Any thought I had of protesting flew away when he kissed me, nipping my lip until I opened for him. Mercy, the man kissed like a god. Not too much spit, just the right amount of pressure. It was a romance novel perfect kiss. If I’d been standing, my foot would have gone up like in the old movies.
I tightened my fingers on his shoulders, loving the feel of his bunching muscles. His hair tickled the backs of my hands and I petted the silky mass, digging my nails into his scalp in a desperate attempt to hold him still so he’d keep kissing me.
He slid his hand into my pajama bottoms, pushing them aside to thumb my clit.
“God, please!” I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to stop or keep going. This was so wrong. I was his employee, or something. He had other women, right? There were hundreds lined up waiting for the chance to show up in a tabloid picture with him. Yet in the weeks I’d stayed in his house, he hadn’t had a single date. Damn, he was confusing the hell out of me. He circled the sensitive bundle of nerves, teasing me until I whined. How was I supposed to think when he was doing that?
Squeezing my ass almost hard enough to hurt, he said, “Ride my fingers, Carlina.” He turned his hand and pushed a thick finger inside me.
My hips jerked uncontrollably and he took my mouth in a hard kiss, swallowing my cries as he pressed another finger into me. I clamped down on him, my head falling back as I chased the delight hovering just out of my grasp.
“Are you going to be a good girl and come for me?” he asked, his low, raspy voice sparking dirty fantasies involving handcuffs. His dark eyes never left my face, his lips twisting into a triumphant grin I wanted to slap off his face.
“I… Oh, god!”
He put more pressure on my clit with his thumb. “I love it when you squeeze that pretty pussy around my fingers. It makes me think of how it will feel around my cock when we make love.”
“What makes you think we’re going to make love?” I asked, gasping the words out. The man’s hands should have a warning label.
He tightened his jaw and the smirk disappeared. “Because you haven’t slapped me yet, even though I have my fingers inside you. Because I’ve jerked off to thoughts of you for weeks. I haven’t been with another woman since the day I saw you in La Panache because you’re the only one who makes me hard.”
Tugging my hair, he pulled me into another kiss, hard and demanding. My mind whirled with questions, but I couldn’t focus on any of them long enough to ask.
Curling his fingers, he stroked my inner walls, sending a jolt of electricity up my spine. The orgasm I hadn’t been able to reach rocketed through me, and I screamed into Giorgio’s mouth, my body shuddering with the tempest of pleasure.
“There’s my good girl,” he murmured. “One more time.”
“No. I can’t.” I let out a breathless little whine when he turned his hand, his index finger rubbing circles around my asshole.
“Has anyone ever played with your ass, baby?”
I shook my head, unable to speak through the need coursing through me. Anal sex had never been my thing, although I’d read about it. His wet fingers woke up nerve endings I hadn’t known were there, and I shifted my hips, wanting more of his illicit teasing.
Rubbing my clit with his thumb, he pushed a thick finger into my ass. It didn’t hurt, but it was… Odd. Good, but strange.
“Relax, Carlina. Let me in.”
I obeyed, letting out a breath when he pulled his finger free and let it slide in once more, fucking me while he rubbed my clit, his palm pressing against my pussy. “God, that feels amazing,” I slurred, too muddled with pleasure to speak.
“I fantasize about this,” he whispered. “I want to buy you a plug and put it in your gorgeous ass every morning before I go to work, so you have a constant reminder of who’s going to be fucking you.”
Jerking hard, I spasmed, my core clenching at his words. He chuckled softly and used his free hand to pull my hair. The sting sent a bolt of sensation to my clit and I moaned. “Giorgio, please.”
“Such a pretty beg.” He pushed on my clit, rubbing harder while he fucked my ass with his fingers. “Do you like it when I pull your hair?”
Instead of letting me answer, he kissed me again, trailing his lips down my throat. I couldn’t move. I didn’t have the strength of will to get away, and I didn’t want to. God, I’d never had anyone so focused on my pleasure before.
