No Vacancy Page 11

  He trailed tiny kisses up and down my core through my panties. Writhing against his mouth, I gasped for air, unable to utter anything but a muffled grunt.

  “You make me crazy. Still so wet for me. Such a good girl,” he murmured as he tortured me with more little pecks, this time pushing my panties to the side and dragging his lips up and down, so slow and light it was almost painful. If he didn’t devour me in the next five seconds, I’d combust.

  I still craved the friction he was deliberately holding back. I needed him to suck my clit into his mouth hard and bite it.

  “Joe ...” My face was on fire as I rolled up on my elbows. “Don’t be a tease.”

  “Tease? Maybe you need to be more specific.” The carnal smile dancing across his lips, already soaked with me, was my undoing.

  I grabbed the back of his head and thrust my hips against his face.

  “Suck, Joe. Hard.”

  His laugh vibrated against my thigh when he slid his hand under me and cupped my ass. My hips bucked off the ground on reflex.

  “All mine?” He squeezed before giving it a loud slap, sending a piercing sting down my thigh but triggering a blinding throb in other places.

  That was new.

  “Yes.” My quick and desperate answer surprised me. Maybe it was a loaded question, but, in that moment, I was his—and he could do whatever he wanted.

  He dragged wet kisses across my hip before raising his head with a panty-incinerating, devious smile.

  “You better hold on, then.”

  He hooked his fingers into the waistband of my panties and dragged them down my legs. I didn’t see where they landed but didn’t care when his mouth was on me, licking up and down and around my clit before sucking it into his mouth.

  “Harder,” I begged, my vision already going hazy.

  He had enough of his own teasing, sucking hard and sinking his teeth into the most sensitive parts of me. I rocked my hips against his mouth and bit my lip, unable to stop my ear-piercing scream when the tremors hit their peak.

  He didn’t waver after my body stopped quivering, never taking his mouth off me and kissing me between my legs like he’d kissed me on the mouth before we stepped into his truck, exploring and tasting as if he couldn’t get enough. Everything tingled below my waist as I tried to remember how to move my legs.

  “What do you want, Caterina?” He lifted his head, his face flushed and his lips and chin still drenched.

  “You,” I breathed out once my lungs found air again.

  “Come home with me,” he whispered as he settled on top of me. “I want you in my bed tonight and tomorrow morning and however long I can have you. Fuck how fast it is, I just want to be with you.”

  “I want that, too.” I framed his face and brushed his lips.

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  18

  Joe

  After I snoozed the fifth alarm, I finally lifted my head off of the pillow and glimpsed a bit of sunlight through the blinds. When was the last time I’d woken up after sunrise? My sleepy brain couldn’t remember.

  “I should go.” Caterina yawned and burrowed into my side. “You have to go to the restaurant.”

  I tightened my arms around her still naked body and rolled her on top of me.

  “Didn’t I say I wanted you in my bed this morning?” I whispered and threaded my fingers through her dark tangles. “I’m not rushing anywhere, and neither are you.” I dragged my hands down her bare back, digging my fingers into her ass as I lifted my hips off the bed, showing her how much I wanted her to stay.

  Dominic told me to consider taking a late morning. When Caterina reached between us to palm my hard length, I decided to, for once, take him up on it without a fight. She made lazy strokes up and down before meeting my gaze with a sleepy smile. I’d taken her in a thousand different ways after we’d returned from the beach. The short drive back to my apartment had made us so crazy with need, I was inside her the second I shut the door, her leg looped around my hip as I plowed into her against the wall. We were slow and sweet one minute and desperate the next, but other than tiny intervals of recovery, we hadn’t stopped. I’d never been so starved for a woman in my life, and having her all night did nothing to satisfy the hunger. If anything, I craved her more every time.

  I was fucked for sure, but too high on the beautiful woman stroking my cock to care.

  “Can I taste you?” Her grip on me tightened as her eyes glazed over.

