“Luke.” She shuddered, her pussy milking his cock, stealing away his control. He grabbed her hips and pounded into her, needing his release as much as he’d needed hers. His orgasm tore through him, making his knee buckle. Luke caught them both at the last second, but he had to brace himself on the glass and with an arm around her waist to keep them off the floor. “Fuck.”

“I can’t even…”

Yeah, him either. He hadn’t expected this. Even when he was tossing her ass over his shoulder, he hadn’t really considered that the sex would be mind-blowing.

When she started to straighten, he tightened his grip, not ready to break their contact yet. At some point he was going to have to face that he’d made a mess of things, but he wasn’t ready to. Not yet. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“A shower?”

“Not fucking likely. I’m not done with you yet.” He picked her up and set her on the couch next to the windows. After tossing the condom in the garbage, he knelt in front of her and spread her legs.

Her eyes went wide. “Again?”

“Woman, I’m haven’t had even close to enough of you.” He leaned down and sucked her clit into his mouth. “I hope you don’t have any plans until tomorrow afternoon, because you’re going to miss them.”

Chapter Six

Alexis woke up as the sun hit the curtains across the room. She stretched, loving how sore and used her body felt. True to his word, Luke made sure she didn’t get much sleep at all last night. He lay sprawled next to her, his head buried in his pillow. She propped herself up on her elbows and finally allowed herself to look her fill. Last night, he’d done a damn good job of making sure she was so distracted, she couldn’t get a good view of his body. When they’d finally collapsed in bed together, he tucked them both in and flipped off the lamp inside of ten seconds. It was unreal.

As she shifted the sheet to the side, she realized why. An angry scar wound its way down his side to his leg before exploding over his knee. The flesh looked strange, as if it’d been grafted in. That’s exactly what it is, she realized. Something had torn into him with such violence that she couldn’t imagine there was much left of this leg when it was through with him. Considering what she knew of the war overseas, it had to be an IED.

When he’d given her the curt answer about his knee last night, she’d pegged him for military. Apparently she was right.

Something inside her softened to think of the pain and agony he must have gone through—was still going through, if his limp was any indication. It didn’t excuse his shitty attitude—plenty of men walked away with worse injuries and managed to still see the cup as half full—but it gave her an unwelcome insight to everything Luke. She didn’t like it. This was so much easier to chalk up to a stranger in a strange land who blew her mind and, as a result, gave her back a little sliver of what she’d been missing for so long.

A step in the right direction.

She glanced at the clock next to the bed and mentally cursed. She’d have to hurry or she was going to miss her flight. Plus, she wanted to call and check in with Avery. Maybe apologize for skipping town before the baby shower.

Even thinking about it had her throat closing. Her sister hadn’t done anything the “right” way—planning to use her best friend as a sperm donor and go it alone, despite the plan nearly giving Yé-yé a coronary—but she’d still managed to find happiness with her now-fiancé. And they were expecting a baby, the one thing Alexis had wanted more than anything in the world.

The one thing that was forever beyond her reach.

She’d survived the same cancer that killed her mother, but the cost had been so goddamn high. Her ability to have children, her potential marriage with Eric, the acceptance of her traditional Chinese grandparents. All of it taken away with the surgery that ended up saving her life.

She supposed she should feel lucky to be alive, but on the dark days, when her grandfather was telling her what a failure of a woman she was, she had a hell of a time appreciating that fact. All she could see was the stark reality of what she’d lost.

Maybe if Mom were still alive, she would see things differently. Her mother had died when she was sixteen, but she’d been bright and full of life right up to the very end, even when the end itself was unavoidable. Alexis hadn’t managed that. The cancer was gone, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d lost something irreplaceable along the way.

She sat up. God, she shouldn’t be dwelling on any of these things. She was in Ireland—a land of magic and possibilities, where being in the right place at the right time was enough to shove a person into a whole different world. And hadn’t she stumbled onto both with this rough-and-tumble man who made her forget her own name? The past shouldn’t be able to shoulder its way into the now and leech any happiness she had as a result of him…but it did.

Time to go.

She dressed as quietly as possible and paused by the dresser mirror that he’d pleasured her in front of last night. Her body heated from the memory, and she managed to dredge up a smile. Her time in Cork had been positive, even if her emotional baggage hadn’t magically disappeared as a result. She’d found someone who actually saw her as a woman—a sexy woman. That was a gift she’d never forget.

This is only the first step. I’m moving in the right direction, and that’s all that matters. Luke was part of that, and I’ll always cherish this memory.

She scrawled a quick note onto the hotel stationery before she walked out the door.

A few blocks down from the hotel, she found a pay phone that would serve her purpose. After jumping through the necessary hoops for an international call, she held her breath while it rang. Maybe Avery wouldn’t pick up. That would be easier. She’d drop a “Hey, I’m still alive” voicemail and go catch a plane.

Of course, the universe wasn’t feeling so accommodating.

“Hello?”

She closed her eyes, a wave of homesickness rolling over her that was so intense it almost brought her to her knees. Through all her hills and valleys and life repeatedly kicking her in the teeth, her sister had been one of the constants. She’d never left Alexis’s side, never hesitated in her belief that her older sister would get through the treatments and come out victorious. Alexis swallowed hard. “Hey.”

“Alexis? Oh my God, where are you? We’ve been so worried! You disappeared and all you left was a text saying not to worry about you. What the hell is with that?” There was a smacking noise. “Yes, Drew, it’s Alexis. No, I don’t know where she is. If you’ll just shut up for half a second, I’ll get some answers.” Avery cleared her throat. “Where are you?”

Now was not the time to falter. Even if her issues had popped up to punch her in the face this morning, her overall experience in Cork had been enough to prove she was right to take this trip in the first place. “Europe. I have some things I need to do, but I’ll be home…when I’m home. Before the baby.” That, at least, she could promise. She wouldn’t let her personal crap get in the way of being there when her niece or nephew came into the world.

“Wow, that’s some serious detail you’re giving me. How about you try again?”

It wouldn’t hurt to give her a little information. It wasn’t like there was a whole lot Avery could do with it, being pregnant and all. No way would Drew let her catch a flight here—and he wouldn’t leave her, either. Not to mention, it was selfish to leave them completely hanging. She took a deep breath. “Remember that cliff that’s been my screen saver for the last six months?”