"You're such a tease, Ramsey. But I have a feeling this dinner is going to give me a foodgasm, so I don't really need your body after all."
A mix of laughter and anger surged through me. "Baby, let's not kid ourselves. You have never come harder than when my tongue or dick are in your body."
And with that I cut a piece of steak, popped it in my mouth and chewed satisfactorily while Leah blinked at me across the large stone table. Aces.
22
Leah
He was maddening.
Killian polished off his fourth glass of Cabernet and leaned back in his chair. He patted his abs, which hadn't gained an inch even though he wolfed down the 20 ounce T-bone, and ran his big toe up and down my shin under the table.
He'd been teasing and playing the entire meal. With his foreplay, the orgasmic food and the bitter but refreshing wine, my head was swimming. I couldn't tell if I was so close to climax I couldn't breathe, if I was just full, or if the wine had started to make my body fuzzy. Or if it was all of the above.
By this point the moonlight washed everything on Killian's large stone patio in whites and grays, the vineyard looking like a magical forest laid at our feet.
Of course I'd planned to come to Italy one day, I just hadn't thought it would be so soon, or that my treatment in this country would be so five star. Or that it would be so unbelievably fucking beautiful.
But then again, Killian never did anything small or dull.
His house was a villa, but that was the wrong word for it. When you thought villa, you thought quaint little cottage in a woodsy area, perhaps some gardens and a small sitting area in the back. No, Killian's villa was almost a mansion by normal people's standards. Large, open rooms built of Tuscan stone boasted wide beams across their ceilings which raised to unearthly heights. The roof was that traditional red tile, and all of the furniture and appliances looked like they'd been pulled straight out of the movie Under the Tuscan Sun.
This place was like a fairytale with it’s sloping hills and vast lands, endless wineries and historic feel. It was more peaceful here, there was a calmness that I had never been able to achieve anywhere else.
Killian rose from the table, his lean, toned body moving like a sphinx over to my chair. He held out his hand, not saying a word, and I didn't hesitate to take it. There was nothing else in the world I'd rather do than take his hand at this moment.
He led me over to the steps at the back end of the patio, his bare feet gliding over the stones. I couldn't help but watch the way his gorgeous ass moved in the grey khakis he wore, the way his broad shoulders stretched the thin white cotton shirt covering them.
We walked out onto the grass, the mossy feel between my toes wet and a little springy. I only realized we were heading for the vineyard when Killian began to move through the rows, fingering the leaves and bunches of grapes hanging from them.
"Did you know that wine grapes taste different than table grapes?" He plucked one off and held it to my lips, signaling for me to bite. "They are sweeter, not as crisp as table grapes. They have more seeds and a thicker skin. They're very juicy."
I closed my mouth over his fingers and sucked the globe into my mouth, biting it and feeling the tangy sweet juice explode on my tongue. "Mmm..."
I sighed, feeling the alcohol, heat and sexual tension buzz like fireflies around my body.
Killian stuck a grape in his mouth and moved his hands to my body, fisting my long maxi dress in his hands and tugging until I was pressed up against him. He went for my lips, biting down on the grape at the very last second and infusing our kiss with the wild, fruity liquid. I felt it drip down both of our chins.
Killian pulled back. "Uh oh, someone has made a mess."
My dress had a big purple stain blooming right over my left breast, but before I could say anything, Killian was pulling it down. The elastic sat just under my cleavage, pushing my breasts up. My nipples went stiff in the open air, and I gasped as Killian tore another grape in half with his teeth.
Slowly, he rubbed the fruit around my left nipple, teasing my hard peak with the cold juice that began to leak down my body. He moved to the right and I groaned loudly, suddenly hoping there was no one around to watch us.
"Lay down on your back."
Killian's throaty rasp was not a request, but I wouldn't have treated it as one anyone. I was going to do whatever he told me.
My back hit the grass between the row of vines, the dew and dirt seeping through my dress and making me even dirtier. Killian pulled his shirt over his head with one hand, a move that had my clit pulsing hard.
He was an absolute god standing half naked in the moonlight. I almost couldn't breathe he was so overwhelming.
He sank to his knees in front of me, bunching my dress up around my waist, pulling my underwear down and off and then pulling another bunch of grapes off the vine. He bit into another, tearing it in half with his teeth while he stared into my eyes. I flushed with heat and desire thinking about him doing that to my body.
He ran the flat end of the grape up the inside of my right thigh, stopping right before the place I desperately needed him. Then he bent, sucking the bloody purple streak off my body as I moaned under his attention. Killian repeated the process on the right leg, and before I could beg him to lick, touch me, do anything, his tongue dove between my folds and sucked hard.
I saw stars, my body bucking up off the ground as I was hit with a tsunami like orgasm. Sounds rang in my ears and I realized as I came down that they were coming from me.
Killian rose, shedding his pants and boxers so fast I thought he'd break the sound barrier.
"Take your dress off."
I wriggled on the ground, whipping it over my head as he came down between my thighs. We stared at each other as he pushed in, so slowly that I could feel each and every vein running under his thick cock.
