Chapter Two
Wow, that was quick but sensational. She wiggled her ass and absorbed the feeling of his hard shaft inside her pussy. Heaven, wasn’t this heaven with a man she’d initially not known how to deal with? Breathe, Ana, breathe. You got what you wished for, didn’t you? And then some. Quick and easy, no regrets later on.
Luke’s shaft was still inside her, and somehow, she didn’t feel used. Her pulse quickened. “Luke?” she whispered. She heard him clear his throat, but he didn’t move to dislodge himself.
The courtroom door opened, there was a sharp gasp, then the muttered, “Oh for Christ’s sake! Get a room!” before the door closed.
For a brief second, Ana wondered who it had been. She burst out laughing. She’d been caught in the most incongruous position possible—with her skirt pushed up around her waist and a criminal between her thighs.
Luke withdrew his penis, tugged her skirt down over her bare bottom and asked, “What’s so funny?”
She turned around. “First, I’m glad I’m on birth control.”
He breathed an audible sigh of relief.
“And second, I never imagined sex with you would be over within two minutes flat.”
His gaze was shuttered, and his lips turned down in a grimace. “I didn’t want our first time to be like that.” When he blinked and opened his eyes, tears glimmered in them.
Ana snorted. “You’ve always taken what you wanted, haven’t you?” Maybe the bank robbery had been the same way. Luke hadn’t received what he wanted and had thrown a big-boy tantrum, but she doubted it.
He lifted his head and spread his palms outward in front of his waist in a helpless motion. Large hands that could do things to her, like caress her fevered skin, tweak her nipples, or edge into her sheath. She shuddered, once again aroused.
“I’m not going to say that making love to you was a mistake, but what I’ve done is reprehensible.” He pressed his lips together in a tight line, before he relaxed marginally. “Especially when I need your help.”
Her pulse picked up. She shouldn’t ask. Her natural kindness had gotten her into trouble before. “I don’t understand. Why am I the only one able to help you?”
“Because of all the people in this big, wide world, you’re the only one I absolutely trust.” At her questioning look, he added, “My mother can’t help me. She’s got Alzheimer’s.”
Ana sucked in a breath. “That’s why you quit school, isn’t it? To take care of your mother.” That had to be it, although she’d speculated his father had cut off his monetary resources.
Luke nodded, and his eyes sparkled with hope. “You understand me.”
Ana recalled he’d said the police had been to his house searching for him and his mother had denied he’d been there. “Who’s taking care of her now?”
“Early this morning, I had to call in a favour from a guy at work who I trust to put her in a home.” His voice was thick with sadness. “I didn’t want to, but with the bank robbery thing, I couldn’t leave her by herself. Most of the time, she doesn’t even know who she is.”
“And your dad? Where is he?”
He shrugged, and his expression hardened. “When he discovered mother had Alzheimer’s, he left us. I haven’t seen him in over two years.”
So that was what he’d meant by a ‘parting of the ways’. “How did the police know where to find you?”
He gnawed his lower lip before he replied slowly, “I’ve been framed, Ana, by someone who hates me.”
The courtroom air-conditioners whirled on, breaking the hushed silence. “You sound like you know who it is.”
He inclined his head. “My own father.”
Ana didn’t dare believe him. “Why?” she asked outraged. “How can your own dad do this to you?” She scowled and rested her palm on his forearm sympathetically. Maybe Luke was feeding her a pack of lies, so the blame would rest elsewhere. She couldn’t imagine her own father framing her, but in her reading of hundreds of cases, she understood that some fathers got pissed off easily and could hurt their offspring without a second thought. She’d thought she’d seen most everything people could dish out to hurt others, but she’d been wrong.
“Because he found out I’m not his biological son.”
She began to understand. “Now he wants to hurt both you and your mother.”
He nodded half-heartedly.
“You’re not lying to me, are you?” She gave him an earnest appraisal. So often she thought she knew when someone was lying, but people could veil their dishonesty and believe it so much that even a polygraph test couldn’t detect the falsehood.
