CHAPTER 3 Tanzi
Rio pulls away from the hotel. ”Would you like to freshen up at my apartment before we go to dinner?”
Not sure how much freshening up is going to happen, I agree. I”d rather get messed up than more presentable right now.
”Send my address to Joni.”
I nod and do what he says along with a picture of the front of the apartment building in a well-maintained area of Palermo when we reach it.
Her return text is filled with scathing commentary about my common sense and severe admonishments to be careful.
My reply is a little short, but seriously? Does she remember those first couple of weeks with Dylan? Joni was not the soul of caution then.
Her next text arrives as Rio parks in the underground garage.
Joni: I”m sorry. You”re smarter than anyone else I know.
And a few seconds later.
Joni: Have fun and get you some of that.
Joni: ::wink emoji::
Joni: ::melting face emoji::
Joni: ::eggplant emoji::
Joni: ::taco emoji::
Unable to help it, I burst out laughing.
Rio opens my door and offered his hand in a move I associate with men like my father, not young professionals. But I like it. There”s a lot about Rio that fits with the old-world manners my dad drilled into my brothers and me.
He indicates my phone with a dip of his head. ”Do I want to know?”
”I don”t think so.” I know I don”t want him to.
He pulls me toward him, keeping me inside his personal space as he pushes the door shut behind me and arms the car”s alarm.
”Oh...I get the feeling, maybe I do.” His smile is wicked, his dark eyes teasing.
I duck around him. ”She told me to be careful and that I didn”t have the common sense of a flea.”
He leads me to the elevator and waits for the doors to close before saying, ”That”s not what made you laugh.”
I grin and shake my head. ”Sorry. Not telling.”
He grabs for my phone, which I not so smartly am still holding.
Laughing, I pull my arm back to keep it out of reach. ”No. You are not reading my texts.”
One strong arm pulls me into the hard body, and his other hand stretches for the phone.
I gasp. Our bodies are connected from chest to hip and the last thing I”m thinking about is my phone right now. Humor is replaced by fierce sexual energy.
He bends toward me, his mouth coming perilously close to mine. ”I did not bring you here for this.”
”Didn”t you?” I ask, breathless.
He shrugs, the European male answer to numerous communications. ”Maybe I did, but I thought my intention was to take you to dinner.”
”Not very self-aware, are you?”
The elevator stops and the doors open.
His gaze stays fixed on mine. ”Everything with you is different.”
”That”s a pretty broad statement.”
”Are you saying you don”t feel the same?” He steps out of the elevator, his hand on the door to stop it closing on me.
”I…” I swallow and then say quietly. ”No. I do feel it.”
Whatever this thing is between us, it”s powerful and we both feel it. That”s good, right? I”m not in this alone.
Only knowing he”s experiencing every bit of the intense attraction and unexpected emotion is also kind of scary. Neither of us is going to put the brakes on.
”So, you expected this?” He leads me out of the elevator with one hand on the small of my back into a nice, but not overly large apartment.
Curiously impersonal, the décor is a lot like a suite in a high-end hotel.
I turn to face him, very aware of the hand against me, remaining on my back, causing me to step closer and have to tilt my head back to see his expression.
”Not when you asked me to dinner.” Not exactly, I amend to myself.
I knew once we were alone here that the chances of leaving again quickly were slim though. If he doesn”t make a move, I will.
And I”m not a sexually aggressive person. Or at least I never have been in the past.
Like at all.
”So, this is not the norm for you?” He oozes masculine arrogance, clearly satisfied by that thought.
I want to claim I do this sort of thing all the time just to wipe the smug look from his face, but I tell the truth instead. ”I don”t have sex with men I just met.”
I”ve hardly had sex at all. But I went a little nuts with freedom my freshman year, when I was allowed to attend university without a twenty-four-seven bodyguard presence for the first time in my life.
So, not a virgin.
But not really experienced, either.
He takes my hat from my unresisting fingers and tosses it onto an armchair. ”Even on your last hurrah from university?”
”It wasn”t part of the plan, no.”
He examines me, like he was trying to read the honesty of my statement. I should be offended, but I”m not. I”m trying to read him too.
Is he a player?
My gut says no, but can I trust any body part of mine knowing how much I want this guy?
I have nothing to hide, so I let him look his fill. ”What about you? Do you pick up tourists for sex often?”
”I never pick up tourists at all.” There”s a ring of truth to his words I can”t ignore.
”Good.”
Rio”s gaze turns heated, scorching me with unmistakable sexual desire. ”I am going to kiss you.”
”Are you?” I whisper.
”I do not think I can help myself.”
”Good,” I breathe against his lips before they connect with mine.
I”ve been kissed before. Hello kisses. Goodbye kisses. Let”s-make-out kisses. Even I-want-to-have-sex kisses.
But I”ve never been kissed like this.
His mouth conquers mine with a confidence none of my fellow students have even come close to. Rio doesn”t just know what he”s doing, he knows why he”s doing it and where he expects it to lead.
His lips tell me exactly what is going to happen between us with devastating intensity, as his tongue takes possession of my mouth in imitation of what our bodies will be doing soon.
He might be only a few years older than me, but Rio is light years ahead of me in experience and sexual self-assurance.
And I like it.
A lot.
I move backward, his body guiding mine while his lips continued their annihilation to my self-control. Not that I want to hold back.
It doesn”t make sense. This sexual being is not who I am, but I have every intention of taking Joni”s second bit of advice and getting me some of that.
Rio is unlike any guy I”ve ever met.
I didn”t even know I could respond to someone”s kiss this way. That it could light up every nerve ending in my body and send them skyrocketing into the stratosphere.
Even if this is a one-off for him, I don”t care. I want this. This feeling. This intensity.
If it”s the only time in my life I feel this way, I”m going to revel in every second of it.
For the first time, I understand how the desire for sex could drive totally illogical, and even bad decisions.
He pulls his lips away and my eyes flutter open. ”What?”
Did I do something wrong? Did he just remember he has another engagement? If that”s the case, I”m slashing his tires before getting a cab back to the hotel.