Forbidden Never Felt This Good

~ 17

0017

~ Aria ~

He was angry.

And God help me, it made my skin burn. Heat pooled low in my belly, wet and heavy, and I could feel my body waking up just from the tension coming off him in waves.

I pressed my thighs together tight in the passenger seat, crossing my legs and hoping he wouldn't look down.

Luca shoved the car into gear with too much force. The tires spun on the asphalt, making a loud screech before catching, and we shot forward into the dark road.

The silence inside the car was thick. It pressed against my ears like heavy water. Outside, the streetlights flashed across his sharp face every few seconds, lighting up the hard line of his jaw and the tight set of his lips.

I looked out the side window, watching the dark trees blur past, and kept my mouth shut.

I waited. I knew he couldn't keep quiet for long.

Two miles down the road, he broke.

"Aria….What the f**k was that?" he asked.

His voice was low, rough, and full of raw anger.

I kept my eyes on the glass. "I still don’t know what you are talking about?"

"Don't." The word cracked like a whip in the small space. "Do not play dumb with me, Aria. You know damn well what I'm talking about."

"I had a business dinner," I said, keeping my tone flat and polite. "I had drinks with an investor. I danced. I don't see what the problem is."

"You don't see the problem?" He let out a harsh laugh that had no humor in it. "You were rubbing your ass all over his front like a—"

"Like a what?" I turned my head to face him, letting my eyes go cold. "Finish the sentence, Luca. Go ahead and say it."

His hands gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. A vein stood out on the side of his neck.

"You let him put his hands on your bare skin," Luca snapped, his teeth clenched. "You let him pull you against him. You let him get hard against your back while you—"

"While I danced?" I cut in. "At a club? Like any other normal woman on a date?"

"That wasn't dancing." He ripped his eyes off the road for a second to glare at me, and the raw fire in his dark eyes made my heart skip a beat. "That was a show. And you did it for me."

"You're my bodyguard," I said, hitting every word slowly. "Why would I do anything for you?"

"Stop it, Aria."

"Stop what? Giving you what you asked for?" I leaned back against the headrest, folding my arms across my chest. "You're the one who wants rules. You're the one who wants distance. You tell me every single morning that we're strictly business. So I'm treating you like hired help. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"You know that's not what I mean." He blew out a hard breath through his nose, his chest heaving under his shirt. "You're playing games."

"I'm not playing anything. I'm just doing what you taught me to do."

Without warning, Luca slammed his foot on the brake.

The seatbelt cut hard into my chest as the car skidded to the right. The tires crunched loudly over dry dirt and gravel as he pulled off the main highway and killed the engine on a dark, empty turnout near the cliffs.

The engine died. The headlights cut out. Total darkness fell over us, broken only by the pale moonlight coming through the windshield.

Again? I thought.

The thought slipped past my lips before I could stop it. "You really like pulling over on dark roads, don't you?"

Luca turned to me, his eyes pitch-black in the dim light. I could see the dangerous edge in his face. He was done talking. He was about to reach across the console, grab me by the nape of my neck, and drag me into the back seat to f**k the attitude right out of me.

Not tonight.

Before he could lift a hand, I reached down, popped the door latch, and stepped out into the cold night air.

My high heels sank a little into the gravel as I walked around the hood of the car. I didn't hurry. I took slow, steady steps, letting my hips sway under the black dress, letting the wind hit the bare skin of my back.

The driver's door flew open. Luca stepped out, his large frame rising into the night, looking like a wall of muscle and bad intentions.

"Get back in the car," he ordered.

I didn't listen. I closed the distance between us before he could fully stand up straight.

I slammed my body flat against his, pushing him hard back against the open car door. The metal creaked under his weight. I put both of my flat palms on his chest, right over his white shirt, feeling his heart pounding fast and heavy under my hands.

"Tell me something, Luca," I whispered, pitching my voice low and sweet. "How did it feel?"

He didn't move. His breath stopped in his throat.

"Did you like watching another man touch my skin?" I slid my hands up the front of his shirt, over his broad shoulders, feeling the thick cords of muscle locked tight. "Did you like seeing me press against him? Feeling him get hard because of me?"

His jaw worked, but no sound came out.

"Did it make you want to kill him?" I moved closer, tilting my head up until my lips almost brushed his stubble. "Did it make you want to rip me off the dance floor and punish me?"

"Aria... stop." His voice was hoarse. His large hands came up to grab my waist, but I was faster.

