Chapter 44
Luca
You’ve been lost in the world of Desolate Dread for two hours—time for a break. The monsters and nightmares will be waiting for you when you get back.
She’s beautiful. I realized that from the start, but she’s more beautiful now than ever. Not because she’s sitting on top of me half-naked—OK, maybe a little—but because she feels safe enough to, considering the way she used to constantly check that her sleeves were covering her scars.
I sit up enough to kiss Lara again. Her fingers grip the back of my head, and I explore her mouth first, and then the soft skin of her neck.
I can feel her goose bumps against my lips and suppress a smile.
She’s still sitting on top of me, leaning into my kisses.
Every single one of her movements has an immediate effect on what’s going on in my boxer shorts, which are getting tighter by the second.
My hands wander all over her back, exploring every curve and dimple of her body. Lara shivers beneath my touch, arching her back some more, moving closer to me. It doesn’t help my composure that the movement presses her breasts up against my chest.
“You’re breathtaking,” I whisper before lowering my head and taking one of her nipples between my lips.
Lara lets out a quiet little moan as I circle it with my tongue while my hand cups her other breast. I want her so badly.
Especially when she starts rhythmically grinding her hips against me.
I utter a low growl, gently biting her nipple, and her moan sends a shiver of ecstasy down my back.
In one fluid movement, I flip us around so Lara’s lying underneath me.
I slowly kiss my way down her stomach until I reach the waistband of her trousers.
Just like she did for me earlier, I untie her drawstrings, but as I’m about to pull down her trousers, I can see Lara swallow.
I pause. “Do you need a break?” I ask. My voice comes out all husky. “We don’t have to . . .”
“No, no,” she hurriedly interrupts me. “I want to. It’s just . . .” She shrugs. “It took me a lot of courage just to take off my top already.” She nods at her trousers. “My legs were affected the worst after the fire.”
“You’re beautiful.” I said those words to her before—a while ago, at that bar.
We ended up arguing, but this time, Lara doesn’t avert her eyes.
In fact, she holds my gaze, and then finally, she nods.
But I can see the way her chest starts to rise and fall faster, and her cheeks are slightly flushed.
I roll off the bed and hold out my hand for her. “Come.”
“What? No! I said I wanted to!”
Her tone of dismay makes me laugh. “I know, no worries.” I reach for her hand and pull her up with me. Then I place my hands on her shoulders, gently steering her toward the large, gold-framed mirror on the floor next to the antique dresser. “Wait here.”
I walk around her and pull the dark-green chaise longue in front of the mirror.
“Sit.”
“What’s with the commanding tone?” Lara scolds me with a smile, but she does as I ask. I step up behind her so she can only see me in the mirror.
“What’s this all about, then?” she asks, and her uncertain gaze meets mine in the mirror.
“I want to see you.”
“And you couldn’t do that in bed?”
I come closer to the sofa until my stomach presses against the back of Lara’s head, mussing her hair. I let my hand slide down her soft skin, along her collarbones and down to her breasts.
“Sure, I could’ve done that in bed,” I reply, leaning over her until my lips touch her neck again. “But I want you to see yourself the same way I see you.”
Lara reaches for my chin, pulling my mouth down to meet hers.
The kiss starts out gentle, slow, but as my hands keep exploring her body, she takes our kiss deeper.
Her tongue teases mine, and her grip on my chin grows tighter as my hand slides down her waist and all the way to her trousers.
This time, she raises her hips, and I break the kiss to walk around the sofa.
“May I?”
She nods, and I tug the tracksuit trousers off her legs, tossing them in the general direction of the bed.
Lara wearing nothing but her briefs is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
She pulls me close with an air of impatience that makes me laugh.
But my laughter dies in my throat when she wraps her legs around me, pressing me closer.
I’m rock-hard for her. Lara seems to notice too, because she lets out a little moan, and her eyes find mine.
Her pupils are wide, and the desire I see in them turns me on more than I’m willing to admit.
With one hand, I push myself up on the sofa, and my other hand wanders over to her briefs, yanking them down impatiently.
A moment later, my fingers dip into her wetness.
Lara sighs quietly, tilting her head back.
Her breath comes faster, and as I circle her clit, she digs her fingers into the dark-green upholstery fabric.
“Fuck.” Her voice sounds strangled, and it breaks the moment I slide a finger inside her.
Her hands grip my back, pulling me closer to her.
I can feel her hardened nipples against my chest, and her panting breath tickles my ear.
Lara arches up to meet me and lets out another little moan, which makes my boxer shorts twitch.
I add another finger, and I can feel the tension building in her body. Her movements become more intense, her breath comes faster, and she leans into each one of my own movements.
“Luca.” Her voice is nothing but a gasp now, and the way she says my name nearly drives me insane. I can feel her tightening around my fingers, her body begging for release—but then she suddenly braces her hands against my shoulders, pushing me up and away.
“I want you. All the way.”