Skin Deep (29 page)

I managed to get by with promising to tell
Allie today, and that’s only because she was coming out to the
house tonight. God knows what he’d have done if he knew she already
knew. I’d then tried, unsuccessfully I might add, to shift the
focus from me by asking Brandon and Jackson point blank about what
was going on with Allie. They’d steadfastly refused to take the
bait, remaining stoic and brooding about my situation.

Oh, well. I sighed and picked up the pad of
paper that I had stashed in my desk drawer. I’d made a list of
gifts that I wanted to get everyone and had been marking them off
as I found them. I only had three more people to buy for, and go
figure, they were the ones I lived with. I had a few ideas about
Luke and Brandon, but was completely at a loss at what to get
Jackson. I’d even gone so far as to ask him, which was no help. Of
course, teasing him that I was going to get him Allie in a big red
bow didn’t help my cause.

Mom was easy; I’d gotten her a gift card to
use to buy books for her Kindle and stashed it in the pocket of an
oversized hoodie sweatshirt with her favorite NFL team on it. I’d
also gotten her an adorable yellow lab figurine that looked just
like Doug who, even though she refused to let him spend the night
again unless he’d been people food free for at least two days
prior, was still her favorite four legged grandchild.

Dad was pretty easy, too. There was a new war
game that had come out and he’d wanted it to play on his Xbox 360
with all his buddies. I know, I know, he’s a little old for that,
right? Well, my brother had gotten him hooked and far be it for me
to tell him any different. I’d also gotten him a new tshirt that
said, ‘The beatings will continue until morale improves,’ which,
believe it or not, he’d said to us quite often growing up.

Calland had gotten the same game as I got Dad
so they could play together, and I’d found Leah a really cute
outfit and a pair of earrings that she’d been gushing over. Jenna
and Noah were probably the easiest. I’d only had to print up a
coupon book on the computer with vouchers for babysitting and a
gift card to their favorite restaurant. The kids were spoiled by
everyone, and I was no different, which is why I’d already bought
them at least six gifts each.

I’d found Allie a few funky scarves that I
knew she’d turn into a skirt, as well as a gorgeous silver necklace
with a teardrop shaped black onyx and diamond accent pendant. Hell,
I’d even bought Doug a few new squeaky toys, bones, and new
collar!

I’d hidden all the presents in the cupboards
above the washer and dryer in the laundry room because, since I’d
moved in, no one but me has touched the laundry. Gee, how’d I get
so lucky? I just needed to get the last few things as well as some
wrapping paper and gift tags so I could get everything wrapped.
That’s always been my favorite thing at Christmas, besides getting
presents. I loved to pull everything out and stack it around me and
blare Christmas music while I wrapped everything at once.

The door chimed, pulling me out of my
thoughts and I looked up to see Luke standing in front of me. I
looked up at the clock, surprised to see that it was after closing
time. I straightened up my desk and locked up the drawers, taking
care to hide my Christmas gift list so he couldn’t see the ideas I
had jotted down. I needed to figure out a way to hijack Allie for a
bit this weekend so she could help me shop.

“Ready?” I asked him as I stood up and
rounded the counter. Before I could get all the way around, he had
me in his arms, holding me so tight I could hardly breathe.

I tapped his shoulder, whispering,
“Luke…can’t…breathe,” and he let me go immediately, apologizing. I
smiled at him telling him it was okay before he grabbed my hand and
we headed out to the car.

I didn’t get any more calls, thank God, for
the remainder of the week. On Saturday morning, I roped Allie into
going to the mall with me, hoping that we could get everything and
get back to the house to hide it or wrap it before the guys got
back home. I had been a little worried about Jackson being there
since he doesn’t work on weekends, but he’d decided to head down to
the shop with Brandon and Luke.

After the fifteenth store, Allie pulled out
of my desperate grasp as I hauled her towards another, planting her
feet and shouting, “NO!”

I turned around in surprise (and complete
embarrassment, truth be told) and asked her what the hell was wrong
with her.

“Emma, you keep second guessing everything.
It’s fine! They’ll love everything you get them no matter what it
is, so just pick something already! Cheese and rice, woman!”

