by Me, Tara Sue
Since he’d decided I was single and had all this free time with no commitments, and therefore it was no hardship for me fly out of the country at the drop of a hat, I decided he, being neither single nor without commitments, didn’t have time to read a status update. I’d put it off for two days and I was certain in Zach’s mind that was one and a half days too long.
Or that had been my plan.
What ended up happening was that after breakfast Gemma wanted to show me her favorite outside hiding place. I’d discovered on my first day it was nearly impossible to tell the little girl no, so less than fifteen minutes after putting our breakfast dishes in the sink, Maria and I found ourselves outside with Gemma dressed in the cutest dress/costume and looking like a fairy princess.
The outfit was gorgeous. I’d seen nothing like it before.
“Come on,” Gemma said, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the all white flower garden. “It’s in here.”
In the middle of the garden was a pink child-sized tent, large enough for Gemma to crawl into, but no one who was near adult-sized. Not that I need worry. As soon as Gemma scooted inside, she was right back outside, holding a pink blanket.
“Here,” she said. “You can sit on this.”
Needless to say, I spent most of my day hunting for fairies in the garden with Maria and Gemma not so much on my STATUS UPDATE, much to the annoyance of Zach, or so I hoped. Once Gemma went down, I decided I should drop him a line, though, so at least he knew I was alive. I’d just typed a short and vague I’m here, everything’s fine, and the article is coming along great note, and hit send, when Luca walked into the sunroom.
“Working?” he asked.
I closed my laptop. “Just finished. You?”
“Yes. Finally.” He sat down on one of the room's couches. “I heard from Maria that you spent your morning with Gemma.”
“Yes,” I replied. “She’s delightful.”
He smiled. “She is. But I know she can also be exhausting. I don’t want you to feel as if you have to give into her every whim. Believe it or not, she has been told no before, and I’m aware you’re not here on vacation or to babysit.”
“She’s fine, really,” I said. “And I don’t want to come across as condescending, but you’ve done a superb job raising her.”
“Thank you.” He nodded. “But I can’t take all the credit. Maria has helped a lot.”
I had wondered about that. She didn’t live at the estate, but she had a bedroom here, and she’d spent the night both nights that I had been here. She was very much like her younger brother, witty and charming with a laugh that came easily.
“Does she stay here a lot?” I asked.
“Not usually,” Luca said. “She comes over and stays with Gemma when I have to travel for work, but fortunately, that hasn’t happened much, believe it or not. I’m usually able to get what I need to get done from my office.”
“I would hope so,” I said. “It’s certainly big enough.”
He laughed, and for the two thousandth time I wondered how in the world Tenor had ever thought he was boring. With that thought, I remembered I probably needed to touch base with Mia. Unlike Zach, however, I had sent her a few texts and pictures. Though I hadn’t yet told her about Gemma.
“If you’re wondering why Maria’s been staying, even though I’m back—” he started.
“No, it’s none of my business,” I hurried to stop him. “I assumed it was to watch Gemma while you work.”
He still wore his smile. “That’s only a tiny part. She’s mainly here because of you.”
I felt my face flush. “Why? Does she know about our past? Or is she afraid I’ve come from America to Italy in order to steal your virtue?”
He laughed hard at that. “I’m pretty sure she knows me well enough to know that I have no virtue left to steal. I had a child out of wedlock, you know? No, she’s staying to ensure I don’t steal your virtue.”
I swallowed hard. “I didn’t realize it was in danger.”
His gaze seemed to penetrate straight to my soul. “You should know me well enough to realize I want more than your virtue. I want all of you.”
He stood up and walked to the couch I was sitting on and sat down beside me. “The question is, do you want me?”
It was a ridiculous question. Of course I wanted him. I’d wanted him since the day we met in Italy. But wanting and having are two very separate things.
“It doesn’t matter what I want,” I told him. “I'm here to observe and interview you in order to write an article. Anything else would be considered out-of-scope.”
“Out of scope?” He cocked an eyebrow at me. “Are we negotiating something I was unaware of? Because what I have in mind has nothing to do with business.”
Not only do I want him, but I realize at that moment that I’m going to do something about it. I leaned closer to him and dropped my voice. “Whatever did you have in mind?”
He sucked in a breath, and I could tell my reply was the last thing he expected. The knowledge emboldended me. I ran a finger down the broad expanse of his chest. He didn’t have a suit on at that moment. He must have changed when he got home. The navy tee shirt he’d put on made it much easier to see his body react to my touch.
“You keep touching me like you are, and you’ll find out pretty quickly,” he said in a half threat, half promise.
“Really?” I asked. “What would your sister think about your plans?”
“For fuck’s sake, don’t mention my sister,” he said.
“Does your sister normally cock block you?”
“Please for the love of God, don’t use the words sister and cock in the same sentence.”
I laughed at his unease and he glared at me like he was mad, but I knew wasn’t.
“Come here,” he said, pulling me into his arms, where I went willingly.
Right before our lips touched, someone called down the hall for him.
