The Dare Collection May 2019

by JC Harroway

  She waves Amber and Cara over, and they excuse themselves from the men they were talking to. “I’m so happy I get to spend tonight with my girls,” Summer says and links her arm in mine. “Champagne, facials and chick flicks,” she says as she leads us toward the bank of elevators.

  I take a quick look over my shoulder and find Luca watching me. When my eyes meet his, he tears his gaze away, and it hits like a slap to the face. I honestly have no idea what’s going on with him. The only thing I know is what’s going on with me.

  I’ve fallen hard for a man I thought I hated.

  We take the elevator to our floor. Apparently all the guys are staying in the suites one level up from us. Summer hands us key cards to our respective rooms.

  “I love you guys, but I need my own bed when we go to sleep.”

  Amber laughs at that. “That’s so you can get your snore on without anyone throwing socks at you to shut you up.”

  Summer laughs. “I do not snore.”

  “The last time you came to Palo Alto to visit me and we shared a room, you woke up with twelve pairs of socks on the bed. Are you forgetting why?”

  I grin at the two, then let myself into my room. It’s beautiful and spacious, but it feels so empty without Luca in it. The bag I’d packed earlier and left with the concierge is on my bed. I open it and pull out the nightshirt I bought the other day. A knock sounds on the adjoining door, and I open it to find Cara there. I look through her adjoining door and see Summer popping a bottle of champagne in the honeymoon suite.

  “Get in your pajamas and get in here,” Summer says.

  “I’ll be right there,” I say and pull my phone from my purse. The only messages awaiting me are from work, and I’m in no mood to deal with them right now. I drop the phone and head into the bathroom, walking by my plum bridesmaid dress hanging in the closet. I strip off my little black dress, and I exhale slowly. Dammit, this is so not the way I wanted it to come off my body tonight. The nightgown wisps over my skin as I slide into it, and I gather my dress and toss it onto the bed.

  All the girls are dressed in pajamas when I meet them, and I put on my best smile. Summer falters for a minute as she hands me a glass of champagne.

  “Everything okay?” she asks.

  “Fine,” I say and then take a big sip.

  Cara grabs the remote and flips through the stations as Amber looks through the packages of facials.

  “Everything okay with you and Luca?” she asks, lowering her voice.

  I tug on the collar of my nightgown. “Perfect.”

  She steps a little closer to me. “You two barely spoke tonight.”

  “Busy night celebrating.” I lift my glass of champagne.

  A long pause and then, holding no punches, she asks, “Are you going to tell him how you feel?” Leave it to Summer to see right through me.

  I glance down for a second, my mind going a million miles an hour as I think about everything that’s happened this week, and where Luca and I are now. “Summer, it’s not like that. I don’t think... Look, he was just helping me out.”

  “You say that, and it might have started that way, but have you seen the way he looks at you?” My heart leaps at that. Is it possible that there really could be more between us? “You like him. He likes you. I think before this week is up, you two need to talk. It’s that simple.”

  Nothing about this is simple, but I nod because she’s right. We do need to talk. Am I really going to just let this week end? Even back in college, when I was an insecure, overweight girl, I still found the courage to talk to Luca. Albeit liquid courage, but courage nonetheless. Then again look how that turned out. But we’re not college kids anymore, and I’d be a damn fool to leave here without at least finding out how he feels.

  With a renewed sense of purpose, and a bubble of hope welling up inside me, I lift my champagne glass to Summer. “I will talk to him,” I say. “Tomorrow, after the ceremony.”

  “Good.” She taps her glass with mine. “Somehow these things always have a way of working out. Oh, hang on.” She crosses the room and comes back with a suit jacket. “Can you give this to Luca tomorrow? I keep forgetting.” I take the jacket and put it over my arm.