I shrugged, smiling ruefully at her. “I’m
sorry. I know…I just want them to have the perfect gifts, you
know?”

“I know. And you will. Now, pick a guy and
let’s get one of them done, at least.”

“Ummm…” I thought for a minute. “Well, I
guess let’s start with Jacks. You know? I think I’ve got it! Let’s
go hit that print shop place that we saw.”

Two hours later, I’d finally picked something
out for all three of the guys and my Christmas shopping was
officially over. Whew! Allie and I headed back to the house and she
helped me carry my bags in while I ran into the laundry room to
hide her gifts so she couldn’t find them. She was going to help me
with my wrapping, so we lugged everything up into Luke’s…er,
my?…bedroom and popped in a Christmas CD before we plopped
ourselves down in the middle of the floor, surrounded by mountains
of shopping bags and boxes and about ten tubes of wrapping
paper.

My theme this year was red, white, blue,
silver and penguins because I found the cutest little wraps with
penguins all over them. I’d also gone crazy with bags of bows and
about twelve different gift tags. We dove in and started wrapping
presents; it only took us about an hour and a half between the two
of us and then we carted them all downstairs to put under the tree
that I’d finally gotten Luke and Brandon to drag out of the closet
and put up.

Allie and I were standing beside each other,
grinning with our accomplishment, when the guys walked in. Their
eyes all lit up when they saw the tree and Brandon went running to
his room before coming out with an armful of presents wrapped
haphazardly and putting them under the tree with mine. I turned to
Luke and Jackson with expectant eyes, pouting exaggeratedly when
they each shook their heads and walked away.

We decided that we were going to order
Chinese food and Jackson and Brandon offered to go get it. When
they returned, we all crowded around the table and ate, enjoying
each other’s company. Of course that didn’t last long when talk
turned to the phone calls I’d been getting at work from Creepy.

Brandon had said something and I froze in
panic when Allie opened her mouth, saying, “Well, when she told me
about all the hang-ups and heavy breathing I told her she should
call and make a report. She did then but they-” she broke off, her
eyes growing huge and her hand clapping over her mouth in
horror.

I glared at her, promising retribution would
come soon, when Luke jumped to his feet, knocking his chair over as
he yelled, “You knew? You knew that this was happening back then
and you didn’t tell me?” Without giving her a chance to reply, he
turned to me and bellowed, “And YOU! I can’t believe you let me
think that you hadn’t told her, that you hadn’t told anyone! What
is wrong with you?”

I stood up, pushing my chair back and
rounding the table to put my arm around Allie as I pointed my
finger at Luke and said, “You stop. Right now, before you say
something you’ll end up regretting, Lucas Tyler Crimshaw. Yes,
okay? I told Allie but you know what? We were just starting to see
each other, so why would I have told you? I’ve already told you
that I should have told you about the phone calls more recently and
I promised to keep you informed if anything else happened. Okay?
Are we done? Can we get back to eating now?”

Brandon and Jackson hadn’t said anything
during the outburst and I pulled away from Allie to take my seat
again, but not before I pinched her arm just as a reminder that I
was still pissed she had let the cat out of the bag. Luke dropped
his head in his hands for a second before he looked up and mumbled
an apology to everyone.

Then I couldn’t help but smile as he peered
up at me and said, “I really am sorry. I just love you so damn
much…it makes me a little crazy.”

Allie’s jaw hit the table and I laughed,
absolutely one hundred percent in love with him, not that I wasn’t
already. We all finished dinner and the rest of the evening was
lightened considerably by Luke’s admission at the table. Allie
stayed around for a while before she took off, stating that she had
plans in the morning that she couldn’t be late for.

This made Brandon and Jackson both puff up
and ask her questions, which she laughed off, telling them, “don’t
you worry your pretty little heads about what it is boys,” before
she kissed them each on the cheek and sashayed out the door. They
gave each other dirty looks and Luke and I laughed at them as he
pulled me toward the stairs.

I’d barely gotten through the door and shut
it behind me before Luke had me pinned against it, his hand in my
hair, jerking it back while he fastened his teeth in my shoulder.
It shot me straight to the OHMIGOD zone and I let out a moan at the
pleasure coursing through every inch of my body. When he released
my skin, I pushed back against him and turned in his arms, winding
mine around his neck as I pressed my body against his.

