There were a few other cars parked here and there, but we had definitely left the bustle behind. I chuckled and turned off the ignition. “It’s not as pretty as the Flower District, but I guarantee you’re going to love it just as much.”
Her nose scrunched up when she opened the door and the smell of garbage hit her nostrils. “Doubt it. Are we having sewer rat for lunch or something?”
I climbed out of the car and double checked that it was locked before rounding the hood to offer her my arm. “I’ll keep you safe, and no, no sewer rat today unfortunately. I’ll put it on your bucket list of things to eat before the wedding.”
Although I had known it all along, it suddenly really dawned on me that my time with Luna was limited. Sure, there was nothing saying we couldn’t keep spending time together or sleeping together after the wedding, but it felt like it was sort of implied that we wouldn’t.
Good. A clean break.
I shook off the random thoughts of how I hadn’t had nearly enough of her to let her go yet, reminding myself that there were still many weeks left before Peter and Jenny tied the knot.
Luna shuddered at my side when a low noise rattled in one of the dumpsters. She grabbed my arm in a tight grip and pushed into my side. “No, thank you. I’m okay without eating sewer rat or getting eaten by one. Shall we go? I have a sneaky suspicion we’re going to be lunch instead of eating lunch if we don’t get out of here.”
My answering laugh bounced off the walls of the narrow alley. “Relax. I’ve got you. It might seem scary, but it’s okay because this is the back. It’s the easiest place to find parking.”
“The back of what?” she asked, craning her neck like she was checking to see if she’d missed something.
“You’ll see in a minute.” I led her out of the alley and around into a quiet side street. There were signs for several small businesses, including a laundromat, a coffee shop, and a bookstore.
Luna frowned when we came to a stop outside a solid wooden door with only a small plaque hanging above it. “Jimmy’s Killer Pizza? When I said I didn’t want to be killed by a sewer rat, I should have mentioned that I’m okay with not being killed by a pizza either.”
“Don’t worry. I told you I’d keep you safe. I’ll defend you from the pizza if it’s necessary, but I think the pizza here is going to need defending from you. Trust me. I know it sure needs to be defended against me.”
“What are you talking about?”
My head dipped to the side as I laughed and reached for the brass handle on the door. “Let me show you.”
The heavy door swung open and Luna and I stepped inside, the scent of baking oregano, dough, and melting cheese overwhelming the stench from outside. Jimmy’s voice filtered out of the kitchen, the clipped tones of his Italian accent reaching my ears and making me smile.
“Welcome to the first investment I ever made.” I pried Luna’s fingers off my elbow and settled my hand at the small of her back instead, steering her into the small hole-in-the-wall restaurant.
Once we’d traveled down the short hallway and stepped into the dining area, conversation around us ceased for a second before picking up again. Soft Italian music flowed through the speakers on the walls and every table in the room had at least two diners at it.
The space inside had been renovated when Jimmy and I first went into business together, and now, despite the dingy facade and carpeted hallway, the restaurant itself was all exposed beams, brick walls, and hardwood floors.
Heat came off the white-painted pizza ovens and warmed the entire space, making it perfect for winter but a little uncomfortable for summer. It didn’t bother me, though. “Jimmy makes the best pizza in the city.”
“You invested in a hole in the wall?” she asked, a shallow V between her eyebrows. “Why?”
“I just told you it’s the best pizza the city has ever known.” I led her farther into the back, to a table situated in a small alcove between the kitchen and the dining area that was pretty much reserved for me.
Jimmy let his family members use it sometimes, but otherwise, it was just mine. Luna sat down in the seat I pulled out for her, taking in the space as her gaze wandered from one side of the room to the other. “This is not what I was expecting when we parked.”
“I know, right?” I grinned at her as I took my seat, motioning to the fresh chilis, Parmesan, and garlic standing in small bowls on the kitchen counter. “The whole point of this place was that knowing about it puts you a step above the rest of the people in the city. Jimmy sources everything he uses from local suppliers, and he and his guys cut every chili and grate all the cheese themselves. He has two guys who spend their lives just making and rolling the dough. They’re all cousins. I loved the concept.”
“Because it was elitist and exclusionary?” Her brows raised. Then she shrugged and a smile ghosted across her lips. “I’m just kidding, but it is kind of elitist and exclusionary.”
“Nope, check the prices. Everyone and anyone can afford to come here, but they have to know about it to be able to do it.”
“This is pretty cool actually.”
“Thank you.” Before I could say anything else, I heard my name being called and rose to my feet, turning just in time to see Jimmy’s big hand being extended toward me. “Cy! I didn’t know you were coming in today. And who’s this pretty lady? I’m happy to see you’re finally bringing someone here.”
“This is Luna,” I said. “Luna, Jimmy.”
Jimmy’s dark eyes tracked up and down Luna’s body when she stood up to shake his hand, but he was looking at her with curiosity instead of interest. The urge to pour acid in his eyes for looking at her at all still rose in me for some fucked up reason.
“She your girlfriend?” he asked, his fat lips spreading into a wide grin as he reached up to pat my shoulder. “You landed yourself a looker, man. Congratulations.”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” I said.