“By all that’s sacred, I swear I’m not lying to you.”
“How do you think your father framed you?” She shivered against the sudden chill travelling down her spine.
“Are you cold?” Luke shrugged out of his jacket and gallantly placed it around her shoulders. The heat from his body had permeated the fine material, and gratefully, she huddled into it. Her teeth began to chatter.
“Let me take you home, Ana. I’ll get you into bed—” Abruptly, he stopped, crestfallen. “I didn’t mean for that to come out the way it did.”
“I’m sure you didn’t. Let’s just go instead of wasting time talking.”
His rigid stance relaxed. He hefted her briefcase in one hand and placed his other on the small of her back. Oddly, she felt comforted by the small gesture. She wondered who was supposed to be taking care of whom.
* * * *
They left the courthouse through a back door. Ana’s nervousness was evident in her darting eyes and her jumpy behaviour. She continually glanced over her shoulder, and he wondered too if this was when the cops would leap out and arrest him. No one noticed them.
Ana was so chilled by his news, he offered to drive to her home. She didn’t disagree. Her car, an older Toyota, coughed and belched as they wound their way down the hill and up another incline, but it had got them to her apartment a few blocks away. Luke liked her apartment. It was small, tastefully decorated and didn’t have too many windows.
Out of curiosity, he asked, “Do you have many student loans?”
“One, but it’s huge. I’ll be paying it off until I’m seventy-five.”
“Not if I can help it.”
She gave him an odd look, one which silently questioned him in disbelief. Ana continued to huddle in his jacket as if she’d freeze soon.
He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her forever, take away the bad things in her life, but he had to worry about being imprisoned first then Ana’s debts—recently graduated lawyers didn’t make a great deal of money.
In her apartment, he took charge in an attempt to ease her chill and to keep himself busy. “What can I get you so you warm up?”
She was shivering something awful. Her teeth were still chattering. He could have heard them rattling a mile away.
“I’m going to soak in the tub. That will help.”
He gave her a commiserating glance. The warm water would heat her body, when he should have been curled around her, heating her cool skin.
She instantly read his mind. “Alone, Luke. I don’t need any company.”
Sure, she didn’t. It wasn’t as if she weren’t half nude already, and two in the bath was always better than one. “I could at least run it for you as you get undressed.”
She marched up to him and glared. “I don’t need your help, Luke, and don’t think, because you’re here, I want never-ending sex.”
“Okay.”
“You couldn’t keep your word to save your life, could you?”
He grinned. “Not when it comes to you and making love.” His body was responding to her again. His balls were so tight they hurt, and his cock wasn’t do so great either.
“I’m having a bath, and I’m locking the bathroom door.”
“As if that will be an effective deterrent,” he managed, trying to keep from smiling like a Cheshire cat.
“Oh pooh!” She strippe
d out of his jacket and the remainder of her clothes in front of him. “How does that feel, Mr. Desemond? Looking but not touching?”
“You’re a wicked woman,” he chortled.
She poked an index finger at his chest. “Look. You invited yourself over here. Guests should be considerate of their hostess. Do you understand that?”
“No.” He seized her wrist, hauled her to the bathroom then started the hot water into the tub. At her raised eyebrows, he said, “I’m being considerate now, aren’t I?”
Ana sputtered, probably unable to find a good retort. She smacked his head instead then jumped into the tub.
A few drops of water landed on his tie and white shirt.
“Ana!” he reproached her. “Look what you’ve done! You should be considerate of your guests, too, and not wet them! Now I have to have a bath, too.” He grinned at her open-mouthed chagrin. Ripping open his shirt and unbuckling his belt, he prepared to get totally wet.
“You won’t dare,” she threw back, lowering herself into the water and complacently adding bubble bath. The room smelled like a bouquet of roses mingled with lavender.
