“You keep looking at me like that and you’re going to get yourself in trouble.”
Mortified! That was exactly how Margo felt as her cheeks flushed at Parker calling her out.
“I don’t know what, uh, you’re talking about,” she stammered.
“Alright, keep denying it, but I know you want me.” Before she could protest, he rubbed her leg and said, “Don’t worry, I want you too. So bad it fucking hurts.”
Okay, she wasn’t ready for that confession. She knew he had interest, but not that intense of an interest.
“I, uh…”
“Don’t bullshit me,” Parker interrupted, growing serious all of a sudden. “I can see it in your eyes, so don’t insult me by lying about what you’re feeling. I’ll be honest with you, Margo, I always want us to be honest with each other; I can’t stop thinking about you and I want to push past just friendship. I want to explore other avenues.”
She was speechless. She had never had a man be so blatantly honest with her; it was refreshing.
“Come on,” Parker said, as he got up and held out his hand. Margo put her hand in his and symbolically gave herself over to him. He pulled her up into his arms again and started toward the back of the house, where the guest room was. “It’s late and I don’t want you driving home with your leg like that. I can sleep on the couch, but I want to make sure you’re comfortable.”
When they got to the room, Parker gently placed her on the bed and started grabbing pillows to prop her knee up.
“I don’t need those.”
“Oh, okay.” He straightened his clothes out. Do you need anything before I take off?”
“Please, don’t go,” her voice sounded needier than she intended, but she didn’t want him to sleep on the couch; she wanted his strong arms wrapped around her. “Stay with me.” It was one of the hardest things she’d ever had to say because she was putting herself out there, putting her heart out there…something she didn’t do very often. She held her breath as she tried to gauge what Parker was going to say. If they were being honest with each other, then she knew she did the right thing by asking him to stay.
A wide grin spread across Parker’s face as he leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on Margo’s forehead. “Thank fuck you asked me to stay because I was going to die out there on the couch, knowing you were in here all by yourself.” He placed another kiss on her forehead and said, “Let me get you something to change into, since you probably don’t want to wear those clothes. I’ll be right back.”
Parker dug through his drawers, pulled out a Braves shirt and handed it over to her. The thought of wearing Parker’s shirt sent her teenage girl hormones into overdrive. She so desperately wanted to call Lexi, her best friend, and gush over the phone about wearing her crush’s shirt to bed.
They both situated themselves in new clothes, brushed their teeth and settled into bed. Parker made sure Margo was comfortable before he got in, but once he did, she had never felt more comfortable or more protected in her life. His strong arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her into his expansive chest. His head was buried in her hair as he spoke to her, “Good night, Mo. I’m glad you decided to stay…with me.”
“Me too, Kirbs.” Gladder than he would ever know.
Chapter Seven
**Molly**
It had been four hours since Molly got the text from Connor saying that Luke had left Nash’s place with all of his belongings, but he was nowhere to be found. Molly called around to everyone she knew, trying to find out where he had gone. She was moments away from dialing every hotel in the Atlanta area to see if he decided to stay there rather than with her, but knew Luke wouldn’t choose a hotel; he wouldn’t waste money like that. The only other place she could think Luke would go, was to the blonde slut’s house from the grocery store. The thought of Luke staying with her, shacking up, was almost debilitating. She couldn’t stand the thought.
Putting her phone down and forcing herself not to start calling every strip club in the area to find the bitch, she grabbed her wine and took a swig straight from the bottle. She hadn’t had a drink in a while, ever since she’d derailed earlier in the summer, but tonight called for a drink; tonight she needed to ease the pain.
Lying across her couch in nothing but a pair of underwear and a tank top, she draped her head off the side of the couch as she stared at the ceiling, wondering what the hell she was going to do with her life. Was there a point in time where she was going to have to give up on Luke, just let him go? She let him go once, would she be able to do it again? She didn’t think so. The first time almost killed her, the second time would dig her grave.
It was getting late, and even though it was the start of the weekend the next day, she knew it was going to be a long couple of days with Luke on her mind, so she decided to call it a night. She sent a quick text to Jane and Connor, letting them know she hadn’t heard anything, corked up her wine, and turned off her lights.
The night was eerie as heat lightning lit up the sky, an odd occurrence for Atlanta in the fall, but they were having a strange heat wave in November. Molly looked out the window as lightning lit up the sky in the background, grateful there was no thunder because she was a baby and thunder always made her nervous.
Taking one last look outside as the lighting lit up the sky, her heart caught in her throat as Luke’s car and a person climbing out of it lit up right outside the window in a flash. Her heart hammered from being so startled, but just as quickly as the figure showed up, it was gone. Molly leaned over and tried to catch another look, hoping the scene she just witnessed wasn’t something she’d conjured up in her mind, but she couldn’t find any sign of him.
