‘I find you pretty distracting too.’
‘All the more reason for me to stay out of the way while you do your wedding preparations.’
Ruby stroked the hair back from his forehead. ‘I’d like you to meet Aerin and to say hi to Harper again.’
His brows snapped together. ‘Why?’
‘Because we’re using your family home as a wedding venue and they’d like to thank you for your generosity.’
He dislodged her from his lap and stood and went to stand at the windows again, his back turned towards her. ‘You can thank me for them.’
‘But it would be so nice for them to—’
He swung back to face her, his expression set in intransigent lines. ‘What have you told them about us?’
‘Nothing.’
He gave a rough-sounding laugh. ‘How did you explain our days on the island?’
Ruby licked her suddenly dry lips. ‘I didn’t tell them about your eyesight, and I didn’t tell them we were having a fling. In fact, they both warned me against doing any such thing.’
‘Maybe you should’ve heeded their warning.’
‘Maybe I should have.’
She stood and began clearing away the tea things, feeling her heart contract at the way he was pushing her away. But how could she regret some of the most magical days of her life? Days filled with sensual pleasure and delight. Days she would remember for ever.
Lucas let out a stiff curse-word and came over to her. He placed his hands on the tops of her shoulders and turned her to face him. ‘I’m sorry for being in such a foul mood.’ He gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze and added, ‘Thank you for keeping my condition a secret from your friends. I can’t bear people’s pity.’
Ruby wound her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest. ‘I understand. I’d probably be the same.’
He held her close for endless seconds, then he eased back to lift her face with a finger beneath her chin. He searched her features, as if willing his eyes to see her more clearly. But maybe it was better that he couldn’t, for she was finding it hard to hide the feelings she had for him. The feelings that had grown against her will, against her better judgement, against the advice of her best friends, against all reason. Feelings that could not be so easily dismissed as a silly little teenage crush. Feelings that were deep and strong and yet painful, because she was gambling on the slim chance that he might one day return them.
His lashes lowered to half-mast over his eyes and his mouth came down on hers in a kiss that melted her bones and curled her toes and sent her pulse racing off the charts. His tongue glided into her mouth to mate with hers in an erotic dance that sent blazing heat to her core. His arms moved around her, bringing her closer to the hard frame of his body. He groaned against her mouth—a guttural groan that spoke of urgent primal need spiralling out of control. The same primal need that was barrelling through her body in tidal waves of searing, blistering heat.
‘I can’t stop wanting you,’ he said, in a tone that seemed to hint at deep frustration with himself.
‘I want you too,’ Ruby said. ‘So much it hurts.’
He held her face between his hands, angling her head so he could deepen their kiss. The kiss went on and on, sending her senses into a tailspin. His lips were soft and cajoling, and then hard and insistent, ramping up her need for him to fever-pitch. He lowered his mouth to the sensitive skin of her neck, the teasing movement of his lips sending shivers down her back. He set to work on her clothes and she worked on his, her hands less efficient than she would have liked. But finally they were both naked and Lucas had sourced a condom.
‘You came prepared,’ Ruby said with a sultry smile.
‘I’ve learned to be prepared around you. You turn me on in a heartbeat.’
Lucas lowered his mouth to the curve of her right breast, his tongue circling her nipple in a spine-tingling caress. He took the nipple gently between his teeth, then sucked on her, drawing her nipple further into the warm cave of his mouth. Hot arrows of pleasure shot through her body and molten heat pooled in her core. He moved to her other breast, subjecting it to the same deliciously erotic caress, and she felt her legs weakening as the pleasurable sensations rippled through her in waves.
Lucas guided her down to the floor and then came down beside her in a tangle of limbs. He stroked her hair back from her face, his eyes glazed with lust. ‘Are you sure you don’t want to take this upstairs, to a comfortable bed?’
‘No time for that.’ She pulled his head down so his mouth came back to hers.
His kiss was long and deep, his breathing as hectic as hers. Then he thrust into the seam of her body with a harsh groan. ‘You feel so damngood...’
Ruby caught his fast rhythm, her body gripping him, wanting him, needing him. His thrusts became deeper, harder, faster, but she was with him all the way. Her senses were on fire as the pressure built in her most intimate flesh. She was wet and swollen, tight with need. He placed a hand beneath one of her buttocks to lift her pelvis to receive him deeper, and the friction intensified, electrifying. Tiny flickers of pleasure became a ferocious fireball of flames and flashing fireworks as her orgasm swept through her. She gasped out loud as the sensations exploded in her flesh, her body thrashing beneath his as the waves pulsed through her. Lights flashed behind her closed eyes and scorching heat flowed to every inch of her body.
Lucas followed with his own explosive release, his harsh cries echoing in the cavernous silence of the library. He collapsed on top of her, his head against the side of her neck, his warm breath a caress on her skin. ‘Am I too heavy for you?’
‘No.’