Chapter Eleven

Roxie

"Do you think I’m a bad maid of honor?"

"What?" Luca called from the bathroom where he was changing out of his wet clothes.

"Luca. Am I a bad maid of honor?"

I was staring at my phone where it sat, dark and silent, on the table beside the couch.

"Why would you ask that?" he asked as he came into the living room.

"Thea never called me," I said. "The last time she saw me, we were all running away from the rain and she didn't call to ask if I was OK or to find out where I was."

"It was only rain… and you ran into a building a couple hundred yards away. I'm sure she knew you were fine."

"But I hid from her when she and that resort employee walked by while planning another event to replace the clambake. Isn't that something I should be doing with her? As her maid of honor, shouldn't I be trying to make sure this whole week isn’t stressful for her and that things like this don't happen?"

"I don't think you could stop it from raining. And you said she wanted to cancel the clambake anyway, so you'd actually be doing the opposite of what she wanted."

"You know what I mean. I feel like it makes me a bad maid of honor that I'm not trying to figure this out for her."

"You've been with her for the better part of each day since we got here. I'm sure if she needed you, she would call you. She knows you'd be there in a second."

"I'm going to call her."

I reached for my phone, but it rang before I could touch it.

Thea and I had to stop doing this. It was getting creepy.

"Roxie? Did you and Luca go back to your cabin?" Thea asked.

"Yeah. We came back to change, but I can come back. Do you need me? What are you doing tonight?"

"No, no. Have you seen the storm out there? It's just getting worse. I'm glad you made it back to the cabin. I wanted to tell you to just hunker down and stay warm and dry tonight. The management is falling all over themselves to try to fix everything, even though I told them they really don't have to, and they said that they're going to do some kind of dinner buffet, but almost everyone has left. Personally, I'm hoping to get something fast to eat and then smuggle my boyfriend into my suite for some cuddle time."

I nearly choked.

"Excuse me? Did you just say your boyfriend?"

"Yeah," Thea said casually. "My boyfriend, Bryce. We have to be extra sneaky because he's getting married at the end of the week."

"That is both disturbing and adorable. If you're really sure you don't need me, I'll see you in the morning."

"I'm sure. Thank you. Goodnight."

"Night."

I hung up and dropped the phone back onto the table.

"Told you," Luca said.

"Actually, you said she would call me if she needed me. She called because she doesn't need me."

"Has anyone ever told you that you can be really difficult?"

"Unfortunately, yes.”

"I wouldn't say that it's unfortunate, necessarily."

"You wouldn't?"

"No. You can be frustrating as hell, but you're fun to figure out."

"I'm glad you think so. Well, now that we officially have the evening to ourselves, do you want to start our movie marathon?"

"Absolutely. I'm hungry, though. Feel like ordering some room service? Or we could drive into town for something and possibly not make it back in time for the ceremony. I think going down there for the picnic food was tempting fate."

I laughed and shook my head.

"No. If we are going to watch movies, we are going to eat proper movie snacks."

I could see Luca watching me curiously as I walked into the kitchen and pulled a canvas shopping bag out from the cabinet I had stashed it in the morning our luggage was delivered to the cabin.

"What is that?" he asked.

I dropped down on the couch and reached into the bag to pull out a pouch of gummy bears.

"Movie snacks," I said simply. "I told you, Thea has a thing for health food. She might splurge on some pizza or ice cream when she's hanging out with me, but there's no way that she would have a whole week of food like that, and especially not in front of anyone else. She's not going to encourage eating junk food in front of her friends and family. So, I packed provisions just in case. If I had been able to get to them when we were on our way from the airport it would have been a much more comfortable."

Luca took the gummy bears from me and laughed.

He tore open the package and popped one of the translucent little bears into his mouth. He chewed and eyed the bag.

"What else do you have in there?"

I looked down in the bag and started pulling items out, tossing them onto the couch between us. I had taken out a couple of chocolate bars, peanut butter crackers, hazelnut spread, granola bars, pita chips, and raisins before I paused, and looked up at him.

"I know what movie I want to watch."

I grabbed the stack of movies I had chosen and put one in the DVD player. Once it was playing, I went back to the couch and moved all the snacks onto the coffee table in front of us. I grabbed a bag of pistachios, took one out, held it up in front of his face, and tilted it up and down as if it was speaking.

"Feed me, Seymour," I said in my very best Audrey II.

"Little Shop of Horrors?" he asked.

