She tries to tug her feet from my lap, but I grab her ankle and squeeze it firmly. “Be still,” I say in a stern voice, and suddenly she melts. I don’t think I’ve ever been so stern with a woman before, but from the way she responds, I like it.
“Luca, you’re a good time, but I don’t want to do”—she waves a hand between us like she can’t find the words—“whatever this is. It’s too complicated with our families, and I’m not in a good place right now—”
“Selma.” I love the way her name drips from my tongue. I keep my eyes locked with hers as I lift her foot and run my other hand down her calf. I graze my lips across her ankle and up the smooth skin of her leg, only an inch or so before I put it back down. “Stay with me.”
This time, it’s a command, and she doesn’t respond with words, only a slight nod that I might have missed if I wasn’t watching every inch of her. Before she has a chance to change her mind, I slide my hands under her ass and lift her from the bench.
“Jesus, Luca, what are you doing?” she hisses as she jerks her head around to see who is watching. “Put me down, you lunatic.”
“Not a chance.” I beam at her as I walk down the stone path away from the reception and toward the little villas on the property.
The hotel sits beside a lake, and the rooms are situated around it like private cabins. They’re modern, and the glass wall facing the lake shows the moon and stars bright in the sky. Out here feels like being back at home, and being here with Selma feels nice—really fucking nice.
“I can’t believe I agreed to this.” She says it with so much disappointment that it makes me laugh.
“I’m not making you do hard labor. I’m giving you a nice bed to sleep in until morning.” When she rolls her eyes, I smile wider. “Has anyone told you how adorable you are when you’re angry?”
“Never,” she says coolly, and she looks like she means it.
“Maybe you’re only angry when you’re with me.” I shrug as I scan my card to let us in the room.
“No, I’m generally annoyed with everyone.”
“So I’m not special. Got it.” The heavy door closes behind us, and she shakes her head.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“You have an older brother, Selma. How are you not used to being teased?”
It’s so late that the room is pitch black as I carry her to the bedroom where the glass doors are. From the bed you can look out across the lake and see the reflection of the moon on the water. If this place was for sale, I’d buy it up, but I’m not sure I’d be able to sell it.
“I am, I’m just not used to being teased by…you know.” She shrugs. “Men.”
I place her on the edge of the bed and kneel down on the floor in front of her. I take her shoes from her hands and place them on the floor next to her feet and look up at her. “So you don’t generally go to hotel rooms with a man you just met?” I slide my hands up her silky calves and over her knees.
“Um, no.” She licks her lips, and I smile at how nervous she’s gotten.
“I don’t know if you know this about me, but I like to win.” I move my hands farther up the sides of her thighs until I rest them on her hips under her dress. “And I love being first.” Leaning down, I kiss her bare knees, first one and then the other.
With me on the floor like this and her on the edge of the bed, we’re at eye level. I move closer so that she has to spread her knees, and I wedge myself between them. I reach around the back of her and grab her ass, pulling her forward so that her core is pressed right up against where I need it most.
“So keep on telling me that you’ve never done this before.” My lips are just a breath from hers. “All it does is make me harder.”
Chapter Five
Selma
I suck in a deep breath, trying and failing to get myself under control. I want this. My entire body is humming with a need I’ve never experienced before. What is it about Luca that’s so different? From the moment I saw him I couldn’t pull my eyes away. I’ve been around plenty of hot guys before and they never gave me a single spark of interest. Would one stolen night be so bad?
There are too many reasons I should say no. Not only because of our family and the chaos that it could cause, but because I worry about my heart. That’s one of the many reasons I keep everyone at arm's length. If I don’t date, my heart will always stay intact. My heart isn't strong, and I learned that early in life. If Luca hurt me, I don’t think I could pick up the pieces and put them back together again. After my mom died, I’m not even sure they’re in the right places anymore. At times I can still feel the ache in the place where she’s missing.