Flirting with Danger by Bev Hardy (digital e reader TXT) 📖

...watching his gaze burning over the sight of her before him in that skimpy satin and lace lingerie, she realized that secretly she wanted to affect him like that; it thrilled her.

Charlie was sitting at her dressing table, lost in thought, when a loud knock on the door startled her. She sprung off her seat and grabbed her robe in a panic, holding it up in front of her when the door began to open.

It wasn't as if she didn't know who it was though, and she wasn't exactly surprised to see Luke at the door either. He couldn't have finished showering that quickly though, surely.

"Luke?" she questioned.

His eyes flicked over her briefly before returning to her face as he leant one shoulder casually against the door frame, his torso naked, a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Charlie," he replied, his heart now beating vigorously, "I was kinda thinkin'..." he paused.

She eyed him questioningly. "What?"

Damn it, one look at Charlie and all his earlier caveman resolutions had deserted him.

"Err, you see," he turned from her for a second to stare at the door frame, running his thumbnail down the grain of the wood before turning back to her. "Well, I was thinkin'... since you wanted that bath, and since we aint in that much of a hurry," he shrugged, "why don't we just take a bath together?" he finished.

Damn it! He'd just sounded the same as he always sounded when he asked her that kind of thing, and now she was going to put him off as she always did. This was ridiculous; he needed to take control of matters.

Charlie laughed. "I don't think so Luke."

He knew it!

He searched her face for a few moments. "Why not?" he pushed.

She frowned. Why not? What a silly question. Despite being silly though, for the life of her she suddenly couldn't think of how to answer it. Finally she settled on, "I hardly think it's appropriate."

"Appropriate?" he laughed. "Look, it aint as if we're strangers."

What did that matter? What the hell were they taking about here anyway? Were they honestly having a serious conversation about taking a bath together, or were they having just as much of a serious conversation about having sex? Both were ridiculous.

"C'mon Charlie, I haven't seen you for seven years…" Luke was aware suddenly that he had to take a risk if he had any chance of persuading her; it could be worth it. "I missed ya," he admitted.

Despite herself, she actually felt quite flattered by hearing that. She smiled. "Well, that's all very nice Luke, but it does not mean that I'm going to have a bath with you!"

"C'mon, you never know, you might like it," he grinned. "Besides, you wouldn't do it before because of the whole 'workin' together' thing. We aint working together now," he pointed out.

She shook her head at him incredulously and laughed. "What are we actually talking about here Luke? Because I get the feeling it isn't just a bath."

His grin widened, his eyes seeming to sparkle that much more. Her heart suddenly raced.

"Why don't we start with a bath and see where that takes us?" he asked, his body now buzzing with excitement.

Her expression sobered then; she had to get control of this conversation. "I've told you before Luke, I don't do casual sex."

He folded his arms across his chest, his eyes glued to hers. Time to up the ante. "What makes you think it would be casual?"

Confusion flickered across her brow then, and she found herself a little lost for words, her head struggling to believe what she was hearing from him. Was he being serious? Then her answer hit her. What was she thinking?

"Err, in case you've forgotten, I'm with Richie now."

She should have made that point earlier.

Since they were being so open, Luke replied, "C'mon Charlie, you an' him aint workin'. Be honest."

Charlie was shocked at how direct Luke was being, and it threw her for a moment.

Charlie's hesitance spurred Luke on; he could feel her weakening.

He watched her for a moment, a smile playing about his mouth. "Why don't you just go crazy for once, Charlie? Don't think about it, and just say yes," he said, matter of factly.

She stared at him, her mind in a whirl at where this conversation had gone, and where it might go next. Anxious at that thought, she took a step backwards suddenly and ran her fingers through her damp hair, still clutching onto her robe with the other.

"You're mad," she replied simply.

In response to her step backwards, he took one forwards into the room. "But you just thought about it...for a moment, didn't you?" he pointed out.

Her pulse leapt in response to his advance into the room. She gave a small nervous laugh and took another step back. In some ways, it was her own weakness that she feared the most.

"No, I didn't."

"Sure you did," he contradicted, moving forwards again. "I know you Charlie, I can sense these things."

Could he? The idea made her decidedly more nervous.

"Well, your sensors are well off this time Adams," she came back.

But if that were so, she would have shouted at him and made him leave. She hadn't, and the atmosphere in the room between them was positively sizzling. Anyone in their right mind could sense it.

"I don't think so," he countered, moving a few more steps towards her, "underneath, you're just a little bit excited about all of this, am I right, or am I right?" he said, hoping to God he was right.

She laughed. "You're delusional. And that's far enough," she said, putting a hand up in front of her as she sensed him about to advance further. "You can turn around right now and leave."