I caught both of his wrists and shoved his arms back against the metal frame of the car. Pure stubborn will gave me the strength to hold him there.

"No," I said, looking right into his eyes. "No touching. Not until you listen to me."

"Aria—"

I pressed my hips forward, grinding myself right against his groin.

He was rock-hard. A solid, thick ridge pressing right against the front of my dress.

"This is what you do to me," I whispered, leaning in until my mouth was an inch from his ear. "Every single time you look at me like I belong to you, and then act like I'm a stranger ten minutes later. Every time you leave marks on my neck at night and then call me 'Miss Santoro' in the morning."

I rolled my hips against him. One slow, dirty circle.

Luca let out a low groan from the back of his throat. His head tipped back against the roof of the car, his jaw clenching so hard I heard his teeth click.

"Did it feel like this when you watched me dance?" I asked, grinding against him again, harder this time. "Were you thinking about this?"

His wrists pulled against my grip, but I held him tight against the car. "Aria, fuck..."

"Tell me," I demanded, rubbing my pelvis against his erection over and over. "Were you standing in the dark getting hard while another man held me?"

"Yes," he ground out, his chest rising and falling fast. "f**k, yes."

I could feel how much he was shaking. His whole body was wound up like a spring, fighting the urge to break my hold and throw me to the ground. My own body was screaming at me. I was wet, aching, and desperate to feel his hands rip my dress open.

Instead, I leaned in and bit down hard on his earlobe, tasting salt and heat.

"You want me to beg for you," I whispered against his skin. "You want me to ask you to f**k me right here on the dirt."

"Aria, please..."

"No."

I let go of his wrists and took two big steps back.

The sudden space between us felt like ice water.

Luca slumped back against the car for a second, his chest heaving, his hands hanging loose, his eyes wide and stunned.

I reached down with steady hands and smoothed my dress over my hips. I reached up and tucked my hair behind my ears. I pulled my face into a calm, cold mask.

"You want professional distance?" I said, my voice steady and clear in the quiet night. "You have it. I'm not your toy, Luca. You don't get to touch me only when you're angry, or jealous, or bored."

Luca stared at me, his chest still rising and falling. "What are you doing?"

"I'm setting the rules." I stepped further back into the light of the moon. "Either you tell my father the truth and claim me like a real man, or you keep your hands to yourself. I'm done being your dirty little secret."

"Aria, you don't understand how this works—"

"I understand just fine."

I pulled my phone out of my clutch. I unlocked the screen and hit speed dial for Marco.

"What are you doing?" Luca took a step toward me, his voice sharp.

"Marco?" I said into the phone the second it connected. "Yes. We need the backup car. We're on the cliff road turnout, two miles past the club. Come pick us up. Thank you."

I hung up before Marco could ask a single question.

I looked back at Luca. He was standing by the open door, looking like I had just slapped him across the face.

"The car will be here in two minutes," I said coldly. "You sit in front with Marco. I sit in the back. We're going to keep things strictly business from now on. Just like you wanted."

Luca's hands clenched into fists at his sides. "You're really doing this."

"I am."

Down the dark road, two bright headlights cut through the night. The black sedan pulled onto the gravel, its engine humming quietly as it rolled to a stop next to us.

Marco got out, looking between the two of us with a careful, neutral face. He knew better than to ask what was going on.

I walked past Luca, opened the back door of the sedan, and slid inside.

Luca stood outside in the dark for five long seconds. Then, with a low curse under his breath, he walked around to the passenger side and climbed into the front seat. He slammed the door hard enough to rattle the glass.

"Drive," Luca bit out.

Marco nodded and put the car in reverse, turning us back toward the highway.

The ride back to the estate was dead silent.

I sat in the back, my arms crossed over my chest, watching Luca in the rearview mirror. His broad back was stiff as a board. His eyes were fixed straight ahead on the dark road, but the muscle in his cheek never stopped jumping.

He was furious. He was frustrated. And for the first time since he dragged me out of Boston, he had zero control over me.

My body was still throbbing with need, but I felt a deep, fierce pride settle in my bones. I wasn't going to let him break me down anymore.

My clutch buzzed on the leather seat beside me.

I picked up my phone, expecting a work email from the hotel managers.

Instead, a text message lit up the screen.

Jean-Paul Mercier

I looked up at the mirror, caught Luca's dark, watchful eyes staring back at me, and let a slow smile spread across my face.