I didn’t need five fingers to count the number of lovers I’d had, and without fail, I’d always had to take care of myself afterward. Not Giorgio, though, and I suddenly wanted him just as undone as I was.
Yet when I slid my hand down his muscular chest toward his groin, he barked, “Hands up and look at me.”
“But—”
“Hands on my shoulders or I stop, and you’re not going to go into the bathroom to get yourself off.”
Oh, fuck. I obeyed, meeting his dark brown eyes. His stern dominance revved my motor like nothing else and I rocked my hips on his hand, desperate for the orgasm hanging just out of reach. “What else do you fantasize about?”
“So many things,” he murmured, gentling his touch on my clit. “Monday is playing with your beautiful ass. Tuesday is when I imagine what you’ll look like chained to a St. Andrews cross. Wednesday, I tie you to the bed and eat your delicious pussy until you pass out.”
“What about the rest of the days?” I jerked my hips, desperate for more. Although I’d never experienced kink, every word out of his mouth drove my need higher, stoking the fire burning between my legs.
Staring into my eyes, he pushed a second finger into my ass. “Every day, I imagine making you come until you scream my name.”
I was so full, yet it didn’t hurt. When he tugged my hair, I surged against his hand, desperate for more. “Please,” I whispered.
“Come for me, baby. Let me watch you come.”
Giorgio circled my clit with his thumb, the firm touch the only thing I needed to free the orgasm bearing down on me. He kissed me hard, swallowing my cries as I came harder than I ever had before.
Giving my clit one last gentle stroke, Giorgio pulled his hand from my shorts and licked my juices from his thumb. My vision went hazy with renewed need and I sagged in his arms, trying to catch my breath. I missed the sensation of having something in my ass and wondered if that made me a freak.
“You are a filthy, filthy man.”
He curled his lips into a wicked smirk that made him look like a fallen angel, then painted my lips with wetness.
“I’ve barely gotten started.”
Giorgio
The front door opened, sending Carlina scurrying from my lap. My balls throbbed in protest. Her cheeks were flushed with exertion, making me smile. She looked so damned edible and I couldn’t wait to taste her for real.
She wrapped an arm around her ribs and hunched over. With one hand, she dug through the dresser for jeans and a t-shirt.
Crossing the room, I took the clothes from her and shut the drawer, my cock softening when I realized how uncomfortable she was. “Let me help,” I said. “I’m sorry I hurt you. That wasn’t my intention.”
She nodded, but didn’t look at me. “I know. I shouldn’t have done that with you and I promise it won’t happen again. You’re way out of my league, and it’s completely unprofessional.”
“How do you figure that?” I asked, helping her with her camisole. To my surprise she let me pull it over her head, revealing those mouthwatering breasts. Swallowing hard, I hooked her bra, and pulled the t-shirt over her head. I caught a glimpse of silky black panties as she stepped into her jeans and my cock sprang back to life.
Her cheeks reddening, she looked down and zipped her jeans. “You’re Giorgio Acardi, and I’m a nobody from a tiny farm in California. You date movie stars and singers, not normal people, and I can’t help thinking you’re taking advantage because I’m convenient.”
“Are you ready to go, Carli?” Antonio shouted.
“Almost! Give me another few m
inutes!”
Using both hands, I cupped her face, making her look at me. I couldn’t believe she had the nerve to say things like that about herself. She was one of the most extraordinary people I’d ever met.
Trying to keep myself from yelling at her, I said, “Despite being unemployed, you took in an elderly lion, plus two other animals, knowing it would create hardship for you. You also welcomed my brother and made him feel like he’s productive and valued. You gave him purpose, and that makes you the most amazing person I know.”
I kissed her again, a soft brush of my lips across hers, then added, “If anything, it’s the other way around. You’re out of my league.”
She laughed softly and shook her head. “Don’t feed me a line, TB. It isn’t good for either of us.”
Taking a step back, I nodded. Carlina wasn’t stupid, and my track record with women was plastered all over the internet and magazines. For the first time in my life, I was ashamed of my actions.
“Whether you believe it or not, it’s true. Sooner or later, I’m going to prove it to you.”
