Best Laid Plans (7 page)

The flat buzzer rang and he quickly moved to answer it. “Amnesiacs Anonymous.”

Francesca’s voice sounded clear and laughing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Number 8b, come up.”

He waited the few minutes it took for Francesca to arrive with impatience, door open and leaning on the frame. Francesca breezed out of the lift, and a beaming smile lit her face at the sight of him. It had been a long time since anyone had looked at him that way.

“I brought sloe gin and ginger ale. One of those days.” She grinned. Before he could lean in to give her the kiss he’d been dying to give her since she’d laughed in his dreams, she handed over a bouquet of flowers.

“What, now?”

Francesca shrugged. “Centrepiece or something. Men never have nice flowers in their flats.”

“Oh God, my cousin’s going to call everyone I know and out me,” he sighed.

She frowned at him. “Flowers are not gay.”

“Tell that to Elton John,” he replied, leaning forward to touch the short lines between her brows.
Not in the doorway,
he reminded himself.
Neighbours.

“It’s about having something bright and beautiful and alive in a room.” Her frown disappeared under his mouth. She lifted her lashes and warned, “If you say,
that’s you
, as in me? Then I’m going home.”

Without another word, crushing the flowers between them, Luca wrapped his arms around Francesca’s waist, lifted her from her feet and pulled her inside. A swift kick to the door saw it slam shut. Even with roses and lilies cushioning their chests, Luca traced his nose along her jawline and into the rapid pulse in her neck. “What are you wearing?”

“It’s just olive butter,” she said, sounding breathless, “body butter, not butter made from olives. You know?”

“Francesca, you smell like home.” He sighed deeply. She was as light as a feather. He braced her against him with one arm and threw the flowers onto his side table. Turning back to her, he took her mouth at last. The little gasp she made was almost as sweet as the deep moan she released when his tongue slid inside to touch her own. He’d known this would happen if he just kissed her, just let her lips soften and part beneath his, the fullness of her mouth completely covering his. There’d be no stopping now, no goodnight and a drive home. Not until they were properly sated. He fully intended that to be some time in the next month.

Francesca’s arms were hovering somewhere over his shoulders, each hand clutching a bag of drinks. He carried her into the kitchen. “Drop,” he commanded. As bid, the drinks were unceremoniously dumped in the sink. “Better.”

His hand tangled in her braids, keeping her mouth firmly against his, and he blindly stumbled to his bedroom. When he set her down on the carpet, he could feel that her heart was racing just as fast as his own.

“Are you wearing those stockings again?” he demanded, practically out of breath. She sent him an arched look before unbelting her coat, revealing a sea green dress that hugged each and every one of her luscious curves.
View for the atheists
, he thought with a grin.
It’d make anyone believe in God.

“I knew there was something wrong with you. Stockings.” She shook her head, even though her eyes were sparkling.

“That’s not wrong.” He tugged at the bow that sat on her hip. “You in nothing but those stockings convinces me there isn’t a single thing wrong in the world.”

“Kink.” She laughed. The dress fell open and he caught a flash of creamy gold satin before the dress sank back to modesty.

“Coming from you? The woman who dumped all her sex toys before a police raid? I’m insulted.”

“Bollocks,” she snorted, calmly unbuttoning his shirt from the bottom to the top. “You just want to play with someone else’s toys and I denied you.”

“Let me play with you first,” he offered.

Frankie wasn’t at all fussed that her underwear and dress were thrown across his bedroom. It felt like her fantasy was coming true. A big man lifting her as if she weighed little more than a drop of water. His response to her set her stomach aflutter and lifted a smile on her face, despite interrupting her own mission to get his shirt off. She caught sight of a packed golden-tinted torso and lost her breath for a moment. This had to be a dream.

“You don’t want to take a moment to appreciate?” she asked.

“I am,” he grumbled. “Your bare skin is much more enticing than any underwear that would hide you from me.”

A giggle burst from her lips. “Are you going to get undressed today?”

Pushing her a little way from him, he peeled off his now unbuttoned shirt, then his jeans before he toed off his shoes and ripped off his socks. Frankie was shocked. Not by how muscle sat upon more muscle, but by how he was covered with scars.

“What the...”

His gaze wavered slightly from her own. “Long story. Too long to go into when I need you.”

He reached for her, and she allowed herself to be distracted from the damage on his torso—how could she not be when it was like standing in blazing sunshine? Rough hands cupped and moulded her breasts until her nipples tightened to stone under his palms. As if he read her mind, his grip grew firmer, sending jolts of electric need to her pussy. She searched for his lips, going on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck. If only she could mould them together. Just so there wasn’t a single millimetre of distance between them. Her eagerness toppled them to the bed, but Luca could more than handle it. He didn’t let go of her, only smiled against her mouth as he turned her onto her back with a satisfied grunt, his torso parting her thighs.

She had no idea why it hadn’t occurred to her before, but he was a big man. Her legs could barely wrap around him, and it had been a while since she’d needed to be this flexible. Luca was very well defined, but goddamn there was a lot of him. His weight on top of her sent shudders through her body. With her hands cupping his jaw, she pulled him into kiss after kiss, tasting every moan he made, trying not to laugh when he shifted both arms under her weight to press her hard against his frame. She could feel his cock, pressing against her belly and had never wanted anything so badly.

