Page 51 of Where We Met

"I'll be right back, bella ragazza," he tells me. "I will get the wine opener."

Just as he walks away, Luke comes to stand next to me. "What's going on?" he asks.

"What? Nothing. Teresa and Isabella asked me to give Giovanni a bottle to open for us. I guess it's a special wine. I'm excited to try it."

"Looks like you've just charmed all of them here, even the women."

I'm not sure how to take that comment, if it’s a compliment or a warning. Was I supposed to be more professional, more stiff? I thought I was taking cues from Luke, but now I'm worried I'm messing up the deal somehow.

Isabella and Giovanni are standing in the doorway, both smiling in my direction. Isabella looks at me, and Giovanni nods his head in understanding as she speaks, then winks at me.

Giovanni begins stalking in my direction and hands me a glass as soon as he reaches me. "Here you go bellisima." When his arm wraps around my waist and brings me to his side, I'm a little taken aback.

"You want your professor to get jealous, you leave it to me, beautiful," he whispers.

Isabella is leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest and a big smile on her face. I don't know whether to thank her or tell her off. I didn't exactly agree to this, and if it only ends up pissing Luke off and making him pull away from me, I’m not going to appreciate the idea. But on the other hand… I like seeing Luke’s jealous side.

"Take a sip," he says a bit louder, and I follow his instructions. He then grabs my chin with his thumb and pointer finger, dragging his thumb up to my bottom lip and pulling on it. "What do you think?"

When I turn my head, Luke looks like I've never seen him before. Fists clenched tightly at his sides, eyes darker than I thought possible, and brows pulled in tight. I think he's going to say something, but he storms toward the villa instead.

"That was easier than I thought. You've got the man wound tight," Giovanni chuckles. "Give it a minute, then go in after him."

With that, he walks away toward the family villa. Isabella and Teresa are finishing up the cleaning outside, and Giorgio has disappeared somewhere. I'm left alone, a bit scared to find out what state Luke is going to be in if I go after him now.

After I don’t know how much time has passed, I eventually head up the stairs. When I get to Luke's door, I raise my hand to knock but instead notice the door is cracked open. I can see him by the window, pacing back and forth.

I lightly tap the door to get his attention.

"What are you doing here?" he barks at me.

"Um, you seemed angry when you walked away…" I stammer as I try to figure out what to say. "I just wasn't sure…" I move into the room and close the door, trying to keep the noise level down in case anyone is still downstairs.

"Angry? Yes, Savannah. I'm angry. Do you know why?" He takes a step toward me, clearly irritated, and I shake my head, wanting him to tell me the reason. "I'm angry because Giovanni out there seems to think you're free game to make a move on. And I can't do a damn thing about it because I'm not allowed to claim you."

"Do you want to?" I breathe.

"Do I want to claim you?” he scoffs. “I've wanted to make you mine since the moment I saw you walk into my classroom. It's all I've thought about since we've met, dammit! It's all I want," he says as he closes the distance between us. "But I can't. Not yet. So, until that time comes, I'm stuck watching men like frickin' Giovanni put their hands on what's mine."

"I am yours," I whisper. "I'm yours to have whenever you want me."

My words are getting tangled up in my head. What I'm trying to say is I'm going to be right here waiting for him as soon as the semester is over, but before I can clarify, his lips are on mine.

There’s an urgency behind this kiss, like if he stops, he'll lose me forever, and I feel it down to my bones. He pulls away for a second to change angles, grabbing my head and slamming his lips back down. I match the intensity, getting on my toes to mesh myself further against him.

He groans, then takes my arms and brings them around his neck. His hands proceed to move down my back slowly until he reaches my ass, grabbing my cheeks and pulling me into him. His dick is stiff in his pants, and we both groan this time.

When he pulls away, we try to catch our breath together. The only noises I hear are the ones from our heavy panting. His eyes glance behind me, and something seems to occur to him in that moment, like he just thought of something.

He nods his head in the direction behind me. "Remember our word search game?"

I turn my head, arms still wrapped around his neck, and see a huge mirror hanging on the wall. It's about the size of the door and goes down to the ground.

"Katoptronophilia," I say as my eyes remain on the mirror.

I can see him give a small smirk, and then he turns me around to face it.

"Lift your arms up, princess," he whispers in my ear, all the while looking at me through the mirror. "We're going to test this out."

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