“Okay.” She shoved her feet into flip flops without looking at me. “I’m sorry, I need to go, but thanks for… You know. Yeah, I’m going now. Sorry.”
She dashed from the room, leaving me to wonder how I could convince her I’d meant what I said. A plan blossomed in my mind. Maybe there was something I could do. Following her out, I said, “Wait for me. I’m going with you.”
Once I threw some clothes on, we piled in the car for the trip to Carlina’s place. It was Clyde’s day off, so Jeremy drove with Leonard riding shotgun as usual. Carlina was squeezed between Antonio and me in the back seat, looking everywhere but at me.
“Are you going to help me with the animals today, TB? We can feed the chickens and I’ll teach you how to milk the goats and brush Camelot and Peanut. You should see Peanut. He’s gotten really big, and he’s all healed up from his surgery.”
“Who is Peanut and what was wrong with him?”
“Peanut is… was the stud colt I took in when I got Leonard,” Carlina replied. “He’s a gelding now. I’d say I did it to make him easier to rehome, but I know perfectly well I’m going to keep him and I’m not set up for a stallion.”
I barked out a laugh, making her huff and cross her arms. “Aubrey Bateman has your number.”
“Tell me about it,” she muttered. “I think keeping Pixy has muddled her brain. She told me Leonard was a pussy cat and that Peanut was a little pony when he’ll top two thousand pounds after he grows up.”
“Well…”
Leonard lifted his head, chuffing at us, and she reached over the seat to scratch his ears. “Yeah.” She cracked a smile. “I guess she was right about Leonard.”
We pulled into her driveway, bumping over the cattle gate at the entrance. I hadn’t been out to the property to see for myself how work was progressing on her house. Thankfully, the drapes were still up on the front, hiding the new bay windows and roofline from view. Judging by the photos my project manager sent me, it was going to be Acardi Development’s crowning achievement.
I’d made a slight tactical error with my design team, but I wasn’t a bit sorry for it. When I gave them their instructions, I told them to spare no expense and make it a showplace, but I didn’t constrain them to the kitchen and master suite. They’d taken me at my word and nearly tripled the size of the original house, including two additional bedroom suites on the second floor, and a wraparound porch I knew Carlina would love.
It also had a state-of-the-art chemical fire suppression system, like all my commercial properties did, along with air conditioning. How she managed to live without it in southern California was beyond me.
Jeremy stopped the car near the barn and Antonio hopped out. “C’mon, TB! I’ll teach you how to take care of the goats. We’re late, so they’re going to be upset about not being milked on time.”
“We weren’t drinking cow’s milk when you fed us breakfast, were we?” I asked. I couldn’t decide whether or not I should be disgusted. People made soap out of that stuff.
“Nope.” She grinned at me and planted her curvy butt in a lawn chair under a tree. Pulling out her phone, she added, “You better get to work.”
I saluted her and bowed. “As my queen commands.”
Before something else snarky came out of her pretty mouth, I went in search of my brother. I found him in the barn, rattling a feed bucket to encourage a goat up on a milking bench.
Antonio went through his chores like he’d been born to it, completing all his tasks with the smaller animals quickly. He smiled while he worked.
I’d never seen him so engaged and active. Maybe he wasn’t running a multimillion-dollar company. That didn’t make his work have less value. I owed Carlina a debt I’d never be able to repay.
Because of her, I was able to see my brother as more than someone I needed to take care of. He had confidence and skills, and I could see him becoming self-supporting.
“Toss a few bales of hay into the wagon behind the tractor, will you?” he asked. “I need to take it out to the pastures.”
I arched a brow at the ancient blue tractor, making plans to buy Carlina a new one. “Can you drive that thing?”
“Sure,” he said, climbing into the seat. “Carli is teaching me how to work on it. She says diesel mechanics make a lot of money, so I signed up for classes in the spring. Mrs. Dennison helped me.”
I hefted a hay bale into the wagon, grunting at the weight. Had Carlina done this every day? After I loaded the second one, I climbed up next to him, perching on the edge of the seat.
