Sinful Ever After (Romance Collection)

by Vivian Wood

  I have to catch her before she tries to leave.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Luca

  “Cate!” I call out. I walk down the darkened back hallway, spying her as she pushes the door to the parking lot open.

  She turns around in the doorway, her dark eyes fiery. “What? What could you possibly say to me right now?”

  “I didn’t want that,” I say, gesturing to the front of the bar. “I had no way of knowing Madisyn would be here.”

  Her lips pull into a frown. “So what, she just showed up?”

  I sidle closer to her until I close the gap between us. She shivers and licks her lips, gazing up at me. I widen the opening of the door by placing my hand over our heads. “I swear. I didn’t want her to. I told her to fuck off.”

  I scan her face, trying to guess what she’s thinking. Her brow is knitted. She’s sucked her lip between her teeth and stares at me.

  I can hear my heart beating in the silence between us.

  “Luca,” she exhales at last. “I need more than this.”

  I reach out, gently grabbing her hip and pulling her body towards mine. “More than this?”

  Cate puts her hands up and pushes at my chest. “Yes, Luca.” Her eyes bore holes into my face. “I thought that something purely physical would be enough, but it isn’t.”

  I see just the beginning of tears forming in her eyes. Gripping her waist more firmly, I try to placate her fears.

  “This isn’t just physical,” I say.

  Her breath leaves her in a huff. “It isn’t?”

  Shaking my head slowly, I back her up, pushing the door wide with our bodies. “Nope. It’s a lot more than that and I think you know it.”

  I expect her to ask more questions. Or maybe I’m dreading the moment when she asks me to define just what our relationship is, I don’t know.

  But she doesn’t say anything.

  Her dark eyes are large and mesmerizing, her face sweetly heart shaped. I cup the side of her face in one hand, pushing back some of her wild hair. Her lips are luscious and inviting, and they part ever so slightly when my gaze drops to look at them.

  I don’t honestly know whether I move first or she does, but we both surge forward. My lips find hers, hesitating at first. But once I get the taste of her in my mouth, the scent of her in my nose, I go wild.

  Then there is nothing gentle about the way that I grab her, hauling her up against me. I’m already hard for her, imagining the sweet satisfaction that I’m about to find at the apex of her thighs. My tongue seeks hers and she opens her mouth to me, urging me on.

  Cate makes this sound, a mewling sound, but more guttural. The sound makes the fine hair on the back of my neck stand up and my whole body tingles for a second. I pull her body up against mine, rubbing her tits across my chest. She moans and wraps her legs around my torso.

  Fuck, she feels so good. Far better than I could ever imagine. I carry her back towards my car, trying to figure out how I’m going to get her back to my house. It seems impossible to put her down and calmly drive somewhere else, but I can’t just have sex with her here in the parking lot, either.

  She starts to kiss my neck, sucking hard on my earlobe. My eyes roll into the back of my head for the briefest moment and I stumble. Cate seems totally unworried about our surroundings.

  Maybe she’s completely oblivious to my thought process about how I can fuck her the fastest. But when I get to my car, pressing her against the driver’s side door, she looks up at me. Her eyes are filled with the same impatient lust as mine.

  “Take me right here, right now,” she demands, her voice low and throaty. “I need you, Luca.”

  Lust fills my veins like lead. Her words are the balm I’ve needed for so long; it feels like it’s been eons since I’ve been inside her, instead of weeks.

  Still, I shake my head. “No. Not here.”

  “Yes,” she whispers in my ear. She grabs my hand, pulling it down her body, until I’m touching the front of her panties. They’re damp, soaked by her need. Her words turn pleading. “Now. In the car. I need you inside me right now.”

  At the same time, she reaches down between us, feeling the outline of my cock through my pants.

  Fuck. It’s hard to think, hard to speak. Especially when she pleads so sweetly for me to fuck her.

  I pull out the keys and unlock the car. She puts her feet down and wriggles a little bit to try to pull on the door handle.

