Luca had glanced over at me, but I had started talking about things in my classroom until we got down to Eva’s apartment. Then it had gotten a little weird again, when I gave Luca’s cell number to Eva before we left, for just in case. I was going to leave Nola with her for a long time and I wanted to make sure she’d be able to get in touch with me. “Make sure you lock the door, all the locks,” I had reminded her, as both Luca and I hugged Nola before we left. I listened for the clicks as Eva closed the door, then turned to find Luca looking at me curiously again.
“Why does Mrs. Santamaría need my number, too?” he asked me
“Anything could happen to my phone. I could drop it or lose it. A dog could get it,” I said vaguely. Eva needed to be able to get a hold of me wherever, whenever. Maybe the people who knew where I lived had been watching me, and they knew where Nola was sleeping tonight. The thought made my heart race.
“A dog could get your phone?” Luca had started to laugh, and I had urged him to walk faster, to get us out of the rain and hurry to see Stoney’s band.
I checked my phone now, under the table in the bar, as I waited for Luca to bring back our freshly uncapped bottles of beer. “Everything ok?” I texted Eva, and she answered almost immediately that things were fine, and to leave them alone, and go have fun. I put the phone back in my purse, the volume turned up as high as it would go, and directed myself to staring at Luca, which was really very enjoyable.
He put the bottles on the table as he sat down, looked at me for a moment, then leaned over and kissed me. Then he pulled my chair right next to his and kissed me again, deeply, wrapping his arms around me and holding me close.
“Hi,” I gasped when he let go a little.
“Hi.” He kissed my forehead. “I’m glad we’re here.”
“Wow, me too. A lot.” I felt a huge smile grow on my lips. “I’m really happy to be here with you.”
His hand slid down my back, over my bra strap. “Is this the one from the couch? It looked…uncomfortable.”
It was too dark for him to see me turning red. “No, it’s a different one. The one in the couch is a working bra, support for the girls over beauty. I forgot it was back there again.”
“I thought you’d have rescued it by now, so I put something else there with it in the cushions.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked him curiously.
“After I spent the night on your couch, I left the envelope of money that you gave me,” he explained.
“Luca, no! That was for you to keep, to pay you back.”
But he just kissed me again. “No, that’s for you. Pay me later, when you win the lotto.” He looked at my face. “What? Are you that upset that I won’t take your money?”
No, the remark about winning the lotto had made me think of Ty and his gambling. I had unblocked him and called him repeatedly, even going so far as to get in touch with his bitch of a mom, Cheryl, to try to find him, but he hadn’t responded to me. “No, not that. I mean, yes, I want you to take my money! I want us to be even.”
“Stop worrying about us being even. Of course we’re not. I have money to share with you, you have yourself to share with me.”
“That doesn’t sound like a fair trade,” I told him. “Unless you mean that you’ll pay me for sexual favors, and you should know that you’ll get those for free. That’s why I told Eva I wouldn’t be home until very, very late tonight. I’m hoping for a lot of sexual favors from you, too.”
Luca kissed me again, deep and hard. Holy fuck, it made me want to rip his clothes off. “I didn’t mean sexual favors, although I’m looking forward to those. I meant that I get to spend time with you and talk to you. And Nola, too. That makes us even.” He played with my hair. “I realized that right around four o’clock, I start holding my phone in my hand, because I know you’re going to write to me.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. I like you, a lot.”
My heart did a sudden flip. “Well, I like you, too. I’m really glad we’re friends,” I said. Luca opened his mouth then closed it. “What?”
The dim lights in the bar went completely out, and a single spotlight turned on the stage and then swung crazily around until it was pointed at the bartender. “Hey!” he yelled, as it blazed into his face. He held up his hand to block the glare. “Fix that shit!” The spotlight went out. Now the stage was slightly visible with some can lights in front of it, but the rest of the bar where we sat was like being in a cave. I could hardly see my hand in front of my face.
I spotted a turquoise shirt with loops of red-flowered leis on it at the front of the stage. “There he is!” I told Luca excitedly.