  “Well, you do have a lot on your mind,” I say, then lean in to hug her. “I’m so glad you’re going to be my cousin-in-law. I couldn’t have found anyone better, and you make Tate so happy.” I pull back and Summer has tears in her eyes. I wipe mine away and hurry back to my room for a second, to toss Luca’s jacket over a chair, and to quickly pull myself together. Honest to God, I’m not normally such an emotional person, but this week has been like a roller-coaster ride. Before I set his jacket down, I bring it to my nose and inhale his familiar scent. Warmth moves through me, and my heart beats a little bit faster. I’m so crazy about this guy, it’s insane. I just pray to God he feels the same way about me.

  I get myself in order, then go back to find the girls have settled on Made of Honor. It’s one of my favorite romantic comedies, so I grab a seat in the big love chair and stretch out to watch it. We drink more champagne, stop the movie a million times to gab, and by the time it finishes, it’s past midnight. Summer stretches out and yawns.

  “We’d better let you get some sleep. Don’t want bags under your eyes when you walk down the aisle tomorrow,” Cara says.

  We all say good-night, and I make my way back to my room. I wash up, brush my teeth and check my phone again. Still nothing from Luca. Tomorrow, though. Tomorrow after the wedding we’re going to have a talk. I crawl between the sheets and spread out in the big king-size bed. My hand snakes across and emptiness engulfs me when I find the other side cold. It’s almost scary how much I’ve grown accustomed to crawling into bed with Luca every night, and more important, waking up with him each morning. I smile as I envision us doing that until we’re Granddad’s age.

  I close my eyes, and sleep pulls at me. Just as I’m about to doze off, a soft knock comes from the main door. My heart leaps into my throat and I sit up in the dark room. Could it be who I think it is?

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Luca

  I SHOULDN’T BE HERE. I shouldn’t be doing this. But I can’t seem to help myself. I’m not sure what tomorrow brings, or even if we have a next week. I only know that tonight I need Brianna in my arms more than I need breath in my lungs.

  The door inches open, and the heat that moves into her eyes wraps around my heart and lets me know how much she wants me inside her again.

  “Brianna,” I whisper as she melts into me. She opens her mouth to speak, but I’m right there, my lips on hers, kissing her deeply, devouring her mouth like a man denied the pleasure too long. Her tongue plays with mine, and in the dark room a small lamp casts soft shadows in the corner. I back her up and kick the door shut behind us.

  She moans into my mouth and it’s all the encouragement I need. I pick her up, carry her to the bed and gently set her down. She sits there quietly as I tear off my suit jacket, remove my tie and unbutton my shirt. I shrug out of it, and she reaches for my pants. I touch her face, run my hands through her hair as she releases the button and opens the zipper.

  My cock springs free, and her little whimper of need strokes my aching balls. With my dress pants dangling around my knees, she draws my cock into her mouth like she’s been starved of it for too long. She works her mouth and hands over me, the slide of her tongue a thing of beauty against my throbbing appendage. I push her hair from her shoulders to watch, and my breath catches in my throat at her beauty. No woman on the face of this earth will ever be able to touch my heart the way this one has.

  Needing to get my mouth on her, I ease my cock from her lips and give her a little nudge. She falls backward, her arms splayed on the mussed sheets. I take in her beauty, the long mess of her hair, as I kick off my pants and drop to my knees. Driven by need, I grab her legs, put them around my shoulders and s
hove her nightgown to her stomach to give me better access to the spot my mouth intends to ravage.

  Her breath hitches, and her soft, sexy moans of pleasure cut the silence of the room as I take her clit into my mouth. I suck and nibble until she’s wet and squirming, moving in all the sexy ways that toy with my arousal. I deepen the kiss, slide one finger inside her tight opening and fuck her with it, loving the little gasping sounds she makes. She’s so goddamn responsive to my touch, her muscles begin a slow tremor, a telltale sign she’s right where I want her. Needing her desire on my tongue, I change the pace and tempo, forcing her over the edge, even if she’s desperately dangling by her fingertips. If only I could bind her, keep her in this bed with me forever and forget that there’s a real world out there, forget that there’s a different world calling each of us, pulling us in opposite directions.

