CHAPTER FOUR 

MADDY

I stormed out of the tasting room, fuming just as Caitlin was walking up the street to the entrance. 

"We're not staying here," I hissed through gritted teeth as I stomped past her on the sidewalk.

"Uh, okay." 

She promptly turned on her heel and followed me with a slight jog to keep up. 

"Something wrong?" 

"Just some asshole at the bar," I muttered. "I'll tell you all about it when I get some booze in me." 

We took a short walk a few blocks over to Harry's, Cloverville's local dive and sports bar. Once we settled in at a pub table with giant margaritas in front of us, I told Caitlin all about Ignacio and how he insulted Luke before I stormed off.

"Sounds like a Pepe Le Pew kind of guy," Caitlin remarked. 

"Yeah, except that he actually smelled really nice," I answered, biting my drink straw between my teeth. 

I was finally starting to relax after unloading on her, like Ignacio's ability to get under my skin was finally wearing off. I texted Luke inviting him to join us after he finished up at the gym. 

"Everyone is so glad you two are finally an item," Cait mused as she stirred her drink. "The whole town is just waiting for wedding announcements." She lifted her straw and pointed it at herself. "Especially your future maid of honor."

"You'll be the first one I tell," I laughed, feeling a light fluttering in my chest. "But that'll be a long time down the road. We still need to actually date, for Christ's sake." 

"I mean, you two already know everything about each other. No secrets and all." She paused and lifted an eyebrow. "Are you going to tell him about Pepe Le Pew?" 

I swallowed the tightness in my throat. My skin buzzed with sensation at the memory of how Ignacio looked at me, undressing me and touching me in his mind, no doubt. 

"I dunno. Do you think I should?" 

"Will he get jealous, you think?" 

"I have no idea, Cait. We literally started dating yesterday! He's never acted jealous of guys in the past." 

Cait lifted one shoulder in a shrug. 

"It's your call, dollface. Could be a funny story, could make him want to hunt down the guy and knock him out. I'll not mention it so you can tell him if you want." 

"Thanks," I muttered nervously. "It's not a big deal, just annoying. He might get protective. He's always been a little like that." 

"Now that's the kind of man I want," Caitlin sighed as she placed her chin in her hand. "A man who will step up to the plate and defend my honor." 

"Did you just use baseball and Game of Thrones metaphors in the same sentence?"

We both cracked up hard about that for about a minute straight. So much so that I didn’t notice anyone behind me until I felt a kiss on the back of my neck. 

“Holy shit!” 

I jumped out of my seat. My first thought was Ignacio followed me here and my core filled with tension, and just a bit of heat. 

But I turned around to find myself looking into Luke’s familiar, handsome face. 

“Sorry babe.” His eyes smiled when his mouth did. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

My insides turned to mush at the sight of his smile exuding his warmth and sweetness like sunlight itself. 

I gave him a playful, soft punch to the center of his hard chest and he didn't even flinch. He just pulled me into him with a smirk and dropped a kiss to my awaiting pout. 

He tasted just as sweet as he smelled. I wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him in deeper as I closed my eyes. 

I wanted to drown in how he made me feel. How much I trusted him and how good and warm and strong he was. But in the back corners of my mind, dark eyes lurked like a stalking wolf.

"Are y'all seriously gonna do this PDA shit?" Caitlin asked in mock annoyance, rolling her eyes. "Some of us are trying to eat some dinner here." 

"We gotta make up for lost time," Luke chuckled, brushing his lips across my forehead as his arm wrapped around my shoulders.

"Hey!" I raised my gaze excitedly up to him. "Let's set up Cait with one of your friends. She was just talking about how she needs a Prince Charming." 

"Ugh, not a Cloverville prince please," she protested. "I don't fuck where I sleep, or however the saying goes." 

We ordered some greasy bar food and a large glass of beer for Luke. The three of us ate, drank and laughed into the night. 

On any other night, it would have been perfect. But that Ignacio guy would not unstick from my brain for some reason.

Guys have hit on me like in similar ways before and it was always easy to brush them off and forget them. But something about him was different and I couldn't place my finger on it. It was nothing I could explain in words and reasoning. My body reacted on its own like it was subconscious, something I couldn't control. 

As the night wound down, Luke and I said goodbye to Caitlin and he came home with me. Since he just graduated and moved back into town, he didn't have his own place yet. 

My heart fluttered at the thought of getting our own place together. His job at the Forsythe auto shop would pay great and I wouldn't need to stretch my money out as much by working two or three jobs.

However, that would happen in time. Right now, it was best to enjoy our new relationship. 

We pulled up to my tiny studio apartment and Luke wasted no time the moment we got inside. 

"I want you so fucking bad," he growled, nipping the shell of my ear with his teeth as he pressed his thick, hot bulge against my ass. 

"Mmmph," I replied as I turned to kiss him. 

Our tongues danced and explored hungrily while my mind raced in an effort to make sense of my thoughts.

I was still a virgin. He should probably know that. Did he really want to go all the way now, so soon? We got together literally yesterday! Was this just how adults did it after high school?

He did feel good, extremely good. Luke's hand traveling over me showed experience and attention to my pleasure. Heat filled me to the brim with need and sensitivity. Part of me wanted to give in, to let him take me and fill me up with pleasure. 

But something was still making me hesitate. It felt more right with him than with anyone else before, but still not one-hundred percent right. 

"Luke," I breathed, gasping at all the sensitive places he found and exposed within me. "Wait."

He removed his lips from my collarbone and his hand released its hold on my right breast. 

"Something wrong, babe?"

His tone was gentle. He wasn't angry, just concerned.

I exhaled a long breath and bit my lip nervously. How could I begin to explain? How could I turn down this gorgeous, amazing man who wanted to do nothing but please me?

"I haven't... I'm a...," I stammered but couldn't get it out. 

"A virgin." 

He finished the statement for me and I nodded. It reminded me of how often we finished each other's sentences when we were kids. 

He took my hands and pulled me down on the couch with him, stroking my hair and kissing my forehead. 

"Do you want to take it slow?" he murmured. "We don't have to dive in right away."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I mean I don't want you to get, you know, frustrated." 

"I think I'll live," he chuckled. "What's most important to me is that you're comfortable and happy."

My whole body felt like it melted in that moment. I relaxed completely, slumping against his chest as he stroked my back. Every time I doubted him, he always managed to prove he was there for me and understood me. 

"Thank you," I muttered into his shirt. "You're the best."

"You are." He dropped a kiss on my nose and looked at me with an amused smirk. "So you've really never slept with Nerdy Guy or anyone else?"  

"His name was Jonathan," I smirked back at him. "And no. It just... never felt right with anyone else." I dropped my gaze again shyly. "You could say that I waited for you, I guess." 

His arm squeezed around me tightly.

"That means more to me than you'll ever know," he whispered into my hair. 

We went to bed soon afterward, cuddling, kissing and whispering sweet nothings until we drifted off to sleep. I never felt so cozy and loved before. 

But my dreams were filled with hot, rough, raunchy scenes that I would never have imagined happening to me. 

Two sets of hands touching me all over. One pair of lips kissing me while the other lapped hungrily at my pussy. I felt everything so vividly and swore I came several times over someone’s mouth. 

I never saw faces, only two sets of very different eyes. 

Luke's familiar hazel eyes. 

And a strange pair of dark, hungry predatory eyes.