Thorns (The LeBlanc Family #1)

by Bella Scott

  “We can talk more later,” he said quietly. His voice was low and rough, and she expected him to start undressing her or himself, but instead, he pulled back. He removed his hand from between her legs, his fingertips just barely skimming her inner thigh as he did so, and shifted out of her grasp. “I was supposed to be at work hours ago. I need to actually go in today.”

  Rose’s heart sank, and she let out a long, heavy breath. “Not what I was anticipating.”

  “Do you have to go in?”

  She shook her head. “I’m off until Monday.” She worked at an interior design firm downtown, and she was fairly close with her boss, who would absolutely die if she heard about how Rose’s weekend was going.

  “Will you be okay here? You know you can help yourself to anything you want, whether it’s food or the T.V. or whatever else.”

  “Okay.” She didn’t try to hide her disappointment. Why was he suddenly so determined to go to work? Hadn’t he felt every bit of the chemistry she had? Why couldn’t he just let himself go and be with her again like they both knew he wanted to?

  “I’ll be back this evening, and we can… see what happens.”

  Rose nodded stiffly. Luke hesitated for a moment and then turned away from her, starting for the hallway. Within seconds, he was gone, and she heard the house’s front door open and shut.

  She leaned back on the bar, propping herself up with her elbows as she stared at the dark wooden ceiling.

  “Idiot,” she mumbled. “What did you think he was going to do, propose again?”

  She lowered her gaze and caught sight of herself in the mirror on the wall. Her hair was disheveled, and her shirt had shifted to reveal more of her chest than she’d planned, but it was a relief that she didn’t look quite as rough as she felt. She supposed she’d subconsciously hoped he would come back from wherever he’d actually been that morning in time to find her before she’d had time to pull herself together. He’d always told her he found her confidence sexy—when she had been at his apartment back in college, borrowing his shirts in the mornings and ‘forgetting’ to wear her pants with them had been one of the quickest ways to turn him on. Though she’d been incredibly shy when they’d first gotten together, it hadn’t taken her long to warm up to the idea that she could make him want her easily. That he always wanted her, just like she always wanted him.

  A smile crept onto her lips as she recalled a particular dress she’d left in her car. He might be playing hard-to-get, but she knew him far too well for it to last.

  Chapter Seven

  Luke didn’t look up at the sound of the knock on his office door. He had been left a much larger stack of paperwork than he would’ve liked, today, and he wasn’t thrilled by the prospect of dealing with any of his coworkers. He’d hoped that they would’ve made much more headway with the paperwork than this after he’d left the night before, but he didn’t know why he was surprised that they had left him so much to do. The other ASAs seemed to love giving him the most mundane tasks possible to finish. At the moment, though, the paperwork served as a welcome distraction, so he knew he shouldn’t complain too much.

  “Come in,” he called, shifting the trial transcription at the top of the stack to rest beside it as he moved on to the next one.

  He heard the turning of the doorknob, and then he heard her voice.

  “Are you busy, Mr. LeBlanc? I can come back another time…”

  He looked up immediately, unable to keep the shock from his expression. His eyes widened at the sight of Rose standing in the doorway, wearing a tight black dress that hugged her curves and dipped low enough to reveal just enough of her cleavage to tease him. Her skirt was short—too short to be at his law office, stopping at her upper thighs—and she wore red heels that looked downright painful to walk in, though her posture was confident, at ease, like she did this every day.

  God, how he’d missed this side of her. He recalled how pure and innocent she’d been when he’d first begun stealing glances at her across the dining hall or whatever classroom they’d been crammed into along with too many other bodies that had just been in his way, keeping him from her. He recalled how tentative those first kisses had been, and he recalled how quickly she’d eased into them, how much passion lay just beneath the surface of her carefully constructed poise, and how he’d been determined to feel her lips—and her body—against his for as long as he was breathing.

  She’d learned that quickly enough. She’d become quite good at seducing him, pushing all the right buttons to get him too excited for his own good when they’d been sitting together at the backs of lecture halls or hovering near the hors d’oeuvres at his parents’ parties, and then he’d rushed her into the nearest private space at the first opportunity, eager to rip away the clothes separating them.

  “Well, this is a… surprise,” he said. He slowly lowered his pen to rest on the desk.

  Rose closed the door behind her and locked it, and Luke took his time allowing his gaze to return to her face. He surveyed the curves with which he’d become deliciously familiar—his eyes lingered on her hips and on her breasts, which were hugged just tightly enough by her dress to tell him that it was intentional. She’d always been meticulous about her clothing choices, even though she’d seemed to regret remaining in just her shirt for a while earlier that morning.

  Though his better judgment told him he shouldn’t, he believed he liked where this was going. He laid the papers he’d picked up back on top of the stack.

  A mischievous smile crept onto Rose’s lips. “I knew you were stuck here,” she said, starting toward him slowly, “and I thought I might come by and try to help you pass the time.”

  “That’s very thoughtful of you,” said Luke. “How do you propose to do so?”

