Awakening (17 page)

"I wanted you here because I think we belong together and I can't go another day without touching you and having you in my bed. For now, this is enough for me."

"Then why are we naked?"

"I want you to feel how much I want you, and I don't want any barriers between us. I want you to want me as much as I want you. I want you begging me to slip inside you and I want you screaming my name when I do."

His warm breath in my ear and his words were making me incredibly wet.

"Luke
..."             

"Goodnight Savannah," he said, cutting me off.

I clenched my teeth. I could feel him smiling against the back of my head and I knew he was going to make me beg.

The rest of the week went the same way. I'd get to his house late, he'd make dinner, we'd sit and talk for a while, laugh and tell stories, and then we'd go up to bed. He never tried anything more than holding me and kissing me on the forehead. By Wednesday evening I was tied up in knots.

"Damn, I need a drink! I feel like shit," I said,
throwing my purse down on the bar between Lou and Eva. I motioned to the bar tender and ordered a rum and coke and two shots of whatever was strong.

"You look like a million bucks," Eva said
.

"Thanks, I walked over to
Broughton street at lunch to pick up a new outfit."

Broughton
used to be a pretty sketchy area, but in the last ten years it had really blossomed into something special. Several buildings were restored and turned into apartments. Some name brand stores and locally owned boutiques started popping up, and several restaurants moved into the area as well. Now the whole street was lined with shops, cafés and hotels. It had become a real shopping destination.

I had quickly found some black jean leggings and a
sleeveless  aquamarine top with a very low draped back. I had dug out the sapphire earrings Luke gave me years ago. I could never bring myself to wear them before, but it seemed fitting to wear them now.

At Christmas in
2010 Mark and I were in Greenville at his parent's house. After Emily and I had lugged our last minute purchases up to the bonus room, she dug out the gift wrap and tape and we made quick work of wrapping all the presents. I had bought Mark a watch he'd been eyeing, a bottle of his favorite cologne, and some other odds and ends.

"
I'm going to jump in the shower. I am still freezing after being out in the rain," Emily said as she stood from her position on the floor and stretched.

I cleaned up the mess we'd made and carried my wrapped gifts to Mark's room to hide them under the bed
, when I heard the doorbell.

I looked out the peep hole and breathed deeply as I opened the door.
Goosebumps pebbled my skin as I stared into Luke's eyes.

"Luke," I said breathlessly.
"Welcome home."

He didn't say anything as he walked past me into the house
, and I closed the door after him. He dropped his bags on the floor and began pulling off his rain jacket.

"Emily's in the shower. Mark went with your
dad to the grocery store so they could make homemade eggnog, and your mother had a lunch date with some friends," I offered.

He looked at me then and nodded, his gaze traveling over my body, burning a trail across my skin as it went. Even though I was wearing skinny jeans and a red v-neck sweater, I felt exposed.

I turned to walk away from him, not wanting to be subjected to his silent treatment any longer. He grabbed my arm, pulling me into his chest.

"Luke, what are you doing?" I asked, pushing against him.

"Just let me hold you for a minute," he said gruffly.

The anguish in his voice halted my struggle and I relaxed into him, breathing him in. I hated how he treated me. I hated how one minute he couldn't stand to look at me and the next he was pulling me into a warm embrace
, as if he thought about me every moment we were apart. I loathed how my body reacted to his nearness when all I really wanted was to be free of his hold on me. It wasn't fair, Mark didn't deserve it, but I had never been able to control my reaction to Luke. Somehow we connected on a deeper level.

"L
uke, this isn't right."

Slowly I felt his arms relax as they lowered to his sides. He picked up his bags and turned to go upstairs.

On Christmas morning after breakfast, we moved into the living room and Emily handed out gifts as we all opened them.

"Dad, can I talk to you in private for a few minutes," Mark asked.

"Sure son, let's go to my office," Luke Senior said, before leading Mark down the hallway.

After a round of eggnog, Martha, Emily and I had settled in to watch
A Christmas Story
on television, when my phone rang.

I jumped up and walked into the hallway to answer it. It was my parents and brother calling to sing me some Christmas carols and tell me they missed me. After chatting with them for a few minutes
, I ended the call, and headed for the bathroom. Just as I was walking back out, a hand snaked around my wrist from behind and pulled me into a room.

"Luke, what the hell?"

"Merry Christmas," he said, crashing his mouth into mine.

His arms came up around my waist as he pulled me to him. One moment I was wide eyed, trying to push him away, and the next moment my legs were around his waist and my hands were fisting his hair.

I had never been kissed like that. Heat was racing through my body, churning through my veins. I couldn't think straight with his body pressed so tightly against me. I moaned into his mouth as his tongue slipped into mine, tangling with my own. He tasted faintly of eggnog, and smelled incredibly delicious.

Before I knew it, he was setting me back on the floor and backing away. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to settle his breathing while looking at me. I could see various emotions passing over his face and wondered what he was thinking. He pressed something into my hand before slipping back out into the hallway, leaving me to stare at the closed door
, while I tried to get my breathing under control.

Once I could breathe again I looked down and saw a note and a small round box in my hand. I unfolded the note first, reading the words over and over again.

They remind me of the color of your eyes when you smile.

I folded the note back and opened the box to find a beautiful pair of light blue sapphire studs nestled against the soft velvet interior.

Why would he buy me something like this? I was so confused.

By the time Mark and I pulled out o
f the driveway the next morning I still hadn't run into Luke again. I was so frustrated with him for throwing me onto an emotional roller coaster every time we were near each other.

That was pretty much how I had felt since running in to Luke again
recently. Granted, this time around I knew how he felt about me, but I was still all over the place emotionally.

