by Kate Kisset
Oh…I’m not going to last long…
She peered up into his glazy eyes, moving her fingers back down to his zipper. “We’re still us,” she said, tracing the outline of his hard length through his slacks. Heaven-sent.
Luca leaned back and closed his eyes. “Danica...” Taking his next raspy gasp as a go-please-more sign, she voyaged up to his belt and grasped the buckle.
“Wait.” Luca’s eyes flew open.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” His abdomen shuddered against her. “God knows I want you, Danica. I’ve never stopped wanting you.”
“What is it, then?”
“You’ve had a lot of champagne.” His voice was raspy. “I don’t want to do anything you might regret. I’m not that gu—”
A flood of sweet relief gushed over her. “Kiss me…” Locking her arms around his waist, she squeezed and pressed against him. “Love me.”
“Now I’ll never stop.” Luca wrapped her in his arms. His sexy mouth covered hers, and her feet lifted from the floor. He moved her to the foot of the bed without breaking the kiss.
Leaving her standing in front of him, he sat on bed’s edge and shrugged out of his shirt.
“What are you up to now?”
The smooth lines of his arms, chest, and abdomen were defined by shadows and muscles—How does he have so much control?
“Shall we take this off or leave it on for a while?” he asked, running a hand over the fabric covering her thigh. “Bet I can make you come without taking it off.”
“Keep talking like that, and I’ll come right now.”
Clasping the hem of her dress, he rose, taking the fabric with him. Cool air rushed over her bare skin. Luca lifted the hem higher with one hand, giving him access to her with the other.
“God, you are gorgeous,” he whispered, before kissing her again. Her knees buckled for the fiftieth time. Just kiss me like this, and I’ll be happy forever.
How long had it been since she felt so desired? She couldn’t remember, and couldn’t think beyond the shivers and trembles racing through every cell. Feeling the heat of his skilled hand resting on her waist, she held her breath. Luca’s fingertips edged down over her tummy and into the center of her panties.
He slid a finger into her, and she gasped.
“You’re soaked…”
She was barely able to stand, never mind speak. “All your fault…,” she whispered.
“I would hope so, Sexy,” he murmured between nibbling and sucking her shoulder. “I cannot wait to taste you,” he said, sliding a second finger into her.
Exploding in fire, and not able to wait another second to love him, she gripped his belt buckle. This time he helped her undo the clasp, the button, his zipper… She skimmed his pants down over his perfect, tight bottom. Needing him to know how much she loved his touch, she slipped her hand into the front of his briefs and stroked him. His whole body shuddered.
“Do you know how long I’ve waited for this with you?” He nestled his head against her shoulders.
“I’m not going to last long.” He tugged at her gown and stepped back. “Let’s get this off.”
Danica raised her arms, and for a moment her world turned shimmery emerald. In a flash the dress was off. Trembling in her heels, and suddenly realizing this was the first time he had seen her naked, she drew her hands to her breasts and covered her erect nipples.
His stare traveled to her red lace panties, down her legs to her shoes, and all the way back up to her hands. “Please don’t hide from me.”
She brought her hands down to her sides, locking on his gaze.
“I never want to forget how beautiful you are at this moment.” Any trace of his smile from earlier in the evening was gone. The sight of Luca standing shirtless in his tight black briefs, studying her without trying to camouflage his love and passion for her, made her confidence come roaring back.
“I’m getting cold without you,” she said, closing the space between them and pushing him backward onto the bed.
“Easy, Sexy...” Luca grabbed her by the waist on the way down to the mattress, so she ended up on top, straddling him.
He turned her over in one swoop, and climbed off the bed. Stalking her like a big cat in search of prey, and with the sexiest little grin, Luca crouched down at the foot of the bed.
With his broad shoulders blocking the burning embers in the hearth, he took hold of her panties and slipped them down over her legs. “Just like Christmas.” He shot her another lethal smile while gliding her panties down to her ankles and taking her shoes off with them.
