I wrote a "clean" version of this and a more risque one. Given that I'd be murdered if I don't give you a reprise of my earlier work sooner or later, I'm posting the risque one. Enjoy. If you would prefer the clean version, stop reading at the second dotted line.
WARNING: SEXUAL CONTENT. NOT SUITABLE FOR YOUNG READERS.Chapter Eleven: Second ChanceThey had nowhere else to go. The sheets swallowed them whole as he fumbled with clothing,
damn clothing, and he suddenly resented the societal demands for garments. They were awfully inconvenient. She was exactly how he remembered and unexpected at once. The other women had been nothing more than an attempt to forget, but this, this was as though she managed to reach a place in his soul that no one else knew about and fix whatever had been broken with only the feeling of her skin on his. He repeated her name over and over, not out of passion, but out of sheer fear that he was imagining it all. “Abby.” And finally she answered. “Luka.” Her eyes were brimming with terror and chaos and uncertainty but she clung to him, kissed him, moved with him with such conviction that he knew. He drank her in like a man who hadn't had a sip of water in years, emotion evident in his every movement, and she knew it was different this time, this had a purpose and an electricity and a possibility. Everything around them dissolved into nothingness as she lost herself in the scent of his hair, the gentle warmth of his skin, the inexplicable sensation of kissing him and she swore it tasted like honeysuckle plucked from amid the leaves on a summer evening.
He held her close against him afterwards, his hands tangling through her hair, his chin resting in the crease of her neck and shoulder. She felt his lips on her neck, barely even a kiss, but enough for her to know. He'd asked her once, lying together, what they'd done. She hadn't understood the question, told him as much, and he'd asked again. Had they had sex or made love? She'd been silent, too conflicted to speak, too unsure of herself to even be sure of him, of them. Now she rolled back to face him. Her voice was barely audible. “What did we just do?”
His words were barely more than breaths on her skin. “We made love.”
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She woke to find his arms wrapped around her, eyes dancing with a life she hadn’t seen in him in months, a lazy smile on his face as his head rested on the pillow inches from her face. He moved one hand from her waist to brush her hair back from her face. “I missed watching you sleep.”
An inadvertent smile crept over her face. “How long have you been watching me?”
“Maybe an hour. I don’t know.” He kissed her lightly, leaving her lips craving more. “You’re beautiful when you sleep.”
God, he made it hard for her. Fear tugged at her, screamed at her that what they’d just done wasn’t worth the risk, but the feeling of lying there with him was overwhelming. It was the first time she’d felt so good in months. Honesty was the most uncomfortable feeling she knew, the thing that scared the life out of her, but in that moment, losing him seemed imminent unless she could put aside her fears. Losing him was the biggest fear of all. She let out a long, shaking sigh and moved to rest her head on his bare chest. “Luka.” Her voice was barely audible.
“Mmhmm.” His fingers laced through her hair, gently running his hand through her hair, savoring the silky feeling. All of what he’d done over the past year, all of the destructive acts and mindless cavorting had melted away from his consciousness. The ghosts of his past didn’t haunt him this morning, as they had every morning for as long as he could recall. She was all he saw, all he wanted.
You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.She could feel his warmth, his authenticity, but doubt was as habitual reflex that she hadn’t yet managed to curb. He pulled her closer, pressing his lips to her forehead. There was an assurance in the act, she could feel it, feel that he wanted to be there with her. The voices in her subconscious abated. “Nothing. I missed waking up with you.”
He could hear the waver in her voice. Fear of intimacy had driven them apart before, and the prospect of it damaging this second chance made him bold. “Tell me what you’re thinking.” His voice was gentle, not demanding she tell him, only offering.
“I don’t want to mess things up this time, Luka.” She rolled to look him in the eye. “I don’t want to take the chance of losing you as a friend unless this can work.” It was the most honest thing she’d said in so long as she could remember. She was surprised at herself, but then, she was surprised at how strongly she felt about everything that had happened over the past weeks.
His thumb rubbed over her bottom lip in an action so seemingly simple, yet intense. “We’ll make it work.”
She nodded slightly and let her head drop back to his chest. She’d take him at his word.
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The single toothbrush on the marble counter was, in and of itself, the first test. She stared at it in its blue plastic cruelty, hating it for being so ambiguous. “You only have one toothbrush.” She said it with such uncertainty that the door of the shower slid open to reveal an amused, incredulous expression.
“My tongue was down your throat most of the past twelve hours, woman. You can use my toothbrush.” His smile was irresistible.
She moved towards him until their noses touched. “It's different.”
