Naughty and Nice

by A. C. James

  “Clara, are you okay?”

  “What? Sorry. I was just thinking that this place is amazing.”

  And the food was amazing too. Luca had served them Insalata Estiva della Terra, a dish filled with fresh ricotta, fresh herbs, and Brutti ma Buoni as an appetizer. Then he’d made them a dish he’d called Pasta con frutti di marre with shrimp, bay scallops, mussels, clams, and calamari in tomato sauce and served over linguini. They were on their second bottle of wine when Luca popped out of the kitchen and made his way toward their table. He stopped at a few tables along the way to chat with diners. Clara could tell that he was completely in his element. Finally he came to their table.

  “How was everything?”

  “Totally yummy,” Lacy said around her last bite of pasta.

  Luca was looking at her with those deep brown eyes that made her feel all squishy and warm, but she was sure the wine had something to do with that too.

  “It was really, really good,” Clara said.

  “I’m glad you liked it. My chef didn’t make it; I made it for you myself. Are you ready for dessert, Clara?”

  “I’m ready for dessert,” Lacy said.

  Luca grinned. “Actually, I’m going to steal your sister if that’s all right with you.”

  “Oh, fine. I suppose you two do have a lot to talk about,” Lacy said.

  “Wait. What? No.” Clara shook her head.

  “I’m not taking no for an answer.”

  Clara could tell by his tone that he meant it.

  “But how will I get home? Lacy, will you wait for me?”

  Lacy was about to answer when Luca beat her to it.

  “I’ll drive you,” Luca said.

  Crap.

  She’d hoped that if she could get Lacy to stay then she’d have a way out. Clara didn’t want to be alone with him when he was looking at her as if she were the dessert.

  “I guess she’s all yours if you could just bring me a check,” Lacy said.

  “No, this is my treat,” Luca said.

  Lacy grabbed her purse from under the table and got up. She leaned toward Luca. “Thanks for dinner. Be good to my sister or I’ll break your balls,” she said quietly.

  “Lacy!”

  Lacy grinned. “See you later. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  Her sister left, and then she was alone with Luca who was looking down at her like he might devour her. And unfortunately there wasn’t much her sister wouldn’t do. Worse, she didn’t know what to say to him, and at that moment she wanted to be devoured. She wanted to fall back into his arms and pretend that all the days in between their last one together and now meant nothing. They could just pick back up and pretend it never happened. Or maybe that was the wine-hazed part of her brain, lowering her inhibitions. But hadn’t she always said that the things you wouldn’t do were really subconscious thoughts, your deepest desires? Alcohol was no excuse, but damned if it wasn’t a convenient scapegoat.

  “Yeah, thanks for dinner,” Clara said.

  “No, problem. It was my pleasure.” Luca held out his hand. “Come on.”

  “Ummm, where are you taking me?”

  “Dessert. Remember?”

  Clara took his hand and he led her back through the busy kitchen. There was a doorway in the back of the kitchen and a set of stairs.

  “Go on up. I’ll be right there,” Luca said.

  “Okay,” Clara said, hoping that she didn’t sound nervous.

  Clara made her way up the steps and realized her mistake as soon as she reached the top. There was an apartment above the restaurant. Luca’s apartment. Now she’d really be alone with him, and there was no safeguard to keep her from acting on impulse. But the sound of Luca’s footsteps on the stairs told her that it was too late to back out now. He appeared at the top of the stairs carrying two plates.

  Clara tried to sound steady and calm despite the fact that her heart was hammering against her chest. “So what’s for dessert?”

  “Tiramisu.”

  Chapter 6

  Would You like Some Sex with Your Tiramisu?

  Luca carried the tiramisu to the kitchen table. “Would you like some coffee?”

  “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”

  Luca started the coffee while Clara took a seat at the table. It was really hard not to leave the tiramisu and take Clara right then and there. She was breathtaking, and what was even more refreshing was that she never really realized just how stunning she was. Sure, she pretended to be confident, but she had these little tells that gave her away. He’d known her almost a lifetime so he knew every little tic, like how she was fiddling with the silver chain on the bracelet she was wearing. She crossed her legs, which were bare from the top of her calf to mid-thigh where her sweater dress stopped. God, how he loved those legs and how they felt wrapped around his waist. His jeans were a little too snug, and he hoped she wouldn’t notice. So he thought of some mundane-small-talk-BS-question instead. Anything to shift the focus from the pressure he felt building in his cock…

  Luca coughed. “So how long are you in town?”

  “I don’t know. I was going to head back right after Christmas, but Mom wants me to stick around a little longer.”

  Good.

  That gave him time, but not nearly as much as he wanted. He wasn’t sure forever would even be long enough. He wanted to make sure he memorized every curve of her body in case he couldn’t convince her that it didn’t matter how many miles separated them. Not with what they had. What they still had even now. He could feel it in his bones, even if it seemed like she wanted to avoid the truth. They never should have said good-bye, and he wasn’t going to let that happen again if he had anything to say about it.

  Deep breath. Don’t say anything stupid.

  “How are your mom and dad?”

  “They’re good.” Clara paused. “How’s your dad?”

