Velocity (5 page)

His socks came next before she reached up to pull at his
tight jeans. Paolo lifted his ass off the bed and helped her shove the jeans
down. When they were off and he was clad only in bright-red boxers, she stopped
to admire him, stepping onto the floor. That dip between a man’s torso and his
groin had always fascinated her, and even with his boxers on and hiding much of
that area, her mouth watered. She raised her gaze to his face, and one black
eyebrow rose in response.

“See something you like,
cara
?”

“Just trying to decide where to start.”

“Why not start by taking off your jeans so I can see you?”

“All in good time. Lie back and enjoy.”

Paolo grinned, his even, white teeth showing against the
tanned expanse of his face. “If I must.” He laced his fingers behind his head,
the action highlighting the bulges in his biceps and triceps, and Savannah
found herself licking her lips. He laughed. “Your face shows so much,
amante
.”

“What does
amante
mean?”

“Lover.”

“Oh. Well…” She could feel heat suffusing her face and bit
her lip, trying not to giggle like a schoolgirl. Paolo grinned.

“Come, I want to see you.”

She turned away and undid her jeans, sliding them slowly
down. Savannah had been told she had a nice ass, so she decided to tease Paolo
with it a bit. When she’d lowered the denim almost to the bottom of her cheeks,
though, she snatched them back up and threw a grin over her shoulder when Paolo
groaned. Who knew it was this much fun to tease a man?

Pushing the jeans down once more, she stepped out of her
sandals and kicked the garment off, bending at the waist to move them out of
the way. She heard Paolo shift behind her and a strong arm grabbed her around
the waist, hauling her back onto the bed. Paolo attacked her, tickling her
until she was gasping for air.

Twisting, she tried to tickle him back, but he didn’t so
much as flinch. “No fair! You’re not ticklish.”

“Not even a little bit,” he admitted with a smirk. “But I
can think of better things to do than tickle you.” He lay beside Savannah and
tweaked a nipple. “Much better things.”

With a little eyebrow waggle he moved down her body, taking
her panties with him. On his way back up, he ran his tongue along the inside of
her thigh, barely nipping into the soaked folds of her pussy before starting
down the other thigh. She let out an embarrassing little whine and felt a
resulting breath of air as he laughed.

But then the man got down to business, pushing his face
between her legs, and Savannah’s back arched as he took a long, firm swipe with
his tongue. She wanted to tell him how good it felt, but all that came out was
a series of unintelligible moans and grunts as Paolo’s marauding tongue swept
through her. He nibbled, just a little, and Savannah nearly suffocated him
between her clenching thighs, remembering at the last moment to relax.

“Yes,
cara
, yes,” Paolo repeated, his voice sometimes
muffled as he moved his mouth, kissing, sucking and licking as if he had all
the time in the world. She looked down at him, his eyes closed as he feasted on
her, and decided sleep was way overrated. When he added one finger and then
two, pushing into her pussy until he found her G-spot without error, her legs
locked and her hands fisted in the sheets as she came.

Paolo let her down slowly and gently, pressing little kisses
all along her thighs.

“That was…” Savannah wrinkled her nose. “I’m about to get my
second master’s degree and I can’t even think of a word for that.”

“I am glad you had fun,” he said, moving back up and
caressing the side of her face.

She turned her head to look at him. “I want you.”

“And you shall have me,
amante
. After that…eh…
primo
,
I want more. You have given me an appetite.”

He truly was adorable with his sweet but sexy smiles and
broken English, but right before a man was about to bed you was not the time to
mention that, so she just lay back and watched as he rose from the bed, went to
his suitcase and grabbed a condom before rolling it on. When he returned, he
urged her onto her side facing him and pulled her leg over his. Paolo slowly
pushed inside her, holding her gaze, and Savannah found it difficult not to
look away. She wasn’t used to sex being this intense and she wasn’t sure how
she should react. What she should do or say. But Paolo put her fears to rest,
cupping her head and kissing her gently as he began to move inside her.

His cock stretched her, but not to the point of pain, and he
was so gentle she wondered how he would ever come. For Paolo, though, coming
didn’t seem like the endgame. For most men, it was, but she was finding quickly
that with her Italian lover the journey, in fact,
was
the destination,
and she fell in love with him just a little bit.

This isn’t forever. Remember that.

But as Paolo kissed her once again, it was hard to remember
this was just a diversion from her everyday life.

