffened in response when her hands suddenly lifted and pushed the expensive suit jacket she bought for me off my shoulders. I had to let her hands go to shake the fabric loose, and I sucked in a breath when I felt her fingers on the buttons of my shirt.

  I closed my eyes briefly and inhaled a sharp breath when she pulled the tails of the shirt from the waistband of my pants.

  “You need someone who can protect you from half your family. Someone by your side who knows how to play these complicated, rich-people games. Someone who knows the rules. You’ve been going at it alone. You need someone who is on your side, indefinitely.”

  Permanence wasn’t part of my game plan. However, she was the first woman who’d managed to make me wonder what it would be like to have someone special waiting for me. I always assumed leaving someone behind would feel like a burden and be a distraction. Langley made me question if my thinking had been selfish and backward this entire time. Maybe having someone to come home to would be comforting rather than suffocating…if that person was the right person.

  My family missed me because they relied on me. They were used to me taking care of everyone and everything. They missed me for other reasons as well, but we all knew I was the glue holding us together. Having someone like Langley waiting for my return meant I’d be coming back to someone looking forward to taking care of me for once. I’d always had to be strong, the one who never let the world see I was struggling. It felt different with Langley. I wondered if she would be able to put me back together if I came home shattered into a million pieces.

  “You’re wrong. I don’t need someone to protect me. I needed someone to give me the strength to finally protect myself because, no matter what, I’m the one who has to fight this battle, day in and day out. I shouldn’t rely on anyone else for that.”

  Her warm palms slid enticingly up my ribs underneath the fabric of my shirt, stopping briefly to trace the black roses inked high up on my side even though she couldn’t see them. The tattooed thorns on the stems looked like they were digging into my skin and red drops of blood decorated my whole rib cage.

  “Now ask me what I want, Iker.” The challenge in her voice made my dick even harder than it already was.

  Silently admitting defeat, I tugged the cufflinks that cost more than I made in a month off of the shirt and carelessly tossed them somewhere behind me.

  “What do you want?” It was a useless question. I could see the answer in her eyes, and feel the answer in her delicate hands that held so much power over me right now.

  She wanted me. Wanted this moment. Wanted the escape and the connection.

  Instead of replying, one of her hands reached for the buckle of the Gucci belt she had bought for me, and the other reached for my face. I let her pull me back down so I was braced over her silk and lace-clad body. Her fingers were cool on my jaw, but her mouth was hot when our lips touched.

  I liked the way she kissed. Liked that there was nothing pristine or polished about it.

  It was a little desperate and hurried. It made me feel like she was just as impatient to get close as I was. It made me feel like she was just as caught up and helpless to fight this inexplicable connection we shared. When we kissed, when we touched, all the differences and contrasts in our lifestyles faded away. When our hands were on each other’s bodies, the only thing that mattered was the way we made each other feel.

  I steadied myself over her with an arm bent above her head. I let one of my knees slide between her parted legs, pushing the hem of her blue dress up even farther. Her fingers were quick with my belt and the zipper on my pants. The sound of it lowering was barely audible over our rapid breaths and the sound of my heart thundering in my ears.

  My tongue circled hers as my free hand skated up the outside of her toned thigh. I felt her muscles quiver under the light touch and had to fight back a possessive growl. Making her react to my every caress, my every movement and sound, was highly addictive. I wanted to own all her quiet whimpers and gentle shakes. I wanted to claim the way she shuddered against me, and the way she pulled her mouth away from mine so she could gasp my name as my fingers found the lacy edge of her barely there panties. I wanted her to swear she wouldn’t look at anyone else with those dazed baby-blues, and I wanted her to promise no other man would ever make her turn that enticing shade of pink. But I knew all of that was a pipe dream.

  What I needed was to make the most of the time we did have together so regardless of what happened in the future, I knew she wouldn’t be able to forget me. I might not be the right guy for her, but I definitely didn’t mind being the guy she would compare every other man to in the future. I was okay being the right guy for her for the night.

  Her lips skimmed across my jawline while her quick and clever hands went to work on getting me the rest of the way out of my shirt. I slipped my fingers under the elastic edge of her underwear and let out a surprised inhale against her wet, swollen mouth when my touch was met with damp, heated skin. She was soft and slippery. Hotter than hell, and so damn sexy. Her reactions were unguarded and unpracticed. Raw and so very real.

  There was so much about us being together that was fake, it did something to my insides to know that at least when we were
together like this, intimate and vulnerable, we could be entirely honest with one another. That knowledge spurred me on more than any amount of money ever could.

  I deepened the kiss. Stealing her breath while trying to catch mine when I felt her body arch up off the bed, pressing her chest into mine and sending my exploring fingers closer and closer to the soft, sweet center of her body. I wanted to take my time. To savor the precious remaining seconds we had with each other. She was making it so damn hard, though. Every time she moved, the way she reached for me and held me close, pushed my self-control closer and closer to the breaking point.

  I lifted my head so we could both catch a breath, and watched her with hooded eyes as her hands reached for the gaping fly of my pants and the visibly hard flesh behind the thin cotton of my black boxer-briefs. One of her legs shifted and I felt the heel of her stilettos dig into the back of my thigh. The sharp sting was almost enough to bring me back my senses, but just as the fog was about to clear, her long, elegant fingers brushed across the front of my underwear, making the straining erection behind the fabric kick in response.

  “Stop thinking so hard.” That smile she had, the one reserved only for me which rivaled the sun in brightness, claimed her kiss-reddened mouth. “Just feel. Everything.”

  Her knuckles continued to rub along the hard length of my cock, and I decided there was nothing I could do but take her advice because I was powerless against her allure.

  I felt the way her hard nipples pressed into my bare chest.

  I felt the way her wet, velvety folds fluttered when my fingers danced closer and closer to her heated center.

  I felt the way her spine stiffened when I kissed and licked my way to her ear.

  I felt the way her heart pounded and the way she shifted restlessly underneath me as my fingers finally found their way into the clasping warmth of her body.

  We both moaned at the contact, and I nearly bit the tip of my tongue off when I felt her fingers slip into the stretchy fabric of my Calvins. Her palm was unbelievably soft when she fisted my painfully hard cock. My eyes slammed closed momentarily, and for the first time in a long time, I had to count backward in my mind to keep myself in check. I’d been so focused on her each and every reaction, each and every moan and shudder, I’d lost track of my own responses. I reacted to her just as quickly, and just as violently, as she did to me.