Morning Sun
Author Note: Day 2 of Rucas Fanfiction week! This might be a little steamy; this is in the future after college.
Riley adjusted the lock of hair behind her ear as she looked around the gala ballroom feeling her body heat up the way it was. It had been years since she felt a gaze on her like this but the man across the room who smiled at her was setting her body on fire. She couldn't tell the color of his eyes thanks to the masks they both wore. Shyly she looked away as she saw him start to come across the room towards her.
Her heart was racing, her body pulsing with energy when he got near, "May I have this dance?" His voice rough, raspy, but it sent a familiar chill through her body.
"Yes" she felt small and dainty as his calloused hand took hers onto the dance floor and they moved around in the waltz.
"Where are you from?" She questioned breathing in the masculine scent that was oh so familiar to her, but she knew it couldn't be his, could it?
"Texas Ma'am, got a ranch, got a nice little house." He stared into her chocolate eyes and smiled, "But I grew up here in the city."'
Coincidence she assured herself as they moved into the next dance, "What brings you here of all places?"
He bit back a smirk, "My friends insisted that this would be the place to meet the love of my life. I told them that's ridiculous, I met her many years ago, and I was a fool to let her go."
Riley could feel her heart in her ears, "Any woman that would let a man who can dance like you do go is a fool."
"To be fair Ma'am I couldn't dance like this back then." He twirled her around before bringing her back in closer to him, his hand resting on the small of her back keeping her close.
"Well her loss is my gain, at least for now." She hadn't felt this way when close to a man for five years, and this man he was far too much like Lucas, hell he could be Lucas for all she knew, did she want it to be him?
"So when do I get to find out about you?"
She blushed, "I um run my family business, serve on the board for a few charity groups, like this, that's why I'm here I helped to plan this."
"It's amazing." He breathed pulling her closer.
She couldn't do this, not here, not now, if it was him or not she couldn't. "All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you."
"Wait where are you going" He watched her running away up the stairs as her anklet fell off on the steps, "Wait!" He cried as he picked it up, his heart stopping as he looked at the piece of jewelry a smile forming on his lips.
Riley finally stopped running when she got to the subway station; she gathered her skirt in her hands and got on the train that just arrived. She looked around not finding a seat, sighing as she grabbed the pole.
She still had her mask on, and her body was still buzzing with that energy. It was too much for her; no way it hadn't been him but why now, after all this time was he back and why the hell was he at the gala tonight?
Her focus was on putting the pieces together in her mind she hadn't noticed the shift in seating around her, the empty seats, or the priority seat now taken by the Texan from the gala.
She went to pull her mask off letting the pole go just as the train lurched forward and she went tumbling backward, feeling the strong hands pull her into a lap.
Slowly she turned her head, feeling her heartbeat pick up as she saw the masked face. "What are you doing here?"
"You dropped this on your way out." He held up the anklet, the slim gold chain, the gold Eiffel tower charm hanging from it. "I figured it was something important and should be returned as soon as I could find you."
"Thank you." Her voice small as she felt a bubble of fear as he dropped the item in her hand as she felt him hold her closer. "I'm Riley."
"I'm Lucas." He smiled up to her, being washed over in years of memories as he reached up to remove his mask.
She was sure she wasn't breathing as he took off the black and gold mask before seeing those meadow green eyes for the first time in far too long "I love you." She breathed before she could stop herself as he reached up to remove her mask.
"I love you" He confessed, "I'm sorry I went away."
"Why are you here, why now?"
His thumb traced along her check and he felt her face lean into his touch, "I couldn't go another day without this, without you, with us."
"You live in Texas and I live here." She reminded him as they came to her stop and she pulled away from him, feeling him follow her like a lost dog.
"We can figure out the logistics Riley."
They were on the street now, traffic buzzing around them as they looked out of place in their fancy dress and tuxedo.
Riley tried to move away from him, but he was right behind her. He could hear the cries breaking free from inside of her as she tried to hold back the tears.
"What is there to figure out Lucas? Who flies where and when? What kind of life is that?" She moved up the stairs of her building knowing he was still behind her.
"Your parent's apartment or mine" He asked watching her stop, turning to him the streaks of tears on her face.
"What?" She stared at him, her brows knitting together in confusion as took a few steps towards him "My parent's apartment or yours?"
"Where do you want to talk, upstairs where your Father and Mother can interrupt us, or down here, in my new apartment where they need a key to get in." He held up his key with a smile, "Do you want to come in."
"You have an apartment in this building?"
He slipped a key into a nearby door, unlocking it and pushing it open. He gestured for her to go in.
Her mouth hung open slightly from the shock of the moment as she found herself going into the apartment and spinning around when he turned on the light, revealing what she could only describe as her dream living room.
Lucas closed the door coming up behind her, his hands on the bodice of her dress, "Tell me you like this."