Within a few seconds, her lower body was immersed in a plethora of bubbles. Tiny drops of moisture clung to her flushed cheeks and her breasts. Her cinnamon-coloured nipples were puckered into tiny buds. Luke wanted to slowly lick every exquisite single drop away.
He was completely nude now, his cock bobbing towards Ana as if it had a devilish mind of its own. He jumped into the tub with such a huge splash, he drowned the tiles and the blue bath mat in a cascade of water.
The water settled in the tub. “So much for lecturing guests on good manners,” Ana told Luke. They were like two grown kids without worries although a big, threatening axe loomed large over them, but she laid that aside for the moment. She had Luke where she wanted him, although she would have preferred her bed.
He splashed her with both hands, and a little disgruntled, she splashed back. “Too bad we don’t have a rubber duck,” he said, laughing and more at ease than she’d seen him since he’d arrived in the courtroom.
“It’s not rubber, but you have something I can squeeze,” she told him lightly, relieved they could have some fun. The day had been hectic, and the murder trial was going worse than anyone had expected.
He chuckled. “Yeah, it’s quite a bit bigger than a rubber duck, too.” He scrambled onto his hands and knees and lowered his head into the soapy water. His palms edged her slippery thighs apart before his tongue darted at her hot clit.
Ana groaned and arched her back slightly to push her pelvis forward. His square ass, matted with tiny, fine blond hairs, stuck out from the water. Playfully, he wiggled it at her. His tongue swirled around her clit, and she held onto the edges of the tub as her muscles contracted and her body tensed, rocked with emotions swirling through her. She’d fantasised about Luke, but the real person was so much hotter. She widened her thighs, wanting more of him, more of her dreams coming to fruition.
He surfaced, took a deep breath and met her eyes. “I’m not done yet,” he murmured, then went under again.
Why hadn’t she gotten to know him sooner? He had a humorous streak, a fun side she never knew existed. The bathroom was utterly quiet. All she heard was her shaky breathing. She cried out in exquisite agony as an orgasm blasted through her with such power, her fingers slipped from the tub and into the water. Flabbergasted, she sank lower. Luke nibbled on her clit harder and her whole body tensed. He was about to blow her apart again, to shatter the last few fantasies she’d hung onto for so long.
Luke resurfaced and heaved in a deep breath. His whole face dripped with sudsy water. The overhead light caught one of the bubbles at just the right angle and created a glistening rainbow on his forehead between his eyes.
“You look funny,” she commented wryly, enjoying the sight. Rainbows meant there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
His smile disappeared for a fraction of a second. “At least, I’m not in prison.”
Ana wondered if she’d heard him right. Why would he be thinking about prison now? Wasn’t he content in the moment?
Soberly, he added, “Yet.”
“Luke?”
His heated gaze flashed in response.
“Maybe now’s not the time to be exploring ‘us’.” Making the suggestion broke her heart, but Luke needed help. He shouldn’t be cavorting with her in a tub filled with soap bubbles.
“I need you more than ever,” he replied hoarsely, frankly meeting her gaze. “Is your birth control still effective?”
“You mean since the last time you made lightning quick love to me?” How could she have initially missed his sense of humour? Gently, she smiled at him in encouragement.
She should have kept her mouth shut. His countenance went grim, and for the first time, she saw the dark lines etched under his eyes. Momentarily, she forgot about the hunger rampaging through her. Ana reached out and touched his cheek, wondering how a man could frame another man he’d lived with for years and loved as his own son. “Are you sure about your father? I mean that he set you up?”
Pursing his lips and looking away, Luke nodded.
“Why would he do such a thing? I mean there was such a bond between you.”
He was so handsome, yet she sensed the fragility within him. Luke gave a half-hearted shrug. “I think he’d found out much earlier, and this was his way of making certain I got what he thought I deserved, which was life in prison.”
“Because he couldn’t get back at your mother?”