  “That’s a question you never have to ask.” I sifted my hand in her hair and grabbed a fistful. “May I make a request?”

  “I’m pretty agreeable after last night.” She giggled, kissing the corner of my mouth and swiping her tongue along my jaw. “Go on.”

  “Put your glasses on and look up at me while you do it.”

  Her hand stilled as she sat up. “Do you have a librarian fetish? I’ll go along with it, but I’m a little curious.”

  I pulled her in for a kiss, laughing against her lips. “You’re gorgeous either way, but something about you in glasses with your mouth full of me…well, I’m warning you now, I’m going to come hard.”

  Her eyes narrowed into slits as she shook her head. “How are you even real, and where were you when I was sixteen and crying because I needed glasses all the time and wasn’t allowed to get contacts? They’re in my purse, which I think I dropped next to the door. Give me a minute.” She kissed my lips, small little lingering pecks that drove me out of my mind. “You’re filthy, and I like it way too much.”

  She rose from the bed, naked and making no attempt to cover up. My eyes feasted on her when she ambled into the living room, just like my mouth had for most of last night. My heavy eyes closed as I tried to figure out how much, or how little, sleep we’d actually gotten. A tired smile lifted my cheeks when soft lips painted kisses down my chest. I opened my eyes to a gloriously still-naked Caterina in nothing but glasses crawling over me, her chestnut locks tickling my stomach as she traveled lower, dragging her tongue across my hip before she took me in her mouth.

  Her cheeks hollowed as she worked her mouth up and down my cock, all while she peered up at me from behind her glasses. Sitting up and leaning on my elbows to get a better view, I almost swallowed my tongue, not at all prepared for the sexy-as-all-fuck sight in front of me. She moaned as she took me even deeper, the vibrations traveling down my legs like an electrical current, sparks and all.

  “Caterina,” I croaked out almost like a plea as I wrapped my hand around a fistful of her hair. Everything between us was too intense and too good.

  “Up.” An urgent need rushed through me as I pulled Caterina toward me by her underarms. She pressed her hands on my chest, breathless and dazed, reflecting the craziness I felt hammering against my rib cage.

  I flipped us over so that I was on top and reached into my nightstand drawer. Groaning in relief when I palmed what I was looking for, I knelt between her legs and tore open the foil packet, cursing myself for not being fast enough.

  “I want to ride,” she purred as she raked her nails down my back.

  “You will, baby.” I covered her mouth with mine, swallowing her whimper when I was fully seated inside her. She gasped into my mouth, lifting her hips to meet mine with each thrust. This wouldn’t be slow. I pounded into her over and over again, and I still couldn’t get deep enough.

  “I need you like this now.” I broke the kiss and rested my forehead against hers, still moving inside her, harder and faster as if I were chasing some kind of clock. Maybe I was, but wouldn’t allow myself to think about it.

  “Joe, I …” Caterina’s head fell back as her eyes clenched shut. I licked along her jaw before covering her mouth with mine again, our kiss messy, deep and desperate, just like where we were heading.

  Her legs quivered just before she pulsed around me, and I came hard with a grunt, my head dropping to her chest as I spilled into her.

  “Holy shit.” Caterina’s hooded eyes grew when they met mine, her
voice small as she chased her breath.

  I kissed the tip of her nose as I straightened her glasses.

  “Holy shit is right.” I brushed the hair off of her sweaty brow and pressed a kiss to her forehead. It’d been like this all night long, and neither of us could get enough. I worried she was sore since I hadn’t exactly been gentle, but she was right there with me every time.

  “I like you here.” I slid my arms under her and pulled her to me. Deep enough and close enough didn’t apply to this woman.

  She grinned and looped her arms around my neck. “I like me here, too.”

  “My kitchen is small, but there’s a table, and I make an awesome French toast. I have a couple of hours before I have to be at the restaurant.”

  “If you keep cooking for me, I’ll never want to leave.” A sad smile stretched her lips.

