27
From the moment their lips had met for their second kiss in the quarter, they’d only broken their furious make-out session once. Once, after being startled by a catcall-whistle echoing down the Grand Canal. After catching sight of the whistler—a middle-aged Italian man hanging from the fifth-floor balcony of his waterside apartment building, watching their make-out session with a beaming smile on his face—Mia and Linc had instantly swum off, cheeks heated in embarrassment. Their moment of chagrin had been short-lived, however, and even with their unsolicited audience-of-one waving them adieu as they swam away, they hadn’t even made it out of his line of sight before their lips had found each other’s once more.
By the time Linc climbed the winding staircase back up to their room and kicked the door open—Mia still wrapped in his arms—their battling lips had damn near fused into one. With every stroke of her full, pink lips, every sweep of her soft tongue, and every hungry nibble of her teeth as she took his top lip, then bottom, into her mouth, Linc waited for the butterflies assaulting his stomach to slow. For the sweet smell of her skin and hair to stop sending lightning shards flashing through his body. For her smooth skin, her plump breasts, and her hard nipples, brushing against his chest, to stop making his dick jump and flinch in its desperation to be encased in any part of her body she allowed—between her breasts, beyond her lips, and most enticingly of all, deep inside the warm channel between her spread legs still wrapped around his waist. He waited for his body to get used to the sweet moans that left her spread lips and entered his body as they tilted their heads back and forth, desperate to deepen a kiss that was already as fast and furious as it could get.
But his heart only beat faster with every kiss. His fingers only dug deeper into every new expanse of her wet skin he touched. His aching cock only grew longer and harder, every time he thought about sinking deep inside of her. The first woman he’d had in…
He groaned into their kiss, clawing her wet hair almost violently because it had been way too long. He worried he might hurt her. He worried he might break her. He worried it’d been so long he might not last inside her. But that worry didn’t stop him from stumbling out of the foyer and toward the bed with her in his arms. Only breaking his lips from hers to bury his face in her neck and suckle the skin there. The globes of her ass found themselves under his trembling fingers just as she cried out at the warmth of his lips and tongue on her neck. Then her hands were in his hair too, pulling, tugging. He hoped she’d rip a few strands straight out of his skull. At least then he wouldn’t be the only one of them at risk of hurting the other when the passion took over him. Rendering him blind to anything but the blood surging through his dick. Teeming with a vigor bursting to be released.
He moved his fervent kisses all over her long, slim throat, feeling her own pulse pounding against his lips. Feeling her squirm in his arms so the shaft of his dick was pressed firmly against the slippery velvet folds of her center, making it evident that she wanted him just as badly as he wanted her, and that he hadn’t been alone in the thunderous roar that had engulfed every aching bone in his body from the moment he’d laid eyes on her. From the moment he’d seen her pressed up against that window as her real captor savagely took her.
The memory of Mia’s face that night, up against the window, drew a gasp from his lips, forcing them away from hers. His sudden retreat caused Mia to gasp as well because there was no voyeuristic pervert hanging outside a window watching them to justify his breaking the kiss right then. One look into his eyes, her trembling fingers still sank deeply in his hair, and she must’ve seen them—the storm clouds that had stopped his heart in mid-beat. Mere feet away from the bed that they’d both been desperate for him to throw her on top of.
She cupped his cheeks, her voice strangled, broken, and struggling to be above a whisper past her own hammering heart. “Linc? What’s wrong?”
He moved his splayed fingers from her ass and stroked them up her back, searching her eyes, trying to will away the memory of the night he’d watched her up against that window. The way she’d been smiling at Malik. The way her smile had vanished the moment she’d turned her back. The way her entire face had completely transformed. From a woman in love to a woman in loathing with the man violating her from behind.
Would Linc be that man to Mia? Was this another ploy to use her beautiful body—and his utter defenselessness to it—against him? Would she allow him inside of her with a sweet smile on her face, only to scowl in contempt the moment he put her on her stomach and took her from behind?
