We climbed the steep road to the ristorante, and I kept her hand in mine the entire way. I wasn’t usually the kind of pussy-whipped guy who held hands, and believe me it’s not something you do a lot of in the Marines, unless you’re talking hand-to-hand combat. I wouldn’t mind doing some of that with Caro—I was looking forward to seeing her capitulate, naked, coming apart under me.
I was so preoccupied with my plans for later on in the evening that we arrived at the ristorante before I realized it. So much for my skills of observation—if I didn’t get it together before the flight to Afghanistan, I’d be a fucking health hazard.
I was surprised to see that this out-of-the-way place was almost full and a load of kids were running around. Happy families—not something I knew much about.
The noise tailed off when they saw us. I heard the word ‘Americani’ whispered several times before the owner came over.
I guess his brother hadn’t given him the heads-up, because he seemed stunned when we spoke Italian and that we were happy to eat whatever was available. I don’t know where he got his opinions of Americans, but after years of eating MREs, he could have served me road kill, and if it had good gravy, I’d eat it.
There was no chance of having a table to ourselves, so I resigned myself to having to share Caro for a few hours. The unfamiliar feeling of jealousy seemed to be hovering near the surface ever since she’d been parachuted back into my life. It was a fucking uncomfortable feeling and it was making me act like a possessive asshole—something that definitely wasn’t going to impress her. I needed to regroup, so maybe it was just as well that we were seated at the corner end of one of the long tables, wedged in next to a family of seven.
They were wary of us at first, but when I shrugged out of my leather jacket, a little girl of about five or six noticed my tattoo and asked her mom about the ‘picture’.
Her mother tried to hush her up, but I smiled and used my limited Italian to explain that the tattoo was because Marines were warriors of the sea and the ‘picture’ reminded me of my work.
“Is that because you forgot?” she asked, running her hands over the globe and anchor.
The whole room burst into laughter as I smiled wryly.
After that I guess I was her new best friend, because she kept up a stream of questions that meant I hardly got a chance to eat my meal, although I managed to chug down some of the local wine. Then she reached up to run her hands over my regulation buzz cut, but it was the look of longing and sadness in Caro’s eyes that caught my attention.
Ten years ago she’d wanted children, but somehow it had never happened for her. I had no idea why, because she was fucking beautiful. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t get me thinking.
The meal finished with small bowls of honey ice cream, although Caro was such a lightweight, I finished most of hers, too.
“Having fun, baby?”
She smiled back at me.
“Do you realize this is our first dinner-date?”
No way. “What about back in San Diego—that Sicilian place?”
“That doesn’t count,” she laughed. “You wouldn’t let me finish because you wanted to drag me back to the hotel.”
“Oh yeah, I definitely remember that!” I grinned, eyeing her speculatively.
“Besides, your friend, Brenda, was spying on us. I’m half expecting to see her now, tossing her hair over her shoulder and thrusting her boobs in your face like she used to.”
I was amused by the jealousy I heard in her voice. If this was a two-way thing, I guess I didn’t have to feel so bad.
“She thrust her boobs in my face?”
“Don’t pretend like you didn’t notice,” she accused. “Anyway, if any boobs are to be thrust in your face, they’ll be mine. Right, Hunter?”
Yeah, she was definitely tanked.
“Anything you say, boss. Looking forward to it.”
“But then I was thinking,” she went on, “if this is our first date, I probably shouldn’t sleep with you. I don’t want you thinking I’m easy.”
Seriously? She thought she could win this game with me? Trained in strategy and tactics, baby. I pulled out my phone and started scrolling through the numbers.
“Who are you calling?” she asked, sounding pissed that I wasn’t following her script.
“Well, my date just told me she wouldn’t sleep with me, so I thought I’d see if I had Brenda’s number on speed dial.”
Caro winced, then sat back in her chair, her arms folded across her chest. Yep, I loved it when she did that—it pushed up her tits like she was serving them on a plate … or maybe an all-you-can-eat buffet.
“Fine, fine. I’ll sleep with you,” she pretended to huff. “But if my reputation is in ruins, it’s all your fault.”
I winked at her, then stood up to pay the bill.
As we left the ristorante, a chorus of good wishes followed us and the little girl blew me kisses, deciding that she was naming me ‘Angelo’—because I was blond, I guess.
I wasn’t feeling angelic—although I had something in mind that would have Caro calling me ‘God’. I pushed her up against the wall and kissed her hard, thrusting my tongue into her mouth, slow and possessive, gripping her waist with one hand, pressing the other over her mound.
I knew she could feel my rock hard dick against her hip, and I was seriously considering taking her there and then, but the ristorante started emptying and suddenly we had an audience.
Trying to catch my breath, I let Caro push gently on my shoulders.
“Should we try and make it back to our room this time?” she asked, her voice husky.
“Good idea,” I muttered. “I don’t think I could take a third interruption in one evening.”
The moon lit our path as we headed back down the hill. Caro didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry, but energy and desire was making me want to grab her caveman-style and run the rest of the way so I could fuck her senseless. The Marines teach you to target your objective and put a plan together that will achieve it with the least amount of effort or risk. Just sayin’.
When we got back to Casa Giovina, the villa was in near darkness. A small lamp glowed in the hallway, and Caro crept up the stairs as if she was afraid of being caught. It was pretty damn funny.
She grabbed her toiletry bag and ran into the bathroom, so I stripped off my shirt and kicked off the boots and socks. When she hurried back in, I have to admit I enjoyed the open look of desire on her face.
“Seems like your eyeballs are the ones in danger of falling out, Ms. Venzi,” I couldn’t help teasing her.
“That is true, so hurry up and get your ass back in my bed.”
Fuckin’ A!
“Yes, boss!”
I almost sprinted into the bathroom, tried my best to piss through a semi, forcing myself to concentrate so I didn’t spray the floor. Then I brushed my teeth and strode back into the bedroom, a man on a mission.
Caro was sitting in the bed, the sheet pulled up tightly across her chest, an odd expression on her face. Women usually liked the jeans and bare chest look, so I was kind of irritated that she seemed as though she was trying not to laugh.
“What?” I snapped.
“Nothing,” she said, snorting back a giggle.
“What’s so funny?”
She shook her head, holding a hand over her mouth, but her laughter had left my dick as soft as Jello. Jee-zus, what did a guy have to do to get laid?
I stripped out of the rest of my clothes, yanked the sheets back and started to slide over to her, but the bed creaked so loudly, it sounded like a round from an M-16 cracking over my head. I couldn’t help flinching and Caro laughed out loud.
“Sorry! I think we got the you’re-not-married-so-you-damn-well-won’t-be-getting-any bed. It’s got a built-in anti-screwing alarm.”
Okay, so it was pretty funny, but I had the target in my sights, and it would take a tank running over the villa to divert my attention right now.
“You think a noisy bed is going to stop me?”
Caro looked taken aback.
“The old lady is right next door! She doesn’t sleep well—remember?”