Not Juliet Read Online Free PDF Page B

mother…
    Whoa! Stop
right there! Where did that thought come from?
    His brain
needed a cold shower. No, his body needed a cold shower. His brain
and his body, both.
    Right there and
then, Luca decided he wanted to keep Riella in his life. He needed
to get to know her better, by whatever means necessary. But first,
he needed to make sure she was safe. Whatever the quarrel was, it
was with her father. She had nothing to do with it, and he was
going to make damn sure every single one of his people knew it.
Tonight. He was going to stay in Rome tonight, in camp, and make
his orders clear.
    In the
meantime, and in the absence of a cold shower, he’d make do with
what was at his disposal, a very-much-second best. He hopped up
with Riella in his arms, making her squeal.
    “Where are we
going now?”
    “To wash off
this ice-cream, or you won’t make it home tonight. Not the way I
feel about you.”
    With strong,
long strides, Luca marched straight to the Dragon Canal. The water
was only knee-deep, but it would have to do. It was cold. That was
the main point. Hopefully, there would be no guards around. If they
were quick, they could be in and out in ten minutes flat.
*
    Countless kisses and
several hours later, Luca glanced down at Riella and sighed. She
sighed too, looking blissfully content. They were stretched out on
the grass, in a more secluded corner of the garden. The view of
Florence wasn’t as good, but Luca wasn’t interested in staring at
Florence. Oh, no! He was mourning the fact that the keen sun rays
had dried up Riella’s t-shirt. Now he could only catch sight of the
perfect mounds of her breasts and her puckered nipples if the
breeze cooperated.
    As soon as he’d
hit the water with her in his arms, Riella’s body responded to the
cold the way he should have predicted, but hadn’t. For a moment,
the cold water had actually helped, but once she’d tired of
splashing him and he managed to grab hold of her again, pulling her
close to his chest, her trembling body had jacked up his torment
even higher. The sensation of her rucked-up nipples poking him
through the thin cloth between them woke up his big boy downstairs
and it was all he could do to hold his body in an unnatural
position, bottom thrust back like a pained hyena, to prevent an
unwelcome nudge she would likely take the wrong way.
    They’d dried
up, mostly, lounging on the grass, but if anything, Luca’s torture
had intensified. He’d flattened his stomach, hugging the ground,
for as long as he could, but even in that position he had a perfect
side view of cold wet cloth stretched over well-defined breasts
with perky pebbles on top…
    Luca groaned
and turned over to the side, propped up on his elbow. Riella wore a
relaxed expression on her face, a small smile playing on her lips.
Her eyes were closed, her breathing slow and deep.
    “You falling
asleep?” Luca asked softly, not wanting to disturb the peace of the
moment.
    Riella smiled
wider and lifted a hand to pull his lips to hers. This kiss was
even better than the one before, which had been better than the one
before that. How was that even possible?
    Luca gazed at
her, adulation in his eyes, then caught a loose strand of her hair
and wound it around his finger.
    “You are so
beautiful,” he said. He dipped his head for another soft kiss. “I
can’t believe how lucky I am.”
    Riella giggled.
“I feel like I’m the lucky one to have found you.”
    “Ah, but you
didn’t. I did the finding.”
    “You did? I
didn’t know I had a stalker,” she said, eyes wide and serious.
    Luca’s smile
disappeared and Riella laughed out loud. “Joking!” she said,
slapping him on the shoulder.
    Luca breathed
out and pulled a mock hurt expression on his face. “If I’ve
offended you with my excessive attention…” He left the sentence
unfinished.
    “You’re saying
you’d just… what? Leave me alone?”
    “Not a chance!”
His lips captured hers possessively, taking, stealing,