At the same time, Luna shook her head. “We’re just friends. I’m helping him with his brother’s wedding.”
Jimmy’s eyes widened, his bottom lip came out, and he swung his gaze from me, to Luna, and back again before shrugging. “Sure, sure. Whatever you say. Let me know when you’re ready to order and I’ll make sure it gets to you fast.”
Luna sat down again, shaking her head almost as if in disbelief. “This was really your first investment?”
“Yes, it was. The day after the money from the sale of my system showed in my account, this dude I used to work with told me to come check this place out. I guess he’d heard from somewhere the ballpark figure I’d gotten and he knew what Jimmy had here.”
Her lips tilted into a smirk, but on her, it still kind of looked like a full-blown smile. “So even you weren’t always in the know, huh?”
I laughed as I relaxed into the seat, letting the familiar scents and sounds of the place infuse my senses. “I guess you can say that. I practically lived in Peter’s basement in those days. When I wasn’t at work, I was working on my system.”
Her black hair shimmered under the exposed, orange-hued bulbs hanging from the ceiling. “It’s really hard to imagine you like that.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve come a long way. That’s what I’ve been told anyway.”
“By who?” She leaned forward and scooped a bit of the parmesan Jimmy’s cousin had just set down into a small spoon, bringing it to her nose. “I hate the smell of this stuff just as much as I love the taste.”
“You and me both,” I said. “And by Jimmy actually. The last time I was here, he told me I just needed to bring a girlfriend by now to make the transformation complete.”
“Which is obviously not why you brought me. So why did you bring me?”
Half rising off my seat, I bent over the table to whisper in her ear like I was letting her in on some big secret. “How many times do I have to tell you? Best. Pizza. In. The. City.”
She pulled away from me, blinking for a beat before she burst out laughing. �
��Oh my God, you totally had me going there. I thought you were going to say something cheesy.”
“Funny that you thought that, considering where we are. There’s plenty of cheesy to go around this place, but I’m not it.” I sat down again and took a deep breath, letting my own eyes track around the space and really take it in for the first time in forever. “This place was my cheapest investment by far, but it’s also my favorite.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t have them move somewhere more—you know—hip.”
“Never.” I crossed my arms and shook my head firmly. “This place is perfect exactly the way it is. Jimmy and the guys only needed some money for the renovations. No matter how good the food is, people aren’t going to come out in any meaningful numbers if it looks as ratty inside as out.”
“True.” She nodded, her lips pursed in thought. “It’s something I should keep in my mind for my business, as well.”
“There’s nothing ratty about your shop.”
“Maybe not, but there’s nothing that makes it special either,” she mused. “I’ve always dreamed of creating a fairy-garden-like space on my sidewalk or somewhere, you know? I thought I could maybe create this perfect little romantic bubble of space in this crazy city where a couple could just sit and drink a glass of champagne. Sounds kind of stupid now, but the point is that I had plans.”
“Had?” I asked. “Why past tense?”
A smile tilted her lips, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Maybe I’ll still do it eventually. But there’s a lot that needs to happen before I’ll be able to.”
“The old, ‘the bills need to be paid before the magic can happen’ thing, huh?” I put air quotes around the words, and Luna laughed.
“Look at you, using those like a pro, but yes, that. Although I can’t really complain. Just being in the shop day to day is pretty magical already.”
“We’re both lucky in that way, getting to do what we love doing every day.” When the fuck had I become profound? “Anyway, what do you think you’ll have?”
Luna and I looked over the menus, placed our order, and ended up staying at Jimmy’s for hours. We talked to each other, to Jimmy, and some of his cousins and, unfortunately, went through some more wedding shit. Thankfully, Jimmy and the guys kept sending over enough bites to eat that I could lose myself in the food whenever the wedding stuff got to be too much.
When my eyes caught on the clock above his register at one point, my jaw nearly dropped. “Wow. Did you realize we were coming up on dinner time?”
Luna groaned and clutched her stomach. “I don’t think I can eat another thing. We haven’t stopped eating since we got here.”
“Yeah. Same.” I felt the shift in the atmosphere between us as we both seemed to realize at the same time that it was now later. My insides clenched with anticipation and I felt the wickedness of it seeping into my gaze. “Are you ready to go?”
“Sure,” she said, a breathy quality to her voice that wasn’t normally there.
I got up and placed a wad of bills underneath the small pots and plates left on our table. Jimmy hated it when I paid, so he never brought me a check, but it was only right that I did.
Luna got to her feet as well and let me wind our fingers together before pulling her out of the restaurant.
“I want to end the night my way,” I said once we were in the car. “That okay with you, or do you want me to take you home?”
“No,” she replied. “I don’t want to go home. I’d much rather end it your way.”
The drive back to my place nearly lit my tires on fire, but it had been a long-ass fucking day of keeping my hands off her and now it was finally time for that to change.
As we walked into my penthouse, I saw her eyes go wide as she took it all in. She was impressed, but I really didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t really want to talk at all.
