I had no idea what consequences he would face but I thought it sounded good.

I stopped ranting and Luke just looked at me.

Finally, he asked, “You through?”

I thought about it a second then said, “Yeah.”

His hand shot up and his fingers wrapped around my wrist. I thought he’d jerk me to him but instead he lifted my hand, his thumb sliding across my palm to open my fist and then he brought my hand to his mouth.

I watched in fascinated silence as he kissed my palm and I felt, with a definite knee wobble, his tongue touch me there.

Ho-ly crap.

That was nice.

Just as quickly as I lost control of my temper, I lost control again, this time it was my temper that slid away.

When he took my hand from his mouth, he used my wrist to pull me toward him slowly.

As I moved toward him, he asked me, “You wanna do it against the wall again?”

I blinked to try to clear the Luke Palm-Tongue-Touch Fog and, even though I seriously liked wall sex, I said, “No, absolutely not.”

“The floor?” Luke asked, still pulling me to him and I felt my br**sts brush against his chest just as I felt my stomach pitch deliciously.

“I’m sleeping on the futon,” I persevered, valiantly ignoring my stomach.

In turn, he ignored my declaration and asked in a soft, sexy voice, “You wanna take a bath together?”

Hmm, taking a bath with Luke. Wow, I figured that would be nice, his skin all wet, soapy and slippery.

Get a hold of yourself, girl! neither Good Ava nor Bad Ava said, instead this came direct from my brain.

I shook my head sharply to clear it and stomped my foot on the floor.

“No!” I snapped.

I was nearly full frontal with him when his other hand came up to toy with a short, Grandma ruffle at my high collar.

“You buy this?” he asked, changing the subject and I found myself blinking in confusion again.

“No. Mom bought it for me for Christmas.”

“You like it?” he went on.

For some reason I answered honestly, “Not particularly.”

Before I knew what he was about, his hand fisted on the collar, he gave a rough yank and the material tore from collar to waist.

I sucked in a stunned breath and stood stock-still as his other hand came to the tear and he used both hands to rip it again, straight to the hem.

“We’ll f**k in your bed then,” he finished calmly, sliding the material off my shoulders and it fell on the floor at my feet. Then his fingers hooked into my panties and he slid them down until they joined the torn nightgown on the floor.

I didn’t make a move or a noise. I couldn’t. I was in shock.

He picked me up and still I didn’t move to resist mainly because I was in the throes of such a huge freak out it had to be the hugest freak out I’d ever experienced. In fact, it might have been the hugest freak out in the history of the world.

Luke Stark, the boy from across the street, just literally tore my clothes off.

Ho-ly shit.

“You just…” I cleared my throat and I didn’t care what that betrayed, “tore my Mom’s nightgown right off me.”

He set me in bed and followed me down. “The nightgown was ugly as hell and your mother was makin’ a point,” he said as he pulled the covers up over us. I tried to sit up but he shifted me into his arms, pulling me down so we were on our sides, face-to-face. “I see your mother hasn’t changed.”

He was right, she hadn’t changed but he still ripped a nightgown off my body.

“I think you may just be crazy,” I blurted. “People don’t act like you. They don’t handcuff people to themselves or to beds. They don’t fight in parking lots. They don’t carry people around everywhere. They don’t tear clothes off women’s bodies.” When I finished, my voice was pitched two octaves higher than normal.

“I only carry you around. You’re always tryin’ to get somewhere I don’t want you to be or doin’ somethin’ I don’t want you to do.”

I pushed against his chest but his arms just got tighter. “That doesn’t make it any better!” Now I was kind of shouting. “In fact, that makes it worse!”

“You scared of me?” he asked, still calm as could be.

“No,” I snapped and in a way it was the truth. I wasn’t scared of him because he tore a nightgown off my body, I was scared of him for other reasons, reason’s I wasn’t about to share.

“You feel cornered?”

“Fuck yes!” Now I was yelling and totally telling the truth.

I saw the white of his teeth flash. “Good,” he murmured.

Then he kissed me. It was long, hot, heavy and even though he’d given me an against-the-wall orgasm less than an hour ago, I started to get turned on again.

Shit!

When his lips detached, I thought he was going to take things further. Instead, he turned me so my back was to his front, his arms came around me tight and I felt his lips at the back of my neck for a quick kiss before he buried his face in my hair.

I thought we might have spoon sex, and I had to admit I was kind of looking forward to it, but as the moments slid by he just held me.

I told myself it was being in my own bed again that made the tension flow out of my body so that I relaxed into him. I told myself it was not his warmth, his arms around me, his breath against my neck and the fact that he was Luke Stark, the man I’d loved since I could remember.

I was beginning to fall into dreamland when his hand came up and cupped my breast. I lost any drowsiness I had and held my breath. Even though his thumb idly stroked the inside curve from nipple to chest, it was clear this was just an affectionate touch and he wasn’t taking it anywhere.

“I’m guessin’ from your behavior you didn’t feel it when I f**ked you against the wall,” he noted softly to the back of my head.

Whatever “it” was, I didn’t feel it. I also didn’t share this. I kept silent.

He accepted my silence and just held me, stroking my breast.

After awhile, he spoke again. “You wanna tell me why you were standin’ in Zano’s arms?”

Eek!

No, I most certainly did not want to tell him mainly because I didn’t really know myself. Therefore, I kept my silence.

He waited then his voice came again. “All right, we’ll let that go. Instead, maybe you wanna tell me why you didn’t call me after my Dad’s funeral.”

Any relaxation I felt left my body in an instant and it went solid. I also kept silent.