She turns in my arms and looks up at me. Her expression is soft, green eyes unguarded. The moonlight is catching the gold shards around her pupils, making them glow. She stares into my eyes for a long moment, like she can see straight into my soul.
I let her. I trust her. And damn that’s a foreign feeling.
Then she pushes up on her toes and gives me the sweetest, most heartbreaking kiss. It feels like goodbye.
Panic surges through me, and I scoop her up into my arms. A laugh bubbles up from her throat as I carry her back to the cabana. Much better.
I set her down on the cushioned lounge chair and press a kiss to her mouth before pulling a bottle of champagne from the ice bucket and grabbing two glasses. As I pop the cork and pour, I catch her staring at me with a playful smile. “What?”
She accepts the glass of bubbly and then her smile stretches.
My chest squeezes. So fucking beautiful. I stare, mentally taking a picture.
“How exactly did you know I was involved in the auction? Are you stalking me? And what did you say to that poor man to make him stop bidding?”
I fight my own grin as I fill my glass and shove the bottle back into the ice bucket. “Stalking is such a harsh label. Of course not. It was pure coincidence. And I don’t know what you mean, I politely asked him to stop bidding.”
“Right,” she snorts. “Just like it was a coincidence you were at the Metro Diner that night I was almost robbed.”
“No, that was definitely stalking.” A clink sounds along with her laugh as I touch my glass to hers. “To good memories.”
“To closure.” Her eyes lock on mine over her glass as she sips the champagne.
Internally I wince, not liking the sound of that. I grab her legs and drape them over mine, then run my hand over her warm, bare calves, getting lost for a moment in the pleasure of touching her. Along with the ocean breeze, it’s fucking heaven. “Seems like you’re doing well, Lennon. You’ve got the career you wanted.”
“Again… stalker.” She laughs lightly. “But yeah, I love my job, helping women heal and get their lives back. Though I’d still love to have my own practice. But the liability insurance is super expensive. One day maybe.”
I think about the trafficked Russian women we saved from the whorehouse. I want to tell her about them, she would appreciatetheir rescue, but again, I already know what she thinks about the mafia’s brand of justice.
She shifts closer to me. “What about you? Why are you back in Tampa?”
I slide my palm under her dress to caress her thigh. Her skin is like warm silk. She grew up around our business, our way of life, so I know she’ll understand what I tell her. But I don’t want to spoil the mood, so I keep my answer short. “We have a Russian problem here. I was sent to fix it.” I drain my glass and set it in the basket so I have both hands free.
“Are you going back to New York after it’s fixed?” she asks quietly.
I search her gaze, wondering what answer she’s looking for. It would probably be easier on her if I was returning to New York. Then she could go back to her life without worrying about running into me. But that’s not what she wants. I see it in the panic widening her eyes.
“No, Angel. I’m here to stay.”
Her teeth scrape her bottom lip as she nods.
Lifting the glass from her hand, I set it beside the basket and then pull her flush against my chest. Her head is tilted to look at me, so I grasp her chin. “La mia bella ragazza.” My whispered words touch her mouth before my lips.
I kiss her slowly, lazily sliding my tongue against hers, savoring every moment of our connection, every tiny moan she gives me,every jolt to my cock her hot mouth is delivering. If it was possible to stop time and live in one moment forever, this would be the moment I choose.
I skate my hand up her thigh further until I reach the slip of fabric covering her pussy. She’s soaked already. This time it’s me who moans when she opens her legs to give me better access. I slip my fingers beneath the elastic and through her silky, slick folds.
She’s already squirming in my arms, which just makes me bolder and hungrier. My tongue delves deeper into her mouth at the same time I push my fingers inside her, and her walls instantly tighten around them like a vice. My dick throbs painfully. I ignore it. This one is for her.
My fingers and tongue find the same rhythm, and it doesn’t take any time at all for her whole body to clench and convulse as she cries out with her orgasm.
I slowly slide my fingers in and out of her dripping, hot core as she recovers, watching her in fascination—her hooded eyes, her swollen, gasping mouth. Making her come could easily become an addiction.
I guide her onto her back against the cushion and lean over her with a slow grin. “That’s one, Angel.” In the moonlight, I can see the flush covering her face and chest, her eyes glassy with pleasure. I snap another mental picture.
Then I kiss and nip at her neck and shoulder as I slip the spaghetti straps of her dress off them, peeling it slowly down her body,revealing her perfect tits and hard, dusty rose nipples. “Mio dio.You’re so beautiful,” I whisper. “A fucking dream.”
Leaning down, I wrap my lips around one of her nipples. She arches her back with a needy moan. One hand holds me up, keeping my full weight off her as the other one kneads her breasts as I take turns licking and sucking them.