“Where? I don’t see anyone,” Luca said, just as a voice announced, “Welcome, everyone! I’m Stoney and this is the Nutrient Broth!”
“See? There!” I pointed, and both of us shifted forward to peer into the darkness. I definitely saw the Nutrient Broth band members. They blended into the background with their dark clothes and coal-black hair, but their white faces were more visible, seeming to float above the stage in a kind of scary, ghostly way. It took me right back to my old high school look: maudlin goth. They started to play in a throbbing, slow-tempo way, and Stoney joined in with a twangy, cheery voice that sounded in no way like it went with the music. In no way.
I turned to Luca, laughing. I could barely make out his features, six inches away from me. “What—”
His mouth found mine in the darkness. His tongue found mine too, and then his hand went to my breast, kneading softly. I moaned but the weird music covered the sound. Luca picked me up off my chair and put me on his lap, facing the stage. Now both his hands were on my breasts and his mouth moved over my neck.
“Luca…”
“Sh. No one can see. No one can hear, with the music,” he murmured into my ear. He moved his hand under my shirt and across my skin, holding me in place with a heavy arm across my chest. I bit down on his sleeve as his fingers rubbed against my nipple over the fabric of my bra, a lacy one I had dug out from the bottom of my drawer for unusual occasions like going to a bar with a man. He went under the lace and his warm fingers caressed.
“Luca…” My head fell back against his shoulder and his mouth was on my neck again, kissing and biting gently. Then harder. He undid the top of my jeans and went inside, down into my equally lacy thong, and rubbed. I turned and buried my face in his neck, kissing him and whispering his name, whispering yes, and please, and right there, and then just quiet moans as he went to my clitoris. Soft little touches turned to firm strokes against it. I moved my hips and the pressure inside me built. I forgot where I was and I didn’t hear the singing or the sad band. My whole focus was on the pleasure swelling around his fingers between my legs, the delicious aroma of Luca as I pressed my face against his neck, the weight of his arm as he held me steadily to his body.
I came. Gasping, moaning along with a drum crescendo from the stage, arching my back, and saying his name. “Luca!” He turned my face to his and kissed me kind of wildly and his hand in my jeans kept moving. I shuddered and shook and came again, and gradually his fingers stopped, but he kept his hand there, cupping me.
My head fell back against his shoulder and he put his forehead against mine. I could see his blue eyes glowing in the darkness and shadowy lines of his straight nose, his full lips. “You’re beautiful like this, in my arms and satisfied,” he whispered. “You’re beautiful, all the time.” He dropped a light kiss on my mouth and eased his hand out of me, out of my pants, and then he refastened them.
“We’re done?” I asked, my voice feathery high.
“For now.” He laughed, low and full of happiness. “For now, caramellina. We have a lot more to do together.”
I turned sideways and wrapped my arms around his neck, bringing up my legs so that I was fully cuddling him. He held me there, kissing my forehead and my hair, whispering things about the songs the band was covering. I just lay against him, listening and laughing, smil
ing against his neck. Every once in a while, I kissed him too, out of pure happiness.
Before too long, Stoney was announcing that it was the end of their set, and that they really appreciated the crowd’s support. That would have been Luca, who clapped politely in the silence after every strange song. The bar lights came on, still dim but definitely brighter than the pitch blackness of before. I picked up my head off Luca’s collarbone and looked at him. What now?
“Let’s go talk to the band,” he suggested, and helped me to stand up so we could walk to the stage.
Stoney stared at me as we approached. “I know you, right? Yeah, you look familiar! Did the two of us…” He waggled his eyebrows.
“No, most definitely not,” I said firmly. “You’re married, right?”
“Well, I am. But your face is ringing a bell. And those.” He looked at my chest and nodded expressively.
“Stop looking at her breasts,” Luca ordered. “You met her at Pijos Lounge. You fell into a bush and threw up on us. We drove you to the hospital.”
It seemed like it was so long ago. What had I been doing before I knew Luca, anyway?