Calming her beating heart, she stepped away from her window and chalked up her sighting of Luke to her crazy mind, just as there was a knock at her door. Her heart was hammering from not only being frightened shitless, but because she had an inkling as to who was waiting for her behind her door.
Her pulse was skyrocketing as she looked through her peephole. She shouldn’t have been surprised, but when she saw Luke on the other side of the door, she felt a sob wanting to escape from her lips, but instead of letting her emotions get the better of her, she took a deep breath and put on a good face. Luke needed her to be strong; he didn’t need her to be a blubbering mess.
Slowly, she opened the door and came face to face with the love of her life, the man she never thought she would see again, the man that had never left her heart. She took in his disheveled appearance and her heart reached out to him. He looked tired, worn out and lost, that was what scared her the most. His eyes were almost empty, like he didn’t know where he belonged. It killed her.
“Hi,” she said in an even tone, trying not to sound too chipper.
“Hey,” Luke looked her up and down and then licked his lips as he stared down at her breasts.
Holy shit! She was about to quiver right there on the spot from his blatant appraisal. This man turned her into molten lava whenever he was around; he didn’t even have to try. All he had to do was look at her and he owned her. He once said that he had to tame her and make her his, but she knew the truth, the moment their eyes met at Deuces, he owned her soul. There was no turning away from him.
“Would you like to come in?”
He just nodded his head as he stepped into the apartment, their apartment, their home.
She shut the door and tried not to be disappointed when she noticed he didn’t have any bags with him. One step at a time…at least he was with her in their apartment.
“How are you? Can I get you something to drink?” Molly turned around from shutting the door and was instantly slammed up against it by Luke’s strong arms.
If it wasn’t for the lust in his eyes, she would have screamed bloody murder at the brute force he used on her. When they were together, they were always adventurous in the bedroom and tried pretty much everything, but the way Luke was using his body to pin her against the door was different, almost desperate.
“I don’t want anything to drink,” Luke said, as he spoke inches away from her face. His voice was dark and deep, like he had seen better days in his life, and he had.
Swallowing hard, Molly tested his restraint and noticed that there was no moving for her, whatsoever.
“What do you want, Luke?”
Luke searched her eyes, as if she had the answer he was looking for, but she had nothing. She had no clue what he wanted; he was so hot and cold with her that she wouldn’t be surprised if he pushed her to the side and walked out of their apartment.
He didn’t answer her; instead, he pressed his mouth against hers, hard and demanding. So demanding that she didn’t think she could keep up, but she tried, because damn it, she had never tasted anything so good in her life.
Her body sank into the door as Luke pressed his body up against hers and marveled in her mouth. His tongue twisted with hers, sending shivers down her spine as she gripped his shirt with everything in her. She wasn’t letting go; there was no way in hell she was letting him go.
She moaned as he bit down on her bottom lip, a teasing gesture he used to do all the time. The memory of them together flooded her brain as he continued to assault her mouth with his and she tried to tamp down any feelings that popped up, because she knew it wasn’t the time. She needed to just enjoy the moment…let Luke enjoy the moment.
His hands ran down her body and tugged at the hem of her shirt. Flawlessly, he lifted her shirt right off and pressed his hands against her hips as he took in her mouth again. Her nipples ran against the cotton of his shirt, making them stand at attention. Who was she kidding? The minute she saw Luke through her peephole, she could have hung ornaments off of them.
Luke groaned as he pressed his erection against her stomach, letting her know that he was ready. She didn’t know if he was asking if she wanted to go further, so she decided to let him know exactly what she wanted. She reached down and rubbed the outline of his erection against his shorts, showing him how much she wanted what he was offering.
In one swift movement, Luke picked Molly up as if she weighed nothing and pushed her up against the door, draping her legs over his shoulders. Her arousal sat right in front of his face, waiting to be teased and touched. Luke grabbed her panties and ripped them open, not even bothering with sliding them over and then he grabbed her hips and pressed his tongue between her wet folds. He dove in like a son of a bitch, not even giving her a chance to adjust.
Her head flew back and hit the door, momentarily stopping Luke from his pussy probing. He looked up and asked, “Are you alright?” The concern in his voice, the way he looked up at her with eyes so lustful, so deep with worry, tore her heart in two. This was the man she fell in love with, this was the man she once knew.
“Don’t stop,” was all she could muster as she pushed his head back down between her legs. Before he disappeared from her view, she saw a smirk cross his face as he tore into her again. The pressure he used with his tongue started to build up in her core as he kneaded her ass and licked her like she had the last drop of water in the universe. He was relentless, making her thrash about as he brought her to the brink of her climax, but right before she was about to fall over, he pulled away, lowered her down to the ground, turned her around and pressed her up against the door.
He leaned in to her ear and said, “I am going to fuck you so hard right now that when I’m done with you, you’ll need fucking crutches to get into bed.”
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
A wave of arousal swam through her body as she heard Luke’s zipper come undone. He pushed her against the door, but pulled her hips out just enough so he had a good enough angle. Without even a hitch in his step, he plunged his cock straight into her pussy, making her scream in ecstasy as her first orgasm rolled through her body.
