Chapter Twenty-Two

"I enjoyed them." Luke links his fingers with mine and kisses my knuckles as he drives us back toward Alki Beach.

"They enjoyed you too. Thank you for coming, and inviting your parents. I had a great time." I can't hide my delighted smile.

"I'm glad. Are you excited about our trip?" His grin is wide.

"I have a lot to do tonight to get ready. Maybe I should stay home tonight so I can pack and make calls and stuff."

Luke frowns. "It won't take me long to pack. I can drop you off at home, go pack, and come back to your place." He swallows and glances at me.

"What's wrong?" Why does he suddenly look nervous?

"I don't want you to bail on me."

"Bail on you?"

"Yeah, decide you don't want to go."

Where is this vulnerability coming from? "I do want to go."

"Good." He smiles at me.

I find it doesn't take me long to pack either. A whole week in Tahiti entails a few bikinis, sarongs, pull-overs and flip-flops. I also add one nice tank dress in case we have dinner and a pair of heels and some shorts and tank tops.

I'll throw my toiletries together in the morning before our nine a.m. flight.

I sit at the kitchen table and begin calling next week's clients to reschedule when I hear Luke come in through the front door.

"Baby?"

"In the kitchen!"

"Hey," he leans down and kisses me sweetly, and I sigh.

"Hi. Gonna make some calls. Make yourself at home."

"Okay." He saunters into the kitchen and grabs a bottle of water out of the fridge.

Half an hour later, all my calls are made, appointments rescheduled, and I'm officially on vacation.

Imagine that!

I have a huge, cat-ate-the-canary grin on my face as I crawl into Luke's lap where he sits on my couch. He's been reading a script.

"Well, hello, happy girl." He nuzzles my neck.

"Hi, obsessively generous boyfriend." He laughs and wraps his arms gently around me.

"I am looking forward to laying on a sandy beach with you, baby."

"Hmm...me too. And snorkeling!"

"You snorkel?" He continues to nuzzle my neck and nips at my ear and I squirm.

"Yeah, I have. It's been a while."

"You smell so good. What else do you want to do?"

"Well, for one whole day..." I run my fingers through his hair and lean back so I can look at the pretty.

"Yes?"

"I want to stay naked and in bed with you."

"That's going to be my favorite day on this whole vacation." He runs his hand gently up and down my back and I grin.

"Me too. Are we staying in one of those huts that sits over the water?"

"Yes."

"Cool. We can skinny dip."

He laughs delightedly. "Aren't you just the exhibitionist?"

"No, we'll do it at night." I lay my head on his shoulder and sigh deeply, suddenly tired, but completely relaxed. "Can I bring my camera?"

"I assumed you would."

"I won't if it makes you uncomfortable." I made sure to be careful not to capture his photo tonight after dinner while I was taking photos of little Sophie and the rest of our families.

"I trust you completely. You can take my picture."

I sit upright in his lap, my jaw dropped and eyes wide. "I can?"

"Well, we're going to want pictures from our vacation, aren't we? Natalie, after everything that we've done, how can I not trust you to take my picture? We should have memories together."

I feel my smile grow and I'm just so... happy. "I'm dying to take your picture, and before you freak out on me..."

"I'm not going to freak out of you," he says with a laugh.

"I want to take your photo because it's what I do, and you are so beautiful, Luke. There have been so many moments that I wish I could capture. I would never share any of our images with anyone unless I had your permission, but I want photos of you. I want photos of us together."

"I want photos of us too."

I hug him tightly and then lay my head on his shoulder again.

"Are you sleepy?" he murmurs as he rhythmically runs his fingers through my hair.

"A little." I gaze up into his beautiful blue eyes. "Thank you."

"Baby, I told you, I enjoy spoiling you."

"No, not that." I shake my head and look down. "Although yes, thank you for that too. I just..."

"What?" He tilts my chin back up so he can see me.

"I love you."

His eyes flare and he inhales deeply. "I love you, baby."

"Let's go to bed."

"My pleasure." He lifts me effortlessly in his arms and carries me upstairs.

