Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Luca
I woke slowly, my head struggling to free itself from the grip of a nightmare. In the dream I was with Valentina at my beach house, playing with her in the blue ocean water. Then the water around her turned red, her eyes becoming dull and lifeless, her body limp in my arms.
Cristo santo. I didn’t have nightmares often, thankfully, but when I did they were never about the woman in my life. What in god’s name had brought this on?
Opening my eyes, I stretched my arms. Last night was fun. After the cemetery, Val had been insatiable until around two o’clock, when we both fell into an exhausted sleep. I came twice, her five. My dick was worn out today, not even showing signs of morning wood.
I peeked over at her. She was on her side with her arms wrapped around a pillow. Tangled brown hair was thrown every which way, her naked back smooth and perfect. I had a strong urge to move over there and hold her tightly until she woke up. It wasn’t sexual, either. It was an emotional need .
Luca, is this crazy?
It was clear what she had been asking. Were we crazy for indulging in each other, for developing feelings for someone we barely knew? Valentina was young, inexperienced. It stood to reason that she might grow attached to me.
But I knew better. There had been plenty of women—singles, doubles. A number of triples. We’d fuck for hours then fall asleep in an orgy of limbs. And I never had the urge to cuddle with any of them, not once.
But something about this girl brought out a different, gentler side of me and I wasn’t sure what to make of it.
I grabbed my watch. Cazzo, it was already ten o’clock. I needed to get up. Deciding to let her sleep, I edged out of bed and found my mobile on the nightstand. I had to shower before I went downstairs, so I crept to the bathroom, not making a sound. I closed the bathroom door softly and turned on the water to let it heat up. Then I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and blinked.
My upper body was covered in scratch marks and . . . Were those hickeys on my neck? I chuckled as I stepped under the hot spray. My woman was aggressive in bed and I liked it.
Bracing my hands on the tile, I let the steam and heat work on my sore muscles as the water poured down on me. I needed a cappuccino, then I had to check in with my brothers about the search for Segreto. But all I could manage at the moment was to close my eyes and stand still.
The glass door opened. A soft pair of breasts met my back and arms wrapped around my waist. “Hey, baby,” she mumbled sleepily into my skin.
“Amore mio. Buongiorno.” I turned and brought her close to my chest, my face buried in her hair. “I was going to let you sleep.”
“It’s okay. I’m a light sleeper. I heard you get up.”
A long minute passed and I relaxed, letting my mind go blank. She felt so good, the weight of her tits resting on me, her soft skin slippery and warm. My cock began to respond, thickening with every beat of my heart, pulsing, and before long I was half hard.
When I reached down to adjust myself, she mumbled, “There’s no way I can handle you fucking me today. In fact, I might need to sit in a salt water bath later.”
“I can’t keep from getting hard when your naked body is clinging to mine.” I cupped her tit and massaged the plump flesh with my fingers. “Ignore it. I’m not sure I have the energy to fuck you right now anyway.”
“Last night was fun.” She nuzzled her face into my throat. “Didn’t you think so?”
“It was very fun.”
Her lips nibbled my jaw. “Maybe tonight we can have more fun.”
I smiled and squeezed her ass in my hands. “You’d better believe it, piccolina.”
She eased away from me—and gasped. “Oh, my god! Your chest. Your arms. Oh, shit. Did I do that?” Her gaze finally landed on my throat and she instantly covered her mouth with her hand. “No, no, no.” Then she rubbed the skin of my throat like she was trying to wipe it clean. “I gave you hickeys!”
I took her wrist. “It’s okay. Don’t worry.”
“This is so embarrassing.” Her expression dropped. “Everyone will tease you. They’ll think I’m immature, a silly teenager?—”
“Stop.” I took her face in my hands and kissed her mouth softly. “Every man who sees them will be jealous, amore. And if it makes you feel better, I promise to hurt whoever dares to comment.”
“Well, damn. I don’t want that either.” She put her hands together between us. “Please, can we just stay in bed all day? We’ll hide out in your bedroom and order our meals in.”
I chuckled and let her go. “Benettis don’t hide. And I have too much to do today.”
“So do I, unfortunately. Ugh. I’ll never be able to look your brothers in the eye.” She put some body wash in her palms. “At least let me wash the scrapes. ”
I put my arms out at my sides and she rubbed the soap onto my chest, her hands working over my skin, gliding and skimming, and paying extra attention to the scrapes. “Do they sting?”
