Birthday Wishes - The List: Book 1 Read online

  “What the hell is that?”

  “Half mathematician, half fortune-teller.” He shrugged.

  His answer told me nothing, but I nodded like I understood. It sounded boring and I was certain the details would make it worse.

  “I’m a caterer.” I didn’t clarify. Everyone knows what a caterer is. No mysteries there.

  “Did you cater your own party?”

  “Looks like it.” The chairs had Zapata and Carelli stamped on the back of them. It didn’t take much of a leap to conclude everything else came from our warehouse. “Rachel, the one cutting the cake earlier, is my partner.”

  “Tell me where we met. Someone is bound to ask.”

  He was right, my mom would want to know. I didn’t have the wherewithal to remember a created history, so I opted for the truth. “We met online.” We could clean up the details. She didn’t need to know everything.

  He pulled me close and pressed his lips to my ear. “Heads up. Here comes your mom.” He turned until our positions were reversed and I could see her approach over his shoulder.

  “Oh, hell. Are you ready? She’s coming for you, not me.” What better place to interrogate Luca than on the dance floor where he was a captive audience of one.

  As predicted, my mom smiled like a shark and tapped me on the shoulder. “May I cut in?”

  “Um.” I didn’t want to sacrifice Luca, even if he did deserve it for coming here in the first place. Actually, no, in that equation, I wanted to sacrifice Ricky for inviting him.

  “I’d be delighted.” Luca released me with a wink and kiss to my cheek, then swept my mom up into his arms and away into the dancing crowd. I missed his heat instantly.

  Rachel was on me the second I stepped off the dance floor. “So, dish.”

  I sighed. At this point, my dirty little secret was public knowledge, there was no point holding back. Rachel had an annoying habit of getting what she wanted from me regardless of how much I resisted. It was time for disclosure. “I met him online.”

  “Really?” If we’d been talking on the phone, I would have sworn there was drool dripping from her mouth, but I was looking right at her. Drool free zone. “I thought all the guys on the Internet were creeps who wear beer-stained wife beaters and have giant bellies.”

  She was quoting me word for word. That was the reason I’d given her a few months ago for not trying an online dating service with her. The real reason I’d resisted was currently twirling my mother around the dance floor.

  I shrugged, but didn’t respond. I was busted. There was no graceful way out.

  “He’s gorgeous. When did you start dating and why didn’t you tell me about it?”

  “We’re not, um, dating exactly.”

  “Then what exactly are you doing?”

  That was the magic question and the answer made me blush when I even thought about it. How in the world was I supposed to explain our arrangement to my best friend? I could already feel the heat rising in my cheeks. “We have a. . .mutual agreement.”

  “Come on, Mari. Stop hedging and tell me what’s going on.”

  “We made a list and we’re going to. . .work through it together.” I could barely get the words out. When Luca and I were discussing the details online, it seemed like the perfect solution. I wanted, no needed to get laid, but had absolutely no desire to enter into another relationship. My life was too busy and my divorce had been too unpleasant. In the past few months, Dillon and I had figured out how to be friends again, but we were truly ugly to one another when our marriage ended. I didn’t want to ever go through that again if I could help it. Still, as logical as my agreement with Luca seemed when I was sitting at home, alone with my computer and a picture that may or may not have been the real Luca (it was!), it seemed downright sordid when I tried to explain it to Rachel.

  She folded her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow, a move that I had never been able to successfully replicate. “A list of what?”

  “Jesus, Rachel, don’t make me say it. You know what I’m talking about.”

  “So you met this guy, a perfect stranger, online and made a freaky booty call list? And now you’re going to act it out together?” Her smile grew with each word until all I could see was teeth. It scared me how much she was enjoying this conversation.

  “When you put it like that it sounds so—”

  “Accurate?” She laughed louder than I thought necessary.

  I shot her a shut-the-fuck-up look and said, “Dirty. You make it sound dirty.”

  She kept right on laughing. “That’s because it is dirty. And wonderful! Good for you.”

  “Fuck off.” I tried to sound angry. Here was my best friend laughing at my very practical solution to a very real problem. Bitch. Except I wasn’t angry. I was relieved. If she could laugh, then later we’d be able to talk about it without blushing and giggling. And I was in uncharted territory. I wanted her advice, twisted though it may be.

  “Ah, don’t be mad.” She pulled me into a brief hug, but quickly released me in favor of more laughing. “And now your mom has her claws in him. Oh, God, it just gets better.”

  “I know. So could you stop laughing and help me?”

  “I don’t know what you’re worried about. He looks like he’s holding his own.”

  I looked to where she gestured and saw Luca guiding my mom off the dance floor and in our general direction. She was laughing and looked more relaxed than I’d seen her in a while.

  “Mari, Luca tells me he has big plans for you tonight. Why don’t you kids get out of here?” My mom spoke with sincerity, but all I heard was double entendre. I knew she didn’t mean it the way it sounded, but I couldn’t help but blush even harder.

  He held out his hand. “Shall we?”

  I took his hand, waved goodbye to my friends and family, and followed Luca out into the night.

  Chapter 2

  The downside of meeting my online hookup and discovering that he’s hot enough to melt my panties off was that his hotness wasn’t enough to override my basic safety training. I wanted to be alone with him right now!, but I wasn’t willing to leave my car behind and ride with him. Nothing took the punch out of a storming out like having to crawl back in and ask the bad date for a lift.

  I followed his tail lights illegally close from the party to the hotel. Granted, I’d already programmed the location of our rendezvous—The Heathman Hotel in downtown Portland—but for some reason it seemed critical that I stay within sight. I didn’t want him to be a dream and disappear.

