Forbidden Never Felt This Good

~ 9

0009

~ Aria ~

I woke to the sound of Luca's voice—low, urgent, coming from the bathroom.

For a moment, I lay there in the tangled sheets, still deliciously sore from last night. The memories came flooding back: his hands on me, his mouth, the way he'd made me scream his name against the mirror. I could still feel the phantom ache of him inside me, still feel the bite marks he'd left on my neck and shoulders.

But something about his tone pulled me from my satisfied haze.

He was whispering. Urgently. Like he didn't want to be overheard.

I sat up slowly, the sheet falling away from my naked body. Through the crack in the bathroom door, I could see his silhouette—back tense, one hand braced against the sink like he needed the support.

"I can't... not now," he was saying, voice barely audible. "I told you I'd handle it... it's complicated..."

My stomach twisted. Who was he talking to?

I pushed back the sheets and crossed to the bathroom, my bare feet silent on the cold floor. My hand touched the door, and I pushed it open.

Luca spun around so fast he nearly dropped his phone.

For one unguarded second, I saw pure panic. Guilt. The look of a man caught red-handed doing something he absolutely shouldn't be doing.

It was like watching him commit an atrocity, the horror was so stark in his eyes.

Then, just as quickly, he schooled his features into that controlled mask.

"Aria." He hung up the call so hastily he fumbled with the phone, nearly dropping it. "You're awake. I didn't mean to wake you."

I stood there in the doorway, completely naked, watching him. Confused. Suspicious. A dozen questions crowding my tongue.

"Who was that?" I asked carefully.

"Just..." He slid the phone into his pocket, his movements too quick, too jerky. "Work. Nothing important."

"At six in the morning? In my bathroom?"

"I didn't want to disturb you." He stepped toward me, his expression softening, but I could still see the tension in his shoulders. "Did you need something?"

The deflection was smooth. Too smooth. Like he'd practiced it.

I studied his face, searching for... what? Some sign of what he was hiding? Some clue to explain the panic I'd seen?

"No," I said slowly, still watching him. "I didn't need anything. Just... checking on you."

"I'm fine, tesoro." He closed the distance between us, his hands coming up to cup my face. His touch was warm, familiar, but something felt off. "Just handling some logistics for your father. Nothing for you to worry about."

He was lying. I knew he was lying. But before I could press him, before I could demand the truth, he kissed me.

Fuck! My body responded instantly.

His mouth moved over mine with devastating thoroughness, his tongue sliding against mine, teeth catching my bottom lip. His hands slid from my face down my neck, my shoulders, cupping my breasts and making me gasp into his mouth.

Just like that, my suspicions began to fade. This was what he did—distracted me with s*x and pleasure until I forgot to ask the hard questions.

When he pulled back, I was breathless, my earlier concern already blurring at the edges.

"Come back to bed," I murmured, my hands sliding up his chest. I could feel his heart racing beneath my palms.

But before he could answer, before I could pull him back to the tangled sheets, a sharp knock echoed through the room.

We both froze.

"Aria?" My father's voice, clear and commanding through the heavy door. "Are you awake?"

Panic flooded through me. I looked at Luca, saw my own alarm reflected in his eyes.

"Just a moment, Father!" I called out, my voice higher than normal.

Luca was already moving, grabbing his shirt from where I'd torn it off him last night, running a hand through his disheveled hair. But there was no way to hide what we'd been doing—my room reeked of s*x, the bed was destroyed, and I was standing there completely naked with his bite marks visible on my throat and breasts.

"Luca, you need to…" I gestured frantically toward the adjoining door to his room.

But my father spoke again before Luca could move. "I'm not coming in, figlia mia. I just wanted to let you know that I'm aware you left your date early last night."

I closed my eyes. Of course he knew. Nothing happened in this house without him knowing.

"There was a security concern," I called back, grabbing my robe and wrapping it around myself.

"I'm sure there was." There was something in his tone that didn’t sit right. "Regardless, you have another date tonight. With Lorenzo Valente Seven o'clock. Don't be late."

Of course. Another date.

"Father, I really don't think…"

"Seven o'clock, Aria. He's a good man. French aristocracy. Completely legitimate."

"Fine," I said, defeat creeping into my voice. "Seven o'clock."

I heard my father's footsteps retreating down the hallway, and I sagged against the door, my heart pounding.

"s**t," I breathed.

When I turned around, Luca was smiling.

Crossed back to me in two strides, kissed me hard enough to bruise, his hand sliding into my robe to cup my breast roughly.

"See you downstairs, tesoro," he murmured against my lips. Then his hand slid lower, squeezed my ass one more time. "Wear something that shows my marks. I want Lorenzo to know exactly what he's competing with."

Then he was gone, disappearing through the adjoining door and leaving me standing there, breathless and furious and so turned on I could barely think straight.

Damn him. Damn him for making me want him even when I was angry. Damn him for his secrets and his possessiveness and the way he could reduce me to desperate need with just a look.

I had a date tonight with Lorenzo Valente. A good man, my father had said. Legitimate. The kind of man my mother would have wanted for me.

But all I could think about was Luca's hands on me. His mouth. His c**k.

Every goddamn thing!