Most importantly of all, if he made love to her tonight and her smile did remain, how could it possibly remain once the time came to make the trade for Emma? Malik was a despicable man, but at least he was honest about his contemptible ways. Would giving Mia up, days after he’d slept with her, make Linc even worse? Leading her to believe that whatever was happening between them could end in anything but goodbye?
The surprised confusion on her face only grew deeper when, in the midst of his thoughts, Linc allowed her body to sink slowly out of his arms until her feet had hit the floor. It made her lock her arms around his neck tighter.
It took everything he had to pull his head back, softly, when she came to her toes for another kiss.
The hurt in her eyes shredded his stomach to pieces.
But that only scratched the surface. He saw, at that moment, how deeply he could hurt her. How deeply he would.
So the words left his mouth before he could stop them. “I can’t be your superhero, Mia.”
“I’m not asking you to be.” She responded so quickly it was as if she’d already read his mind before his lips had formed the words.
“I can’t lose Emma.”
“I know that, and I would never, ever put you in the position to… to choose. I understand.”
“Then you understand that this can’t…” He cupped her naked waist with trembling hands, taking a moment to squeeze the skin as his mind profanely berated him for what he was about to say. Ignoring the voices screaming in his head, he pushed her away. “This can’t happen.”
Mia was back on him like glue, shoving his arms away from her body to make space for her to move back in, wrapping her arms around his neck and locking them tight.
His eyes fell closed when her pert nipples brushed his chest once more, her ample breasts heaving against his pecs, and her lips inches from his.
“Why can’t it happen?” she whispered, just as he opened his eyes and reclaimed hers, his green orbs begging. “We’re adults. We’re extremely attracted to each other. And contrary to what you’ve convinced yourself of during that romantic swim in the canal, I’m still the woman who jumped down a laundry chute, put a nail in your neck, and smashed a lamp over your head. I’m nobody’s angel. And I’m certainly no damsel in distress waiting to be saved by her Superman.”
He searched her eyes. “What if I wanna be?” He licked his lips. “Hm? What if I wanna be your Superman?”
“You can’t.” She came to her toes and kissed him softly, keeping her forehead pressed to his after she had pulled away, clutching the back of his neck while looking up into his eyes. “I understand what this is. I understand that, eventually, it has to be goodbye.”
“If we make love right now, I’m no better than him. Shit, I’m worse.”
She shook her head. “Don’t you see, Linc? You stumbled in here, making out with a naked woman who was wrapped all around you, a few steps away from a perfectly good bed, with her tongue jammed down your throat, and you stopped.” Her eyes widened as if she’d seen a ghost. “If that doesn’t prove what a good man you are, nothing will. Not just a good man, but a once in a lifetime man.”
They laughed softly together, and she moved her touch from the back of his head and down his chest. She splayed her fingers as she stroked her palms over his pecs, down his heaving abs, and along the deep V at his hips, stopping mere inches from his hardness, still standing to attention between them. She sank her fingernails into the sensitive smattering of hair just above his aching member, making the skin there, ebb and tighten, his body begging for her to move her touch lower. He took hold of her wrists before she could.
“Every woman I’ve ever cared about has ended up…” A lump rose in his throat, slowing his words for a moment, making it a struggle to finish. “Hurt… or taken… or dead.”
She bit her lip, big brown eyes widening up at him. “I’m not gonna get hurt. God, Linc, you think you’re hurting me when you’ve really given me the most amazing gift. I’ve never made love to a man I actually wanted. To a man I’m actually attracted to. For a long time, I didn’t even think it would be possible. I sure as hell never thought the man who’d kidnapped me would be the one to prove that it was… but he did. You did.”
He dug the fingers into the skin on her back, trying to pull her closer, even though she was already as close as she could get.
