“That I used to think you were a rich brat because of all the money your father used to send you.” She stopped herself from saying more before she gave away how jealous she’d been.
“He wasn’t always wealthy. He came into an inheritance then he splurged on everything. Only the finest was good for him. The finest house, wine, education, everything. He made Mom wear expensive jewellery and silks and satins, all of which she hated, because she’s a simple person at heart. Sometimes, I thought he was jealous because she seemed to love me more than she did him.” He swallowed hard.
“Now you know that’s true,” she whispered softly.
“Yeah, but one thing that struck me odd as I was growing up was that I was a few months younger than their anniversary. No one mentioned that, on their fifteenth wedding anniversary, I was also nearing my fifteenth birthday.”
She shrugged. “Lots of kids are born out of wedlock. I was, too.”
“But for you, it wasn’t a precursor of trouble to come,” he reminded her. “Are your parents still alive?”
“I see them when I can and call them once a week. They live on a small farm in Minnesota. Depending on whether the harvest was good or not, they made ends meet better in some years than others. I send them money when I can or make payments on their electric bills.” She couldn’t let herself dwell on the fact that she wasn’t helping them as much as she could.
“As I said, you’re a sweet, caring person.”
Her attention was diverted to the comforter, which was tenting where Luke’s thighs rested. He wanted her again, which sent a thrill through her. Her nipples budded and her thighs quivered in anticipation. Warmed and aroused, she said, “You’ve got one helluva a boner there, fella. Wanna put it to use?”
Luke snorted with laughter. “You have such an elegant way of saying you want to make love.”
“Well, you’ve got a big one waving around under there. It’s not exactly as if you can hide it.”
“Nope, and I wouldn’t want to hide it when it comes to you.”
Ana threw off the comforter. The heavy material whooshed upward and ended up covering their ankles.
“Since you seem a little reluctant,” she jested, “I’ll start off.” She straddled his thighs, amazed at his hard chest, his perfect biceps and the powerful virility emanating from him. Hunkering down, she placed the heels of her palms on his nipples and gave him a seductive look.
His eyes were ablaze with hunger.
“Did I ever tell you I love your eyes?” she asked, tweaking his nipples. They hardened, and an intoxicating thrill shot through her. She tipped her pelvis to meet his cock, and rubbed her clit against him, feeling like a sinuous cat.
“It’s not my eyes you’re really interested in, is it?” He rested his hands on the curve of her waist.
She and Luke smelled of roses, lavender and musky arousal. “Nope, but isn’t it true that they’re mirrors of the soul? Yours glisten, and I can read your thoughts.”
He widened them into small saucers. “If you can read my innermost soul, what am I thinking now?”
She shrugged. “How much fun sex will be with me.”
Smirking, he said, “How much fun it’s been with you already, you mean?”
Ana bent her head. Her drying hair fell forward and covered the sides of his face. “That too.” She kissed him, nibbling on each of his lips as if they were made of sugar. At the same time, she sat on his cock and since she was so wet with her own juices, she easily took the full length of his erection into her sheath.
Against his lips, she groaned. He was so large, and he fit inside her so perfectly. Luke’s hands travelled up to her breasts and he tweaked them into tighter nubs. His hands, she noticed for the first time, were rough and callused.
She levelled her gaze at him. Her spine slid against the sheet with his thrusting. “What kind of work are you doing now?”
He groaned, as if it were taking effort to focus on his words. “If I tell you, will it make you love me less?”
He paused in his plunging deep inside her, leaving her holding onto him and wondering when he would continue. For the first time since he’d asked for her help, she witnessed the terrified child come out in the grown man. Emphatically, she shook her head. He was talking about a thing called love, which wasn’t part of her vocabulary. She’d help him, but she didn’t love him.
“I promised to help you, Luke. Until then, I’m not going anywhere,” she said soothingly in an attempt to ease his fears. Her heart quailed in her chest. She’d always been so independent, able to find her way through a maze of choices, but here he was with only two from which to choose, and neither of them appeared viable.
