Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
It took me several hours before I was able to fall asleep last night.
When Raina and I arrived back at the hotel, the tension was so thick, you’d need a goddamn machete to cut through it. The entire two-hour drive, I stewed over our kiss, and the fact she’d all but used me to prove a point.
Fuck—that kiss.
I can’t stop thinking about it.
My cock’s been hard ever since, even after jacking off in the shower with her name on my lips.
I want more. I want her.
The night turned to morning excruciatingly slow, both of us tossing and turning, but too stubborn to talk about the elephant in the room, or God forbid, do something about it.
Now, in the light of day, half of me wants to say fuck it all. Who cares if she’s my sister's best friend? Hell, Vinnie will try to force us down the aisle if she finds out I have any sort of semblance of feelings for Raina.
But the other half—the logical half—is holding up a bright red stop sign like a manifestation of a crossing guard.
She’s my client. I’d be breaking my code of ethics.
That alone should be enough to stop me, but as it’s obviously not, I need to remind myself that I’ve purposely avoided her for years.
Why?
At this point, I don’t even remember.
We’ve been on the road for an hour and a half, on our way back out to Ribera del Duero and to the small church where Javier’s father’s service will be held in conjunction with a full mass.
The last thing I want to do is be in attendance, but somehow, although Raina’s spoken less than six sentences to me since last night, she was able to make me promise I’ll stay.
And like a sucker, I agreed, because as much as I hate to admit it to myself, I’m finding it extremely hard to resist her.
Glancing over, the urge to touch her again is uncontrollable.
She’s wearing a black dress for the funeral that inches up every time she shifts in her seat, and the same black thigh-high boots from yesterday.
It’s driving me wild, along with the floral perfume she’s spritzed on herself, and the way she’s left her hair down in loose curls.
The combination is lethal, and with every moment that passes, I find fewer reasons to keep my composure.
From where it rests in the center cupholder, my phone vibrates, illuminating an incoming message.
Keeping one hand on the wheel, I reach for it and swipe my thumb across the screen, pulling up Sully’s response to the message I sent him earlier.
Sully
Yeah, no problem, Lu-Lu. I can have the jet out there tonight. Around 11 p.m. your time.
But before I agree to it, I want an explanation as to why you’re even in Spain.
Sully and that ridiculous nickname. I shake my head.
My eyes stay on the road as I respond to him quickly, typing out my message with memory of where each letter is on the touch keyboard.
Business. Tonight is great. Thanks.
Sully’s message appears before I can even put my phone down, then more appear in rapid succession.
Sully
What business?
Wait. Wasn’t Raina just in Spain?
SHE WAS! She went after we all had dinner.
Wait a damn minute.
ARE YOU IN SPAIN WITH RAINA?
I mutter a curse under my breath as I realize Sully’s connecting the dots.
Lu-Lu, is Raina your client?
But you’re a divorce attorney…
IS RAINA MARRIED?!
Christ have fucking mercy. I can’t even formulate a response because he’s texting me so quickly, and I should be more annoyed than I am, but I’m not surprised. Honestly, I thought someone would have figured out I was out of the country long before today.
With one hand gripping the wheel, I reiterate that I’m here on business, thank him for sending the jet, and ask him to message me the details when he has them. I also remind him that client-attorney privilege is a very real thing and he needs to keep his mouth shut with his assumptions.
Tossing my phone back into the cupholder, I lean forward to look above the windshield at the sun that’s just come out. The clouds have parted in one spot, and warm rays shine down from the dreary gray sky.
Acting a little impulsively, I veer off the side of the road and slam on the brakes.
“What are you doing?” Raina asks, startled. She looks at me like I’ve grown three heads as I press the button for the convertible’s top to come down.
“The sun's out. Yesterday you asked to drive with the top down, so we’re going to drive with the top down,” I respond plainly.
“We are?” She grins, and a giggle floats past her lips. Immediately, I want to hear it again.
While the top lowers, I spend those few moments watching her.
Why the hell am I resisting so hard? I want her. I want her so badly every piece of me aches.
I want to pull her close and re-do that kiss from last night, then take her back to the hotel and worship every inch of her skin until she’s so exhausted the only thing she can do is sleep in my arms.
I want to keep her close and tell Javier to back down because she’s mine, and not his, and never will be his.
