Usually his massages ended in their love-making. His big hands would slowly make their way down her shoulders to her breasts, cupping and playfully teasing. By that time she was always ready for him, waiting for his delicate kisses on her throat, the nibble of her ear, the whisper of her name.
She sighed and instinctively leaned into him.
Big mistake.
He jumped back as if she’d turned into a snake, taking his magic fingers with him. "Better?" he asked, voice husky.
She nodded then remembered what they'd been talking about and shook her head. “I did return it.” She sounded like a petulant child. But damn it, she had returned the necklace her father stole a year ago.
Hold on. She looked up at Luke. “That necklace has been missing for the last year so how could I have stolen it?" Ha! Work that one out, Smartass.
He frowned at her, crossing his arms. Stand-off mode. “No, it was only reported stolen last night. After you broke in. Which, I might add, is breaking and entering. So even if you didn’t steal anything, you still committed a crime.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she said with a wave of her hands, “the judge will throw it out of court. Especially when he finds out I didn't steal anything!”
Luke drew in a breath and forced out his most patient smile despite his rising irritation. Damn it, Lily was as stubborn as ever! Why couldn't she just give in and admit she'd stolen the necklace? He'd seen her on the CCTV for Christ's sake, what more evidence did she need before she realized it was all over?
"Lily—."
"No, don't use that tone of voice with me, Luke." She pointed a finger at him and the cuffs clinked. She looked so sexy in his handcuffs. If only he'd thought of using them while they were still dating. Now there’s a memory he could use to warm his nights.
No. Don't go there. Bad, bad idea. He did not need any more memories of Lily clogging up his head, especially ones of the naked variety.
"And stop smirking," she snapped. "I know what you're thinking."
Yeah, she probably did. They'd always been on the same wavelength, especially where sex was concerned.
"Sorry," he said. "But it's hard focusing with those things on." He dug into his pocket and pulled out the key, holding it just out of her reach. "Promise you'll behave."
She gave him a look that could strip paint. "You had your fun, now take them off."
Fun? Having his chest waxed for a bet when he was eighteen had been more fun than finding out the woman he once wanted to spend the rest of his life with was a master thief.
But whatever she was, she didn't deserve the indignity of cuffs. It had only been a way of showing her he meant business anyway. He unlocked them and she turned her wrists in little circles, loosening the muscles. He pocketed the cuffs along with the key and took her hands, rubbing his thumbs along her wrists. The blue of her veins contrasted starkly with the pale skin there. She felt soft and delicate like a petal from her flower's namesake, but he knew it was just an illusion. Many people, including him at first, had made the mistake of underestimating her. Lily was tougher than most and he'd met some tough guys through his work, on both the right and wrong sides of the law.
"Better?" His voice sounded raw, like he'd been shouting all day. He coughed to clear it.
"Mmmm." She blinked up at him and he swallowed hard, fighting against the natural instinct to kiss her.
He let go and stepped back to put some distance between them. Damn, that had been close. Too close. In the space of a heartbeat, he'd nearly thrown away all the effort he'd put in trying to forget her.
"So where is it?" he asked, forcing himself to focus on the reason for his visit.
"Huh?" She seemed dazed. Had the connection between them taken her by surprise too? Now that was interesting.
"The diamond necklace," he reminded her. "The one you stole."
Her forehead wrinkled. "Ruby."
"Pardon?"
"It was a ruby necklace. Actually it was a choker. One large central ruby with a smaller one on each side. No diamonds. And I didn't steal it."
"Rubies? Are you sure?"
"No diamond I know of comes in a blood red color. This necklace was definitely rubies."
He sat down heavily on the chair. She sat on the couch opposite and for a long time they stared at each other. Her quick mind was probably trying to work out what the hell was going on. His certainly was.