"It's going to be a long flight." My voice is strong, but my stomach is in knots. Luke has hired a driver to take us to the airport, and we are in the backseat. I'm clutching onto his strong hand and worrying my lip with my teeth.

"We'll be fine." He pulls me over into his lap and nuzzles my neck. I recognize the distraction tactic, but it doesn't help.

"Do we have a layover in L.A.?" I ask.

"No."

"Oh." I frown and catch my breath when his lips graze over the sensitive spot below my ear. "I didn't know there were direct flights from Seattle to Tahiti."

"I don't know if there are. A friend of mine is loaning us his jet."

"Oh." Holy shit.

"Nat, have you flown since your parents passed?" He tilts my chin and looks into my eyes and he looks nervous and worried about me.

I cup his cheek in my hand. "No."

"Baby, are you okay with this?" He kisses my palm.

"I'll be fine. It's like ripping off a Band-Aid. I just have to do it."

"If it makes you feel better, I plan to keep you fully occupied for most of the flight. You won't have time to be scared." He grins mischievously at me and I giggle.

"Promises, promises..."

Before long we arrive at SeaTac. The driver pulls onto the tarmac next to a large private jet. This is much bigger than anything my dad ever flew.

The driver opens our door and then begins transferring our luggage on board the beautiful aircraft. Luke speaks with the pilot and co-pilot and the pretty flight attendant, but my ears are buzzing with too much nervousness to hear, or care, what they're saying.

The inside of the cabin is beautiful. It must seat twelve. The seats are large and plush black leather. Luke leads me to two that are side-by-side and we sit.

"How are you?"

"How do I look?" I whisper.

"Pale and glassy eyed."

"So, terrified then."

"Yes."

"That's accurate."

Luke buckles my seatbelt for me—Geez!—and wraps an arm around me. "I've got you, baby."

"I know. I'll be fine in a little while."

His beautiful blue eyes are heavy with worry and I pull his head down so I can kiss him. He sweeps his lips across mine in that way he has that makes me quiver inside and runs his fingers through my hair.

"You look beautiful today."

I'm just in blue jeans and a green tank top. I take in his black T-shirt and khaki shorts and grin. "Back at you, handsome."

The pilot's voice comes over the speakers announcing that we're ready for take-off, what our altitude will be, and how long the flight will be. Thankfully, it should be a fairly smooth flight.

I hear the engines roar to life and I pull out of Luke's arm so I can clutch his hand. Within seconds we are racing down the runway and lifting off the ground.

I think I'm going to pass out.

"Breathe, baby."

I pull in a deep breath and let it out.

"Again. Stay with me, baby, just breathe."

God, I love him at this moment. His voice is calming me and as we gain altitude and even out, I begin to calm.

"I'm okay," I whisper.

"Can I get you something?" The tall, leggy blonde flight attendant is at our side. I didn't notice how attractive she was before. "I can fix you some breakfast if you like."

I shake my head adamantly. "Just water, please."

"Water for both of us, please."

We sip on the cool water, Luke's eyes still trained on my face and I flush just a bit.

"So, whose plane is this?" I ask.

"Spielberg's." He grins at me.

Holy fuck.

"As in Steven?" I ask.

"The same. He directed the film that just wrapped that I helped produce. We've worked together a few times. I called in a favor." He shrugs.

"I am so out of my league with you." I shake my head.

"What the fuck does that mean?"

My head snaps around at his angry outburst and my jaw drops at the glare he's sending me.

"I'm sorry..." I frown and gaze around the cabin of the plane. This is beyond rich. I know rich. This is Forbes 100 list I-could-buy-a-third-world-country rich.

"This isn't mine. I borrowed it. I thought you'd like it."

"I do. All of this is wonderful. You are wonderful. You just overwhelm me sometimes, Luke."

"Yeah, well, that seems to be contagious then because you have completely beguiled me."