  “Ooh,” she breathes out as she explodes on my tongue, coming and coming and coming like we haven’t been having sex like two hormonal teenagers all week. Her pussy shudders against my lips, and I continue to eat at her, wanting all her cum in my mouth, determined to taste her on my tongue a week from now.

  I work my mouth over her and run my hands along her hips as her quakes subside, but soon enough I plan to have her break for me again. She goes up on her elbows, her chest heaving as I climb up her body, pressing hot, wet openmouthed kisses to her sweet-smelling flesh. I take her nightgown with me, pulling it to her shoulders and lifting her slightly to remove it all the way.

  Gazing at her nakedness, the way she so readily opens for me, I toss the nightgown aside and pay homage to her marbled nipples. She moves beneath my ministrations, her body so damn alive from my touch, it does the craziest things to me. Need like I’ve never before felt tugs at me, and I draw her tight peaks in deeper, my palms on her breasts, massaging them gently. Everything I feel for her burns through me, intensifies when she places her hands on my shoulders, drags her nails across my skin. Tomorrow the marks will remind me of this profound moment.

  I move up her body, bury my face in the hollow of her throat, kiss her earlobe, her eyes and nose, before finding her sweet mouth again. She widens her legs, and my cock presses against her hot center, and even though I’m desperate, I need to touch her all over first.

  I turn her over, shove a pillow under her hips until her sweet ass is in the air. I run my hands over her back, the beads of her spine, until I reach her backside. I massage her lush cheeks, knead them between my fingers until she’s crying out for more. Parting her cheeks, I lightly rub her puckered passage until I’m near the point of breaking, coming all over her trembling body. I lean over her, kiss her shoulders, her back, and run my tongue along her ass. While it would be easy to take her like this, fuck her hot pussy with her ass up in the air, I need to see her face when she comes all over my cock. I drop to the mattress, flat out on my back, and reach for her.

  Understanding what I want, she sits up and tosses one leg over my body. I hold her hips, and my cock is like a missile as she lowers herself onto me.

  “Cazzo,” I cry out as she takes every inch into her body. Her head rolls back, and I cup her breasts as she wiggles like she’s trying to get me balls-deep.

  I capture her hips, lift her up and down, moving her slowly so I can savor this moment, burn it in my brain for later. As I lose myself in her, give her a part of myself I’ve never given another, my dick swells even more. Half-lidded eyes, steeped in desire, meet mine. Adrenaline pulses through my veins, and I take her a bit faster, powering into her with hard, blunt strokes, until she’s dripping down my thighs.

  As my cock pulses, drenched in her liquid desire, my balls scream for release, but I struggle to hang on, wanting to wring one more orgasm out of her. I wrap my arms around her and shift until she’s on the mattress beneath me. I brush her hair from her forehead and search her eyes. Warmth, openness and honesty wrapped in a hint of vulnerability stare back, and my heart squeezes. This woman deserves the world, and I want to be the man to give it to her. I move inside her, slow my pace, and she puts her hands on my cheeks as a whimper climbs out of her throat. Minutes pass, and time slows as I kiss her mouth, her shoulder, the two of us moving together in perfect sync. Our lovemaking is a little softer this time, a little slower than it was moments ago, with everything in what we’re doing holding a great amount of meaning.

  Passion and desire swirl around us, pull me into a vortex of need. I press my dick in higher, slide my body against hers as I reach between us to stroke her clit. A weening cry catches in her throat and once again she’s exploding on my cock, soaking my entire length. I clench down on my jaw as her muscles bunch, squeeze, seduce an orgasm out of me. Unable to get any closer or deeper, I press my mouth to hers and give myself over to the pleasure, filling her in my release. We cling to each other, hold on like it could very well be our last night. My throat tightens, hurts like it’s been scraped raw as I press down on her. We stay like that for a long time, and when she shifts I fear I just might be crushing her. I slide off her to give her air, but she reaches out for me.

  “Luca,” she moans, her body boneless, spent, completely sated from our lovemaking.