  “Ah, you see my plan. If you want, you can take a T-shirt from my top drawer.” I slid out of her and stood, grabbing a T-shirt and shorts from my dresser.

  “Like what you see?” I asked, purposely taking my time leaving the bedroom after feeling her eyes on me.

  “Yeah, I do. Is that a problem?” She shot me a glare but couldn’t help the twitch at the corners of her mouth.

  “Nope, not at all.” I winked over my shoulder from the doorway. “Look and take all you want, sweetheart.”

  After I got rid of the condom and headed into the kitchen, I grabbed my phone to shoot Dominic a text.

  Joe: I’ll be in around 10 if you can handle it.

  Dominic: 10?? Wow! Good for you. And of course, I can handle it.

  Joe: Again, not a virgin or a monk. I’ve spent the night with a woman before.

  Dominic: But never the morning.

  Joe: Maybe I’m not the only one who needs to get out more. You seem to be keeping track of what I do and who I’m with a little too closely.

  Dominic: Nice dodge. See you at 10.

  I pulled the eggs and milk out of the fridge and reached for a couple of bowls, my gut not as light as when I’d woken up. Dom was right. I never lingered after spending the night with someone, even if we were dating. Caterina was changing me at a fast pace, and, before I knew it, she’d be gone. It was too early to suggest something long-distance or to even fathom how she’d react. I’d told her to live in the moment last night, and I had to force myself to do the same. I focused on the sizzle in the pan instead of the new weight on my chest.

  “You wouldn’t have a coffeemaker, too, would you?” I turned to find Caterina sitting at the table, my Rangers shirt hanging off her slim frame, her nipples poking out just enough to reveal the absence of a bra. My heart did a sad leap at the sight of her in my clothes.

  “I do,” I replied as I flipped the bread in the skillet. “Iced or hot? I have cold brew in the fridge, and there’s half-and-half in there.”

  “Cold brew is great; where are your glasses?”

  I reached into the cabinet above the stove to grab a glass.

  Caterina wrapped her arms around me from behind and pressed a kiss between my shoulder blades. “Thank you, but how about you cook and I pour the coffee.” She took the glass out of my hand and reached over my shoulder for another one before opening my refrigerator.

  “I can’t help it, I guess. Occupational hazard to want to serve.” I plated our breakfast and set it on the table.

  “That looks amazing,” she gushed before pouring two glasses of cold brew. “How did you get so good at cooking? Did you go to school for it?”

  She sat back down and dug in. I found her appetite—for everything—sexy as hell.

  “I did. I studied to be a chef and then went back to school for hospitality. I always loved cooking, but I wanted to be my own boss and run things my way. Took me a little while, but I got there.”

  She set down her glass and squinted at me. “A little while? You’re only thirty and already running a successful business. I saw the reviews on Yelp. The Beach Pub is a big deal around here.”

  “So, you checked up on me?” I smirked around my fork.

  An adorable blush spread on her cheeks. “Megan and Claire said they found The Beach Pub online, and, yes, I checked it out. You should be proud.”

  “I am. It’s harder than I thought, but I’m managing so far. What about you? I know you said you worked in advertising, but you never said where.”

  “My office is located near Grand Central Station.”

  “Wow, so you’re in the thick of it all.”

  She shrugged. “I guess. I went to college in Manhattan, so crowded subways and streets are all I know. I started as an account executive but was promoted to account manager this year. It’s stressful, but I enjoy it. I just need to learn to leave work at work and go home at a reasonable hour. My boss even gets on my case over my hours.”

  “Why put in so many then? My mother works in advertising, too. She sometimes had the occasional late night or trip, but most of the time, she was home for dinner with us. Burning yourself out isn’t healthy.”