“Luca?” they asked again and we both realized at the same time it was Maria.
Luca buried his head in my chest with a moan.
I stroked his hair. It seemed to be thicker than I remembered, and my mind wandered to other parts of his body and how they might have changed.
“Luca?” Maira called again.
I push him up and away. “You better go see what she needs before she finds you in here trying to take my virtue. Because she’ll never leave us alone if she sees us like this.”
He stands with a sigh and straightens his clothes.
“Can I call her a cock blocker now?” I asked.
He took one of my hands and brought it to his mouth to place a soft kiss on it. “If you come to my room after Gemma is down for the night, I’ll let you do damn near anything.”
Chapter 18
Wren
The rest of the day passed way too slow. I made a few more notes and even attempted to outline the article. I totally sucked at outlines and the one I made for the article was no different. I thought about deleting it and starting over because I was pretty sure Zach would hate the direction I was taking the article, but I stopped myself before hitting SEND. If he asked, I’d send it then, but until he did, he wasn’t getting anything from me.
Late in the afternoon, I saw where Zach replied to my email. I opened it on my phone to read, but saw he’d written a freaking novel. I didn’t even attempt to skim the thing, but instead clicked out. His rambling ass could be dealt with later. Especially since I’d already made my mind up about turning in my notice.
Night had fallen, and Gemma had been in bed for about an hour, I’d held off walking the halls toward Luca’s room because I wasn’t sure where Maria was. I told myself it shouldn’t matter what his older sister thought about me visiting Luca’s room, any time I felt like doing so. But the truth was, it did matter.
Luca was obviously very close to his sister, and his sister was an integral part of Gemma’s life. Even though I was merely passing through, I didn’t want to cause any wa
ves between the two siblings.
When I decided enough time had passed and that surely Maria had settled into whatever activity she had planned for the evening, I stepped out into the hallway.
Though the estate house was massive, I’d soon learned it had a very well thought-out floor plan. All the bedrooms were in one wing, Luca’s business took up another, one held what I considered to be common areas, living and dining rooms, and the fourth was actually an outside space, partially covered and offering breathtaking views of the water beyond. My room was on the second floor, complete with my own private bathroom and a deck overlooking the lake. Luca, Gemma, and Maira were located downstairs.
I closed the door behind me so it appeared as if I was inside sleeping. Not that anyone would check, I told myself. Seriously, it wasn’t like the housekeeper would come by and need me for anything, and though Maira and I got along, we weren’t on close enough terms to warrant her making a midnight visit to my room.
Even so, I let out a deep breath of relief when I tiptoed by her door and saw it was closed. There was a light on, visible under her door, but then again, it was early enough that I hadn’t expected her to be in bed.
I had walked by Luca’s bedroom on the first day of my arrival, so I knew it wasn’t far from either Maira or Gemma’s. His door was cracked open and as I walked by, he reached from behind and pulled me inside. I didn’t have a chance to catch my breath before he closed the door and pressed my back against it.
“What took you so long?” His breath heated my skin as he whispered along the lines of my neck.
I tilted my head to the side, allowing him better access. “I wanted to make sure no one saw me.”
“Why would anyone care?”
“Based on what you told me earlier about your sister, I thought she might have a care or two.”
It didn’t appear as if he heard me. His lips made a hot trail from my neck to my lips, where he teased me with tiny kisses and seductive nibbles.
He tried to pull back and chuckled when I wouldn’t let him budge an inch. “I thought you wanted to ensure we weren’t caught?”
I clutched his shirt in my hands. “It's a risk I'll take.”
“No,” he said. “You were right. We shouldn’t do this here.”
I loosened my grip. “But we can do it somewhere?”
He laughed and held out his hand for mine. “Come with me, I know just the place.”
I took the offered hand and allowed him to lead me through his room to the large glass doors in the back. I wondered how many women he’d he done this with.
“And take that look off your face,” he added before I could say anything.
“What look?”
“The one calculating the number of women I’ve brought here.”
My cheeks heated. “I wasn’t aware my thoughts were so transparent.”
“Your poker face is essentially nonexistent.” He came to a stop before the glass door and caught my gaze. “And totally unneeded in this instance. I’ve never brought a woman here.”
A small gasp escaped my mouth before I could stop it. A gasp that didn’t go unnoticed by him.
“Now,” he said. “Do you want to see what I had in mind?”
His revelation stunned me. He'd never brought a woman here? “Yes,” I replied. “But can I technically be considered a woman you brought here since I’m here on business?”
His eyes darkened. “I cancelled your hotel room, didn’t I?”
I looked into his eyes, and it suddenly hit me, I didn’t care how the two of us got to the point we were currently at. Nor did I care who knew where I was or what I was doing. I dropped his hand.
“No,” I said.
He looked confounded. “I apologize if my affections were unwanted. I meant no disrespect.”
I blinked at him, trying to figure out what he was apologizing for, and when it hit me, I felt like an idiot.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean no to you,” I said. “And I really didn’t mean to confuse you. It all made sense in my head, so I spoke without thinking.”