Even though I had no idea what a diesel mechanic made, I was so proud of him I thought I might burst. That kind of work had to be dangerous though, and I couldn’t help my worry.
“Do you want to be a diesel mechanic?”
He shrugged and started the old tractor, coaxing it to life with a few pumps of the pedal. “I want to live in a place like this. I thought if Carli liked you, she’d marry you and we could move here, but it’s not working. I need to earn money so I can buy a little farm and keep animals like Faith, Hope, Grace, and Beauty.”
“Who are they?”
“Them,” he said, pointing at four bison cows waiting patiently for their breakfast. When we reached the pasture gate, he jumped off the tractor and shouldered a hay bale, surprising me with his strength. Using a pocket knife Carlina must have given him, he cut the twine on the bale and broke it open. The bison gave him space while he worked, obviously used to the routine.
I wanted Carlina to like me too. I had to up my game to make that happen. Sure, she’d let me touch her, but I held no illusions that it would happen again. Unlike other women, my money didn’t impress her. She wouldn’t have given me the time of day if not for…
The idea I had in the car blossomed to life and I knew exactly how I was going to make Carlina like me.
Chapter Fifteen
Carlina
Giorgio spent the ride home staring at his phone while he typed, his fingers flying over the touchscreen. Knowing I was being nosy, I tried to peek at who he was chatting with, but he turned the phone so I couldn’t see.
It was probably a lady friend. I should have known better than to let him touch me. I wasn’t a bit surprised to be proven right about him, though. Thankfully, the only two people who knew about my stupidity were me and him, and neither of us was going to tell a soul.
He’d be too embarrassed to be seen with the help. I was just humiliated by my idiocy. But damn, what man made a woman come like that and didn’t ask for more?
“Jeremy, can you drop me by the office on the way home? I need to get some work done.”
Nodding his head, Jeremy said, “Sure.”
“You aren’t going to change before going in?” I asked. He had hay in his hair, and a streak of dirt on the front of his t-shirt. I’d never seen him go to work in anything but a pristine suit.
“No time,” he replied, still looking a
t his phone. “I have something urgent to take care of.”
Well, maybe he wasn’t sexting. I couldn’t see Giorgio meeting a woman when he smelled like goats and diesel from my old tractor, but if he had an urgent work matter, he would probably go in like he was. I felt a little guilty for judging him so harshly.
His phone rang and he scowled at the screen. He swiped to decline the call, but not before I saw the name Sara Miller. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. She was probably an ex-girlfriend. Or maybe a current one. I chided myself for being so judgmental. Sara might have been an employee.
“Sure thing. Antonio and I will have lunch and think up something nice for supper. When do you think you’ll be home?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t mind leftovers.”
I hated that I sounded like a nagging wife. It was like hearing my mother fall out of my mouth. Giorgio’s response was pretty much what my dad always said, too.
“Okay. I’ll make lasagna and…”
I stopped speaking. He wasn’t paying a damned bit of attention. Jeremy pulled into the lot behind Giorgio’s office building, and stopped in front of the door.
Getting out, Giorgio said, “I’ll be home later. Don’t hold dinner for me.” Without another word, he shut the door and jogged inside.
“What was that all about?” I asked.
“He does that sometimes,” Antonio replied. “What are we having for lunch?”
“I thought I’d make baba ghanoush and pita chips. We have a ton of eggplant, and it’s easy. I think there are carrots and broccoli for dippers too.”
“I ate all the broccoli,” he confessed. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. We can stop on the way and get more.” I tried to hide my smile behind my hand. Antonio was not a fan of cooked vegetables, but would eat them all day long if they were raw or very lightly grilled.
“Is baba… Is it hard to make?” He wrinkled his round face into a scowl. “It sounds like the fancy yuck food Gio eats.”
“Nope. It’s a Middle Eastern dip made of roasted eggplant and spices mashed up together with tahini. The name is funny too. In Arabic, baba means father, and ghanoush means spoiled.”
Sexy Scoundrel: A Cocky Hero Club Novel Page 14