"
I need to get laid!" I said, downing my first shot.

"What's going on? I thought you stayed at Luke's all week?" Lou asked.

"I did, but he won't do anything but snuggle, not that I've asked him to. Last weekend I told him that I didn't want to have sex with him anymore because I needed to get my head on straight. Then, we had a couple of intimate moments and I decided to give us a chance to see where things would go. So I've been staying at his house, but he won't go beyond spooning and chaste kisses on the head. I am so worked up I could scream!"

I downed my
other shot and started on my rum and coke.
Funny how I was never a drinker before running back into Luke.

"Awe, but it's sweet that he's willing to wait for you to be ready, right?" Lou asked, her big blue eyes searching mine.

"Luke is a big boy, he knows what he wants and right now it sounds like he's waiting for Caroline to ask him nicely," Eva smirked. "And if I were you, I'd slow down on the alcohol."

"I don't want to slow down. Let's do more shots!" I grumbled, signaling the bartender.

"I'll take a Red Headed Slut," Carson said walking up to stand next to Eva.

"I resemble that remark," Eva laughed.

Carson winked at her as we all laughed and then his eyes settled on Lou. I saw something flash in his eyes, but I wasn't sure what it was.

"Carson, this is Lou Evans. She just moved here a few months ago. She works in accounting," I said, introducing them.

Carson looked at Lou like she had two heads before he regained his composure, and shook her hand, holding on to it for a moment too long.

I looked from Lou to Carson, trying to figure out what I was seeing on their faces. Recognition? I made a mental note to ask Carson about it later.

After we downed our shots, Eva and I headed to the dance floor, but Lou stayed behind, saying she didn't dance. Carson seemed to like the idea of keeping her company, so it was just Eva and me dancing in the sea of bodies.

"I made out with your brother," Eva yelled into my ear over the music. "Just letting you know."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"I tried to get him to sleep with me, but he wouldn't have anything to do with me."

"I've tried to tell you he's a one woman kind of guy these days."

"He wasn't always that way," Eva yelled back at me.

I was about to tell her about Carson's mystery woman when a pair of hands landed on my hips, and I saw Eva narrowing her eyes. Not a good sign. I turned around and saw Darren smiling at me.

"
Darren, I'm dancing with Eva," I shouted at him.

"I can handle two at a time!" He yelled back, smiling even bigger and trying to wrap an arm around Eva.

"Get your hands off of me!" Eva shouted. "I know who you are, and I don't want anything to do with you, just go!

"Hey, hey, ladies, I'm just trying to have some fun here, no need to be so rude."

Darren didn't release either of us and as much as we both tried to slip out of his grasp, he just kept coming after us, grinding on our legs and slapping our butts.

"Darren, enough!" I shouted. "We didn't come here to be groped!" I hated to be rude to him, or forceful, because he was a client of the company, but I refused to let him keep touching us when clearly neither of us wanted him to.

I started to pull Eva back towards the bar by her hand when I ran into the solid wall of Luke's chest.
I do that a lot.
I could tell from the look in his eyes that he had seen most of what had just occurred with Darren and he did not look happy. He quickly slipped between Darren and me and looked down.

"Are you okay?" He asked
, and I nodded as I felt Eva's hand slip from mine.

When I looked toward her I realized Nick was there too. He looked ready to hurt someone, and had pulled Eva into his arms. I watched as he whispered something in her ear and then moved her behind him as well.

"Luke, let's go. It's not worth it," I said, tugging on his shirt.

"You two get back to the bar. We'll handle this pathetic excuse for a man," Nick growled.

"Come on," Eva said, pulling my arm. "Let's get back to Lou."

I turned back to Luke, but he and Nick were already escorting Darren off the dance floor, so I followed Eva back to our seats. Carson and Lou had disappeared, but Ben and Anne Marie were waiting for us when we arrived.

"Where're Luke and Nick?" Ben asked.

"They're taking out the trash," Eva replied.

Ben visibly tensed, and Anne Marie patted his chest. "Baby, they're fine. The two of them can handle it.

"Were Carson and Lou here when you got here?" I asked, hiccupping and hugging Anne Marie.

"Yeah, Carson said he was taking off and then Lou left a minute later," Anne Marie said and I wondered what that was all about.

When Luke reappeared with Nick he was scowling at me.

"What?" I asked.

"That scumbag was all over you. Who is he?" Luke demanded.

"He's one of our clients. I don't work on his account, but he's been harassing me and every other female I know for as long as I can remember," I told him.

He leaned down to my ear and said, "I'm glad you're alright. When I saw his hands on you I wanted to rip him in two."

His words angered me as his breath sent shivers down my spine. "You wanted to hurt him for touching me, yet it's the one thing you won't do?"

"You told me last Friday that you didn't want to have sex with me and then all of a sudden, on Sunday, you'd changed your mind. I don't want our relationship to be solely about sex, even though I can barely contain myself while your sweet ass is nestled up against me at night. It just seems you change your mind a lot and I want to make sure you're sure before anything else happens. I've already told you once, I want this thing to work between us, so I'll wait as long as I have to, but make no mistake, I think about being inside you almost every minute of every day."

My pulse was racing at his words and the feeling of his breath against my ear. The alcohol running through my veins gave me the courage I needed to tell him what I wanted. I turned my head toward him so that our cheeks were touching and whispered to him. "I want you inside me."

I heard the sharp intake of his breath and the next moment I was being lifted off my barstool, flung over his shoulder, and carried through the crowd.

"Put me down!" I laughed at him, slapping at his ass.

Once we were outside the bar, he set me down on my feet, not moving his hands from my waist. His eyes searched mine and I smiled up at him while running my hands up his chest and inhaling his scent.