Page 7 of Meet Me in a Mile

Seven

Lydia

W hen they stumbled into Luke’s place, Lydia attempted to look around, to take stock of her surroundings, but all attempts were thwarted by the sensation of Luke’s hand as it shifted up the back of her shirt. She trembled against him, shaking the last of her coherent thoughts free. She wasn’t quite sure how they’d gotten here. Yes, of course, she knew how they’d gotten here, in Luke’s apartment. But how had she gotten here, in his arms? Here, where his lips were like embers against her skin? Here, where she was practically begging him to take her clothes off?

It would be easy to blame Ashley for putting the thought in her head today, but the truth was, the thoughts were already there. Part of her had already acknowledged how handsome Luke was, how kind, how supportive. And seeing him tonight, in his element, surrounded by a community he cared deeply for and who appreciated him just the same hadn’t dulled those feelings. If anything, seeing him at what she imagined was his best had been more attractive than anything. She’d been tiptoeing around this attraction since the moment he’d crashed into her life, but she’d thought she had it under control. Maybe if Luke hadn’t so brazenly encouraged her flirting tonight... I’ve got muscles to spare.

That was the moment everything shifted. And now she was telling herself that everything would be back to normal when they woke up tomorrow. They could go back to being Trainer Luke and Trainee Lydia. It would be fine. Besides, what was Luke always saying? Just focus on this run, on the next step you have to take. Well, tomorrow felt a million miles away and right now, tonight, this felt like the next step.

“This is my living room,” Luke said huskily against her ear as he pressed soft kisses along her neck.

Lydia found the hemline of his shirt, tugging it free of his jeans. “It’s nice.”

He chuckled. “I haven’t even turned the lights on yet.”

“Don’t bother.” She turned her head to capture his lips again. Exercising may have given her endorphins, but kissing Luke made her feel like she could fly. When her legs bumped up against the arm of the couch, she glanced over her shoulder to make sure there was nothing in her way, then let herself topple backward. Luke tried to grab her, to steady her, and she giggled at the brief look of panic on his face as she landed on the cushions.

Light poured in from the street, but the apartment was still dim, just Luke’s silvery figure moving through the darkness. “That wasn’t funny,” he said, smacking her foot where it rested on the arm of the couch.

“It was kind of funny,” she said, lifting her foot from his hand and placing it firmly in the center of his chest.

“I actually thought you were about to fall and smack your head on the coffee table.” He huffed a laugh. “That would have permanently traumatized me. I’d never be able to have sex in my apartment again.”

“I probably would have needed stitches,” Lydia agreed, grinning. “I can totally see you not being able to get it up after living through that. You would have had to move. And moving is such a hassle.” Luke looked like he was trying not to swear and she giggled some more.

“You’re meaner than I thought.”

“I’m sorry,” Lydia said, stroking her foot down Luke’s front, stopping above the waistline of his jeans.

“I don’t think you are. I think you would have enjoyed traumatizing me.”

“You’re probably right.”

“I think you should make it up to me,” he said.

“How exactly should I do that?”

Luke walked through the living room and took a seat on the other end of the couch, forcing her to sit up and turn around in order to see him. He reclined into the corner, looking perfectly content as he studied her. “In any way you like,” he said, his voice low and gravelly.

Lydia’s entire body reacted to his words. She wanted to grab him by the collar and haul him down on top of her. She wanted to writhe beneath him until he gave her exactly what she wanted. But he was too far away, and judging by the smile on his lips, he knew that. So instead, she crawled toward him, putting both hands on his thighs as she leaned in for another kiss. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“I don’t think I believe you yet. But keep trying,” Luke whispered, and the invitation in his voice was the equivalent of beckoning her with his finger. Lydia’s heart skipped.

“Is this better?” she asked, straddling him, one hand on the back of the couch to steady herself, one hand on his shoulder.

His hands fell to either side of her waist and squeezed gently, those roughened palms slipping beneath her shirt. “Much better,” Luke agreed as he started to rock her on his lap.

In the shadowed light bleeding in from outside, his eyes were almost black. Lydia got lost in his dark gaze, heat throbbing between her legs. She threw her head back, lost in the sensation. The tension was so tight, so delicate, she worried it would snap before she reached the pinnacle of this feeling, but some subconscious part of her trusted Luke. She trusted him with her body every single time she stepped into the gym. This was no different.

She could trust him to make her feel good.