Paolo had never felt this kind of connection to a woman and
they’d only met a few days ago. He didn’t know if he should be thrilled or
scared to death, so he preferred to go with thrilled. As his cock hardened even
further inside Savannah’s tight, hot pussy, he wondered if sex would ever be
this good again.

He sure hoped so.

Normally he would whisper dirty things in Italian to the
woman while he was having sex with her, but in this case it didn’t seem right.
Savannah was special, and his standard routine wouldn’t be good enough. He’d
never felt this out of his element during sex before, but he wasn’t sure that
was a bad thing since this felt so freaking good. Now he knew what Marco meant
when he said making love to Natalie was on a whole different plane.

“
Cara
, how are you doing?”

“Mmm. I’m good.”

Paolo pushed back inside, but stopped. “Only good?”

“Would you like to hear something along the lines of ‘the
earth moved’? Because I can do that.” She grabbed the sides of his face,
brushing her lips over his before saying, “The earth moved, the planets
realigned and my entire brain has gone on vacation. How’s that?”

He chuckled. “I am feeling like you might be making fun of
me.” Speeding up, he continued. “I bet I can get you to stop.” With a light
shove, he pushed Savannah onto her back and hooked her legs over his elbows.
“Hold on,
cara
.”

Paolo set up a relentless rhythm and felt an answering
clench in Savannah’s pussy.

“Oh God, yes, Paolo…”

With a grunt, he pushed inside again, filling her to the
hilt. Paolo couldn’t stop thrusting, now unable to do so with any kind of
finesse, and felt his balls draw up into his body. With a frantic hand, he
reached down between their bodies to flick at Savannah’s clit.

“Come for me,
amante
.”

Holding off his own orgasm by sheer willpower, he was able
to wait until Savannah shook underneath him before achieving his own release.
As he emptied into the condom, his eyes slammed shut and his mouth opened,
though no words came out. Paolo could feel Savannah contracting around him and
it only served to rev him up even more, prolonging his orgasm until he thought
he might black out.

After being sure to roll to the side and not crush Savannah,
Paolo dropped onto his back, panting. Had he ever come that hard? It didn’t
bear thinking about right now and he probably couldn’t even if he’d wanted to,
since his brain had shut down with an overload of pleasure.

“For some reason, it seems appropriate to say ‘yee-haw’
right about now,” Savannah mused, and Paolo burst out into laughter.

“You are very funny.”

He looked over at her as she made a face.

“I don’t think I am, but hey, if you want to think so, I
won’t stop you.”

“I do think so. Be right back.” Paolo disposed of the condom
and then came back to bed. He was surprised to find he didn’t want her to
leave. “Want to order some room service? They should still be open for a bit.”

Savannah started to protest, but her stomach growled and
betrayed her. Hopping out of bed, Paolo grabbed his boxers and the room service
menu.

“They’re not still serving, are they?”

“Until two a.m. It’s a little after one now so we should be
okay. Maybe just something small? I know I have worked up an appetite.”

“Me too,” Savannah admitted. “I haven’t eaten since I had a
burger at about six.”

“Clearly I must feed you.” He handed over the menu. “Order
whatever you want.”

“Hmm. Want to split a flatbread? That shouldn’t be too hard
to digest and if we split it that should be a good snack.”

“Done. Which one would you like?”

“How about the prosciutto and goat cheese? Or would that
remind you of home too much?”

“It’s fine,
cara
. It sounds good. I’ll order it.”

“I’ll lie here and admire you.”

Paolo laughed. “If that makes you happy.” He ordered the
food while Savannah grabbed her clothes and went into the bathroom. Rolling his
eyes, he turned his attention to finding his jeans. If she was getting dressed,
he might as well throw on some pants. The last thing he wanted was to make her
feel uncomfortable, especially since he’d decided to try to convince her to
stay with him overnight. He hadn’t been part of the fifteen-man short draw in
quite a while and considered Savannah his good-luck charm. That probably wasn’t
a good idea since she was leaving in a few weeks, but he’d take what he could get
when it came to luck.

The food arrived and after grabbing a couple of bottles of
water from the complimentary tray of them on the desk, he and Savannah sat on
the bed, leaning on the headboard, and demolished the delicious flatbread.

“That totally hit the spot, thank you,” Savannah said before
popping the last bite in her mouth.

