Forbidden Fire Read online

  “Until they hooked up with each other.”

  She pushed her hair back. “They weren’t very good parents once they hooked up.”

  “We will be.”

  “Luke…”

  “As much as I know you enjoy torturing yourself after we do the deed, my thigh’s numbing out.” He lifted her gently off his lap and she felt cold and sticky and stupid.

  “I need to shower.”

  “Sian, damn it, wait—”

  She was in the hallway when he swept her off her feet.

  “Our bargain.”

  “Screw the bargain.” He didn’t say anything more and Sian was afraid to. When had talking to him become so complicated?

  He kicked open his bedroom door and strode into the en suite, putting her down onto the bathroom mat. She would’ve removed her top, but he was already on it, brushing away her fingers. “You’re cold as ice. Fuck.”

  “I’m just a little—”

  “Try shocky.”

  “Am not.”

  “Don’t argue with a medical professional.” He switched on the water as she sat in her bra, feeling somehow ridiculous. She didn’t have time to think about that, as a second later he made an impatient sound and turned her around so he could unhook it. The bra sailed to the floor where her top lay. His T-shirt and shorts were off in a shot before he herded her into the shower.

  “Ouch, too hot!”

  “It’s more than the room temperature you prefer. Stop being such a baby.”

  She tried not to look at the hard, tanned body that had everyone at work panting.

  “You’re crowding me.”

  “Tough. You need it.” He took some liquid soap in his hands and cupped her between her legs.

  “Oh my God!” She was shocked at this sudden intimacy, even though they’d just had sex.

  “I’m going to touch you a lot,” Luke said. “Get used to it.”

  “I’m a very private person. I need my space.”

  “You can have as much space as you like when I’m not touching you.”

  “That doesn’t even make sense.”

  “Sure it does.”

  “You give a lot of orders for a younger man.”

  “You never minded so much before.” It was true. She deferred to Luke on a lot of things. Like the time she’d needed a new counter in Coffee Dreams and when they’d had to reinforce the eroding beach below the house.

  She studied him, seeing the hawkish planes of his face, the bones as stark and primitive as a Cubist painting under the fall of water, the bright shower spotlight.

  “You know, some older women like being cougars. Like the world knowing they’re so sexy they can attract—and keep—a man with a young sex drive happy.”

  “I’m not really the cougar type.”

  “You’re my cougar.”

  “Cut it out.” She tossed a sponge at him.

  “Now you’ve done it.”

  They were playing like they were in the pool. Water splashing, Luke gripping her, using his strength to win while she tried to tickle under his armpits. But now they weren’t kids. Now it wasn’t innocent as she became absorbed in how her slick body felt against his.

  When she felt his erection brush her stomach, she inhaled sharply.

  Luke didn’t let her go, just looked at her soberly as the water continued to fall on them. She knew if she made an issue about the one time a day rule, he’d let her go.

  When she didn’t say anything, Luke lifted her, so incredibly strong. She felt small and almost frail in his arms.

  He pushed her against the tiles and she hissed at the sudden chill against her back and then hissed again as he impaled her. Oh, he was so… Oh…

  “Take it.” His voice was a plea, a demand. Now he looked younger, in need of her.

  She couldn’t stop herself from twisting a hand in his hair. Her back slid up the tiles as he thrust, fell as his hips flexed. His heart was pounding against hers, his eyes locked with hers as if holding her in this moment.

  She dropped her gaze, unable to bear the intensity.

  “No, you’re with me. I’m inside you,” Luke growled.

  He felt big and brutally male. He was raw fantasy come to life, making her fingers scrabble against tile and then he whispered, “Dig them in me. I want your marks on my skin.”

  Tentatively she put her hands on his wet shoulders, tried to hold on.

  “Bumpy ride.” He put her ass on the edge of the protruding marble shelf. “Brace yourself.”

  “Ohhh, uh, uh!” The sounds coming from her were guttural as he took and claimed, as he held her still while he hammered inside. He fucked her and then pulled out, taking his cock in his hand and rubbing it over her swollen sex, using it like a sex toy to please her.