I looked at him and nodded, bringing the pistachio into my lap so that I could crack the shell open and pop the nut into my mouth.

"It's my favorite," I said. "I know, it's old and a little cheesy." Luca was staring at me and I gave a resigned shrug. "OK, it's really cheesy, but I love it.

In one motion, Luca closed the gap between us, pressing his forehead to mine and placing a hand on either side of me, pulling me closer to him. The sudden movement startled me, and I slid down on the couch until I was almost lying down.

"I know," he murmured.

"You do?" I asked.

Luca nodded, and I could feel the heat of his body surrounding me, his heart pounding in his chest.

"That was the movie I was looking for but couldn't find."

I stretched my body slowly beneath him and saw his eyelashes lower as lust burned brightly in his eyes. Luca touched his nose to mine, measuring his breaths as if he was trying to control himself. I felt my lips tingle with the desire to taste his. He paused, brushing his lips against mine. I drew in a trembling breath as I ran the tip of my tongue along his bottom lip. Luca exhaled before dipping his head down and pressing his lips against mine. As I relaxed into the kiss and closed my eyes, I felt like stars were bursting behind them. Luca rested himself on top of me, and the combined sensations of his kiss and the weight of his body pressed against me, made me want even more. Suddenly the reality of what was happening hit me, and I pulled away from him. He looked down at me questioningly.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

I can't do this. This isn't real. Wake up, Roxie.

I looked back at him, unable to bring myself to make eye contact. At this point, his gaze alone was enough to take total control of me. I couldn't do this to myself. Shit. I was falling for Luca. I could feel it, but I didn't want to go any farther than this. I couldn't let myself get hurt. Not again.

"This is my favorite part of the movie," I said. "Let's watch."

I started to wriggle myself back up to a sitting position and Luca moved off me. I didn't look at him again as I shifted around to sit with my back against the arm of the sofa. I grabbed another pistachio out of the bag and focused my attention on the movie. I could feel him staring at me from his end of the sofa. Eventually, he turned away and started watching the movie. As the evening wore on, I relaxed more, letting go of the initial tension I felt after that first kiss. I slid slightly down and reached up to rest my arm on the back of the couch. As I did, my fingertips brushed along Luca's hand. I paused, leaving my fingers lightly touching his hand, and he lifted his hand, turning it so that first our fingers intertwined, our palms touching.

"I don't want you to think about anything but this. Right here. Right now," he whispered.

I allowed myself to focus on how our skin felt as it touched, on how much I savored the simple feeling of our fingers intertwining as our palms pressed together. I felt a slight flutter in my belly, as a tremor of excitement and anticipation shot through me. I hadn’t felt like this in so long. Maybe ever. Luca slid even closer to me and looked down into my face.

“Can I kiss you?” he whispered.

His voice, deeper than normal, caused my lower belly to throb in response. I knew then that I was fully under his control. I nodded, and he tucked one finger under my chin. Tilting my face up to his, he pressed his mouth gently against mine. It felt like an experiment, like we were sampling each other and seeing how far we were willing to take the feelings we were experiencing. I melted into the kiss, parting my lips, allowing it to deepen. The kiss lasted for several more seconds before Luca pulled back to look into my eyes. His eyes scanned my face briefly before he pulled me closer and captured my mouth in a deeper, more intense kiss. Our mouths opened, and I felt his tongue slip into mine. The tip stroked the inside of my bottom lip and then explored further. During our kiss, Luca had somehow maneuvered me into a sitting position, and pressed his hands on the small of my back, bringing me even closer to him. By the time his mouth finally pulled away from mine, I was breathless.

"I can stop," he whispered. "But I don't want to."

His voice sounded rich and husky, laced with a desire that was almost tangible.

"I don't want you to stop," I whispered back.

Luca kissed me again, his mouth trailing down to the side of my neck. His lips running over my skin until he reached the neckline of my sweatshirt. The tip of his tongue swept along my collarbone as his fingers gathered the bottom of the shirt to pull it out of the way. I lifted my arms to let him take it off and dropped it to the floor beside the couch. I could feel my breath becoming ragged with a mix of nervousness and desire. My skin tingled expectantly when his fingertips ran from my collarbone along my chest to the tight white camisole I wore. I hadn't put on a bra, expecting the thick sweatshirt would be enough, and I knew Luca could clearly see my breasts through the thin fabric. My nipples were taut, pressing against my shirt, begging for his attention. He let out a low growl and lowered his head, covering one breast with his lips. I felt the heat of his mouth through the fabric and arched into it. He straightened before slipping the top down over my breasts, so they spilled out. Cupping them in his hands, Luca leaned down to pass his tongue over the swell of one breast. He licked and nibbled my chest on his way to the other breast. His mouth closed over my breast, the same as earlier, but now there was no fabric separating my skin from the intensity of his questing tongue. Luca moved slowly and methodically, drawing my breast deeply into his mouth while tracing my nipple with the tip of his tongue. He released my breast from his mouth and moved on to repeat the same attention to the other. I wove my fingers in his hair, encouraging his ministrations.

