Flirting with Danger Chapter 19

A slow dance

Luke was discovering many new and interesting ways to get under Charlie's skin, and he was loving every minute of it. Most interesting of all was the way that she had reacted to him at her house earlier. Then there were the comments thrown his way when he'd been flirting with Sue, and now there was Doug. She really was edgy with Doug around, and Luke being there too seemed to make her all the more edgy. Funny, she didn't seem to mind Richie and Doug being in the same space together though.

So this was fun. What next? A thought had occurred to Luke earlier, but he had dismissed it in favour of flirting more with Sue. Now however, he had changed his mind; he wanted a dance with Charlie. Okay, so the plan had been not to come on to her again, but it was just a dance. During an evening like that, it was perfectly acceptable. But if he was honest with himself, there was an underlying reason for wanting a dance with her. It was another opportunity to feel Charlie's body close to his, and any opportunity that presented itself, let's face it, he was going to take it. Who knew when it would come again, or if it would? Yeah, he was definitely getting a dance with her. He buzzed with the anticipation of it.

Luckily, Sue was being monopolized by a number of other club members at that point, leaving Luke free to spend that time with Charlie on the dance floor… that was, if she was ever going to return after his little foot play under the table. That had been very… stimulating; he smiled at the memory. But now he'd been left alone for a while, he realized that everyone seemed to have someone to talk to apart from himself. He glanced around to find, to his dismay, that the only person who was standing alone, hovering around the bar, was Doug. On second thoughts though, maybe he could use this to his advantage; after all, better the devil you know, right? Anyway, if all else failed, he got the distinct feeling that Eddie wouldn't turn down another tequila and chat with him. He wasn't a bad person to have on side either.

Luke stood and moved from the table to the bar, leaning across it to order a whiskey. He glanced sideways at Doug, who he was surprised to see was staring at him.

"So, you and Charlotte worked together before then?" Doug said.

"Yeah," Luke replied, removing his arms from off the bar and crossing them over his chest. "We were partners."

"Strange, she's never mentioned you before," Doug commented.

Luke assessed him before replying, "She never mentioned you neither."

The two of them watched each other for a moment until Luke turned to reach for the whiskey that Eddie handed him.

"When did you leave the field here?" Doug asked.

Luke shrugged. "Round seven years ago."

Doug's eyes intensified as though that number struck a chord.

"What made you decide to go back?" Doug went on.

Luke was unsure whether he intended to answer that question. Then again, there was something about this guy that, although Luke didn't give a damn what anyone thought, he didn't want to seem as though he were backing away from a challenge, or trying to hide anything.

"A friend needed help," he replied.

Doug gave a curt nod…whatever that meant.

"Edd," Doug called, gesturing him over. Eddie scuttled towards him. "A whiskey," he ordered.

Luke sipped his drink, watching thoughtfully as Eddie poured Doug's whiskey.

"Didn't intend to go back for good," Luke suddenly said, " but...sometimes things just don't turn out the way ya think."

Doug took the tumbler from Eddie and sipped before speaking up.

"And now you're back," he pointed out, waiting for Luke to offer and explanation.

Luke gave a small laugh. "Yeah."

But Doug clearly wasn't satisfied with that. "What brought you back here?" he asked.

This guy was straight to the point. There were worse ways to be.

Luke took another sip of his drink.

"Workin' in New York undercover, doin' what I was doin', its real tough sometimes… real tough," he stressed, his face falling deadly serious.

The next few moments fell silent between the two of them. Doug played with his whiskey glass, swirling the amber liquid around in the tumbler before taking another swig.

"It's a tough job," Doug finally said, "tough and dangerous."

"Yeah," Luke agreed.

Doug sighed deeply and took another sip. "There were times… times when I wondered if it was too dangerous for her."

"Tell me about it," Luke replied. "And she's damn stubborn too."

Doug laughed. "Oh yes."

Luke gave a knowing grin.