  “I’ve actually been thinking about that. I had a day to myself at the rental before the girls came in.” She rested her fork on the side of the plate. “Your mother had reasons to leave work at a decent time and people she wanted to see. For the past year or so, I guess I didn’t. That, I promise you, is changing when I get home. There’s no reason to leave work later than six most nights, and I miss seeing my friends. I’m actually grateful for the fucked-up wakeup call I received.”

  Caterina had the livelihood I ran like hell from. I was happy at the shore and couldn’t see heading back to the city for anything else but a visit. And, even if I wanted to go back, everything I had was here. The commitments and obligations of owning a business weren’t something I could just walk away from, but I hated not being able to offer her that normal she deserved: a man waiting for her every night. Even if we tried this long-distance, she wouldn’t have that. At the end of the week, I had to decide how selfish I was where she was concerned.

  She rose and planted herself in my lap. “Can I tell you something that’s going to sound crazy?”

  I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her to me. “I’d say we passed crazy a few days ago. You can tell me anything.”

  “I loved last night.” Her nails scraped along the bristles of stubble on my chin. “It was incredible. All of it.”

  “That’s not crazy.” I brushed her hair off her shoulder. “I feel the exact same way. I loved every second.”

  “But this…” She looped a stray thread on the edge of my sleeve between her fingers. “I love talking to you as much as I love not talking to you.” A sweet giggle fell from her lips. “I keep thinking how great it would be to have this every day—with you. I want to know everything about you, and it feels like time is already running out. We could be so amazing together, but—”

  “You don’t know how it’s going to work?” I lifted an eyebrow.

  “Exactly,” she whispered before cuddling into the crook of my neck.

  “Tell you what, how about we wait to figure out… after…until we’re almost at that point. I don’t want to talk about letting you go until I have to.”

  She grimaced before nodding, looking as crushed as I was feeling at the notion of letting her go.

  I’d already realized that a week would never be enough.

  19

  Joe

  “It’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it?” Dominic jerked his head toward the line of customers waiting to get in. Someone with a ton of followers had posted The Beach Pub on a couple of social media platforms last night, and it brought in droves of customers today. Thankfully, we’d doubled the staff during the past couple of weeks like we usually did by midsummer. The restaurant was happily buzzing without both of us breaking too much of a sweat.

  “Free advertising is a very beautiful thing,” I agreed as I glimpsed the dining area from the inside of the kitchen. If only I could figure out how to make Instagram and Twitter work for us instead of hoping f
or the occasional fluke here and there. That first night I’d met Caterina, I’d been honest about wanting to figure out how to promote this place better, and she’d said she could help me, even if my motives for taking her up on it were a bit clouded.

  Our new hostess, Tina, fluttered from her post in the front to the back, most likely scanning the room for one of us. Her father was a faithful customer of ours and asked us if we’d consider giving her a job this summer. For hiring waiters and waitresses, Dominic and I were more selective. When we were busy, especially at night, we needed workers with experience. Tina was a pretty, but timid, little thing, always regarding Dom and me with wary eyes but seemed to be doing all right her first week.

  Some employees came back from the previous summers, and that filled me with an enormous pride. To make the restaurant a town staple and local tradition felt like the beginnings of success. It was also something I wouldn’t get in a crowded city. I belonged here and had never doubted it. Maybe I’d cursed it a little since last Thursday but never doubted.

  “Joe, there’s someone in the front here to see you. She said her name was Caterina? She went to follow me, but I told her she needed to stay there.”

  “Thanks, Tina,” Dominic told her before smirking at me over his shoulder. I found this tiny thing attempting to be our security a little comical, too. “We appreciate that.”

  I ambled out to the dining area, spotting Caterina near the front desk. She was impossible to miss with a white sundress and the shadow of a pink bikini underneath. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head with loose wisps tickling her neck and cheeks. My cock gravitated toward her on sight, pushing against my zipper as if it were angling to get as close to her as possible.

  “Is this okay?” She stepped back and held up her hands with a playful scowl on her face. “I know I’m not supposed to go back there.”