Luke: Armed and Dangerous (20 page)

No guilt, though. The real wrong would be pretending to love Race when she didn’t.
Giving him parts of herself that rightfully belonged to another man.

Trinity raised her eyes and met Race’s. “I’m sorry, Race, but no. There’s no chance.
I can’t marry you.” With a rattling sigh, she reached up and closed his fingers over
the ring. “You’re an amazing man. Somewhere there’s a woman who’ll rock your world,
but it’s not me.”

Race hesitated. For the first time ever, Trinity thought she saw a blaze of pure,
raw emotion change the man’s features. For a split second, he seemed younger. Fierce
and lion-like.

And just as fast, the look vanished. Race had tucked his feelings back in their bottomless
box. The corner of his mouth quirked in a resigned smile. “You did a lovely job of
that. Rejecting me, I mean.”

Trinity felt her insides coalesce and firm up. She knew she’d made the right decision,
and thank God Race was taking it so well. “Your woman-to-be, I mean she’ll really
rock you. Not just shake you up a little.”

Her former lover gave a hint of a smile and slipped the ring into his pocket. His
expression told her he was hurt... but at the same time was that relief in his eyes?

But as was his habit, he didn’t speak about it any further. The conversation was quite
clearly over.

And yes, this felt more real. More final. More right.

Arm in arm, Trinity and Race walked out of the barn in comfortable silence, making
the short trek to his red sports car with its rental sticker on the bumper.

“You’re not returning to London,” he said as though the statement were fact as they
came to a stop next to the driver’s side door.

Trinity cut her gaze to his and she started to tell him of course she was. But instead
she said, “I haven’t made any final decisions. My life, my career’s been in England,
but my sister needs me here right now. DropCaps will let me work anywhere—and the
Flying M will do fine for the moment.”

“Ah.” He placed a light kiss on her forehead. “But you’ve found much more than your
sister and your past here at this ranch.”

“What? No—” Trinity’s protest was silenced with Race’s finger firmly against her lips.

“It’s in your eyes, my dear.” He glanced toward the corrals. “And I do believe I saw
it in his.”

Trinity’s entire body tingled as she followed the direction of Race’s gaze and saw
Luke leaning against the corral’s wooden railings. He’d folded his arms across his
chest and pulled his Stetson too low for her to see his eyes, but she could make out
the hard line of his frown. He was still dressed in his dusty clothes and chaps, and
to her he’d never looked better.

She looked back to Race as he removed his finger from her mouth. With a smile he brushed
his lips over hers then pulled back and winked. “And I’m sure that little kiss will
put a twist in the chap’s knickers. He seems the possessive type, as well he should
be, this close to winning a rare prize like you.”

Trinity wrapped her arms around Race’s neck and kissed his cheek. He might be wrong
for her, but he was one heck of a guy. “Watch out for the local girls while you’re
in Arizona.” She released him and stepped back. “That sexy accent of yours is a killer.”

Race smiled as he opened the door to the sports car and climbed in, then shut the
door and buzzed the window open. “Dunno about that, my dear. Might have to sample
the wares a bit, don’t you think? I’ve always fancied American experiments.”

She smiled, feeling almost giddy as the engine roared and he backed the car out of
the driveway and headed down the road.

Trinity did her best to ignore Luke as she watched Race drive away, but the cowboy
might as well have been right beside her rather than a hundred yards off at the corrals.

Instead she focused on the car’s taillights and the growl of its engine growing fainter
in the distance.

Race. In a little red American sports car. Threatening to sample the local wares.
Too funny. Maybe she should give him Nevaeh’s phone number. After all, turnabout was
fair play. And Trinity had definitely been turned about. Upside down and inside out.
Her entire life had changed, and in seconds, it would change even more.

Risk... leather... desert heat... a cowboy’s muscled arms.

“I’m ready,” she said out loud, wondering if he could hear her, and not even caring
if he believed her—because she was damn well about to convince him.

Her heart hammered, and she shivered in the evening’s growing chill. As if to protect
herself, she wrapped her jacket tighter.

Who am I kidding? I’m way past protection. Jumped off the damned cliff the day I met
Luke, and so far. I’m still flying.