  “Uh uh,” I say, my eyes burning into hers. I step back, leaving her looking at me with a note of shock on her face. She thinks I’m turning down sex, which is almost funny. “If you need it as badly as you say, get your ass in the back and fold the seats down. I need room to work.”

  Her eyes widen a bit, but she hurries around to the very back of the car, opening the gate. I don’t give her any space or time. I’m right on her heels, watching her as she puts the seats down.

  As soon as she makes the back seat flat, I give her a little push. “Get inside,” I order.

  I get immense pleasure out of watching her miles of fantastic legs and ass as she scurries into the back of the Porsche. I climb in the back, pulling down the gate behind me.

  It’s still a little crowded, being that I’m almost six and a half feet tall. But when she gets herself turned around, biting her lip and looking up at me, I suddenly feel that same urgency as I felt earlier.

  And when Cate starts to undress, pulling her shirt up over her head, that urgency takes over. I pull my shirt off too, lying down.

  “Get your panties off,” I growl. “I want you to ride me, right fucking now.”

  She looks at me with those wide, innocent eyes and starts to unzip her skirt.

  “No. Leave it on,” I tell her. “And take the panties off. Don’t make me tell you again.”

  I unzip my own pants as she shimmies her panties down her legs, kicking them off with her shoes. I hook my thumbs into the waistband of my boxer briefs, shoving them and my pants down to the middle of my thighs.

  My cock springs free, long and thick, the tip of it already slick with precum. Cate’s hand is on my cock instantly, her fist closing around it.

  Fuck, that feels so good.

  It’s been so long since I felt her fist gripping my dick that I close my eyes when she touches me. She gives me a few experimental strokes, testing the waters. But when I see her head going down to my cock, I have to stop her.

  “No, not now,” I grit out, guiding her face up to mine. “I don’t want to blow my load in your mouth. I want your pussy, and I want it right now.”

  She straddles me, breathing a little bit faster. I force her head down and kiss her, even as I lift my hips up. My cock touches her warm inner thigh. I close my eyes for the briefest moment, distracting myself with the names of rum brands.

  Bacardi. Captain Morgan’s. Appleton Estates. Kraken. Sailor Jerry. Cruzan…

  I open my eyes, realizing that I should’ve definitely jacked off in the last couple of days. Or maybe been with a girl that was less hot than Cate, who is a straight up bombshell.

  I kiss her, pressing her ass down so that her knees widen.

  “You’re going to have to ride slow,” I warn. “I’m so fucking hot for you right now, I can barely see straight.”

  She flushes but smiles timidly. God, I love the fact that this ballsy, mouthy woman is still put onto her back foot by sex. “Is that right?” she asks.

  I just grunt, pressing her down again. I use my free hand to stand my cock straight up, groaning when the blunt tip touches her pussy lips. They are already dripping with moisture.

  Cate’s been waiting for me, it seems.

  She sinks down on my dick, her expression enraptured. I have to close my eyes and list whiskey brands while she stretches to take all of me.

  “Fuck!” I mutter. “God damn, you’re so tight, princess. So wet. So perfect.”

  When she finally takes all of my cock, I pull her down for a long, slow kiss.

  �
��Are you ready?” she asks, already breathless.

  To answer her question, I move my hips upward. She cries out, but she doesn’t stop. No, she keeps going, her actions growing frenzied. Her pussy grips my cock as she rides me.

  I move my hand down between our bodies, rubbing her clit. I am going to make damn sure that she comes when I do… and I’m going to come pretty damn soon.

  “Oh my god,” she says, leaning forward. “Omigod, right there…”

  I can feel her tensing and clenching, getting close to the edge.

  “Fuck. That’s right. I love the way you ride me, princess. You feel so fucking good. The way that sweet pussy grips my cock so tight—”

  That little bit of dirty talk is enough to push her over the edge. She cries out, her pussy spasming wildly, her nails scoring the flesh of my chest.

