Some Like It Hotter (Sweet Life in Seattle #3) (29 page)

“Then why?”

“I don’t know how to say this.” He licks his lips. “I didn’t want to take advantage of you again.”

She stares at him with confusion.

“I feel guilty about what happened in Berlin. What I did was wrong.”

“Well, you should feel guilty. You never should have left me there alone.”

He looks pained. “I know, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I took advantage of you that night. I wanted you so badly, and you were in an emotionally vulnerable state.” He touches her face. “I couldn’t stop myself, but I can tonight.”

“Are you kidding?” And she can see by his expression he’s not. “You didn’t take advantage of me.”

“You’d just been robbed. All your savings stolen. There’s no way you were making clear decisions.”

She shakes her head. This wasn’t at all what she expected. “That’s not true. I mean, it’s true I was upset, but I knew what I was doing.”

He merely looks at her, and she can tell his mind is made up.

“I know I said some things to you that night.” She thinks back to how she told him she was in love with him.
Maybe I was out of my mind
. The problem is she still has feelings for him—probably not love, but
something
. “I guess I was swept away,” she admits.

“So was I, but I should have been stronger.”

She trails her fingers over his muscular shoulder then up to stroke his jaw. Giovanni was clean-shaven earlier for the wedding but is scratchy with stubble now. She can’t decide if she’s touched or infuriated by his attitude. “You’re a complicated man,” she finally says.

A smile tugs on his mouth. “You’re complicated too.”

They gaze at each other, the fountain glows through the window, creating both light and shadow.

“This has to be the weirdest wedding night ever, and it’s your first. You must be disappointed.” She tries to say it lightly, like a joke, but she can’t quite pull it off.

“I’m not disappointed. I know this is just an arrangement, but I’ve never met anyone like you.”

“You haven’t?”

“No.” He slips his hand beneath her hair, his eyes soulful. “You disarm me in so many ways.”

Lindsay doesn’t know what to say to this. She can barely breathe. There’s an energy pulsing through her, unlike anything she’s ever experienced. Giovanni strokes her neck, and her eyes fall shut, his touch stirring places deep within. “What are you doing to me?” she whispers.

In reply, his hand slides down her arm, his fingers leaving a trail on her skin. When she opens her eyes, he’s still gazing at her.

He pulls her in close. Their mouths meet, tangling with each other. Tongue kisses that warm her inside, warm her all over. She reaches out to hold him steady for her. He tastes like all the possibilities in the world are hers. Like doors and windows flung wide open.

The kiss grows hotter and she’s all in, but then she senses it. Hesitation from Giovanni.

“Please don’t say no,” she pleads.

He draws back, and it’s obvious he’s struggling with it.

Lindsay shifts position, sits up a little more so she can address him fully. “That night in Berlin, a lot happened. It’s true I was upset, but we both know you were the one in trouble.” He blinks at her description. “I wanted you, but you
needed
me. And I was glad to be there for you.”

He doesn’t reply, only listens intently.

“But tonight is different.” She tries to catch her breath as tears fill her eyes. “Because tonight it’s me—I’m the one who’s in trouble. You may want me, but I
need
you.”

“Baby,” he whispers, putting his hand up to her cheek. His expression softens with understanding.

She tries to smile even though she’s crying again.

“Come here.” This time there’s no hesitation as he pulls her to him, brings her close again. He feels so familiar, so right, she has the surreal sense she’s been waiting for him her whole life.

He rolls her onto her back, gazing down, and her sense of familiarity only deepens.

She reaches up to touch his face, lightly trails her fingers over his features. She knows she’s emotionally raw, that all this confessing has rubbed her tough outer skin away.

“Kiss me,” she whispers.

He does so gently at first, their tongues sliding over each, but it isn’t long before the energy between them changes. Turns electrified. Giovanni shifts position again, so she’s fully under him. Pressing her into the mattress, his mouth tastes hot. She wraps her arms around his neck, inhaling the faint scent of cologne from earlier.

It’s all so good. Lindsay’s glad to be alive in this moment.

“What is it?” he murmurs.

“It’s you,” she says. “Just you.”

He lifts up, meets her eyes, and nothing more needs to be said.

Giovanni runs a hand to her hip. He looks down as if noticing her clothes for the first time. “You’re still wearing the dress you had on earlier.”

“I know.” She stretches her arms overhead and gives him a sexy grin. “You should take it off me.”

His eyes go dark, hungry. “Roll over.”

She does as he asks and feels the zipper slide down her back. Then he’s pulling the dress off her shoulders, down her body until it’s tossed aside. Next, it’s her bra, and then her panties. She squirms with anticipation, waiting for the feel of his hands everywhere.

“What a view,” he breathes as his hands finally stroke her shoulders then all the way down to her ass.

Her eyes drift shut with pleasure.

His mouth moves to the center of her back, kissing her Queen of Hearts while his hands cup her breasts. And then he slides lower to the base of her spine, kissing there too.