She brushed the tips of their noses, her voice softening. “I don’t care that we’ll eventually be split up. If this moment is the only time I’ll know what it’s like to be with a man because it’s what I want…” She clenched her teeth. “In the deepest part of me… it’ll be worth it. Something that I can carry it with me forever. A beautiful memory that I can revisit for the rest of my life. Maybe this moment, with you, will be my only chance to know that feeling.” She shook her head, making their noses brush. “Please don’t take that chance from me.”
He opened his mouth to refute, but nothing came. The sight of her, laying her heart on the line, just as emotionally bare as she was physically—he couldn’t speak. The response that her lean body, plump breasts, and mouthwatering nipples inspired in him physically was no match for the words she’d just whispered. What they’d done to him internally. They’d entered his body and rendered every word he’d just spoken—every word that had made so much sense just a minute earlier—completely obsolete, and he was leaning in once more.
Their lips met again, an enduring kiss this time. One that lingered long enough to take both their breath away. Airlifting them into another world. One that felt so far removed from the one they were currently in. Linc didn’t even realize he’d been moving her back toward the bed until she tumbled onto the mattress before him, her breasts jiggling as she fell. A warm, inviting smile lit up her face.
And he was on her like an animal, crawling on top of the bed while searing his lips to hers once more. Her maddening scent filled his nostrils and propelled his agony to another level, causing his insistent fingers to snatch and grab at her. Moving and flinging her body across the bed with ease until her damp hair was buried in the pillows at the headboard. He sat up to take her in, and she nibbled her bottom lip once more, spreading her legs wide, showing him the swollen, glistening lips of her channel. Showing him the evidence that her body needed him just as much as his did her. Encouraging him to take her. To take what would always be his and only his.
A tightening in his stomach moved him to her at the speed of light. He cradled one fisted hand on the bed beside her and seized her waist with the other. Yanking her body up from the bed and sealing every inch of it to his. She drew in a sharp gasp at the swiftness of his movements, spreading her legs to accommodate his massive size before locking her every limb around him, trusting him to serve as her anchor.
Their lips met again, tongues encased in a tumulus battle once more. Since the moment he’d thrown this woman over his shoulder, not a day had gone by when his dick hadn’t been as hard as a rock, and Linc couldn’t wait another moment. Reaching between their writhing bodies, he seized his erection with a soft kiss. Their fervent kissing didn’t cease as he guided the aching head to her wetness, gasping and moaning into her mouth, each of them bathed in turgid flames, pounding and yearning to become one. His stomach tightened as he slid slowly inside her, the tightness of her slick walls both fighting him and drawing him in. Each agonizing inch he sank sent a new shockwave of pleasure charging through his bones, and he dug his fingers into her thighs when it nearly became too much. His lips brushed hers as he whispered lust-filled words between each kiss. Words he couldn’t even hear beyond his own pounding ears. Words he knew had the potential to get filthier by the second as good as she was making him feel right then.
Not even halfway in and the first warnings of his orgasm were already prickling his skin. Threatening him. Warning that an explosion was imminent. That it had been too long and he had made a grave mistake in deciding to break his streak with a woman as incredible as her.
An amazed gasp parted his lips, leaving him unable to return the hot kisses she still feathered on his mouth as he fought for restraint. He managed to resist the impending ejaculate, tightening his balls by a prayer, putting Mia on her back and slamming his hand into her waist, forcing her body down onto the bed. Half of his dick slid out of her, and he gritted his teeth against the friction it caused, making the warm tidal waves splashing across his skin to grow in fervor.
The warmth of her fingers stroking his tensed arms as he cradled them on either side of his body made his heartbeat pick up to thrice its speed. Every muscle in his body squeezed tight, stretching to the brim. He slammed his eyes closed and begged for control. He didn’t just want Mia to come first—he wanted her to come hard. Harder than she ever had before. If he was the only man she’d ever make love to by choice, he wanted it to be as perfect for her as it already was for him. But her beauty was proving a real threat to his wishes at that moment. Proving that lasting inside Mia might be a battle hard won. Mission impossible.
