18. Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Eighteen
Emilia
“ E nzo…”
“Emilia, please stay. I can see that our kiss has you a little spooked. I know you must feel conflicted by being here with me so soon after your father’s death, even though you know I want to buy the gallery.
And overwhelmed with everything you have had to do in such a short period of time.
It’s a lot. But let’s put that all aside for tonight and just enjoy each other's company for a little longer.”
I look into his eyes, seeing only sincerity.
My mother called me Emilia, never shortened it.
Ever since her death I have almost always corrected people, preferring Emmy.
But the sound of my full name on Vincenzo’s lips as he pleads for me to stay, sends little bolts of lightning under my skin.
The tingle makes heat pool between my thighs.
I know I shouldn’t stay. Things have already gotten out of hand, and I clearly can’t keep my head on straight around this man.
The alcohol probably isn’t helping, but our mutual attraction pulls us together like gravity.
I take a small half step towards him. “I really should head home.”
He takes a half step towards me, his eyes darkening. “If you want to leave, I can send for the car. But let’s have one more dance first.”
I step. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea after our last dance.”
He steps. “At least finish your drink first.” He nods at the forgotten glass of wine in my hand.
I step. “It is a very nice wine. Barossa shiraz is my favourite.” I can hear my pulse racing in my ears.
He steps. “Mine, too. After whiskey. But both taste better when shared with a beautiful woman.” His eyes drift to my lips, and he rolls his bottom lip between his teeth.
I step. “I’m not going to sleep with you, Vincenzo.”
“Say that again,” he demands darkly, as he closes the last of the distance between us, our bodies flush against each other, once again.
“I won’t sleep with you.”
“Not that.” He takes my glass from my hand. “My name. Say my name again.” He practically growls as he lowers his head until his lips hover above mine and looks at me like he wants to devour me.
And fuck it, I want him to do exactly that.
My breath hitches. My body ignites. I have to walk away right now.
But I don’t.
“Vincenzo.”
His mouth slams down on mine. I faintly hear our glasses crash to the ground, but it doesn’t pull our focus.
His kiss is electric, and when I feel his tongue brush against my lips, I don’t hesitate to open for him.
His hands cup my cheeks and tilts my head to deepen the kiss.
Everything else fades into the background.
The loud thump of the music becomes nothing more than a bass that pulses in time with the throb of my pussy.
My hands slip inside his jacket, first along his sides and around to the small of his back, then down to grip the belt loops of his pants at his hips.
I don’t know if I pull him closer, or me closer, but we stumble backwards in our efforts to stop even beams of light from separating our bodies until my back hits a barrier.
The bump causes us to momentarily break apart and search for the source of the interruption.
We have somehow stumbled our way across the space until my back has hit the glassed balcony rail.
I look over my shoulder around the space, but no one seems to notice us.
Vincenzo presses his body flush against mine again, his hard length a reminder of where he would like my focus to be as he pins me against the unyielding barrier.
“Vincenzo, we can’t. Someone will see.” I turn my face when he moves back in to resume our heated kiss.
“Emilia,” he purrs my name in my ear, then takes advantage of my turned head to nip at the skin just below my ear.
Lightning bolts shoot from the spot where his teeth scrape, down my insides and straight to my clit.
The sensation causing a full body shiver to jolt through me.
“Mmm, you like that, huh? Is it your full name on my lips, or when I do this?” he asks then nips my flesh again, a little harder this time, before soothing the sting with his tongue, eliciting a low moan from me.
“Both.” I barely recognise my husky voice as another jolt shoots through me and my head lulls back.
“I wonder what other spots I can lick, or bite, that will make you shiver like that, Emilia.” His lips and tongue and teeth move down my neck to my collar bone.
“What places might make you moan louder, or say my name again, hmm?” He pulls his hips back slightly to line himself up, then grinds back up into me, pressing his length right where I need it.
My moan this time is not quiet. “I want to learn what will make you scream my name.” His voice takes on a dark edge and I am fucking here for it.
I am spun so suddenly my hands reach out to grip the balcony rail on pure instinct. Vincenzo’s hands close over the top of mine to hold them in place. I’m barely afforded a second to gain my balance before he uses his foot to kick the insides of my feet and I widen my stance reflexively.
“Eyes front,” he commands.
I watch transfixed as his right hand glides up my arm and out of my field of sight, as I keep my eyes forward. I feel sparks across my skin as his hand brushes across the top of my back to the tip of my other shoulder, then back again, this time he gently brushes my hair over my right shoulder.
“I will respect your wishes and not sleep with you tonight, Emilia, unless you’ve changed your mind?” His breath dances across the skin of my neck as his nose nuzzles behind my left ear. It’s nearly impossible to think. Why did I say we couldn’t sleep together again?
I subtly shake my head. I have to trust ‘past me’, that was not all blinded by desire and need, to have made good choices.
“That’s okay. We can wait a little longer.
” His voice is hypnotic as he runs his right hand from my shoulder slowly down my side.
It pauses to gently squeeze just underneath my breast and my breath hitches, before continuing down to my hip to pull me back off the railing slightly, so he can run his hand across the top of my low-slung pants to stop at the front of me.
His fingers flick the oversized zipper a couple of times, teasing me with the promise of more.
“I have thought of little else but you for days, Emilia. I wonder, have you thought of me too?” His fingers grip the zipper a little tighter, using it to pull the front of my pants away from my body slightly.
He pauses, but I don’t move to stop him as he licks down the column of my neck, his hand mimics the downward slide to unzip my pants.
My breathing is erratic, and I can feel the rapid rise and fall of his chest against my back.
His face is buried in the joint where my neck meets my shoulder.
His erection is pressed tightly against my ass.
But he doesn’t move. I lick my dry lips.
The bass pulses through the floor, up my legs, to the juncture between my thighs, and I feel my pussy clench at nothing.
There is not a single reason in my mind right now to stop.
I turn my face slightly and look at Vincenzo’s bowed head against my shoulder. He doesn’t lift his face, but I can tell he is waiting for me. For permission. My chin brushes against his hair as I nod, then I turn my face forward again, back where he wanted my focus.
His hand slips into my pants and cups my pussy over the top of my panties.
My eyes drift closed and my head tilts back against his shoulder at the sensation.
His tongue laps at my neck as he grinds himself against my ass, the motion pressing us forward so that his hand is crushed against the glass barrier.
I push back into him and drop my hand from the rail to cover his, my middle finger presses against his, making it slip between my folds to grind down against my clit.
I release the pressure before pushing down again, encouraging him to continue, as I get lost to the sensation.
Vincenzo nips roughly at my ear lobe, my eyes shooting open as I let out a yip in response.
I try to turn and look at him, but his head is pressed against mine, so I can’t.
His hand lifts mine out of my pants where he then places it back on the balcony railing before he presses down on top of mine firmly.
“Eyes open and hands on the rail, Emilia, or I stop.”
I squeeze the rail tightly, with both hands and nod my head. “I understand.”
“Good girl.” I can feel his lips rise in a smile against the skin on my neck, before he nuzzles against it again.