Every nerve in my body was on fire. His fingers swam up and down my spine in caresses that had me shivering. Then he tugged me closer from the base of my spine, driving me against his hard cock. I groaned. A cruel smirk pulled at his lips.
“That’s right,civetta. Say you’re mine.”
I hesitated. I was, but only if he made the effort. I’d been hung up on him for too long already, with little to nothing to show for it.
He didn’t let me waver for long. The featherlight touch of his lips and the flicks of his tongue on my throat contrasteddeliciously with the pressure of his fingers around my neck. My need for him thrummed through every inch of my skin. If he pulled my pants down and unzipped his, I didn’t think I would refuse him. It didn’t matter how exposed we were. All that mattered was that he was mine as much as I was his. I wouldn’t compromise on that.
“Say you’re not afraid to want to be with me,” I demanded.
“I’m not. I’m not afraid of anything,civetta. Except not having you in my life.”
I stared into his eyes, searching for the truth of that statement. It was there, plain to see and all laid out for me, in the way his gaze was soft and tender, while everyone else saw only his hard exterior. It was in the way he held me, both gentle yet dominating. In the way he touched me to enjoy, never to force. I kissed him, falling into everything he offered.
“Let me hear you say you’re mine.” He sucked my lower lip, his hands roaming through my hair and over my waist, my shirt catching on his ring.
“I’m yours only if you’re mine.”
“Always. Say no one gets you but me.”
My hips ground against him, seeking him out. So good. The thrill of knowing he was all mine for the taking brought out every wanton thought I’d ever had.
“There’s only ever been you.”
“They’ve never had you?”
“Never,” I mindlessly said, chasing another high through our clothes. “No one has. Only you. You were my first.”
He reared back, his palms cupping my cheeks, eyes bouncing between mine. I didn’t freeze. I didn’t shy away in embarrassment. I was proud I’d waited for him, so I kept grinding. I let myself be as needy as I wanted in his lap, let him watch what he did to me. The way he unraveled was a thing of beauty.
His mouth crashed into mine. It was violent and demanding, deep and consuming. His tongue pushed past my lips, taking ownership. His fingers dug into my hips, marking them as his. His hard erection throbbed in his pants between my legs.
The moment I went for his zipper, he pulled back. He cradled my head against his chest and neck, shoulders heaving.
“Not here,” he muttered. “No one but me gets to see you like this.”
In the four times we’d been intimate, this was the first time I nestled against him. He was warm and firm, his shirt soft. His woodsy scent with spicy undertones wrapped around me in a soothing, heady shroud.
I smiled against him. If we weren’t in the front seat of his car, out in the open, I’d have happily napped during those delicious few minutes as his fingers swept up and down my spine.
“Come on,” he finally said, opening his car door.
It was a typical San Francisco cloudy day, but still brighter than it had been inside Renzo’s tinted-window car. The wind rustled leaves and branches throughout the park. The bright-green grass swayed. A dog barked somewhere in the distance. While the soft ting of bike bells echoed from every corner of the parking lot, the honks of cars and the screech of brakes were smothered. The air smelled fresher than in the streets, and the greenery livened up the gray sky.
“You still haven’t told me why we’re here.”
“I’m taking my woman out on a date.”
Renzo’s hand wrapped around mine. I glanced down at it, then back at him.
“You sure about this?”
“Absolutely. You once asked me to walk the JFK Promenade with you. Let’s do that.”
He remembered. It was in one of the hundreds of letters we’d exchanged. My eyes glazed over at the soft look in hissharp features. The first time I saw him, when I was fourteen, I’d thought he was one of the most handsome men I’d ever seen, all dark and mysterious. Now, his face was leaner. His cheekbones and jawline were more defined, and the start of crow’s feet decorated the corners of his eyes. If possible, he was even more mesmerizing than before. I smiled softly and gently swung our joined hands.
“Let’s.”
We strolled about a mile through a mix of the promenade path and the trails cutting through the forests and meadows. We kissed against trees. We picnicked and cuddled in the grass, gorging on tacos. We boated around Blue Heron Lake and walked up Strawberry Island to see the waterfalls. We even got the chance to sneak off the path for a quickie against a tree before carving our initials into it. It was the perfect date.