I was melting under his touch. I needed him. My pussy was growing hotter and wetter with each passing second. He stood and pulled me to my feet before crushing my mouth with his. He kissed me with even greater intensity and pressed his body against me. His hard cock rubbed against my stomach and I drew in a startled breath. His hands came to rest on the waistband of my pants and my mind started spinning. This was really happening. There was nothing pretend about this, nothing mocking. We were both fully aware of what was happening and completely invested in the desire and heat growing between us.

Luca

“Tell me to stop,” I murmured against her lips as I eased Roxie's leggings down.

"No," she rasped.

I moaned low in my throat when I looked down and noticed she wasn’t wearing anything under her leggings either. There was nothing holding me back from exploring her luscious body. I had to touch more of her. I peeled my shirt off, tossed it aside, then rested my hand on the inside of her knee before sliding it up between her silky thighs. I softly pressed on Roxie's inner thigh to push her legs apart a few inches. Her pink lips glistened with need for me, showing me how wet and ready she was. That thought sent my arousal even higher and I couldn't wait another second to taste her. I lowered myself down until I was on my knees with my face resting on her thighs. A devilish smile crept to my lips before I took my first taste of her sweet pussy. My god, she tasted so good. As soon as my tongue touched her swollen clit, she cried out and buried her fingers in my hair. I took it as an invitation to lavish her with focused, masterful attention, wanting to know every inch, every curve of her body. Even though I had never touched her like this before, I had thought about her so much these last few days I felt like I was relearning something I already knew. When I could tell she was getting close to the edge, I pulled my mouth away and kissed up to the center of her belly, then between the valley of her breasts to the soft dip between her collarbones. Her skin was like velvet and there was a subtle sweet and musky smell coming from her body as her arousal heightened.

As much as I enjoyed kissing and licking her, I wanted to feel more of Roxie’s body. I stretched out fully over her and rested my forehead against hers. I looked into her eyes.

"Let me take you to the bedroom," I say.

Roxie nodded, and we started for the bedroom. When she was nearly to the bed, I wrapped one arm tightly around her waist and spun her around to face me. We stumbled over toward the bed and landed on the mattress. Roxie rolled me onto my back, so she was straddling me with her upper body draped on my chest. We both lay still for a few seconds while she looked down at me. Our hard, uneven breathing reverberated around us in the dark shadows of the bedroom. She dipped her mouth down to mine and pressed her body against me in a deep, passionate kiss.

The kiss spurred the hunger within me and I used one hand on the back of her head to hold her against me to seek a closer connection between us. Our tongues met, swirling and dancing with one another as we tasted and explored each other's mouths. Sounds of pleasure reverberated off the walls as the attraction and desire that had been building between us since we first met finally exploded into an all-consuming passion. It burned in the kiss, sizzled in how our fingers traced each other's skin. Her lush breasts crushed against my chest and I felt her nipples tighten even further in response to the touch of my skin.

Roxie no longer seemed nervous. I knew she was taking this for exactly what it was. This wasn't about expectations. She wasn't trying to prove anything, and I wasn't trying to prove it to her. I wasn't thinking about anything beyond the touch of her skin. I wasn't even thinking about the next morning. All that mattered was this moment and the purely primitive pleasure we were giving each other.

I relished her freedom. I had craved her since the first time I saw her, and I didn't want to waste even a second of it. I knew this wasn't going to change our relationship. The tugging inside my heart would have to wait.