"See, what it is," Luke went on, leaning on the bar again, "the way I see it, is that it's a man's job to protect a woman. I know all about the way women think these days," he said with a dismissive gesture, "but what they don't understand is that it aint right. If they like it or not, guys are stronger than women and more cut out for that kinda thing. Now don't get me wrong," he continued, "she's the best female agent I've ever known… better than most male agants I know sometimes…" he admitted, "but…" He suddenly realised that he might have been talking too much, and that he might have also, somewhere along the line, contradicted himself.

"It's an admirable thing to want to protect a woman," Doug interjected.

"Yeah," Luke agreed. "That's what I think." He finished his whiskey then before saying, "But then she was…she was so damn good at her job. Too damn good," he laughed.

Doug smiled, taking a few moments to consider Luke's comments. He finished his drink slowly.

"I've known Charlotte for a long time. I know that type of work fulfilled her," he said simply.

Luke nodded. He had not really wanted Doug to be one of the good guys, but from what he had observed and heard from him, he got the feeling that he was and therefore he was no longer high on Luke's list of suspects anymore. Well at the very least, he seemed to care about Charlie. Besides, if her father trusted him enough to bring his teenage daughter to the Club, then he must be bona fide.

Charlie emerged from the building then, after being stopped by several Club members to gossip about the weather, the latest fashions and the upcoming charity conference… the usual chit chat.

She entered the garden from the building and glanced towards their table, only to see that there was nobody left sitting at it. Then she saw them; Doug and Luke sitting at the bar deep in conversation! What on earth could they be talking about? She dreaded to think. Heading swiftly to the bar, she placed herself between them, seating herself on a bar stool and looking from one to the other.

"Where has everyone gone?" she asked.

Luke shrugged.

Silence ensued.

Charlie glanced at Doug. He smiled, amused. He knew that she didn't want him to talk with Luke.

Luke coughed and she turned then to see that he had stood.

"You wannna dance?" he asked, holding a hand out to her.

Charlie looked up at him with surprise, and then it hit her what he was asking. The last thing she wanted to do was dance with Luke with both Richie somewhere and Doug sitting right beside her...not to mention all the other club members watching.

"Err…I think Richie was…" she said glancing around her, only to find to her great annoyance that Richie was of course nowhere to be seen. Great!

As she turned back, she caught Doug's eye. He was sitting, watching, waiting to see what she would do. What could she do? Luke was holding out his hand to her, urging her to accept it. Damn it! Dancing was so bloody… personal. Well, dancing with Luke certainly was!

But she couldn't turn him down; that would look really strange.

With many reservations, she finally took his hand and stood.

As he led her to the dance floor, he realised that, although it had only been a few hours ago since he'd felt Charlie against him that afternoon, and he had run through those moments in his head over and over again, being in his head was just not enough. He needed to experience her again in reality. It was unnerving how much he needed that. Just the thought that in a few seconds time, he'd be able to feel Charlie pressed against him was causing his body to come alive with excited anticipation.

Oh God, no, she was going to have to dance with him, and dancing meant standing close…way too close for comfort as far as Charlie was concerned. And the nearer she got to the dance floor, the more her wayward body realized it. She had to keep control, she just had to! Especially there in the Club.

At the dance floor, Charlie experienced that slightly awkward moment when they both turned towards each other and had to make contact. For a second, she wondered exactly how he intended to hold her and, not only that, but they also had the music to contend with. Moving in time with each other, whilst she also tried her hardest to keep some kind of gap between their bodies, was proving to be more difficult than she had first imagined. Of course, the inevitable happened, she had known that it would; the pressure on Luke's hand, which was positioned on her back, slowly increased, bringing her second by second, heartstoppingly closer to him. She had no way of avoiding it, and, with the sound of his breath just above her head and the warm presence of his arm moving to possessively encircle her waist, their bodies edged into each other.