  I roll her to her side, facing away from me. “Sleep,” I say and shuffle in close, needing the contact, the feel of her naked body against mine. I hug her to me, flesh to flesh, and when her breathing changes and she falls asleep, I quietly pull away. I ease from the bed, dress in the dim light and take one look at the girl who stole my heart. The girl I want desperately to make mine but can’t.

  So what the fuck am I going to do about that?

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Brianna

  I’M NOT SURE what last night was about, but after waking up, my body sore and my heart full, I can’t stop smiling. I love that Luca couldn’t stay away, that he needed to be with me as much as I needed to be with him. It’s true we have to talk, and I wanted to last night, but I didn’t want to break the magical spell between us. And when it came right down to it, Luca didn’t appear to be in the mood for talking.

  I kick my sheets off and stretch out. Noise comes from the other side of the adjoining door. I guess everyone is up but me. Probably because they weren’t up having the best sex of their life last night. Glancing at myself in the mirror, I try to wipe the smirk from my face. I’m not up to answering a million and one questions. No way would Amber let it go. But then another thought hits. When I talk to Luca, I have to be completely honest with him, and that means telling him I knew exactly who he was when we were introduced, and why I seduced him. Will he laugh it off, or be angry that I would do something so juvenile? I hurry to the bathroom, make myself somewhat presentable and brush my teeth before meeting the girls.

  “What’s all the commotion in here,” I ask as I open the adjoining door. “You’d think someone was having a party.”

  “Just in time,” Amber says and pours me a mimosa.

  “This is going to go straight to my head,” I say and make my way to the tray of food that must have been delivered earlier. I pick up a strawberry, pop it into my mouth and reach for a muffin. I don’t usually eat like this, but...

  Summer comes out of the bathroom in her pajamas, looking happy, radiant and a bit jittery, as one would on her wedding day. I smile at her, so happy for her and Tate.

  I glance at Cara, who is sitting on the bed, sipping her drink and flipping the pages of the newspaper.

  “Hair and makeup will be here within the hour,” Summer says. “Until then we can relax. Although I’m finding that hard to do.”

  I settle onto the sofa and nibble on my muffin. Beside me, Cara chuckles. I glance over at her as Amber and Summer talk hairstyles.

  “What’s up?”

  “This guy. What a douchebag. His name is Marco L. Marino, from Massara, Italy.” My mind races—Luca’s last name is Marino—as she glances up at me. “I think the L must stand for loser.”

  “What d
id he do?” I ask and stand to sit beside her. Is it possible he’s related to Luca? She shuffles over and I sit cross-legged next to her on the bed.

  “He got caught having sex with his kid’s nanny, who is barely legal.” She angles the paper for me to see, and I scan the article. Something niggles in the back of my brain and I grab on to it. “I know this guy. When I was at Oxford, he was all over the news—some sex-club thing and crashing a yacht.” Luca and I talked about it when he told me where he was from. I take a look at the elderly man with Marco as he steers them away from the paparazzi. The gentleman, who appears mortified, is most likely his father, considering their similar features.

  “When did this happen?” I ask.

  “Yesterday’s paper,” she says, and flips the page. I make a mental note to bring it up with Luca when I get the chance.

  I finish my muffin and mimosa as I pour over the pages with Cara. When we’re done, I slide from the bed. “I’d better jump in the shower before the stylist arrives,” I say.

  “Same,” Cara says, and we go to our respective rooms. I hurry to the shower and run my hands over my body, reminiscing about the way Luca touched me last night, and hoping that come tonight, after our talk, he’ll be touching me again.

  But what if he doesn’t want the same things?

  I reach for the shampoo and shut down those thoughts. Today’s wedding is about love and happiness, and I refuse to let any negative thoughts ruin it.

  By the time I finish showering and tug on a robe, the makeup artists and hairstylists are here. I go back to Summer’s suite, and for the next couple of hours, all four of us get prettied up for the wedding.

  Our lunch is delivered, and after we eat, it’s nearing Summer and Tate’s one o’clock ceremony. I carefully slide into my plum dress, and Amber zips it for me. After giving myself a once-over in the mirror, I glance at Summer in her white dress. Tears pool in my eyes.