She’s mine.
Fuck.
The notion slams into me hard, and I realize what a tool I’ve been throughout the years. Had I paused and really looked at the woman in front of me, maybe I would have stopped seeing my sister’s best friend and actually seen the woman she was—the woman she is.
I’m such an idiot.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Raina asks, searching my face as if she can’t quite figure me out.
Join the club. I can’t figure myself out.
“I’m not staring at you any differently than I normally do,” I argue, although it’s pointless. A smile breaks across my face and gives me away. She returns it, and I feel like she can see through my soul in that moment.
Bare. Transparent.
It’s jarring, but for the first time in my life, I feel like I want to let my guard down. I want to let my guard down for her.
“Okay,” she retorts sarcastically.
Pulling back onto the road, the wind slices through us, enveloping us within its crisp temperature, reminding us it’s November.
“If you get cold, let me know and I’ll pull over again,” I tell her, resting my wrist on top of the steering wheel casually.
“No way. I love this,” she breathes, putting her hands up overhead so she can really feel the air.
For the first time this weekend, she looks immensely happy, and I love knowing I’m the one who contributed to her feeling that way.
After a few more minutes of driving, she unzips her boots and kicks them off onto the floorboard before unbuckling her seatbelt. When she grips the edge of the windshield and begins to lift herself, I finally question what she’s doing.
Instead of answering, she grins wickedly at me and places one foot on the side edge of my seat and one on hers, so that she’s straddling the center console as she holds onto the top of the car.
“Raina, this isn’t safe,” I chastise, and my eyes dart over to her legs as she stands so damn close in her delicate black thigh-high socks. Her dress floats behind from the wind, exposing more of her thighs, and I have to shift in my seat. “Sit down.”
“No!” She giggles, and there’s that damn sound again. It turns my insides, creating a fluttering sensation deep in my stomach. “Go faster.”
Taking in my surroundings, there’s no one on the road, so against my better judgment, I oblige. With one hand on the wheel, I press my foot harder on the accelerator. The speedometer climbs, and she lets out a giddy scream.
Lifting her hands from the car, she outstretches her arms and tips her head back. I can’t see if her eyes are closed, but I imagine they are. Using my free hand, I grip the back of Raina’s calf to keep her steady, but quickly find it was a big mistake to touch her.
Against all odds, my cock hardens more, and I have to shift in my seat to try and relieve some pressure without actually moving either of my hands. As a result, I grip her calf harder, practically using her leg as leverage against my own selfish need to touch her.
She laughs again, and it’s music to my ears, but for some reason, also my downfall.
My thoughts become jumbled with her so close.
The uncontrollable need to sink my fingers into her pussy and bring her to ruin consumes me. She’s like touching heaven, and now that I’ve had my own divine experience, I long to explore it more.
Sliding my hand up her leg, I reach the top of her thigh-high sock and toy with the edge. “Tell me not to touch you, Raina,” I demand through gritted teeth as my thumb ghosts the soft skin of her thigh. “Tell me I can’t.”
I make another mistake by glancing up at her. There’s nothing but heat in her eyes when I find her already looking at me.
“I’m not going to tell you that, Luce.”
Luce.
It’s the first time she’s called me that in months and damn if it doesn’t fuck with my head more.
Slowly, I bring my hand further up the inside of her thigh. “You still want me, RP?”
“I’ve wanted you for years,” she emphasizes on a sigh as my knuckles brush her core. Her panties are soaked, begging for me to rip them aside and plunge my fingers knuckle-deep.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she breathes, the word raspy but loud enough to catch over the wind.
Without wasting another second, I pull her panties aside and brush my fingers against her opening, teasing her.
Raina puts her hands back on the top of the car to hold herself steady as I push into her. She cries out, knees buckling when I pump a finger into her warmth. Arousal coats it, and I know she can take another, but her panties are in the way.
Not wanting an opponent in the limited time I have to acquaint myself with Raina’s pussy, I remove my fingers entirely and grab her underwear by the center, pulling it down her legs until they sit just a little higher than her knees.
As soon as I’m satisfied that they’re out of my way, I plunge two fingers back into her.
I smirk when she cries out again and tries to spread her legs more, as desperate for my touch as I am to touch her.