“What is it?” Elise asked.
“Nothing.”
“Rachel, just spit it out. What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want to leave you here with Luke.”
Elise shook her head. “I’ll be fine. We’re having fun. I’m not ready to go home yet.”
Her friend looked over her shoulder to where Luke stood at the bar, talking to Sean. They seemed to be having a serious conversation. She looked back at Elise. “I just want you to be careful.”
Elise tilted her head. “How do you mean?”
“It’s been over six months since you and Jason broke up. I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”
Elise shook her head in confusion. “I still don’t get it. Why would I get hurt?”
Rachel sighed. “Just don’t sleep with Luke, okay? He’s grown up quite a bit, but he’s still Luke. I’ve never seen him get serious with anyone, and I don’t want your heart to get broken.”
Elise threw her head back and laughed. “We are just playing pool. Nothing’s going to happen.”
Rachel didn’t laugh. “I know you haven’t slept with anyone since before you and Jason broke up.” She leaned in close and lowered her voice. “And I know how horny you get when you’ve been drinking. I also know that sex with Jason was mediocre, at best, so you’re probably really jonesing for sex now. And let’s face it; we both know that Luke probably fucks like a rock star.”
Elise laughed again and shook her head. “Trust me, Rach, you have nothing to worry about. I am never going to sleep with Luke Long.”
The next morning, Elise woke, flat on her stomach, disoriented, with a piercing headache that only came from a hangover. While she’d been living with her parents for about a month now, she’d often still wake up in confusion from forgetting where she was at first. It’d sometimes take her a minute to realize she wasn’t in her house in Denver anymore. She opened one eye to check the time, but the alarm clock wasn’t hers or the one in her parents’ guest room.
She sat up, jarring her already-sore head, and let out a moan. Thankfully, dark shades were covering the windows, casting the room in shadows and hiding the evil sun.
What happened last night? Her memory was fuzzy, and it hurt to think.
She realized she was naked and pulled the sheet up to cover herself as she slowly looked around the room, recognizing nothing. Nothing but the sleeping naked male lying on the bed next to her.
Oh God. No! Panic raced through her body, and memories rose to taunt her.
She’d slept with Luke Long. She’d slept with. Luke. Long.
She whimpered and closed her eyes. She had managed to escape college without screwing the guy, only to have dirty, dirty sex with him last night. And that was only the stuff she could remember.
She was never drinking again.
If Rachel ever found out, she was going to give Elise so much shit—after she quizzed Elise on whether the whole fucks-like-a-rock-star thing was true.
Elise couldn’t recall everything from last night after the rest of their friends had left the restaurant, and Luke and she had decided it would be fun to take a bunch of shots. But, now, she did know that, yes, Luke Long did indeed fuck like a rock star. Her sore vagina could attest to that.
I hate you, alcohol.
Luke shifted beside her, but the arm he had over his eyes remained where it was, and his breathing regulated and deepened again.
She really should get out of there before he woke up, but instead, she found herself staring at his beautiful body. Why does he have to be so gorgeous?
She moved her gaze from his face to his muscular chest and stomach and noticed a blemish of some kind. She leaned closer to look at the red mark directly above his hip.
Are those teeth marks?
A memory surfaced. She’d bitten him so hard that she bruised him…after she went down on him…again. She dropped her head in her hand. She was such a slut.
She looked again at the wound, and her gaze moved to the thin white sheet that was covering one leg and only part of his penis. God, even flaccid, it was thick and long. She remembered thinking it was perfect. She might have even told him that she wanted to mold his dick, so she could use it on herself when she was alone. She moaned softly with embarrassment.
“Jesus, would you stop thinking? You’re making my hangover ten times worse.”
Elise jumped. “Would you stop scaring me?”
Luke chuckled and moved his arm from his face. His brown eyes glittered with amusement. “Sorry,” he said, but his tone indicated that he wasn’t the least bit remorseful.