Luca reached into the pocket of his crumpled pants on the floor and pulled out a condom. After getting out of his briefs, he turned back to Danica.
The sight of her outrageous curves bathed in firelight, her flawless face, with her hair spread over the pillow, made his breath catch in his throat.
They were moving into unknown territory tonight. She’d always owned his heart, and now she’d possess his body too. He could only pray it wouldn’t destroy him.
Before she could say Come back to bed, he covered her like a blanket. So soft. So warm. Skin on skin, he nuzzled against her. His mouth on that sweet spot where her shoulder met her neck, he kissed his way up and nibbled her earlobe. Cradling her face so they were eye to eye, he kissed her mouth. Did she know how happy she made him? He poured every emotion onto her luscious lips to show her.
Needing to feel her heat again, he slid his hand between her legs, and worked his fingers back inside her. Danica clamped her eyes shut, squeezing tight around his fingers. Squirming, she arched her pelvis, pressing it against the heel of his hand, making the sexiest little moans… He loved bringing her to the edge, and increased the pressure of his hand against her.
“Ooh,” she cried next to his ear before he buried his face in her hair and sucked the side of her neck. Her skin tasted so sweet, like nothing he could describe. The only thing he could think of was honey.
She had one hand stroking his back and held the nape of his neck with the other.
He didn’t dare rub his thumb near her sweet spot, because he wanted her to come with him, while he was inside her. Staring into her beautiful eyes he whispered, “We’ll never have another first time.”
“Why did we wait so long?” she asked leaning up for a kiss. He couldn’t get enough of her mouth, but the feel of her naked, curvy hips circling against his hand was just too exquisite. If she kept moving her body like that, he’d lose control and thrust into her without a condom. He turned from her to rip open the condom packet with his teeth and sheathed himself. She swiveled her hips, spread her legs, and helped place him.
Finally, finally, he plunged inside her, into the heat of her maddeningly tight channel. The pleasure was indescribable, and almost too intense. “Ooh, oh, Danica,” he murmured before kissing her again. When he thought he’d lose his mind, he nestled into her neck and sucked hard on her shoulder. Gasping for air, he tried to maintain control.
She clutched his shoulders, digging her fingers into his skin, panting and moaning next to his ear. She cried out his name, Luca, Luca. His name from her lips sounded like a song he’d waited forever to hear.
Cupping her hips, he pulled her deliciously tight body against him, again and again. She squeezed around him, pulling him deeper, giving all of herself to him. Trembling hard, she clamped her legs around him, and he pumped, matching her sweet rhythm.
“Ooh, oh, oh…” She cried out. Her hips buckled, and his heart ricocheted. He was burning up. If he died, he wouldn’t care.
The stars came down from the sky and surrounded him, breaking to the earth with a shatter as he erupted inside of her.
Arms intertwined, still rocking back and forth, they held each other.
Danica stretched out, luxuriating in the way her body felt all loose and rubbery. She reached under the cool white comforter for Luca. Morning sun flooded in through the sliding glass doors, and th
e muffled sound of the shower running filtered into the room. She grinned.
“Luca…” She braced herself up on the bed. “Oh Luca…,” she called again, before giggling and falling back on the pillow.
Luca didn’t come rushing out of the bathroom naked and dripping wet as she had hoped, so she lazily examined the room. A neatly stacked pile of something caught her eye, and she rolled to the foot of the bed to investigate.
Her heart bubbled when she discovered what her Luca had been up to while she slept. Nestled inside a soft, plush terry robe, she found a toothbrush, mouthwash, and a hairbrush. Folded neatly under it, smelling new and fresh, was a pair of yoga pants with a matching top, and aqua flip-flops.
Not bothering to put on the bathrobe just yet, she crept off the bed and sashayed to the bathroom door. In less than a minute she was under the water, back where she belonged...with Luca.
Chapter Ten
Over the next few weeks, she spent every moment away from work with Luca. Even at work, Luca made his presence known by sending flowers twice a week. He seemed to really love her as much as she loved him, and expressed it in the sweetest, most surprising ways.