Luke pulled her hips down with a little more force than before, grinding in all the right places. Lydia’s eyelids fluttered as her jeans pressed between her legs, and a moan bled from her lips. Lydia was no stranger to the occasional hot and heavy one-night stand, but it was rare that a guy had her this turned-on before he’d even taken her clothes off.

Luke leaned forward to nip at her neck. “ That sounded like an apology.”

God , this man. Lydia bit her bottom lip, eyes closed, and moved against him, replicating what he’d done moments ago. This time they both made desperate little sounds, sucking in the same air. Tomorrow, when she looked back on this, wondering why she was so desperate, she’d blame it on all the pent-up sexual frustration born of endorphins and flirting. Then she would forget this ever happened. But tonight, she wanted to hear him. When Luke’s hands began to venture up her shirt, Lydia gave in to the desperation and pulled it over her head, tossing it on the floor. Luke’s hands fell back to her hips, and when she caught his eyes, she could tell he was simply drinking her in. In a moment of unfettered vulnerability, her stomach dropped like she’d just been flung over the edge of a cliff, but the butterflies in her gut caught her.

“Take your hair down,” he said, and she did, loving the electric chill that surged through her at his request. She shook her head, letting her hair cascade over her shoulders.

Luke reached out to twist a few strands of hair between his fingers. Then his hand slipped over her shoulder and down her back, tracing the path of her skin to her bra clasp.

“Probably should have done this part before I took my hair down,” she teased, reaching around to help him. When the bra fell away, Luke leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her neck, dragging his lips down along her sternum.

He nosed at the valley between her breasts, and she could feel how badly he wanted her, and it thrilled her. There was a desperation to their movements, but they weren’t frantic yet. He was savoring her, tasting and sampling and breathing her in like a fine wine.

She arched her spine, pressing her chest to his face, and he cupped both breasts, the pads of his thumbs tracing over her nipples. Once. Twice. She sucked in a sharp breath and held incredibly still. She wanted to enjoy every second of this.

“Do you like this?” he asked.

Her gaze dropped from his eyes to his lips. She wanted to taste him but she didn’t dare move. His fingers were caressing. She felt like the string of a guitar, every inch of her starting to vibrate. He pinched her nipples and she gasped, grinding down against him, searching for friction to soothe the ache.

“Do you like this?” he asked again, skimming the pads of his thumbs over the stiff buds. Sensation zipped up and down her spine. She wasn’t sure which feeling she was supposed to be paying attention to, but then his fingers tightened again and the breath caught in her throat.

The pain quickly gave way to pleasure, and Lydia moaned. She dropped her head and kissed him, letting him capture the end of her moan on his tongue. “I like it.”

Do it again and again , she wanted to say. She wanted to beg. But she didn’t, too intoxicated by the thought of letting him take the lead. Of letting him touch her in every way he thought she might like.

Something about Luke reassured her that he would take care of her in the ways she needed most. She didn’t know if it was his patience—goodness knows she’d tested him these past weeks—or if it was his sweet nature, but she just knew she wouldn’t have to ask him to make her feel good. He already was.

Lydia braced herself against his shoulders, grinding down against him as his hands left her breasts, sliding around to cup her ass. He obviously liked the friction as much as she did. But that was all they were going to get out of this current arrangement. “You’re wearing too many clothes.”

“Sorry,” he said, sitting up and catching her before she could topple backward off his lap. “I got distracted.” He tugged his shirt over his head and Lydia let her hands roam the warm expanse of his chest and abdomen, playing over the defined muscle. “I’m happy to continue this here,” he said. “But it might be more fun on the—”

“Bed,” Lydia finished for him, letting the fog of lust clear long enough for her to get her legs under her. She stood and pulled Luke to his feet. “Which way?”

“I’ll let you guess.”

Lydia took him by the hand and led him down the hall. It was electric between them. She could practically feel the current zipping from his hand to hers. “Bathroom,” she said, poking her head into the first room they passed. “Bedroom,” she said triumphantly, shoving the other door open.

“It’s like you’re in a rush or something,” he teased.

Lydia turned and settled him with a long, searing look. He reached out, took her by the belt loops of her jeans and kissed her. It was deliciously thorough, his tongue slipping past her lips to study every inch of her mouth. Her arms hung loose around his waist, but they soon took on a mind of their own, moving to trace the button on the front of his jeans. She popped the button and tugged the zipper down, leaving enough room for her to do her own exploring.

“Okay,” he rasped, breaking the kiss and chasing her hand with his own. “Now we’re both in a rush.”

Lydia grinned as he walked her backward toward the bed. She unbuttoned her own jeans and tugged them down her legs with her underwear before collapsing onto the bed. Using her elbows to prop herself up, she watched Luke undress, taking in every inch of exposed skin.

