Page 62 of Nora
She shook her head. “I can’t.”
She leaned back, her hands pressed against the door behind her. Lucian had stopped beside her rather than at his own door. His whiskey-colored eyes bored into her. “Do it for me,” he said, reaching out and running the back of his finger along her cheek. Goosebumps raced across her body at his touch. In a flash, the fatigue that weighed on her turned to something altogether different.
Lucian’s pupils dilated, and she knew that if she asked, he’d join her in her room. In her bed. But could she do it? She cared about him. Probably more than she should. And in dozens of ways, he’d shown her that he cared about her, too. But nothing had really changed since she’d first acknowledged her attraction to him. Her life was still here in the US, and his was in Italy. What good would it do to fall for a man with whom she couldn’t have a relationship? And she would fall for him. She probably already had. True, either one of them could move, but that wasn’t what she really wanted.
“Nora? What are you thinking?”
She blinked at the question and very nearly gave an answer that brushed over the truth. But hadn’t she just been telling herself that she should have been more honest with Ben? That maybe, if she had, they could have made different—better—decisions? Maybe she needed to learn from her mistakes.
“I’m debating whether to invite you into my room,” she answered. His fingers twitched against her skin, and he turned his hand, cupping her jaw.
“What is the debate?” His voice was low, and a hint of the growl she hadn’t heard in over a week came through.
“I’m not really one for flings and one-night stands,” she said. “I don’t know what, if anything, you want from me—and I don’t expect you to know either—but I could fall for you. So very easily.”
“And you live here, and I live in Italy,” he said, finishing her thought. She nodded. His eyes continued to search hers. As they stood in the quiet hall, she became more and more aware of her heart racing at his touch.
“I don’t know what to do, Lucian,” she said. And she didn’t. She wanted him; her body—and her heart—were unequivocal in that. But her mind wasn’t convinced.
He tipped her face up with his hand, then slowly lowered his lips to hers. It was a gentle kiss, nothing like what they’d shared twenty years ago. He pulled back, looked at her, then dipped his head again. Only this time, he moved his lips to her ear. “Invite me in. Please, Nora.”
* * *
Nora’s alarm went off at eight. She snaked an arm out from under her warm covers and reached for it. Mumbled Italian curses came from behind her, and Lucian’s arm tightened around her waist, anchoring her back against his front. His very naked and willing front.
Last night, she’d promised herself that she wouldn’t regret her decision. She’d promised herself that maybe, for once, she could live in the moment. It was entirely possible that she’d get attached to Lucian in the days they had remaining. But she’d reminded herself that she was strong, and if she did get attached, she’d survive when they parted. She wasn’t looking forward to that, but she also wasn’t willing to give up whatever time they had together. She’d take what they had and be glad of it.
“Shower,” she mumbled.
His answer was to slide his hand up her torso and cup her breast as he placed a kiss on her shoulder. She reveled in the heat coming off his body and the way he touched her. She hadn’t meant to encourage him—they really did need to get ready for the day. But the next thing she knew, he was sliding inside her, and her focus shifted to the feel of him possessing her body. He rested his forehead against hers, his eyes closed, as if savoring every second of their slow and gentle joining.
She slid her hands down his back and arched up to him. “Amore,” he whispered, over and over. And when her body began to climb toward an orgasm, she raised her hands and ran her fingers through his hair, tipping his head up to look at her. To watch.
He held her gaze even as her eyelids fluttered with the pleasure. “Lucian,” she said, unable to speak above a whisper. He dipped his head and brushed his lips over hers, but then pulled back.
“Come for me, Nora. I want to see you.” He angled his next thrust in such a way that she was unable to deny him. Her body bowed, and she was dimly aware of her fingertips digging into his scalp as her pleasure washed over her.
“More, Lucian,” she managed to say.
He chuckled “As you wish,amore,” he said, then pressed into her one more time, sending her spiraling over the edge, every part of her gripping onto him. She felt him respond as her own body pulsed, and soon his head was thrown back and he called her name.
Nora loosened her grip on his head and let a lazy smile touch her lips. Her eyes had fluttered closed, and she was enjoying the feel of Lucian’s body on top of hers, of him still inside her. He shifted, and his lips touched her again.
“Good morning,amore,” he said. She smiled but didn’t yet open her eyes.
“Good morning, Lucian.”
He feathered kisses down her throat before dropping one more on her lips and withdrawing. “Now, I think it is shower time.”
She opened her eyes and glanced at the clock on the bedside table. They had thirty minutes before he needed to be on the training grounds. She could be a little late, but even so, she didn’t want to be too late.
“You first. If we shower together, you’ll never make it.”
He grinned. “It might be worth it.”
She shoved him playfully from the bed. “Go to your own room, where you have clean clothes and don’t have me distracting you.”
He looked about to protest, but he surprised her by leaning down and kissing her one more time. This time more deeply, more intimately, than before. “So you know, I don’t care if they know about this, about us. But I suspect you do. Not because you’re embarrassed by me,” he said, talking over the objection she’d been about to issue. “But because you are a private person.” She snapped her mouth shut. He was right. She was. She didn’t care to have her private life bandied about as she knew it would be if Collin or Jonah deduced what had happened.
