“Fine.”
I slammed out of the room and walked down to the beach without a coat. It was a lot cooler now that it was night time. Oh well, I’d wanted to see the stars.
I sat down on the sand and moodily wrapped my arms around my knees. A light breeze was blowing off the sea, and moonlight glimmered on the water. The surf had almost completely dropped away. Sebastian was right: it would be as flat as glass tomorrow.
I buried my boots into the still-warm sand and listened to the tide lapping against the shoreline, as regular as breathing.
I was irritated with myself for my tantrum, but I was more than annoyed with Sebastian for nearly getting himself arrested—and for not appearing to think anything of it. But at the heart of it was my fear that his recklessness would lead him to doing something really stupid when he was out there. I didn’t even want to think about where he was going—where we were going.
It wasn’t long before I heard his quiet footsteps in the sand. I pulled my arms around my knees more tightly as Sebastian sat down next to me, gently placing his old, leather jacket around my shoulders.
“Want some wine?” he said. “It tastes great straight from the bottle.”
I leaned against his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around me.
“Sebastian, promise me you won’t be reckless. I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you now.”
“Caro, I’m never reckless when I’m working. Well, maybe some of the off duty stuff, but not when I’m working, I promise. I’d never have gotten promoted if I was a complete fuck-up. Don’t worry about me. Besides, I’ve got a reason to come home now, okay?”
“I will worry.”
“And I’ll worry about you, too. You’ve still got a chance to go home where I know you’ll be safe, Caro. Please?”
I sat up stiffly.
“Don’t even think about screwing up my papers again, Hunter!”
“Whoa! Slow down!”
He held out his hands defensively.
“I promised I wouldn’t, Caro, even though I really fucking want to.” He paused. “So, have you finished stomping all over me with your boots?”
I sighed. “For now, unless you ask me to, nicely.”
He laughed gently. “I’ll bear that in mind. Can I kiss you, or am I risking serious injury?”
I pushed him back onto the sand and made myself comfortable lying across his chest.
Under the moonlight his skin was pale and silvery, every hint of tan bleached away. I traced his profile with my finger, and then tilted his face toward me, kissing him lightly on the lips.
“This brings back memories,” I said, feeling soothed.
He smiled up at me. “Yeah! Sex on the beach was one of those things that everyone at school used to brag about, and then I got to do it with you. That first time, that was one of the best nights of my life.”
“The first time we ever spent a whole night together.”
“You want to relive good times, Caro?”
“Can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I left our one and only condom in the room.”
He sighed and closed his eyes.
“Besides,” I continued, “I’ve kind of got a thing for beds these days. Call me old-fashioned.”
“Yeah, I guess,” he said, wistfully. “I really liked having sex in your car though. That was hot.”
“Oh my God, yes! Although I’d have to say that sex in that closet at the country club was pretty amazing, too. No, wait, the hotel in Little Italy. That room looked like a wild animal had rampaged through it by the time you’d finished!”
“Wild animal, huh?” he said, looking pleased with himself. “Yeah, well, I think I can improve on that now, baby.”
“Oh, you do, do you? Because I’ve got to tell you, Sebastian, you never ran out of condoms when you were 17.”
“Ouch! Low blow, Ms. Venzi.”
I laughed. “True, though.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll fix that tomorrow and then you won’t be getting any sleep, woman.”
“Heard it all before, Chief, but it ain’t happened yet.”
I lay back down on his chest, and drew pictures on his t-shirt with my finger.
“So, who was your first woman, after me, I mean?”
I felt his arms tense.
“Why do you want to know that?”
“Just curious.”
He sighed. “I don’t really want to go there, Caro. It was … a bad time for me.”
“Okay, I’m sorry. You don’t have to.”
We lay there in silence for some minutes.
“Will you tell Ches that we’re … back together?”
“Of course I will, Caro. Ches is my brother,” he said, simply.
“He’ll be surprised.”
“Fuck, yes!”
“Do you think he’ll be okay about it? I mean, I’m sure my name would have been dirt with him.”
“Ches isn’t like that. He was pretty shocked by everything that went down that day at your place, but he knew that what we had was real. He’s my buddy: he’ll be pleased.”
“When are you going to tell him?”
“I hadn’t really thought about it. When are you going to tell your friends about me?”
“Are you kidding?” I laughed. “After your little stunt with Nicole it’ll be hot news in NYC by now. Your photograph will be on screensavers everywhere.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh, don’t be all coy with me, Hunter. You know you’re cute.”
He grinned up at me. “Just as long as you think so.”
“I think you’re devilishly handsome, with the emphasis on ‘devil’.”
“Yeah, well as it happens, Ms. Venzi, I think you’ve got some devil inside you, too.”
“Oh, I’d really like to have some devil inside me right now, Sebastian.”
He sat up, pulling me with him.
“Let’s go,” he said.
It wasn’t a request.
I stood up and brushed some of the sand from my pants, while Sebastian retrieved the bottle of wine that he’d stashed in the dunes.
We strolled back to our room, and every now and then, Sebastian would pull my hand to his lips and kiss my fingers gently.
