Page 39 of Built

“That’s right. God, you’re a good girl.”

He pauses, holding the base of his erection. His cock jerks and warm, viscous liquid pulses onto my belly. Once, twice, Luke closes his eyes and his jaw drops open as the last dribbles spill onto my skin.

He looks so handsome. So vulnerable, lost to his pleasure.

Luke opens his eyes and looks down at my belly, covered in his cum.

Dropping to rest his forehead against mine, he reaches between us to spread it over my skin. “Don’t shower, baby. I want you to wear this all day right on your skin. Right over your heart.” He brushes it up between my breasts.

Then he buries his face against my neck and laughs. “Sorry. Is that too much? I just can’t explain what it does to me, seeing it on you like that.”

I thread my fingers through his hair and hold him. “Not too much. Not at all.” My core flutters and a warmth spreads through my veins at the thought. It’s hard to put into words, but it excites me, too. “I don’t mind one bit.”

Luke falls asleep again after that. When he wakes a little while later, he claims he was just resting his eyes, but I smile to myself, loving the way he let me hold him. As if we’d spent the last ten years waking up together, instead of living with dreams of what might have been.

But you know I’m glad we waited. I’m glad we didn’t have sex again yet, either. Now I’ve got some idea how much it really means to Luke, I’m glad we didn’t rush into it. I want it to mean as much as he needs it to mean. He’s right. He deserves to be more than just my rebound guy.

Instead of showering, I slip on Luke’s jumper and my pyjama shorts and head downstairs while he’s still brushing his teeth with a spare toothbrush I found in the cabinet. I’m glad he hasn’t felt the need to go home yet. I’m sure he’s busy, but I hope he’ll hang out for a little longer.

I boil the kettle and make some toast. I smile when his warm, rough hands slide around my waist and over my belly beneath my clothes. “Do you have time for breakfast?”

He hums against my neck as he brushes a kiss there making me shiver. “You trying to get rid of me or something?”

“No.” I turn to face him, wanting to make sure he knows how I’m feeling. “Not at all. I just didn’t want you to feel you had to stay.”

He gathers me close again, and I love the feeling of being in his arms. “Baby, I’m not going anywhere until you kick me out. Not this time.”

That reminds me about the half finished conversation from last night, of everything we still need to discuss. I want to ask him about it, but the toast pops and Luke’s phone buzzes.

I grab a plate and butter the toast. When I slide it across the counter to Luke, I notice the line between his brows.

“Everything OK?”

He brushes a hand through his tousled hair and looks up at me. “Yeah. No, it’s just Dad. With everything last night, I forgot to ask Mum about this appointment in Sydney. It’s probably nothing...” He trails off and I can tell he thinks it’s not nothing.

“Want to talk about it?”

He sighs.

I turn and pour boiling water into the coffee plunger to make his coffee, then fill the mug for my tea. By the time I turn back, he’s still staring at the toast.

“I just worry about him. He’s got this medical appointment in Sydney and he didn’t say a word. Left it to Mum to casually drop the information to me the other day. Only, I get the feeling she’s avoiding talking to us about it. It’s almost like she’s worried, but she doesn’t want us to worry, you know?”

I nod. My mother would never do anything like that. If there was a problem in her life, everyone would know about it straight away. She loves a drama.

But though I only just met her, I can guess Luke’s mum is nothing like that.

“What do you think it is?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know. I just hate not knowing. There can’t be anything good about the fact that he won’t talk about it.”

Wrapping my hands around my hot mug, I lean over the counter. “Why don’t you? Why don’t you take him for a drive or something and talk to him?”

“I dunno.” Luke takes a sip of coffee. “This is going to sound dumb, but I’m worried it’d be awkward. Mum is always the middle man on this kinda stuff.”

I nod. “But if you’re really worried, maybe you should just ask him.”

“Yeah. You’re probably right.” He takes a big bite of the raisin toast I just made him, so I think he’s going to drop the subject. I’m certainly not going to keep going. I’m not going to be a nag.

---