Velocity (3 page)

Paolo snorted. “If you’d like me to.”

They made their way out to her car and she punched the
information for the next event, slated to be held in southern Oklahoma, about
six hours away, into the GPS. She got behind the wheel and they set out. Once
on the road, though, Savannah found herself suddenly shy.

“Um, did you eat or would you like me to stop for something?
I usually just have coffee.”

“I’m okay. I had a breakfast bar earlier. Would you like a
boat and a straw so you can float around in your coffee? I could drive.”

She stuck her tongue out at him, but quickly turned back to
the road when his gaze darkened. He hadn’t touched her at all this morning and
she was torn about whether or not to encourage him.

“Tell me about your bull riding.”

Paolo made a dismissive noise and she glanced over again. A
frown pulled down the corners of his mouth. “Like I said last night, you should
speak to Marco about that. I’m not a very good rider.”

“Can I ask why you do it then?”

“Because that’s what Marco wanted to do when he came over
here and I followed him, so I figured I’d do it too.” He sounded so
matter-of-fact and she wondered why anyone would do something so dangerous if
their heart wasn’t in it.

“But you don’t enjoy it?”

“Not like he does.”

“Huh.”

“What does ‘huh’ mean?”

“Well, you’ve been here a few years, right?” Out of the
corner of her eye, she saw Paolo nod. “Why don’t you figure out what
you
want to do and then quit riding?”

“You make it sound easy, but it is not. I’ve been living
from the money Marco’s made and what he saved for me from my winnings, which is
not much. I don’t have contact with my family anymore, so they won’t help.”

Savannah wondered what had happened that he didn’t even see
his family, but knew this wasn’t a good time to ask. Maybe they were angry he’d
chosen Marco over them. “Well, tell me some things you like. Maybe I can help
you. Trust me, I know the American educational system inside and out.”

He chuckled. “I don’t know how you do it. I was never very
good in school. I always wanted to be outside.”

“So you like nature?”

“Yes, I like hiking and taking walks and boating. Marco and
I used to go camping on our family’s land when we were children.”

“That sounds nice. What about something where you’d be
outside a lot?”

Shrugging, Paolo replied, “I’m not sure what you can do here
in America, especially since I never went to university.”

“How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Twenty-three.” Smirking, he turned in his seat and leaned
his body on the car door. “My
madre
taught me never to ask a woman’s
age.”

“Your
madre
sounds like a very smart woman.”

“Yes. I miss her. But our
padre
made this happen. If
he wants it to be different he needs to speak to Marco.” His voice had taken on
a hard edge for the first time since Savannah had met him, which, though it had
only been a day, seemed like longer.

Clearing her throat, she said, “I hope you guys can work it
out. Family is important.”

“I still have my brother.” He didn’t sound convinced that
was enough.

Deciding a change of topic was in order, she asked him some
general questions about bull riding and once the subject changed to something
he was more comfortable with, Paolo relaxed again, laughing and joking with her
in his adorably broken English.

They stopped for a quick lunch and pulled into her hotel in
Oklahoma around three that afternoon. Paolo called Marco and found out they
were staying at the same hotel. Marco was a few hours behind them, so Savannah,
not wanting to leave Paolo to sit by himself as he waited for his brother,
invited him up to her room against her better judgment. After his nice gesture
that morning she couldn’t exactly send him off with a, “Thanks, see ya.”
According to what he’d said, he did have his own room, but since all his stuff
was with Marco and Natalie it seemed mean to make him go sit in it alone with
nothing to occupy him.

They sat on the small balcony with a bottle of crisp, dry
white wine Paolo had run across the street for and lounged, taking in the
late-afternoon sun. By the time Marco called him back they’d had two large
glasses each. When Savannah rose, she swayed a little and knew it had been a
mistake to drink, especially since lunch had been a couple of hours ago.

“I think I might be a teensy bit twip—crap, I mean…tipsy.”
She giggled and then frowned. Since when did she giggle? Since when did she
have more than one drink?

Paolo sniggered and she reached out to swat his arm, but he
grabbed her hand and pulled her to sit on his lap. “Much better.”

“Oh!”

“Yes, oh.”

“Shouldn’t we go meet your brother?”

“In a moment. First I need to do this.” He swooped in,
taking her mouth in a hard kiss. Pulling back slightly, he said against her
lips, “You’ve been driving me crazy all day.”

She pulled away more to give him what she hoped was a
serious look. “Did you get me all drunk so you could take advantage of me?”

The smile he gave her was pure charm. “
Cara
, if I
wanted to take advantage of you I would’ve said so. But you are not the type of
woman one says this thing to.”

Savannah felt her lips quirk. “No? What kind of woman am I?”

Tilting her head, he nibbled on her neck and said, his hot
breath fanning over her ear, “You’re the kind of woman a man wants to spend
hours making love to. Hours. Days. Weeks.”

“My, my. Even for someone who doesn’t speak English as a
first language you certainly have a way with words.”

“I try.” He shifted her and she looked down at him.

“Can I ask you what you
do
want with me?”

“Of course.” Picking up one hand, he dropped a kiss into her
palm. “I want to know you. I want to kiss you and make you feel special. You
are
special, Savannah. I can feel it.”