"I don't get it," she finally said, shrugging. "I put back a ruby necklace and you're here to arrest me for stealing a diamond one." When he didn't answer, she bent her head and rubbed her eyes. "I'm screwed aren't I? You're going to arrest me. No matter what I say, you won't believe me." Her voice cracked and he started to get up to comfort her but sat down again before she noticed.
"I believe you." He hadn't known he did until he said it. "I believe you, Lil."
She looked up, unshed tears shining in he eyes. "Really? You're not going to put me in jail?"
"You don't belong in jail." Prison was for drug dealers, murderers and your average all-round nasty piece of work. Not women like Lily. Evasive about her family, yes, but she was also generous and gentle-natured. She had a good soul. A wonderful soul.
Of course his perception of her goodness could be exactly what she was counting on. He couldn't be sure. His heart wanted to believe her, but his head was telling him to stop being a sentimental idiot and get on with his job.
"That's not what you thought a few minutes ago," she said with a half-smile.
"Yeah, well, it might also not be what I'm thinking in a few minutes time. So tell me your story before I change my mind."
She threw a cushion at him with such force he barely managed to catch it before it whacked him in the face. He placed it behind his back.
"Just tell me what you know about the necklace," he said.
She hesitated then sighed deeply and leaned back. "Dad stole the ruby choker a year ago from the Haywood-Smiths along with a few other valuables."
He remembered that theft. It had gone unsolved, despite Wesley McAllister being the prime suspect. There just hadn't been enough evidence to convict him. Yet another heist he'd gotten away with. The man had been a brilliant thief. They didn't make them like they used. Fortunately for Luke and his colleagues.
"Dad sold the other pieces of jewelry but he held onto the necklace. I found it in the safe one day before he died and asked him about it. That's when he told me where he'd got it."
"And you never thought to hand it in after he died?"
She gave him another one of her glares. "And see Dad convicted posthumously? No thanks."
"We don't waste our time chasing deceased thieves, Lily."
"Oh." She looked down at her now-free hands and spread her fingers over her thighs. "So I went to all that trouble of returning it for nothing."
"It would seem so, since it's still missing."
She looked up. "But I returned it!" She shook her head over and over as if trying to dislodge a nightmare. "Are you sure? Maybe the Haywood-Smiths forgot to mention it turned up."
"Then it's a pretty major oversight on their part." Or not an oversight at all, but a deliberate omission. And there was only one reason to mislead the police like that. "Insurance fraud."
Lily felt a rush of relief when Luke muttered those two words. It wasn't that she cared why the Haywood-Smiths had lied to the cops, it was more that Luke cared why they lied, which could only mean he believed her. He now had a reason for their lying that made sense to him and exonerated her. Luke had always needed to keep things ordered, ensuring everything had a reason for being the way it was. She imagined his head was filled with tiny labeled boxes where he filed away memories or events or even people. There was a box for "bad guys who got away with it" (her father fell into that category), a box for "dates with Lily" and now a box for "rich people perpetrating insurance fraud".
She continued to watch him and was surprised to see her own relief reflected in his eyes. It had an amazing effect. His entire face s
eemed to lift in response and he even sat straighter, like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
So he'd been worried about her. He'd wanted her to be innocent.
Interesting. At least their history together had meant something to him or he wouldn't have come unofficially to speak to her. But how far would that history have taken her? Would he have arrested her if he hadn't been satisfied with her answers, or if he hadn’t worked out why the Haywood-Smiths lied?
"Insurance fraud," she repeated. "Right. Good. But I don't get it."
"Do you know why your father never sold the ruby choker?"
She shrugged. "He liked it?" But even as she said it, she knew it didn't add up. Her dad was a clever thief. He would never run the risk of being caught with the stolen goods. He always fenced the items straight away. So why not the ruby choker? Unless... "It was worthless," she said, nodding at her own explanation.
Luke also nodded. "A fake. Your father couldn't sell a fake. But the Haywood-Smiths could certainly claim it on their insurance. At some point before the theft they must have had a false valuation done. They're easy to come by if you know the right jeweler."
