by Vivian Wood
Then he closes the distance, his expressive eyes closing. His mouth presses against mine, warm and soft. He kisses me with no trace of the hesitation he must feel. No, his kiss is hard and dominant and full of passion reawakened.
He slides up a hand around me, pulling me the last step toward him, my soft body hitting his hardened frame. My hands come up to his chest, clutching his shirt.
His free hand begins unzipping the hoodie, peeling it off along with my cardigan. I shiver, from nerves and from being cold, and he senses it.
Without a word, he sweeps me off of my feet, carrying me up the stairs to my bedroom. I wrap my arms around his neck, feeling so small and delicate in his grasp.
He automatically goes to the master bedroom, which is the same one I use. Inside, the room is very girly. The bed is made of cedar wood, four posters with white lace curtains and an ivory coverlet.
But he ignores the bed, heading to the en suite bathroom. With only its clawfoot tub, I don’t see what he wants with the bathroom, but he carries me over to the tub anyway.
Luca sets me down, turning on the taps. Then he proceeds to undress me, pulling at the strings of my wrap dress. I step out of my shoes and help him with my dress; soon it falls to the floor, and I am left shivering in my matching white lace bra and panties.
The steam starts to fill the room, its heat very welcome. Luca kneels to take off his Converse, then looks up at me.
“I’ve imagined this a hundred times,” he admits, his voice thick with emotion. “I’ve thought of a thousand different scenarios, different positions. Imagined which ones would give you the most pleasure.”
I shiver again, but this time it’s not from the cold. I bite my lip, afraid that if I speak, I will break the spell.
“You know what I want, more than anything right now?” he says, reaching out and caressing my hip.
“What?” I say, my voice barely more than a whisper.
“Take off your bra and panties, and sit on the side of the tub for me.”
I turn bright pink, but I know I have to do it. I slowly take off my bra, exposing my breasts to him, my pink nipples pebbling in the steamy air. I see him suck in a breath and then bite his lip. It’s so sexy when he does that, I don’t think that it’s fair.
I’m aware of my pounding heart as I shimmy out of my panties, leaving me completely naked. Vulnerable.
“Sit,” he commands, his eyes roving over my naked skin. He may be kneeling still, but his order leaves no doubt of who is in charge here.
I step backwards and sit on the ledge, overwhelmed with self-doubt. Here I am, completely naked, and he’s still fully dressed. What if I don’t live up to his fantasy?
Luca moves forward, reaching up to tug my mouth down to his. I bury my fingers in his short, dark hair as he invades my mouth, our tongues dancing together.
I feel his hands on my knees, pushing them open wide. I resist at first, until he stops for a second and murmurs, “Relax, Cate”. I let him part my knees, baring my pussy.
I expect him to go right for it, but he doesn’t. Instead he moves closer, kissing my jaw, my neck, my shoulder. I run my hands along his strong shoulders, feeling the muscles in his upper back as they move.
He kisses my right breast, cupping my bare flesh and closing his lips over my nipple. I throw my head back and groan as he sucks and licks at it, using his teeth to draw my nipple to a hardened point.
“Fuck,” I gasp, beginning to writhe against him. I feel my pussy growing wet, and I am just brazen enough to press my mound against his chest.
He releases my breast from his mouth with a loud pop, kissing his way down to the top of my mound. I hazily hear a voice in the back of my head saying that Luca is really here, in this bathroom, and he’s about to eat my pussy. Is this real?
I push the voice aside as Luca runs the tip of his tongue up and down my slit, teasing me. “Luca…” I implore. “Please.”
He kisses my thigh instead. “Please what?”
“Just… please,” I say, scooting forward an inch. “I’ve already waited for what feels like forever. Don’t make me wait any longer.”
He considers me idly, kissing my inner thigh a bit more. When he withdraws, I can’t help it.
“Luca!” I whine.
But he surprises me again by pulling me by the hand toward the bedroom. “We need more space,” he says simply.
