An Unlikely Bride (Lucas & Ava)

I yank on my arm, but he holds firm. “What’s wrong with me? Isn’t it obvious?”

“No.”

“I’m a mess!” I fling my free arm. “I’m exactly the kind of girl people like you fuck on the side but don’t date, don’t introduce to your family, don’t think about long-term.”

“Why not?”

“Look at me and look at you. I was raised by an uneducated single mom who didn’t know any better. She thought she could get my dad to marry her if she had me, but it wasn’t enough. He was happy to come by, play daddy when it suited him…and then leave—go back to his perfect upper-middle-class family. Mom and I were just props so he could play at being some rough, blue-collar guy when he was bored with his suburban life.”

Realization dawns on his face, but I turn away.

“Let me go, Lucas.”

“Why did you come here?”

I shake my head. It’s too humiliating.

“I’m not letting you go until you tell me.” When I press my lips together, he shakes me. “Tell me, damn you. What did you think you could gain by coming here?”

“I don’t know.” Liar. Liar. Every cell in my body begs to leave. I can’t stay here anymore and endure the pain or humiliation. I should’ve accepted I lost. The time to fight was in Charlottesville, not now.

“Ava, tell me.”

His visible eye is narrowed, and his nostrils flare. I’m going to have to hit rock bottom, and then bring out a shovel, before he lets me go. “Because Elizabeth told me you’re going to marry Faye. Because I thought if I bared myself to you, things might change.”

“So you’re here to fight…for me?”

“Fight…” I sniffle, then shrug helplessly. “I don’t know how to fight. We can’t go back in time and erase all the harsh words between us.” I drop my gaze. “It was a mistake for me to come, and I’m sorry.”

“Is that all you’re feeling? Just regret?”

I close my eyes for a moment. I don’t want to tell him, but I owe him that much. After all, he bared everything to me before. “No. I feel…defeated. Hollow. You stole my heart twice. I could’ve survived the first time, but the second…” I swallow. “I’m never going to be whole. I’m in love with you. Always have been. You’re an impossible man to fall out of love with.” I exhale roughly, my entire being wrung out. “Will you let go now? Please?”

“I can’t.”

His palms cradle my face, and his mouth crashes down on mine. My thoughts fry, and I let go of everything except the incredible sensation his kiss elicits within me. I part my lips, brush my tongue against his and feel the groan vibrating from his chest. He tastes just like I remember—the sweetest and most amazing homecoming.

I dig my fingers into his hair, hold him tightly to me, afraid if I don’t, he’s going to slip away…just like in my dream. I’ll die if this is just a figment of my imagination.

Now that I have him in my arms, I feel like a starving woman before a banquet table. I breathe in his s

cent—all male and heat—and feel his body against mine—powerful, sinewy, vibrating with tension.

The edge of my teeth scrape his lip, and a coppery tang laces our kiss. I should be sorry, maybe, but I’m not. He deepens the kiss until all I feel is lush heat blossoming in my belly and spreading throughout.

He pushes my dress up, bunching the skirt around my waist. My leg wraps around his thigh like a vine. His rough fingers dig into my thighs and ass. I whimper, then drag the dress up and up until it’s over my head and lost somewhere in the room. My bra gets a similarly unceremonious disposal while Lucas tugs at my thong impatiently. I hear fabric tear and couldn’t care less. I’m delirious with the idea of feeling his skin soon.

I devour his mouth while yanking at the buttons on his shirt. My hands are clumsy. They barely manage to get two buttons undone before Lucas rips the shirt apart, buttons flying everywhere, and flings the expensive garment like it’s yesterday’s garbage. I unbuckle his belt and slacks and push them down along with his boxers. His cock springs out, thick and hard.

He kicks off his shoes and clothes, and we’re at each other. My back presses against the cool, papered wall, and I groan at how amazing his bare skin feels against me. Every nerve in my body is electrified, and a delicious heat courses through me. This…this must be how a desert feels when the first drop of rain hits. My skin’s hypersensitive, and even the slightest friction of his chest hair against my torso feels like a rasp.

His fingers dig into my ass, and I spread my legs as widely as I can and cradle his erection within my drenched folds. A harsh groan rumbles in his throat, and I whimper softly at the empty ache that amplifies even more.

“Tell me again,” he orders.

“I’m in love with you.”

He enters me in a long, powerful stroke. I cry out at the heady sensation of being joined with him. He’s huge, so thick, so perfect—my man, my lover, the greatest and most treasured piece of my soul.