Now their torsos and legs were touching as they moved to the music, and it hit her hard: the smell of him, the nearness of him, the sound of his voice in her ear, and suddenly her treacherous senses were screaming, "it's Luke!" Her body's reaction was beyond her control at that moment, as the small flame that leapt in the pit of her stomach, swiftly spread like wildfire throughout her whole body. This is what she had been dreading, only it was worse than she had anticipated. Why did this keep happening to her lately? There was no way that she could let him know though, certainly not after the weaknesses she had shown him earlier.

Luke placed his hand on Charlie's waist and he was immediately back in that bedroom with her… her warm body beneath his hands, her curves driving him to distraction, she oozed a femininity that was like a drug to him. He was on fire and, unlike Charlie, he didn't give a damn who knew it. He had no doubt that many people's eyes were on them, probably mostly men's... men who had no idea what it was like to dance with a woman like Charlie, to feel her slim, feminine body against them, to glance down at the curve of her cheek as it deepened in colour, to watch her eyes lashes lower, to feel her breath quicken, to know the sweet torture of unspent desire for her.

But she was feeling it too now, the knowledge of which was the most potent aphrodisiac of them all for him. If only they were somewhere more private; he wouldn't be able to resist another attempt at seducing her senseless, no matter what his previous resolutions had been. Instead though, he settled for feathering his fingers up her spine, from her waist, over the material of her dress, to the 'v' at the back, where they trailed leisurely across the exposed skin, from the centre of her shoulder blades to her neck. As soon as he touched her bare skin she shuddered and arched away from his fingers. He smiled down at her, thrilled at her reaction to him.

"Luke," she warned, glancing up.

"What?" he shrugged innocently, his fingers hovering. "We're only dancin'."

His eyes told her another story though. He was making love with his eyes and his hands, and if anyone could see his face at that moment, they would know it immediately. Her own face would probably tell them far too much as well. But then again, what could she say to him? Turning to stare over his shoulder, she prayed for the song to finish soon. Then his fingers returned to her spine, and again she shuddered.

"Luke, come on," she appealed.

He grinned down at her, before edging her back to him and whispering into her ear,

"Seems like I've found a sensitive spot eh Charlie."

The sensual sound of his warm voice in her ear, and his face so close to hers, did nothing to improve her lack of composure.

She edged her head back slightly to glance up at him. "Would you mind keeping your hands still, Luke?" she whispered.

He grinned guiltily, but replied matter of factly, "calm down." Pulling her to him again, he settled back into the rhythm, "you sure are uptight tonight."

She replied with a whisper in the direction of his ear. "Maybe that's because I should be dancing with Richie this evening, not you."

"Yeah well, Richie aint around, is he?" he came back.

In fact, Luke then realized that Richie hadn't been around much at all since they had finished their meal.

"That's not the point, everyone else is," she stressed.

He leant in to speak into her ear again. "Don't worry, they aint gonna know nothin' just 'cause we're dancin' together."

"I should hope not," she answered before reassessing what he had said. "Hold on," she looked up at him suddenly, "What do you mean 'know nothing'? There's nothing to know!"

He grinned. "Whatever you say Charlotte dear," he replied in a fake British accent, which sounded decidedly like he was poking fun at the people in the Club.

Grrr, he was getting far too big for his boots.

"So," he went on, glancing down and watching the spit in her skirt reveal a tempting expanse of thigh as they moved in time to the music, "you was here as a teenager. You ever get a dance with the boys here back then?" he asked.

Despite herself, a small smile developed. "Yes actually, my first ever dance."

"Really?" he grinned. "who was the lucky guy?" He moved closer to ask, "Was it the owner?"

"No!" she answered in shock. "of course not. Why would you say such a thing? Doug was a friend of my father's, and a married man then I might add."

"Ah, sorry, my mistake," he replied.

Why did he look so damn amused?

"So, who then?" he pushed.

"His name was Robert actually," she answered primly.

"Oh, Robert," he replied, laying on the British accent again. "Hey, he aint gonna pop outta the woodwork is he?" Luke said, glancing around as if to look for him, "Don't tell me I got more competition."

