by Vicki Savage
EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2016 Vicki Savage
ISBN: 978-1-77339-070-3
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: Melissa Hosack
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
AN AMERICAN IN VENICE
Wanderlust, 2
Vicki Savage
Copyright © 2016
Chapter One
Amber
I forced myself to smile and wave the mini Italian flag in the air. “Don’t forget to pick up a memento on your way out.”
“All of that stuff’s too expensive,” the old woman mumbled in a thick American accent. “There are much better gifts on the ship.” She dragged her frail husband away from my gift kiosk and hobbled toward the water taxi that would take them to their cruise ship for another free, five-course meal.
I stuck my tongue out at their backs as they left the building. It was juvenile, I know, but I couldn’t help myself. Those people were being rude. Tossing my mini flag back in the holder, I turned my attention back to the rental section of the newspaper and scanned the apartments for rent. Why was everything in Venice so damn expensive?
“Man, I’m glad that’s over.” Calvino Di Centa, better known as Cal, strode up to the podium. Tall and classically handsome, Cal wore his long, black hair in a low ponytail and smelled as fresh as the open sea. He had this laid-back way of setting people around him at ease. He was a peacemaker, a drifter, and the way his lips curved when he smiled was damn sexy.
The man was also fifteen years my junior and my boss, which made him strictly off limits.
“Those tourists are getting more and more demanding every time we go out,” he said in English. Despite almost a year of living in Italy, I still struggled with my Italian, and was thankful he chose to speak to me in my native language.
“They want to feel that they’re getting their money’s worth,” I said.
“Believe me, they are. The cruise lines are forcing us to charge a fraction of what these tours are worth.” He leaned on the kiosk and dipped his head until it was close to mine. “What’s this?” He turned the newspaper to face him and scowled. “Why are you looking at rental properties?”
Despite his excellent English, it took me a minute to comprehend what he had said. His warm breath fanned out over my cheek, making it difficult for me to concentrate on the conversation.
“I need somewhere to live.”
“Why? You don’t like where you are now?”
“I do like it. I just can no longer afford it.”
Cal frowned as he scanned the listings. I caught a hint of his aftershave, something spicy and wild. I tried to focus on the newspaper, but found my mind drifting into dangerous territory.
“How about this one?” he asked, pointing to a small ad.
I focused on the words, then shook my head. “Too expensive.”
“This one?”
God, why did he have to smell so good? Not only was this guy my boss, but he was so young. I was almost old enough to be his mother. No thirty-year-old man would ever be interested in a woman who was forty-five.
“No, I can’t afford that, either.” My voice was shaking, I couldn’t help it. Despite him being off limits, I couldn’t keep from thinking about how good his muscular body would feel pressed up against mine.
“Really?” He leaned back and studied my face for a moment. “We aren’t paying you enough.”
It was the truth, but I didn’t want to call him out on it. He and Enzo had been kind enough to offer me a job when no one would hire an American. Thanks to the most recent tax hike, Venice businesses were struggling right along with the locals. I didn’t want to put them in any more hardship than I already had.
“You don’t have to say anything,” he said. “It is written all over your face.”
Oh great. I wondered what else was written all over my face. If he ever found out about the fantasies I had about him and Enzo, kinky fantasies that involved me being bound and at their mercy, then I’d probably be fired on the spot.
He frowned and glanced around the small reception area. “Where’s Enzo?”
“He’s in the office, running over the books. He’s in a foul mood, so—”
“Enzo, where are you? We have a crisis on our hands!”
My apartment hunting was hardly a crisis, but instead of protesting, I found myself drawn to Cal’s biceps. The man was perfectly formed. Tall and lean, there was hardly an ounce of fat on him. The many hours he had been spending at the local gym were starting to pay off.
“Enzo!” he bellowed, his voice echoing through the small office.
“What is it?” Lorenzo Gratti shouted back in Italian as he came out of one of the back rooms. “I’m working—something you should be doing as well.”
Enzo straightened the moment he saw me, then averted his gaze and rubbed the back of his neck. When I first started working, I had thought he was hopelessly shy. Now I knew better. He wasn’t shy, but embarrassed. While I had never asked how he had gotten the long, thin scar on his left cheek, I knew that he was extremely self-conscious about it.
On the other hand, I found it incredibly sexy. It gave him this bad-boy, rugged look, one I knew would make my sisters back home swoon. He was awkward with the public, but seemed to relax more when it was just the three of us after hours. Sometimes when we talked, he even forgot about his scar. During these times, he looked me directly in the eyes with such affection and appreciation. It made my heart ache with longing.
“How can you work when we are in the middle of a crisis?” Cal asked.
Enzo rubbed his fingers through his thick, dark hair and turned his attention to his friend. “What do you mean?”