  I let myself go, pumping up into her body with abandon. I can feel the orgasm before it hits, feel it down low in my balls. It tears loose and I thrust upward again and again, her greedy little pussy milking my cock of every drop.

  I slow, then stop, trying to catch my breath. She lays sprawled across my chest, her breathing rapid, covered in a layer of sweat. Not just hers, but mine, too. They’ve mixed, become something more than just sweat.

  Cate pulls down her skirt and top as she drags in her breaths. “We should cover ourselves up. I don’t want Owen or Bradford to walk out here, looking for you.”

  Instead of listening to her, I cup the back of her head and kiss her thoroughly. “The windows are fogged up, princess. We’re safe from prying eyes for a few minutes.”

  A chill runs through her body. She looks at me, passion still thick in her eyes. “I like when you call me that.”

  My mouth curves upward. “What, princess?”

  She bites her lip and nods. “Yes. It’s a little… dirty. You only say it when you have sex on your mind.”

  Her cheeks color. She twines her fingers with mine. I rub little circles into the palm of her hand with my thumb. “I’ll have to keep that in mind.”

  She looks down at our clasped hands. “This is nice.”

  “The fucking?” I ask.

  “No,” she says, frowning at me and shaking her head. “I just meant… when we don’t fight, it’s nice to just… be together.”

  My lips quirk. “See, I think that the fighting feeds the flame. Like if we didn’t bicker, our sex wouldn’t be as hot.”

  Her brow furrows. “What would happen if we didn’t fight, then? Do you think that we would just… lose interest in each other?”

  I pull her hand, moving her incrementally closer. “I don’t think I will ever lose interest in you, princess. Maybe you’ll drive me crazy. Maybe I’ll say the wrong thing and you’ll run. But lose interest in you?” I kiss her, long and slow, flicking her tongue with mine. “I don’t think we’ll ever have to worry about that.”

  Then I roll her over, so that I’m on top of her body. I start kissing her again, my fingers sneaking up to her breasts, pushing the fabric away once more.

  “Luca!” she says. I can tell despite her breathy tone that she’s complaining, so I bury my face in the crook of her neck.

  “What?” I murmur.

  “Can we please go home first?” she asks. I catch her nipple with my fingers, rolling it, making her moan.

  “Not a chance in hell, princess.”

  I kiss her, silencing any further protests.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Cate

  The next morning, I slip out of Luca’s bed. Without even looking at the calendar, I already know why my heart is so heavy.

  It’s the last day of January.

  Five years ago today, I lost my entire family. One distracted driver who was looking at his phone. One foggy afternoon in the hills surrounding Seattle. And one curvy road…

  Together, those things made me an orphan. I can’t bear to think of it, much less talk to another person about why I’m forever broken and desolate. I almost weep just thinking about it.

  That’s why I am better alone, today especially. So I steal out of Luca’s bedroom and to my own, getting dressed. I stuff a huge wad of tissues into my coat pocket and shoulder my purse, then leave Luca’s house quietly.

  I order myself an Uber, just as I have the four years before on this date. As I watch out the window silently, the Uber navigates through fog and a little rain, toward the highest point in the city. It’s early on a Sunday and the weather is bad, so there is hardly anyone out. It’s so foggy as we climb the final stretch that I can barely make out the road ahead.

  I can see the street beside me, though. That’s all that counts. When I see Dorie’s Market coming up, I say so to the driver.

  “Do you mind stopping right here?” I ask. “Please, on the right. I can walk from here.”

  “Of course,” she says cheerfully. She pulls over, letting me out. “Have a great day.”

  I say nothing, my chin wobbling. It’s still hard to accept that other people don’t know that this monumental, world-changing thing happened.

  My mom and dad died and no one is the wiser. Everyone just carries on with their humdrum little lives as if nothing had ever happened.

  I take a deep breath, my feet carrying me toward the little market. I push open the door, cringing at the sound of the bell overhead. Dorie’s Market is just the same as it was five years ago. It’s still stocked high with canned goods and a small produce section. It still smells most strongly of lemon, like wood polish maybe.