I head toward the bed, and he lets me go. I sit down again,
He starts to strip, first his clingy dark shirt, showing off his pecs and biceps and abs in a stunning display. Then his black jeans, his legs long but powerful, each nearly the size of my body. Soon he’s left wearing only black boxer briefs…
And I might be drooling a bit. Luca moves toward me, as sinuous and powerful as a jungle cat. I move back on the bed, but he grabs me by the ankle.
“Stay,” he orders.
My eyes go wide; he can give me commands anytime, I swear. He climbs on the bed and lays beside me, his eyes burning like twin firebrands. I roll onto my side, using my knee to try to hide my nudity a little, but he won’t have it.
“Uh uh,” he says, pushing my knee back. “There’s no reason to hide from me. You are gorgeous, every inch of you.”
I flush, nodding a little. He trails his hand from my collarbone to my breast, and down to my hip, giving it a squeeze.
“You’re so fucking pretty, Cate,” he tells me, meeting my eyes. “You drive me crazy, almost every day, just by being yourself. I can hardly stand it.”
I don’t respond right away. I wouldn’t even know how to begin answering that kind of compliment. Finally, I manage, “I feel that way about you, too.”
Luca isn’t listening, though. Instead, he pushes himself onto his knees, bending down to kiss my collarbone, the top of my breast. He kisses my nipple, then sucks the nipple into his mouth. His mouth is so hot and wet, and my hips raise of their own accord.
My mouth opens, a mewling cry coming out. He laves my nipple with his tongue, then releases it. I make a disappointed noise, but Luca has other concerns. He kisses his way down to my navel, pushing my knees apart to make room for himself.
He pushes me up the bed as far as possible, then finds a comfortable spot between my legs. He pushes one knee up, trailing kisses along the inner thigh.
I squirm a little, although I know that what is coming will be incredibly hot. Still, I’m distantly uncomfortable in my own skin, worrying again that I can’t live up to his fantasy.
He uses two fingers to find my seam, tracing it lazily up and down, up and down. His fingers get a bit of my juices on them; he stops and pops his fingers in his mouth, making a contented sound as if that’s normal.
I blush and lock up, my knees pulling together a little. But then he parts my lower lips with those same two fingers and leans in close, kissing my clit.
“Oh god!” I say, panicked. It feels so good, so wet and so hot, I don’t know if I can take much of his teasing. When he kisses my clit again, swirling his tongue around it this time, making loud sucking noises, I bury my fingers in his hair.
He does figure eights with his devilish tongue for a minute, while I moan and try not to buck my hips against his face. After he closes his lips around my clit and sucks, though, I can’t help it.
“Oh god, oh god,” I repeat over and over again. “I… I’m close, Luca.”
He shifts a little, teasing the entrance to my core with one single finger. I shiver with excitement and buck against his mouth when he introduces a second thick digit.
And with the third, I think I’m about to boil over. He’s sucking on my clit and gently moving his fingers in and out of my pussy, and it’s all too much.
I make a throaty sound, almost there…
He slows down, though, and withdraws his fingers. I crack open my eyes, glaring at him.
“What are you doing?” I ask, uncertain.
“You can come from penetration, can’t you?” he asks, licking his fingers idly.
&nbs
p; “I… I think so…” I say. I flush, tripping over myself to explain. “I mean, I have before. With you.”
“Good. Then I think we should both come together,” he says, rising to his knees.
I go red at his words, even though he just got done doing that very thing. I bite my lip and beckon him. He backs off the bed, stripping of his boxer briefs, laying himself bare. His cock juts proudly out, long and thick and quite beautiful.
He crawls on top of my body, until our hips press together. He’s heavy, almost too heavy for me, but his big frame makes up for it. He balances himself on his elbows, taking some of the weight off.
My lips find his, and my hand finds his cock, stroking it gently. He breaks the kiss with a low, needy groan. That sound breaks any plans I had to draw this out.
I position his cock at my entrance, moving my hips a little to encourage him. He doesn’t thrust right away, though. He takes a second to look down at me, brushing some of my still damp hair from my face.
