Chapter 98: Chapter Twenty-Three: For The Love of Desks-4

“Is Alex going to be at this party?” Luke said through gritted teeth. I inwardly sighed because as much as I didn’t want to have this conversation, we had to have it. “Yes,” I said firmly. “He was already coming with us when it was just drinks but since Zoe is organizing the whole thing, it’s very likely that he’ll show up for the party too,” I said firmly. Luke didn’t say anything but his jaw line was tense, his blue eyes dark with displeasure. “Alex is a good friend of mine—better than you’ll ever give him credit for—and I would want him there,” I said a little more softly this time. “Will that really be a problem, Luke?” “I don’t trust him to remember that you’re not his,” he muttered under his breath. I rolled my eyes and pushed the lettuce around in my salad. “Temporarily setting aside the fact that I don’t like being referred to as someone’s property, Alex doesn’t need to remember what he already knows fully well. He’s had plenty of chances to forget you’re in the picture, Luke, but he didn’t. Because I couldn’t. And he knows that. And he was very much a gentleman about it.” He gave me a droll look. “I don’t know that any man can be a real gentleman about losing the woman he wants more than his next breath. It could appear that way but trust me, deep down he’s breaking something.” I smiled a little. “Hmm. Funny you say that. I distinctly remember you trying to be so noble about letting me go. I didn’t see you breaking anything.” I saw him smile through his eyes first—bright but a little pained. “I was breaking my heart and everything else that kept me grounded.” My heart twisted and if I hadn’t remembered in time that we were in public—probably being observed by the entire cafeteria—I would’ve leaned in and kissed him, softly at first, tender and tentative until the tide swept us under. “Alex told me something like this before and I think it would help to remember this,” I said. “How he feels about me doesn’t matter. Not until I feel the same way about him. And I can’t feel that way about him when I already feel it about you.” Luke gazed at me for a while before nodding and giving my hand a squeeze. “I never once stopped to wonder what would happen next in my relationships because it didn’t matter when they ended—they always did and I felt the same way about all of them. But I don’t want this to ever end with you, Max.” Warmth pooled in my belly at that last statement and I couldn’t help but grin stupidly. “You sound a little scared, Luke Hedenby.” He raised an arrogant brow. “Are you kidding me? I’m not a little scared. I’m fucking terrified.” I burst out laughing, loud enough to draw some glances our way. Dropping my voice even though the couple tables around us were empty, I leaned in slightly and murmured, “Right now, I want to kiss you until you forget what it was you were terrified about.” His eyes flared with instant interest. “It’ll take more than just a kiss.” I chewed on my bottom lip, as if deliberating it, before giving a little shrug. “I’m sure I can do more than just kiss.” “I’ll want to touch you—everywhere.” “That can be arranged.” “I want my mouth on all your sweetest places. I want your taste on my tongue.” I felt my flush all the way down to my toes but I didn’t waver. “I’ll want yours on mine.” Luke released a low groan, his eyes squeezing shut briefly. “We better get out of here, Max, before I grab you and maul you in front of my entire company,” he said before rising to his feet and picking up our trays. “We’re going to have to start eating out for lunch or have them in my office where we don’t have an audience and I can reach for you whenever I want.” We made it as far as his office without breaking down. The moment the door closed and Luke’s hand slapped on some switch on the wall next to it, I was pushed roughly against the cool, hard surface, Luke’s mouth anchoring on mine for a dizzying kiss while his hands dug into my waist, gripping tightly as he hauled me up into his strong, powerful arms. My light gray A-line skirt was a bit prohibiting as I tried to wrap my legs around Luke’s hips but as soon as he shoved it up past my knees and all the way up to my thighs, I was able to move a lot more freely. His mouth moved down my neck, his breath hot and moist against my skin, his lips trapping one side of my collar where it parted just above my cleavage. He tugged at it, growling low like a hungry animal. “Don’t rip my shirt,” I whispered urgently, grabbing him by the hair and pulling his head back slightly. I kissed him squarely on the mouth, stroking his tongue with mine in teasing twirls before yanking his head away again. “Desk. Fast.” Without any obvious effort on his part, he carried me away from the door to the opposite side of the room. His desk was sleek and modern but thankfully made of steel and solid wood. I dimly remembered other more comfortable furniture in the office but the desk was the only one in my line of sight while I was being thoroughly kissed against the office door. Luke stopped in front of his desk, dropping me slowly on top of it. With his arms free, he worked on the front buttons of my baby blue shirt, nearly ripping it open in his haste. With a deft stroke of his hand, my plain white t-shirt bra unhooked behind me and he shoved it down, freeing the generous globes of my D-cups. “Goddammit, Max,” Luke muttered under his breath as he took a step back to gaze at my breasts with fiery eyes. He ran a trembling hand down his face before rubbing his jaw with it. “I told myself we’re going to go slow but if this is what you have in store for me, we’re going to have to move up that timeline.” If I’d been feeling self-conscious just then, being visually devoured by a beautiful man, it disappeared as a giggle bubbled out of me. “Hey, I don’t remember climbing on board that going-slow train.” I met his gaze. “I want you, Luke. And I trust that you’re going to put your vast bedroom experience to good use and make it worth my while.” He grinned, a little devilishly if I might add, and took a step closer to me, sketching a formal bow. “I live to please—and pleasure—my queen.” I laughed and grabbed the front of his shirt, hauling him up against me until his weight brought us both down on top of his desk. Screw being professional. When Luke Hedenby was starving for you, the good girl games flew out the window. Our mouths swallowed each other’s moans in a fevered kiss, my hands tugging his shirt out from behind his waistband and slipping under the fabric to touch his heated skin. His own wrapped around each of my breast, kneading in sensuous strokes as his thumbs strummed the hardened tips. The moment his mouth touched my breasts, I nearly lifted myself off the desk. I craned my neck up to watch but I could only see his dark head as he dipped lower, trapping a nipple between his lips, the tip of his tongue teasing the tortured nub with slow, studied patterns before he sucked hard at it. Luke’s name wrangled in my throat as I gasped in some air, trembling all over at the ministrations of his tongue and fingers as they continued their torment. He moved one of his hands down my thigh, sure in its path, as it glided across my skin and followed the slope down the valley between my legs. His  large hand cupped the center of me, the warmth from it seeping right through the thin cotton of my bikini-style panties, the heel of his palm pressing hard on the part of me where the pressure was building.