Last week he wrapped Juliet and Sarah around his pinky finger by making his mom’s famous eggplant parmesan for everyone. He brought all the ingredients with him, prepared it at the villa, and cleaned up after. Juliet couldn’t get over how he even washed the dish towels. Sarah, who already knew him mostly through Jamie, couldn’t stop gushing about him after that meal.
And just the other night, he won Lulu over. After rushing home from work, Danica found Luca sipping a Campari and soda with Lulu on the patio. Apparently, they spent the whole day together. After Danica mentioned her concern about all the time Lulu spent crouched on her knees gardening, Luca took it upon himself to construct two beautiful, waist-high planting beds in her garden.
Danica hadn’t missed a game and attended every practice she could manage without getting fired. And to be on the safe side, she never wore anything other than her best undies under her clothes, just in case there was another ambulance ride.
Wearing blue panties under her cutoffs today, Danica circled the Sonoma Plaza again in search of parking. The traffic and congestion around the square ranked up there with the Fourth of July parade. Finally, she squeezed bumper-to-bumper into the only parking space she could find.
After straightening her car in the space on East Napa Street, she hustled past Readers’ Books and Café La Haye, and then turned at the Corner Store without stopping to browse. Quickening her pace, she broke into a light sweat while she hurried past the Sebastiani Theatre and The Vine Café.
Sarah would probably be at Arnold Field already, with Jamie and the rest of the Santino clan. She didn’t want to be late, but the tourists jamming the sidewalks weren’t helping.
Second-guessing her decision to wear the flip-flops Luca gave her, she thought of taking them off and running barefoot over the hot cement. Even though the rubber thongs rubbed the skin between her toes raw and slowed her down, she kept them on. Maybe Luca would spot the shoes, and they would bring him luck.
She cruised as fast as she could without taking a header into the ticket cage. The crowd roared, confirming what she already knew. She was late.
“Now batting …for the Sooo-Nooo-Ma Crush-herrrrsss…” The announcer’s voice reverberated over the PA. “Numberrrr Se-ven… Han-dy Rannnn-dy, Johnsoooon!”
She waved her ticket to the agent and dashed through the grapevine-covered fence, giving the Snack Shack area a wide berth. Approaching the stands, she shielded her eyes from the sun’s glare and surveyed the dugout, hoping for a glimpse of Luca. With no luck, she headed to the bleachers and scanned for Sarah.
Sarah waved from the highest ledge. She was sitting next to Jamie. Madeline and Michael Santino, senior, bracketed the family at the far end of the row. The twins, Gianni and Nick, sat next to them. With Leo, Michael, and Jamie lined up like sexy dreamboats all in a row, Sarah was buried in testosterone.
"That was a strike, Blue!” Michael shouted over the crowd.
He caught her eye, stood up, and moved like he was going to make a beeline toward her.
At the snap and ping of the bat, Michael pointed to the green and jumped. Turning to the field, Danica saw Luca rounding first base to second, then third, and then home. How could she have missed the announcer call his name? "Home run! Luca!” Danica shrieked. “I mean Danny… Luca, Luca!" Leaping, she threw her hands up to catch his eye.
He shot a glare in her direction, just for a second. Was that his game face—or? She attempted to make eye contact again by waving, but his teammates surrounded him. Slapping him with high-fives, the swarm of players practically lifted Luca back to the Crushers’ dugout.
She turned to the bleachers and spotted an empty space in the second row and made her way toward it.
“Danica!” Michael bellowed. She froze in place. Why was he seeking her out here? Shielding her eyes from the sun, she swung around. Michael was a few feet away, behind a family overloaded with popcorn and sodas.
“Danica.” He motioned her to come over. Her stomach flipped a brick. Taking a deep breath, she shoved away a murky feeling of complete doom and dragged her feet toward Michael.
“Hey, Michael.” She tried to keep her voice light. “Great hit, huh?”
He planted his legs wide and held his chin high, so he was looking down at her. Way down. “We need to talk.” Perspiration pebbled on his forehead. “Let’s get away from the crowd.”