  Jesus, just watching him do that was the most erotic thing she’d ever seen, this young, beautiful man, this forbidden man, pleasuring her…

  “Take it, use it on you.” He put her hand on his penis and she stroked herself with the fat bulb, moaning as her body tightened, exploded while he crushed her, his semen jetting out, warm as the falling water.

  And then there was only the steam and their frantic breathing. She couldn’t look at him. What would she say? They had established a bizarre set of rules for the sex, but now they’d jumped the line yet again.

  Luke lifted her off the shelf and placed her under the water. His hands moved freely over her, cupping her breasts and playing with her nipples, her back to his front. He used soap on her hair, caressing her with long, luxuriant strokes between her legs before he pushed her gently to the side so he could matter-of-factly scrub himself, staring at her as his body slowly hardened again in one soapy fist.

  She swallowed.

  If she didn’t leave, he would take her again.

  His blue-flame eyes heavy lidded, face soft with his recent release, Luke cut off the water. “You’re not leaving my bedroom tonight,” he said, voice soft, almost a threat.

  Just like that, the slow heat building inside made her wet again, even though she was achy from taking him twice.

  She reached for a towel, but he shook his head. “I’ll do it.”

  It was heaven to have him touching her, dabbing moisture carefully from her shoulders, her lower back, between her breasts. It felt as significant as some kind of ceremony between them. Her throat tightened so she couldn’t speak, just move from side to side so she could be dried and buffed like a work of art.

  He ignored himself, his body still beaded with moisture that evaporated in the air-conditioned space. Sian couldn’t stop her gaze from going to his lower belly, his left hip with the scar that she knew he’d got fighting a summer wildfire, and the heavy sex that rose blatantly towards the ceiling.

  “You do yoga before bed, right?”

  Startled, she looked at his face, blushing because it was obvious where her attention had been focused. She nodded.

  “So we’ll do that next. We can…” They left the bathroom and hesitated in his spartan bedroom. He didn’t have much, just a guitar and bookshelves. Luke always said Sian did the collecting for the both of them. “Use this space?”

  “But we’re naked.”

  “I thought there was such a thing as naked yoga,” Luke teased.

  She made a face. “There is, but I always thought it would be distracting. I’m too human not to want to look at someone else’s knobs and bobs.”

  “Me too, but I want to follow your before-bed routine and I don’t want to put anything on.” He gave her a straight look. “Do you?”

  “No.” Her voice was soft.

  “Then I guess we do it naked.”

  Luke settled himself on the rug. He looked up at her and then held a hand out.

  Sian took it and knelt beside him. They’d just had wild bathroom sex. Why did this feel far more intimate? She crossed her arms over her chest, wishing for a T-shirt.

  “What now?” Luke asked.

  “I usually start with cat-cow.”

&n
bsp; “Show me.”

  Her cheeks were really burning now as she moved into position, getting on her hands and knees and arching her body like a cat before collapsing it towards the floor. The up and down motion made her breasts sway and she was conscious of how much the asana resembled the sexual act. From the wide-eyed look Luke was giving her, he agreed.

  Sian laughed.

  “You’re really asking for it, doin’ that.”

  “You said do my yoga. This energises the spinal column and works out the kinks,” she said.

  “Oh yeah, that would work out my kinks.” His dimple flashed.

  “Come on, try it.” Again she had this weird dichotomy that they were playing like kids and also like the adults they’d become. There was a buzz of sexual anticipation. Her body slickened, preparing itself for him again.

  He moved behind her as if to mount her and she swung around, glaring at him.

  He laughed and swatted her ass.

  The sting on her skin only increased her excitement.

  He obediently got onto his hands and knees and began to copy her movements, but his enormous erection made the pose incredibly erotic so she sat back, giggling.

  “Hey, I’m trying to do yoga here.”

  “You look like Kokopelli.”