My skin was sticky from the juice, the grass, his mouth...and as he came down on top of me I could feel his heart beating so fast that I thought he might have a heart attack. He silenced me before I could talk, running his lips lazily over mine as he pulled out once and pushed fully back in one stroke.
We groaned together, our lips sticky and sweet as they pulled at each other.
Killian moved his attention to my neck, biting the lobe the way that made my entire core clench. He still hadn't moved again and my insides felt like they were burning I needed to come so badly.
"Please..."
He lifted his head, his eyes, the color of the deep purple grapes, twinkling in the moonlight. "What do you need, baby?"
"I need it hard." I croaked.
He grinned but I could see the control he had was slipping fast. "Your wish is my command."
He took my hands, pinning them above my head in the damp grass. And then he started to move.
His thrusts shook me so violently that I knew I would have grass burns on my back for weeks. But I could care less. He was pounding into me ferociously, the fireball building low in my core expanding to a ball of magma.
"I'm. So. Close. Come. With. Me." I saw the intensity in Killian's eyes as he snarled at me.
One last punishing thrust and we were demolished, the fragments of pleasure licking at every inch of my body, flowing through my veins in a delicious burn.
Killian was panting and cursing as the last of his release wracked him.
He fell to the side, pulling me with him so that my thigh draped over his legs and his cock still twitched inside of me.
We didn't talk for a while. Only stared up at the moon under those beautiful, sweet vines and molded until we were so entangled that I didn't know when I ended and he began.
23
Killian
There was something about getting out of London that made me a little more carefree. Not that there was any more less press or photographers, but Italy and Florence were just so rustic, relaxed and old world that you couldn’t help but slow down a little, take pleasure in the leisure.
It m
eant that I couldn’t help but take Leah out, holding her hand or planting searing kisses on her lips when we turned the corner of an old church hallway or at the top of the Duomo.
I took her to the Boboli Gardens, where we walked hand in hand through the fragrant flowers and collections of statues. Leah goofed off, posing with some of the weathered, half naked bodies, joking that I should be jealous of some of their anatomy. I had to pull her under the privacy of a big oak tree and show her just how unenvious I was.
We were due home to London tomorrow, and I wasn’t quite done romancing Leah. After everything I’d put her through with the Judarski thing and dropping the Eve bomb on her, she deserved it. And there was also something about her, and being in Italy together, that made me a sappy wanker. Not that I’d admit that to her.
Windingham had won our game against ACF Forenza in a blaze of glory. I’d almost had a hat trick, that third goal soaring wide over the net still bugged me even as I sat at the table with Leah. But Reese had scored a goal, and Olivier had added another shutout to his already record setting season.
To celebrate I’d rented out the back room at Cibreo, one of the most delicious fish restaurants in the whole country. I wanted to be able to feed Leah bites of lobster and prawns off my fork in privacy.
And how right I’d been about this decision. She sat across from me in the cavernous room, candlelight illuminating her eyes, highlighting those delicate cheekbones and shadowing her full lower lip. I wanted to lean across the table and suck the buttery sauce I could see shining on her plump mouth.
She made another little sigh of contentment and smiled at me, her eyes dreamy and satisfied.
“Killian…I am never going to be able to eat when I go back to the States.”
A pang of fear radiated through my bones. I didn’t want to think about that. We hadn’t discussed what happened next. Did she stay? Did she go? The thought of her leaving had pain radiating through my entire form. It was as if I’d gotten side tackled, cleated and headed all at the same time.
“That’s my wicked plan, love. Keep you here under threat of fried chicken and what do you call it…fried pickles?”
She snorted. I thought even that was cute. “I’d love to see you eat a fried pickle, Mr. Refined. God you’re spoiled. You should come visit me in Oklahoma. Let’s see what you look like out in the country.”
I grimaced. “This is as country as it gets for me.”
Leah blinked. “Killian, we are in one of the most gorgeous, expensive cities in the world. This is not country at all.”
“Come on! We traipsed through those gardens today. It’s a far cry from London’s busy streets.” I scooped up some more lobster and chili sauce.
Leah was rolling her eyes at me again. It only turned me on more and I had to readjust myself in my pants. When it came to her, I was constantly stretching out my boxers and tailored suit slacks.
The three piece band I’d hired for the night began to play the instrumental version of La Vie En Rose. The Louis Armstrong version was one of my favorites, so I stood and held my hand out to Leah.
“Dance with me, my beautiful woman.”
Her cheeks flushed, changing from their normal peachy cream to the crimson of the ripest apple. She stood, the top of her head reaching just below my chin in her heels. I walked her out onto the floor slowly so that I could examine her.
Or more like undress her with my eyes. A skintight dress hugged her curves and was basically the color of her skin, making her whole ensemble appear as if it really was a second flesh. My cock jumped as my eyes raked over her ass, perfect and plump as she swung around to face me.
Her heels were a blood red, and they made me want to run my tongue from the curve of her ankle all the way up until I connected with her sweet pink folds. That hair, the color of buttermilk, hung down her back in one straight waterfall of softness, and my fingers tangled in it as I circled one arm around her waist and the other up to the nape of her neck.