Luke wrapped his hand around his cock, giving himself a few languid strokes. A desperate heat flared inside her at the sight, and she knew exactly how to extinguish it. She reached for him, yearning for the moment he covered her body with his own.

“You’re sure this is okay?” he asked as his knee hit the mattress. The bed dipped and Lydia wanted nothing more than for Luke to tumble toward her.

“ Yes . Now get up here already,” she complained. His answer was a smirk. Instead of climbing toward her, he retreated and Lydia thought she would actually combust. “What are you doing?”

She heard a drawer open and close, then the crinkle of a wrapper in the dark. When Luke returned, he’d sheathed himself with a condom.

“Oh,” Lydia said, glad one of them still had common sense. She didn’t know what it was about Luke that was making her lose herself so much faster than with her other hookups. She was usually composed and sensible. Sensible enough to remember a condom, at least.

“Oh?”

“I meant like oh, good idea .”

He chuckled at her, the sound vibrating across his chest and into hers as his weight settled over her. It was comforting and warm as he stretched out against her, skin brushing skin.

She caught Luke’s hips in the cradle of her thighs. When the tip of his cock brushed against her clit, her eyes practically rolled back in her head. “ Oh, God , Luke.”

“Was that a good oh, God or—”

“How can you be fishing for compliments already?”

“Not compliments. Just feedback. I like to see how I can improve my performance in real time,” he teased, the words racing across her skin. “Sort of the way I remind you to adjust your running form while we’re training.”

“I don’t want to talk about training.”

“Mood killer?”

She laughed huskily. “Trainer Luke isn’t supposed to be here right now.”

“You’re right.” He reached down and instead of joining them together, he brushed his fingers between her thighs. Lydia’s hips leapt from the bed. If not for his body pinning hers down, she might have launched right across the room as she chased the friction from his fingers.

“How’s this?” he asked even as she threw her head back against the comforter, her eyes pinched so tight they hurt.

“Good,” she rasped.

“Like good good or...”

“Good enough that if you stop I’ll probably have to kill you.” He didn’t stop, and a cry of pleasure slithered from her throat.

“So, just like this?” Luke whispered, rubbing circles around her clit.

“Just...just like that,” she stuttered. It was perfect. Not too soft. Not too much pressure. And just fast enough.

“You don’t want me to change a thing?”

“I swear to God, Luke—” But she didn’t have time to finish her threat because the circles and the pressure and the husky whispers in her ear had been exactly the right combination to hurl her over the edge of orgasm. She wasn’t expecting it to happen so quickly, and she tumbled through the torrent of sensation. She felt like a skydiver who’d jumped without their parachute. She was free-falling and there was no stopping the pleasure that rushed up to greet her as her hips bucked.

The shock was so good that Lydia actually drew a blank for a moment. When she came back into herself, she could feel Luke nudging at her entrance, and the warmth that now only simmered in her core began to boil again. God, this man. Instead of telling him he had the permission he was clearly waiting for, she reached down, took his length in her hand and inched him inside her, reveling in the stretch of her muscles.

He braced his forearms on either side of her head. She wanted him to move faster, to take and take from her until she shattered, but he didn’t. His strokes were even and smooth and her pleasure built steadily. Still, Lydia wanted more and she wanted it now, so she canted her hips to meet his thrusts, driving him deeper.

Luke dropped his head and groaned against her ear, and she was desperate to make him feel his own mind-bending release. She rotated her hips with his thrusts, noticing as he became jerky and uncoordinated, chasing his pleasure. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he ground down against her, his pelvis pressed against hers, and the pressure inside her released, another orgasm rocketing free. As she convulsed, Luke grunted in her ear, shuddering all over as he came.

“I’ve never seen you so out of breath,” she said as he rolled off her. His muscles relaxed and contracted under the streetlights. “Usually I’m the one hyperventilating.”

“Maybe that’s because you made me do all the work.”

“You liar. That is totally not true!” Lydia said, rolling onto her side. “I know how to use these hips.”

“You sure do,” Luke said, turning to grin at her. It was a dopey, sleepy smile. He reached out to brush away strands of hair that had gotten stuck to the sweat on her neck and chest.

“So, does this count as my cardio for the week?” she asked him.

He snorted. “I don’t think so, but nice try.”

“Guess there’s no point in going for round two then?”

He reached out across the bed with a suddenness that startled her, snagging her hip and hauling her close. Lydia giggled into the next kiss.