I'm feeling vulnerable and scared and excited and in love, and I just need to be in his arms. So I unbuckle my belt and fling one leg over his lap and straddle him. His eyebrows rise in surprise, and he grabs my curvy ass in his hands. I love that he's tall enough that even in this position we're practically at eye-level. I grip his smooth face in my hands and lean in and kiss him like my life depends on it.

I feel his hands run up and down my back and I grind my center against him.

"Fuck, baby, you make me crazy."

"Hmm..." I nibble at the corner of his mouth and open my eyes to find his blue gaze on me. "I want you. Make me forget where we are."

He takes control of the kiss, gripping my hair in his hands and holding my face to his, kissing me like he hasn't touched me in days.

As if we didn't make love just this morning.

He reaches between us and unbuckles his belt and lifts me easily, his hands planted firmly on my ass to hold me. I wrap my legs around his lean waist and tangle his hair in my hands, leaning my arms on his shoulders.

"Where are we going?" I murmur.

"Bedroom." Bedroom? On a plane?

"What's wrong with the chair we were in?" I lean down and bite his earlobe.

"I'm not giving the flight attendant a fucking show."

"Oh." I forgot. This is what he does to me. He makes me forget. And it's so hot!

He carries me to the rear of the plane and through a door into a small room with a double bed. It has beautiful, inviting linens and pillows in shades of browns and greens.

"Airplane sex!" I straighten in his arms and hold his face in my hands. "I've never had airplane sex."

He grins wide and kisses my chin. "Me neither."

I run my fingers lightly through his soft blond hair and gaze into his sky blue eyes and can't help but wonder what I did to deserve this beautiful man.

"You are so beautiful." He frowns at my change of pace, and just stands there in the middle of the room with me draped around him, not putting me down.

He shakes his head and plants a kiss on my collar bone. "I'm nothing special."

"Oh, honey," I wrap myself around him and hold on tight. "You are beautiful, inside and out," I whisper in his ear.

"Naked, now," he growls and sets me down.

I can't help but laugh as suddenly we are just a tangle of clothes being flung off and flown about the room, both of us anxious to get naked and touch each other.

When the last piece of clothing is shed, Luke grabs for me, pulling me to him in a passionate embrace, but instead of pushing us down onto the bed, he's cornered me against the wall, leaning his heavy torso and hips against me, his rigid erection pushing against my belly.

He slides his hands down my arms, links his fingers in mine and pulls our hands up above my head, pinning me in place. His gloriously soft mouth is on my neck, sweeping up and down. He captures both of my wrists in one hand and glides the other down my arm and to my breast to worry my nipple between his fingers.

"Fuck, Luke."

"God, you're so beautiful. I love how your breast feels in my hand."

I bow my body off the wall, my hands still pinned above me, in need.

"Hush, baby." His hand leisurely travels down to my hip and around to my ass where he rubs it softly, then slaps it. Hard.

"Ah!" I feel his grin in my neck and I bite my lip. How does his slapping my ass turn me on so much? It's fucking sexy as hell.

"Again," I whisper.

"Oh, baby," he kisses my chin and the corners of my mouth, nibbling along my jaw. "You want it rough?"

"Only with you." And it's the truth. Only he can touch me the way he does and make my skin sing the way it does. It's intoxicating.

"Damn right." He slaps me again and hitches my leg up around his thigh, but he's too tall to rub his cock against my center.

"Lift me," I beg.

"Oh, I will. Patience, beautiful." That glorious hand of his slips behind me again, over my now warm ass, and down between my folds. He slips a finger inside me and moves it in a circular motion, sending me spiraling in sensation.

"Luke! Please!" I'm pulling my wrists against his hand to no avail. I want to touch him! I want him inside me!

"What do you want baby?" He croons to me as he assaults my pussy in the most delicious way.

"You. Please." I whisper this against his neck.

"You'll have me. Be patient, my love. I'm making you forget, remember?"

"I don't remember my own fucking name right now."

He laughs and kisses me sweetly. "I'm going to let go of your hands now. Put them on your head."

"What?" He's not making any sense.

"Just put them on your head."

"I want to touch you." I pout, and he bites my lower lip.