But once we were in the room it was a different story. It was as if someone had flicked a switch in his body: gone was sweet, gentle Sebastian; in his place was a man on a mission who knew what he wanted, and he wanted it now.
No sooner had we closed the door than he pushed me up against it and started kissing me hard, one hand molding my breasts, the other pushing down inside my jeans.
“Where’s that fucking condom?” he muttered.
“Bedside table,” I gasped.
He strode over and snatched up the condom, and had already ripped the foil off before he got back to me.
“Sebastian, the bed?” I said, doubtfully.
“No, here.”
He unzipped his pants and expertly rolled the condom over his erection with one hand. Then he yanked down my zipper and lifted me up by my hips.
“Wrap your legs around me,” he said, the tension evident in his voice.
“How?” I gasped, pointing at my jeans that were trapped around my knees.
He swore and yanked them further down, but found they were caught by my boots. Instead of waiting the 30 seconds it would take for me to kick them off, he stepped over the denim and ignored the trailing material.
He rammed into me and I cried out. His face was buried in my neck, his breath coming in loud gasps as his body worked faster and faster. I held onto his shoulders while he pounded me into the door. It was so raw and urgent, so completely unexpected, I thought I could see stars.
And then his phone rang.
“Oh, fuck!”
“What? Don’t stop, Sebastian!”
He carried me over to the bed, still joined together, and pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket.
“Sebastian,” I whimpered.
What?!
“Hunter, sir.”
Then there was a long pause and I shifted uncomfortably, still clinging on, and Sebastian frowned at me.
Fuck you, Hunter! You’re answering the phone during rampant sex, and you’re frowning at me?
He raised one eyebrow, smirked, then started moving again in a way that should not be permitted while carrying on a phone conversation.
Thrust.
“Yes, sir.”
Thrust.
“No, Italy, sir.”
Thrust, thrust, thrust.
I gasped and bit back a moan.
Thrust, thrust, hip roll, thrust.
“Um … I’ve just been out for a run.”
Thrust, thrust.
“Yes, sir.”
Hip roll, thrust, thrust.
“Yes, sir.”
Pound, pound, pound, thrust, thrust, thrust.
“I’ll be there.”
Then he threw the phone in the corner, dropped me onto the bed, angling his hips in a way that made me gasp, and I threw my head back. He fastened his mouth over my nipple so I could feel his teeth through my bra and t-shirt.
I came loudly and he followed with two quick moves.
“Sebastian?” I gasped, astonished by what he’d just done.
He pulled out and looked down at me, grinning wickedly. “Did you get what you wanted, baby?”
“Excuse me?”
“You said you wanted some devil inside you. I aim to please.”
I slapped his arm and tried to wriggle away from him, but his body was still pinning me down.
“Sebastian, you just fucked me while you were talking to your CO!”
“What, you think men can’t multitask?”
I stared up at him in astonishment.
“I can’t believe you did that!”
He laughed. “Felt good! Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy that because either it was you moaning, baby, or my CO had a stomach ache.”
“I … you … that … unbelievable!”
He lay down next to me, pulling me onto his chest.
“I haven’t even taken my boots off,” I muttered, to no one in particular.
“Me neither,” he said, with a grin.
He sat up and peeled off the condom, tossing it in the garbage can. Then I heard the sound of him zipping up his pants.
I was still trying to decide whether I was mad at him, or too well fucked to care that he’d taken a phone call during sex with me.
He wandered off into the bathroom, and I heard the shower running while I was still prone on the bed.
He strolled back in, looking completely relaxed and at ease. I felt him pick up my left foot and he started to undo the laces. He tossed the boot over his shoulder where it landed with a thump, then peeled off my sock, and sucked my toes one by one.
“Sebastian,” I whimpered, “you’re supposed to do foreplay before sex.”
He grinned but didn’t reply, simply copying his movements with my right foot. Then he reached up to tug off my jeans and panties. It didn’t take much effort as they were already hanging off me. I was now naked from the waist down.
“Very nice,” he said, planting a soft kiss on my belly button.
He pulled me up and hauled my t-shirt over my head, then reached around to unhook my bra.
“Mmm,” he said, tasting both my nipples, his eyes glinting with mischief.
I slapped him away.
“Don’t start what you can’t finish, Sebastian.”
“Who says I can’t finish? You were the one who said we should be creative. I’m just doing as I’m told, ma’am.”
He unbuckled his heavy biker boots and kicked them into the corner, tugged off his socks and dropped his jeans and briefs to the floor in one quick movement.
Then he tugged his t-shirt from the back of his neck and pulled it over his head, scooped me up and carried me into the bathroom with military efficiency.
The shower was deliciously hot: so was Sebastian.
He lathered up the soap, and carefully washed every inch of my skin, stopping only to kiss me softly.
“You want some more, Caro,” he said, smiling down at me, and suggestively massaging between my thighs.
“I’d love to say yes, but really I just want to go and sleep. Rough sex during phone calls always does that to me.”
“Always?”
“Always.”
