He slid his free hand down her ribs to her pelvis, and found her moist and hot and definitely ready for him.
Where in hell were his pants!
She made a ragged sound of pleasure and arched into his touch. Luke increased the pressure and slid a finger inside her, retreated, and repeated the intoxicating dance. She tightened around him, her body humming with building tension as she strained against his hold on her wrists. Her climax was as sudden and gloriously breathtaking as an exploding nova.
And it didn’t slow her down one damn bit.
So caught up in the wave of pleasure he was witnessing, Luke didn’t realize he’d slackened his grip. And before he knew it, Camry’s hands were back at his groin, doing gloriously breathtaking things to him.
And just as suddenly as she had, he made an utter disgrace of himself.
He flopped back on the bed beside her with a groan and stared up at the ceiling, trying to catch his breath as he wondered what had just happened.
Little Miss Exploding Nova, also panting raggedly, rolled over and snuggled against him with a sigh. She patted his chest. “Thanks. I really needed that.”
Chapter Eight
Luke pulled the unused condoms out of his pants pocket two mornings later and tossed them in his ditty bag with a derisive snort. He’d just experienced two days of the best sex of his life, and he hadn’t even gotten to use one of the damn things. He still couldn’t figure out how he could be so sexually sated without technically having sex, or how Camry MacKeage had managed to fool him into believing he was.
Dammit, what sort of perverted game was she playing? They’d done it every way but standing on their heads, but they hadn’t actually done it!
Luke suddenly reached in the ditty bag, pulled out one of the condoms, and stuffed it back in his pocket. He was on to her now, by God, and he’d be damned if he was going to be used as some convenient boy toy to stave off herboredom.
The very next time they got naked together he was calling her bluff, and either she could put out for real, or he was taking the next flight back to France. To hell with her and this whole damn mess. He’d been deluding himself long enough, holding out hope there was anything left of that damn satellite worth salvaging. And being in lust with a woman was one thing, but deliberately being used by her was . . . it was . . .
Dammit, he actually felt violated!
Fired up with righteous indignation and no small amount of wounded pride, Luke stormed out of the bathroom in search of the green-eyed siren.
Only finding the house was empty, he stood in the living room, nonplussed. Fiona must have taken the dogs out for their walk early, and Camry must have gone with her. Dammit to hell! Had she grown bored with him already?
But wait. She couldn’t stay out the entire hour; her ankle still wasn’t that strong. Luke grabbed his jacket, fully intending to sit on the steps and ambush her when she returned. Only he nearly fell over her when he rushed out the porch door, because Camry was sitting on the top step. She didn’t even bother looking up when he bumped into her, but simply continued to stare down at something in her hand.
Immediately sensing something was wrong, Luke silently sat down beside her. It was then he noticed she was holding open a card. And though he couldn’t quite read it, the handwriting looked eerily familiar. When Camry still didn’t acknowledge he was there, he glanced around for Fiona, even standing up to see the beach, looking in both directions for the girl.
“She’s gone,” Camry said, her voice lacking any emotion.
Luke sat back down. “She took all the dogs to the grocery store?”
“The dogs don’t come on Saturdays.”
He glanced at Camry with growing alarm. “Will she be back soon?”
“She’s not coming back.”
The hair on his neck stood up, his gut tightened painfully, and every muscle in his body tensed. “She ran off?” he whispered. He stood up again. “Come on then, we have to go find her. I don’t care how mature she seems, we can’t let her wander around alone!”
Camry still didn’t move. “She’s okay. She’s gone . . . home.”
Luke took a deep breath in an attempt to control his pounding heart and sat back down beside her with a disheartened sigh. “All she left us was a card? She couldn’t even say good-bye in person?”
Camry reached down between her knees, her hand returning with an envelope, and Luke finally noticed the small box sitting on the step below her, between her feet.
“Fiona left you this,” she said, handing him the envelope.
His heart started pounding again when he saw his name— Lucian Pascal Renoir—in flourished handwriting that was definitely familiar. He glanced over at Camry, but she continued to stare out at the ocean. He slid his finger under the sealed flap and pulled out a card exactly like the one Grace and Greylen MacKeage had received over a week ago.
He opened it. Please don’t give up on her,Luke silently read, because everyone needs a miracle once in a while, and you are hers.She’d drawn a little smiley face, then continued. And though you might find it hard to believe right now, she is your miracle. Have a great adventure together, you two. I’ll see you again . . . sooner than you think.She’d drawn another smiley face, before signing, All my love, Fiona Gregor.
Luke lifted his gaze to the ocean. Gregor. Why did that name sound familiar?
Fiona Gregor.
“Don’t you have a brother-in-law named Gregor?” he asked.
“Matt. He’s married to my sister Winter,” Camry said, still looking out to sea. “Fiona’s their daughter. And my niece.”
He frowned at her. “You didn’t recognize your own niece?”
She dropped her gaze to the card in her hand. “I didn’t recognize her because right now she’s only five and a half months old.”
Luke’s heart started trying to pound out of his chest again. He didn’t know which alarmed him more: what Camry was saying, or her utter lack of emotion. She had obviously read his name on the envelope she’d handed him, so she knew exactly who he was. Why wasn’t she going for his jugular, or at least screaming her head off?
And what in hell did she mean, Fiona was only five months old?
This had to be some sort of bizarre joke.
And how had Fiona found out his full name, anyway?
He snorted. “Apparently our respecting the little brat enough not to go through her belongings wasn’t reciprocated. She obviously went through my briefcase when she picked it up for me.”
He held the envelope with his name on it in front of Camry, but when she still didn’t respond, he dropped his hand back on his thigh. “I know you probably won’t believe me, but I was going to tell you today.” He shifted uncomfortably, disguising the action by sliding the card back in its envelope. “In fact, I’ve spent all week trying to figure out how to tell you. I . . . you should also know that your mother asked me to come here and talk you into going home for Christmas.”
She finally looked at him, her eyes filled with horror. “Mom knowsI’m living in Maine?” she whispered. “D-does Daddy know, too?”
Luke nodded.
She was on her feet and off the steps so fast, it took him a moment to realize she was bolting. The colorfully wrapped box clattered down the steps after her, the card she’d been holding trailing behind it.
Luke jumped to his feet and ran after her. “Camry!” he shouted, tearing onto the beach, amazed she could run so fast on her ankle. “Wait! Let me explain! Dammit, will you stop! You’re going to hurt your ankle again!”