“So beautiful,” he murmurs, moving down to her ass. When he gently bites her left cheek, she lets out a moan. He bites the right one too, and another moan escapes her.

Passion floods her veins, running through her like a turbulent river, and she can’t stay still as he continues caressing her with those amazing hands. When he stops and climbs off the bed, she turns and watches him over her shoulder as he takes off his pants, mesmerized by his naked body, all that muscular perfection. It makes her think of the classic sculptures she studied in college.

“You should model for me some time,” she murmurs, still watching him.

“Model?”

“Let me sculpt you. It’d be wonderful.”

There’s a grin on his face, and he seems slightly embarrassed. “I doubt I’d be a good subject.”

“You’d be a great subject. Plus, I’d get to stare at you for hours.”

Giovanni gets back on the bed. All he does is touch her ankle, trail his fingers lightly up the back of her leg. By the time he reaches the top of her thighs, she’s already whimpering with need.

“What do you want?” he asks softly, but he doesn’t wait for an answer and lets his fingers slip between her thighs. A moan escapes her as she lifts her hips.

His breath grows harsh as he caresses her, plays with her while she pushes against his hand the whole time.

“God,” he breathes. “You’re incredible.”

Lindsay’s trying to control herself, but between the emotional need and now the physical one, she’s not exactly doing a great job. “How do you say ‘fuck me’ in Italian?”

His fingers continue to stroke her, his thumb playing with her ass. When he speaks, his voice is rough. “Do you want to learn the nice way or the dirty way?”

“The dirty way, of course.”

But he doesn’t tell her either way and instead, changes position. He grasps both her hips with purpose and tells her to turn over. “Lie on your back.”

“No, I want it like
this
,” she insists.

He pauses, though she can hear him breathing hard. “You’re sure?”

“Yes.” She turns to look at him over her shoulder, and when their eyes meet, she sees his are hot with arousal.

“Then get on your knees.”

She follows instructions and brings her hips up, her hands gripping the sheets in anticipation. It’s hard for her to believe only a few short weeks ago she’d lost her sexual mojo because now it’s overflowing.

He moves behind her, caressing her ass and hips then down to her breasts as her eyes fall shut.

“Never doubt I want you,” he says hoarsely.

He starts out slow and gentle, giving her body what it needs to accept him fully. Giovanni’s large, but he doesn’t rush it, takes his time. “Oh, God,” Lindsay gasps when he finally takes her all the way, moving inside her, because it’s the best ever. The perfect fuck. There’s no other way to describe it.

She bites her lip with her head down, still moaning as he brings his fingers to where they’re joined. The waves of her first climax rise up from nowhere and overtake her. She sobs at the intensity, riding it out long and hard.

He soothes her the whole time. With his hands, but with his voice too, telling her she’s safe, that he’s taking care of her. “It’s okay, baby,” he murmurs in a low rumble. “I’ve got you.”

After she comes a second time, his breath is shaking, hands tight—one on her shoulder, the other grasping her hip, his movements hard. She knows he’s been holding back, but that he can’t any longer. It’s intense. All-consuming. She wants it that way, wants to lose herself, wants to put the past back into the past.

“Wow,” she exhales afterward. “Just what the doctor ordered.”

He collapses on his back beside her, still catching his breath.

She rolls toward him to cuddle. “And you’re definitely not taking it for granted.”

“Taking what for granted?”

“That big cock nature’s blessed you with.”

Giovanni’s brows go up before he breaks out laughing. Lindsay enjoys watching him. When he eventually calms down, and turns to look at her, it’s with such affection it takes her breath away.

Neither of them speaks for a long time as they gaze at each other, the glow from the outside fountain illuminating them in a way that seems magical. And when he finally does speak, what he says rocks her to her core.

“With you,” he whispers, “I know it would be forever.”

In the morning Lindsay wakes up in surprisingly good spirits. Last night wore her out both emotionally and physically, but it helped her too, and she’s feeling more like her normal self again.

What a relief.

She rolls over on her side. They moved themselves to the king-sized bed during the middle of the night, and now she’s ready to take her new man out for a nice long test drive. Unfortunately, Giovanni isn’t there. The bed is empty.

She blinks, opens her eyes all the way, and her relief vanishes like smoke. With the exception of the air conditioner running, the room is quiet around her, and she doesn’t even have to sit up, doesn’t need to search the bathroom and the closet to know he’s done it to her again.

“Motherfucker!”

Suddenly, she hears chuckling. “Good morning to you too.”

“What?” She pushes herself up onto her elbows with surprise. “You’re still here?”

Giovanni is sitting in the easy chair across from the bed. He’s leaning back with his legs crossed at the ankle. His fingers laced across his chest. He’s completely dressed, wearing black straight-legged cords that hug his thighs and a gray T-shirt with the words ‘Las Vegas, Nevada’ on it and a picture of dice.