The sunset seeped across the horizon in hues of orange and purple, and the air smelled
crisp and wonderful—of winter around the corner and Christmas on its way.

Without looking she knew that Luke was striding toward her. Beneath her jacket her
nipples beaded and ached, and a whole swarm of butterflies invaded her belly. Her
skin tingled from her scalp to her toes and she felt alive in a way she never had
before.

The moment Luke reached her, Trinity whirled to look up at him, a sense of breathless
anticipation soaring through her. His eyes were still shadowed by his Stetson, but
the tenseness of his jaw and the firm set of his mouth told her that Race’s little
show hadn’t settled well with her cowboy.

“Well?” Luke demanded, still just as gritty and sweaty as before.

Dang but she had to have him.

“I want to have a word with you,” she murmured and walked away before he had a chance
to respond. She could feel the heat of his gaze on the sway of her hips, on the curve
of her ass, almost as though he was touching her with those strong, callused hands.

When she was in the shadows of the barn’s dusty interior she turned and saw Luke still
standing right where she’d left him. She raised her hand and curled her forefinger
toward herself, telling him to Come and get me, with just that little motion and a
teasing grin.

His long legs ate up the ground so fast it made her heart beat like thunder, the sound
filling her ears. When he was close enough, Trinity didn’t think twice. She flung
her arms around Luke’s neck, climbed him like a tree, and wrapped her legs around
his hips.

A sensual grin curved his mouth as he cupped her ass and held her tightly to him.
She felt his leather chaps through the thin material of her sweatpants as he pressed
his erection against her.

“I’m ready, damn you.” Hunger and need surged through Trinity and she brought her
mouth to his in a hard rush, a kiss that demanded he give her everything he’d promised
and more. “I’m ready, and you can believe me or not,” she murmured as she bit Luke’s
lower lip as he’d done to her, letting him feel the depth of her desire for him, her
need. “I want you, Luke. I’m free and I’m ready, and I need you.”

“You’re not free.” Luke kissed her back, fierce and uncivilized. “You’re mine.”

His?

God, he hadn’t been kidding, about taking her, and not letting her go.

It did scare her a little, but she didn’t care. She needed all the wild passion that
only Luke could give her.

Holding her tighter yet, Luke groaned and thrust his tongue into her mouth, then pulled
away and looked into her eyes. “I’ve got to have you,” he said, his voice rough and
filled with need so tangible that she felt the vibrations straight to her core.

Trinity kissed the corner of his mouth, his stubble rough against her lips, causing
them to tingle. “I want you, Luke Rider.”

A rumble rose in his chest, a sound of overwhelming need. “We’ll take my truck and
head away from here.”

“No.” She moved her mouth closer to his ear and darted her tongue along his lobe,
tasting the salt of his skin. “The barn office. Right now.”

Luke didn’t have to be told twice. He was done waiting. Trinity clung to him as he
strode toward the office at the end of the barn. She nipped at his earlobe with wild
little bites, making purring sounds that about drove him insane with lust.

When he reached the office, Luke yanked the door open with one hand and slammed it
closed behind him. He took Trinity straight to the old-fashioned desk, sat her down
on one end and eased her arms from around his neck and her legs from his waist. He
kept his hips pressed tight between her thighs, though. That much ground he wouldn’t
surrender yet. Not until she was good and ready for him.

Even in the dim light coming through a part in the gingham curtains, he saw how heavily
she was breathing and that her nipples were hard enough to raise the fabric of her
light jacket.

She reached for his belt, her small hands brushing against his hard cock as she unfastened
the buckle. “I need you so bad.”

“Hold on.” Luke reached over Trinity to flip on the desk lamp so that the glow illuminated
her beautiful face. In a quick movement he grabbed her lapels and jerked her jacket
down to her elbows so that her arms were trapped at her sides.

Her eyes darted to his and she ran her tongue along her lower lip, her eyes dark with
passion. “What are you doing?”

“You know exactly what I’m doing, sugar.”