He caught her around the waist before she could so much as flinch, and pulled her under the stream of hot water. The white tee shirt she had borrowed molded to her shape as she shrieked in protest, still unable to escape his grasp. Her consternation turned to an easy grin as he pinned her against the tile and let his mouth explore her neck, reveling in her laughter. His accent was thick, as it had always been when he flirted and teased, as though he knew the intoxicating effect it had. “I forget what a complicated creature you can be.” The tee shirt fell to the shower floor in a sodden pile as he let his hands travel to her waist, sending a shiver up her spine. He paused, mid-seduction, to rest his forehead against hers, a smile playing on his face. Words weren’t necessary, just the knowing look they shared. It was different this time around, it was real. No inhibitions, no sabotage, no ghosts. Just the two of them. His mouth found hers as he pushed her forcefully back against the wall, evoking a gasp. Her hands moved around his neck, gripping, as he lifted her from under her thighs, her back flat against the wall, her hips level with his. Her whole body surged with anticipation, agony, as his tongue swept the interior of her mouth. It had been years since she’d found herself in this situation, wild, carnivorous lust gripping both of them, baritone and alto moans in harmony as he entered her, filling her so completely that her nails dug into him. His tongue traced the length of her neck as they found a slow, steady pace, hot breaths and steam almost choking them. She let her hands slide to his back, white marks where her fingers pressed into his wet skin. Her teeth gently captured his lower lip and she took her share of control as he began to thrust her against the tile, water pouring over them.
“Luka.” The word was strained, blissful, escaping from somewhere deep inside. He’d never heard her say it with such agonizing lust. She moaned as he pushed deeper, further than she knew she was capable of allowing, but
god she needed him completely. She’d learned over the course of their time together to not only accommodate, but enjoy every last inch of him, every incredible, fascinating, pleasure-inducing inch of him, and he was beyond anything she could imagine. With painstaking precision, she tightened herself around him, forcing an epic groan from him as he leaned his head back, chest heaving. The pace quickened, desperate now, and his grip on her adjusted to spread her legs further apart as he thrust into her powerfully enough to crack the tile behind her. She suspected the neighbors could hear the screams, hell, all of Chicago could hear them. Her hands clawed at his skin as her body filled with a dense, scalding heat and her moans turned to almost-sobs of sheer ecstasy. Once more she tensed her muscles with expert timing.
“Abby!” He was on the verge of losing all control, slamming her against the tile as his face contorted. The look was one of utter nirvana, and he thrust a last time before a choking scream joined hers.
They slid down the wall, melting together, until he sat leaning against the glass door with her body draped across his lap. It took a few silent moments for either to regain coherent thought. Still breathing heavily, Luke pulled her towards him to rest her head against his chest as the water continued to pour over them. “I have a confession to make.”
She laughed softly, knowing him well enough to anticipate the nature of his comment. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” His fingers ran through her wet hair. “I’ve wanted to do that for three years.”
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How they’d both managed to be on the night shift, neither knew, but indulging their luck was irresistible. She sat on the counter, wrapped in his robe, watching him make coffee. His bare chest held her unwavering attention as he spooned grounds into the filter. “Damn.” Grounds dusted his exposed abdominals and the crotch of his pants. He shook his head as Abby beckoned him over. Her hands brushed the grounds from him delicately, and she gave him a lopsided grin. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
He smiled and moved in to kiss her softly, standing between her knees. “Would you blame me if I did?”
“Might have to take those pants off.” Her brows arched mischievously. “They’re pretty dirty.”
He obliged without hesitation, quite obviously interested in her innuendo. He slid the collar of the robe down, dropping his head to her shoulder to press his mouth to her skin. His hands fumbled with the knot of the robe and it fell open, providing him with a spectacular view. He stood back slightly, letting his eyes search her body. “God, you’re beautiful.” He ran his fingers down the length of her body, lingering over her breasts. She shuddered, drawing in a breath as he traced the outline of her nipple. His mouth replaced his hand, tongue moving with torturous strokes over each.
Her knees spread apart as she grabbed his face desperately and drew his mouth back to hers. He could feel her desire, but the urge to torment her was compelling. She reached for her waist, and he stepped back, enjoying the dismayed look on her face. She moaned, this time in frustration, as he ran his tongue the length of her stomach and ministered to her breast, one hand gently caressing the other, his other hand resting cruelly on the inside of her thigh. “Luka…” Her voice was pleading, but only spurred him on. She leaned her head back against the cupboard and sighed, adoring his mouth on her skin yet craving more. She closed her eyes and willed herself to have patience. “God!” She jerked from surprise as his mouth moved lower, tongue teasing her, as his hands stroked her thighs. He was merciless. Her hands ran through his hair, tugging as she began to lose control. He withdrew and stood to grin evilly at her. “I hate you,” she hissed.
“You know that’s not true.” He kissed her, distracting her as he moved inside, causing her to bite down on his tongue in surprise. Her eyes fluttered as he began gently moving, going the slightest bit deeper each time until he was fully inside her. She moaned and crossed her legs around his waist, pulling him closer and widening the angle in the process. He grasped her hips and slid her closer to the edge so that she was leaning away from him. With each slow, deliberate thrust, he worked his mouth simultaneously over her collarbones, her neck, her breasts. The painstaking routine drew moan after moan from her, heightening his own pleasure.
The tempo increased. His mouth moved back to hears, lips and tongues frantically dancing together. She laced her fingers together behind his head as she squeezed her legs around his waist, tightening their union. He groaned, a guttural, animalistic noise that begged her. She gripped the edge of the counter and pushed herself towards him as he trust towards her, bodies colliding. “Abby,” he choked out. “Abby.”
The cupboards around them rattled as they reached a final crescendo, and she could feel him lose it as she did. “That was amazing,” she breathed as he leaned into her, against the counter, breathless. “Oh god, that was amazing.”