  He paused as he reached for a coffee mug from one of the cabinets. “He doesn’t get around too much anymore, and he has to have twenty-four hour care now.”

  “That must be really hard on Angelina.”

  Luca nodded. “It was when she was still convinced she could do it herself. That’s why she left the hospital. But she can’t and she needed a life too. I’m glad she took the job at Springbrook.”

  Then Luca grabbed their coffee and brought two forks to the table. But he forgot about his father and his sister as he watched Clara bite into the dessert.

  “Mmmm, this is really good.”

  The sound she made while she ate the tiramisu reminded Luca of all the little noises she used to make when he had her in his bed. And the way she pursed her lips over the fork as the velvety dessert slid into her mouth wasn’t helping the tightness in his jeans.

  He took a deep breath and sipped his coffee. If he laid it on the line he hoped like hell she wouldn’t run. He’d known her half a lifetime, and that was her M.O. Distance made it far too easy for her to deny how she really felt. He’d known the truth all along. The minute his plans meant staying in Overlook, he knew she was running from a whole lot more than a long-distance relationship. She was scared staying would mean settling and not living her dreams. She was too afraid that loving him would mean giving up everything. And he was okay with that because it would have been selfish to hold her back and make her stay. When you love someone, sometimes holding on just isn’t the right thing to do. He’d always wanted her to be happy, but this time was different. They were two consenting adults and whatever she decided, well, that was on her. At least this time he’d tell her. Seduce her first, tell her later. Let the chips fall where they may.

  He took a deep breath. “I’ve missed those noises. I’ve missed you.”

  Clara put down her fork. “Luca, I can’t give you what you want.”

  “What do you think I want?”

  “Me. And I can’t give you that because my life is in New York. You know that and we tried this once. It didn’t work out too well. Remember?”

/>   He grabbed her hand and rubbed his thumb across the back of it. “Do you remember?”

  She closed her eyes. “Please don’t do this.”

  “Clara, I don’t expect anything from you. All I want right now is to carry you into that bedroom and take off all your clothes.”

  Her intake of breath was audible when he’d said that. And it was true to a point, but he did want something from her. He wanted everything from her. But if he told her that, then she’d run again and he’d never get to feel her pinned beneath his weight, wrapped around his length.

  When she opened her eyes Luca expected her to launch into a million reasons why they shouldn’t. Instead of excuses she stood up, but not to leave. No, she walked over to his chair, straddled his lap, and her sweater dress rode high around her hips.

  “Have you missed this?” she asked and then pressed her lips against his.

  Her tongue slid against his and it felt like the first time he’d kissed her, tasted her, but somehow it was wilder. Unrestrained. He hoisted her onto the table and in one swift motion the plates with their tiramisu went flying to the floor. Luca would clean up the broken dishes and globs of dessert later. At the moment the only thing he cared about was ending up in a tangled heap of legs and arms with her melded against his body so tightly that you couldn’t tell where her body began and his ended.

  Clara was sitting on the edge of the table and he bent to kiss her neck, murmuring into it. “God, yes I’ve missed this. I’ve missed you.”

  And I’m never letting go again.

  Her fingers twined into his hair. The warmth of her body, her breasts pressed against his chest as he gripped her thighs and pulled her against him was almost enough to undo him. Then he took her mouth, capturing it like he’d possess every part of her before the night was through. Her fingers were almost shaking as she unbuttoned his shirt. Luca had to feel her skin against his, but he paused as he began to pull the hem of the sweater dress upward.

  “Are you sure about this, Clara?”

  Clara smirked. “Don’t make me think about this.”

  Luca laughed. “Right.”

  He tugged the sweater dress over her head and tossed it on the floor. If a picture could say a thousand words… His breath caught at the image in front of him. Clara sat on his kitchen table with her black wedge boots along with a bra and panties that matched…and nothing else. She was his for the taking.

  Luca reached behind her and unhooked her bra. She smiled, almost shyly, as she lowered the straps over her shoulders and down her arms. The bra fell away, but instead of focusing his attention on her pink nipples pebbling under the cool air, he pressed her soft body against his and kissed her again—a kiss filled with everything he wanted to say and everything he knew she was too afraid to admit.

  But tonight none of that mattered. He kissed his way down her neck, across her collarbone, and buried himself in the valley of her breasts. She arched back, leaning on the table, and moaned when he took a nipple between his teeth and toyed with it. He’d never seen anyone so beautiful or so sexy and he’d spent enough nights losing himself with anyone just to forget what this had felt like. Those perfect B-cup breasts, the curve of her hips, the way she walked into Springbrook and back into his life had made his loins stir. Luca’s imagination had been running on overdrive since their very first date. Nothing had changed—at least not for him—and as he kissed his way down her stomach to her mound, he took in her scent and knew he needed to taste her.

  Luca slowly kissed his way up her inner thigh, paused, and then kissed his way down her other thigh. Clara groaned.

  “Come on. You’re killing me.”

  “Patience,” he murmured against her skin.