"Not yet. Trust me."

He releases my hands and I lower them to my head, weaving my fingers together and lean my head back on the wall.

"Good. Don't move your hands, baby."

"Okay," I whisper.

He continues to kiss my face and neck, gently bites my earlobe and then heads south.

And I know exactly what he's going to do.

"Fuck." I look down at him as he kisses his way down to my breasts, pulling the nipples into his mouth. My breathing is ragged and blood is rushing though my body on hyperdrive.

I've never been so turned on in my life.

"Easy, baby. I've got you."

As he kneels to the floor, he hitches my right leg around his shoulder and wraps his arms around me, supporting me on his forearms and gripping my ass in his large hands.

"I'm going to fall."

"I won't let you fall." He kisses my belly piercing, and then places three sweet kisses on my tattoo.

Without thinking, I lower a hand and run my fingers through his hair, but he jerks his head away and glares at me.

"On. Your. Head."

Oh.

"I want to touch you."

"Later. Come on baby, play along."

"Okay." My hand goes back on my head and without hesitation, his lips wrap around my clitoris and he sucks.

Holy fucking shit!

"Fuck!" My hips push against his mouth and he pulls back slightly to move down to my lips where he kisses me intimately, running his tongue up and down and around me, teasing me. He nibbles gently, and then buries his tongue inside me while inhaling my scent.

I can't take my eyes off of him. Seeing his mouth on me is the most erotic thing I've ever witnessed.

His hands are kneading my ass. His right hand, still supporting my weight, slides closer to my center. He dips his littlest finger in my wet core and flexes it and pulls it out and as his mouth resumes its delicious torture, he slips that little finger right...there.

His molten blue eyes are looking up at my face. I'm so overwhelmed with sensation it's weakening. That finger is moving slowly in and out and the feeling is unimaginable. It makes me feel just a little dirty and wanton and oh so hot.

His presses his nose on my clitoris and it's all over. He's pushing all my buttons—literally—and I fall apart, shuddering and pulsating, coming over and over. It just doesn't seem like it'll ever stop.

He pulls his pinkie out of me and kisses up my pubis, my belly, over my breasts and finally, my lips. He's pinned me against the wall again with his body because without him, I would collapse onto the floor.

"Please," I mewl, not recognizing my own voice.

"Anything, baby."

"Fuck me."

His gaze finds mine and it darkens. "I just did," he murmurs against my mouth, brushing his lips back and forth. He grips my hands in his again and holds them over my head.

"Fuck me on that bed." I kiss him. "Please."

He holds me against his chest and twirls us across the short floor to the bed. He tears the duvet away from the sheets and guides me down onto it.

"On your stomach, baby."

I roll over flat on my stomach and he's suddenly covering me, his hard cock pressing against my buttocks, his chest hair tickling my back. He kisses the very center of my neck and follows my spine down, paying extra attention to the tattoo in the center of my back.

"Why does it say 'Love Deeply'?" he asks.

"What?"

"Why this tattoo?"

I have to blink and pull some brain cells back together to answer his question.

"Because that's what I always wanted, to love and be loved deeply."

He nuzzles the tattoo with his nose. "You are, Nat."

"I know."

I feel his smile as he resumes his journey down my back. He kisses my butt, one cheek at a time and then sweeps his lips across the tattoo on my right thigh, under my buttock.

"And this one? Why does it say 'Happiness Is a Journey'?"

"Because it was a long journey to travel for me to be happy again."

"Oh, baby." He parts my legs with his own and runs a finger from my anus down to the clitoris, making me angle my behind off the bed and into the air.

"Ah, Luke."

He grips my hips and slides into me, burying himself inside me as far as he can.

It's glorious. I feel full and happy and sexy and so loved.

He slaps the cheek that was ignored when he had me pinned against the wall, and starts to move in and out of me, slamming into me hard, over and over.

I grip the sheets in my fists and cry out as I feel the familiar pull of the muscles around his cock and my legs clench. He grips my hips, almost painfully, as he slams into me once more and comes violently, erupting inside me.