"I'm gettin' mixed signals here Charlie, I gotta tell you, I've been gettin' them all day from you. You really want me to go?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes," she replied... but to her horror, the voice that came was not at all convincing. Why was that? She did want him to go, didn't she?

He wasn't fooled for one second. If he wanted this to go further though, he had to break her resolve. Hesitating only for a moment then, he tilted his head as he observed her.

"Charlie, I can see your lips movin', and words are comin' out, but everythin' else about you is tellin' a different story," he insisted, closing the gap even more before reaching out and taking hold of the robe she was clutching against herself. To his delight, he managed to take it from her far more easily than he had imagined. Her eyes had lowered to his hand and watched in almost a trance as he had eased it out of her grasp, before discarding it on the bed behind them.

Something weird was happening to her. She knew she should stop him, her words had tried to again and again, but a part of her was so fascinated with seeing what would happen next, that her actions were betraying her. He could see that too. It didn't matter at that moment though, because watching his gaze burning over the sight of her before him in that skimpy satin and lace lingerie, she realized that secretly she wanted to affect him like that; it thrilled her. She guessed that was why women bought and wore lingerie like that: for the thrill of the response it drew from a man. His gaze homed in on the edges of lace which dipped down her cleavage, and then lowered to the split up her leg. He could have ripped that thing right off her, right then, if he hadn't thought it would frighten her.

He exhaled suddenly, his breath coming out in a rush. "By the way, you look..." he struggled to find the right word, "bloody fantastic," he settled for, his expression telling her just how fantastic he thought she looked.

Despite the excitement she was feeling at witnessing his obvious pleasure, she couldn't let him think that she'd put the lingerie on for his benefit. She put her hands on her hips defensively, trying to appear a lot more in control than she felt.

"Don't get any ideas Adams; I only have this on because all my other nightwear is at Richie's."

A smile slowly developed across his face then, his eyes twinkling triumphant delight at her. "Funny, you leave your sexiest lingerie here and take everythin' else to his place," he said.

Damn it; he'd got a point. She wasn't going to let him get the better of her though.

"Luke, come on; I need to get dressed," she replied, changing the conversation.

Why wasn't he moving? He was making her feel decidedly edgy just standing there, assessing her…contemplating. She'd already turned him down so what did he plan on doing next?

She stood there with nowhere left to go, having backed herself against the wall, unsure of whether she was excited, or anxious, or a bit of both. Whatever she felt though, she had to get him to leave… or at least, that was her last thought before his hand reached out to cup her face, and move it to his. She hadn't actually expected him to do that, he never had before, and she wasn't prepared. All she could do was to turn her head to avoid his kiss and utter a weak,

"Luke, we can't do this."

"Sure we can," he whispered softly in her ear, nuzzling gently against the side of her face, his eyes lowering to her neck. "You're a girl, and I'm a guy, and we get on pretty good together," he reasoned.

She gave a small laugh, her eyes flicking sideways, wondering what he was doing. "We argue incessantly," she pointed out.

He watched the pulse in her neck racing… "Sure we do, it's called passion Charlie," he replied, swiftly dipping his head to press his lips to the soft, pulsating skin.

She inhaled deeply with shock and pulled her head backwards, resting it against the wall. He followed her though, determined not to stop as he began to feather small kisses down her neck, sending waves of tingles throughout her body.

"I can't do this," she repeated, in a shaky voice.

"Yes you can," he contradicted against her neck, his voice suddenly deadly serious.

He reached out for her then, placing his hands around her waist to pull her closer to him. As soon as his hands touched her, he felt her trembling with the effort to hold back from him and he raised his head to look at her with surprise, the revelation filling him with an excitement the like of which he'd never experienced before.

"Charlie," he uttered, the word rushing from his lips on a wave of emotion. He had to make her his. He'd never wanted anything so much.

He moved again to take her lips with his, but again she turned away before he had the chance. He watched her for a moment in confusion, her head averted. Then his eyes fell to his hands on her waist, and he began to move one, sliding his palm up the satin of her nightslip.

"I can't do this," she repeated, "I can't, I…I…c…I…can't…" she whimpered.

"You can, yes you can," he insisted, finding her shoulder and slipping down the thin strap of her nightslip, before renewing the onslaught of her neck and collarbone with ever growing hunger. She arched helplessly against the sensations he was creating with his lips, her head falling back.

"No," she said to herself, somehow finding the strength to push away from him. He watched as she fought for control with shaky breaths, biting her lip and looking to the ceiling. He'd never seen her like that before. It was then that he realised she'd been holding back on him, and probably for a long time. He hadn't even started to really pleasure her either although he'd had enough time to think of