“Good enough. I own a construction company, Desemond Construction. We build single-family homes mostly, with a few apartments thrown in.”
To her relief, he began moving inside her again in long, careful thrusts. “You work alongside your people, don’t you?” Which explained the calluses. She admired him for that, not sticking his nose in the air and pushing a pencil around while others laboured for him.
“I never was the type who could stand by and watch or, as some like to call it, supervise.” His lips curved in a small smile.
An idea hit. What if she was able to find his father? It was unlikely he’d admit his guilt, but the cops could question him, which would let the pressure off Luke. Excitement shot through her, and she began to ride him hard. He was hers at the moment, and she’d hold onto that, without the love part, which was for fools. He plucked at her nipples, and she lowered her head to kiss him again. She wanted to purr like a contented cat, but restrained herself. Sex with Luke was good not only to put her wet dreams to sleep, but for her body, and her soul. She arched her back, and incredibly, he slid deeper into her pussy. Every inch of him was sheathed within her. They were highly compatible, and that was enough for her.
His eyes shuttered again, and the muscles in his neck distended. He gave a low, drawn out moan before his whole body trembled with such force, she had to hold onto his shoulders to steady herself. Ana cried out as her orgasm blasted through her, shredding any further thought to bits and pieces. Oddly enough, she wasn’t sated. Ana wanted more of Luke Desemond.
Ana lay in Luke’s arms, his shoulder acting as a pillow for her head. “Can we do that again?” she whispered.
He loved the way they fit together, both during sex and now as they rested. He stroked her head with slow, languorous caresses.
“I fell in love with you when you were late that first day in class,” he murmured again. He smiled at the memory. “Professor Ardin chewed you out, and you came right back at him. No timid Ana Grange gnawing on her fingernails and saying, ‘Yes, sir, no sir.’ Not for you.”
“It wasn’t a good way to start my life in law school, but I wasn’t going to tolerate him chewing me out. He didn’t know I’d had car trouble and all the tricks I had to pull just to get there. How could I miss the first lecture?”
“You said something smart to him. As I recall, it was along the lines of, ‘I’ve travelled halfway across the country to be here, which is roughly fifteen hundred miles and you’ve got the nerve to chew me out for being three minutes late?’”
“Yeah, I thought I was a real winner, but he always asked me the tough questions first after that, as if he were getting back at me. He pretty much terrorised me from thereon.”
Luke squeezed her tightly. “But look at you. You graduated with honours and were one of the first students to receive a job offer. Did I ever tell you how proud I was of you?”
“Luke,” she scolded. “You’d vanished off the face of the earth so how could you tell me anything?”
“Not by choice. I dreamed of being a private investigator, and I still might go ahead before I turn seventy.”
“It’s a pretty boring job, you know. You sit in the car and wait and watch, take pictures, perform unwanted tasks for conceited lawyers. You’re not the type to enjoy doing a job like that,” Ana murmu
red. “And if there is any excitement, you’re too fat and lazy to enjoy it.” She gave a little laugh.
“Fat and lazy, huh? From drinking all those beers in the car as I wait for whoever I’m surveillancing.”
Her eyes met his. He felt warm and light-hearted although he had every reason not to be.
Ana tapped his chest. “Is that a word? Surveillancing?”
“Probably not, but I love the way you look at me, your eyes sparkling and your cheeks on fire.”
As if amazed, she shook her head. “My eyes are not sparkling, and I’m blushing. My cheeks can’t possibly be on fire.” Her palm travelled from one nipple to the other in a lazy line.
He quivered. Her touch was sultry and left a trail of liquid fire behind. Luke could spend the rest of his life in her arms. “I’d make a lousy writer, too. Is that what you’re saying?”
She snorted. “There you go, twisting my words inside out when you can’t express yourself the way you want.”
