“Yeah.” Luca pulled his fingers from my body and took a step back.
I turned around and finally looked at him. His half-lidded stare shone with lust, letting me know we weren’t done. Not by a long shot. Falling to my knees, I grabbed his belt buckle and pulled him to me.
He batted my hands away. “Not now.” He stood over me, his eyes telling a very different story than his mouth. “God, you’re so fucking beautiful.” He traced my bottom lip with his thumb, and I flicked my tongue against the tip, tasting myself on his skin, making me hungry for a taste of him.
Luca’s fingers curled under my chin, his hold tight as he tilted my face up. “Let’s get out of here.” He let go, moving away to give me the space I needed to straighten my clothes.
“It’s early, and I haven’t gotten to check everything out yet.” I tugged my skirt down unnecessarily hard.
“Then let’s walk around.”
“Yeah?”
He held out his hand for my bag. “Let’s do it.”
Outside the green room door, Luca handed off my bag and makeup case to Frankie. “Put this in the car, and then you can take off.”
“Got it.” Frankie didn’t spare me a look as he walked away.
“Bye!” I shouted. Frankie lifted his hand but kept right on toward the door. “I think he’s warming up to me.”
“I can see that.” Luca eyed my bodyguard with interest. “How’s that working out?”
“What? Frankie?” He nodded, and I grabbed his hand, pulling him toward the room with all the art. “He’s fine. A little weird, but fine.”
Luca laced our fingers together and brought my hand to his lips. “I’m sorry.” He placed a sweet kiss on my knuckles, his eyes shutting reverently.
Stopping in the middle of the gallery, I grabbed hold of his tie, looping it around my hand like a leash. “Stop it.” His lips parted, but I cut him off. “If you’re saying sorry, it better be for Valentine’s Day, not because you have someone watching over me to keep me safe.”
“Okay.” Luca was still frowning.
“Let’s go look at some erotic art and see if there are any new sex toys to add to my collection. Maybe something for you.” I yanked his tie, leading him toward the dealer’s stalls. Larger-than-life labia in vivid pinks and purple adorned canvases taller than Luca, and ceramic busts sat on the table beside them.
“That’s a lot,” Luca murmured in my ear, his arms wrapping around my stomach.
“Wonder if your mom would be interested in a more risqué design for the front hall.”
Luca’s chest shook with quiet laughter, his face buried in my stiff hair.
“Picture it. We take the portraits of Nonna and Nonno down and replace them with a vulva and penis.”
Luca lifted his chin at a particularly busty pair of busts. “Replace the vases in the sitting room with those?”
The artist looked our way, and I smiled, holding back my laughter. “I can see it.”
We weaved through the booths, eventually picking a few pieces for my office and a gold bust for our living room. Luca’s phone stayed in his pocket, and his full attention was on me. It had been a while since we’d had a night out. We usually spent our alone time in the comfort of our home, in comfy clothes or nothing at all. It was nice to show Luca off and spend time with him and my friends.
“You brave enough to go downstairs?” I bumped Luca’s arm, lifting my chin toward the line to the dungeon.
He laughed, shaking his head. “I’ll let you know if it’s too much.”
Downstairs was a very different vibe than upstairs. The lights were dim, except where they shone down on the scenes set up around the large basement. The smell of leather and burning wax filled the air, and music played, muffling out the hushed conversations of the spectators.
People stood clustered together watching the show, the newbies with wide eyes and mouths parted in disbelief, while the experienced watched with curiosity and knowing smiles. In the center, a woman was tied up and suspended from the ceiling. Off to the side, a large woman in a leather catsuit flogged a man tied to a St. Andrew’s cross. Small stations with candles, cupping, and electric shock wands were along the walls.
Soft moans and grunts kept my attention on the participants. Not completely sated by our green room romp, the scenes only heightened my excitement.
“We should get one of those,” Luca muttered to himself as the woman brought down a riding crop.