“You’re beautiful,” he tells me. The earnestness in his gaze shines through.
“You’re gorgeous too,” I say.
He kisses me again, his lips warm and wonderful. Then he slowly sinks in, inch by inch.
“Ahhhh,” I say, feeling the stretch deep inside to accommodate his size.
He looks at me, sweat beading on his brow. “Do you want me to stop?”
I shake my head. “No. Go faster.”
Luca withdraws, then thrusts, withdraws, then thrusts. A little deeper, a little faster every time. He sets a rhythm, slow at first. I meet him thrust for thrust, feeling my body warming up, remembering the pleasure that it felt just a few minutes ago.
I wrap my legs around him as he increases the pace. There’s a smooth kind of friction happening; it feels amazing, like there is something deep inside me that is on fire, and only he can put it out.
With each thrust I am getting a little closer to ecstasy. I feel a spring winding a little tighter and a little tighter. I just need something a little… more… to be set off.
“Luca,” I say, breathless. “I am going to need you to fuck me harder. Don’t hold back.”
He smirks for a second, then he gives me exactly what I want. He leans over me, fucking me like a jackhammer, sweat beginning to drip from his face and chest. All I can do is hold on, that inner spring growing tighter by the second.
“Fuck,” he whispers, his tone reverent. His voice is nearly lost in the melee between us.
“Yes,” I urge him, my hips clashing with his over and over again. “Yes! Don’t stop. Don’t you dare…”
I’m wound so tight that when I start to come, I grip Luca’s back with my nails, leaving a set of nail marks. Then it’s like I see fireworks, everything in my world going black except for a few bright splashes of color.
I topple over a cliff I didn’t see coming, and plummet down into the abyss of my own pleasure. A second after I come, I feel Luca start to come. I hear his rugged shout, I feel the hot pulse of his seed deep within me. I feel him slow down, and then stop.
He rests his forehead against the pillow to my left, breathing openmouthed for a long second. My racing heart begins to slow.
Luca kisses me then, long and languorous. He tastes like his sweat, but I don’t mind it one bit. I sigh into the kiss, bringing my hands up to cup his face.
We rest like that for a long time, until I slip off to sleep.
Chapter Thirty
I lie on my side watching Cate sleeping beside me. Her lower body is burrowed against mine but her spine is twisted so that her face is angled away. It looks uncomfortable to me but she seems to be sleeping peacefully.
The early morning light streams across her still figure, throwing shadows across half of her body. I look at her delicate dark eyebrows, the sweep of her black lashes against her cheeks, her sweetly bow-shaped mouth. Her face is in profile, the light making it seem more angular than it actually is.
She stirs for a moment, pulling the blankets up and murmuring something softly. She turns away from me and I sigh.
Tomorrow is Madisyn’s wedding. Not that I give two fucks about Syn getting married, but that’s the entire structure of my marriage to Cate at this point.
What happens after the wedding? The future slips through my fingers like sand through an hourglass. Everything is tentative. Our entire relationship seems to be held together by half-spoken promises.
I woke up in a mood about it and it isn’t going away. I know myself. I need a distraction or I’m going to brood about this for the next twelve hours. So I get up and get dressed, texting Owen as I go.
Drinks?
He responds in a couple of minutes. I mean, it’s the daytime… but sure.
I think for a moment, trying to choose a place that’s equal distances from his house and mine.
Whiskey Soda Lounge, twenty minutes.
I grab my leather coat, leaving Cate a scrawled message. Back soon.
Leaving the piece of paper on my pillow, I head out to the bar. When I pull my bike into the parking lot, Owen is already waiting for me.
“Hey,” he says, scanning my face.
“Hey.”
I push past him, heading in the front door of the bar. There are a couple of people drinking at the far end of the counter. The bartender gives us a nod, motioning for us to seat ourselves.
As we slide into a booth, I pluck a menu from the bracket on the wall. Owen does the same, watching me carefully. The bartender comes over and takes our order.
After I don’t say anything for a minute, Owen sighs. “What’s up, man?”
