Chapter 71 WHILE IT LASTS.
\~~~LUCIANO MORETTI.
“You have no idea what you are asking for.”
The words came out low, strained, like they were scraped out of my chest instead of spoken. I could feel the restraint it took not to reach for her, not to pull her back to me, and not to give in to the madness she was offering so freely.
Raina didn’t look scared and she definitely didn’t look unsure.
She chuckled softly, almost amused, then licked her lower lip like she was savoring a thought only she understood. Her fingers moved to the buttons of her shirt, clumsy but determined. One button came undone. Then another and the fabric loosened, falling open just enough to expose the soft swell of her cleavage.
“I know exactly what I am asking for.”
I inhaled sharply and looked away for half a second, pressing my tongue to the roof of my mouth like that would ground me.
This was wrong.
“So wrong,” I muttered.
“You are drunk,” I said again, forcing my voice to stay firm. “And unstable. By morning, you’d regret every word you are saying right now. You will want to crawl out of your own skin.”
She ignored me completely.
Instead, she moved closer. I didn’t even realize I had bent slightly until she was already there, her face inches from my neck. She leaned in and sniffed slowly, deeply, like she was trying to commit my scent to memory.
My body locked up and every one of my muscles went rigid.
“H… hey,” I groaned under my breath.
“You smell so good,” she murmured, her voice soft, almost sad. “If only you were a good person too.”
I frowned slightly. “Excuse you?”
She didn’t answer.
She just kept sniffing my neck, unhurried, and deliberate while my heart was pounding so loudly that I was sure she could hear it. I was about to step back when I felt her tongue, warm and slow, dragging lightly over my skin.
That did it.
I pulled away abruptly, grabbing her shoulders.
“Talia!”
I shook her gently, not roughly, but enough to make her look at me.
“You need to sleep,” I said firmly. “You are drunk and out of it. Go to sleep.”
“No,” she said immediately. “I want to sleep with you.”
“Talia.”
“Fuck!” she suddenly screamed, her voice sharp and angry. “I told you to stop calling me that name!”
I flinched.
The sound echoed in the room, sudden and loud, and for a moment she looked just as shocked as I was.
“Then what do I call you?” I asked, frustration creeping into my voice.
“Whatever,” she muttered, waving her hand dismissively. “Just come sleep with me.”
I shook my head and straightened, pulling her up with me so she wouldn’t sway.
“We will do that tomorrow,” I said carefully. “When you are sober and when you can actually think straight. Okay?”
I barely finished the sentence when she did something completely unhinged.
She slapped both hands against her cheeks like she was psyching herself up, went up on her toes, grabbed the front of my shirt, pulled me down hard, and crashed her lips onto mine.
For a second, my brain shut down.
I didn’t react and I just stood there, frozen, as her lips pressed against mine, soft and insistent. My breath hitched as I inhaled her vanilla scent mixed with alcohol, warm and intoxicating.
God.
She smelled so good it hurt.
And that was exactly why this couldn’t happen.
She was drunk.
No matter how much I want to fuck her as she had asked and bend her in different styles till she wouldn’t be able to walk again, I cannot not.
Sex is supposed to be pleasurable and not otherwise. And this woman looks like she was going to give me a whole ass of a problem during and after the sex when she gets sober, so, yeah, I will pass.
Still… I kissed her back.
Just for a moment and just enough to ease her, and to stop her from pushing harder. I sucked gently on her upper lip, my hand slipping beneath her clothes to rest against her bare back. Her skin was warm, soft, and I forced myself not to explore further.
“So,” she whispered when she pulled back, her lips red and swollen. “Will you please fuck me now?”
I swallowed hard.
Then, without giving myself time to think, I lifted her off her feet. She let out a small sound of surprise as I carried her back to the bed and dropped her gently onto it.
“You are going to sleep now.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I won’t,” she said stubbornly. “Unless you sleep beside me.”
I closed my eyes and breathed out slowly.
This night was going to be torture.
“Only until you fall asleep,” I said.
“That is not totally bad,” she grinned lazily.
Then she pulled off her shirt… Just like that.
She tossed it aside and lay back on the bed, wearing only her bra and pants. My gaze flicked to her bare stomach before I could stop myself.
“To sleep comfortably,” she said, like it was the most normal thing in the world.
I stared at her for a long second.
“Come here,” she patted the space beside her.
I shook my head and then sighed.
“Damn me,” I whispered.
I lay down beside her, careful to keep some distance, my body tense like I was bracing for impact.
She turned immediately, dropped her head onto my arm, and giggled.
“You must be enjoying this so much,” I groaned. “Enjoy it while it lasts, okay?”
“Whatever,” she muttered.
She stuck out her tongue and wrapped her arm around my stomach, hugging me like she belonged there. Against my will, I adjusted, pulling her closer so she wouldn’t slip.
“I am going to revel in this memory for as long as I can,” she murmured, snuggling closer.
“You will?” I asked quietly.
She didn’t answer but her breathing had slowed now.
“Talia?”
“D… don’t call me that,” she murmured. “Asshole… I am…”
“You are what?” I whispered.
“I am…” Her voice faded, heavy with sleep.
“I am… Raina.”
My chest tightened.
I stayed awake long after her breathing evened out, holding her carefully, listening to the soft rise and fall of her chest and wondering just how painful it must have been to have admitted this after so long.