Stoney snapped his fingers. “Right! Yeah, thanks for that…Julie?”
“Close enough,” I told him. “It was Luca who pulled you out, really.”
Stoney reached out a hand to him. “Then I owe you one, man. If I can ever get you back…”
“The next time I get so drunk that I fall head over ass into a plant, I’ll know who to call,” Luca answered, and they shook on it. “It was an interesting set. How did you happen to get together with this band? You have an, uh, unusual sound.”
“Right, yeah. I’d been a solo act, but the Nutrient Broth, their lead singer disappeared on a trip to Area 51, so they asked me if I could step in. We’re still not gelling just right.”
Luca’s hand had wandered down to my butt. He rubbed, then squeezed, and I jumped. “Time to go!” I announced. “Good luck with the Nutrient Broth, Stoney. Stay out of hedges.”
“Sorry,” Luca murmured as we hurried out of the bar. “I can’t keep my hands off your ass.”
“Are you kidding? Any time!” I assured him. “How fast can we get to the city to your house? We need to do it, right now. Or, how big is your back seat?”
“We’ll go to my parents’ house. My mom is staying with my dad in his suite at the care facility. We’ll have it to ourselves.” He looked over at me. “I was thinking about the pool.”
“Yes,” I breathed, and he picked me up, swung me up in his arms, and started charging down the street to his car. I threw my head back and laughed at both of us. Luca looked down at me. “I’m happy,” I said as I jolted along. “I’m so happy to be with you.”
“We’re not doing it in the back seat,” Luca told me when he saw me looking speculatively at it as we got to his car. “I’ll drive fast.”
He did, and I checked in with Eva one more time. “FINE,” she answered. “STOP. Come get her whenever you get back, no matter how late, and be prepared to tell me details. Remember that I taught Human Development.”
I laughed. “Eva wants to hear about us having sex,” I explained.
“Mrs. Santamaría?” He was aghast. “She’s…”
“Old? Yeah, people of all ages like it.”
His hand dropped to my thigh. “I had another dream.”
“Oh?”
“When we get to the pool, I’ll show you.”
Oh, was I looking forward to that. The throbbing feeling started again between my legs, and I shifted around in the seat to ease the pressure I felt there.
But when we got closer, I found myself getting a little nervous. It had been a while since I’d taken a ride on the sex train—more than four years. And even when I had been a regular passenger, it hadn’t been a great trip for me. But what had just happened in the bar had been great, I reminded myself. Every time he kissed me, I lit up in flames. Every time his hands were on me, it was amazing, even if we were just linking fingers.
There was also the whole body thing. It hadn’t mattered to show off, well, everything to a stranger like Stoney. But to Luca? I mean, he had seen me in a bathing suit, and he had felt with his hands, but naked?
“Maybe we could turn off the lights?” I suggested as we raced through the trophy hall on the way to the pool.
“I want to see you,” Luca said. He didn’t even pause, and he was moving fast. He had run around and opened my car door for me and we had been practically sprinting through the house. My ankle felt it.
“Well…” I said, hesitating.
Now he stopped, right at the door to the pool. “Are you having second thoughts about this? About us?”
“No!” I put my arms around his neck, tilting way up to look into his face. “No second thoughts! I just—” I pulled myself together. What was I doing, sabotaging this? “Let’s strip.”
Luca laughed again and it made me feel lighter. “Let’s,” he agreed. We walked next to the pool and he pulled off his shirt, and oh, Jesus, thank you. And again, I meant that very sincerely. I was blessed to look upon this perfection, and touch, too. I ran my fingers down his chest and stomach, watching the muscles wave and contract. It was mesmerizing. His breathing quickened as I touched him, and his eyes watched me intently.
“Now you.” He pulled the shirt over my head and I fought back the urge to say something, to make a joke to deflect his attention from what he was seeing. His eyes, then also his hands, traced my curves, gently running over my shoulders and arms, my waist, and then my breasts. He drank me in, murmuring words in Italian and English, until I couldn’t take it anymore, and pressed myself against his chest and hard stomach. And when I did, I found something else hard, too.
