I silently nod.
“You’re cold,” he says as he slips off his long leather coat and swirls it around my shoulders. It carries a massive amount of heat, his cinnamon smell, and a hint of lingering burnt fuel from the show.
I turn my head into the leather and inhale deeply, closing my eyes, trying to burn this memory deep into my amygdala. I want to bottle the sensations, smells, and emotions of this night to savor throughout my life. I can’t imagine another night will ever be like this.
The warmth seeps into my tight shoulders, my racing heart begins to slow as my muscles relax. My mind is anything but. I never know what I am going to get with Luke–sweet, dominant, aloof.
The only constant with him is sinful. The smell of the leather triggers a memory–unlike the rest of his crew, he was able to just spout fire into the air only using fuel, no lighter.
“How did you breathe fire without a lighter?”
“A performer never tells his secrets,” comes his playful reply.
He wraps his arm around my shoulders, tucking me into his side. It’s becoming my favorite spot with the way we fit perfectly together. I can’t fathom how he still radiates heat in nothing but a leather harness and pants, yet he does.
I had been chilly in the humid late-night air that is partial to these early summer nights, but between his long leather coat and his body heat, I’m cozy as we stroll along the balcony wrapping around the penthouse. I am thankful we are walking closer to the building than to the railing. I really hate heights.
We wind further around the penthouse, leaving the small groups gathered outside behind us, until we reach a seating area with a low table. A flickering fire dances down the center over the top of glass stones that shimmer in the light.
Luke pulls me over to it, and we sit together on the couch. I lean forward and warm my hands by the blaze, not cold now that I’m wrapped in his leather coat, just comforted by its heat and light.
Movement in the shadows catches my eye, and I could've sworn I saw a black cat slinking by. I'm just about to ask Luke about it when he distracts me with a proposition.
“We could find the hot tub,” he suggests with a wink.
I feel my face flush and take a drink of my bourbon to cover my silence. Do I want to get into a hot tub with Luke? Great question. This calls for a bigger sip of liquid courage.
On the one hand, we just met. On the other, he is smoking hot, and it’s been a magical night. I’m not sure what to say. I'm a little rusty on the dating scene. Is getting in a hot tub an automatic prelude to sex, or is it literally just getting in a hot tub?
I remember the time I asked Jo if she wanted to ‘Netflix and chill’ and she burst into raucous laughter. Apparently, it does not mean hang out and watch TV, which she explained in between fits of giggles so hard she was crying. Is this like that?
“Lieshe,” Luke purrs softly.
I look from the fire into his eyes, seeing the dancing flames reflected there. Tonight has been such an adventure. I’m feeling dazzled, between this party in a luxury penthouse, the fire performance, and then being brought almost to orgasm in the elevator.
We just met. I have no idea who he really is, but somehow, there is a familiarity to him. I get the faint sense that somehow Luke has been trouble for me before. But after everything that has happened today and his strange role in my stairwell dream, I guess that only makes sense. Especially the part about McHottie being devastated to see us together.
Although with his recent absence, he clearly has no interest or claim on me. I’m a free woman, free to live the only life I have to the fullest. Fuck it. Let’s do this.
Maybe Luke is a player, fucking around with a girl in every city his show performs in. And maybe tonight, I don’t care. Maybe I want the adventure, even if it is just for one night. I want to be the one he chooses. I want someone to want me.
I meet his eyes, and damn, I want him to keep looking at me like this. Taking a deep breath, I stammer out, “I, uh, I’d like that.”
His lips curve as he jumps up, taking my hand and pulling me along. Apparently, he would like that, too. As we head toward the far end of the balcony, he nods at two of the strongmen standing off to the side, saying, “Boys.”
They fall in behind us until he gives them a slight wave of the hand, signaling them to stop, and they about face with crossed arms. I guess we have bodyguards. We continue on. No one else from the party is over here and apparently the ‘boys’ will ensure we have some privacy.
Faint city noises reach my ears, but this high up, the rest of the world seems so distant. Tucked into a corner, surrounded by beautiful landscaping and soft white lighting, is a sunken hot tub. Luke pulls his phone from his pocket and messes around with it until dark, moody music floods the area we are standing in, and the hot tub water turns red with underwater lighting.
I turn back to Luke to see the flickering firelight reflected in his eyes and highlighting his face. It reminds me of being on stage with him. Feeling bold, I step toward him, reaching up to trace the light and shadows on his face, whispering, “Tonight has been incredible.”
"Oh,mon petit chou, tonight has just begun."
He turns his face into my hand and presses a kiss into my palm, then gently presses down on my shoulders until I am again sinking to my knees before him. I’m getting frustrated that I keep coming face to face with his leather crotch without getting any action.
I desperately want to see him and find out if he tastes like cinnamon everywhere. He smirks, as if he can hear my thoughts.
Luke’s hands are gentle in my hair as he gathers it up and twists it on top of my head, securing the high messy bun with a hair tie he pulls from his pocket.