Her body softened and she was surprised she hadn’t melted
into a puddle at his feet. “Oh wow.”

Paolo kissed her again, coaxing her lips apart and pushing
his tongue inside to explore her depths. Her stomach lurched, but it wasn’t
from the alcohol. She twisted until she was straddling him. Groaning into her
mouth, his arms tightened around her. Savannah couldn’t help but rock a little
on top of him and a small fissure of a thrill raced through her when she felt
his cock grow underneath her.

Tearing her mouth from his, she said, “Take me inside.”

“Are you sure?”

Climbing off him, she held out her hand, as much to feel him
as to keep herself steady. “I know you need to meet Marco, but I want to do
this. At least a little bit. Maybe not, you know, all the way.”

He rubbed his hands down his thighs, nodding. “I want that
too. I will text Marco and be in soon.”

She stopped halfway to the door. “You’re not going to tell
him why you’re delayed, are you?”

“I do not kiss and tell,
cara
.”

“Okay.” Savannah gave him what she hoped was a sultry smile.
“Don’t be long.”

He wasn’t. Within moments he was following her inside. Not
that she had a ton of experience, but she never knew how to lie on a bed
waiting for someone and still look sexy. She settled for lying on her side with
her head propped up on her hand. Apparently he appreciated the view, because he
growled and slid sinuously on top, rolling her onto her back before kissing her
again.

Savannah’s nails scratched down his back as he settled
between her thighs, pushing his erection against her rapidly heating pussy. His
hand slipped underneath her light cotton t-shirt and stroked her over her bra.
Her breasts swelled in anticipation and she arched into him, hardly able to
believe she needed this man so much. She didn’t even know him. Instinct told
her if she knew him intimately, her need would ratchet up even more.

Leaning up, Paolo stripped off his t-shirt, revealing a
torso without an ounce of fat and one of her favorite parts of any man—the
treasure trail. She licked her lips and heard Paolo’s breath catch. Man, his
jeans looked awfully tight.

She took the opportunity to tug her own shirt over her head
with Paolo’s help. When it was thrown aside, he touched her with feather-soft
strokes of his fingertips and she was thankful she wasn’t ticklish. What
could’ve been torture was instead yet one more thing that made her want him
with an almost frightening ferocity.

He touched her bra briefly. “May I?” Savannah nodded and he
stripped her of the bra, baring her to his hungry gaze. “So beautiful.” Before
she could even respond, his mouth was on her, dropping open-mouthed kisses all
over her breasts before taking one taut nipple in his mouth.

Savannah arched, forcing him to take more of her breast, but
Paolo didn’t seem to mind. He groaned and the sound reverberated through her,
right down to her ever-dampening pussy. Paolo moved to the other nipple and
lapped at it with the tip of his tongue before pulling her breast into the
moist heat of his mouth and suckling hard. She let out a high-pitched squeak,
but he didn’t let up and soon she was writhing underneath him. In the back of
her mind she knew it probably wasn’t a good idea to sleep with Paolo, but right
now the rest of her didn’t care.

Luckily he pulled away, sitting up. Running a hand through
his hair, he said, “I want to stay here and touch you more, kiss you more, but
I need to meet my brother.” The frustration was obvious in his tone and she ran
her hands up his arms.

“Go.”

Paolo frowned. “You want me to leave?”

“Well, no, but I understand.” Clearing her throat, she
continued. “I’ll be on tour for at least a couple of weeks. We’ve got some time
to see where this goes.”

“All right. I don’t want to rush you.”

“Such a gentleman.”

“I do not feel like a gentleman right now.”

“You stopped. In my book, that makes you a gentleman.”

“But I didn’t want to.”

Savannah squeezed his shoulders. “I know.”

“I do need to go,” Paolo said and sighed as he backed off
her and then stood. Leaning down, he grabbed his t-shirt from where it had
landed earlier and pulled it on. Savannah watched as he glared down at his
crotch. That couldn’t be comfortable and she felt bad she was leaving him in
that state. “Do you mind if I use your washroom?”

“Not at all.”

He moved gingerly into her bathroom and she sat up, feeling
far more sober than she had even a few moments ago. If he managed to get that
hard-on under control, she didn’t want to undermine his progress by having
temptation still staring him in the face when he came out. Pulling on her bra,
she snapped it closed and reached for her t-shirt.

By the time he exited the bathroom a few minutes later, she
was booting up her laptop.

“Going to do some work?”

“Yeah. Check emails, stuff like that.”

“Marco has a laptop that I use if I want to do something,
but mostly I use my phone.”

“I do too, but there are some things that are just easier on
the laptop.”

He nodded. “Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?
Marco and Natalie might be there, and perhaps other riders.”

Savannah wasn’t a big fan of eating alone, so she readily
agreed, and after exchanging cell phone numbers and giving her a quick, hot
kiss, he left.