"I do" She confessed, breathing in, feeling her heart race at his touch the heat of his body against hers, the stirrings deep inside of her as she bit her lip to try and hold it in, not give him complete control in this moment.
His hands moved up her body to her back as he swept her hair away to reveal her neck and he planted quick, short kisses, "I don't expect you to move in, in the morning, I know we need time, I know we can't expect to pick up where we were."
Riley's eyes fluttered shut as she leaned into him, trying to control herself at each touch, trying to focus, "What about the ranch?"
"It's taken care of, my brother is in charge." He bit his lip as he started to undo the top button of her dress, watching the way her breasts rose and fell with each anticipated breath.
"And what will you do here?" She felt his lips on her back in the area where he'd unbuttoned.
He tugged her skirt up feeling her toned leg, "I bought into a practice a block away from here Dr. Friar as your neighborhood veterinarian."
"You don't play fair Dr. Friar" she felt his hand on her thigh and she pulled away, taking a few steps away and turning to him.
"I'm not playing" He moved towards her looking in those chocolate eyes knowing they were the eyes he wanted to look into forever, that they held his past, his present, and his future.
She grabbed his hands before he could cradle her face, pulling them down, trying to assert herself in this moment. "Lucas" she stared into his meadow green eyes, "this isn't real. Any moment I'm going to wake up to the sounds of the city street as the day begins. You'll be in Texas and all I'll be is frustrated, emotionally and sexually."
"This is real Riley I will make love to you all night long if I have to just to prove to you I'm here." He let his eyes travel over her, "I'm here Riley, I'm real, you are real, we are real, and damn it my love for you is real."
He kissed her, burning desire flowing from his body to hers as he pulled hers against his, finger tips undoing the rest of the buttons as he felt her tongue slip in his mouth encouraging more as he felt her dress start to fall.
Riley was sure she was breathing for the first time in years until he broke the kiss and she felt like this was about to turn into a nightmare. Then she felt her dress fall to the ground creating a puddle of purple and gold before he lifted her in his arms carrying her to the bedroom.
She felt the bounce of the mattress when he placed her down before backing away undoing his bowtie as his gaze burned her body in a way she couldn't believe she'd lived without these last few years.
Lucas watched the way her body arched as she watched him undress, the way her eyes studied him, trying to see the differences five years on the ranch made on his body. "Do you like what you see?" he stood before her in just his black boxer briefs.
"I always have." She looked down at her own body, now in her lace bra and panties knowing.
"You're so beautiful." His fingers feathered over her legs to her hips and higher still, "more so in person than any fantasy I've had over the years."
"You've had fantasies about me?"
"Every single night without you" He was over her, close enough to take her, claim her as his for all eternity. "A few might make you blush."
"I doubt that" She thought of her own fantasies of him, some might make a few romance novelists blush if she was honest with herself. "I might have had a few of my own."
He picked up her hand kissing the palm before moving to her wrist, "This isn't a fantasy Riley, this is reality. Tell me I'm not too late please tell me I have a chance at your heart."
"You're not too late but you've always had my heart Lucas, no one has even gotten close." She gasped feeling her body wrap around his as the heat of his lips on her neck made her heart flutter.
"And you've always had mine" he unclasped her bra before seizing her mouth with his in a kiss, tossing the lace lingerie aside, feeling her curves fill his hands as she deepened the kiss her body pleading for everything he could give her, every touch, every sensation, every encouragement.
Riley gave in, letting her fingers explore his body, feeling the physical changes that still vibrated with the familiar emotional energy that had always sprinted through his body to hers.
They explored each other, teasing each other, bringing each other close to the peak of pleasure several times over the hours of the late evening and early morning before finally linking their bodies as one, quivering in five years of longing, missing, unspoken love, pain, and pure pleasure.
Riley felt the tears in her eyes as she realized the sun was coming up, trying to brighten the world behind the city buildings as she listened to Lucas' heartbeat. "How did you know I would be at the Gala?"
His fingers played with the end of her curls as he watched her rest, "Our friends, being the yentas as you like to call them that they are told me where I could find you. I didn't lie when I said it would be where I would meet the love of my life. That's who you are Riley, I can't deny that and I never want to."
"What do you see for us?"
He picked up her left hand kissing her ring finger, "I see us, together like this every morning possible, I mean I know we need to sleep sometimes." He gently teased, "I see years together with you by my side, us supporting each other, living our dreams, getting married in a nice wedding in the park, Honeymoon in Paris, however many kids we get blessed with, maybe a dog, a cat, some bunnies."
"You don't play fair Friar." She warned him as she looked up at him, "How is it you know exactly what I needed you to say?"
"Because what you need is what I need. We need each other, and if you think I'm not fighting for us you're mistaken."
"I'm yours" she confessed, "And your mine, there is no way around it. We've always been each other's."
He kissed her slowly, holding her body against his as the morning sun started too crept into the room, washing them in the new day, new possibilities and a new start.
