Page 67 of Family Bonds- Gabriela & Luca

“Nope. I’m just hiding it now so no one else gives me the creeps.” She closed her eyes, waved her hand in front of her face, opened them back up and held his stare. “It’s back.”

“Yeah,” he said, his voice lower. “It sure the hell is.”

Jesus, could he see how turned on she was right now?

They moved out of the building, toward the front entrance, the cold air not doing much to cool the heat in her body.

Or maybe it was the heat coming off of Luca next to her.

“There he is,” she said, pointing, thankful their ride was early.

They climbed in the back seat, the two miles back to her place taking twenty minutes. Typical Boston traffic.

There wasn’t any flirting during that time. Just some conversation of who they’d met and talked to.

But there was still this spark of tension in the air. An underlying electricity that maybe the night wasn’t over for them.

Or she didn’t want it to be.

“How about you come up for a drink?” she asked. “Unless you want to go back to your hotel now?”

“How about a coffee since I’ve got to drive back.”

“Whatever you want,” she said.

They rode the elevator in silence again. The kind that worked her up rather than calmed her down.

The ding when they hit her floor felt louder than it ever had before.

They got off and went to her place, she opened the door, shut and locked it, then before she could make a move, his hand was in her hair and his mouth on hers.

Oh, thank god he knew what she was thinking.

“Tell me no,” he said.

“I don’t wanna, Luca.” There, she’d said to his face. Said it in a voice to set him off and let him know what she was thinking.

Her arms slid around his neck as she kissed him back, harder, deeper, making sure he felt exactly what she did.

He backed her against the door, his mouth opening, the kiss turning hungry, unrushed but urgent. Like he’d been holding himself together for far too long.

And she met him there, every bit of heat and want she’d been carrying finally spilling free. Her mouth crushed his, deepening the kiss so that he felt what she did.

His hand slid from her waist down her hip, settling on her thigh with a possessive squeeze that sent a jolt straight through her.

She gasped into his mouth, the sound swallowed by the kiss as he deepened it more. Slow, deliberate, like he was memorizing her. Like he’d waited long enough.

Her knee lifted instinctively, brushing his leg, inviting him closer. His grip tightened, his thumb pressed into the bare skin there, grounded and reckless all at once.

“God,” he murmured against her lips, barely a word, more a confession.

She answered by kissing him harder, pulling him in, letting him feel exactly how undone she already was. How the silence, the waiting, all of it had led tothis.

Pinned between him and the door, heat pooled low and undeniable. She knew one thing with absolute clarity. There was no pretending anymore.

There was no stopping either.

Her hand went to the buttons on his shirt between them, giving him just a hint of what she was looking for.