She tightened her walls around the head of his dick, which remained inside her, smiling playfully up at him as if she was well aware of the mental battle he was enduring.
At the sight of that smile, he seized her waist like a man possessed, lifted her off the bed, and yanked her body forward, driving his dick as deep as it could go. They both cried out as he filled her to the hilt and he kept a tight hold on her waist as the pleasure caused her body to collapse in his arms, her back arching deep, giving him all over her weight. Linc didn’t relent, even as she went limp, now blind to the heat of her soaking wet walls as he propelled into her, tugging her hips into his, faster every second, a new incredible sensation filling his body with every thrust. Each hit felt better than the last, leaving him frowning as he fucked her, his lips parted but not making a sound. Utterly speechless in every possible way.
Mia clawed her fingers into the bedspread as he took her. Her throbbing center grew juicer with each stroke, the sound making music in the room. A room that had gone deathly silent outside of their hushed pants, desperate gasps, and slapping skin.
“Yes,” she whined, and Linc could only assume it felt as good for her as it did for him because her previously flaccid bones came back to life. Strong enough for her to push herself up onto her hands, lock her arms behind her, and drive her hips back into his. Her brown eyes, now hooded with her own naked desire, locked to his as she matched his ardent thrusts, her thighs smacking against his as she worked with him to reach the spine-tingling peak they were both well on their way to. Even as her face darkened with rapture, her lips still managed to spread into an alluring smile. “You’re so sexy, Linc.”
His name on her lips was like a sweet symphony. “You’re so fuckin’ beautiful, baby.” He clenched his teeth when she tightened her cavern around him, a heavy line drawing itself between his eyebrows.
She drew his length in deep and held him there, grinding her hips in a languid circle that pulled a strangled moan from his throat.
Then her name was on his lips too. “Oh, Jesus, Mia.”
“Oh my God.” A soft frowned crossed her face. Her whimpers moved to zealous groans. Her groans to fractured cries. Cries that rose in volume with every swirl of her hips. Her lips fell apart, more with every stroke, until her mouth was hanging wide open, increasing in size right along with her fiery cries as they ebbed to amazed screams, making her voice go hoarse.
Her already snug walls grew even tighter around his dick and then shifted like a seismic wave. So violently he worried her pussy might break him clear in half. It didn’t break him, however, but it did drag him right over that screaming edge with her as his hardness swelled inside her, stretching her to the tilt. The muscles at the base of his column contracted and his thrusts grew urgent, the heat and friction taking him to heights he’d never reached before. An orgasm so powerful tightened in his stomach and exploded all over his body, and he began ramming his hips into hers in at a bruising pace—with an unyielding force.
She took every hit like a champ, and her walls shuddered around him again as she rode her second wave, her limbs going limp once more.
With one last, ardent thrust, he finished inside her, a guttural growl tearing up his throat as his hardness twitched and pounded in the warm sleeve of her pussy. A new, startled gasp left his lips with every shot. Every surge. Every blast he hadn’t expected. Every aftershock that hit him when he’d been sure there was nothing left. Each one tightening his skin with a new realm of pleasure he’d never experienced. That he’d never had known existed if not for Mia at that moment.
Then, Linc collapsed on her chest, spent. They both released long, heaving breaths as the weight of his body landed on top of hers, making her sink deep into the bed as if the mattress was trying to swallow her whole. Mia tightened her arms and legs around his heaving body and kissed the crook between his neck and his collarbone. He felt her smiling against his skin, followed by a soft laugh. She couldn’t help the gentle chuckle that raced up his throat moments after hers, a white-hot relief he’d never experienced washing over his body and making his laughter grow. She must’ve felt the same relief—the same freedom—because her serene laughter rose with his, raising the ceiling and filling the room, fluttering out into the flooded Venice quarter that still awaited them beyond the open double doors of the balcony.