Her palm traced across his stomach, to his navel and dipped to his hardening cock. “Stop teasing me,” he said lightly.
“Teasing you?” she mocked him playfully. “Why would I do that?”
“You’re a wicked, wicked woman. In fact, you’re so wicked, I want you again.” He rolled her over and lay on top of her. Her thighs pressed together. “If you spread your thighs apart, I’ll make love to you the likes you’ll never forget.”
She burst out laughing at his pirate imitation. “The likes I’ve never seen before?” Her fingers raked a hot trail down his back.
“Scratch that,” Luke told her devilishly. “You’d probably take the pirate down a peg or two like you did the professor.”
They chortled together. Ana seemed so right, so perfect for him. If he didn’t land in jail, he just might ask her to marry him. He slid down her body, adoring every satin inch of her, and when he reached her toes, he flicked his tongue out over her big toe.
“What are you doing, Luke?” she asked, her voice dreamy.
“I’m kissing my way up every luscious inch of you, starting here,” he replied breezily.
“That’s nice, but can you fuck me first?”
“When I get to that portion of your gorgeous body, then I will.” He licked each one of her toes reverently. She tasted delicious, of roses and sweet herbs, and her red nails turned him on even more. He licked his way up the inside of her ankle, up her silky smooth skin to her knee and took his time at her kneecap. Ana moaned with pleasure and squirmed. Then he continued along her upper thigh, spread her thighs apart with both hands, and licked his way up the inside of her thigh to her pussy.
“Isn’t this where I left off earlier when you were in lawyer mode?”
“Lawyer mode?” she asked blithely.
“When I walked into the courtroom, you pretended not to know me, but I knew better. You could hardly wait until I pulled off your underwear.”
“Hmm…”
His tongue darted against her hot, wet clit. She shivered and groaned again. Her back arched, and she bucked her hips once before she cried out as she grabbed his shoulders. He took a deep breath, wondering what it would be like to spend his life with her—or was he just a boy toy in trouble for her now? The thought disheartened him. He hoped he was more to her than a one-night stand.
Angered by his assumption, he knelt between her thighs and slid easily into her cunt, hard muscle nestled in warm wetness. They fit together so perfectly, like the pieces of a puzzle. He breathed deeply, heard her moan again. Her eyes were closed, and her cheeks bright pink. Luke suddenly wanted her to love him, but he didn’t have the heart to prod her. She’d have to come to that conclusion herself, to tell him without his prompting her.
He drove inside her as her muscles clenched and unclenched around his erection, driving him higher along the path of bliss. He pumped furiously, every nerve rigid and tense. This woman was wildfire to his body and his soul. When he came quickly, she splintered along with him, her cries lost against his roar of ecstatic delight.
For several minutes, they nestled against each other as Luke’s ragged breathing evened out. That had been one spectacular orgasm, Ana told herself, and she’d love to have another, but she had to ask him a serious question first.
“Isn’t there anyone at the construction site who saw you, who could be your alibi that you weren’t in the bank?”
He shook his head. “I wasn’t on site. I was at a coffee shop getting some coffee and a doughnut.” Luke wouldn’t meet her eyes.
Ana jumped at the chance. “Did anyone see you? Do you have a receipt? Did you pay in cash or with a credit card?”
“It was early afternoon after the lunch hour rush, and the place was empty. No receipt, and I paid cash. That’s it.”
Her heart sank. “There goes that.” If only he’d had a receipt or paid with plastic, there would be tangible proof that he hadn’t been in the bank.
He puffed a heavy breath but remained silent.
She lightly drummed her fingers on his chest. His response led her to think he was being evasive or was she being far too sensitive? As a lawyer, she sensed when someone wasn’t telling the truth, and that sixth sense was kicking in big time now.
“Luke, this is jail we’re talking about,” she began with chagrin. “For a long, long time. What are you hiding?” She paused, her body joined with his, her breath suddenly racing with anxiety.
