Skin Deep (Skin Deep #1)

About an hour into karaoke, they were calling up the next singer and I heard my name over the speaker. I froze, looking around in confusion and panic. No one had left my table so who the hell had put my name in?

I heard laughter up by the stage and looked up to see my brother standing there, bumping fists with the karaoke guy.

“C’mon up here, Emma! I know you can sing, little one!” Jeremy Boggs was the only one who’d done karaoke at Griff’s for the last five years and he’s good at it. Always brings a crowd, and he’s gotten me up there a time or two. But no way in hell on earth was he gonna get me up there in front of the guys!

I glared at Calland before pushing against Luke, silently asking him to let me out of the booth. He got to his feet quickly, moving out of my way as I shoved past him with fire in my eyes, heading toward my brother.

When I got closer to him, he bolted, running past me so quickly that I couldn’t grab him. He headed back to the table and sat down beside Luke. Before I could turn and head back to the table, Jeremy leaned down and grabbed the back of my sweater.

“Hold up! Get your pretty little ass up here, girly. You aren’t going anywhere until you sing.”

I sighed as people started chanting my name, led by Jeremy on the mic. I closed my eyes for a second before heading up on stage. I yanked the microphone out of Jeremy’s hands and glared at him, which had him backing away with his hands up in mock surrender.

I nodded my head at him as he headed back to his setup and he cued up my song. If I sang karaoke, I always started with this song, because it was one of my favorites to sing. The opening notes of Black Velvet by Alannah Myles began pouring out of the speakers and I lost myself for the moment in the music. I loved to sing, and I always got stage fright so bad, but once I got going, I didn’t want to stop.

I closed my eyes and focused on the song, and when I opened them, I never focused on anyone. I mostly kept my gaze on the clock at the back of the room above the hallway to the bathrooms. I completely ignored the table where Luke, Brandon, Jackson, and Calland were sitting. When I finished the song, my voice fading out as the last notes sounded, the room filled with clapping and whistles, the loudest of which were coming from the table where the guys were.

I smiled shyly and handed the mic back to Jeremy, who was grinning from ear to ear. He asked if I was going to do another one later and I shook my head no. I’d had enough of the spotlight tonight. I headed back to the table and was met halfway across the floor by Luke, who grabbed me up in his arms and kissed me.

“Whoa….” I breathed against his lips when he barely pulled away. He grinned at me and kissed me again.

“What was that for?” I asked him softly, smiling back at him.

“Cause you’re so damn beautiful and talented and every note you sang sent shivers through me,” Luke replied, resting his forehead against mine.

I pulled back a bit and rolled my eyes at him. “I don’t know what you were listening to,

but it wasn’t that good. Let’s go home, okay?”

He grinned at me again. “I know what I heard and you were good. But yeah…let’s go home. I love how you call it that, sugar.”

“Don’t read too much into it, lover boy. Figure of speech.” I shook my head at him and started walking toward the table again.

“Nah…I don’t think so.” Luke was still grinning at me, and I ignored his words.

Stepping up to the table, I pointed my finger at Calland, who was gazing at me innocently.

“Yeah, don’t give me that look, Calland Andrew. You’re an asshole. Why? I don’t know. I keep hoping you’ll grow out of it one of these days, but no! You’re still a spoiled little ass!” I threw my hands up, giving up because there’s nothing else I could say. I’d said it all before. It didn’t matter. It was never gonna change.

We gathered our things and headed out to the parking lot. Calland actually was sweet for once and gave me a slight one-armed hug before punching me in my arm and heading back into the bar. Apparently he was trolling tonight. Brandon rode with Jackson and I got into the car with Luke and we all headed home. Er…to Luke and Brandon’s house. Damnit!

Halfway home, Luke reached over and ran his fingers lightly up my thigh to where my hand was resting. He twined his fingers in mine and gave my hand a sweet little squeeze. I smiled up at him, and turned on the radio. Usher’s Scream came on. Have you ever listened to the words of that song? Its dirty! But so HOT!

I caught Luke mouthing the words, and that sent tendrils of heat curling through my body. I pressed my thighs together as Luke softly sang, Now relax and get on your back, if you wanna scream…I stared straight ahead, unaware that my fingers were steadily tightening on Luke’s. I didn’t realize that I had gasped, either, when he sang, If you want it done right, I hope you’re ready to go all night…

I laid my head back against the seat, letting his warm, soft voice wash over me, the words of the song creating a pulsating beat between my thighs that was begging for relief. I slowly slid my free hand between my thighs, moaning softly at the slight pressure of my fingertips against my aching flesh. Luke’s harsh groan broke through the haze of desire wrapped around me and I sat straight up, jerking my hand away from myself guiltily. I closed my eyes, afraid to look at him.

Luke jerked the car to the side of the road, and I looked at him in bewilderment.

“What’s wrong, Luke? Why are we-” Luke stopped the rest of my words with his lips. He kissed me roughly and deeply, not caring about the traffic passing by as we sat on the side of the road.

“God, Emma…I gotta get you home, baby,” Luke gritted out between clenched teeth as he pulled back from me.

I just nodded, unable to speak. He jerked the car back into gear and pulled back into traffic, flooring it. I said a little prayer that the No-Ticket Gods would be good to us and they must have been in a giving mood because we made it back to Luke’s in record time without getting pulled over.

Luke jerked to a stop in front of his house, barely getting the car in park before he reached over and hauled me into his lap. It was a really tight fit, but I didn’t care. All that mattered was that I was straddled over Luke, pressing into his hardness that fit so perfectly between my thighs. I moaned out a thanks to the Skirt Gods, too, glad that I had decided to wear one today to work as Luke slid his hands up under it and tore (LITERALLY! OHMIGOD!) my panties away from my hips. Making quick work of his zipper, he pushed up into me and pulled my hips down at the same time, slamming every inch of his thick, hard, length inside me as deep as it would go.

I rode him hard, gripping the headrest of the seat tightly to anchor myself as I did, loving the feel of his hands hard on my hips, his heat scalding me deep between my thighs. I thrust myself down on his hardness one last time, screaming as my orgasm shot through me, coming so hard I saw stars. I heard Luke’s shout as he stiffened and poured himself into me, crushing my hips tighter to his as he rocked his hips in short, sharp thrusts, drawing out our pleasure until we were both gasping for breath and limp.

I lay slumped on top of him for a minute before we both realized that there was a constant beeping noise all around us. I pulled up and away from Luke, sitting in the passenger seat again and the noise stopped. Oh, shit! I’d been laying on the horn with my ass!