Slightly mortified, Lu didn’t know how she forgot about her tattoo and that he would see it. His fingers outlined it over and over, running up and down the four masts, tracing the lines of it.
Breathless from his perusal, she answered carefully, “First of all, when I got it there, the term ‘tramp stamp’ didn’t exist.”
He moved his body down so that he lay between her legs, his mouth even with her tat. “Baby, that term has been around for a long time.” His tongue mimicked the lines that his fingers had run.
When he called her baby, she felt her whole body heat up.
“So, why the tribute to Columbus?”
She hated that he was intelligent sometimes. Why did he have to be graced with all things good? “It’s not a tribute to Columbus.”
“OK. What is it?”
She didn’t know how to throw him off. Her body and mind were completely pliable.
“It’s the Niña,” she said. Not really believing that she told him, she buried her head under the pillow, hating that he could make her stupid.
“And?”
“And what?”
“Why are you so stubborn?” he asked, smiling. “I know that I can get you to talk.” He murmured. He moved one of his fingers inside of her. “And why?” he prompted again. When she remained silent, he slid another finger inside her warmth. “You are so tight and wet, Lu,” he murmured.
“I can’t think when you do that,” she spat out, moaning despite herself, her hips starting to move against his hand.
He laughed. “Me either, actually,” he agreed before completely distracting both of them.
As he made love to her again, she forgot about her tattoo, his desire to know what it meant, and her reasons for trying to hold anything back from him.
Lex looked at the clock, startled to find that it was four in the morning. Neither one of them had slept much. He knew that he should, but he didn’t want this night to end. He wasn’t ready to face the reality of his father’s death and Lu provided an amazing distraction. He wondered briefly if it was Lu specifically or if any woman would have worked. But then he felt her move closer to him, like a heat-seeking missile, and he knew it wasn’t that he lost himself in a woman. It had everything to do with that woman being Louisa May.
And suddenly he needed to know.
“Lu, are you involved with someone?”
She stiffened in his embrace. “Why would you think that?” she asked, sounding pissed.
“I’m not sure,” he answered truthfully. “I feel like you’re holding something back. That you’re keeping something from me.”
She pulled away from him, putting space between them. Leaning on the headboard with the sheet wrapped around her body, she responded, “Do you really think I would sleep with you if I was involved with someone else? Are you that jaded and conceited that you think I’d sacrifice a relationship solely to sleep with Lex Pellitteri?”
He couldn’t help himself—he laughed. “Yes. I am jaded and conceited. Two traits that you have known about since you were six. So it doesn’t really count.”
She closed her eyes, frustrated and trying to block out his radiance. She didn’t want to argue this point too much. Because she did have a secret.
He tried to pull her closer to him. But she resisted. “Come on, baby. Talk to me,” he said, his eyes busy with mischief. He moved down the bed, grabbed her ankles and pulled her so that she was lying down again. His attempt to dislodge the sheet at the same time failed, so he gave it a good tug, leaving her exposed to his view. Settling himself between her thighs again, some place he found that he enjoyed an awful lot, and looming over her, he tried again.
“I thought maybe you were involved with someone because I’m not sure if you noticed but there seems to be this conspiracy to keep us away from each other—a conspiracy, I might add, I think you are involved in.” Leaning down, he kissed her spot, the one right below her ear lobe, right by her jaw, and like always, it turned her eyes to liquid desire. “So, at first,” he continued, “right up until the moment I was inside of you, I thought you were seeing someone.” Again, he got distracted by her eyes and her mouth. He moved in, kissing her hard and quick. “But when I got inside you, you were too tight and sweet to be sharing this,” and here, he moved down her body and licked her, running his tongue between the folds of her sex, “with anyone on a regular basis.” He dropped his head again between her legs and licked her. Then he moved his hand, plunging two fingers into her, making her cry out with desire. Caught up in her cries, he spread her with his other hand and sucked on her clit, making her come hard and quick, shaking with the force of it. He looked up at her wide-eyed stare and smiled that Lex smile, eyes dancing, mouth coated, watching her. He moved back up her body then, bringing his mouth down hard on hers again, sharing her taste. “So, baby, come on. Tell me what it is?”