"So when Dad stole it, they were handed the perfect opportunity to claim. It would have been worth a lot if it had been real." She leaned forward, eager to follow the trail Luke was leading her down. "So when the fake suddenly reappeared last night, it was pretty inconvenient. They certainly wouldn’t want it known." She shook her head, annoyed with herself because if she'd returned it to the cops, the Haywood-Smiths wouldn't have got away with their scam a second time.
I’m such an idiot.”
"Don't be so hard on yourself." Luke gave her a reassuring smile. "You thought you were doing the right thing."
Yeah, the right thing. She should have known better than to try to be the good Samaritan. She came from a family who thought the right thing consisted of nothing more than recycling their trash. Doing good wasn't in her DNA.
She looked up to see Luke watching her with a strange expression. His lips lifted in a slight smile, his eyes twinkled and his face had gone all soft. What the hell was he thinking?
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you," he said. "I should never have doubted you."
She humphed. "No, really it's fine. It's not surprising you jumped to that conclusion," she said, sarcastic. "I mean, of course I must be guilty. Burglary is a family trait, right, just like red hair and freckles?"
He didn't try to deny it but his weird expression quickly vanished. His face instantly hardened again, closing down, not giving anything away.
It was the same way he'd looked when they broke up. Correction—when he broke up with her. Never forget that, Lil. He didn't want her then and he didn't want her now. She was scum to him, forever linked with a criminal family. No matter how far she tried to run away from that fact, it would continually haul her back, as if she was attached to them via a long rope.
It was that fact which Luke hated. And it was for that reason he had broken up with her. An ambitious cop and the daughter of Melbourne's first family of crime had no future together in his book. So he’d ended a very good thing two years ago and she hadn’t seen him since. Until now.
"Well," she said, standing, "I suppose you'll be off to arrest the Haywood-Smiths." The quicker Luke and his prejudices left the better.
He also stood. "Um, not quite." His gaze didn't meet hers.
"Why not? They're guilty aren't they?"
"There's the little matter of your word against theirs."
Ah. Of course. The Haywood-Smiths of Toorak were one of Melbourne's most influential families. The McAllisters of Ascot Vale were one of Melbourne's most infamous. No judge in town would believe her over them.
"I'm screwed." She collapsed back onto the couch and put her head in her hands. It didn't matter what Luke thought, he couldn't save her now.
"Maybe." His voice sounded close, low. She looked up to see him kneeling on the floor beside her. He took her hands in his and gently caressed her knuckles, all the while keeping his gaze on hers. Even if she'd wanted to, she couldn't look away from his blue eyes. They were too deep and she simply wasn't strong enough to resist their pull. "I'll do everything in my power to get you out of this, Lil."
"I can hear a ‘but’ coming."
He stopped rubbing and looked down at their linked hands as if he couldn't bear to see her face anymore. Oh crap—it must be a bigger but than she thought.
Instead of speaking, he sighed and drew her fingers to his lips. His hesitated before kissing her knuckles, breathing deeply. She didn't move. Couldn't. Her body was sluggish and didn't have enough energy to resist him.
"I've missed you, Lil. I've missed your smile, your laugh, your—."
"No." She mustered her strength and snatched her hand away. "Don't. I don't want to hear anymore."
"Why? Why don't you want to know that I've missed everything about you?" His eyes darkened, his lids lowered and she was sucked into the vortex that was Luke Tanner. "I especially miss the way your lips felt on mine." He leaned forward and brushed her lips lightly with his before retreating. "Soft." Another kiss, just the merest of connections that left her quivering, wanting, impatient for more. "Pliant." Two more quick, gentle kisses then: "Delicious."
The force of his next kiss took her breath away, weakened her knees and turned her brain to mush. She leaned into him to regain her balance and got an armful of solid, rippling muscle. The feel of his body was at odds with the gentle, insistent intensity of his kiss. He was both hard and soft, sweet yet totally and utterly sinful.