“Amber has no place to stay.”
Enzo frowned and turned to me. “Is this true?”
I swallowed and searched for words. It was unfair how handsome these men were. Each of them were so different, and yet I felt a strong attraction to both. Clearing my throat, I tried to smile reassuringly.
“Unfortunately, my landlord told me this morning he is raising the rent. I can no longer afford my apartment.”
Enzo pressed his lips together, as if holding back some strong emotion. Doing so made his face look even more rugged and angular, something I found greatly appealing.
“I insist that we increase her wage so she can find a decent place to live in the city,” Cal said.
Enzo scowled. “We can’t do that.”
“You don’t think she’s worth it?”
“I didn’t say that.” Enzo let out a long breath. “There’s just no money to spare.”
Cal frowned. “Well, that is a problem.”
Enzo flashed me an apologetic look. “I am sorry.”
“It’s okay.” It was really sweet how these men were looking out for me. Ever since my interview, they had been doting me like mother hens, helping me with my Italian and giving me advice about the best places to buy things on the cheap. “This really isn’t your problem. It’s mine.”
“There must be something we can do,” Cal said. “We can’t have Amber thrown out into the street.” The way he said my name caused a stirring in my lower abdomen. I had always loved his I
talian accent, but for some reason, hearing Cal say my name took the sexiness to a whole new level. I imagined him saying my name with a harder edge, then telling me I was a bad girl and needed to be punished. I’d be tied up on the bed, and he’d be standing over me, with Enzo on my other side. The two of them would tower over my body, and they would take turns touching my breasts and kissing my pussy, bringing me to orgasm over and over again until there was no more breath in my lungs.
“I’m not sure,” Enzo said, snapping me from my thoughts. “We are barely scraping by as it is. We can’t afford to—”
Cal snapped his fingers. “That’s it.”
“What?” Enzo asked.
Cal turned to me and flashed a sexy smile. “You will stay with us.”
“What?” I asked.
Cal inched closer. “You will stay with us and save money for a place of your own. It is the least we can do.” He glanced at Enzo. “Isn’t that right, my friend?”
Enzo seemed to be at a loss as to what to say. He just stared at both of us, as if he couldn’t quite comprehend what he was hearing.
“I could never impose on you like that,” I said.
“Don’t be ridiculous, my dear.” Cal took my small hand in his large one. “We insist.”
His fingers dwarfed mine, making me feel fragile and special. His body heat went straight to my belly, triggering a dull ache between my legs. It had been a long time since I had been with a man, and Cal was sending my libido into overdrive.
“What do you say?” he asked.
I turned to Enzo. “I don’t want to impose.”
Enzo seemed to recover from his friend’s outburst. “It wouldn’t be an imposition. Not at all.” He closed the distance between us and stood on my other side. He started to reach for my other hand, then shoved his fingers in his pockets.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Very.” Enzo glanced at Cal. “We would consider it an honor if you stayed with us.”
“Well, I guess that settles it.” Cal squeezed my hand. “How soon can you move in?”
Chapter Two
Enzo
This was insane. By asking Amber to move in with us, Cal had overstepped his boundaries. It was going to be nothing short of torture watching the woman I had been fantasizing about for months walk around my apartment in nothing but her underwear and knowing that she was off-limits. It would require the patience of a saint, and I was no saint.
“Relax,” Cal said as he put his feet up on the coffee table in our apartment the following Monday. “It will be fine, better than fine.” He patted the cushion on the small loveseat next to him.
“How can you say that?” I stopped pacing and moved over to sit next to him. “This woman is dangerous. She makes me feel. . .”
“Alive?” Cal pushed a lock of hair from my forehead. It was a calming gesture, one that brought back memories of the villa I had recovered in about one hundred kilometers south of Venice. I had been so broken back then. Damaged. Cal had spent weeks dragging me back from the brink of despair. I wondered if he realized just how close I had been to giving up on life, or how much hope he had given me, and still gave me every day.
“She doesn’t care about the scar, you know.” Cal’s voice was gentle, but still tinged with guilt.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“I know.” His voice lacked conviction.
“If anyone is to blame for this, it’s me.” I turned and poked at my scar. “I’m no longer handsome because of my stupidity, nothing else.”
“You are so much more than a face, tesoro.” Cal smiled and eased his fingers over my scar. Heat penetrated my skin, and as Cal’s expression softened, a stirring occurred in my lower abdomen. “But I have seen the way she looks at you, my friend. She likes your ugly mug just the way it is.” He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine. They felt soft and inviting. “I do, too.”
I snorted and looked away. “You only say that because I got this protecting your sorry ass.”
Cal resumed pushing my hair away from my temples. “No, I say it because it gives your face character. In a world where everything is photoshopped, your scar stands out and makes you unique.”