He still looked confused, and I mumbled a curse, hoping I hadn’t ruined the entire night. “What I was saying no to was for us to leave your room and go somewhere else. I want to stay here, in this room, and I don’t care who knows.”
His expression dissolved into a big grin that covered his entire face. “Thank God.”
I giggled a bit. Probably because of nerves, but also because of the misunderstanding. “Did you think I was going to say no to tonight?”
“I’m not sure what I thought, to be honest. I only knew that no wasn’t a word I expected, and it shocked the hell out of me.” He cocked an eyebrow at me. “Come here.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. We might have not been very far away, but there was more distance between us than either one of us wanted. In less than a second, I was in his arms and he was kissing me again.
“My sister is right next door,” he said in between kisses.
“I don’t care,” was my reply.
My body felt alive for the first time in years. Even in his hotel room the night of our disastrous date, I hadn’t felt like this. For tonight, and for as long as my time in Italy would allow, I’d be the woman I used to be. The woman before the accident. The one Luca remembered.
There would never be an us. We had too much history behind us, and he had a daughter. I could accept that. And I knew it would hurt like hell when it was over, but screw it, I’d been through leaving him once before and lived through it. It’d be hard, but I knew I could do it.
For this little bit of time, I’d pretend.
“Where did you go?” he whispered.
I shouldn’t have been surprised he could read my body and mind as accurately as he could. For whatever reason, we’d always seemed to be acutely aware of the other. Or at least that was the case five years ago.
“Just lost inside my mind,” I assured him. “Nothing really.”
“None of that tonight, vita mia,” he said. “No need to think of anything other than the pleasure I give you. Let me.”
“Yes.” For years I’d denied myself the freedom to remember how well he could give me pleasure. But at his request and at my one word acceptance, the rush of it all came back. The newly revived part of me relished the sensual being I became in his arms.
I was hungry for his touch and like a starving woman, I bared both body and soul to him. With swift and knowledgeable fingers, he made quick work of my clothes. Yet even his fervor was tempered to ensure he gave as much, if not more, than he received.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said almost reverently when I stood naked before him. “So much more so than I remember.”
For the first time in years, hearing his words, I felt beautiful. True beauty, though, and not beauty as defined by the world. The beautiful he made me wasn’t based upon what I looked like, how toned I was at the moment, or whether my legs were a scarred mess. I was beautiful because with him, I allowed myself to be the woman I always wanted to be. With him, I allowed myself to be free.
It was a freedom that empowered me and made me bold. I started with the shirt buttons at his neck and worked my way down. I made certain to try my best not to allow my fingers to touch his skin at all. I knew how much I wanted to touch him, to feel him under my hands, and I assumed he would feel the same, if not more so.
I glanced up from working on his buttons. He was breathing heavily, so heavily it made his nostrils flare. His eyes were dark and hooded. He was hanging on by a string, and that string was unraveling right before my eyes.
I finished with the buttons and pushed the shirt off his shoulders. He twisted and shrugged his arms out of it until it dropped to the floor. The entire time he kept his gaze locked on mine. I dropped my eyes only once he was shirtless before me, so I could get his pants off even slower.
But as soon as I reached for the button at his waist, his hands covered mind.
“Better let me,” he said in a g
ruff voice I didn’t recognize. “If you touch me once, I fear our first time tonight will be over before it starts.”
That was the power he allowed me to have, and that power gave me a confidence I’d never experienced and one I’d never hoped to hold. Like a flower, I bloomed for Luca.
And I hoped that when I was no longer in his light, that I’d somehow keep myself from wilting back down and into who I’d become over the last few years.
Chapter 19
Luca
I wasn’t sure what had changed in Wren’s mind since the last time we were in a similar situation, but I was grateful for whatever it was. Maybe she finally saw herself the way I saw her and realized her scars didn’t bother me.
I’d wanted to rip her clothes off and have her naked in under sixty seconds, but I refrained. I tempered my urge, and managed to drag it out maybe a little more than a minute, but not much. However, I couldn’t congratulate myself on my restraint, because as soon as the last piece of her clothing hit the floor, she reached for me.
Five years ago, I’d spent who knew how many hours after Wren left, trying to recall what her touch felt like. Though I’d thought I’d remembered, once she started undoing my shirt buttons and her fingers brushed my bare skin, I knew my memories hadn’t come close.
The corner of my mouth lifted when I realized she was trying her best not to touch me. The little tease. I’d have to make sure I paid her back for that. Eventually. For the moment, I kept my moans to myself and let her continue with my shirt. All that changed, however, once my shirt hit the floor, and she reached for my pants. As much as I hated to do so, I had to stop her. If she touched me below the waist, I’d lose it like a teenaged boy.
She pouted, but relented and moved her hand. I loved how she wasn’t bashful around me. After she ran out because of her insecurities about her legs, I’d feared she’d be hesitant if we were ever again in a similar situation. A misplaced fear based on her current behavior.
She took a slight step back. Enough room for me to handle the job of removing my pants and for her to watch, but no more.