Page 6 of Saint Of Envy
Luc reaches his fingertip to graze across my nipple. It feels divine through the lace and sends a quiver down the inside of my thighs.
“Didn’t I just mention the rules?” he asks, with a hint of sultry mischief in his eyes.
“Yes, you did,” I say, joining him in his banter. “Arm’s length and no giving away that there are any feelings between us. But I thought that only started when the plane touches down in Las Vegas?”
Instantly, Luc reaches his arm behind my waist and pulls me against his body. The composed, controlled demeanor that he’s held onto until now snaps, and his protective instincts over me create a new desire that consumes me. I’m not sure yet if his actions outside the church have saved me, set me free, or plunged us both into a dire and inescapable situation. But with Luc, I feel more alive than I ever have before.
I reach down to undo his pants, sliding them off over his hips until they drop to the floor of the plane. I’m practically overwhelmed with delight when I see his very ready and waiting cock, erect and so filled with physical desire that the swollen tip is pink with pressure. With only the two of us on the plane and the cabin door locked, nothing stops us from satisfying our mutual desires again.
Luc snaps open the clasp of my delicate bra with ease and tosses it aside, taking a moment to stare at me in awe before slipping his fingers into the side of my panties and dropping them to the floor. Every time Luc looks at me, it makes me feel like I’m being worshipped. It’s a feeling that I’m not used to. I think I could get used to it easily, maybe even dangerously easily. It’s too hard to stay cautious when his mouth is on mine. It’s too hard to focus on my desire for independence when I’m overcome with my desire for Luc. Perhaps we are both hungry to choose our own fate and chase our own ambitions, and maybe the loneliness that we’ve suffered while being part of other people’s stories has pushed us together despite knowing that the world that we’re a part of is against our union. Who knows—maybe love can exist even inside this violent world of ours.
I push all thoughts of the outside world from my mind as Luc lifts me onto his hips and presses my body against the aircraft’s side, using the plane’s wall to steady us both as he lowers me onto his cock and enters me. Even if we weren’t flying over the city in an airplane, I would still feel as if I were flying above the world right now.
I run my hands across his chest, over his shoulders, and down his back, as I feel his muscles work, flex with every push, and pull, he makes between my thighs. Our tongues tangle together, and I feel intoxicated by the taste of him—strength and power,need, and desire. Those are the things that Luciano tastes like to me. He groans with pleasure as he thrusts deeper, touching a place deep inside of me that makes my entire body tremble uncontrollably. And as we soar through the sky toward Las Vegas, Luc and I soar toward ecstasy.
I curve my pelvis against him, wanting to draw him in even further, and he moans in response. It makes me feel empowered knowing that I can cause his body to react to mine. Luc makes me feel like I can do anything.
“You have my heart, Valentina,” he whispers against the side of my face as he kisses the lobe of my ear. “My heart, my body, even my soul—it’s yours.”
His words send me cascading over the tipping point in a crashing, nearly violent seizure of pleasure that grips my entire body and causes me to lose control. No sooner do I erupt into climax than Luc follows, clawing one hand against the side of the plane over my shoulder to keep us both from falling. I don’t know if the pilot can hear us, but the sound Luc emits as he presses his cock into me to soak up the last seconds of orgasm is a primal growl.
After that remarkable in-flight encounter, I put on the robe, curl up against Luc’s in the wide leather seat, and rest my head on his chest. I let my eyes close and feel his hand stroking the side of my hair.
“This won’t be easy,” he whispers as he wraps one arm around me to pull me close. “Being near each other, keeping the emotional tension between us a secret from everyone else, all while dealing with the fallout of what we just did.”
“I know,” I say as I feel myself drift off into an exhausted, but comfortable sleep that falls over me.
“But at least I’ll be free of Leonardo Conti, and with you instead.”
CHAPTER 4
LUC
“Do you have any idea what you’ve fucking done?” Vincent bellows.
Even without seeing Vincent’s expression over the phone, I can practically hear the bulging, angry vein at the side of his neck. I knew that taking his plane would cause some drama between us, but in my defense, I sent it right back to Italy after Valentina and I disembarked.
“My apologies for taking your plane without asking,” I say, avoiding the real reason he’s pissed off at me.
“You know that taking the plane is the least of it,” he hisses. “Leonardo Conti is livid. He’s beyond livid. He’s fucking seething with rage. I’ve got no love for that asshole, but this is going to cause trouble not just with the Conti family but with all the leaders of other mafia families as well. Conti is a master manipulator, and it won’t take him long before he passes around threats like Halloween candy.”
“I’m not the one who left him at the altar,” I say sarcastically, knowing full well that the remark is going to earn me Vincent’s ire.
“No, that’s true,” he matches my sarcasm and adds a helping of bitter reality to it. “You’re just the one who helped his bride escape. Leonardo is obsessively possessive of what is his. He sees that girl as the ultimate prize, a symbol of his dominance over anything he sets his sights on. You and I both know that marriage wasn’t about love or even convenience or a lucrative transaction between families—it was about control, and you’ve just helped Valentina Ricci fracture his carefully controlled image. It’s going to ignite retaliation on his part.”
“I’ll deal with that if it happens.”
“Oh, there’s no if—only when. You can expect it. You’ve wounded his ego, Luc. If he disliked you before, you can now expect him to hate you with a violent fervor.”
“I don’t think Leonardo Conti is as mighty as everyone thinks he is,” I counter. “He’s a desperate man. Only desperate men try to force women to marry them.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, I wish they hadn’t. Vincent essentially did the same to Isla back when they first entered the marriage. It was a transaction.
“Vincent, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean?—”
“It’s fine,” he interrupts. “What happened between Isla and me was unique. And I don’t disagree with you that Leonardo likely has nothing more than a twisted obsession and control complex over Valentina. But that doesn’t change the fact that even desperate and insecure men can be dangerous, especially afterrejection. Let me know if anything changes. Isla and I can take the plane back to Vegas if a situation erupts.”
“No, you two enjoy your time there. I have a handle on things here,” I say, not wanting to strain the already tense relationship with my cousin after what I’ve just done.