“Hmm,” he said, frowning.
“By the way, why was your CO calling? What did he want at this time of night?”
Sebastian sighed and looked away.
“He wanted to know where I was.”
“I gathered that. Because?”
“I’m sorry, Caro; I’m going to have to be back in Geneva in four days. And then back to Afghanistan.”
“Four days?”
Oh no.
“I’m so sorry, baby.”
“Well, we’ll just have to make the most of the four days then.”
“I’ll make it up to you, I promise, Caro.”
“Sebastian, don’t worry. Every day with you is a bonus. And we’ve got the rest of our lives to see Italy.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
I pulled him into my arms and we stood together in the tiny shower, letting the hot water flow over us, trying to reassure each other that it would be okay.
Eventually the water began to cool and I turned off the faucet.
“Come here, let me dry you, tesoro.”
Sebastian stood with his arms outstretched, as if waiting for an embrace that didn’t come. Instead, I used the large, fluffy towel to dry his back and shoulders, chest, stomach, arms and legs; slowly, carefully, methodically, soaking up each droplet of moisture.
“There you are—all done.”
He handed me a fresh towel to wrap around myself, then carefully rubbed my hair with a small hand towel.
“You shouldn’t sleep with damp hair,” he scolded me.
His words made me smile.
“Sebastian, I’ve done a lot of foolish things—reckless, you might say—since I met you: sleeping with damp hair doesn’t figure particularly high on that list.”
He scowled.
He looked so cute when he did that.
I kissed him on the tip of his nose.
“Race you to the bedroom!”
I ran from the bathroom before he could move a muscle, and launched myself onto the bed.
“You’re so slow, Hunter,” I laughed at him. “You’re really out of shape. Maybe you should go for a run, like you told your CO.”
“Tomorrow, Caro, I’m getting a fucking sack-load of condoms, and I’m going to make you regret every word you’ve just said.”
I smirked at him. “Like I said, Sebastian, promises, promises. I keep hearing about these fuckathons, but nothing ever happens.”
His eyes flared with the challenge, and I knew for sure that I’d live to regret my taunts. I was looking forward to it.
I yawned loudly, and he looked amused.
He lay down beside me, his body warm and still slightly damp from the shower, pulling the sheets over us. I snuggled into him, and he wrapped his arms around me so I was curled up on his chest, our legs entwined.
“God, Caro. You make it all worthwhile,” he said, kissing my hair. “Thank God for you.”
“I love you, tesoro,” I whispered.
CHAPTER 10
Waking up in the morning, the first thing I saw was Sebastian’s beautiful blue-green eyes gazing down at me.
“Hey,” he said, smiling.
“Ciao, bello! How long have you been awake?”
“Not long. Just enough time to remind me that I’m a lucky bastard.”
I smiled and stretched, feeling his warm body against mine.
“I could get used to this, Sebastian, waking up next to you.”
As soon as I
said the words, I felt a breath of sadness. Our time was limited.
I forced a smile, certain that the last thing Sebastian needed to see before he shipped out was a miserable, moping face.
“So, what’s the new plan, Chief? Do you want to see some more of Tuscany, or shall we go further north?”
He looked bemused. “What about Salerno?”
“It’s too much driving, Sebastian. We don’t have a lot of time and you…”
“Hell, no! I want to see where your dad came from as much as you do. Fuck the driving, Caro! We’re going to Salerno. If you get your beautiful ass out of bed, we can be there in maybe five hours.”
I felt the pull of Salerno and the warm south. I’d tried to be selfless but Sebastian had once again weakened my resolve, as in so many things.
“Anyway,” he continued, “we’re out of condoms, and much as I’m enjoying being creative, I really just want to fuck you into next week.”
“Such sweet words, Sebastian. How did you get to be such a smooth talker?”
He grinned at me. “I don’t know, baby, but it works every time.”
“Every time, huh? But you know, I have to say, last night wasn’t particularly creative—we weren’t even naked.”
He laughed happily.
“Not creative? Hell, Caro, I managed to keep a conversation going with Cardozo; I thought that was pretty fucking creative.”
“Is that the name of your CO?”
“Yeah, he’s an okay guy.”
“He must have his hands full dealing with you.” I paused. “What’s his wife like?”
Sebastian grinned wickedly. “Blonde, attractive … about forty. Why, are you jealous?”
“Of course,” I said, evenly.
He kissed me softly on my lips, his eyes gentle with love. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, baby.”
Love, lust, passion—all swirled through me, his touch blinding me with desire. I kissed him back, pushing my tongue between his parted lips as our bodies began to move together. At my hip, I felt his cock twitch. I wanted him badly. It was, as he’d said: total addiction.
“Caro,” he groaned, quietly, as I ran my hands over his thighs.
“Shh, tesoro.”
Ten minutes later, we were both lying on our backs, panting. There was a lot to be said for a quick burst of hand-to-mouth creativity before breakfast.
I was filled with a warm, satisfied glow, as Sebastian lazily stroked my thigh.
The Education of Sebastian & the Education of Caroline Page 55