Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
An alluring melody overpowers the quaint church, radiating from the walls as attendees get comfortable in the pews, settling in for the hour-long mass and service for Javier’s father.
Keeping my hand in his, Javier rubs his thumb over my knuckles. “You are not wearing my ring,” he whispers beneath his breath.
“I—what?” I ask, prying my attention away from Luciano, where he smirks at me from the back of the church. If I turn my head, I have a clear view of him from where I sit, which I know he did on purpose.
“My ring,” Javier states plainly, and I look down for the confirmation I don’t need. Luciano’s ring sits on my finger, sparkling against the sunlight that radiates through the stained-glass windows.
My hand flies up to the chain around my neck. “Oh!” Pulling my hand from Javier’s, I unclasp the delicate metal and switch the rings, giving him a clipped smile once his is on my finger. “I’m sure no one noticed,” I whisper over the song being sung by the choir.
Peeking over my shoulder again, I find Luciano’s heated gaze still on me and have to press my thighs together. This is about to be the longest hour of my life as I sit here desperate for relief from this ache.
With a deep sigh, I turn back around and try to follow along with the service as best as possible, although I can’t understand a word of the Castilian Spanish being spoken.
Still, the deep baritone of the priest is captivating and keeps me from turning around every two seconds to check if Luciano is still here.
But I know he is. I can feel his eyes on me, and with every second that passes, I crave him more.
Finally, I can’t stand it any longer and need to get some air, or go relieve this ache in the restroom, or something.
“I need to use the ladies' room,” I whisper to Javier, and attempt to unlace our hands.
“Now?”
“Yes. I’ll be fast.”
He sighs with frustration. “When you reach the entry, take a left, and look for the door labeled ba?o de mujeres.”
“Thank you,” I tell him, then give him a quick peck on the cheek for good measure. Standing, I smile down at the couple seated to my right as I squeeze past their legs to exit the pew.
Curious eyes glance at me as I walk up the aisle with as much poise as I can muster, even though it feels incredibly awkward. When I finally get closer to the end, I look at Luciano, then tip my chin subtly toward the door.
He quirks a brow, but I don’t linger to see if he gives any other reaction. Instead, I push my way past the oversized doors and into the hallway.
Immediately, I’m shrouded in near silence—a stark difference from the room I just left, and for the first time since I got out of the rental car, it feels like I can breathe again.
For a moment, that is.
Exhaling, I turn as the door creaks open and Luciano slips through it. His gaze darkens when he sees me, and he trails his greedy eyes over my body as he closes the short distance between us.
Crashing his lips into mine, he brings his hand to my throat, wrapping his palm around it as he slams me back against the wall. The air leaves my lungs as he possesses my body, his mouth working with mine in perfect harmony as we sink into a kiss more perfect than the last.
His free hand roams my side, bunching up the soft fabric of my dress by my thigh as he lowers himself to press his hips against mine. “Can you feel what you do to me? Fuck, I want you, Raina.”
“So take me.” Pushing us off the wall, I bite his bottom lip and keep kissing him, using his tie to guide him further down the hall.
We bump into another wall, and the momentum takes my breath away.
Luciano takes my surprise to his advantage, deepening the kiss as he cages me in.
It turns even more frenzied as he paws at my breast with urgency, and a moan rumbles through him.
“I need you.” His kisses move from my mouth to my neck as his hands travel down my body. Grabbing beneath my thigh, he hitches my leg onto his hip and rubs himself against me. As he nuzzles his nose against mine, he growls, “Now.”
My breath catches in my throat as he slides his hand beneath my dress and rubs his knuckles against my clit. Reaching up, I use both hands to pull him back to my lips and kiss him like it’s as essential as the air I breathe.
And it is. Nothing will ever feel as good as kissing Luciano does. It feels like the moment you come home after being locked outside in the cold—warm, familiar, and so incredibly right.
Lifting me by the backs of my thighs, Luciano walks further down the hall with me in his arms. Pulling from his lips, I begin kissing his neck and run my fingers through his hair, still not fully believing this is happening. Seconds later, I hear a door being kicked open.
We walk a few more steps and suddenly he drops me on a leather chair. I have a moment to look around and realize we’re in some sort of office but barely catch my breath before Luciano’s back from locking the door.
