Page 29 of That Time in Venice
Chapter10
Venice
Anika closedher eyes and sighed, her lashes brushing against her cheeks. “I’m having such agoodtime.”
They were standing in the hallway outside her door after another fun-filled day. She had talked him into visiting Aman Canal Grande Venice Resort, a sixteenth century building where Amal and George Clooney were married. They took a lot of photos. In his opinion, too many, but he went along with whatever she suggested because her excitement wascontagious.
He could well imagine his mother enjoying herself just as much. A cluster of regret ballooned in his chest. Once again, he wished she’d had the chance to visit beforeshedied.
After the resort, he and Anika sat at a waterside cafe, listening to the sea slosh against the sides of the boats docked nearby and tossing back bottles of Orangina soda. They’d ended the day with an evening gondola ride. Their gondolier had gone all out, wearing the straw hat with a red ribbon around it and singing at the top of his lungs in a perfect tenor as they coasted down the canals with the setting sun as abackdrop.
They’d shared the boat with another couple, but Reed had only paid attention to Anika. He’d only listened to her voice and watched her reaction to everything they saw. The way she laughed when the gondolier made a joke or paid avid attention to his history lesson about the city and the canals. She took photos of the Rialto bridge, one of four bridges that spanned the Grand Canal and the oldest of the lot, and waved to passengers in othergondolas.
He was more than simply attracted to her. He could admit that now. He’d been attracted to plenty of women before, but this was deeper and almost tangible. It was more personal—more intimate. Being with Anika made everything better. The wine sweeter. The sunbrighter.
Her subtle sexuality was completely addictive, manifesting into a sensation that gripped him by the chest and refused to let go. She helped him forget the uncertainty of his future and every minute they spent apart, he longed for the next time he’d see her. Their constant interaction was not enough, and he worried about this growing attachment to her when he’d never needed anyonebefore.
Reed’s jaw tightened, and when she opened her eyes, he barely resisted the urge to drag her into his arms and kiss her. All day he’d pondered the taste ofherlips.
“Glad you enjoyed yourself,”hesaid.
She eyed him, as if trying to figure out what he was thinking. She didn’t wanttoknow.
“I guess I better go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning,” Anika saidquietly.
She smiled a little smile, the same one he often caught on her face. It filtered into her eyes the way sunlight broke through the clouds and illuminated the earlymorningsky.
“Bright and early for breakfast,” he said, notmoving.
Neither budged from their positions, and that’s when he knew, if he made a move right now, she would let him not only kiss her, she would let him make love to her. They were in Italy, after all. And they’d just taken a gondola ride in one of the most romantic cities in the world. But he didn’t want to start something he couldn’t finish, and she struck him as a forever kind ofwoman.
Reed swallowed. “Go inside, Anika.” Being a gentlemansucked.
Hurt filled her eyes, but she straightened her back. “What if I don’t want to,” shewhispered.
An unusual tightening caught hold of his gut. “Then I won’t be responsible for whathappens.”
“I’m willing to take thatchance.”
A decent man would recognize her vulnerability and walk away; and he wanted to, except no one had ever accused him of being decent. He couldn’t imagine leaving when he’d thought of little else but sleeping with her for the past few days. Sweet, sweet Anika. That’s what he thought of her. In her pastel colors and sleekponytails.
What would she look like naked, her golden brown body bared in its entirety for his hungry gaze? With her long hair mussed and spilling across her shoulders in unruly disarray? With her lips swollen from his kisses even as they offered him more sensualbliss?
“You sure about that?” Reed asked. Crushing tension built in hisgroin.
“Yes.” Three letters, and among the most powerful words in the English language. Three letters that took him one step closer to the fantasy that plagued his thoughts and tortured his body atnight.
Without hesitation, Reed bent his head and slanted his mouth over hers. She didn’t flinch or pull back, but the initial introduction of their lips to each other was an awkward and tentative act. Once he relaxed into it, white hot heat spiraled through his veins. The next thing he knew, he had her pushed up against the wall, the brutal pounding of his heart ramming against his rib cage. Cupping the back of her head with one hand, he devoured her mouth, kissing her with demand. Kissing her with the certainty of how the nightwouldend.
A soft mewl echoed in the back of her throat as she drew him closer by fisting a hand in his shirt. He ran his hands under her skirt, bunching the material around her upper thighs. Dragging her hips into his, he gripped her tight little ass, and when she made the same sound again, Reed knew there was noturningback.
“Key,” hegroundout.
Anika fumbled in her purse for the card and then turned toward the door. Reed took the opportunity to grab her by the hips and press his hard erection against the pliable cushion of her bottom. With his lips on the side of her neck, she let them intotheroom.
He took charge immediately and filled his hands with her breasts, all the while savoring her flavor and the pillowy softness of her lips. They were as succulent and sweet as two ripe plums, and he couldn’t get enough as he backed her toward the bed. His mouth returned to the side of her throat, and on a breathy moan, she arched her neck. His tongue slid over the salty skin, and her little sigh encouraged himfurther.
She started stripping him of his clothes, pulling the shirt over his head and going for the zipper of his jeans with the same enthusiasm with which she’d accepted his kisses. He impatiently helped her with the removal of his pants, tugging them past his hips along with the boxers, and then went to work on herclothes.