And, now, she was regretting not getting the hell out of there right away. She looked at the floor next to the bed and only saw a few items of clothing and nothing that looked like the shirt or skirt she’d been wearing last night. Nothing to cover her up so that she could make her escape. Then, she spotted them by the door on the other side of the room and winced.
She looked at Luke, hoping maybe he’d shut his eyes in an attempt to go back to sleep, but luck was not on her side this morning, and she found him watching her. It was making her self-conscious, knowing all the naughty things she’d done with him and to him last night.
“Can you please close your eyes, so I can get dressed?”
This made Luke laugh, but she didn’t find it the least bit funny. She needed to get up and out of there before Rachel called her or her parents called Rachel. She really didn’t need a lecture about sleeping with Luke right now—from her parents or Rachel. Especially after she’d told her friend it was never going to happen.
“I think that ship has sailed, Lise. I already saw everything last night, babe.” He looked down at her crotch. “Everything.”
She fidgeted on the bed. First, she didn’t know if she liked him shortening her name like they were close now or something, and second, she suddenly pictured him kneeling between her legs as he parted her and blew on her nether lips right before he—
Luke threw back the covers and sat up on the edge of the bed, giving her a clear view of his back. Even his back was sexy. Except for the red claw marks there.
Holy shit. Had she possessed any restraint last night?
Luke stood and walked to the door to retrieve her clothes. He didn’t seem to care that he was naked because he didn’t bother dressing. Of course, he had a world-class butt. Elise tried hard, but when he turned around, she couldn’t help staring at his morning wood, and she grew wet between her legs.
“Can you put on some clothes, please?” Her tone was bitchier than she had meant it to be, but she really needed him to get dressed before she threw back the bedsheet and spread her legs for him, begging him to fuck her again.
He raised an eyebrow.
“I know, I know. We already had sex, so what’s the big deal? And I’m sorry for being rude, but I’m finding it hard to think with you walking around…” With your big, beautiful dick saluting me.
Luke snickered as he tossed her clothes on the bed, as if he knew exactly what was going on in her head. But he didn’t object as he went into his walk-in closet.
As soon as he was in there, she quickly yanked on her clothes, except for her underwear. She didn’t see them anywhere, and since Luke would walk out at any second, she opted for going commando. It wasn’t ideal since she was wearing a skirt, but at least she wasn’t nude anymore.
Luke exited his closet, wearing a pair of nylon shorts and holding a T-shirt in his hand. The bite mark she’d left stood out against the light gray of his shorts. She considered just pretending like she didn’t know it existed, but she was maturer than that. Or, at least, she wanted to think she was.
“I’m sorry—”
“If you apologize for fucking me…” Luke’s lips were in a hard line, and his eyes had lost all humor. He almost looked hurt. “Look, we’re both adults, both single, we used protection, and no one got hurt.”
She sat on the side of the bed. “Well, see, that’s not exactly true…” She waved her hand
toward his lower body.
He shook his head, obviously not understanding. “What’s not true? Are you trying to tell me you have a boyfriend?”
“No.”
He frowned. “Are you saying, we didn’t use protection? Because I might have been drunk, and you did almost jump the gun there the first time, but I distinctly remember using condoms.”
Her cheeks got warm as she vaguely recalled pushing him down on the sofa, slipping her underwear off, lifting her skirt, and—
“Open your eyes and watch me while I fuck you, Elise. I want you to know whose cock you’re riding.”
She shook her head before she turned red, clearing the memory. “No, that’s not it either.”
“Okay, Lise, you’re just going to have to spit it out then.”
“Hurt. You’re hurt.” She pointed to his hip and sighed. “I hurt you.”
Luke lowered his head and examined her bite mark. “Oh, yeah, I remember that.” He looked up at her and grinned. “I never would have taken you for a wildcat in bed, but damn, I liked it.” He shrugged and put his shirt on. “Besides, I sort of got you back.” He waved his hand over his neckline.