“No,” I said. “And even if they did, I wouldn’t stop you right now.” I was fully hard now, my dick jabbing her stomach. I loved the feel of her hands on me, the soft caresses over my torso, even parts I never considered as erogenous. But Valentina paid attention to every millimeter of me, and that turned me on.
She was breathing faster as she reached for more soap. “Now I’ll clean the lower half.”
While that sounded nice, I needed to get my hands on her. Standing still while she touched me was the worst kind of torture. I nudged her hands away from the body wash. “No, it’s my turn.”
“You don’t have to reciprocate.”
“I know. I want to.” I rubbed my hands together and knelt on the hard shower floor, water cascading around me. “Give me your foot.”
Bracing herself on the wall, she lifted her foot and I began cleaning it, top and bottom, between every toe. She had pretty feet, with painted nails and soft skin. They were inexplicably sexy. Propping her heel on my thigh, I started to massage her feet. I swept my slick hands along the instep and dug my thumbs into the underside. Back and forth, back and forth, gently pressing.
“Holy shit,” she breathed, her free hand gripping the top of my head. “You have no idea how good that feels after wearing heels all night.”
I could only imagine. I kept at it, applying pressure to release the tension in her muscles. Tugging on her toes to loosen them up, pushing on the ball and the heel. Then I placed that foot on the ground, picked up the other one, and started all over again.
She moaned and swayed on her feet. “You’re killing me.”
I was certainly in more pain at the moment. My erection throbbed, each heartbeat echoing in my groin. Why was I so desperate for her? I came twice last night, so it made no sense. When would this fever abate ?
When I finished with her feet, I washed her legs. Her calves were bunched, so I worked out the knots until she slumped against the tile. Water dripped down her beautiful face, her lashes dark spikes around her eyes. “Luca,” she whined.
I smoothed my palms over her thighs. “What do you need, fiore mio?”
“A very quick orgasm, please and thank you.”
Chuckling, I kissed her stomach. “I thought you were too sore.”
“I am, but now you’ve got me feeling things and I can’t go to work all horned up like this.”
Horned up? Dio, the way this generation talked.
Rising, I angled her shoulders until her back was against the tile. Then I braced myself with one hand, leaning in so we were close, but not touching. “Later. I want you thinking about me all day.”
“Pretty sure I’ll be doing nothing but, especially when I drive by the cemetery.” Valentina nipped at my throat. “God, that was hot. It makes me want to bite you some more.”
Chuckling, I stepped back under the spray. “Are you part vampire?”
“Maybe. Would you let me turn you immortal so we could be together forever?”
“If it means I can keep fucking you, yes.”
We finished in the shower and I dried her off with a towel. Then I wrapped one around my waist and headed for my closet. I expected her to do the same in the other bedroom, but she followed me. “Are you wearing a suit today?” she asked as I found a pair of briefs.
“Do you want me to?”
Using a band from her wrist, she fashioned her hair up into a wet ponytail. “I always want you to wear a suit. You look so hot in them. Though your pajama bottoms are pretty hot, too.”
Pajama bottoms? Hot? “Then, yes, I’ll wear a suit.”
“Yay! I get to pick out your tie.” Humming, she bounced over to the neat line of ties hanging and began sifting through them. I pulled on a dress shirt and absently did the buttons, my attention fully on Valentina. The towel she wore barely covered her ass and her long, smooth legs were on full display. I loved her legs. They were strong, with velvety soft skin, and fit perfectly around my waist as I drove inside her warm, wet pussy.
“Wear another dress today,” I said. “And heels.”
She looked at me from over her shoulder, and there was a strange expression on her face, almost like panic or worry. “Why? Are you coming to the restaurant tonight?”
“Do you want me to come in?”
“No!” she said emphatically—and my eyebrows raised in surprise. Instantly, she smiled and waved her hand. “I mean, we’ll both be busy, right? You should stay here and work on your things. I need to catch up with Roberto and Giovanni, then meet with the social media person we’re trying to hire. Place orders and whatnot. You know, restaurant things. It’ll be super boring and I won’t have time to sit down.”
My senses went on high alert. Valentina was babbling and trying to keep me away from the trattoria. Why?
“No problem, amore,” I said casually, though my mind was racing. “I’ll eat here and we’ll see each other tonight.”
She handed me a tie and kissed my cheek. “Perfect. I’ll go get ready and you can drive me in.”
Questions burned my tongue as I silently watched her go. I didn’t know why she was acting this way, but I would definitely find out.