Rafe grabbed the back of her head and brought her lips to his, devouring them like a man starved. Of what? He couldn’t explain, but there was something about her that made the animal in him want to claim her. All of her. The thing inside him that had been restless for months, wanting to claw out of his body but remaining stuck inside, it wanted her. Like a drug that calmed the storm inside him, he couldn’t be without her, he needed her. Just remembering how that bastard had his hands all over her made him so crazy, as he held her lips hostage with his, he let his hands run over her, replacing the touch of that asshole with his.
Talia broke away from him, gasping for air. “Wait, I can’t breathe. This is way too intense!”
Intense? She didn’t know half of it. Her flushed face and displaced large and loose shirt that didn’t hide the tight pebbles that her nipples had become only made it worse. He was so hard, his pants felt so tigh
“Contrary to what you think, I’m not easy. Now get out,” she responded, venom in her voice, and she began to push him away in earnest, wiggling to get down.“That’s all I needed to know.”Before she could succeed in getting down, he pushed into her with his middle finger, his thumb pressing down on her swollen clit. She jumped, her legs tensing around his waist.“What are you doing?” she choked out on a gasp.He moved his finger around searchingly as his thumb circled the throbbing nub. Her mouth fell open and she sucked in a shaky breath, tension lines appearing around her eyes.“Apologizing.”She sucked in a breath when he pulled his finger out and pushed it back in.“I think you can do better,” she rasped then shifted.He chuckled softly when he felt her press against the heel of his hand.He took in the nipple that was yet to get his attention in
Talia sat on the stool at the table at the front window of her favorite coffee shop, her weekend groceries on the floor next to her in two full bags. She stared down at them with a sigh. She’d over done it, spent above her budget all because she was trying to buy time, pun intended. With nothing else to do in the store, she’d come to hide out here, at the coffee shop. Her home, which she was avoiding like the plague, just a few steps away. She was already on her fourth cup of coffee, contemplating her life and the stupid thing she’d done last night. She grumbled and dropped her head on the table in front of her. What the hell had she done? She bemoaned as the thoughts of the night before ran through her mind. She’d gone and done it. The one thing she said she never would, and bloody hell was it good! With a groan, she raised her head off the table and slapped her cheek twice. That wasn't what she should be thinking about.You are reprimanding yourself Talia, not taking a trip down hot
Without looking back at Nelly, Talia cleared her throat then cheerfully said, “See you later Nelly.” She hurried away, crossing the street without even looking. She wanted to duck and hide at that point. She really disliked it when people were in her business, as minute as it may be, especially people she didn’t know so well.Then why didn’t you just say no? Or play dumb? She harrumphed as she raised her right hip to the door so that the keycard in her front pocket could scan her in. Was the phone tree already activated in the building? All asking where the Ferrari had suddenly come from and in whose apartment the owner had passed the night? Had nosey Mrs. King already knocked on her door, ready to spy inside? Talia stomped her way to the elevator, grumped for the few minutes it took to her floor and stomped her way off and to her door. She placed the bags down then searched through them for her wallet, phone and keys. She’d dropped her
She watched him from where she stood, leaning against the sink as he quietly ate his sandwich. Rafe, the Rafael DeLuca II, award winning, well known and respected billionaire business mogul had run away from home and the pressures there. It wasn’t work, she was sure of it. Why else would he come here and terrorize his employees? He could do that just fine back in Italy. There was something at home that had made him say ‘enough, get out now before you suffocate’ and now here he was, half naked, eating a bacon sandwich in her tiny apartment. He ran away and he was still running. Was this a stop or a temporary respite as she just happened to be the one who could help him solve not one but two problems: insomnia and erectile dysfunction? Don’t think about that! She stepped back and did a quick turn on her right foot, her right hand reaching for the fridge door, pulling it open with her momentum. She stuck her head into it and let the cold freezer air hit her in the face. Just the sight of
Rafe sat on the couch at the helm of the yacht and watched as vessel after vessel pulled out of the harbor and sailed towards the setting sun to enjoy the night out in the open ocean. He should have been one of them, in fact, he would have already been out there if not for the sudden bout of laziness. He smiled against the rim of his brand glass as he remembered why he felt so lazy. His body was completely unwound and lax, like jelly had been fused in with his bones and muscles. When was the last time he’d felt tired and relaxed at the same time? Sadly, he couldn’t remember. He couldn’t even remember the last time his mind was so silent, without one hurried panic thought rushing through it. When had he stopped living like a human being and started existing like a robot? He ran his hand through his hair with a heavy sigh. Being a DeLuca would do that to a person. No, his younger brother Renaldo wasn’t so knotted up like he was. He lived an easy life, an envious one too. All he did wa
Naturally he denied it vehemently. He was Rafael DeLuca II, he didn’t have panic attacks. There was nothing wrong with his sanity, but he knew deep down that it was a possibility. The shame that came from that drove him to adopt his old pastime. Needing a distraction, he bedded every willing woman he could get his hands on, hoping that with each girl, he would find some escape, a way to forget the cage that was his life and his failing mental state. Just for a little while, he wanted to feel carnal pleasure, dopamine that would keep him high for as long as he needed it before his next fix. But that soon stopped working, then his dick followed suit. He could only conclude that his penis was tired of the faceless and easy vagina diving. With a deprecating smile he admitted to himself — now he was able to admit that — that hadn’t been the reason. Whatever he had been looking for in all those random nights, he hadn’t found it, that is, until Talia McKenna. Why was she differ
“Babe, isn’t hair day next month?” Carrie asked as they facetimed. Talia stared at the phone screen where she had it propped up against a cup on the dining table as she opened a bottle of wine.“I needed to get the sweat washed out,” she answered absent mindedly as she screwed the wine opener into the cork.“Why? You don’t exactly exercise, lucky bitch,” she hissed. Talia snorted a laugh as she pulled on the wine opener. “Or did you suddenly decide to get a gym membership?”Talia froze, elbow up in the air, realizing then what she had let slip. For some reason, her friend could sniff out the tea in the slightest comment then the Spanish inquisition would begin. She leaned out of the camera focus for a moment and internally screamed as she mouthed ‘Oh my god, what’s wrong with you?’ She couldn’t just say ‘Yes, I did’ because they both knew Talia had an aversion to the
“I don’t follow.”Yeah, Talia was just as confused. In the hours they spent having marathon sex, there were moments she felt him with her, like their souls were meddling, flying together. Then there were moments where she felt like he wasn’t there. He would be looking right at her as he moved inside her but he wasn’t present. He could have been anywhere and with someone else while he was physically with her. At those instances, when she met his blank gaze, she too would be pulled out of the moment as questions bombarded her head only to get chased away by a soul shattering orgasm. Present or not, the man knew how to pleasure a woman. Oh yeah, she thought self-deprecatingly, by his own confession she was one of many, so his skills in that area were honed.Though she was feeling a little betrayed and used, she couldn’t help but think about the reason why. The distant deer caught in headlights look in his eyes as he mumbled incoherently