I grabbed the back of her thighs and pulled her toward me, causing her to straddle my hips. My rock-hard cock strained through the fabric of my pants toward her. It wasn't enough. I wanted to feel her quivering body. I wanted every inch of her. As if she could read my mind, Roxie lifted her upper body and pressed back to nestle her hot core against my surging erection. She rocked her hips against me and her moan told me the grinding of those sweet, tender folds against the hardness of my contained erection was only furthering her pleasure. She pressed down harder, and I could feel her wet heat seeping through my pants. She sat up, giving me a full view of her body, and arched slightly to push her breasts toward me. I reached up and cradled her breasts with my hands, kneading my fingers into the supple flesh. The stimulation of my palms brushing against her nipples hardened them and she spread her legs further as if to seek out more sensation. I sat up and wrapped one arm around her hip, flipping her onto her back in one smooth movement.

I gazed down at her, stunned by how beautiful and sexy she was. She made no move to cover herself. Her eyes told me she was open and eagerly waiting for me to fuck her.

We forgot to close the curtains on the back window of the bedroom earlier, so even though the lights were off, I could see her body from the silvery moonlight and occasional flash of vibrant lightning that filled the space. The sound of the rain pounding on the roof seemed to create an even more private, indulgent atmosphere that made us forget everything beyond the walls of our cabin. She watched me hungrily as I pushed back away from her and stood at the end of the bed, unbuckling and removing my belt. I moved purposely. Slowly. I wanted to make sure I had every bit of her attention. I kicked them off, sliding my pants and boxers down in one movement. My thick, engorged cock sprung out and I saw Roxie's eyes lock on it. She licked her lips and I felt my stomach clench. She reached for me, and I moved forward over her, propping myself up with my hands on either side of her shoulders to give myself more leverage as we looked at one another. We spent the next few minutes kissing each other, savoring how our bodies felt as they crushed against each other, nothing separating them any longer.

Roxie suddenly broke our kiss and reached over to the small nightstand beside the bed. She opened the drawer and dipped her hand inside, searching for something. Only her fingertips could make it into the drawer, so I crawled up slightly higher on the bed to reach into it for her. My cock jumped when I felt what was inside. I withdrew one of the condoms and our eyes met. There was nothing stopping us now.

I knelt between Roxie's legs and used my knees to gently press them further apart. I grabbed her thighs and yanked her forward so that her hips lifted up and rested on my lap. I took a moment to calm down. I slowed my breathing and forced myself to move more gradually. I slowly, precisely, drew one hand down her body to glide my fingers into the soft, velvety folds of her pussy. I watched myself touch her intently, the sight of my fingers exploring her petals and dipping inside her beautiful body making me even harder. She drew her thighs further apart and I could see even more of her. I touched her more deeply and insistently, and it took only seconds before she was writhing with pleasure against the mattress.

I couldn't wait anymore. I stopped touching her and drew back. I saw a brief flicker of disappointment in her eyes, but it was quickly replaced by excitement as she watched me tear open the packet and position the condom on my cock. Her eyes followed my hand as I rolled the condom down the length of my shaft. I touched the tip to the top of her slit, using the silky fluids from our bodies to massage the taut, trembling clit I had coaxed forward from its hood. Roxie gasped and gripped my thighs on either side of her, digging her fingernails into my skin in response.

Roxie lifted her hips and I plunged inside her. I groaned deeply with the sensation of burying myself deep inside her, stretching her tight walls. I didn't pause. I couldn't. Instead, I drew back and slammed back into her even harder, eliciting a sharp cry from her. The desperation of the sounds pouring from her lips only encouraged me, and I gripped her hips tighter, holding them forcefully as I pounded into her with such speed and intensity, she was soon gasping for breath.

I plunged as far inside of her as possible. Each thrust coaxed out even more delicious sounds as I seemed to reach new, intensely sensitive places inside her. I closed my eyes, losing myself in the powerful rush of emotions I was experiencing.

The pleasure was so intense I could barely control myself. I heard my own low, rhythmic grunts get deeper as I crashed into her, harder and harder. I looked down at Roxie and saw her face tight with ecstasy. My body was rushing toward climax and the erotic fascination of watching her lose herself as I fucked her was pushing me even closer to the edge. She dug my fingertips into my arms and I lost control. I arched back, roaring with my release. My cock pulsed inside the condom against her aching walls and I slid my hand between us to stroke her swollen, exposed clit with the pad of my thumb. The touch set off her own orgasm, and she screamed my name as her pussy spasmed around my cock, pulling me even deeper into her, milking me completely, until we collapsed in the middle of the bed, exhausted.

I reached down and took the condom off, throwing it away in the trash before wrapping my arms back around Roxie. With her head on my chest I relaxed into the feeling of our slick, sweaty bodies melting into one another. I had never felt this peaceful before.