As he swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. Was he about to lie? Why? The blood roared in her ears. Was he a robber and a murderer? He couldn’t possibly be.
“Luke,” she warned him. “I want the truth, or else I can’t help you.”
“After my dad left, I didn’t know where to turn,” he began in a soft whisper. “I was broke, mom was getting sicker, and I had no one to help me out. I had a friend who agreed to loan me some money to start the company. I was grateful.” He stopped and grimaced.
Ana’s heart went out to him. Obviously, he was having a great deal of difficulty telling her his story. “Go on,” she prompted.
“I was happy until I found out I’d practically sold my soul to the devil.” He blinked several times, and Ana sensed he was holding back tears with effort. “There are men who loan money at exorbitant interest rates. When I didn’t make my first payment on time, they came looking for me carrying steel pipes. They threatened to hold my mom hostage the next time I didn’t pay on time.”
Ana couldn’t believe her ears. “What did you do?”
“By the time the second payment came due, I had built enough homes and sold them, so I could pay off the debt in full.”
She sighed with relief.
“Once in a while they come around and give me some flack, but I’m okay. I don’t need them anymore.”
“Are you sure they’re not behind this bank robbery?”
Luke shook his head from side to side. “That was my dad’s favourite way to scare me when I was young. He promised he’d set me up as a bank robber and send me to jail if I didn’t behave myself.” He shuddered and closed his eyes. His lashes fluttered against his unshaven cheeks.
“What a novel way to scare a child,” she murmured, aghast at his story. “I was out helping on the farm close to the middle of nowhere at an early age, but my parents would never have threatened me like that.”
“I think even back then he suspected I wasn’t his and simply enjoyed terrorising me.”
“What kind of man was he?” Ana asked rhetorically. How could any man mistreat his children? She rolled off the bed, threw on a housecoat and walked into the kitchen. The floor was cold against the bottom of her feet.
Naked, Luke followed her. “I’m still at square one. I don’t know how to protest my innocence. If the cops catch up with me, I’ll be in jail faster than you can say jail.”
“When your father, I mean the man you believed was your father, used to scare you, did he have any implements, masks, anything like that?”
Luke’s mouth gaped open,
and he looked as if he’d been hit in the head. “You know, I think he did.”
“What did your father do before he inherited money?” Ana asked gently, as she reached into a cupboard for a box of chamomile tea. The herbal tea didn’t keep her awake all night like coffee did.
“He was an actor with a small drama company,” he replied thoughtfully. “At least, that’s what Mom told me.”
Excited, Ana placed a kettle of water on the stove and turned the burner on. “Do you think he knew how to use makeup and to make masks?”
“We did that all the time when I was child.” Luke began to share in her excitement. “I’d make myself up with his paints and once or twice, he showed me how to make a mask. It was scary how lifelike they looked.”
Ana sat at the kitchen table, admiring the view of Luke’s naked body, his muscled biceps, his magnificently flat chest, and his long, lean legs. But a troubling realisation dawned on her.
“Luke,” she whispered, “this is only making you look more guilty.”
Chapter Four
Luke sensed Ana’s uneasiness even before she told him that he appeared guilty. His heart thudded against his chest wall, and dizzily, he sank into the chair beside her.
“None of this makes sense,” he told her, his voice anguished. “I’m damned no matter which way I look.”
Weary, her eyes glassed over, she pinned her gaze on him. “When was the last time you saw your father?”
He had to think about the answer, having tried for so long to put the man who had raised him and rejected him out of his mind. “I mentioned seeing him about two years ago. Before mom’s memory got so bad.”
“Do you know where he works or anything else about him that might help us locate him?”
“No.”
The kettle started to whistle. “Do you want coffee or herbal tea?”
Luke made a face at the question about tea. “Coffee.”
Ana opened the cupboard and indicated the utensils drawer. “Help yourself. I’ll be right back.”
Wicked Woman Page 3
