The elevator ride passed in a blur, and he towed her down the hall to his room. The door barely shut behind him when he pinned her against it. “You’re mine now.”

Even as she wrapped her legs around his waist, she shook her head. “For tonight.”

He wanted to rail against the limitation, but Luke was more concerned with getting her out of her clothes. With one punishing kiss, he moved to the bed and dropped her on it. Before she had a chance to right herself, he yanked off her boots and tossed them behind him. “Unbutton your pants.”

“Bossy, bossy.” But her voice was breathy, and her hands shook as she followed his order. He helped her get them over her hips and then peeled them off her legs, leaving her in only her white knit top and a thong with a shamrock that read Lucky You.

“Lucky me, indeed.”

“Don’t let it go to your head.” She sat up, and he stripped off her shirt and bra. The panties could stay…for now. Alexis propped herself on her elbows and raised one slim leg to poke him in the chest with her foot when he started to crawl onto the bed. “Your turn.”

All he could see was her smooth skin and dark pink nipples. When she poked him again, he finally focused on her face. “What?”

“Your clothes. Get rid of them.”

For the first time since he’d kissed her, Luke paused. He hadn’t been with anyone in a long time. Hell, he could pinpoint the exact time because the woman had taken one look at his mangled knee and taken off. And that was after she cringed at the sight of his scars elsewhere. He couldn’t stand the thought of Alexis flinching from him. “Not yet.”

First, he was going to drive her so far out of her mind with pleasure that she wouldn’t have the ability to remember her own name, let alone worry about his damaged body.

Chapter Four

Alexis didn’t get a chance to argue, because Luke grabbed her ankle and towed her closer. “Do you remember what I told you?”

How could she forget? It felt like every word he’d said on their way from Sin É to his hotel was branded on her skin. It had been everything she could do to keep her wits about her and her replies snarky instead of breathless. If he’d made a move, she wasn’t sure she would have had the strength to tell him to wait until they got back to his room—and even now she wasn’t sure if she’d have cared if he’d taken her right there in the street. Dorothy, we are not in Kansas anymore.

Luke was obviously still waiting for an answer, so she nodded. “I remember.”

“Tell me.”

He was going to make her say it? It was one thing to listen to it from a man who made her blood heat—it was entirely another to speak it herself. She shifted, trying to pull her ankle out of his grip. “You’re still wearing too many clothes.”

“Changing the subject won’t distract me, darlin’.” He gave another tug, bringing her to the end of the bed. “What am I going to do to you?”

She swallowed hard, acutely aware that she was nearly naked and he was still fully clothed and watching her as if he would drink her down. She’d never talked dirty before, but this entire trip was about new experiences and taking life by the horns. She could do this. All she had to do was open her mouth and speak. “You said…”

He waited, his thumb tracing maddening circles on her ankle. God, he really wasn’t going to give an inch. Alexis cleared her throat. “You said you would strip me down, sit me on your lap, and drive me crazy…” Her gaze landed on the dresser across from the bed. Sure enough, it had a giant mirror on top of it. Oh wow. “Where I could see exactly who was touching me.” She could already picture how it would look, his big hands on her body, spreading her and stoking her desire and driving her out of her mind. Hell, he had her halfway there and he had barely touched her yet.

Maybe there was something to be said for this dirty talking stuff.

Luke’s eyes seemed to darken. “And afterward I’m going to press you against that window and fuck you from behind where anyone who looks up can see you.”

She whipped around so fast, she almost fell off the bed. As distracted as she was, she hadn’t noticed the floor-to-ceiling windows taking up the wall opposite the door. Heat spread through her body at the thought of him pressing her against that window. She’d never thought of herself as an exhibitionist, but she was leaving Cork tomorrow, so it wasn’t as if she’d run into someone who’d see the peep show.

Or the man who planned to put her on display.

The thought sent a pang through her, which she promptly ignored. Luke was hot as hell, but he and she could barely sit next to each other for two minutes without making painfully snarky comments. This wasn’t meant to last more than a night. This wasn’t even about him, not really. This was about her taking back control of her life. Though if she only had tonight, she sure as hell intended to make it count. “Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes. I want that.”

“Darlin’, I wasn’t asking your permission.” He went to his knees in front of her and used his hands to spread her legs wider. “You’re going to love every single thing I do to you tonight.”

“And if I don’t?” Not that she doubted him, but she didn’t exactly have a stellar track record when it came to being intimate. Her ex-fiancé, Eric, had called her boring and bemoaned the loss of the woman he’d had before her. Just another way she’d been a disappointment.

She couldn’t stand the thought of seeing that same look in Luke’s eyes, even if she was pretty sure she didn’t actually like him. Once again, the Old Alexis tried to wrestle back into control. What am I doing here with this man I barely know? This could be a horrible mistake. He’s going to be disappointed in me, just like everyone else I come into contact with.

“Open your eyes, darlin’.”

Alexis hadn’t realized she’d closed them to begin with. She hesitated to obey, fearing what she might see on his face, but there was no denying the command in his voice. Feeling a whole lot like she was about to face the firing squad, she opened her eyes.

He frowned. “Whatever is going through your head right now, let it go.”

Let it go? If she knew how to do that, she never would have needed this trip to begin with. “Easier said than done.”

This was it. This was where he’d shake his head and stand up, or maybe go pleasure himself in the shower because apparently that was preferable to her in his bed. She started to pull away, to do something to protect herself from the pending rejection. Though really, there was nothing she could do to combat the sting. She’d learned that through far too many experiences.

Luke’s brows dropped, the forbidding expression strangely comforting. “Guess that just means I need to step up my game.” His fingers dug into her thighs, and she couldn’t stifle a gasp of surprise.

Before she could reconcile reality with what was happening in her head, he leaned down and pressed an openmouthed kiss to her whisper-thin panties. She sat bolt upright as if he’d hit her with a cattle prod. While she was trying to relearn how to breathe, Luke nuzzled her panties to the side and dragged his tongue over her center.

Oh my God, this is really happening. He hadn’t walked away, and he hadn’t rejected her. He was here between her thighs, his mouth on the most private part of her as if he’d never tasted anything as decadent.

A whimper slipped free as he did it again. He paused and met her gaze, the fire in his green eyes searing her to the core. “You taste like peaches here, too.”

“I—”

“Darlin’, as flattered as I am that you’re trying to talk right now, the only thing I want to hear is you screaming my name.” He leaned back long enough to pull her panties off, and then he was back, spreading her legs up and out, baring her completely. “Fucking beautiful.”