Danica checked for Luca over her shoulders. Not seeing him, she followed Michael to the farthest end of the stadium, back behind the bleachers, where an assortment of dirty shoes dangled above them. She eyeballed Michael, and his stiff demeanor made her chest cave in.
“I’m just going to be straight,” Michael said over the hum of the crowd. He crossed his arms, and her heart skipped a beat. “I told Luca that you and I dated casually. He didn’t take it well.”
She searched for moisture in her mouth. “B-But—we weren’t seeing each other. Were we?”
Michael let out a long exhale. “Look”—he ran a hand through his hair—“about that…” She held a breath in her throat, waiting for him to lower the boom. “I didn’t know you had a thing with my brother.”
“I-I-I didn’t know I had a thing with your b-brother.” She blinked in rapid fire, trying to get a grip. “M-maybe when we were teenagers, and then when I saw him at your Fourth of Ju—”
“You need to talk to him.” Michael adjusted his stance but kept his arms firmly crossed.
“B-but, I don’t understand,” she pleaded for an explanation that made sense, ignoring the sledgehammer pounding at her temples. “You never asked me out. I didn’t ask you, so we never dated.”
Michael shook his head. “I had to be honest with him.” He uncrossed his arms and looked over his shoulder for a moment before turning back to her. “We did kiss Danica.”
She dropped her chin and closed her eyes. “Oh, my God,” she said softly, her voice choking with tears.
Regret spun around in her head, leaving her numb.
Michael’s account of Luca’s reaction, the words He didn’t take it well. He didn’t take it well. played over and over, ripping her heart to shreds.
She’d hurt Luca. Again. He would never forgive her. It was over.
Then she remembered the pivotal moment that had set her ridiculous fantasy-relationship with Michael in motion. A charge of anger discharged in the pit of her stomach, setting off a chain reaction through every cell of her being. She clenched her hands, digging her fingernails into her palms. “What was that New Year’s Eve kiss about, Michael?”
He pointed a stupefied gaze at her. She’d never seen Michael look as shocked as he did now. “Well, I was reall—”
“What? Drunk? Confused?” She placed her hands on her hips, demanding an answer. “Just playing with me? Why did you kiss me?”
“It was wrong.” His face softened and he rubbed his Adam’s apple. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you.”
She raised her eyebrows waiting for clarification. “Aren’t you going to explain?”
Peering up at the bleachers, Michael let out a long sigh. “I was mad at my date and, yes, I was very drunk.”
“And?”
“And I was trying to make her jealous.”
Her mouth fell to her feet. If it were possible for a heart to implode, hers did. Of all the possible motives and various scenarios she’d imagined, trying to come up with the reason he kissed her at midnight on New Year’s Eve, she hadn’t thought of the justification that just came out of Michael’s mouth. “Jeal—”
“Look, you have every reason to be angry, and I am truly sorry.” Hesitating, Michael took a step closer and patted her shoulder. “We’ve kissed on other occasions too, Danica, most recently in my office.”
Her brain cells evaporated as quickly as his words stung.
She dropped her head and he lifted her chin with his hand, nudging her to look at him. “Let’s you and I not get into specifics, okay?”
Nodding, she backed away and crossed her arms. “Agreed.”
“After you sle—after your last date, you were the topic of conversation, and I felt Luca needed to know about us.”
Not believing she needed to explain the ludicrously awkward situation to Michael, she tried anyway. “Anything you and I did was before Luca.” She struggled to find her voice, but it only squeaked from the back of her throat. “And whatever happened, or didn’t happen, was nothing like it is with him.”
“We're brothers, Danica. Brothers don’t flirt, never mind kiss, any woman the other cares about, period. It’s a code.” He pursed his lips. “Look, I told him there was never anything between us except friendship.”
Her stomach roiled at the memory of planting the disastrous kiss on Michael at Santino Headquarters. “Exactly,” she said.
He nodded. “That’s all it ever was. There was always something missing, and I think you know that.”