* * * * *

Paolo and Marco went to the arena to register for the event
and Paolo took a quick nap before dinner. He hadn’t slept well the night before
and that, combined with the travel today, the bottle of wine, and the sexual
frustration exhausted him. He woke with a start when his phone buzzed with a
voicemail and he was surprised he hadn’t heard the ring of the call itself. It
was Marco, telling him he and Natalie were leaving for dinner in an hour. After
calling his brother back, he phoned Savannah and went to take a shower, hoping
it would snap him out of the lethargy threatening to take him over.

When Savannah answered her door a little later, his breath
seized. She was wearing a short, tight skirt and a flowing blouse with cutouts
in the sleeves. Was she trying to kill him?

“
Cara
, I am not sure I should let you be seen in
public like that.”

Savannah frowned, glancing down at herself. “What do you
mean?”

He stepped into the room, pushed the door closed, and spun
her until her back was against it. “I mean, guys will be fighting to get close
to you and I am only one man. I cannot hope to keep them all off.”

She laughed. “There’s that silver tongue again.”

“I speak the truth.” He nuzzled her neck and groaned. “And
you smell good too.”

“Thank you.” Savannah blushed and his cock swelled yet again
inside his jeans.

“Let’s go before I decide to have you for dinner.” Paolo
nipped at her lower lip and she moaned. “Making noises like that is not
helping.” Cursing softly in Italian, he took a step back, pivoting away from
her. Rubbing his hands over his face, he said, “We really need to go. Marco and
Natalie are in the lobby waiting.” Paolo turned to face her once more. “If they
weren’t, I would be tempted to throw you on the bed and show you exactly what
those clothes make me want to do.”

Savannah grabbed her purse and said, “Then let’s go. I’m
hungry, but that sounds pretty good too.”

If Paolo wasn’t such a gentleman he would’ve offered
something for her to nibble on, but he stifled the urge to respond and held out
his arm. “After you,
cara
.”

They met Marco and Natalie and drove the short distance to a
chain restaurant. After ordering, Paolo sat back and took in how much this
looked like a date. That was fine by him. He wanted to know Savannah better and
that included out of bed. Secretly he was hoping she would continue to let him
travel with her. Maybe at the next event he might even convince her to stay
with him.

“Hello…Paolo…”

“Yes?”

Marco’s lips quirked and Paolo realized he must’ve missed
something while he’d been daydreaming. “Savannah asked about the scoring
system.”

“What about it?”

Shut up, you moron.

“She wanted to know why the rides don’t score higher.”

His brother was obviously feeding him information and giving
him the opportunity to educate Savannah rather than explaining everything himself,
and Paolo was grateful he had his brother around. No matter what, Marco looked
out for him. Paolo wasn’t stupid by any means, but he knew he had a tendency to
wander off into his own head.

Paolo turned to Savannah, who was watching the exchange between
him and Marco with interest. He felt twin patches of red bloom on his cheeks,
but forced himself to calm down so he could answer her without looking like an
idiot. “How much do you know about the scoring system? You know the rider gets
points and so does the bull, and that’s how the final score is calculated?”

“Yeah, but I don’t get that. Why is it fair for your score
to have anything to do with the bull? You can’t control them.”

He smiled. Savannah’s mind was so analytical. “It is not as
simple as that. In many individual sports, part of the score is made from the
difficulty of the routine, such as in diving or gymnastics. It is the same for
us, except that the ‘difficulty’ is a living thing, a bull. Some bulls are
harder to ride than others, and that’s taken into account in the score.”

“That makes perfect sense,” she answered with an eye roll.

“The tour thinks so.”

“I’m sure they do.” Her eyebrows knit and it was all he
could do to keep from kissing the furrow between them. “But that doesn’t
explain why the scores are so low. I don’t think I saw anyone score over a 90
yesterday. Maybe I’m wrong, but that doesn’t seem very good.”

“Not so,” Paolo explained. “If a rider gets a score of 90,
that means perhaps five points have been taken away from him and five from the
bull. So that’s very good, wouldn’t you say?”

“True.” Savannah shook her head with a self-conscious smile.
“Listen to me, trying to turn scoring in bull riding into an intellectual
discussion.”

He shrugged. “It is complicated.”

Natalie cut in. “But boring. Let’s talk about something
else.”

“I saw the jewelry you and Jessica are selling. It’s
gorgeous,” Savannah replied.

Natalie ducked her head. “Thanks. We really like doing it
and it’s nice to make some money of our own.” Paolo watched as Marco looked at
her, his eyes warm and soft. Who would’ve thought Marco could have let so much
hurt go and fall in love. Natalie was a great girl and brought out the best in
his brother. Maybe someday Paolo would find someone like that. His gaze
skittered toward Savannah and away again. It was way too soon to be thinking
anything like that about her.

“I have absolutely zero craftiness or creativity, so I
really admire anybody who does.”

Their conversation went on as their entrees were served.
When they were finished, they lingered over coffee, still talking. Paolo had
put his arm around the back of Savannah’s chair after the server had cleared
their plates, and though she briefly lifted one eyebrow, she didn’t push him
away and he found himself lightly rubbing the upper portion of her arm exposed
by the cutout in her blouse. He’d been battling an erection ever since his
fingertips had touched the small expanse of skin, but he was unwilling to stop
the gentle stroking, so he lived with it.