I didn’t agree, but didn’t argue. Cal’s fingers felt too good on my scalp. Closing my eyes, I let out a long breath and tried to let the anger and resentment go back to the past where they belonged. “I still think it’s a mistake to let her stay here. She just had her forty-fifth birthday three weeks ago.”
“So?”
“She’s old enough to be our mother.”
Cal smiled. “You don’t really think that, do you?”
I didn’t, but felt that our age differences needed to be addressed. People would talk. Hell, she’d probably bring it up. While age didn’t matter much to us, I knew it was a big deal to some people.
“If she’s older, then that means she is experienced,” Cal said. “She’ll know things.”
I closed my eyes and shivered as that realization struck home. “Do you think she has tried kink in the bedroom?” I asked.
Cal leaned in close and slid his tongue over my ear. “I’m sure of it.”
I opened my eyes and glanced at him. “You are?”
He nodded. “You know how she likes to read the lifestyle section of the newspaper. Last week, there was an ad in it for that new store downtown. You know the one I’m talking about.”
“The sex shop?” I raised my brows.
Cal nodded. “It was a small ad, but it was clear it was for more adult pleasures. I pointed it out to Amber as a test. You know what she said?”
“What?”
“She had already visited there and was disappointed with their lack of selection.”
I leaned back in surprise. “Seriously?”
He moistened his lips and slid his fingers over my arms. “It makes you hard just thinking about it, doesn’t it?”
“She wasn’t embarrassed?”
“No. She just dismissed the ad and turned the page. It was as if our conversation was the most normal thing in the world.”
“Interesting.”
“I know.”
My mind filled with possibilities. Had she tried handcuffs and rope, or was she more into paddles and floggers? Did she use vibrators or prefer costumes? It had been years since we had done anything that kinky, and the thought of spreading out Amber on my couch, exploring her body with first one toy and then another, made my cock ache.
“There’s this sparkle in her eyes when she takes orders from me,” Cal said. “I bet she loves being dominated.”
“Do you think she’d like being dominated by two men?”
“There’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?”
I started to smile, then stopped myself. “We can’t sexually proposition someone who works for us—”
“Even if she might be interested?”
“You think she’s interested? She’s so much older than us. She might think of us as kids.”
“Then we will have to convince her we aren’t children.” Cal inched closer. “We will have to convince her we are grown men with needs.”
I nibbled my lip as desire flooded my veins. “Needs only she can satisfy.”
“Now you’re getting it.” He brushed his fingers along my cheek, sending tingles of awareness over my skin. “If we phrase it right, I think she might go for it.”
I stared at him for a long moment, considering. “It could make things awkward.”
“Only if we let it.”
“I don’t want to lose her, Cal.” I turned my body. Cal moved with me, and soon we were both stretched out on the couch. He shifted his weight beneath me, causing his erection to rub up against my thigh. I stifled a groan and tried to focus my thoughts. This was too important to let him seduce me into compliance. “It seems like such a huge risk for a little bedroom game.”
Cal dragged his fingers down from my head, caressing my neck and shoulders. “But what if there was a potentia
l for this to be more than just a bedroom game?”
“What do you mean?” I closed my eyes and moistened my lips as he eased his fingers down my chest.
“I mean, what if we never had to ask another woman into our bedroom again? What if…” He inched his hands down around my waist and skimmed them along the edge of my pants. “What if we had a woman who was with us every night?”
“We could learn what she liked.” I settled down on my elbows, bringing my face closer to his.
Cal nodded and slipped his fingers over my ass. “She’d learn what we liked.”
“The sex would be better.”
“Everything would be better, tesoro.” Cal squeezed my ass and pressed his large cock against mine. “Everything.”
I wanted to believe Cal. While we had frequently taken on female lovers, those trysts had always been brief and more about physical pleasure and experimentation. Something told me he was right. Sex with Amber would be different. I just didn’t know if the difference would make her stay, or run away.
Cal had always been the risk taker. I liked assurances. I didn’t want to invite her to our bedroom unless we knew for certain she’d be into a threesome. I had grown used to having Amber around the office, and didn’t want things to get weird. More importantly, I didn’t want her to look at us like we were weird. Cal and I weren’t exactly conventional when it came to sex, and while the world had become more aware and accepting of alternative lifestyles in recent years, some people still looked at us as freaks.
“You think too much,” Cal said. “Everything will work out fine, I promise.”
“She doesn’t even know we’re together, Cal. What if she’s one of those conservatives who—”
“Stop thinking so much and kiss me.” Cal slid his hand up around my neck and dragged my lips down to his. My body immediately responded. Groaning, I slid my tongue into his mouth, loving his clean, fresh taste.