I favor him with a frown. “What, I can’t just want a drink?”
Owen narrows his eyes at me. “You seem to forget that I’ve known you for too long. I can tell something is going on with you.”
He’s right, of course. But it still irritates me. “Mmm,” I grunt.
The bartender brings our drinks. I don’t taste mine, I just roll the amber liquid around in the glass.
“Things with Cate aren’t going well, then?”
I exhale a long breath. “I don’t know. She took me to see the house she wants to buy and live in once the annulment goes through.” I take a sip of whiskey, making a face when it burns a little going down.
Owen shifts in his seat. “And that’s bad?”
I glance at him, shaking my head. “I don’t know. I mean… I offered her ten thousand dollars, contingent on her faking this marriage until Madisyn’s wedding. But now the wedding is here, and I just…”
“Wait, you offered her ten grand?” he asks.
I nod. “Yep. I said we would sign the paperwork on the annulment after this wedding, and then I would pay her.”
Owen purses his lips. “But you don’t want things to change, I am guessing?”
“Yeah.” I scrunch up my face. “Actually, I don’t know. I just feel like Cate moving out isn’t going to help clear things up.”
He takes a sip of his drink and swishes it around his mouth. “Have you talked to Cate about any of this?”
I look at the ceiling, sighing. “Sort of.”
“What does that mean?”
“We talked about it a little when she showed me the house. And then she kissed me.” I bite my lip with a frown. “Actually, it’s been like that for the last two days. I try to bring up the annulment and she kisses me.”
A note of humor ripples across his face. “You’re telling me that you can’t resist her advances, or what?”
I shrug. “I guess I haven’t wanted to. Not yet. What if I ask her to stay and she says no?”
Owen looks down at his drink. “Is it better to just keep doing what you’re doing? Neither of you ever says anything real to the other because you are both emotionally stunted people?”
I shoot him a glare. “I didn’t say that.”
“Hm.” He takes another sip of his whiskey. “Just tell her that you don’t want her to move out. It’s really simple.”
I wrinkle
my brow. “Just like that?”
Owen shrugs. “I think so. I mean, I don’t know her, but that’s what I would like.”
I look at my watch. “It seems like a good idea, but…”
Owen makes a face. “It’s between that and letting her leave, which you don’t want. Just go. Go right now and tell her to stay. That way you can go to Madisyn’s wedding and just… you know, be real.”
I smile, imagining Cate and I hugging while we talk to Madisyn. “There is a first time for everything, isn’t there?”
Owen rolls his eyes as he pulls a twenty dollar bill out of his wallet. “I will buy your drink if you’ll just go talk to Cate, man. Seriously.”
I squint at him. “Yeah, alright.” I start sliding out of the booth then pause. “Thanks, man.”
Owen just shrugs again. “Anytime.”
With a determined frown on my face, I ride my motorcycle home. As soon as I get home, I call out to Cate.
“I’m back!” I announce. I head over to the fridge for a bottle of water.
Cate comes downstairs from her room, drying her hair with a towel. She’s wrapped in maybe the ugliest old-lady bathrobe I’ve ever seen. Her lips are turned down at the corners.
“Hey. Where did you go?”
“Just went for an early drink with Owen.” I open the bottle of water and chug it halfway down. “You looked like you needed rest.”
Her eyes narrow. “Huh.”
I set the water bottle on the counter, steeling myself for what I want to say. I don’t know why I’m nervous, but I am. Heading into the living room, I snag one of her hands and lead her toward the sofa.
“Come here for a minute.”
“Luca,” she protests. “I have to get ready for work. I don’t have time to hang out on the couch for a minute, no matter what you say.”
I sit down on the couch, towing her in my wake. She sits down beside me with a huff. “We have to be really, really fast this time.”
My lips quirk at that. “I like your thinking. But actually, I just want to talk.”
Her eyebrows rise. “Oh, I don’t think this is really the time—”
“I don’t want you to buy that house,” I say, cutting her off. “I don’t want us to get an annulment right away and I don’t want you to buy that house.”