“You’re welcome.” He moved a little closer. “I’d like you to
stay with me tonight.”

Savannah’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? I mean, I know you
need to rest—”

“
Cara
, would I ask if I did not want you here?”

“Well, no, but usually guys don’t want the girl to hang
around once, you know…”

“I am not a ‘usual guy’.”

“True. I should give you more credit than that,” Savannah
answered with a firm nod.

“You haven’t answered my question.”

“Oh. Yeah, I can stay. If you’re sure.”

“I am. And I think if you’re going to sleep here you need to
get undressed again.” He grinned and she sent a playful smirk back.

“You just want me naked. I see how you are.”

“What man wouldn’t?”

She made a noncommittal noise. “Most of them, judging by my
recent dating life.”

“Good for me, though.”

“I suppose so.” Savannah jerked her head toward the
bathroom. “Do you mind if I take a quick shower?”

“Not at all.”

Savannah left the room and Paolo stripped back to his
boxers. The days ahead were looking up.

Paolo stayed on his bull on the second day of competition,
but it was not an artistic ride by any means. He scored an 81, which put him in
sixth place at the finish and was good for a small cash prize. It was the first
money he’d earned himself in weeks and he thought about cashing it all into
singles and rolling around in it, but there wasn’t time. The next event was in
Sacramento, California, and most everyone would be flying, including Savannah.

He, Marco and Natalie didn’t usually fly first class—it was
just too much money to bother for all three of them all the time, but Savannah
had booked herself on one of those really small regional airlines. When Paolo
saw the little prop plane on the runway he considered telling her he didn’t
want her to take something that would be tossed around like a cow in the middle
of a tornado if they encountered turbulence, but he didn’t have the alpha gene
Marco did so he stayed quiet. His flight, a direct one as opposed to Savannah’s,
which changed planes with a layover, left a few hours later.

Once they arrived, they checked into their hotel. Savannah
had booked a room there too, and again he was tempted to try to convince her to
stay with him, but he didn’t want to scare her. Marco moving too fast had
freaked Natalie out and he didn’t want the same thing to happen with Savannah.
She texted him to say she was on the shuttle from the airport and he met her in
the lobby, grabbing her bags before she could even utter a protest.

The event started the next day and several of the riders met
for dinner to relax before yet another grueling event. This time Paolo didn’t
even try to be subtle, scooting Savannah’s chair closer so he could put his arm
around her while they had drinks and waited for dinner. She talked to the guys
about how it felt to get on the bull, when the chute door opened, during the
ride itself, and after they’d either been bucked or had ridden successfully.
All of them had a variation on the same theme—the biggest rush they’d ever
felt. Paolo had never really gotten that. He frowned.

Savannah touched his arm. “You okay?” she asked softly.

“Yeah, just thinking.”

“We can talk later if you want.”

“Sure.” He didn’t know if he was ready to discuss his
ever-growing feeling of restlessness, but it was nice to know he had Savannah,
who was a relatively objective third party, to air things out with.

Dinner passed in relative peace, though the niggling thought
Paolo wasn’t doing what he was cut out for wouldn’t leave, and when they got
back to the hotel Savannah readily agreed to come to his room. When they got
inside, he pulled her down to sit beside him on the bed.

“I don’t want to be a bull rider.” He took a deep breath. “I
really, really don’t want to be a bull rider.” Even though he knew it was the
absolute truth as soon as he said it, his stomach did a flip-flop and he hoped
he’d be able to keep dinner down.

“Okay,” Savannah answered, patting his shoulder. “I know it
took a lot for you to admit that and I’m proud of you.”

“I just—” He couldn’t find the right words to express his
frustration and swore, which was one thing he
could
do fluently in
English.

“What?”

“Sometimes I wish everyone spoke Italian. I don’t know how
to say what I want to.”

“Just go slow and think. I can always ask you to clarify
stuff.”

“Ever since we talked the other day my mind has been…” He
made a circling motion around his head and Savannah nodded. “I don’t want to do
this anymore. When the guys were talking about the rush, the feeling of power,
I feel none of that.”

“I’m not surprised, actually. Do you have any idea what
might make you feel like that?”

“I’m not sure.” Paolo looked down at the carpet, unable to
meet Savannah’s eyes. “And if I did know, what could I do about it?”