“What is it with you and doors?” I asked, my
voice husky with thick with desire.

He shrugged. “I’m not sure. Maybe it’s the
animal you bring out in me. Rowr…” He waggled his eyebrows at me
while he swiped his hand at me, his fingers curled into a claw.

I burst out laughing, completely taken aback
by his “cat” impersonation he’d just tossed out of nowhere. He
grinned before laughing with me while walking backwards with me in
his arms towards the bed. When we got there, I didn’t give him the
chance to do anything. I pushed against his chest and he fell back
on the mattress, bouncing a little at the abruptness.

His arms came out to grab me and I danced out
of his reach, wagging my finger at him and sing-songing,
“Ah-ah-ah!”

He growled at me and tried to grab me again
and I slapped at his hands, telling him no. He pouted, his bottom
lip sticking out, and crossed his arms over his chest. I rolled my
eyes at him before darting in and biting his bottom lip between my
teeth, flicking my tongue over the coolness of the silver hoop
piercing the flesh there. He moaned deep in his throat and brought
his hands up, but I jumped back again out of reach.

“Emma! Damnit, woman! What kind of game are
you playing? Get over here, now!” Luke sounded almost desperate but
I wasn’t going to give in. I wanted to tease him a bit, make
him
beg for a change.

I walked over to the closet and pulled out a
couple of silk ties that I’d found stashed in the back of Luke’s
things. His eyes widened as I came back to the bed and after
telling him to strip, motioned for him to lie back on the bed. He
did, not hesitating at all, his breath leaving him on a gasp as I
crawled onto the bed and straddled him. I raised his arms above his
head and tied each of his wrists to the slatted headboard with one
of the ties. Giving them a good tug to make sure they’d hold, I
moved away, satisfied that he was at my mercy.

I stripped my own clothes off slowly, turning
my back and swiveling my hips as I shucked my jeans and panties,
loving the sound of his groan behind me. Taking it just a little
further into the torture realm, I spread my legs a little before
bending over to pick up my clothes, allowing him an unobstructed
view of my ass and swollen, wet nether lips for a second. I turned
when I heard the headboard groan ominously, shaking my head as I
saw Luke trying desperately to get his hands free.

I crawled back up on the bed after making a
pit stop by my dresser, and straddled his chest, closing my eyes at
the feel of his heat pressed against my moist secret flesh.

“Emma, baby…what are you doing to me?” Luke
rasped, his voice deeper and thicker than usual, letting me know
how much he wanted me, as if the rock hard, huge length of him
standing at attention behind where I was perched wasn’t enough
indication.

“Shhh…just…relax…” I said slowly, drawing out
the words as I ran my hand down my body, tweaking my nipple before
continuing south, “ and enjoy.”

I slid my finger into the wetness between my
thighs, circling my clit a couple times while I rocked my hips
against his chest, before bringing my other hand up to allow Luke
to see what was coming next. His breathing turned harsh as I
flipped the switch and the soft, jelly coated, egg shaped bullet
with a little finger-like protrusion at the tip buzzed to life. I
ran the tip of it down my body, letting it tickle against each of
my nipples before pushing it against my wet, pink folds, moaning
loudly as the vibrations rolled through my tender flesh.

I rubbed it through my folds, my wetness
glistening on the toy in the light, and Luke’s moans came in
earnest, growling through his lips almost constantly. Then I smiled
at him, a small, naughty smile, when he started begging.

“Baby, please…come closer so I can lick it,
or move back and let me fuck you while you do that…God, Emma,
please!” His eyes had turned wild, his skin felt feverish against
mine, and I loved every bit of it.

I closed my eyes and threw my head back in
pleasure, basking in the rush of pure feminine power I felt at the
thought that Luke was wild for me…for
ME
! I never in a
million years would have imagined finding the (cheesy line alert,
just FYI) man of my dreams. Especially not in a tattoo shop, of all
places! And not only that, he made me feel beautiful and
unselfconscious, and I’ve never had that before.