His grip around my neck is firm but doesn’t stop me from sucking precious oxygen into my lungs. It’s more of an intricate hold used to show me he holds the power, that he’ll keep me in place if he has too.
“But you are. He made you this way, Luke. He took you from me,” I whisper, allowing all the emotions I’ve held back since that night to consume me. They slam into me, threatening to pull me under. I hate that I lost all that time with him, that I was alone for so long. I hate that Joseph did this to us, to him.
“He didn’t make me this way, Grace. I’ve always been this way. I’m just different with you. You make me better…” His voice trails off and I can’t even stomach his excuse. Again, I’m reminded of how I was fooled into thinking I knew him. His grip tightens on me a smidge as I try and squirm out of his hold, my hands barely keeping the towel in place.
Luke’s gaze leaves my face and roams down my body making me squirm even more. I can practically feel his eyes burning into my skin, branding me. He lifts his free hand between us and yanks the towel from my grasp. It falls away and lands on the floor at my feet, leaving me completely naked, completely exposed, and at his mercy.
“You can’t do that.” My lips tremble as I speak. He leans into my face, his eyes glued to my lips.
“I can do whatever I want, Gracie. You belong to me and the longer it takes for you to remember that, the harder this is going to be.”
“I don’t belong to you. I belong to no one.” I mean for the words to come out far more vicious, but instead they slip past my lips on a whisper.
Luke gives me a seductive grin and I start to shiver. I make a feeble attempt at trying to flatten myself against the wall in hopes to gain some distance between our bodies but there is nowhere to go. At that moment, he comes even closer, pressing his body against mine. His body heat seeps into my skin, and I hate and love it all at once. I don’t want to enjoy having him so close, but it’s so hard not to. It’s so hard not to remember how it used to be.
I’m weak and I know it, because I can’t help wanting his warmth, wanting his affection and I’ll take it in any way he’ll give it to me.
“Two years. I’ve waited two fucking years for this, for you,” he whispers, his lips so close to mine it’s almost as if he’s kissing me with his words. I want to fight the feelings, the need coursing through my veins. I can’t fall for him again. My heart won’t handle another beating like the one it took before.
“Well, you’ll be waiting even longer, because I’m not giving myself to you, ever again.” A slow smile pulls at his lips, and his face takes on a dark look and before I can even realize what he’s doing. He’s got one of his hands between my legs, his fingers slipping through my molten folds.
“You want this…” he growls, before slamming his lips against mine. The kiss is nothing but carnal need and holy hell does he kiss like a man starved of air. He devours me, his teeth nipping at my bottom lip, causing me to gasp out in pain and pleasure. He still feels like the same Luke. Feeling the need swirl in my belly I lift my hands and press them against his chest, but I can’t bring myself to push him away.
His fingers move fluidly through my folds, finding that sweet bundle of nerves that makes me sing.
“Deny it all you want, Gracie. Tell me you don’t want me. Push me away. Try and escape. Do whatever you need to do to tell yourself that you don’t want me anymore, but it doesn’t change anything. I know your body, your heart, your mind. I walked away once but that’s never happening again. Never.” He hisses the remaining words before pulling away completely. I nearly whimper at the loss of contact between my legs and the warmth of his body against mine. He looks like he might ravage me, and still, he takes another step backward, his jaw tight, his eyes burning with need.
“Get dressed and stop fighting with me. Otherwise I’ll have to take you across my knee.”
I scowl, snatching the clothes up off the floor. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Before turning on his heels he gives me one last look over, his eyes burning a path down my body. “Oh, but I would, sweetheart, I fucking would. I’ve only dreamed of what your porcelain white ass cheeks would look like ruby red. So, test me, I dare you. I’ll gladly show you what happens when you disobey me.”