Luke made a half-choked sound. Looking up under her lashes, Joey decided it had been more laughter than an indication of ticklishness. Nevertheless, she felt suddenly very curious to find out if he was as sensitive in that way as he seemed to be in others.
Relaxing her hand in surrender, she waited just until the tension went out of his and then began her sortie, darting up to flick her fingers back over his ribs. He stiffened and gasped in genuine surprise. “Joey!”
“You are ticklish!” she cried in delight, and momentarily forgot her intent to demand his total surrender. The lapse gave him all the time he needed. Before she could do more than squeal in surprise, he had lifted her until she straddled him, her legs along his, her breasts against the arch of his ribs. She knew instantly that her teasing had had a most satisfactory effect on him, even if he’d managed to counteract her assault. The feel of that significant and very admirable part of him trapped between them made her shiver with pleasure.
“Now you know my terrible secret,” Luke growled ominously. His lips curved upward in a smile that made her heart squeeze into a fist and loosen again, forcing the blood through her veins in a rush like the flow of heady wine
“And you can bet I won’t forget, either,” she warned with an answering grin. “You’d better stay on your guard from now on.”
“I will. I most definitely will.”
As he gazed at her, amber-green eyes intent as if she were all the world, the rare smile faded. Joey reluctantly abandoned her plan to suggest a sequel to last night’s activities. There could be no doubt he was more than ready, the hot length of him against her belly was adequate proof of that. And the mere feel of his body under hers from ankle to chest was enough to make her wish they had nothing to do but make love and let the rest of the world shatter into nonexistence.
But it was the look in his eyes and the gradual return of his features to the familiar set pattern that made her bow to reality. Her own as well as his. Closing her eyes, she let her head drop to his shoulder, her lips at the hollow of his throat.
“I wish we could stay like this forever,” she murmured against him.
She felt the tightening of his muscles, shifting in his arms and growing rigid where his chest rose and fell in measure to her own. “Do you, Joey?” He drew a deep breath and let it out again. Suddenly he tumbled her over on her back, pinning her beneath him. The intensity in his gaze held no hint of playfulness.
Joey stared up at him, alarm singing through her. Her body reacted, tensing and resisting instinctively, like an animal caught in a trap. But Luke held her as surely with his will as with his strength, and only when she closed her eyes did he break the invisible bonds that imprisoned her.
She felt his palm settle against her cheek. “Joey,” he breathed. “I would keep you here forever if I could.” And then he released her, moving up and away before she could open her eyes again, his back turned as he crouched over the pile of their discarded clothing.
Joey pushed herself up and struggled to clear her mind. The moment of alarm had vanished, and all she could think of were absurdities and the absence of Luke’s warm body touching hers.
“And only yesterday,” she joked a little breathlessly, “you couldn’t wait to get rid of me.”
Luke lifted his head, his shirt draped over one bare shoulder.
“Everything has changed,” he murmured, as though he spoke only to himself. The simple statement made Joey shiver. Everything had changed—and she was a long way from understanding what those changes meant. To her life, to her future, and to her heart.
“You don’t make things easy on a man, Joey.”
She looked up. Luke stood over her, his fists on his hips, and he smiled—all the grim intensity gone, a rueful curve of his mouth that raised the temperature in the cave by several degrees. It was as if a summer sun had found its way from the far side of the world, piercing her heart with warmth and an unfathomable joy.