23. Luke

Chapter 23

Luke

The lock clicks,and when the handle moves, so do I.

Natalie pulls the door open, and when she stumbles back out of my way, I grip her arm just above the elbow.

But I don’t stop walking into her room.

I keep moving forward, using my free hand to swing the door shut, pausing only to lock it.

Natalie lifts a palm, pressing it to my chest, and I stop.

My heart is pounding beneath her touch.

I want her so much; it feels like a need that’s built over years, not simply hours.

“Do you want me to slow down?” I ask her, my lungs heaving like I’m in the middle of a playoff game.

Natalie lifts the arm that I’m holding, and I let it go.

She places her hand next to the other one on my chest.

I don’t know if she’s going to push me away or tug me closer, but the look in her eyes tells me she doesn’t want me to go.

“I lied,” she whispers, like these words are just for me.

I lean into her touch. “What did you lie about, Princess?”

She slides her hands up my pecs until she’s reaching up to my shoulders. “I don’t want you to sleep on the floor.”

Natalie grips the back of my neck, and I wrap my arms around her, bending to meet her as she lifts onto her toes.

Just like before, we crash together.

And just like before, there’s not much fabric between us.

But unlike before, this time, we’re all alone.

I part my lips, and Natalie swipes her tongue into my mouth.

She’s not holding back.

So neither will I.

Groaning, I grip her ass with both hands and lift her into the air.

But before she can hook her legs around my sides, I toss her onto the mattress.

She bounces once with a yelp, and I follow her.

I want to pull her shirt off.

I want to suck those damn nipples into my mouth. The ones straining against her thin top, screaming for me to give them attention.

But we have all night. And I need more of her mouth.

Natalie widens her legs, so when I crawl over her and lower myself on top of her, my hardness lines up perfectly with her thin shorts.

She tangles her hands in my shirt and pulls me closer.

Savoring the feel of her reaching for me, I oblige.

Our tongues mingle.

She tastes like mint and sugar.

Her hands roam.

My body reacts.

I roll my hips against her.

Someone knocks on the door.

We freeze.

Our lips are still touching, but we’ve stopped moving.

We stare at each other, eyes inches apart.

“Nat, it’s me,” a man calls through the door. “I brought ice cream.”

Natalie lets out a quiet groan. But it’s not the good kind of groan.

“Who is he?” I ask, not pulling away, so each word has our lips brushing.

Natalie closes her eyes. “My dad.”

Fuck.

The man, Natalie’s dad, knocks again. “Hurry up. It’s starting to melt.”

I’m too old to be scared of a girl’s dad. And yet…

Natalie starts to shove me, and at the same time, I start scrambling off her.

“You need to leave,” she hisses at me.

“How?” I whisper-hiss back.

We aren’t doing anything wrong. And yet we’re both in complete agreement that we don’t want me here, a boner straining my lightweight and easily tented sweatpants, when Natalie’s dad walks into the room.

She pushes me toward the wall of windows and pulls back the long drapes.

Not just windows.

“Sorry, this is the only way.” She pulls open the sliding glass door.

And then I see why she said sorry.

“Really?” I almost laugh.

Natalie pushes me out the door. “I’ll owe you.”

“Oh, you’ll owe me.” I step out onto the patio.

There’s a girly snicker behind me, and I glance back just in time to see her sliding the door shut between us.

She turns the lock, then blows me a kiss.

I should probably be annoyed, but I still reach up and pretend to catch it.

Natalie shakes her head, then turns away from me and starts back across the room. Which is when I realize that she never shut the curtains, meaning I’m still in plain view.

Sighing, I turn around and accept my fate.

I sigh once more. Because my Princess has a swim-out suite.

So the only way off her small patio is through the pool.

I slide my phone out of my pocket and keep it lifted above the water as I start down the steps, fully dressed.

At least the water is freezing, so I won’t have to worry about my visible boner for much longer.