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“Luke,” I groaned.
Thatwasn’t that easy.
“Be with me, Al,” he said again, more earnestly.
“Your mother will lose her fucking mind if you break it off with Karina,” I protested.
“That’s her problem,” he said, leaning up on one elbow and hovering over me.
“I—are you serious, Luke?” I asked.
We had never been together in the way he was suggesting. We had never even discussed it. I’d never even considered it as a possibility.
“I want you, Al. I wantus,” he said, his blue eyes piercing me with his need.
I remembered he had said almost that exact same thing to me moments before he had crossed my threshold for the first time.
As if reading my mind, he said, “It’s always been you. Just you.”
The thought of Cass ran through me like I had been plunged into an ice bath. A pang of pain radiated through my body every time I so much as thought his name.
But I couldn’t feel bad about being with Luke. Luke had always been a part of me. It was like every relationship I had ever been in since Jay had a Luke exception—I could be with someone else as long as they were okay with the fact that Luke was mine and I was his. I couldn’t feel bad about Luke, because being with Luke, in any capacity, had always felt right.
Plus, Luke knew about the prophecy. If I was with him, I wouldn’t have to be alone in my duty any longer.
Luke waited with bated breath.
“Okay,” I said.
He still waited, hovering over me.
“Yes, Luke!” I said with more enthusiasm.
He smiled down at me, and the happiness on his face took my breath away.
****
I awoke to the smell of bacon. With my eyes still closed, I reached my hand out to the other side of the large bed, finding it empty. Wondering where Luke had gone off to, I rolled out of bed, finding his undershirt from the night before and throwing it on as I walked out of my room, following the smell of breakfast.
I heard his voice before I saw him. I walked into the kitchen to the sight of Luke’s tanned, muscled back. He was humming a pleasant tune that I knew but couldn’t name. He must have turned the servants away that morning and was making breakfast for us himself.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you that it’s dangerous to cook without a shirt?” I teased.
He half-turned away from the pan that had his attention, granting me one of his easy smiles that regularly made my heart skip a beat. I stopped by the chair I meant to sit in, unable to look away from Luke’s blue eyes.
“And miss that look on your face? I’ll risk the burns,” Luke replied, lifting an eyebrow at me before turning back to the stovetop.
His cockiness broke me from my trance.
“For bacon, I’ll let you risk the burns too. Where’s the coffee?”
Luke laughed, moving to the counter to pour me a cup of coffee that was much needed after our late, mostly sleepless night. He handed me the mug, and I moved to touch him, but he danced away, back to his cooking, before I could ensnare him. I just wanted to run my hands across his chest, perhaps down his abs, maybe see if he was wearing boxers under those shorts.
Thwarted, I collapsed into a chair with my cup and took a moment to inhale the scent of the coffee before taking my first sip. Luke started singing and humming again. He was making me pancakes now. I could smell the sweetness of the batter in the air and…blueberries.
I sunk further into the wingback chair, wrapping both of my hands around my warm mug. Luke’s voice and the aroma of the coffee melded together. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Tension I didn’t even know was there lifted from my shoulders before the relief spread through my chest. After my breakup with Cass, I’d felt perpetually drained, like the act of getting up and doing my everyday activities was too much. But in this moment, I finally found comfort. Everything just felt like it was finally going to be okay. When I was with Luke, I…
Fuck.
