Page 48 of On Her Terms
She steps a little closer to me. “You two barely spoke tonight.”
“Busy night celebrating.” I lift my glass of champagne.
A long pause and then, holding no punches, she asks, “Are you going to tell him how you feel?” Leave it to Summer to see right through me.
I glance down for a second, my mind going a million miles an hour as I think about everything that’s happened this week, and where Luca and I are now. “Summer, it’s not like that. I don’t think... Look, he was just helping me out.”
“You say that, and it might have started that way, but have you seen the way he looks at you?” My heart leaps at that. Is it possible that there really could be more between us? “You like him. He likes you. I think before this week is up, you two need to talk. It’s that simple.”
Nothing about this is simple, but I nod because she’s right. We do need to talk. Am I really going to just let this week end? Even back in college, when I was an insecure, overweight girl, I still found the courage to talk to Luca. Albeit liquid courage, but courage nonetheless. Then again look how that turned out. But we’re not college kids anymore, and I’d be a damn fool to leave here without at least finding out how he feels.
With a renewed sense of purpose, and a bubble of hope welling up inside me, I lift my champagne glass to Summer. “I will talk to him,” I say. “Tomorrow, after the ceremony.”
“Good.” She taps her glass with mine. “Somehow these things always have a way of working out. Oh, hang on.” She crosses the room and comes back with a suit jacket. “Can you give this to Luca tomorrow? I keep forgetting.” I take the jacket and put it over my arm.
“Well, you do have a lot on your mind,” I say, then lean in to hug her. “I’m so glad you’re going to be my cousin-in-law. I couldn’t have found anyone better, and you make Tate so happy.” I pull back and Summer has tears in her eyes. I wipe mine away and hurry back to my room for a second, to toss Luca’s jacket over a chair, and to quickly pull myself together. Honest to God, I’m not normally such an emotional person, but this week has been like a roller-coaster ride. Before I set his jacket down, I bring it to my nose and inhale his familiar scent. Warmth moves through me, and my heart beats a little bit faster. I’m so crazy about this guy, it’s insane. I just pray to God he feels the same way about me.
I get myself in order, then go back to find the girls have settled on Made of Honor. It’s one of my favorite romantic comedies, so I grab a seat in the big love chair and stretch out to watch it. We drink more champagne, stop the movie a million times to gab, and by the time it finishes, it’s past midnight. Summer stretches out and yawns.
“We’d better let you get some sleep. Don’t want bags under your eyes when you walk down the aisle tomorrow,” Cara says.
We all say good-night, and I make my way back to my room. I wash up, brush my teeth and check my phone again. Still nothing from Luca. Tomorrow, though. Tomorrow after the wedding we’re going to have a talk. I crawl between the sheets and spread out in the big king-size bed. My hand snakes across and emptiness engulfs me when I find the other side cold. It’s almost scary how much I’ve grown accustomed to crawling into bed with Luca every night, and more important, waking up with him each morning. I smile as I envision us doing that until we’re Granddad’s age.
I close my eyes, and sleep pulls at me. Just as I’m about to doze off, a soft knock comes from the main door. My heart leaps into my throat and I sit up in the dark room. Could it be who I think it is?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Luca
/> I SHOULDN’T BE HERE. I shouldn’t be doing this. But I can’t seem to help myself. I’m not sure what tomorrow brings, or even if we have a next week. I only know that tonight I need Brianna in my arms more than I need breath in my lungs.
The door inches open, and the heat that moves into her eyes wraps around my heart and lets me know how much she wants me inside her again.
“Brianna,” I whisper as she melts into me. She opens her mouth to speak, but I’m right there, my lips on hers, kissing her deeply, devouring her mouth like a man denied the pleasure too long. Her tongue plays with mine, and in the dark room a small lamp casts soft shadows in the corner. I back her up and kick the door shut behind us.
She moans into my mouth and it’s all the encouragement I need. I pick her up, carry her to the bed and gently set her down. She sits there quietly as I tear off my suit jacket, remove my tie and unbutton my shirt. I shrug out of it, and she reaches for my pants. I touch her face, run my hands through her hair as she releases the button and opens the zipper.
