Page 36 of Love Lessons
“Easy now,” says a low voice behind me.
“W-what?” I whisper, holding my glass out for a refill.
“That’s your last glass, contessa.”
“Why?” I squeak.
He doesn’t answer me until we’ve both moved away from the bar and out of earshot of our friends. He stops me in the corridor leading toward the den. “Don’t drink too much, sweetheart. I have lesson plans for you, but you can’t follow along if you’re drunk.” After delivering this ultimatum, he goes on into the den without me.
Lesson plans. I gulp. A quick glance at the time shows me that it’s only eight thirty. In the den, my friends are rolling aside a wall panel to reveal a movie screen. Heidi Jo and Castro flip a coin, trying to settle some kind of feud about the movie.
And I’m standing here like a zombie, wondering what Ian will do next.
“Here, Vera. Sit here.” Charli pats the cushion beside hers.
I shake myself a little, walk over to where she’s seated with her husband on a huge, tufted sofa, and plop down beside them. Others toss giant floor pillows down in front of the sofa and spread out happily.
Someone turns off the lights, and it gets quite dark as the movie comes up on the screen. It’sRoman Holiday, which tells me that Heidi Jo won that coin flip.
Audrey Hepburn’s perfect face lights up the screen. I’d forgotten the plot of this movie—a princess who escapes her official duties to frolic around Italy with Gregory Peck.
And the clothes arefabulous!
I begin to sink into the sofa, my head propped up in one hand. Sipping my wine, I toe off my sandals and relax my limbs. It’s been a long day, but I’m enjoying the movie.
Everyone else is, too. Charli rests her head on Neil’s chest, and I notice that he’s nodded off, his arm around her. It’s peaceful, and a gentle breeze blows through the room, scented of whichever purple flowers are climbing the villa’s walls outside.
Wait, no. That’s the scent of Ian’s cologne. As the movie reaches its climax, I realize he’s placed a chair behind the sofa and seated himself there. A few heartbeats later, soft lips graze the back of my neck.
My breathing hitches, and I have goosebumps, waiting to find out what he’ll do next. I can sense the heat of his body behind me. Anticipation builds inside my belly. But I don’t turn around. I don’t want to draw attention to myself.
My busy thoughts recede as those sultry lips find the back of my neck again. Since I’ve forgotten to breathe, the contact makes me let out a windy gasp. My eyes dart to the side to see if anyone noticed.
Nope. All eyes are on Audrey Hepburn as she falls in love in black and white.
“Relax.” His whisper is so quiet I might have imagined it.
I make my breathing more level, training my eyes on the screen. And I’m rewarded by another kiss—this one slow and searching. My nipples harden inside my bra as he moves his hot mouth another inch and kisses me again. Then his tongue comes out to play, and he sucks gently on my neck.
Oh God. That’s so nice. I mean, it’s just a kiss, right? Just your ordinarysecretivekiss in the dark from a super-hot, bad-boy athletein an Italian mansion.
It must be the romantic setting. Or even the movie. That must be why my panties are already soaked. The man has barely touched me, and I’m this close to panting. I shift a bit on the sofa, propping my other arm on the back cushions, exposing a new spot for Ian to torture.
Which he does, on long, languorous pulls with firm lips and a wicked tongue. I try to breathe evenly, but all I want to do is whirl around and climb into his lap like a bonobo monkey. Heat pools in my body. And who knew that my neck was connected by electric wires to my nipples?
My eyes flicker to the screen, where Hepburn and Peck are kissing madly in the front seat of a car. That’s how I feel right now, too—wild and loose. I close my eyes as Ian’s tongue takes a naughty trip to the underside of my jaw. It goes on and on, wave after wave of delicious torture. Then he discovers a spot so sensitive that I have to bite my tongue to keep from crying out.
But eventually it stops. It’s just gone. I open my eyes, and the movie is over.
“That’s it?” Charli says, sitting up suddenly. “She just goes back to her own country and leaves him forever? They don’t end up together? What a rip!”
“Hey, I didn’t choose this movie,” Anton says from a floor pillow. “Nobody even got nakey.”
Castro gets up and turns on a lamp, lighting the room with a soft glow. He beckons to Heidi Jo. “Come on, honey. Time for bed.”
“I’m beat,” she says with a yawn.
I’m not. My heart is still beating madly, and I feel hot everywhere.