  And most importantly to me, it still has fresh flowers. Right between the heads of lettuce and the berries are a few bouquets of flowers.

  I choose the one with the most color, selecting the bouquet that has pink ranunculus, yellow daisies, dark red roses, and baby’s breath. My mom would have loved this arrangement; she always preferred bright bursts of color over more muted flowers.

  My eyes well up at that. I rush to the counter and pay for them, then get out of the store as quickly as I can manage.

  I step out into the morning chill, my eyes settling on the cemetery. From here, I can just barely make out the big wrought-iron gates.

  Cavalry Catholic Cemetery lies just beyond, though the fog makes it impossible to see just now. Taking a deep breath, I step out into the road, crossing the cobblestone street toward the cemetery.

  It’s a little uphill walk. I reach the gates with minimal huffing, but then I stop. Looking up at the broad arch made of wrought iron, I swallow.

  “Just go in,” I tell myself. “You can do it…”

  I always have this trouble at this particular point. Knowing what lies beyond prevents me from entering the gates with any kind of ease. But sooner or later, guilt will win out. It just a matter of time.

  I hear a car door slam. As I am trying to psych myself up, or maybe just let my guilt overwhelm me, I hear a familiar voice.

  “Are you stuck?”

  I turn halfway. There is Luca, walking up the last few steps of the hill.

  “What on earth are you doing here?”

  Luca shoves his hands into his jacket pockets, looking at me with a careful expression on his face. “I followed you here.”

  My mouth twists. “Why?”

  He shrugs a shoulder. “Because. I want to know things about you.” He looks up at the cemetery gates. “I didn’t realize that you were coming here, obviously.”

  I look down at the flowers I’m holding. My fingers tremble. “You should leave. This is private.”

  I can’t bear the thought of Luca watching me grieve.

  Instead of listening to me, he moves closer and touches my arm. “Hey. Will you look at me?”

  Glancing up into his face, I feel so exposed. Tears gather in my eyes again. This whole day is always emotional for me and being vulnerable in front of him is only making me more sensitive.

  Somewhere nearby, church bells begin to ring out. I suck in a breath.

  I am so ashamed to be crying in front of him. It’s not the first tim
e by any means, but that doesn’t make it less excruciating.

  Luca doesn’t waver though. He moves closer and runs his hand over my back. His dark eyes bore into me.

  “I’ll wait for you out here if that’s what you really want. But I’m also ready to go inside the cemetery.” He nods at the high gates. “If you were hoping to get through today alone though, you’re out of luck.”

  I sniffle, looking down at my flowers again. I’m just so sad right now about so many things. Too many things to even list. But Luca doesn’t make me sad.

  Angry at times, yes. And lord knows that he frustrates me. But he makes me giddy sometimes, and I laugh at his jokes when we’re not fighting. Then there’s the incredible, not to be missed sex we’ve been having…

  And he’s also showing remarkable kindness to me right this second. So I make a decision, right here and now.

  “You can come,” I say. My voice sounds miserable, but at least I said something. At least I made a decision.

  Luca nods, his expression somber. He takes my arm and guides me through the gate that I was stuck outside of. Graves rise up on either side of the cement path, some mausoleums and some more austere and small grave markers. I point to the left.

  “We’ll have to go that way.”

  We walk through the morning chill, passing through the oldest section of the cemetery. I can only make out the path a few hundred feet in front of us. Everything else just sinks back into the gray and foggy morass.

  We come to a fork in the path and I turn right, pulling Luca along with me.

  Soon I see a towering tree, its branches bare this time of year; my parents are buried just beneath it and I always look for it to navigate here.

  I cut down one of the aisles, being extremely respectful of the graves as I go. Soon we reach the tree, a colossal oak whose branches twist into the sky.

  I look down to find the graves of my parents right next to each other. The stones are a boring gray granite. His name and her name, with the dates of their births and deaths. The inscriptions just say beloved father and beloved mother because I couldn’t even come up with anything to say at the time.