Page 14 of Kissing Games
She smiled. ‘I know why you’re here.’
He swallowed. ‘You do?’ His voice cracked like a teenager.
‘Yes.’ Valentina lowered her long dark lashes and peeked up at him through them. ‘You’re here to light my fire.’
If Charlie’s blood was hot before, now it was thermonuclear. His brain melted, frying any cognitive function beyond imagining her in his arms, his lips on hers, the gasping sounds of her pleasure as he buried himself inside her. His mouth fell open but no sound came out.
A bark broke the silence and Valentina looked down. ‘Oh! And who are you?’ She dropped to her knees to pet Bandit, her face inches from Charlie’s straining cock. ‘What a big boy. You’re so gorgeous! What a gorgeous big boy you are.’
Fuck’s sake!Charlie turned away, willing his body to behave. Valentina laughed as Bandit said hello.
‘And what is your name?’ she asked him.
‘Bandit,’ Charlie managed through gritted teeth.
‘Woah! Down boy,’ Valentina said before he heard a thump. His head snapped around to see her sitting on the floor, Bandit still licking her face.
‘Bandit! Heel!’ The dog immediately fell back. Charlie helped her up. ‘I’m sorry. He’s a bit overexcited to meet you and lost control. He’s usually much better behaved.’
Valentina brushed her trousers with her hands, then combed her fingers through her hair. ‘It’s fine. It reminds me of wrestling with my brothers when I was growing up. You here for the fire safety thing?’
Charlie nodded, once again robbed of the power of speech.
‘Okay, come in, Charlie and Bandit.’
He followed her into the large and spacious room with bay windows looking out onto the front courtyard. An enormous four-poster bed was set back against a panelled wall opposite an open fire surrounded by ornate tiles. In the window alcove was a desk and on it sat a scuffed tablet and the same filming schedule Rory had given him. Through a door he could see into the bathroom, with a roll-top bath and her toiletries lined up neatly by the sink.
Valentina looked around the room with him. ‘Isn’t it beautiful?’
Charlie nodded, his eyes filled with her. Bandit barked and he started, as if waking from a dream only to find he was in a fantasy.
‘The fire, okay, yes. Er, I’m here to show you how to use it safely.’ He crouched down and cleared his throat. Valentina knelt beside him, her hands resting on the front of her thighs. He stared at them, the back of his neck heating up. ‘Um, so, er, you’ve—’
‘The fire guard is here and must be used whenever the fire is lit. I should only use wood provided. To make a fire, start by twisting whorls of paper, then put tinder on top, making sure to create a tepee to keep air flowing in from the bottom, then add the larger logs. It is always preferable to use the wall heaters instead of the fire, and there is a fire extinguisher in case of a conflagration,’ rattled off Valentina.
Charlie looked up, his brain refusing to work properly. ‘Conflagration?’
‘A large destructive fire.’ She looked at him and smiled sympathetically, as if dealing with a confused child. ‘I learned to make a fire when I was a kid. I read the information pack left on the bed. And I know long words because I went through an English dictionary with Abuela for all the years I was onLa Vida Familiar.’
‘Is that who you were talking to?’
Valentina glanced behind her at the tablet on the desk. ‘Yes, and Abuelita. I speak to them every day.’
‘Every day? Both of them?’ She probably spoke to them more in a week than he did with his entire family in a year.
She smiled, but he could see a tightness about it. ‘Yes, they live together. With mi abuelito, my granddad.’
‘Er, the three of them? Live together? Like, er…’
Valentina’s eyes widened. ‘Oh no!’ She slapped him on the arm. ‘How can you think such a thing? They are best friends from being little girls, and when Abuelo, my grandfather, died, Abuela moved in with Abuelita and Abuelito, my granny and grandad.’ She got up. ‘I have to go for a costume fitting.’
He stood, his cheeks burning. She ushered him out the door, following him into the corridor.
‘See you later, Charlie Hamilton,’ she said with a wink, before striding off, her hair swishing with every step.
Charlie looked down at Bandit. Bandit tipped his head to the side quizzically, as if asking how he could have been so uncool.
‘Yeah, I know, dude,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘Not my best work…’