She gasped and jumped up, bolting for the bathroom. “You didn’t!” she yelled at him before she flipped on the light switch. She lifted her chin up and to the side, and there it was—a big ole hickey right on her neck. Thankfully, the top she’d worn last night had a low collar, so she should be able to find a more modest shirt to cover it for work, but she sure as shit didn’t know how she was going to walk into her parents’ house and not let them see it.
He came up behind her. “I’d tell you I was sorry, but then I’d be lying. If it makes you feel better, I don’t remember doing it, and I didn’t do it on purpose.”
She angled her head to look at it again. “Fat lot of good that does me. It’s there whether you meant to do it or not.”
He leaned in closer to her, meeting her eyes in the mirror. “Well, at least I didn’t bite you,” he teased.
Embarrassed, she didn’t reply. Instead, she worked on straightening her appearance. She finger-combed through her long hair to get the snarls out and used hand soap and water to get rid of the mascara that rimmed her eyes.
She almost forgot he was still there when he said, “I’m going to get coffee. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
She hurried up, trying to make herself look presentable, and quickly used the facilities before heading downstairs.
If she wasn’t hungover and freaking out about sleeping with Luke, she would have taken the time to admire his beautiful home. But, at the moment, she wanted to forget that she had ever been there and get the hell home.
She quickly scanned the living room for her missing article of clothing, but with no luck, she met Luke in the kitchen where he handed her a glass of water and a couple of pills while the smell of coffee brewing filled the kitchen.
“Ibuprofen,” he explained when she gave him a questioning look.
“Thank you,” she said. Swallowing the medicine, she downed the whole glass in a few gulps. She hadn’t realized how thirsty she had been until now.
She handed him the empty cup, and he put it in the sink. After he poured himself some coffee to go, he grabbed his keys off the counter.
“I rode with Sean last night, so my car’s here. You need a ride, I’m assuming?”
“Yes, please.”
“Do you want any coffee?”
She shook her head.
He reached for something else on the counter and handed it to her. It was her purse.
“Do you have everything?”
Everything but her underwear, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. She slung her purse over her shoulder. “Yep, I’m ready.”
Get your copy of Dirty here!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We’d like to thank all our readers for waiting patiently for Phoenix and Dante’s story. We hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we did writing it.
An exceptional thanks to all our beta readers for going through and helping clean up the book. The story is tighter and better because of you.
A huge thank-you to Karla Quintanilla for making sure our Spanish was correct! And thank you to Claire Warne and her husband, Robin, for helping with the Spanish translation as well.
Thank you to all the ARC reviewers and the bloggers who helped spread the word about Forbidden Addiction.
We’d like to thank our cover designer, Viola Estrella, and our editor, Jovana Shirley. Without you, we wouldn’t have the whole package of a great book.
A special thank-you from Lara to Grayson for putting up with Mommy always saying, “Hang on one minute. Mommy is working on the book.” And to Grandma and Grandpa for helping to distract him when he wasn’t feeling patient.
A special thank-you from Renae to her family for being so supportive and understanding of how much writing means to her.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
R.L. Kenderson is two best friends writing under one name.
Renae has always loved reading, and in third grade, she wrote her first poem where she learned she might have a knack for this writing thing. Lara remembers sneaking her grandmother’s Harlequin novels when she was probably too young to be reading them, and since then, she knew she wanted to write her own.
When they met in college, they bonded over their love of reading and the TV show Charmed. What really spiced up their friendship was when Lara introduced Renae to romance novels. When they discovered their first vampire romance, they knew there would always be a special place in their hearts for paranormal romance. After being unable to find certain storylines and characteristics they wanted to read about in the hundreds of books they consumed, they decided to write their own.
They both live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area where they’re a sonographer/stay-at-home mom/wife and pharmacist/mother by day and a sexy author by night. You can find them at http://www.rlkenderson.com, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, and Goodreads. Or you can email them at [email protected], or sign up for their newsletter here. They always love hearing from their readers.
Forbidden Addiction (Forbidden, Book #4) Page 27