  He was still angry with her, but while he’d been going through paperwork, his rage had dissipated somewhat. If he were in her situation, he had no idea what he would’ve done. He supposed his sister was right—he should at least let Rose try to mend what was broken between them, or her part of it, anyway. He knew he was responsible for quite a bit of the damage, too, and if letting himself surrender and seeing where this went would help to make up for some of it, he could do that much.

  Rose made her way around the desk and slipped off her shoes before climbing carefully onto Luke’s lap. He surveyed her, not bothering to hide the fact that the neckline of her dress drew his focus downward. She seemed to be waiting for a reaction, and even if he attempted to be more discreet about looking at her perfectly full breasts, he knew it would be a losing battle. He rested his hands on her hips while she laid one hand against his chest and trailed the fingers of her other through his hair. He was certain she could feel the tightening of his pants.

  “I was thinking,” she began, her blue eyes fixed meaningfully on his.

  “Yes?” he purred. He squeezed her thigh and shifted his other hand to the small of her back.

  Rose leaned in to kiss slowly along his jawline to his ear and give it a light nip. His skin burned beneath her lips, and he bit his inner cheek to keep himself quiet.

  “I know I should’ve waited until you’re finished for the day, but I couldn’t help it,” she whispered, her warm breath in his ear sending a shudder through him. “I want you.”

  Luke growled low in his throat, shifting the hand at her back lower to give her ass a squeeze, which earned him a soft moan.

  “I love it when you’re feeling like this,” he muttered, his lips brushing over the smooth skin of her neck.

  “When I’m desperate for you?” Rose ground her hips into his. Luke groaned, rocking upward against her, his mind clouded by thoughts of how good she felt and how sexy it was that she’d paid him a visit like this. He was straining severely against his pants, his cock aching to be buried inside her.

  “Yes,” he breathed. “You’re intoxicating.”

  “You think so?” She kissed along his jaw slowly as her hands rubbed his shoulders.

  Luke closed his
eyes, savoring the touch of her lips and her hands. “You know I do.”

  Rose nibbled at his neck and rubbed her hips against his once more. “Is this okay? Do you want to?”

  Luke groaned at the delicious friction, squeezing her ass with one hand while his other ran up her side to rest on her breast through her dress. All his reservations seemed so unimportant, now. Yes, she’d kept a secret from him, but for how long? Less than a day? He knew her, he reminded himself, probably better than anyone else. She would’ve told him when she was ready.

  A voice at the back of his mind whispered that she hadn’t told him about their child until four years after she’d lost the baby, but he silenced it. He didn’t know whether he would’ve handled the situation any differently, if their roles were reversed, and he didn’t want to resist her for the sake of holding onto anger that didn’t feel completely justified.

  He surrendered.

  “I want you,” he said.

  Rose lifted her face to his and kissed him slowly, deeply. Luke met her kiss with hunger as he began to rub and squeeze her breast. She moaned against his lips, pressing her chest forward against his hand. Encouraged by her reaction, Luke continued his squeezes and caresses. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d fantasized about her showing up at his office like this, walking through his door and back into his life.

  I’d better not be dreaming, he thought.

  He’d grown incredibly hard, now, and his pants were far too restricting. He grudgingly removed his hand from her backside to reach down and undo the button restraining him. Rose let out a questioning noise into his mouth when his hand shifted, but when it brushed against her sex as he unfastened his pants, he felt her shiver.

  “Let me help you,” she breathed. She dragged her fingers slowly down his chest and stomach to settle eventually at his pants. She leaned back just slightly to meet his eyes and bite her lip as she lowered his zipper and slipped her hand within to rub him.

  “Rose…” Luke groaned roughly, letting his eyes drift closed for a moment before forcing them open again to stare into hers, certain his lust was apparent in every facet of his expression. He didn’t bother to hide it. He wanted her to know how much he needed her touch.

  “Yes?” She rocked against him with a moan as she held his gaze. Her hands worked his pants and boxers over his hips, and he lifted himself up a bit to help her.

  She closed her hand around his length and stroked him with her thumb. Luke let out a growl. He pulled her closer, his lips latching onto her neck. He nipped at the spot above her clavicle he knew was her most sensitive and sucked on it as he thrust into her hand. Rose let out a moan as his motion lifted her in his lap.

  “Luke, yes…” Her voice was breathy and full of need, mingling with the moisture he felt through her lacy underwear to drive him mad with lust. If he didn’t get inside her soon, he was going to explode.

  She released her grip on him to work open the buttons of his shirt quickly, and he ripped it off and tossed it to the floor before sliding his hands beneath her skirt. He rubbed circles along her thighs as his hands moved upward and his lips crept along her neck. He grasped her underwear and pulled them down, letting out a low growl as the wet material clung to her skin.

  Rose shifted enough to rid herself of her panties without moving too far from her spot on his lap, and when she’d finished, she tucked the underwear beneath his thigh. She gripped his shoulders and shifted to sink down onto his aching cock.

  Luke let out a loud groan, arching his hips to push as deeply into her as he could. He was overwhelmed by the feeling of her wrapped around him and the notion that this was happening, and he planned to enjoy every second of it. He rested his hands on her hips and moved her in time with his thrusts. Rose’s head rolled backward as she let out a low groan.

