“Your wish is my command.” He briefly considered and discarded pinning her against the shower wall. With his bum knee, it was an emergency room visit just waiting to happen.

Instead, he maneuvered her to the back of the shower, pressing a hand between her shoulder blades until she bent over and braced herself on the wall. He stroked her again, using his fingers to spread her wetness up and around her clit. She moaned, arching back into him, tilting her hips to offer herself. “Hold still, darlin’.”

He positioned his cock at her entrance and pushed inside with one smooth movement. They both froze, though her body shook beneath his hands. Luke gritted his teeth and forced himself to hold still, even though he needed to thrust, to pound into her.

But then she pulled away and shoved herself against him. “More. I need more.”

He gripped her hips, keeping her from doing that again. “Darlin’—”

“Now, Luke.”

This time, when she pushed back, he met her halfway. He tightened his hold on her hips, helping her move against him, filling her completely. “You love this, don’t you? You love the way I fuck you.”

“Yes. Oh my God, yes.”

“Touch yourself. Reach between your legs and rub your clit for me.” When she obeyed, a shudder racked her body and she tightened around him. “That’s right. Just like you like it.”

“Harder.”

He shoved into her hard enough to have her scrambling for purchase on the tile wall. “Like this. This is what you want.”

“Oh, yes.” Her head dropped forward, her hair parting to reveal the long line of her back. As much as he wanted to lick his way down her spine, he was too focused on holding off long enough to push her over the edge.

Changing his angle, he pulled her up, bending her backward to claim a kiss. While his tongue thrust against hers, he pushed her hand out of the way and stroked her clit. “I’m the only one allowed to make you come, darlin’. Me and no one else.” He rolled his hips, pushing deeper. “Tell me.”

Her breath sobbed out. “You, Luke. You’re the only one who makes me come like this.”

“Don’t you dare forget it.” The possessive feeling had no place here, but he couldn’t shake it. Especially when she cried out his name as she came. How the hell was he supposed to keep his distance with her milking his cock like this?

The answer was swept away as his orgasm exploded through him. He held her tightly enough to bruise as the last of his strength went out of his legs. They wobbled, but Alexis caught the wall and steadied them. “Wow.”

Wow was right. He wasn’t sure there were words to describe what they’d just done—or the fact that he wanted it again as soon as possible. It didn’t make any sense. He’d had relationships in the past, but he’d never felt this level of sheer… Christ, he didn’t know what to call it. Lust. Desire. Need.

He pressed a kiss to the back of her neck and straightened. Words rose, words he didn’t know what to do with. Alexis kept giving him intriguing glimpses of a woman who wasn’t anything like he’d expected. He didn’t know how he was supposed to respond. Or if he even should.

She’ll never forgive me if she found out why I’m really here.

Now wasn’t the time or place for those thoughts, so he put them out of his head and got rid of the condom. By the time Alexis turned around, he’d rinsed off. She gave him a dazed smile. “Wow again.”

He wanted to stay in the shower, soap up his hands, and use washing her as an excuse to explore her body. Because he wanted it so desperately, he kissed her and stepped back. But that didn’t stop six treacherous words from slipping free. “I can’t get enough of you.”

This thing already had an expiration date, even if she didn’t find out that her sister and friends had sent him over here to look after her. A few days. A week, maybe a little more. As long as it took for her to find what she was looking for and go back to her life.

Her smile was a little unsure. “I kind of feel the same way.”

He couldn’t afford to forget that he had a temporary role here, and that wasn’t about to change. They were worlds apart. It was only a strange circumstance that brought them together right now. Hell, he was pretty damn sure he didn’t even like her.

But as he dried off, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was a goddamn liar. He liked Alexis. A whole hell of a lot more than he should.

Chapter Eleven

Luke walked back into the room as Alexis dried off, and his attention snagged on the bag she’d spent time organizing—and that he’d practically dumped out in his search for condoms. He tucked the towel more firmly around his waist and sank carefully to the floor next to it. The least he could do was put things to right here.

He started putting the various things back into the empty interior pockets they’d obviously fallen out of, but stopped when something crinkled in his hand. He frowned and pulled it out of the backpack. It was a picture of a couple that he suspected were Alexis’s parents.

“Put it down.”

Though every instinct demanded he drop it at the frantic tone in her voice, he lifted it up for a closer look. A Chinese man and a willowy brunette in their mid-thirties stood in front of a gazebo that looked strangely familiar. Where the hell had he seen that gazebo before? “Are these your parents?” They had to be.

“I swear to God, if you don’t drop that right now, I’m going to hurt you.”

Luke finally looked up to find her in the doorway, pale and shaking. He could understand if she was pissed because he was theoretically going through her things—even if that wasn’t his intention—but this reaction seemed extreme. “Why are you freaking out?” He knew her and Avery’s mother had died quite a while ago, but that still didn’t explain it.

Instead of answering, her bottom lip quivered. “Please put it down.”

Holy shit, she was about to cry. He carefully set the photo down on top of her backpack and moved away when she hurried over to snatch it up. Only when it was in her hands did she take a shuddering breath and seem to get a hold of herself. “Sorry.”

Did this have something to do with the shit she wasn’t telling him? He resisted the urge to demand answers, and leaned back against the bed, watching her. She looked so fragile right now, like a sharp word would shatter her into a million pieces. “Care to explain?”

“It’s…” Another deep breath. “It’s my last photo of my parents together. Or the last one where Mom is healthy and smiling and not ravaged by cancer and chemo.” Her half smile didn’t come close to reaching her eyes. “When she was diagnosed, they decided to take a trip to Austria and kind of see her heritage—our heritage, I guess. This was from the Sound of Music tour she made Dad take.” This time her smile was a little more real. “It was one of our favorite movies, and the first one I remember watching with her.”

The sheer amount of loss on her face struck him dumb. There was nothing he could say to fix it, or even understand. His deadbeat mother had taken off when he was a kid, but he’d had Aunt Rose. She was as steady as the Mississippi and healthy as a horse. Luke wasn’t always easy on her—even now—but he couldn’t imagine a life where she was gone. “I’m sorry.”

“It was a long time ago.”

Maybe, but her feelings about the whole thing obviously hadn’t faded over the years. Even though he’d promised himself that he wouldn’t pry until she was ready, he couldn’t help asking, “Is that why you’re over here? Because of your mother?”

“Partly.” Alexis wiped at her eyes, and because she was trying so hard to pretend there weren’t tears there, he followed her lead. She tucked the picture back into her bag. “My mother was so strong and in love with life, all the way up to the end. Some people go through cancer treatments and become bitter and angry, but not her. If she could hold on to that happiness even when she knew she wasn’t going to make it, it kind of puts a lot of things into perspective, you know? I should be able to do the same thing.”