Page 23 of Desperately Delicate Viper

Dinner with Luca.

Fucking him on the floor like our lives depended on it…

“Shit, I’m sorry.” I grimace and scramble back onto the bed. My heart is still pounding, but at least I know where I am now. Which means I have an entirely new list of fears to deal with, but they can wait another thirty seconds or so. “Are you okay?”

Luca sits up in bed, rubbing his cheek where my elbow must have landed. His dark hair is standing up in all directions, a hazy, sleepy look still in his eyes despite the rude awakening I just gave him. The sheets pool around his waist, leaving his bare chest and long, lean muscles on display while the morning sun streams in through the gap in the curtains and casts a glow over his olive skin.

The low, raspy chuckle he lets out tugs at my groin.

“In the future, I’d prefer to be awake when you’re getting rough with me in bed, but I’m fine.”

He hooks a hand around the back of my neck and drags me close. His hot breath bathes my lips and his nose bumps against mine, but he doesn’t close the gap to kiss me. It takes me a few beats to realize he’s waiting formeto kisshim. That realization hits me in the chest like a bolt of electricity, and I jerk back.

What the fuck am I doing here? All it took was a cheap meal at a diner and a few nice words from Luca to make me forget that none of this is for me. He has this way of looking at me andseeingme like no one else has, like he actually gives a shit about who I am and what I want, and it’s fucking with my head.

“Where are you going, little viper?” Even the purr in his voice makes me want to spend a little bit longer pretending all the bullshit in my life can’t touch me anymore. The stupid nickname on his lips makes me feel strong and capable, just like how he described me when we first met. It’s the same way he makes me feel when he melts under my touch.

“Home.” I cast my gaze around his tidy bedroom for a second before remembering that I left my clothes in a heap on his living room floor last night.

“No,” he says in a voice that’s completely devoid of the submissive whimper I’m used to hearing when he’s naked. The sheets rustle and then I can feel him standing right behind me.

“No?” I scoff, dragging my fingers through my hair to tame it, already heading for the living room.

Luca grabs my arm. His grip is loose, but when I try to shake him off, he tightens it, and I growl.

“You said this wasn’t a kidnapping,” I remind him, turning back to face him again with a hard set to my jaw. He might be taller than me, even when I draw myself up to my full height and look him right in the eye, but his words ring in my head.

I think you’re a venomous snake waiting to sink your fangs into anyone who dares to tangle with you.

I think you’ve learned to fake the role of helpless little lamb, but deep down, you’re the predator biding your time until you’re ready to strike.

I think there’s fire in you.

Maybe he’s right. I’ve made myself smaller because it was safer, because it was the best way I could protect my brother, but that doesn’t mean I’m helpless.

“It’s not a kidnapping,” he says, his fingers still wrapped around my bicep, the warmth of his hand making my skin tingle and my cock thicken.

“But I can’t leave?” I clarify, narrowing my eyes at him.

“No,” he says again. “I also said I’d protect you, and I can’t do that if you run right back to the person who’s hurting you.”

I huff and shake his hand off. This time he does release me, but he also takes another step closer. With the bedroom door at my back, I’m not trapped, but he’s right, with nowhere to go except right back to my father, I kind of am.

“Listen, Tony Soprano, I know this is probably going to be hard for you to hear, but waving your dick, your gun, and your last name around won’t solve every problem.”

“Fine, then let’s sit down. I’ll make you some breakfast, and you can tell me what I need to know so Icansolve this problem.” The steely confidence in his voice almost makes me believe it could be that simple, that all I have to do is tell him everything and he’ll make it go away.

My stomach rumbles and Luca’s lips twitch with a smirk, like he’s won this round.

Fuck it, fine, I’ll let him cook me some fucking pancakes and tell him all the humiliating details. He’ll see that I’m not the capable badass he’s convinced himself I am, and maybe this silly, obsessive crush of his will die a natural death. My stomach twists, but I don’t let it show on my face.

“Can I at least have something comfortable to wear? Or are you going to keep me naked as long as I’m your prisoner?” I ask dryly.

Luca smirks. “Has anyone ever told you you’re extremely dramatic?”

“Never,” I deadpan, and he chuckles.

He brushes his lips over mine, and it feels like another electric jolt, but this time it makes me want to lean into him rather than run away. The touch doesn’t linger long enough though. He turns and strides over to his dresser, pulling open the top drawer and grabbing two pairs of lounge pants and two t-shirts. He keeps one set for himself and tosses me the other. The pants are made of some kind of ultra soft cotton that feels almost fluid against my legs as I tug them on.

---