  Truthfully, he didn’t want to be patient, but the anticipation was the best part and the more build-up, the bigger the explosion when Clara finally let loose. He hooked a finger under her panties and her breath hitched as he teased her folds with the most delicate touch. She was already wet. Luca took one look at the intricate crisscross lacing that ran up her very tall boots and decided he wasn’t about to waste time figuring out how to get them off and then have her talk herself out of spending the night with him. He grabbed the sides of her panties and yanked them down over her boots instead.

  Clara laughed. “Patience?”

  “I ran out of that.”

  He nestled between her legs and slowly kissed his way back up her thigh, but this time he didn’t stop. He slid his tongue over her clit, exploring slowly and gently at first. Her back arched off the table when he grazed her with his teeth, nibbling, sucking. Then he went back to flicking his tongue across her clit until she wrapped both legs around his shoulders, squeezed them tight, and dug her heels against his back, which effectively locked his head against her sex. Luca didn’t mind. He could care less about being trapped between her legs. In truth, there was nowhere else he’d rather be.

  “Please,” she begged.

  He always loved how going down on her was almost too much for her to bear. She always rushed him on to the next part because she needed to feel him inside of her so bad, or at least that’s what she’d told him once. Luca’s hands were on her hips as she arched her back, inviting him in, and it was almost enough to make him give in to her whimpers. He licked and ate until she came, screaming and clutching the sides of the table as she dug her heels into his back. Her hips rose a final time as she spasmed and then released, collapsing across the table.

  Luca let her catch her breath. She pushed up on her elbows, but lost the ability to hold herself up and splayed across the tabletop with a blissful sigh.

  “Feel good?”

  “Too good,” she said. “I think I needed that.”

  She propped herself back up, smiling sexily.

  “Okay, well it’s my turn,” Luca said with a grin and pushed her back onto the table before he began unzipping his jeans.

  “Wait. Stop.”

  Shit.

  He froze. Had she changed her mind?

  She grabbed Luca’s wrist and then he knew she’d recognized his look of panic. “No. That’s not what I meant. You need a condom.”

  Clara wasn’t rejecting him. She just wanted him to use protection. His shoulders slumped in relief at the realization that she wasn’t going to make him stop.

  He laughed. “Bedroom.”

  Before she could say anything Luca scooped her into his arms and carried her, boots and all, off to his bedroom.

  * * *

  He tossed Clara onto the bed and she splayed across it in a rather ungraceful display, but she didn’t think he cared about anything other than being inside of her.

  “Don’t forget…” she started to say as a reminder to use protection, but she didn’t need to.

  Luca was already reaching for the nightstand drawer. She wouldn’t think about why there were condoms in it or how many women there had been between their last time together and this moment. It would ruin everything, and she needed to feel him melded against her sweat-slick body.

  Without warning his fingers pierced her and he leaned forward, pulling her clit into his mouth, sucking on it as if it were gelato. She dug her fingers into the bedspread as his fingers twisted inside her, his rhythm picking up until her stomach tightened, and she was on the brink of orgasm again. It had taken next to nothing to bring her to that edge again, and she wondered how every nerve ending could feel like it was on fire. She’d felt the glow of that chemistry-inferno emanating from him even when she’d stood ten feet away from him at Springbrook. Just a single look from him had made her want to fall into his arms, pant and beg until he took her. How the hell could he reach places, both physically and emotionally, that no one else ever had? No one before or after Luca had made her come with such an intensity.

  All her resolve shattered.

  She knew that she was his…against all logic and reason that told her that this was her past and she’d better be careful or she’d fall back into it.

  His fingers
curved upward and danced against her G-spot and she cried out as the orgasm hit her like a wave. Her body shook against his, but he was relentless and worked her into a fit of breathless panting. Wave after wave of pleasure thundered down on her, and when she came, his name was a scream, a plea to make him stop or to keep going—she wasn’t sure which—as her hips bucked wildly against his expert touch. He knew her body and soul.

  He knew her almost better than she knew herself.

  Luca rounded up from her and tore into the condom, the wrapper crinkling and falling to the floor as he discarded it over his shoulder and sheathed his rock-hard cock. He reached between them and guided his cock inside her and she draped her legs around his hips, drawing him inside her with her feet hooked at the small of his back. His width and length fit completely—as if he’d been perfectly made for her body. She held herself tightly against him as he looked into her eyes, holding her gaze with an intensity that threatened her conviction that this was just for tonight. Tomorrow she would go back to the way it was.

  Separate lives, different towns, but right now there was only this. He held himself just as tightly against her as she clutched his shoulders. He was her first and the way he thrust inside of her felt like he was claiming he’d be her last.

  “Definitely my last,” she murmured.

  “What?”

  She froze. “Umm, nothing. Keep going. Please don’t stop. Don’t ever stop.”

  He met her eyes. “Believe me…I won’t.”

  Slowly, agonizingly, he slid out of her, inch by inch until only the tip was inside her. His eyes never left hers and that was the last thing he did gently, slowly. Luca didn’t just thrust into her. He pounded through her as if he were trying to move heaven and earth with the frantic rhythm of his cock to persuade her to stay. He rocked into her, driving the air from her lungs which escaped in hot, breathy pants. She needed to feel him come.