Resting one hand on the arm of the chair, he tangles the other through my hair and leans down just enough to catch my lips with his again. “You drive me insane.”
His eyes lock with mine as he sinks to his knees in front of me. Reaching both hands beneath my dress, he loops his fingers through my panties and slowly pulls them down my legs. Once they’re off, he shrugs out of his jacket and tosses it on the floor, then throws my panties on top of it.
Slowly, he rolls up each of his sleeves with pristine precision, his forearms flexing with each turn of the fabric.
“Should we be doing this in here?” I question, giving one more glance at my surroundings.
“I’d say I’ll confess my sins later, but you’re a sin I’ll never ask penance for, Raina.”
My insides melt at his eloquent words, but he doesn’t give me long to bask in the romanticism before he slides his palms beneath my backside and pulls me to the edge of the chair. Hooking my knees over his shoulders, he flips my dress up and lowers himself.
A sharp hiss pushes through my teeth as his mouth suctions around my clit and he uses his tongue to massage the delicate nerves. He kisses the apex of my thighs like he kisses my mouth—sensually, and as if there’s nothing else he’d rather be doing.
“More,” I moan as my entire body begins to tingle, every inch of me igniting under his touch.
My back arches against the chair as he slides a finger into me, pumping in tandem with the movements of his tongue on my clit. Running my fingers through his hair again, I grab onto the back of his head and hold him to me, unabashedly riding his face while he brings me closer and closer to release.
“Please…don’t stop,” I beg. “Luciano, oh my—” Crying out, he pushes another finger into me and picks up his pace, my orgasm trembling through me.
“That’s it, baby,” he praises, massaging my inner walls. I tighten around him, tilting my head up to look at him. His lips glisten with my arousal. “Does my good girl like to be tongue-fucked in the sacristy?”
“You’re a freak.” I laugh, a smile overtaking my face as I slump into the chair.
“And I’m not done with you yet.” Luciano scoops me into his arms as he stands, then turns and sits with me on his lap and begins to unbuckle his belt.
Eagerly, I stand and watch as he lifts his hips to remove his pants and briefs, letting them pool at his ankles; then, without waiting for instruction, I crawl back onto his lap.
Pressing my knees as deep into the side of the chair as I can, I reach between his legs and grab his shaft to stroke him slowly.
“I didn’t bring a condom.” Remorse dances across his features when I align the head of his cock with my entrance.
“Don’t care,” I breathe, and lower myself onto him. He’s big, and I’ve been in a bit of a dry spell, so I let myself adjust for a second before taking him further.
My face must reflect the feeling of my body adjusting because with a tenderness I didn’t know he could possess, he pushes the hair out of my face and asks, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I nod and sink deeper. There’s a burst of pleasure mixed with a twinge of pain as I stretch around him.
Luciano’s eyes darken, and his hand slides down my face, wrapping around the column of my neck again. “Look at you, baby. Taking my cock so well. It’s almost in.”
Bringing his hand between my thighs, his thumb finds my clit, and he circles it slowly as I take the final inch of him.
“Oh my God,” I moan at the same time he hisses, “Fuck, baby.”
“Ride me,” he coaxes, never removing his hands from my neck or between my thighs.
With his grip tight, I bring my hands to his shoulders and let my body move naturally against his.
It hardly takes any time at all for us to find a rhythm, and there might as well be fireworks exploding in the background of my mind for how amazing it feels to finally feel him.
I’ve fantasized about this moment for so long, and it’s clear nothing my mind could have conjured comes close to reality.
With every slow descent I make, he lifts his hips at the last second to slam us together. Skin slaps against skin and grunts and moans fill the air as our bodies mold themselves together in a way that’s indescribable.
“I’ve tortured myself for so long.” Luciano leans forward to press rushed kisses against my collarbone. “Denied myself of you for years.” His hips jut up as he pushes into me deeper, removing his hand from my neck to grip the chair’s arm.
“Why?” I sigh, dropping my forehead to his. A sheen of sweat grows beneath my dress, between my breasts, and my body begins to tingle with the early signs of another release.
“Because”—he rubs my clit more, causing me to toss my head back in ecstasy—“I was a damn fool.”
“You are a fool.”
