“It’s all right,” I assured Luke, realizing what he was trying to say. “I take tiny blue pills for that.”
My reply gave Luke the permission he needed to continue slipping his hands around the elastic of my lace underwear. His thumbs hooked around the fabric, and the last shred of material was lost somewhere across the room. Luke hovered over me in the darkness. His green wilderness was all I could see as that confident hand slipped between my legs.
In my delirious fervor, Luke McNally was all I craved. My body showed my desires as words failed me. Time was ticking down on the bedside table’s clock, and I was running out of time to get what I wanted. It wasn’t enough to feel Luke’s two fingers tracing my entrance before slipping inside me. My body writhed in reaction.
“You shouldn’t feel this good, Imogene,” he agonized, his mouth wandering back to mine. “It isn’t fair.”
“It’s not fair that you’re still dressed,” I muttered back.
Luke laughed darkly. “That can be fixed.”
My eyes couldn’t focus. The haze of my revelry clouded my vision. Everything about Luke had to be experienced by touch.
His bare chest pressed against mine.
His mouth teased my breasts.
His body connected with mine.
With every rocking thrust, I was filled with the most thrilling ecstasy. It had my heart racing as my arms laced around Luke’s neck once more. I clung to him with everything that I had, giving him myself and my trust in return.
“Don’t you dare hold back,” I swore between breathless gasps.
Luke was more than obliging. He pushed deeper, and my hips rose to meet his. On the edge of a climax, my body begged to hold on just a little longer. I wasn’t ready for the moment to be over.
“Imogene,” Luke groaned, his baritone dark and decadent like fine leather. “Damn, Imogene.”
Pleasure coursed through me like a rolling wave of electricity. My spine arched into Luke’s body, and my body clenched around him. I could feel Luke’s release inside me. The primal sensation was more intoxicating than any of the alcohol I had consumed.
The next thing I knew, the sun was shining through the slatted blinds. The dawn was cruel and unrelenting, and it did nothing for the pounding ache in my head. My mouth felt fuzzy from never brushing my teeth, and my curls were begging to be combed.
I just needed to remember where I was first.
The smell of eucalyptus and Luke’s sleeping face brought enough back. I remembered the winning hand and our jokes in the restaurant. I could taste the champagne flavors that mingled with Luke’s all-consuming kiss. Then, Luke’s eyes opened halfway.
“Imogene,” he muttered groggily.
“Wake up, Luke,” I insisted, my voice raspy. “We need to get up. We’ve got to catch a flight to Sacramento. We’ve got to get back to our rooms.”
Something about my last line ignited Luke. Memories of what we did were flashing across his eyes. Tired as it was, Luke’s expression filled with shock and then regret. He sat up, burying his face in his hands. It also gave me the chance to see his broad sun-kissed chest exposed in the light of day.
“Imogene,” he groaned. “Last night was a mistake. We... we can’t tell anyone what happened. Nobody needs to know. This was all just stupid, and I—”
“Don’t worry about it.”
As much as my head hurt, the twisting pain in my chest felt worse. I couldn’t remember all of the night, but the memory of how Luke made me feel was potent. I wasn’t sure if I could forget it, but Luke was desperate to abandon it all.
I was a mistake, an accident caused by sheer happenstance. The expression I thought I saw in Luke’s eyes must’ve been a trick of the Vegas lights or caused by copious alcohol. Quickly pulling on my clothes, all I wanted to do was get back to my room.
I suddenly wanted to forget it all too.
Before any more could be said, I pulled on my boots and hurried down the hall to my hotel room. The girls I shared my room with would only have to know that I spent the night in the casino. Nobody would have to know my embarrassment or why shame was coloring my cheeks. I figured I could put it all behind me until I got back home to North Carolina.
It appeared my brother wasn’t the only one who was married. There on my doorstep, a thick and unbendable envelope was waiting for me. It held a thick stack of photos of a wedding I didn’t totally remember and a marriage certificate stamped with the official Nevada seal.
The elopement package Luke and I bought wasn’t a joke at all. The clerk we visited was real. The vows we made were binding. By law, I was married to a man about to hike from Georgia to Maine. Luke was my husband, and I was horrified.