All I wanted to do was taste her until she screamed, then fuck her until she couldn’t walk tomorrow without feeling me between her legs. With that sole purpose in mind, I kicked my door shut and grabbed her wrist, hauling her into my arms.
My mouth crashed into hers and my hands slid up her back, tangling into her hair before I tightened my grip. Angling her head up, I kissed her harder, deeper, until all the wedding bullshit disappeared and all that remained was Luna.
Chapter 17
Luna
Cyrus kissed me like a man possessed. The force of his kisses was almost bruising but I loved every second of it. The slight burn where he tugged on my hair seemed to spread from my scalp to my core, igniting every nerve ending in between.
The opulence of his penthouse was completely forgotten as I surrendered my mouth to him, winding my arms around his neck and giving as good as I got. Lust had been simmering in my belly all day, and now it flowed like liquid heat through my veins.
I moaned into our kiss and pressed my body flush to his, feeling the bulge of his hardness against my belly. One of his hands gripped my hair even harder and the other slid down to my hip, his fingers splaying out across my lower back. He used the leverage to pull me closer to him, his hips bucking when I rolled mine.
“Fuck, we’re not making it to the bedroom this time,” he said between kisses, his voice a low rasp. Releasing my hair, he dropped both hands to the backs of my thighs and lifted me against him. I wound my legs around his hips, hanging onto him like a koala.
I couldn’t imagine I looked extremely sexy like this, but at least no one could see us. Without breaking our kiss again, he moved until he was lowering me onto something.
Soft leather hit my bare thighs as my sundress rode up when he set me down. Then he knelt in front of me and roughly shoved my thighs apart. I stared down at him, my lids hooded and my breaths coming fast as he jerked me to the edge of the seat.
“What are you doing?”
“What I’ve been wanting to do all day.” He didn’t offer any further explanation, pushing the hem of my dress up until it was resting at the very top of my thighs.
A low growling sound came from him as his eyes raked along the skin he’d exposed, his hands following their path. Goosebumps pebbled on my skin as he trailed his fingers over it, his touch light before his gaze reached the apex of my thighs.
“Keep your legs spread for me, baby.” He groaned as he hooked his thumbs into the waistband of my panties and managed to free them without me even having to lift my behind.
I nodded when he looked up at me after issuing his command. “Fine, but you’re next.”
He smirked, but his eyes gave away how turned on he was. Embers burned in the emerald depths as his fingers sought out my heat. I dropped my head back against the couch when he pushed the first thick digit into me.
The only sound in the room was our ragged breathing, and I heard his breath hitch when he felt me. “God, Luna. I love how wet you get for me. It drives me crazy.”
“You drive me crazy,” I managed to bite out as I writhed under his hand. His movements were too slow, the palm of his hand curling up to brush against my sensitive nub on every stroke but never quite touching it properly. “Please, Cyrus. Just…”
“What?” His fingers continued their slow assault, his head tilting to the side. “Move faster? Didn’t I say earlier that we were going to have fun for as many hours as we did wedding planning today?”
An almost feral cry escaped me when he hooked his fingers deep inside me, but then he stopped and looked up at me.
“What, then?” I asked. “Are you going to make me wait ten hours?”
For one torturous minute, I thought he was going to say yes. Then his fingers bent again and he shook his head. “No, but you get the point. Next time you tell me I have to wait a couple more hours, I might say the same thing to you later.”
“You wouldn’t.” I gasped when he finally picked up some speed, my head dropping back again and my chest rising and falling as my breaths became pants. “Cyrus. Please.”
“I’ve got you, baby.” His gaze was sm
oldering when it met mine, but then he finally touched me in all the right places, and I splintered around his fingers. My hips jerked up and loud moans spilled from my lips as I came undone.
When I started coming back to earth, he was watching me with a hunger and an edge of desperation in his eyes. Seeing that look on him sent sparks of arousal going off like fireworks through my body once again.
“I want you,” I whispered as I reached for his head and wound my fingers into the strands of his soft hair. Bending over to bring my mouth to his, I kissed him passionately as I reached down to unbutton his shirt.
He let me, but before I could push it off his shoulders, he pulled back from me and tutted. “Oh, no you don’t. I wasn’t done yet.”
With one arm reaching up to press gently against my chest, the other pushed my legs apart again, and this time, his mouth joined his fingers in sending me hurtling to the stars above. I was so sensitive that it didn’t take long before my next orgasm ripped through me, leaving me trembling all over again.
Before I could come to completely, I felt him looping one arm around my back and the other underneath my knees, lifting me as if I weighed nothing. Again.
He carried me down a dark hallway and used his shoulder to nudge open a half-closed door at the end of it. I couldn’t make out much of what I assumed was his room, only that it was large and sparsely decorated just like the rest of the house seemed to be.
My attention was riveted on the bed, though. A massive thing with a broad, high headboard towering behind it. It looked plush and soft, the ambient light from the city and moon shining in from outside making spots of it look shiny.
That was about all I had time to absorb before I was deposited onto the mattress with far more care than I’d have expected from a man like Cyrus. Once he’d set me down, he looked at me from where he stood at the edge of the bed and slowly started working on his clothes.
Say You Do Page 12