Luca leaned away from her for only a minute to reach for a condom. Oh, good thing he was being smart. That hadn’t crossed her mind for a second. She sucked in a breath as his knuckles brushed over her pussy while he fitted the condom over his thick length. He leaned back even further until he was standing. She wriggled to the edge of the bed to meet him and he caught her legs, coaxing them both over his shoulders. For a moment she thought her vision was wavering, but it was her whole body trembling.
Yes, yes, yes, do it, now!

Luca leaned over her, pushing her thighs to her breasts as her pussy parted for him.  He sank into her, his movement slow and determined as he stretched her, only stopping when she winced. Her eyes flew open. Oh God, he looked as if he was straining every muscle to control himself. “Are you all right?”

Her pussy flexed wildly around him, attempting to adjust to his cock. “Umm, you’re kind of big.”

“Can’t do much about that, sweetheart,” he sighed. He eased one of her legs from his shoulders; the other he kept tight at his waist. She could feel herself getting wetter at his stare focused firmly between her thighs. A touch as light as air skimmed over her clit.

“Don’t tease,” she muttered, taking his hand and pressing it into her flesh. “Do it properly. Let me come, please?”

His thumb slipped over her wetness to capture her clit, pulsing under his touch.

“Don’t you want to come with me inside you?” he asked softly, rolling her clit between his fingers. Her whole body convulsed, and then tensed as he slipped a thick finger into her. His thumb didn’t move from her clit, as he drew the finger slowly out of her. “Isn’t that better, sweetheart? Doesn’t it feel better when you’re full of me?” He used his other arm to press her knee and keep it from closing against his hand. She tried to clutch at his hand, arm, anything to keep from soaring into the stratosphere. Another finger joined the soaked one, curling up and stroking, just like his cock was going to.

“Ahh, yes,” she moaned, arching into his hand and pushing him deeper.

“You were made for me,” he promised, pressing his thumb into her clit. “Every part of you,” he uttered on such a possessive growl, Frankie let herself soar. It felt like charged feathers raining over her, her pussy tugging at his fingers with her release. She’d had the barest idea that it could feel like this with a man, but she’d never experienced anything like this. Never this intense.

“Oh God,” she sighed. He removed his hand and surged the full length of his cock into her. She took every single inch of him with a cry a gasp and a scream. He felt so right; how did he know her body? What she needed? His hand grasped her ankle as he thrust into her in a delirious rhythm, stroking the small bit of flesh behind the bone. It sent her crazy, left her on complete sensory overload. Her pussy squeezed automatically around his cock, which thundered inside her. Frankie opened her eyes and watched in awe as Luca was seized by his own orgasm.
Did I do that to him?
she wondered. Shivering, she could feel him pumping the last vestiges of pleasure into her. She held out her arms to him and he joined her, lying beside her and pressing kisses to her shoulder and collarbone.

“Mmm,” she moaned, turning her head to meet his lips. Not wanting to let him out of touching distance, she lowered her gaze to his cock. “Umm, latex.”

He grinned and pulled it from his sex. She wondered how mad he’d be if she got a cocktail stick with a Frankie flag and claimed it as her own. Quite mad, probably. She lowered her head and pressed a kiss to the tip of his cock, feeling it jump beneath her lips. The scent of them was rich on his skin. Her brain clicked off and she obeyed what was all instinct: getting him back where he belonged. Inside her.

Luca ran his lips, hands and tongue over acres of gorgeous, cinnamon skin, her dark chocolate nipples his treat to return to again and again. Her pussy gave him a glimpse of watermelon pink flesh that tasted just as sweet and fresh on his tongue as the fruit itself, each time his mouth closed over her. There would never be enough; how would he ever be satisfied when each time showed him something new? She needed his lips on her neck or shoulder if he took her from behind. Or his nipples in her mouth if she had his cock in her fist. Two hours had gone by so fast, and they’d only recently released one another. But the mere thought of her lips on his dick stirred him again.

Francesca was lying partly on her side, long lashes against her cheek. Was she asleep? They’d worked pretty hard for it. How did she not realise just how beautiful she was? He suspected much of it was to do with her previous relationship and whatever her mother had put into her head. That man really needed to die soon, but that she trusted Luca with herself was a gift no one else had given to him. It was probably too early to tell her that he was quite insanely in love with her. Francesca stirred and stretched.

“Hello,” she murmured, a smile hidden behind her hand.

“Hi.” Unable to resist, he reached out and cupped her cheek. “Are you hungry? I forgot all about food.”

“Hmm. Noted. A drink would be nice.”

“Of course!” He gave her a swift kiss on the lips, got swiftly to his feet and strode to the kitchen, where he turned on the oven and placed most of the food in for warming. Grabbing two glasses, he poured Francesca one glass of white grape juice and another of white wine, thinking she’d want some of both.

She was sitting up when he re-entered the bedroom, braids lying on one shoulder and brushing the top of her breast. “Juice or wine?”

Her smile lit the room. “Both, please.”

“Thought so.” He handed her the juice first, cradling the other glass until she was ready.

“Thirsty work, all this banging.”

Luca winced. “Really?”

“Just keeping it real. What’s to eat?”

“Lots of things I can put on your body and eat without hands,” he murmured, leaning forward to kiss her, tasting the sweet fruit juice on her tongue. They had to get out of the bedroom or she’d never eat.