The Perfect Someday (A standalone novel ~ Book three in The Mathews Family) (6 page)

Giovanni
opened his mouth to continue, but his breath caught and he stopped himself. “Mi scuso. I’m probably boring you.”

“Don’t apologize.
I’m definitely not bored.” She shook her head, murmuring the second half of the statement while chewing on her cheek apprehensively. “I understood every word.”

He gave her a questioning smile. “Really?”

“Actually—“ Color swept over her cheeks and she let out a self-conscious giggle. “—I find hydrogen bonds fascinating. I did an entire paper on it college. The water molecules bond together to form a sphere. Then the droplets become heavy enough to fall back down the glass in the shape of tears.”

Giovanni
stared wide-eyed and impressed for a full three seconds before nodding. “Si`”

Completely mes
merized by the way his grey eyes stared straight into her, Tracy swallowed hard. “My sister refers to me as the smarty pants of the family.”

“Speaking of your sister, May is looking for you.”
He pointed toward the terrace in the distance.

The name May didn’t register at first.
He pointed again. She stretched onto her toes and could see JC waving, giving her a thumbs up through the darkening shadows of the evening sky. Tracy waved back, giving her sister two thumbs up.

Folding her arms across her chest, she strummed her fingers
against the crook of her arm, contemplating if she should explain the name switch.

“I get two thumbs up?”

A mocking whisper tickled her ear
. She jumped letting out a squeal. His arms eased around her from behind and he rested his chin on her shoulder.

“
She’s just checking to make sure I’m okay. You definitely get two thumbs up,” she acknowledged through dry lips.

His breath fell
over her bare shoulder, setting off a tightening in her lower stomach. “Does she need to check on you often?”

Tracy
knew what he implied. Giovanni questioned if this was their routine. As much as Italian men were notorious for preying on foreign women, American women were known for living it up in Italy.

She shook her head. “
It’s always the other way around. I’m always the one who has to check on her.”

His arms constricted
a little tighter, swaying to music playing in the distance. Closing his hand around the heavy mass of her hair, he moved it aside, placing a kiss on the spot on her neck where her pulse ripped through her veins.

“Are you comfortable her
e? With me?” He added kissing her neck as he spoke. His mouth took forever to move up the side of her neck to the tender spot behind her ear. “Or would you like to head back to the reception?”

She twisted her neck trying to get closer. Her chin fell to her shoulder, laying her forehead against
the mask at his temple. “No, I don’t want to go back.”

“Fantastico.” He said exuberantly, releasing her from his arms and shrugging out of his jacket.

She half-heartedly hoped he was going to remove his shirt next, but merely watched as he spread his suit coat on top of a sandy area. He reached for her fingers, assisting her to the ground. The jacket made for a small makeshift sitting area, so she stretched out her legs, extending her feet to the sand. Tracy arranged her dress, smoothing the cotton fabric over her mid-thigh while Giovanni filled their glasses. He sat beside her, relaxing back on one elbow and crossing his bare feet at the ankles.

“I would’ve brought a blanket,” h
e stated apologetically.

T
he cool evening air wafted over her heat-flushed skin and she shuddered. “I take it you come here often?”

“No.” He
smiled gazing toward the city lights that began to illuminate the hillside, cascading a diversity of colors upon the whitewashed houses.

Tracy shot him a playful look of absolute
doubt, nursing another drink. The wine slipped down her throat warming her chest.

“My family
used to come here to visit when I was a boy. We used to sneak up over the rocks,” he scrunched his shoulders in a skulking manner, tipping his glass back and forth as if he were tip-toeing, “and steal glances at the lovers who came here at sunset.”

Her eyes shifted above the outline of
boulders beyond his shoulders, in search of mischievous boys waiting to catch an eyeful. The feel of his fingers looping through the waves in her hair brought her attention back to Giovanni.

Somewhere hidden beneath the
billowy grey clouds gathering in his eyes, laid an invitation, an offer she wanted to accept.

Her pulse hammered hard
, drowning out the background music, voices of laughter, and waves crashing below. His masculine features deepened under the night sky. The narrow black mask accentuated the white of his eyes and smile.

She heard him say, “Tell me what else you find fascinating,” as she
leaned in, silencing his words with a kiss.

Witho
ut relinquishing her lips, Giovanni raised from his elbow sitting upright, deepening the kiss. She held her position, tugging gently on the silky fullness of his lower lip. His fingers thread through her hair, tenderly clasping the base of her skull. He parted her lips and Tracy opened, savoring the oaky flavor of his heat filled kiss. The smooth warm demand of his tongue took her breath away. She clutched so tightly to the stem of her wine glass, she feared shattering it.

Taking his time, Giovanni
laid out an unhurried execution of deliberate nips and kisses to her neck. The stubble of his beard raked across the tender skin of her throat. The pleasure of it so maddening, Tracy’s mouth dropped open releasing a low moan. With a murmur, he took the glass from her clenched fingers, setting it in the sand beside them.

Rising
to her knees, Tracy leaned forward, molding herself to the contours of his body. Disarmed by the magnitude of desire growing inside, her fists balled at her sides as she trembled all over.

Giovanni
stroked down the length of her arms gathering her wrists in his hands and guiding them over his shoulders. Cradling the underneath of her jaw, he took her mouth again. Their tongues mingled in an all-consuming kiss, silky and wet. Firmly grasping the nape of his neck, she extended the kiss, searching with urgency to get closer. He responded with slow penetrating licks of his tongue, so masterfully implemented they stole the air from her lungs.

Tracy tore her mouth fro
m his, panting shamefully. A cool breeze swept between them bringing needed relief. Giovanni brought a hand to the small of her back, fingers widespread locking her hips to his abdomen. She arched, lifting her chin to the star-filled sky. Her chest lifted with each labored breath. “Holy shit.”