  “The hunchback fertility god? But I’m not packing a flute.”

  She raised her eyebrows meaningfully and he laughed again. “Funny. You think you’re so funny, princess.”

  Her eyes stung. It was just like before…when they’d been friends. When the lid had been firmly over what was simmering between them.

  “Oh no, dinner!” She shot to her feet.

  “I’m not hungry, are you?”

  She shook her head impatiently at him. He was on her heels as she strode back to their kitchen. The lights were still burning and the room was fragrant with spices. The newspaper he’d been reading on the counter had fallen to the floor. It embarrassed her when she remembered why, Luke shoving it aside as he—

  “Let me.” His bigger body moved in front of hers and he switched off the burners. He turned around and she didn’t resist when he pulled her close. Protective, Luke was always so protective.

  When he meshed his fingers unselfconsciously to her damaged hand her eyes prickled again. “I want to take you out tomorrow night,” he said as he nuzzled her neck, smelling her freshly washed skin.

  She tensed. “Out, as in public?”

  His face hardened. “Yes, as in I want you to be my girlfriend and I see no reason why we can’t share a meal. Fuck knows you did a lot of that with a ton of men over the years and they meant nothing to you.”

  “Luke—”

  “You don’t want to go because I’m not as fancy as your other men?” He touched her, his hands knew her, claimed her. “But I turn you on. You let me put my working class hands all over you.”

  She laughed and he glared at her. “I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at you.” Oh, shit. He was still so vulnerable. She didn’t know what to do, what to say, but her body surrendered so she melted against him, feeling his firm body, his lean hips under her hands. His skin had a muskier scent than hers as she put her nose against it and drank him in. “This is happening fast and I’m scared. A real date with you…” She gulped.

  “Sian.” He tugged her hair so he could look at her. “I’ll keep you safe, even from me.”

  She wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but he kissed her cheek and she could only lean close to him, sharing closeness, sharing breath. “You are the most beautiful man, inside and out.”

  Luke narrowed one eye. “Does that mean ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on dinner?”

  His pushiness made Sian laugh again. “All right,” she whispered. “I guess we can try it.”

  “So how about the rest of our naked yoga?”

  She blinked. “I…can’t think of a position.” She couldn’t think of anything but how much her body wanted his again.

  “I can.”

  Luke lifted her onto the counter and spread her legs wide. Her head fell back as he put his mouth on her, licking her deeply, eating her like succulent fruit. “Oh, my God!” she whimpered.

  He looked at her, his pupils huge and black, his lips shiny from the intimate kiss. He reached up and cupped one hard-tipped breast possessively before he went back down on her, laving her, making her scream.

  Luke just laughed before his broad, rough palms spread her even wider.

  “Look how hot I get you, sister dearest.”

  Bastard. But she couldn’t say the word, could only cage his skull, keep him exactly where he was, her hips rocking as she gave herself wantonly.

  He made her come, his wild woman.

  Chapter Ten

  “Someone looks like she got spanked.”

  “What? Ow!” Sian rubbed the back of her head, which hurt so much her eyes stung.

  “Hey, are you all right?” Luke’s big friend Taz was around the counter, taking her arm, his cool green eyes examining her face, her eyes.

  Sian flushed. “Fine. I just hit my head on the edge when I was scooping some beans out of the bin. I do it sometimes.”

  “That’s a heavy marble counter,” Taz said. “I think you better sit down for a moment. That had to hurt like fuck.”

  “Um.”

  “Come on.” He herded her onto one of the stools customers used around the espresso machine.

  She slid on carefully, wincing a little as her still-tender bottom rubbed smooth wood. She folded her arms, tuning Taz out as much as possible as she gave herself a moment.

  “You should put some ice on that.”

  “My head’s fine, just throbbing.”

  “Not for your head. Your ass.”

  She jumped off the stool, getting in Taz’s space. “Listen—”

  “If I’m overstepping—”

  “You sure as hell are.” Oh shit. Could she just die? Luke’s best friend had somehow guessed Luke had spanked her last night.

