“I know it has broken your family in two.” He touched her cheek. “And it’s broken your heart, baby.”
She turned and looked into Lucas’s loving eyes. “I’ve missed this, Lucas. You can’t imagine how much.”
“But I can, baby. I’ve missed you.”
“I wish we could start up where we left off. I want to. I really do. You being here means the world to me, but after all we’ve been through, I can’t see how we can begin again.”
He moved his hand to the back of her neck. “But I can. Shane is back. He’s served his time. We all need to pull together to make sure he doesn’t slip up again. You need me. You need Mitchell and Jason, too.”
She shook her head. “Even if that’s true, and I’m not saying it is, you guys barely talk to each other these days. I feel responsible but don’t know what to do about it. How can you guys help me when you can’t help each other? Everyone in town can see you aren’t as close as you once were.”
“Honey, that’s for me and my brothers to work out. Yes, we do have much to discuss, but you aren’t responsible for any of our issues. Shane is like a brother to me, Mitchell, and Jason. Corey, too. With all of us in Shane’s corner, we can make sure he never has to leave Destiny again.”
“Shane does need everyone to help him get back to his old self.” Who better than her family and her three Wolfe men to take part in making sure he did? “Where do we begin, Lucas?”
“One step at a time, baby. That’s where. We’ll figure what Shane needs from us along the way. It’s not something you can plan for. Tonight, I want to talk about you. About you and me. The past needs to stay in the past. What I’m asking is for another chance, Phoebe. We had a dream once—a dream about the future that you, me, Mitchell, and Jason wanted. We can have it again.”
She leaned her head into his shoulder. “I want to trust you.”
“Then do it.”
“Help me,” she said with tears welling up in her eyes.
She felt him tug on her hair, one of his Dom moves from long ago that never failed to get her attention and make her warm. Like magic, it did the trick.
“I remember your safe word, sub. Do you?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Say it for me now, so I can be sure you do.”
“My safe word is…” she hesitated, feeling the gravity and power of that single syllable that she and the Wolfe brothers had settled on during her first training session, “…freeze.”
“Very good. And your word to let me know your approaching a limit?”
“Caution.”
“Right again, sub.” He smiled. “On your feet. Time to get you out of that ballerina costume.”
“Yes, Sir.” She trembled as her desires, which she’d kept in check for three years, began to burn blisteringly hot inside her.
Lucas stood and took his time removing her clothing. One thing about him she always remembered, he never rushed. There was a kind of madness in his unquenchable lovemaking, but there also seemed to be a method.
He flagrantly scanned her body, as if he had a claim to it. In her heart, she knew he still did, even after all these years. She could see the hunger in his eyes, which added to her own excitement.
Once she was down to only her bra and panties, he kissed her wickedly, sending his tongue past her lips. She melted into his kiss, feeling safe again for the first time in years.
As he continued devouring her mouth, Lucas’s hands moved up and down her body, probing and pinching her into submission.
He unclasped her bra, pulled it off, and sent it to an empty chair with a toss. His thick fingers massaged her breasts, causing her pussy to burn and her clit to ache.
God, this feels so good, so right. She’d forgotten how her body responded to his manly manipulations. Long dormant nerve-endings were stirring.
Lucas kissed her neck, sending a shiver up and down her body. As he moved his hands to her sides, her skin heated up even more.
She felt his fingers latch onto the waist of her panties. Then he shoved them to her ankles. He stepped back and sent her the most possessive Dom smile she’d seen in years.
“Very good.” Then his smile turned into a frown. “You still shave your pussy. Why?”