God she smelled heavenly. Another wave of anxiety rolled through me. I was really falling for Leah. I was scared out of my bloody mind and excited at the same time. It had been so long since I’d been happy, and I thought that I may never find what I had with Eve again. The fact that it was a woman as young as Leah, and someone American no less, was surprising but pleasant. She was exactly the type of person I needed to be with. But I was also a blimey coward. Because even though I knew how perfect, beautiful, funny, smart and every other adjective a bloke uses to describe the girl he fancies, I couldn’t bring myself to voice any of it. I was broken from the damage Eve had caused in her wake.
We swayed to the music, caught up in each other’s feel, scent and smile. My heart was beating so hard, as if I’d played an entire 90 minutes and the match was going into overtime. Leah’s small hands gripped my neck and shoulders, the same way they did when I was deep inside of her. Like she was trying to hold onto me forever.
The band played the melody over and over again, and I bent my cheek to touch hers and whispered in her ear.
“And when you speak, angels, sing from above, everyday words seem to turn into love songs. Give your heart and soul to me, and life will always be, la vie en rose.”
Leah shuttered, her breathy gasp cluing me in. She was falling for me too. Would she say it soon? Would she want to talk about the future?
My heart took the final steps, like it was inches away from an open net and about to score. With a final touch, a final word from her, she would have me. Completely.
24
Leah
The thing about living a life that was so near perfect was that the other shoe had to drop sometime. And it did, two days after Killian and I got home from Italy.
I was sitting on Killian’s kitchen stool, drinking tea in one of his Windingham long sleeves when he came out and plunked a kiss on my forehead.
“You really shouldn’t do that.” He grinned, his body bare save for his boxers and the hair dusting his chest that did something for me south of the waist.
“Do what?”
“Sit on my furniture with no underwear on. You never know what perverted man will come out and try to get his hands on you.”
I smiled into my tea. “I’m not worried about it. I think I can handle whatever perverted things said man tries to do.”
Killian chuckled as he opened the door to get the paper from where it sat on the welcome mat outside the door.
“Bloody hell…” I heard him curse, thumping his fist hard into his thigh.
“What?” I didn’t have to wait long for an answer before he slammed the paper on the counter in front of me, our faces staring back at me.
No, not our faces…our bodies. Thank god we were fully clothed, because lord knew we’d done some stuff not involving anything covering our flesh in those vines, but someone had snooped on us. Invaded our privacy. Took the most secluded, romantic place on the planet and turned it into something scandalous. Cheap.
In the pictures they’d gotten, Killian was kissing me with a fervor, a passion close to pain. We were clinging to each other on the large back patio overlooking the vineyard, completely engulfed in each other. I remembered my emotions in that moment; so turned on, falling for Killian deeply. I had felt amazing, that moment had been so close to perfect, I’d never felt that close to complete in my life.
And now it was ruined. Dirtied.
“Fuck. FUCK!” Killian was grabbing his black locks almost painfully as his hands fisted in his hair. “What the bloody hell are we going to do now?”
He immediately ran back to the bedroom for his phone and began to email and text before dialing and putting Jimmy on speakerphone.
“Jimmy, what the fuck? How did they get those pictures?”
“Were you on the vineyard property?”
“Does it bloody look like we were on vineyard property?” Killian pointed to the paper as if Jimmy was standing there looking at it with us. “I will fucking end whoever took these. You hear me, Jimmy? F
ind out who this was. I want charges brought at once. And get a security team to sweep my Florence house. I’ll build fucking electric fences five miles around the property of my house to keep them out. GET IT DONE NOW.”
Killian didn’t even wait for Jimmy to answer. I’d seen Killian pissed. Seen him livid, sad, enraged, the whole gamut. But this was different. He was desperately angry, and my stomach dropped as I tried to convince myself this wasn’t about me.
I tried to put a soothing town in my voice. “Kill…is this really so bad?”
“Are you fucking kidding me, Leah? Not only is this an invasion of privacy, but they outed us. Everyone will know about us now!” He threw his hands up, pacing distractedly on the white marble tile.
My stomach dropped a little at his words. “Yes, I agree, whoever invaded our privacy needs to be dealt with. But come on, they were going to find out sooner or later. We are always together, sleeping over each other’s houses and barely hiding our affections when we do go out.”
Killian made a low choking noise in the back of his throat. “You’d like that wouldn’t you? For me to claim you publicly. That’s what you’ve wanted all along!”
I felt slimy nausea gather at the base of my throat as tears threatened to fall from the corners of my eyes.
“That’s not fair at all. Especially with what I’ve told you about my past. I don’t want the media all up in my business either Killian, but we’re stupid to think that we could hide this for much longer.”
I had tried hard to keep the emotion out of my voice, but it broke as I ended my argument.
Finally he looked at me, really saw me, and moved in front of where I’d turned on the stool. He grabbed my body, wrapping his arms around my back and smoothing my hair.
“I’m sorry…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry.”
I sniffled into his chest, feeling only marginally better as he strapped his strong arms around me. I knew he was panicking, unraveling from this. We’d gotten to such a good place, a place I didn’t think I would have ever been again this soon. And I was falling, hard. I was in love with Killian.
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