Yep, she was gone. A single kiss had driven her crazy with lust.
Crazy. That was the only explanation for what she was doing. She should stop the kiss, end it before she completely lost her head. And her heart. Again.
But everything about the kiss made her not want to end it. She felt like a teenager all over again. And beneath the exciting rush sat the rock of familiarity. Somewhere deep inside she marveled at the little things he still did. The way he cradled her head with both hands plunged into her hair, the way he pressed his body into hers, the way his tongue dipped and explored. He'd always known how to make her feel like the most desirable woman in the world with just a kiss.
And he still did.
He pulled away and his hands dropped to her shoulders, massaging. "You feel so good," he said without taking his eyes off her.
Her heart collided with her ribs but the pause gave her time to collect her wits. What the hell was she doing? She shook her head and tried to move away but he wouldn't let go. "This is wrong," she said.
"Feels right to me. Good too." His eyes were dark and his voice thick.
"Yes, but—."
"No buts. No thinking." He pressed his hands to her waist. Big, strong, sure hands that she wanted all over her, stroking. "Just go with your gut instinct, Lil."
Since her heart was in turmoil and her head had taken a vacation, her gut was about the only thing left to rely on anyway. Oh boy. She was in big trouble.
Why not give in? It would be just this one time. And it had been soooo long. She deserved a Luke-induced orgasm.
She took his hand. "Bedroom."
He pulled back and she stopped, confused. "Too far," he said, voice rumbling.
"It's just through there," she said in case he’d forgotten.
"I know. Strip."
But he didn't give her a chance. By the time he finished speaking, he'd flipped the t-shirt over her head. Another breath later and he'd unhooked her bra. She shrugged it off and threw it ... somewhere.
He made a sound in the back of his throat then bent and took a nipple into his mouth. Oh. OH! Tiny goosebumps shimmied across her skin as his warm tongue licked. He shifted focus to the other breast and she arched into him, wanting his mouth everywhere.
He removed his mouth then removed his shirt. Oh yeah. There was the chest she'd fallen in love with. Powerful, hard muscles moved beneath skin like polished mahogany carved into the
perfect male form. A scattering of dark hair tapered at his waist and arrowed down to the place she wanted to see again.
"Pants too," she said, tugging at his waist band.
His mouth twitched into a sexy grin as he drew down jeans and shorts in a single swift motion. His cock bobbed proudly at her, as if greeting an old friend. She grinned. "Oh, I've missed you."
"You can show him just how much you've missed him after you finish undressing." He tugged her leggings down over her hips. "These are my new favorite item of clothing, but right now they're in my way." She helped him take them off and before she could toss them aside, he picked her up and laid her on the couch.
He returned to kissing her mouth as he knelt on the floor at her side. His fingers tweaked a nipple before slowly descending over her stomach, leaving behind a trail of tingling flesh on his journey south. It seemed to take forever but eventually one thick finger plunged into her to the second knuckle. She bucked into him, pushing it all the way. Her groan rang in her ears. When his thumb circled her clit, heat and pleasure slammed into her like a gale force.
She dug her hands into his hair, trapping his mouth against hers as the pressure rose. His expert fingers worked her, took her to a place she hadn't been to since they broke up. For a few excruciatingly pleasurable moments, she hovered on the edge until her body could stand it no longer and she drove all the way down.
"Oh God," he muttered against her lips. "I love watching you come." He maneuvered himself on top of her, his skin sliding along her body like warm silk. He gently pushed his length inside. A low, animal groan escaped him and his eyelids fluttered closed. "You ... feel ... so ... damn ... good."
Oh yeah, ditto. Slowly, carefully, he thrust in and out twice, then twice more in even more controlled moves. It was so damn frustrating.
"I won't break," she said. To emphasize the point, she slammed her hips up to meet him.
He made a choking sound and held her hips so she couldn't move. "Do that again and I'll come."
You Again (a novella) Page 2