Luca picked me up, doing the “you’re as light as a feather” thing, and stood me on one of the lounge chairs. “I can kiss you better when you’re up here,” he explained. “And touch you.” He kissed me ferociously, holding me and bending me backwards. Then he kept me there, reclined in his arms, and he skated his mouth down to my breasts, over the lace of the fancy bra I wore.
The bra went fast, dropped onto the tile floor. I couldn’t help the sounds I made as he rubbed his cheek across my bare breasts, then sucked and nipped, his tongue swirling over my nipples. He stopped to blow a cool breath across them. “Jolie, piccola, let’s get in the water.” He stripped off my jeans and the lacey stuff underneath them, and stepped back a little to look.
There I was, up on the chair, like I was on a viewing pedestal. And I would have rather have died than do it except that he was still acting like he was entranced by my body, still saying things softly about how beautiful, how sexy, how lovely I was, and then a lot in Italian too that I really wished I understood. I held out my arms to him, but before he touched me again he divested himself of the rest of his own clothes. Clearly, he didn’t have any qualms about being naked in front of me.
In my real life, like, in situations where I could actually see and touch, there had been only one other penis. And now Luca’s. I stared because I couldn’t help myself, because it was as attractive to me as if he’d really dipped it in chocolate like I had suggested. But I couldn’t actually access it standing up on the chair, so I knelt and held his hips. When my tongue snuck out for a little taste, his groan could have woken the dead. I jerked my head up to look into his face.
“Don’t stop. Don’t stop! There’s no one here, we’re alone,” he told me urgently.
So I licked again, base to tip, mapping things out with my tongue and lips. This had never been my forte—or something I had actually enjoyed—but I was getting a lot more out of it now. First, literally, there was a lot more, um, acreage down there than I had ever personally experienced, and the appreciation he was giving me in terms of happy noises, comments, and hair patting made me redouble my efforts. I put as much of him as I could into my mouth and used my hands on the rest and sucked, and Luca yelled. He was loud, and I loved it.
“Ok, ok, Jolie,” and
then a lot in Italian as he lifted me off my knees. I got the gist from the wild look on his face: he was pretty close, and he wanted me there, too. Oddly, touching him, licking him, had made me get very hot myself.
“We need to try something,” Luca was explaining as he spread a towel out on the edge of the pool. And helped me down so that I sat on it, legs dangling into the water.
“What are we doing?” I asked, and he grinned.
He got into the pool, carefully easing himself and his gigantic hard-on below the surface. “This is one thing I dreamed about.” He put his hands on my knees and opened my legs to him. Opened me to him, like curtains on a stage.
“Oh, hang on.” My hands went down to cover that area, but he stood now between my thighs and removed my hands with his.
“Hold on to me,” he instructed, and I did as he kissed me, and my neck, and sinking down into the water, he suckled my breasts, and whispered his mouth over my stomach. He held my hips and his eyes went there, there between my legs, looking right at my—“Beautiful,” he told me. And then his mouth went there, too.
Once again, I didn’t have a lot of practice with this. Maybe once, when Ty had been really drunk, but he thought that it was gross. His interest in my lady area had been penis-related only. Luca acted like he was eating dessert, something dark chocolate and delicious. He talked, too, as he licked me, licked and sucked and did this tongue flutter—
Jesus. Jesus! “Luca,” I said, and then I just begged him to make me come, please. “Please!”
Luca ran his fingers up my thigh, squeezing, to my breast and squeezed, harder. And with his other hand, he touched something inside me, deep inside me, a place that, oh, oh. I came, even harder, my head thrown back, calling and moaning. He picked me up and lifted me into the cool water, and l slumped over him, my head on his shoulder and my legs around his waist. Oh.
“Good?” he asked me.
I could barely rouse myself enough to answer. “I never, never felt anything like that in my whole life. Me alone on my couch, it doesn’t even begin to approach what you just did.”
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