  “Aah—eager?” she teased, her hands squeezing his shoulders tightly.

  He brought his lips to her ear. “Very,” he said in the low, gravelly tone he’d learned long ago was one of her weaknesses.

  Her fingernails dug into his shoulders as she moaned, her hips working hard against his and her breath growing shallower by the moment. Luke found it increasingly difficult to stifle his noises as her motions grew faster and the haze of pleasure filling his mind grew thicker with each moment he spent within her. He kept one hand at her hip and lifted the other to twist his fingers into her strawberry-blond hair and pull her face down to his. He captured her lips hungrily as he rocked into her.

  Flashes of his home and his bed and the chair by the fire and every other place he wanted to have her passed through Luke’s mind, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep himself away from her anymore. He’d missed her too much. He needed her too much.

  Eventually, Rose pulled her lips back with a gasp for air, and Luke kissed desperately along her neck until he had access to her mouth again. He tugged on her lips between moans and growls as he fought hard to keep her pace without losing his mind. When at last her body embraced him tightly and a low groan burst from her throat, he couldn’t hold back any longer. He moaned her name against her lips as he spilled within her.

  Her breathing shallow and rapid, Rose pulled her mouth back from his to press a kiss to his jaw.

  Luke rested his hand against her cheek, leaning his forehead against hers. “I missed you so much,” he managed through unsteady breaths. A weight lifted from him with the words, and he held her tightly against him.

  She kissed his cheek. “I hope you don’t have to stay too horribly late.”

  He laughed softly. “I think I can swing coming home early.”

  Rose nuzzled his neck, shifting off of his cock but continuing to sit in his lap. “I should probably go before I get you in trouble, shouldn’t I?”

  “Stay for a minute.” Luke ran his fingers through her hair and leaned close to kiss her softly as he shut his eyes. He felt her fingertips trace the contours of his chest, and he shivered under her touch. He pulled away enough to look at her face as his hand slid up and down her back, grazing the smooth fabric of her dress. He regretted not undressing her completely, and he intended to do so at the next opportunity.

  “I may try this again sometime.” Rose kissed his nose, and Luke smiled. “The look in your eyes was worth it.” She climbed off his lap and slipped on her shoes. “I really should go, though, before someone comes to investigate the noise.”

  Her cheeks flushed, and he chuckled. Rose wasn’t the least bit shy about her desires when the two of them were alone, but Luke adored how embarrassed she still became at the thought of anyone else knowing the things they did behind closed doors.

  Luke pulled on his underwear and pants, and he was reaching over the arm of his chair for his shirt when Rose leaned close and her lips found his once more.

  “I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks,” Luke mumbled between kisses. “Not where you’re concerned.” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as he processed the truth of his words. Yes, people were bound to talk. But it was worth it, for her.

  Rose smiled and pulled back, starting for the door. “Don’t work too hard.”

  Luke smiled as he watched her hips swing with her steps and paused when he recalled what was sitting beside him. “Rose, you’ve forgotten something.” He reached for the panties she’d tucked under his leg and held them up with a smirk.

  She turned toward him and glanced from the underwear to his face, a smile playing on her lips. “Oh, I didn’t forget. Think of me.” She blew him a kiss and unlocked the door, slipping outside and closing it behind her.

  Luke laughed under his breath and shook his head, his smirk still in place. “Tease,” he muttered. He tucked the panties into his pocket and pulled on his shirt, finding the thought of returning to the paperwork on his desk laughably unappealing.

  Chapter Eight

  Rose couldn’t stop smiling as she made her way out of Luke’s office and down the hall, and she was incredibly thankful that his room was a decent distance away from the ot
her ASAs’. While the two of them had had their share of adventurous sex, she’d never done something quite as bold as showing up at his office with the intention of seducing him before. While she was proud of herself both for attempting it and for succeeding, she was relieved that no one else had been close enough to hear what had happened behind the locked office door. She saw people sitting at desks in her periphery as she passed other doorways, and heat rushed to her cheeks at the idea of them seeing her in such a short dress, but she rationalized that at least it had had its intended effect.

  Luke hadn’t sent her away the second she’d walked in. He’d admitted to wanting her, and he’d more than proven as much. Her body still tingled, her nerves alight with the memory of his touch. She couldn’t get over how skilled he was, how he could still pull every little sound and reaction from her as easily as though they hadn’t spent even a day apart.

  She ignored the people crowding the lobby and kept her shoulders back, her chin raised just slightly, and her stride confident as she passed them and made her way out into the parking lot. She slipped into her white Impala and pretended not to notice her phone sitting in the passenger seat, where she’d shifted it from the glove box after leaving Luke’s house that morning. This only lasted until the first stoplight, though. Rose grew more anxious with each time she thought about how many calls and texts she’d probably missed and how many people were probably angry with her. She swallowed and reached over to bring the screen to life, and when she saw “17 Missed Calls and 6 Voicemails” materialize in front of her, she threw the device down again with a groan.

  She pulled into the parking lot of the McDonald’s down the street from Luke’s office—which she’d had to google in order to find, considering she’d missed his entire stint in law school and subsequent job search—and began to flick through everything she’d missed on her phone.