Luke turned his gaze back to her. A world of hurt glimmered in his eyes. “Her Alzheimer’s is so far advanced, she wouldn’t have understood, but I certainly can.”
Compassion welled up in Ana, and tentatively, she reached out and caressed his cheek. A shadow of a beard rasped at her tender fingers. How were they going to solve this? “How did the robbery actually go down?”
His blue eyes dulled to a lacklustre grey. “I’ve only heard what you probably did on the radio, and I caught a news bulletin.” He shook his head, perhaps trying to shake himself free of the memory. “The blond robber looked identical to the image I see in the mirror when I’m shaving.” He shuddered.
“That’s truly disturbing.” Ana couldn’t imagine being mistaken for someone else.
Luke leant forward and tenderly kissed her lips. “I have faith that we’ll figure this out.”
Ana wasn’t so sure. She was placing her whole life on the line for this man, and after this all ended, she’d finish in prison or be alone again with her career.
“What are you thinking?” Luke asked nervously. “You’re not backing out, are you?’
She pulled herself together. “No, I’m wondering if what I’ve worked for so hard has really been worth it.”
Luke patted her hand. “Don’t give up, Ana, not because of me.” A worried line creased his brow.
Resting her forehead on the side of her right hand, she told him, “But where’s the justice when an innocent man goes to jail but the guilty get away scot free? Where is the justice in that, Luke?”
Chapter Three
Luke had no idea where justice had gone, if it ever had been. “Let’s get you out of here,” he said, rising. Cold water sluiced down his body. Ana’s black hair hung in tight tendrils down to her shoulders. She was remarkably beautiful. He shouldn’t have involved her in this mess, but he’d had nowhere else to turn. Despite the heavy-duty discussion, he still wanted Ana with a ferocity that couldn’t be denied.
Gingerly, she took his hand, and he helped her out of the tub. She was shivering again. Her nipples beaded tightly.
“What do you have to warm you up? Tea, coffee, what?”
She tilted back her head. Her lips trembled. “I need only you,” she murmured.
“Seems to me like you need something warm and fuzzy.” He chuckled, scooped her up in his arms and took her to her bedroom, which was decorated in a muted pink and white lace. The bed was queen-size with a
wooden headboard and footboard. A very feminine room. He laid Ana on the bed gently, tugged the comforter out from under her bottom, lay down beside her and tucked them both in.
“What are you doing?” she mumbled, huddling into the comforter, her pretty eyes wide. “Is it what I think?” she asked, giving him a blatant wink.
He snorted playfully, then replied nonchalantly, “Tucking you in.” They were both naked, and he liked the idea of occupying the same space with her skin pressed against his.
“No, you’re not. You’re taking advantage of me.” She finger combed through her hair while she kept her gaze on him.
“Okay, so I’m taking advantage of you. I’ve wanted to do that for a long time, since the first time I met you.”
Her eyes widened even more. She sighed. “Since then?”
“Yeah, you walked into the class late, and everyone stared at you with their mouths open.” Unable to resist, he pulled her to him and rested her head against his chest.
“This feels good,” she murmured, settling her hands on his bare chest.
“Yeah, it does,” Luke agreed. Now if only he could stay out of prison long enough to enjoy her company.
Ana didn’t fall asleep, although she sensed Luke had dozed off. She focused on how she could help him. Once, she would have said the best solution was for him to turn himself in and let the law find him innocent, but she no longer believed that. Her idealism that the law worked unfailingly to prove guilt or innocence seemed to be slipping away.
So that option was out, but he couldn’t run forever either.
As soon as he used a credit card or walked into a place where someone recognised him, he’d be arrested. Neither turning himself in nor running were options. Luke was a free man, caring, and intelligent, and he would rot away in jail for a crime he’d been accused of, yet was innocent of, committing. How could she have thought of him as spoiled, cosseted from the misfortunes of life? She’d pegged him wrong.
“What is your active mind working on now?” Luke asked, his mouth beside her ear.
Wicked Woman Page 2