“I had every excuse under the sun,” he agrees, increasing his fingers to an unrelenting pace. “Come for me, baby. I feel your pussy clenching my cock like it’s made for it. Let me feel you drench it in your cum.”
Tugging his head back by his hair, I tell him, “You have a nasty mouth,” before I kiss him roughly, using my grip on him to do exactly what he asked.
Keeping the pace, I push myself to the edge, focusing on the sensations flooding my senses.
His kiss.
His fingers.
His cock.
I’m on Luciano overload and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.
“I’m so close,” I whimper, vaguely registering as he praises me with, “Good girl, come for me,” before I begin to cascade.
A slur of moans and curses fill the air as I reach orgasm, flying high on the way I currently feel physically, emotionally, and mentally.
“Goddamn.” Luciano chases his own release, grabbing onto my hip bruisingly as he thrusts upward harder. The chair beneath us groans as it jolts against the hardwood floor.
When he loosens his grip, I slump against him, chest to chest, letting my forehead rest against the cool leather of the chair. Our chests heave in unison as we catch our breath.
“That was…wow,” I finally find it in me to say. Sitting upright again, I push away the strands of hair that stick to my face.
“Yeah, wow.” Luciano grins, and for several seconds we stare at each other, almost in disbelief that we just did that, before we both start cracking up. “We should probably get out of here before we get caught by the monsignor.”
“Oh, God. Do you think mass is almost over?” I ask, finally coming to reality about where we are as I push myself off Luciano’s lap.
“No, I don’t. We have some time.” He stands, pulling up his black slacks. I can’t help but peek as he tucks himself back into his pants and fastens his belt while I shimmy back into my panties. “But, Raina, I don’t want to go back in there, and I know you don’t either. Let's leave.”
Smoothing my dress, I hesitate. “I have an obligation…” My voice trails off as he cups the side of my face with his palm and tilts my head back so I’m staring into his eyes.
“You don’t have any obligation to him. To a certain degree, what Javier is doing is emotional blackmail. He knows you’re a good person, and he knows you’ll do right by him. But you don’t have to. Leave with me, baby. Please.” A boyish grin overtakes his features, and I can’t say no—I don’t want to.
Something monumental is shifting between us, our feelings changing and growing with each passing hour, and what just happened between us catapulted things into high gear.
My heart soars when our eyes meet, hope sparkling in his gaze.
“Okay. Let's go.”
My heart completely melts when he laces his fingers through mine and tugs me to the door. Cracking it open, he pokes his head out to see if the coast is clear, then opens it all the way.
Smirking, he asks, “Ready?”
“Yeah.”
Breaking into a brisk walk, we make our way down the hall and out the main doors without being spotted.
When we’re both in the car and it’s idling, a slight pang of guilt flickers through me as I look back at the church, knowing that I made a promise to Javier and now I’ve up and left him in the middle of his father's service.
But Luciano’s right—Javier is using my kindness against me. Hearing Luce call it emotional blackmail struck a chord, and I didn’t like how it made me feel.
“Hey.” Reaching across the console, he grabs my hand. “You okay?”
“I am.” I smile, pulling my gaze from the cathedral. “We can go.”
Luciano pulls onto the road, and I sink back in the passenger seat, kicking off my boots so I can curl my legs under me. When I’m settled, he pushes his hand in between my thighs in a way that's comforting, holding me as he drives.
In a matter of hours, everything’s changed. It’s both exhilarating and terrifying, but for now I’m choosing to live in the moment and enjoy every minute of my time with Luce, because for all I know, tomorrow he could go back to wanting to keep things professional between us.
God, I hope that’s not the case.
No pun intended. Internally, I groan.
“One more night,” I muse a few minutes later as we wind through the open road with a beautiful view of the vineyards.
I’m ready to go home. I miss my bed, my friends, and Mickey-D. I can’t wait to snuggle that old man and share some French fries with him.
“Actually, we’re leaving tonight.”
“What?”
Luciano looks over at me for a second, beaming. “I arranged for Sully’s jet to take us home tonight so you can sleep on the flight.”
“We’re taking a red-eye?”
“We are.”
“Thank you.” I fight to hold in tears that suddenly threaten to fall.
Wrapping my arm around his, I rest my head against his shoulder, hugging him as best I can, while also reminding myself not to get too comfortable because this could all be fleeting.
And that thought terrifies me more than flying does.