  Taz shoved his hair back. “He didn’t tell me or anything. I just guessed from the way you were moving around so stiffly. I’ve spanked a lot of women. I know the signs.”

  Sian covered her face. “This isn’t happening. I’m still asleep and this has to be a bad dream.”

  “He told you to use cream this morning, didn’t he?”

  “And yet you are speaking and the nightmare continues…”

  “No big to me if you want to have a sore ass.”

  “My ass is my business.” She stabbed her index finger under his nose.

  Taz let out a long breath. “I think Luke should get shed of you, darlin’.”

  “I get that. But he and I…we’re linked.” It settled her, feeling that connection. Somehow it had survived the last couple of rocky days.

  He studied her. “All right. Can I get a latte with cinnamon?”

  “You can come into Coffee Dreams, but Luke and I are off the menu.” She moved behind the counter, not trying to hide that, yeah, she was sore. The crack of Luke’s hand on her butt had been shocking…but it had excited her. She remembered Luke’s shadowed eyes. He’d wanted to play with her, but he’d also been afraid he was playing too rough.

  But he’d made her come again.

  Sian had screamed as he shoved two fingers deep into her…the sound of her voice cracking, raw with her release—

  “Hey!” Dharma called as she swung open the coffee shop door.

  “Hey,” Taz said in a silky, come-and-get-me-baby voice. He gave Dharma an experienced once-over.

  Dharma cocked an eyebrow at him, immune as she was to most of their customers.

  “You’re pale. Are you all right?” Sian watched as Dharma put her bag in the little locker just inside the storeroom.

  “Just some arrhythmia this morning. It’s so dumb I get that when I’m out walking my dog.”

  “You should be home lying down!” Sian gripped Dharma’s arm. “I want you to take the rest of the day off.”

  “Sian, I took
my medication and I’m fine—”

  “You should listen to the lady,” Taz said. “The heart is nothin’ to mess around with.”

  “Ha.” Dharma gave him an amused glance, but it wasn’t the razor retort she usually let fly when she and Taz squared off. “Where’s Fred, the older guy you usually come in with?” she asked. “I haven’t seen him for a while.”

  “He’s married,” Taz said. “That’s why you haven’t seen him for a while.”

  Dharma paled. “Hey, he and I had a few laughs. I wouldn’t—”

  “That’s what they all say, sweetheart,” Taz said, taking his coffee and shouldering the door.

  “Jerk. Big, gorgeous, full-of-himself jerk,” Dharma muttered. “I like Fred. We talk, you know?”

  Sian did know, but she’d also felt the undercurrents when the big firefighter with silver-streaked hair had come into Coffee Dreams, even though she knew Dharma didn’t play with married men.

  “Why don’t you do the paperwork for a while?” she suggested. “We’re low on our pastry orders again.”

  “You’re babying me,” Dharma grumbled, but she sat down behind the small desk in the back. “Weird chemistry between you and Taz.”

  “He’s Luke’s best friend. I didn’t know until…recently.”

  Dharma’s brows rose. “Uh-huh. So big daddy doesn’t approve of his friend dating you?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Don’t take it to heart. He doesn’t like women.” Dharma shrugged. “Kind of all hunter-gatherer.”

  Sian collapsed into the chair next to her friend. “I did something…unbelievable.”

  “Unbelievably good or stupid?” Dharma asked, raising her brows.

  “Both.”

  “Luke.”

  “Yes, I… We spent the night together.”

  Dharma grinned.

  “Cut that out!”

  “I knew you couldn’t resist him forever. Not after I got that calendar.”

  Sian stared. “You bought it deliberately!”

  “Well, yeah. I thought you’d never let yourself really look at Luke and man…what a waste. And I hardly suffered lookin’ at it, all those hot bodies. Unfortunately Fred kept his swimming trunks on, but for a man in his forties…”

  “Dharma.”

  “I can appreciate a work of art without tryin’ to buy it.”