My cock springs free, and her little whimper of need strokes my aching balls. With my dress pants dangling around my knees, she draws my cock into her mouth like she’s been starved of it for too long. She works her mouth and hands over me, the slide of her tongue a thing of beauty against my throbbing appendage. I push her hair from her shoulders to watch, and my breath catches in my throat at her beauty. No woman on the face of this earth will ever be able to touch my heart the way this one has.
Needing to get my mouth on her, I ease my cock from her lips and give her a little nudge. She falls backward, her arms splayed on the mussed sheets. I take in her beauty, the long mess of her hair, as I kick off my pants and drop to my knees. Driven by need, I grab her legs, put them around my shoulders and shove her nightgown to her stomach to give me better access to the spot my mouth intends to ravage.
Her breath hitches, and her soft, sexy moans of pleasure cut the silence of the room as I take her clit into my mouth. I suck and nibble until she’s wet and squirming, moving in all the sexy ways that toy with my arousal. I deepen the kiss, slide one finger inside her tight opening and fuck her with it, loving the little gasping sounds she makes. She’s so goddamn responsive to my touch, her muscles begin a slow tremor, a telltale sign she’s right where I want her. Needing her desire on my tongue, I change the pace and tempo, forcing her over the edge, even if she’s desperately dangling by her fingertips. If only I could bind her, keep her in this bed with me forever and forget that there’s a real world out there, forget that there’s a different world calling each of us, pulling us in opposite directions.
“Ooh,” she breathes out as she explodes on my tongue, coming and coming and coming like we haven’t been having sex like two hormonal teenagers all week. Her pussy shudders against my lips, and I continue to eat at her, wanting all her cum in my mouth, determined to taste her on my tongue a week from now.
I work my mouth over her and run my hands along her hips as her quakes subside, but soon enough I plan to have her break for me again. She goes up on her elbows, her chest heaving as I climb up her body, pressing hot, wet openmouthed kisses to her sweet-smelling flesh. I take her nightgown with me, pulling it to her shoulders and lifting her slightly to remove it all the way.
Gazing at her nakedness, the way she so readily opens for me, I toss the nightgown aside and pay homage to her marbled nipples. She moves beneath my ministrations, her body so damn alive from my touch, it does the craziest things to me. Need like I’ve never before felt tugs at me, and I draw her tight peaks in deeper, my palms on her breasts, massaging them gently. Everything I feel for her burns through me, intensifies when she places her hands on my shoulders, drags her nails across my skin. Tomorrow the marks will remind me of this profound moment.
I move up her body, bury my face in the hollow of her throat, kiss her earlobe, her eyes and nose, before finding her sweet mouth again. She widens her legs, and my cock presses against her hot center, and even though I’m desperate, I need to touch her all over first.
I turn her over, shove a pillow under her hips until her sweet ass is in the air. I run my hands over her back, the beads of her spine, until I reach her backside. I massage her lush cheeks, knead them between my fingers until she’s crying out for more. Parting her cheeks, I lightly rub her puckered passage until I’m near the point of breaking, coming all over her trembling body. I lean over her, kiss her shoulders, her back, and run my tongue along her ass. While it would be easy to take her like this, fuck her hot pussy with her ass up in the air, I need to see her face when she comes all over my cock. I drop to the mattress, flat out on my back, and reach for her.
Understanding what I want, she sits up and tosses one leg over my body. I hold her hips, and my cock is like a missile as she lowers herself onto me.
“Cazzo,” I cry out as she takes every inch into her body. Her head rolls back, and I cup her breasts as she wiggles like she’s trying to get me balls-deep.
I capture her hips, lift her up and down, moving her slowly so I can savor this moment, burn it in my brain for later. As I lose myself in her, give her a part of myself I’ve never given another, my dick swells even more. Half-lidded eyes, steeped in desire, meet mine. Adrenaline pulses through my veins, and I take her a bit faster, powering into her with hard, blunt strokes, until she’s dripping down my thighs.