“You’re so fucking tight. Jesus,” Luke grunted, as he drove into her, hanging onto her hips and making her believe that there were going to be Luke-shaped bruises on her hips the next day, but she didn’t care because it was the mark of the man she loved.
Interesting sounds of pleasure escaped from Luke’s lips as he drove into her, sounds she had never heard before, but sounds that turned her on more than anything because she knew she was the reason why he was losing control, why he was hard to understand.
Her vision started to turn black as another orgasm built up as Luke drove into her with no restraint. The slap of his balls against her was all she needed as she released herself, released herself from the past that was haunting her and into the present; all she felt was Luke and that was all she needed, as simultaneously they called out in passion as their orgasms rocked through their bodies.
A deep guttural groan escaped Luke as he shuddered into her, filling her with everything in him. Thankfully, she was on birth control, so she didn’t have to worry about having another baby, not that she hadn’t thought about it, but having another baby with Luke was the last thing on her mind; she just wanted him to stay the night.
Once Luke was spent, he pulled out of her and zipped up, making her instantly feel used. She knew she had given in to him, let him do what he wanted, but she didn’t think he was going to disengage so quickly.
Completely naked, Molly looked around for something to cover up with while Luke paced the room, pulling on his neck as he thought about what they’d just done. She couldn’t find anything, so instead of feeling shy, she just stood there in all her glory, like she would have before Luke left for his last mission. If she wanted things to go back to normal, then she was going to have to help them move in that direction. She just wished it wasn’t awkward as hell as she stood butt-ass naked in front of the man.
Taking a leap of faith, Molly said, “Stay with me tonight. Don’t leave, Luke. Please, just stay with me.”
When he looked up at her, his tired eyes met hers and she wished she could kiss the life back into them, to find the spark that she once saw.
Without saying a word, Luke nodded, grabbed her hand and led them back to their bedroom. He peeled off his clothes and dragged them into their bed. Without even giving her a chance to make herself comfortable in the bed, Luke pulled her into his chest and held on to her for dear life. There was no way she was going to get any sleep with the uncomfortable way he was holding her so tightly and she was bound to be sore, but she didn’t care because Luke was in their bed, holding her as they slowly tried to reconnect with what they had lost.
**Parker**
Rolling over, Parker’s arm smacked right into a balled up lump that was lying next to him. Delusion filled his brain as he tried to figure out what was in his bed and why he had zero covers on him.
Parker sat up and that was when the night smacked him in the head; Margo had spent the night and, come to find out, she was a blanket hog. He leaned over and looked at her peaceful body sleeping, and if he wasn’t so damn cold, he would have let her sleep peacefully, but he just needed some warmth.
He pulled on the blankets, but instead of making any leeway, Margo grunted and rolled away from him, taking the last bits of blanket he had left with her. Laughing to himself, he found his way under the covers and tickled her sides, making her spring up from the bed, roll over, and fall on the floor.
Margo groaned when she landed, making Parker feel guilty. He scrambled over to her side and looked down to see if she was alright. He was about to ask when his voice was lost as he took in his little Latina beauty. Her hair was mussed and fanned across the floor, her sleepy eyes were looking up at him and her gorgeous legs were peeking out from under the rolled-up covers. That was when he remembered she had a huge bruise on the back of her leg.
“You okay down there? I didn’t mean to scare you off the bed.”
“Your smirk is telling me otherwise,” Margo retorted, as she slowly got up from the floor, wincing in pain.
Immediately, Parker was at her side and sweeping her up in his arms so he could place her on the bed.
“I’m sorry. I forgot about your leg
. But if you think about it, this is kind of your fault.”
Margo pulled the blankets over her body as Parker joined her on his side, making sure to have his share of blankets.
“How is this my fault?”
Parker brushed a stray strand of hair behind Margo’s ear as he stared into her eyes as they lay on their sides.
“If you weren’t such a blanket hog, I would never have had to resort to tickling you to get the blankets back.”
“You know, you could have just asked.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Parker smiled, as he stared at the girl with the green eyes that was slowly wending her way into his life.
“You snore,” Margo announced.
“I do not!” Parker said, insulted.
“How would you know? You’re sleeping as you saw logs. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who snores as loud as you do.”
“I don’t snore,” Parker enunciated each word.
Margo shrugged her shoulders and said, “Believe what you want, but I know what I heard.”
Pouncing on top of her, Parker grabbed ahold of her sides and threatened to tickle her; she squealed as he straddled her legs.
“Take it back,” Parker said jokingly, as his fingers paused right at her ribcage.
“Never.”
“Take. It. Back.”
“No!”
“Fine, have it your way.” Parker grabbed her side and dug his fingers into her ticklish spots, making her writhe and squirm underneath him, crying out for him to stop as she laughed.