“You could do plenty. You can go to school for just about
anything. When we were talking in the car you mentioned you liked being
outside, and when I asked about your tattoos you said you loved to ride and do
other stuff to take care of the horses your parents had.”

“That’s true.”

“Well, what about becoming a veterinarian?”

“What is that?”

“An animal doctor. There are small animal doctors who treat
hamsters and dogs and cats and such, but there are also large animal doctors
who concentrate on horses, cows, whatever.”

Paolo sighed. “That sounds like a lot of schooling and I was
never very good at school. Marco is the smart one.”

Savannah used her fingers to force him to meet her gaze.
“Marco isn’t the only smart one. You just haven’t found your place in life yet.
When you do you’ll be great. I can feel it.”

“I’m glad you have confidence in me, but it might be…er,” he
struggled for the word again, “misplaced.”

“It’s not. I trust my gut. It’s hardly ever wrong.” Savannah
ran her fingers through his hair and it felt so good he instinctively leaned
into her touch. “Vet school is a couple of years, I think. Since you never went
to college you could probably do a plan that would get you a bachelor’s degree
and your veterinarian degree back-to-back. I’m not sure though. I’ve never
looked into it. There’s probably some of the same stuff human doctors have to
do like internships too.”

“That sounds like a lot of school.” Paolo couldn’t imagine
it. “I would be old by the time I was done.”

“So what? I’ll be almost thirty by the time I’m done with
school.”

“It just sounds so long.”

“You could also go the non-school route and learn from
practical experience, though you wouldn’t be able to be a licensed vet.”

“How do you get practical experience? I don’t understand.”

“Find a job somewhere helping out in a place that has
animals. A zoo, a vet’s office, even here on tour. They’ve got horses and cows
that need taking care of.”

“Maybe. I never thought about it.”

“Why don’t you ask around? I bet you’d like to stay with
your brother and the tour, but would be happier if you weren’t a rider.”

Paolo smiled, thinking about how nice that would be. “I will
see who is in charge of that area and see if I can speak with him.”

“You assume it’s a him?” Savannah was smirking, but Paolo
figured he’d better tread lightly here.

“Of course not. It could be a woman. But isn’t it the right
way to say it in English to use the male instead of the female if you don’t
know what the sex of the person is?”

“It is. I’m just screwing with you.”

“Oh yeah?” He reached over to tickle her and she squealed.
“You should be nice to me. There are many better ways to screw with me. And I
know you’re ticklish.”

“Not fair,” Savannah cried, gasping for breath. “Stop!”

He instantly did, but couldn’t help the impish grin that
broke out on his face. It was kind of nice to be able to tease someone without
worrying they would be expecting too much.

“Are you going to stay over? I do need to get a good night’s
sleep so I can compete well tomorrow, but a little fun would be okay.” Paolo
tried to look innocent, but the way Savannah gave him a disbelieving look made
it clear she didn’t believe the act.

“How about this? I’ll stay if you’d like me to, but no sex
until after you compete tomorrow.”

Since it was a one-day event, her suggestion sounded pretty
doable to him. “That is a good deal.”

“Glad you agree. I’m going to run back to my room for some
stuff.” She let herself out of the room after grabbing his room key, and he
took off his boots so he could get ready for bed. The idea of simply sleeping
with a woman hadn’t been real tempting in the past, but Savannah centered him.
Sleeping with an arm wrapped around her seemed like the most natural thing in
the world. By the time Savannah returned, Paolo was drifting into sleep, and
when she climbed in next to him, he barely remembered pulling her into his body
before losing the battle with consciousness.

* * * * *

Savannah woke slowly, feeling warm and comfortable and,
weirdly, safe. When her brain started to function a little she realized
why—Paolo had tucked her right into him. The man was like a furnace, and the
strong arm stretched over her waist made her feel as if nothing could touch
her. It was an illusion, but she held tight to it anyway.

Paolo shifted behind her. “Morning,
cara
.”

“Good morning. It’ll be better with coffee though.”

A sleep-roughened chuckle rumbled from behind her. “I will
get you some coffee.”

She shifted to look at him. “I can just brew some with the
little pot in the room.”

The look on his face was priceless. “No, don’t do that. I’m
not a big fan of coffee, but even I know the stuff that comes out of those
coffeemakers is very bad. There’s a coffee shop in the lobby. I’ll put on jeans
and go get you some.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It’s no problem.”

