I choked on a sharp breath, tears streaming from my eyes without warning. “Lukas, I’m so sorry,” I whispered, pulling him to me and hugging him tight. “I’m so, so sorry.”
I didn’t know what else to say. It wasn’t his fault, it wasn’t Tess’s and it wasn’t Wyatt’s. I couldn’t think of a single thing to say to comfort him because I could hardly stomach the story myself, so I hugged him tight and feathered kisses on his forehead. He wasn’t crying, but he let me hold him and he accepted my comfort. For so long, his expression was stony, unmoving, but finally he looked up at me and held my cheek. With a glassy gaze, he studied me unabashedly for several seconds. His eyes took their time on each part of my face, from my eyes to my cheeks, then my nose and my lips. When he brought his eyes back to mine, he kissed me.
“Thank you,” he murmured, brushing a couple strands of hair that had matted to my wet cheeks. He kissed me again before breathing out words that warmed my body from head to toe. “I needed you today,” he said softly, his forehead on mine. “I didn’t even know how bad. I’m just so fucking glad you’re here.”
24
LIA
By the time we made a second stop, it was dark out. We had stayed hours in that diner, and another thirty minutes in the parking lot. He had pulled me onto his lap in the driver’s seat and we had sat there together in silence for a bit, my head on his chest and his arms wrapped around me tight. “This feels good,” he had murmured, running a hand through my hair as I listened to the beat of his heart.
Once we were back on the road, Lukas seemed almost fully recovered, so when we stopped again, this time at the side of a dark road, I feared something was wrong.
“Are you okay?” I whispered as he reached for me again, pulling me onto his lap. But instead of hugging me to his chest this time, he pulled my mouth to his, parting my lips with his tongue and sweeping it in long strokes against mine. I immediately fell into his kiss, moaning into his mouth as he grabbed handfuls of my ass under my skirt. The moment I felt his dick harden underneath me, I yanked at my T-shirt, un-tucking it from my short, pleated skirt and whipping it over my head.
“No,” Lukas said gruffly as I reached to unbutton my skirt. “Keep it on. I want you to keep this little skirt on while I fuck you.”
My lips curved against his, his words turning me on so hard I found myself ripping at his belt. Undoing its buckle, I flicked open the button of his jeans, jerking the zipper down and whispering yes when I held his heavy cock in my hands. Lifting my hips on his lap, I pulled my panties aside and rubbed his flared tip against my wet length.
“Do it. Put it in your pussy, baby,” Lukas murmured as he played with my tits, cupping them in his hands, kissing and licking them. When I sank down on his dick, he groaned against my skin, biting my nipple and groaning when I let out a little yelp. To ease the sting, he sucked on it gently, swirling his tongue over my tight peak and giving a muffled chuckle as my pussy pulsed tighter around him. “Fuck, I love watching you ride me,” he exhaled when he leaned back, his eyes blazing as they trailed from my lips to my breasts to my skirted hips circling him. “Come here.” Grabbing me, he pulled me closer. His green eyes were intense on mine as he squeezed my ass, spreading my pussy and controlling my pace on top of his cock. “This is all I need,” he breathed. “All I need is you. No one makes me feel like this. You make me feel so fucking good, Lia. So. Fucking. Good.”
I wanted to analyze his words but there was no way to in that moment. I was stretched unbelievably tight around him, his cock so deep inside me I could feel him in my stomach. My nails dug in the leather of his seat as I felt his every inch and every ridge. I closed my eyes, too breathless to kiss him but his mouth didn’t take no for an answer, catching mine with authority and sucking on my bottom lip.
“Lukas,” I hissed when I pulled away. “I can’t handle it.”
“Handle what?”
How good you feel. How I don’t know how long I’ll even feel you for. How fucking crazy you make me without even trying. I shook my head.
“I can’t,” I whimpered as he reclined the chair, hooking his fingers into the waist of my skirt and sliding me up and down the length of his wet cock. “You make me feel too good,” I moaned softly as he caught my breast with his mouth, swirling his tongue all over me.
“Likewise, baby. You’re so fucking sweet,” Lukas groaned. “I can’t get enough of you. I can’t sleep unless I’m holding you and I wake up in the middle of the fucking night wanting you. You’re all I think about anymore,” he rasped. “All I ever want is you.” He gritted his teeth, moving me quicker over his shaft. “You make everything better. I’m fucking addicted to you,” he growled, his features tightening as my body shivered over his.
I’m addicted too, I wanted to say but the shockwave of ecstasy hit me out of nowhere and sensing it, Lukas pumped faster inside me, sliding my pussy to the tip of his cock and holding me still so he could thrust upward inside me. I cried out with his every push till I pitched forward onto his chest, gasping, making every kind of noise as I came all over his cock. As if the sensation weren’t enough, I felt him get harder inside me, stretching me in the midst of my orgasm.
“I’m going to come,” Lukas rasped desperately.
“Come for me,” I whispered, gasping for air. “Come inside me.”
With those words from my lips, I felt him explode under me, his pleasure bursting hot in my body. I savored his every aftershock, reveled in the words he whispered to me between every kiss he slammed over my mouth. You’re fucking amazing… you’re so beautiful… you’re my weakness. So many sweet words grouped in threes but none that matched the three spinning in my own lovesick head.
25
LIA
By the time we finally arrived at Ritchie’s house, it was close to 7PM. I was surprised and somewhat relieved to see I barely recognized the place at all. The outside, once a paint-chipped white with red shutters, was now coated with fresh layers of dark blue and brown. The lawn was neatly trimmed, actually green for once, and on it was the “For Sale” sign that made me feel as if this chapter of my life were finally and officially ending.
“You ready for this?” Lukas asked, giving my hand a squeeze.
“Yup,” I said, squeezing his hand back as I confidently rang the doorbell.
But I was surprised when the door swung open because greeting me were three familiar faces, none of them Ritchie. “Hey!” they said in unison, pulling me in for a hug.
It took several moments in the hug before I recognized my former best friends, Bree and Lyssa, and Lyssa’s brother, Stephen. They all wrapped around me in a group hug that brought me back to high school, and when they pulled away, Bree literally shrieked.
“Oh God, who’s this?” she asked, staring at Lukas. “Where is he from and where do I get one?” she asked with volume and pitch that increased with every word. She had always been the hilariously dramatic one of the group – though it was certainly wasn’t that hilarious when she decided to call me a “thankless prostitute” for leaving Ritchie after Gail died. I wasn’t sure where she got the prostitute part from but I wasn’t going to try to think about that now. These people weren’t my friends by a long shot, but I was still interested in leaving things off on a positive note, unlike the first time I left.
“Hey Bree, hey Lyssa, hey Steve,” I laughed as I fixed my hug-tousled hair and pulled Lukas inside. “Guys, this is Lukas.”