Chapter 10
“I’m sorry, for what it’s worth.” Tears stung her eyes, but Cora kept them in. “I’ll go to my room. Take a shower. Try to… maybe you should go…” Yet, the way she was looking at Paolo, her body aching with needs she hardly knew how to cope with, it was clear to him anyway, that she didn’t want him to.
“Not your fault. Blame’s all mine. Hey maybe we don’t have to dive in the deep end like this. We could just take things really slow.” Paolo pushed himself off the table and locked gazes with the young woman as he walked toward her.
“If it’s what we both truly want, you and me, then let’s make it our choice. I want to be in control of myself. I want to be able to hear you if you say you want something or don’t want something. Full disclosure. We go into this eyes wide open knowing that things could get hairy? Either way you should know I’m all in,” he asked, reaching out and stroking the side of Cora’s face, seeing the riotous mix of emotions in the her.
“You’d do that for me?” Cora’s voice shook a little as she stared into Paolo’s eyes, so many questions in her own. “We could pretend you aren’t the jerk who stole my heart under false pretenses,” she gave a small laugh. “That we met at a tavern, like you said.”
She turned her face, brushing her lips over Paolo’s knuckles, the way the guy had done to her. “Maybe I whispered in your ear. Maybe you followed me home.”
“It’s your fantasy. However you want it,” Paolo said feeling the searing heat scorch his every nerve at just the brush of Cora’s lips. He knew Cora was scared, upset, and the least Paolo, the royal A-1 fuck up, could do was try to make Cora as comfortable with the situation as he could. “So tell me. What sweet nothings would you whisper in my ear?” he asked huskily, taking a step closer and resting his hand on Cora’s side. He took in the deep breath he wanted and let Cora’s erotic smell permeate and fill him.
“I don’t know.” Cora tried to think beyond the thumping of her heart. To remember the things Paolo said he would have whispered. She wasn’t sure she could pull off saying anything about Paolo’s ass. She took a deep breath, her eyes slipping shut at the touch of Paolo’s hand. “I… I’d tell you…” Leaning in, she moved her mouth over Paolo’s ear and whispered. “That I’ve never seen anyone more handsome. That looking at you makes me feel funny, right here.” She pressed her hand against Paolo’s abs, then sharply inhaled at the intense jolt of need that had her moving even closer, her body brushing against Paolo’s. “I’d ask if I could kiss you.”
“I’d tell you yes,” Paolo whispered back and turned his head, capturing Cora’s mouth with his own. Cora’s lips were like silk, soft and inviting, but fanned the fire she’d already ignited inside Paolo. Paolo wrapped his arms around Cora’s waist and pulled Cora up against him, sliding his leg in between Cora’s, providing Cora’s groin pressure, groaning into her mouth as he felt Cora’s heat press against his thigh.
Paolo’s kiss was soft and gentle. It had Cora parting her lips, and trying to process the dizziness she felt. A stroke of Paolo’s tongue against her lips had Cora clinging to Paolo, heat flaring within her, burning her up like a furnace. Paolo seemed to know, to understand exactly what she needed.
Memories of writhing in her bed alone, wanting, needing, but getting no satisfaction from the memories of him, fell away. Paolo was flesh and bone. He knew exactly what to do, and Cora felt safe even if she shouldn’t.
Wrapping her arms around Paolo’s shoulders, Cora kissed him back. She rubbed her vagina against Paolo’s thigh, a little faster, a little harder, as she started to get lost in her needs. She didn’t know if this was the right thing for her to do, but it felt really good. All she knew was that this was a controlled burn, maybe because she wasn’t fighting it.
Paolo broke the kiss with an effort. “Let’s move to your bedroom,” he gasped, his own cock thick and heavy with need. For all his good intentions, he had to start kissing Cora again, but he at least moved them out of the doorway, pressing Cora’s back against the wall.
His hands slid under Cora’s shirt, running them up and down her stomach, skin taut with muscle. Cora might have looked all soft and feminine but she had muscle definition too; and the contrast was mind blowing. He rolled so his back was against the wall, then rolled them again, slowly working down the hallway. “Oh God, fuck, Cora,” he breathed out between kisses. His need spiked hard and he reached down placing a hand under either of Cora’s thighs, lifting her easily and blindly headed down the hall, not caring, not even noticing when he ran into a wall now and again.
Oh God fuck Cora. Were those the more vulgar words Paolo said he might have whispered to her, in an obscure tavern if he did not know who she was? Cora wasn’t sure, but she knew how they made her feel. Hot. Needy. Clingy.
The moment Paolo picked her up, Cora instinctively locked her legs around Paolo’s waist. She didn’t want to lose any of the contact between their bodies. Thrusting against Paolo’s hard cock, her world spun out of control. “Mnn … no, other way,” she pointed out as she saw they were headed to Fridah’s room, and brought her mouth down on Paolo’s again.
She didn’t care that they slammed against the wall, or that it would have been easier and faster if she dropped down and ran with Paolo. But she couldn’t give him up, give up his touch.
As they neared her room, the pressure built inside Cora. She smothered Paolo with kisses, along his jaw, and neck, moaning when the flap of his shirt somehow opened, and he was skin against hot skin. “Paolo… oh God…”
“No delusions of godhood here,” Paolo said, nipping Cora’s ear lightly. Feeling Cora’s damp skin against his own, he let out with a need-filled groan. “I want you riding my cock, fucking my mouth, and a dozen other ways.”
If he hadn’t been flushed with heat, Paolo’s words would have done the trick. At the same time, Cora wanted exactly what Paolo wanted, saw them doing those things so clearly in her mind.
Running his tongue along Cora’s neck, the flavors of salt and spice assaulted Paolo, making his body practically vibrate. He gripped the back of Cora’s shirt and tugged repeatedly until he heard fabric rip. He tore Cora’s shirt free of her body and dropped it, the material fluttering to the wooden floor.
He slammed Cora’s bedroom door open and as soon as Paolo spotted the bed, everything blazed inside him, burning, making him practically writhe with need. He turned and fell back onto the bed, taking Cora with him, their lips never parting except for brief moments when they needed to breathe.