Chapter 31

31

Luca

Her words echo in my ears and seem to find a direct route to my heart, then to my balls. I never would have thought the two are connected, but when it comes to her, nothing I thought was certain seems to be anymore. Not the way my body reacts to her presence, not the way the feelings I swore never to unearth seem to bubble to the surface when I look at her. Not the way thoughts of her crowd my mind when she's not around. How I obsess over her sweet scent, the quiver of her lips, the wobble of her chin, the way she scrunches up her forehead when she's trying very hard not to ask something; until her curiosity gets the better of her and she does. How she looks at me with that half-pleading, half-angry expression that hints at her inner turmoil. How the touch of her skin sends my heartbeat into a frenzy, and my pulse rate into overdrive, not to mention how the thought of making her mine feels so right. So right. So mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.

My breathing speeds up, and my chest rises and falls. I look between her eyes and see the confusion I feel mirrored in them.

"Luca," she whispers, and cazzo , the blood drains to my groin. My cock lengthens, the thumping of my heart a cadence matched by the thump-thump-thump of her.

I lean in closer, until I share breath with her. The glare from a streetlight shines through the window. I can make out every individual eyelash on her eyelids, the tiny beauty spot above her upper lip that's so enticing I want to suck on it.

"Luca," her voice cracks and I blink.

What am I doing? Why is it that I can never act as planned around her? Why is it that I lose my mind every time I touch her?

"Sorry." I glance outside my window. "Didn't mean to do that."

She stills.

I drum my fingers on my thigh. "It's not far to the safe house. You'll also find everything you need to get dressed for the ceremony, which is in a few hours."

"Luca," her voice is strident now. "Did you hear what I said?"

"I'll have you back in time for your seven p.m. dress rehearsal tonight."

"Luca," she says through gritted teeth, "are you turning me down?"

I turn and look her up and down. "You don't tell me what to do."

"So, you can paw me and it's okay, but if I ask you to finish what you started, you get upset?"

"Something like that."

"But you told me to tell you what I wanted," she growls.

"I didn't say I was going to give it to you."

She makes an angry sound at the back of her throat and my cock twitches. Goddamn, there's nothing she can do that wouldn't appeal to me, apparently.

"You are the most infuriating man I have ever met," she finally spits out.

"Goes both ways, baby."

"Don't you ‘baby' me, you… you… dunderhead!"

I stare. "Is that supposed to be an insult?"

"Now it is."

"You sound frustrated." I try to stop my lips from twitching, but don't quite succeed.

"You would be, too, if your stupid fiancé, or whatever it is you are to me, decided to get all lovey-dovey, only to pull back when things begin to get serious. And this was after you told me we'd take things organically. In fact, wasn't it you who said that I'd need to ask you to fuck me before you did?"

"I told you when you beg me to fuck you, and you will, I won't do it. You'll plead with me to let you come, but I won't. Remember?"

Her mouth drops open, and I can see the gears turning in her head. Finally, her eyes gleam and she retorts, "Oh, I get it. You can't. That's why you've been teasing me since we met. You want me to believe you're some kind of fantastic lover, but when the time comes to act, you can't quite deliver the goods, you?—"

I swoop across, grab her wrist, and pull her across my lap.

"What the—" She wriggles, and I place my arm on the small of her back to keep her in place.

"Let me go, you ass, or I'll scream."

"Go ahead; this space is soundproof."

"Is not." She peers up at me from under her eyelashes.

"Try it. In fact, I'll help you with it." I bring my hand down on her jeans clad butt and she squeals. I raise my hand again and slap her left ass cheek. She yells.

I spank her right ass cheek. She screams.

Thwack-thwack-thwack. I spank her alternate butt cheeks, and she cries out, then groans, until finally, a moan bleeds from her lips.

I massage the curve of her ass—which must be throbbing by now—through the seat of her jeans. She trembles, and fuck if I don't find that alluring. When she goes all soft and defenseless, she brings out that dark side of me that wants to possess her completely. Another shudder grips her, and I squeeze her ass. She groans, then pushes her butt out even more so it fills my hands.

"You like this, don't you, Angel?"

She shakes her head.

"Bet you can't wait until I take your ass."

She turns her head and scowls at me, her lips pursed up in a pout. So fucking adorable.

"Bet if I shoved my hand between your thighs, I'd find you wet."

Her scowl deepens.

I grip her shoulders and pull her up to a sitting position. She winces and my cock twitches in response. Bet it hurts to sit on her backside after how I spanked her. Why do I love that so much?

"You okay?"

She turns her head away and glances out of the window. I reach over and push a strand of hair behind her ear. She pulls away from me.

My lips quirk up. "Don't be like that."

"Don't talk to me," she spits out.

"You angry with me, baby?"

"What do you think?" she hisses back.

"I think you are mighty frustrated, is what."

"Can we get this over with so we can head back to Palermo?"

"Thought you wanted me to fuck you?" I retort.

"That was before—" She hesitates.

"Before?"

"Before I found out what a callous, cruel, brutal… fiend you are."

"I believe the word you are looking for is sadist." I smirk.

She whips her head around in my direction. "Thought you were an exhibitionist?"

"And a sadist," I clarify.

The color rises in her cheeks.

"Does that turn you on?"

She flips her hair over her shoulder. "Of course not."

I laugh. "Just remember one thing. When I decide to fuck you, no one can stop me, especially not you. When I decide to fuck you, it will be on my terms, on my schedule, and you'll throw yourself at me and beg me to show you no mercy."