“Well, really, Jonathon did,” my dad interrupted.
Since they couldn’t see me, I made a face. All of our conversations lately seemed to revolve around my brother.
Faint amusement flashed through Luka, but it was overpowered quickly with lust. He ground himself against the seam of my legs, and his hands burrowed under my sweater. My mouth dropped open. It felt good, but I didn’t want my parents to hear what he was doing, and my voice tightened with nerves. “Yeah? Did he get another scholarship?”
My mom giggled. “No, he won a car!”
Suspicion corded my muscles into knots, making me stay perfectly still as Luka’s fingers followed the curve of my breast above the edge of my bra. My body wanted to focus on his touch, but my mind was pulled elsewhere. “What?”
“I know,” she said, “it’s crazy! Jonathon just left to go over to his girlfriend’s house and show it off.”
“It’s not like it’s an expensive sports car,” my father added. “It’s a Ford Fusion. But it’s brand new, drives great, and looks good. He’s very excited.”
“And it’s so much safer than the Buick. That car’s almost as old as he is.”
Luka worked his fingers inside my bra, and my nipple snapped into a sharp point on contact. I stared at him, silently asking him to wait, but my reluctance only seemed to appeal to him more.
“How?” My word was clipped.
My parents spoke over each other, until my father relented and my mother spoke. “A drawing. He doesn’t even remember when he entered it, and your father was worried it was a scam.”
Luka’s hips moved, gently thrusting against me and forced a reaction. I let out a stuttering breath and put my hands on his chest, mouthing the word, “Wait.” He didn’t. He gripped my wrists and eased me down onto my back, pinning me to the table.
“It wasn’t a scam,” my father said. “We drove down to the Markovic dealership this afternoon and picked the car up.”
I bucked against Luka, but his hands had me cuffed tightly to the wood, and his heated body smothered mine. He’d given my brother a car? Why? I was filled with dread. The opulent house Luka held me captive in suggested the Markovics weren’t overly charitable, so this had to be a calculated move.
My mom babbled on about the car, telling me the color and its features, but I couldn’t comprehend. I stared up at Luka and tried to understand what his play was. His expression wasn’t any help. He seemed to be staring back at me with the same curiosity, as if wondering how I was going to react.
He let go of my wrist and tapped my phone’s screen, muting it. “It’s an insurance policy in case you try to run,” he said. “The GPS tells us where he is.”
“I already told you, I’m not going to run.” Wait a minute. He’d said us.
“It’s not my insurance policy.” Luka’s voice was soft. “As long as you do what I say, your brother will be fine. Better than fine, he gets a new car out of the arrangement.”
There was no more discussion to be had because he turned off the mute, silencing me. I pressed my lips together to hold back my words. I was scared enough for myself. I didn’t want to add worry for Jonathon on top of it.
My mother’s voice was still bubbly and excited. “Anyway, enough about all that. How are you? How’s school?”
I tensed, hating the lie. “It’s fine.”
“Is Avery around?” she asked casually, probably fishing to see if she could speak freely.
“No,” I said.
“Oh. Is she still driving you crazy?”
The wooden surface wasn’t comfortable, and it grew even more so when Luka’s fingers fumbled at the snap of my jeans. The word came out forceful and meant for him. “No.”
Like it mattered. I squirmed and shoved his hands away, but he shot me a dark, serious look. It turned my body to stone.
“No?” She sounded perplexed. “That’s good. What did you do this weekend?”
He leaned over me, one hand on the table beside my head and the other tugged down my zipper. I was trapped under his heavy, powerful gaze. “I, uh . . . went to a party with Avery.”
My parents spoke at the same time. “You did?”
Luka’s hand was inside my pants, touching me through my underwear, and his mouth lifted in the slight, pleased smile when he discovered how turned on I was. I quivered, and my hands splayed on the tabletop, trying to grip the flat surface.
“Did you have fun?” my mom asked.
Fun? I couldn’t process a response and then I couldn’t breathe as Luka began to peel the jeans and panties down my legs. I shook my head and gazed up at him with wide eyes, but he smirked and kept going.
I had to say something. My mom had asked me a question. “It was loud. And . . . kind of crowded.”