“Hey, do me a favor. Put on a shirt too. I don’t need a
flood of women following you back to the room.” She stuck her tongue out at
him.

“Careful or I may do something with your tongue,” Paolo
teased.

“Caffeine first.”

With an amused noise, Paolo rose and grabbed his jeans from
the chair by the window. After striding to his suitcase, he grabbed a t-shirt
and put it on before picking up his room key and wallet.

“Back soon.”

“I’ll get in the shower.”

“Without me? When I am leaving my warm bed to get you
coffee?”

Savannah snorted. “Fine, I’ll wait.”

While Paolo was gone, Savannah rifled through the stuff
she’d grabbed last night so she’d be ready to shower after unhinging her jaw to
get the coffee into her system in the quickest manner. She also took the
opportunity to brush her teeth and rinse her mouth well so her coffee wouldn’t
taste gross. Ten minutes later, Paolo was back with a small coffee for him and
a large for her. “It’s hot.”

Shrugging, Savannah said, “Doesn’t bother me. I think my
tongue has no pain receptors left after chugging hot coffee all the way through
school.”

They sat and drank their coffees in silence for a few
moments and then Savannah brought hers into the bathroom. Paolo followed.

“You weren’t going to get in by yourself, were you?”

“Of course not. But you better hurry.” Savannah turned the
water on after pulling the shower curtain back. It was hot quickly and she
shucked her sleepwear before climbing into the shower. Paolo was right behind
her.

“I will wash you.”

Savannah slanted him a look. “We’ll never get out of here if
we start that stuff.”

“We’ve got a little time.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.” He must’ve noticed her grin, because he added,
“Why?”

“Just filing away the information for future reference.”

Each concentrated on getting themselves clean, occasionally
running a hand over the other. Savannah was keeping one eye on Paolo though,
and when he rinsed off she dropped to her knees.

He looked down, his eyes wide. “What are you doing?”

“This.” She took his half-hard cock into her mouth. It was
true she’d said no sex until he competed, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t
have a little fun.

Paolo groaned. “
Amante
, you are so good.”

That didn’t seem to require a response so she didn’t give
one, instead concentrating on swirling her tongue around his rapidly hardening
dick and listening to his resulting moans and groans. For a guy who was overall
pretty quiet, he was sure vocal in bed, but that didn’t bother her. She’d
rather have that than some silent, brooding guy.

To her surprise, Paolo lasted a couple of minutes before he
started to shake. “If you do not want me to come in your mouth you need to
stop.”

She shook her head as best she could around his cock and
with a grunt, his legs locked and he shot, his head thumping against the tiles
on the side of the shower. Savannah winced inwardly, hoping he hadn’t hurt
himself. She could just see it now, Marco asking Paolo how he got a concussion
and Paolo trying to explain himself. Shuddering, Savannah concentrated on
taking everything he gave her. When he went soft in her mouth, she released him
and looked up.

The look in his eyes made her stop dead.

What is that?

It was more than lust, less than love. She rose quickly,
nearly taking a header out of the tub in the process. He reached over to grab
her.

“Did you get dizzy?”

“Yeah,” she lied.

“Let’s get you out of here and dried off.” He turned off the
water and grabbed a towel, blotting her short hair a couple of times before
sweeping it down her body with sure strokes. She just stood there and let him
do it, still too stunned to decipher what that look meant. Her gut told her it
was nothing good.

They dressed quickly and got some breakfast before the two
of them, along with Marco and Natalie, headed for the arena. Savannah was
feeling more comfortable with the riders and was hoping to not only talk to
more of them, but maybe even get a few to agree to let her take blood pressure
readings before and after they rode, whether they stayed on the bull or not.
While she’d love to be able to administer EKGs or some other brain-pattern
test, she wasn’t a doctor. She could do blood-pressure readings though, and had
practiced with a machine she was carrying in her bag.

She first approached Brady and Conner, who were hanging
around the locker room area since there were still several hours before they
were slated to ride. Both agreed and she took baseline readings, and then said
she’d be back an hour before they rode, so she wouldn’t be a distraction, and
that she’d like to get her final reading as soon as possible once they were
done. Savannah then took readings for Marco and Paolo. A couple of other riders
also said they could be test subjects and soon she had hopefully at least six
viable subjects. If she could find the same for the other sports and
occupations she was studying, she would have a reliable dataset.