She laughed. "Competition? Don't be silly; you make it sound as if I'm surrounded by suitors or something."

He frowned. "No, I was takin' 'bout competition for a dance."

"Oh," she turned her face away and bit her lip. Boy did she feel silly now. Then she heard his soft laugh and looked up at him to see him grinning at her again. He was playing with her.

"Stop it," she laughed, slapping him on the arm. "You're being extremely cheeky tonight," she observed.

"Oh, I can be far more cheeky than that," he answered.

"Hmm, I know…" she replied. But this time she held his gaze… and this time the smile that developed across his face did so slowly…knowingly.

Oh dear, maybe she'd been playing with fire by bringing that up again.

His eyes began to deepen in colour right before her and suddenly she was heating up again rapidly. Despite this though, her eyes refused to move from his. Their gazes were speaking some silent language as their bodies moved together. It was a language that neither of them were ready to voice yet, but it was as if every battle they had won together, every terror they had faced, every smile and all the laughter, the excitement, the thrills, all of it over the years they had worked together as partners, suddenly took over and was reflected in that moment they were dancing, and gazing, and touching. In that moment, some concept of just how strong the feeling between them could develop hit them both. The thought was exciting and unnerving at the same time. Charlie felt like running… although her pride kept her from doing so. Luke, on the other hand, surrendered to the excitement of it and laced his fingers with hers, his eyes still watching her intently. Charlie could feel her face reddening, her body coming alive once more with sensations she couldn't control; but still her eyes refused to admit defeat by glancing away from him. He lifted their hands then and brought them to rest between them on his chest, a gesture that made her feel strangely emotional all of a sudden. He held her hand there, encased in his, as if it belonged to him.

Finally, he was the first person to break eye contact with her by narrowing the gap between them, their clasped hands still against him, as his cheek hovered next to hers, contemplating resting itself there. He could now actually hear her unsteady breath they were so close.

Charlie felt overwhelmed by Luke's essence as he stroked and warmed and held her tenderly against him. Did he really know what he was doing at that moment… how he was making her feel? If he did, would he continue? How much was she being played by him that night she wondered, and how much of it was genuine? It felt so real though. How could this feel so intense if it wasn't?

"Boy, I love this dress," he whispered, running his hand over the material, his voice strangely soft and quiet for Luke "…with you in it," he added.

Every time he whispered to her it send shudders of pleasure around her body; it almost didn't matter what he said. She found her hand hesitantly straying from his shoulder upwards to the back of his neck, where her fingers made light contact with his skin.

He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes for an instant before releasing his breath. She couldn't help the feeling she got from knowing that she could affect him in that way. Glancing sideways, without turning her head completely, she was aware of his face next to hers, his eyes contemplating her. She could sense his gaze lowering, fixing on her mouth. She turned slightly, intrigued. He was openly gazing upon what he wanted. She watched in fascination as he fought to hold back from turning his head just the last few inches that would bring their lips together.

She was no longer thinking about the people around her, her head was a haze. Her mind was only hovering on what it would feel like to have his lips on hers.

He exhaled suddenly, almost in pain, settling for resting his cheek against hers, his arm pulling her hips into his, ironically intensifying the torment even further. She was lost, all out of control with heat, and tingles and breathlessness. He was beyond lost, feeling her heat and knowing that, if he really wanted to, he could push her to surrender.

Then, from the corner of her mind, she realized that something had changed. It was quiet all of a sudden. The music had stopped.

Eddie stood behind the bar watching them with starry eyes. "Oh my, there's a lot more to them two than I thought," he said to Eric, who was more than slightly inebriated, slumped on a bar stool.

"Who?" Eric slurred.

"I've got it!" Eddie said in a eureka moment. "I never could quite work Charlie out... you know, why she could never commit to a relationship, but now it all makes sense."

Eric looked up in interest. "It does?"

"Yes, it's him," he said, pointing to Luke, "He's the missing link."