Page 3 of The Layover

Heat flooded my skin as I looked up to find him looking between me and my phone screen. I raised my brows, rather than letting him see how turned on I was. “Oh really? You’re an expert in wolf shifter fangs?” I kept my challenge teasing.

2

Raul (Tony)

It was impossible for me to ignore the stunning woman with the blond streaks in her long hair. That the hint of pink in her cheeks changed based on her scowl or her smile. That she hadn’t hidden the way she was watching Diego and me.

When I’d pointed her out to him, we agreed that if we were back in Milan, we’d take a few hours, or an entire night, to get to know her better.

Discovering I was seated next to her on the plane was an incredible surprise, and catching a glimpse of what she was reading sent the blood rushing straight to my dick. Should I leave her alone to enjoy her book? Probably. But I had to know what the odds were of watching Diego bury his face between her legs by the end of the flight, and then me fucking her until she screamed after.

Now that I’d struck up the conversation with her, she was watching me with expectation. “We have them in Italy, you know,” I said. “Men who become wolves.” Not my best line, but it wasn’t bad.

“Do you.” Her flat tone, the fact she hadn’t phrased it as a question, was its own kind of scream—one of disbelief.

“Seductive men who fill the room with their presence, and take what they want in a way that’s so sexy their prey can’t resist? And who growl and bite during sex? We do.” Just a short list of the reasons I’d married Diego.

Her laugh brightened her entire face, and her eye roll was the perfect accent.

“I’m Tony.” I wasn’t. I was Raul. But Antonio was my middle name, a family name, and when I was in The States, I was in the habit of going by Tony because it made life easier for everyone. “He’s Nick.” I jerked my head back at Diego.

“Lee.” Her smile was guarded, but it still shone in her eyes.

“I admit to reading over your shoulder,” I said. “When the word cock caught my eye, I had to see the context.”

The natural pink in her cheeks, the color she’d tried to hide under powder, darkened. “If I admit to having done the same on more than one occasion, with someone else’s book, will you think less of me?”

“Exactly the opposite.” I watched her as we talked, each little movement, trying to gauge if she was interested or just being polite. Diego and I had an open relationship, built on honesty. The two of us had been committed to an amazing woman when we were younger, the mother of our daughter, but she’d decided Mom Life wasn’t for her, and moved to the US. It turned out she’d been more infatuated with the idea of fucking two men than she was with raising a family with us.

Diego and I would love to have a relationship like that again, to bring a woman into our life longer term, but we realized the odds of that were unlikely. It didn’t stop us from sharing our bed with people who grabbed our attention.

“I don’t know how you can argue that it’s not possible. The biting.” Lee seemed to still be focused on my opening comment. “You’re talking about a man who magically turns into a wolf. All bets are off.”

Was that a challenge? I was torn between proving her wrong, and flirting. Doing both seemed unlikely with a woman who was willing to argue werewolf anatomy, but trying ought to be a blast. “It’s not a matter of magical transformation, it’s about anatomy. The human mouth isn’t shaped that way. Would you like a demonstration?”

She snorted—even that was attractive on her. “Did you just offer to bite me?”

“It sounds rude when you put it that way.” Though Italian was my first language, I’d grown up around English speakers—both American and British—thanks to my family’s company. I was familiar with a lot of the slang and idioms, but I wasn’t above using my accent to sound like I didn’t quite understand what I was saying.

I knew what was coming out of my mouth.

Lee’s disbelief hadn’t faded. “I sound rude? you just asked if I wanted a demonstration of how teeth work.”

“That’s only rude if you’re not interested.” This was fun, and if it didn’t get me slapped it’d be worth it. Hell, even if it did get me slapped…

“Arrogant much?” Lee asked. “Or is it only arrogance if it’s not true?”

I liked her. “No, I’m quite arrogant. But I have earned it.”

Lee leaned in closer, despite her doubtful expression. The proximity sent the faintest hint of vanilla drifting toward me.

If I ran my tongue up the side of her neck, along that creamy skin, would she taste like panna cotta?

“Your demonstration wouldn’t be valid, even if I agreed to it,” Lee said.

“Why not?”

“Their jaws shift.” She nodded at her phone. “To be a wolf snout. Your jaw is far too square to have the same effect.”

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