LUCA
Istared into Veda's terrified expression as her fear washed over me in waves. Even after everything she'd done, I didn't enjoy the sensation. "Hello, amore."
Other emotions flitted across her expressive face. Denial. Anguish. Anger. That last one is the one that stuck. It only took her a few seconds to find her spirit. She tried to pull her arm from my grip. "Let me go, Luca."
"I told you to run," I growled at her.
"I did."
"Not far enough."
She pried at my fingers with her other hand, and I released her, only to shove her back up against the door with my forearm across her chest, my knife open and the blade pressed flat against her throat. Reaching around her with my other hand, I turned the lock.
When she felt the cold steel of the blade against her delicate skin, she stilled. Her gray eyes grew wide and pleading. "Luca, please."
I searched her face for evidence she was guilty of the crimes I'd accused her of. But all I saw were her clear gray eyes and sweet mouth, begging for my kiss. My upper lip lifted in a snarl. "What the fuck are you doing here? Do you want to die? Is that it?"
"No," she told me quietly. “Of course not.”
"Then why the fuck are you still in my city? Why are you here, at my club?"
Her eyes focused on my left shoulder. She didn't hesitate with her answer. "I couldn't leave without telling my parents about Nicole. And I needed to do it in person. Not over the phone."
"And did you tell them?"
"Yes," she whispered as tears pooled in her eyes. "Today." I stared, fascinated, as they became as luminescent as the Mediterranean Sea right before a storm.
"And yet, you're still here." I pressed the sharp edge of my knife against her soft skin. Not enough to pierce the tender flesh, but just hard enough to get her attention. "Running right into my arms, no less."
Her eyes shot to mine, and I saw a flash of white teeth as she snarled, “I wasn’t running to you. Now let me go."
Ah, there she was. I smiled.
My eyes fell to her throat, then lower to the baby pink short-sleeved shirt she wore with frayed jean shorts. I could see her white bra through the thin fabric, the tops of her breasts overflowing the cups.
A sudden, sharp ache in the center of my gut made it hard to breathe. "Veda." Her name was nothing more than a whisper, but it contained so many things I felt inside that I couldn't name or explain, even if I wanted to. And over it all was an overarching need to have her writhing underneath me. To feel the softness of her breasts and belly against my chest and hips. To watch her as she came, when she was real and raw and completely her, and there were no secrets between us. To hear my name torn from her in such a way, I knew it was both a curse and a prayer.
I felt her drawing away from me, and I wanted to scream with frustration and need. "Luca...don't." But there was no real venom behind her words this time.
"Don't what?" I asked, my eyes never leaving her luscious body. I turned the point of the knife until it slid beneath the neckline of her shirt.
"Don't do this." Her voice was barely audible over the heavy bass of the music out in the club, even as close as we were. "I can't do this with you."
With a quick jerk, I sliced her shirt from her neck to her heart. Closing the blade, I put it back into my pocket, grabbed the edges of her shirt with both hands, and tore it completely open, revealing the "M" carved into her chest that still made me fucking insane every time I saw it. The urge to possess her—to prove who she belonged to—rushed through me, making my cock swell and my stomach twist with need.
My hands found her breasts as she tugged at my wrists. But it would take much more than that to make me stop touching her now. I thought I'd never see her again. And now she was here, her body cold and shaking against mine, her skin damp from the humidity outside, and the warm scent of her filling my nose. Fuck, I could practically taste the salt of her skin on my tongue.
I squeezed the giving flesh that more than filled my palms. Perfect. They were fucking perfect. She was fucking perfect. There wasn't anything about her I didn't hunger for. Didn't crave with every fucking cell. Her body, her mind, her sassy mouth. She both soothed my soul and fired my blood. She distracted me. Tantalized me. Made me burn until I could think of nothing but her.
I needed to feel more of her bare skin in my palms. Could think of nothing but the hard bud of her nipple in my mouth. A moan escaped me as I remembered the taste of her pussy on my tongue.
"Luca! Stop!"
I heard her deny me. Felt her hands clawing at mine as she tried to get out from between me and the door. But the words were far away, muted behind the rush of blood roaring in my ears and the frantic beat of my heart. My god, I'd missed her. Missed this. I needed to be inside of her. Needed the physical connection that was the only way I could show her what she did to me. How fucking crazy she made me. And how lost I was without her.
Yanking down the tops of her bra, I exposed her breasts to my hungry eyes. And then my mouth was on her, sucking one nipple into my mouth and then the other, rolling it between my teeth, Veda's cries in my ears even as she tried to fight me off. But it wasn't enough. Wasn't nearly enough. I eased the pressure of my hips, and my fingers went to the fastening of her shorts. I pushed them down over her ass and hips until they were on the floor around her ankles. Her virgin white panties joined them as she struggled against me. She could fight me all she wanted to, but I would bet my life they were soaking wet.
I wrapped my hands around her hips to hold her against the door and dropped to my knees, ignoring her ineffectual fists as they landed on my head and shoulders. My focus was on the sweet flesh between her legs. I could smell her arousal. Taste it on the back of my tongue. And my mouth watered like I hadn't eaten in a month. Using my thumbs, I separated the plump lips. She was wet and swollen, as I knew she would be, despite how she tried to deny her need for me.