Excitement and arousal swirled through Trinity at such a mad pace that she could barely
stand waiting. Cool air rushed against her skin as he stripped away her shoes, socks,
sweatpants, and panties. It left her naked from the waist down, open and vulnerable.

“Damn.” Luke sucked in his breath as he ran his finger along the soft hair of her
mound. “You’re beautiful everywhere.”

Shivers coursed her spine. “Hurry, Luke.” She tried to move, but her arms were still
bound by the sweat jacket.

“We’ll get there.” He pulled apart the snaps of his Western work shirt, yanked it
off, and tossed it aside.

The sight of his broad, bare chest and his powerful muscles just about undid her.
“Hurry,” she begged again.

“Double damn,” Luke murmured as he pushed her T-shirt up and then pulled down on the
lacy cups of her bra, releasing her breasts, yet leaving them pointing high and out.
“A pair of fine nipples on the most beautiful breasts I’ve ever had the pleasure of
tasting.”

He reached up with one hand to take off his hat. “Wait,” Trinity said and his eyes
met hers. “Leave your cowboy hat on.” Her gaze dropped to the bulge at his crotch,
and the chaps that framed his hips so well. “Leave those on, too.”

Luke’s smile was so carnal she knew it had to be outlawed in at least half a dozen
states. He slid his belt out from the loops and tossed it on the desk beside her,
the metal buckle clattering on the polished wood. After releasing the single button
on his jeans and unzipping them, he freed his incredible erection. Trinity’s mouth
watered.

He palmed his cock and moved his hand up and down its awesome length. “You sure you’re
ready for me?”

Spreading her legs wider, Trinity arched her back, raising her breasts up to him.
“If you don’t get inside me now, I’m going to scream.”

“Oh, I aim to make you scream. Plenty.” Bracing one of his palms on her thigh, Luke
moved between her legs. The feel of his leather chaps along the soft skin of her thighs,
and the sight of his erection jutting toward her was such a turn-on that she could
hardly keep from shouting for him to get inside her.

Luke rubbed the head of his cock up and down, teasing her with slow, sensuous strokes.
Trinity gasped at the incredible sensation, unable to believe how close she was to
exploding already, and he’d barely touched her.

“I want to make something real clear.” Luke’s deep blue gaze locked on her as he continued
to tease her. “You’re gonna watch me take you. And when I slide into you, sugar, you’re
mine. No more bullshit, no big-city games, no ghosts from the past, and no arguments.
I’m staking my claim, for now. Maybe for always.”

At that moment that whole darn barn could’ve been burning down and Trinity wouldn’t
have noticed. Her lips parted, and even with Luke’s cock so close to sliding into
her, she tried to find a way to deny him, to tell him that she wasn’t a possession
to claim.

But he had some kind of power over her. A way of making her feel like she was an exquisite
treasure he’d discovered, that he would cherish her always—but first he would insist
that she give him everything...

Her body, her soul, and her heart.

Could she give all of herself to a man she’d known for just a short time? And a cowboy
for cripes sake. A man who represented everything she’d thought she’d left behind
long ago.

Luke moved the head of his cock to the opening of Trinity’s core, causing her to gasp
as it sent electric thrills of anticipation zinging through her. His sculpted biceps
bulged, the veins along his muscles standing out like he was holding himself back
with all he had. “So what’s it going to be?”

Trinity took a deep breath, drawing in the strength to do what she needed to do. To
say what she knew needed to be said. She ran her tongue along her lower lip, and the
only thing that came out was, “Okay.”

His eyes flared with satisfaction. He cupped the back of her head and gently forced
her to look down to where his erection was poised to enter her. Her whole body vibrated
as her gaze locked on his cock, so close to sliding in... So close to turning her
life down another road—that road she knew she’d been approaching since the moment
she’d met the man who’d become a wild card in her future.

“Watch me take you,” he demanded, his deep voice rumbling through her like a freight
train barreling toward its final destination.

Blood rushed in her ears and her body was so highly sensitized that she didn’t know
what would happen when he finally drove home.

Home.

She didn’t have time to think anymore as Luke rammed his hips hard against her, thrusting
his thick cock deep inside her, taking her; just as he’d promised.