Page 64 of Captured Fantasy

His face went hard. “I know, I understand. I’m going to think of something, I promise.”

I nodded, my throat going dry. I hoped he was telling me the truth. Cosimo cupped my chin and kissed my mouth, his breath hot and his lips gentle. He ran a hand over his face, slicked back his hair, and ducked from the bathroom.

I dabbed my makeup and applied my mascara again. My inner thighs stung as I leaned over the sink, wet with my arousal. It trailed down until it ran to the inside of my ankles to the bathroom floor. The reckless part of my brain wanted to leave it there, to let Federico see how wet I’d been.

The rational part of me took over and I dampened some paper towels and wiped myself clean. I shoved the towels and my torn panties into the bottom of the trash can and left the bathroom.

The hallway was cool and my heart pounded as I made my way back to the main room. Federico was on his phone at our booth and Cosimo was nowhere to be seen. When I slid into my seat, Federico looked up and frowned. He hung up the phone and turned his skeptical gaze on me until my stomach flipped in fear.

“You were gone for a while,” he said.

“I—sorry, something just happened,” I said, trying to think quickly. I glanced down and saw a tampon wrapper inside my purse.

“Something happened?” His gaze narrowed.

I zipped my purse, pretending to fidget as I raised my eyes to him. “I started my period and I don’t have any tampons,” I whispered.

He glanced down. “Are you just…bleeding on yourself?”

My blush was real this time. “No, I waited until another girl came into the bathroom and she gave me a tampon. But I need to stop at the store when we’re done here so I can get some more.”

“That’s fine,” Federico said. “Perhaps I won’t visit tonight. I’m sure you’d rather not fuck while you’re on your period.”

“I’d rather not, if that’s alright,” I said quietly.

He nodded and went back to his phone. After we finished eating, he walked me to the pharmacy on the corner and I bought a little pack of tampons and stowed it away in my purse. We spent the next few hours together walking the streets and watching the parade.

On the way back, guilt began seeping into my chest. Federico had been nothing but kind about me supposedly getting my period. I kept my lids down and my hands folded in my lap, afraid that if I looked in his eyes, he would see what I’d done.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

COSIMO

Up until the moment I’d sank into Mrs. Lorenza Russo and felt her tighten around me, I’d thought I knew what sex was. I’d assumed my numerous experimental hours spent in bed had taught me something. But then I ran my tongue over her skin and something in her DNA, something in the fabric of her being, locked with mine.

It was like a drug. One hit and I was done for.

I went back to my condo and took a shower and tried to work some sense back into my whirling head. This process consisted of jerking off to the thought of what I’d just done to her, drinking two chilled beers, and running on the treadmill for an hour. My mind was still racing when I got back into the shower, bathed in sweat and still tingling from our encounter in the bathroom. At least I’d worked through most of the adrenaline pounding through my system.

It was dark when I left my condo and took my Triumph out into the suburbs. Enza’s house was quiet, but the bedroom light was on upstairs. I crossed the porch and let myself into the dark hallway. The house smelled faintly of fresh linen and lavender.

All perfect and pretty, just like Mrs. Russo.

I stepped on the sides of my boots as I went upstairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. Her bedroom door was open, but there was no one in the bed.

The window was cracked, but the room was cool and there was a lavender scented humidifier puffing quietly on the dresser. Everything was pristine, all frilly and white and pink the way she liked it.

The bathroom door was shut, but there was a light on underneath. I slipped out of my boots and cleared my throat, announcing my presence.

“Cosimo?” she called softly.

“I’m here,” I replied.

“I’ll be out in a moment.”

I shrugged out of my jacket and sat down on the bed. God, we were so different. My room was bare and masculine and the rest of my condo followed the same formula. I liked utility and function. And yet, here I was, totally entranced by a woman who surrounded herself with all of these pretty, unnecessary things. She had candles on her bedside table and a bouquet of lilies with a bow tied around the vase. I knew she’d arranged them herself and tied that bow with her elegant hands.

God, even that mental image turned me on. I wanted to bend her over and tear through all the lace and satin. I wanted the parts of her that tasted like sweat and arousal and sin.

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