“Sei cosi
bella, Amore Mio.” He showered her with compliments of her beauty, passing his thumb over the damp hallow of her throat.

She opened her mouth to say something, to say anything, but all she could muster was, “Oh my God
, you’re such a good kisser.”

A smug
surprised grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Unable to keep her wits about her, she rambled on
deliriously. “I mean seriously? I’ve never been kissed like that. Do you always kiss this way? Is it just me or was that ama—“

Giovanni
’s laughter echoed up the side of the cliff. He yanked her into his lap, nuzzling the crook of her neck. He trailed silken kisses over her shoulder before gently sinking his teeth into her shoulder with a low groan.

A sweet ache deepened between her thighs and she squirmed in his lap.
Every hair on her body stood at attention as a blistering rush of arousal trampled through her core. Tracy strained, pointing her toes and clamping her knees together.

Releasing her flesh from his teeth,
Giovanni replaced it with sweet kisses to her collarbone. “Please tell me you are just beginning your vacation?”

Swathed in
somberness, Tracy’s heartbeat stilled. “I leave tomorrow.” Melancholy riddled her tone.

A dark frown shadowed his eyes. His face averted
and she could see his throat jump when he swallowed hard.

“
I visit every summer,” she continued anxiously, incapable of hiding the hint of distress in her voice. Tracy had never experienced a man like Giovanni and the thought of never seeing him again devastated her. She’d received more passion from one kiss than she’d ever enjoyed during sex. Her lids fluttered at the mere notion of how incredible sex would be with Giovanni. No, no, no. You can’t have sex with him on the first date. “But, I could come back sooner.”

She felt the moist heat of his breath fan across her face. I
ntense vibrations of desire rippled through his hand as he caressed the side of her neck.

“I mean, if you want to see me again. I would…if you’d like. I start school next week, but I could fly back to see you in a few—“

His mouth sought hers. The restrained slowness that permeated his first kisses, now changed to hunger. His tongue sank deeper, the firm articulation greedy and deliberate. The pace grinding, feasting off her mouth in such a sensual rhythm it shot pleasure to the tender area in the pit of her stomach.

He drew back and she whimpered in complaint.
Tracy turned her face, embarrassed of the sounds she made, but she couldn’t help it. She rested her cheek on his shoulder in a daze.

“
Si`. I want to see you again.” Cradling her face, Giovanni forced her to look at him. “I would travel half way around the world to see you again.”

The tenderness in his voice gave truth to his words, making his seduction believable.
Rash thinking kicked in. Is he really going to fly halfway around the world to see me? Skepticism tugged between her brows at the bridge of her nose, but only briefly. Acknowledging that she would do just about anything in order to see Giovanni again, she surrendered to her own reservations, giving herself the green light.

A shooting star burned across the night sky
capturing their attention. Their eyes followed the streak of illumination in its path. Giovanni held her in his lap, caressing her back with one hand and the outside of her thigh with the other. He gave a nod to the heavens above, pointing to the Milky Way.

“
You see that constellation? That is Perseus the son of Zeus.” He outlined a figure in the cluster of stars, holding his aim to the brightest of stars. “He holds the creature Medusa’s head in his hand.”

Tracy
straightened, sitting taller in his lap. She blinked repeatedly, gaping at him in disbelief. Every pore in her body pinged with exhilaration, producing a film of sweat on her palms. She had a deep fascination with Greek Mythology and took a semester of it in college. “Giovanni, if you tell me you have a thing for Greek Mythology, I might not be able to contain myself.”

Her ha
nd instantly flew to her lips wishing she could retract the words. Giggles slipped free between her parted fingers. He dissected her every move in the darkness. A deep rumble of laughter filled the small space between them and she saw a flash of his white smile.

“Poseidon, Athena, Hades—“ Giovanni
spun her to face him, crossing his legs Indian-style  beneath her bottom. She wrapped her legs loosely around his hips, crossing her ankles behind his back. Tracy could not contain her giggles while discretely arranging the hem of her dress as he continued in a sinfully rich melodious voice that made her toes curl, “Cronus, Hera, Aphrodite…”

“
Oh my God, I’m doomed. Stop! It’s like foreplay,” she gasped through another round of laughter. Tracy reached for her glass, using it to cover her face, which burned from embarrassment.  “I can’t believe I just said that.”

Giovanni
intervened, removing the wine from her hands. “You should allow the wine to rest for a moment.”

“You’re right. That stuff is like…like truth serum or something.”

Their conversation continued as the night grew darker, illuminating the heavens above. Giovanni pointed out every visible constellation. They shared details of fabled myths, Gods and creatures. Each listened intently, sucked into the other’s stories. He didn’t need to make an effort to be appealing. His voice lured her closer and she hung on every drawn out Italian syllable.

Tracy found his natural expressions
and sarcastic humor captivatingly sexy. Giovanni played mindlessly with her fingers. The tips of his fingers keyed along the delicate pale skin near her wrists, each whisper of a stroke made her breath quicken.

Their words fell silent.

Feeling a slight buzz from the wine, she swayed to the distant music. Tracy took a deep cleansing breath and let her lids drift shut. Absorbed in the stillness of their surroundings, she tilting her head, listening to sounds of his husky exhales. Giovanni raised their hands to the space between their chests, palm to palm. Energy and heat simmered at the connections of their skin. Her chest tightened around the unusual feeling of warmth.

Giovanni
reached behind her nape, searching through the long layers of dark hair. She felt a gentle tug on the ribbon of her mask. Tracy’s eyes popped open and she drew in a hissing breath. “Wait.”