  We left our cars with the street-side valet and walked through the main entrance hand in hand. Nothing like adding a legitimate air to an illicit affair. He’d previously checked in, so we bypassed the front desk and went directly to the elevator.

  When the doors slid shut, he said, “Your family seems nice.”

  I shrugged. Personally, I’d rather we skipped the small talk and got straight to the fucking. He seemed like a nice guy and I was sure he could chat me up as well as anyone, but why bother? We didn’t meet online for dating and time with the family. I smiled and leaned in to take advantage of the otherwise empty elevator. I’d wanted to kiss him all night, so why not?

  The car slid to a stop and the doors opened. An elderly couple entered and he stepped away from me. His face colored slightly and I stifled a giggle in my hand. This man had written, in explicit detail, all the debauched things he wanted to do to my body, but the thought of being busted by other people made him respond like a school boy.

  I cut him a break. “My mom really liked you.”

  “Did she?” He looked heartbreakingly hopeful, like the sweet beau meeting his future mother-in-law for the first time, rather than the lusty hookup he really was. “I’m glad. She seems nice.”

  “She is. For the most part.” It was too soon for me to explain her plentiful and varied quirks. She was a multi-faceted woman and nice didn’t even come close to covering it.

  “She has a lot of questions, though.
”

  I laughed at that. My mom was downright pushy. “She’s like that with everyone, not just you.”

  The elevator doors opened again and Luca said, “This is us.” He did that super suave thing where he placed his hand on my lower back and guided me out of the elevator and toward the correct room. I love when a man does that. It’s one of many on a very long list of things that makes my panties twist and my brain misfire completely.

  We made it to the room without anything disastrous happening. My panties didn’t reach a point of complete saturation thus allowing my wetness to drip down my leg, Luca’s hand didn’t scald a hole in my back, and I didn’t force him to his knees and beg him to lick my cunt until I came. All in all, a successful trip from the elevator to the hotel room door.

  He opened the door, drew me inside, kicked the door shut and pushed me up against the back side of it. Without asking, he crushed his mouth against mine, a hot, open-mouthed kiss complete with his minty tongue working inside my mouth. Thank god, the small talk portion of the evening was over. I sucked on his tongue, drawing him deeper.

  I whimpered when he pulled away. He left me dazed, disoriented, and gasping for breath. I sagged against the door and tried to regain my composure.

  He dropped the key card on the table and sat on the bed and removed his shoes and then tucked his socks inside. Very neat. As he unbuttoned his shirt, he said, “So, the list. . .”

  “Mmmm. . .the list.” I hoped to God we weren’t going to ruin it by over talking everything we’d already worked out online.

  “I was thinking that tonight we could just do what feels good, rather than working on a specific agenda.” He stood and removed his pants. He hung them over the back of the desk chair, then removed his shirt and draped it over the top. An efficient stripper, but it still kept me collapsed against the door.

  “Perfect.” I commented on both his lack of plan and his beautiful physique. He clearly put time in at the gym.

  “Are you sure? Because it is your birthday.” He stripped off his underwear and crossed the room to where I was standing. He walked with the saunter of a man who knew he looked good. His cock swung low, but hardened with every step. I wanted to be as blasé as he was, but I couldn't stop staring at him. There's nothing cool about staring. I was dismantled and he knew it. His cock twitched and I gasped.

  He smiled and said, “Let me help you with this.”

  I was right, that smile could make my clothes fall off.

  “Do you want to do anything special to celebrate?” He spun me around and pressed my palms flat against the door at about face level. He swept my hair out of the way and kissed my neck. I tipped my head to the side and opened the line of my neck to his mouth. He sucked gently in just the right spot and my knees quaked. He pushed me harder against the door, and I could feel the length of him flush against me.

  My dress gaped open in the back. I didn’t even realize he’d unzipped it. His chest was firm and hot against my back and I really, really wanted to turn around. He didn’t let me. He circled my wrists with his fingers, gripping them tight enough to be just this side of painful and my body flushed with desire. I needed out of my clothes.

  “Stay. Just a moment.” He nipped my exposed shoulder. “You haven’t answered my question. Do you want anything special since it’s your birthday?”

  Was he serious? I could barely remember my name, and was losing the battle to maintain control of my basic faculties, like speech and breathing, and he wanted me to order sex acts like entrees on a menu? I shook my head. “No. Anything. Everything. It’s good.”

  He released me and without the pressure of his body holding me snug against the door, my dress slipped to the floor. Objective number one achieved. Now if I could have just convinced my stockings to fall off on their own accord.

  He ran his hands over my body and briefly palmed the globes of my ass. Thank God I wore a thong or I would have had to wait for the feel of his hands gripping and squeezing the flesh there. Then he continued down my body. When he reached the garters holding my stockings in place, he dropped to his knees.

  “So fucking sexy.” He kissed the brief strip of skin between garter and stocking, then released the clasp on one then the other. He helped me out of my stockings and pumps, then bit my left ass cheek hard enough to make me squirm. He slapped the other side and pushed my hips flush with the hard metal door. His fingers dug into my sides, pinning me, and he sucked the skin where he’d bitten. He worried it with his teeth for a moment, then sucked hard and long, bringing the blood to the surface and awakening every nerve ending along my spine. He had clearly been paying attention when I outlined what I wanted from a lover.

  "These have to go, too." He slipped my panties down and folded them carefully before placing them atop my stockings. I'd never realized how sexy it was to watch a man fold laundry. Especially a naked one who looked as good as Luca. I'm pretty sure I whimpered when he smiled innocently up at me, his fingers teasing over the tops of my feet.

  Never breaking his smile, he gripped my ankles and eased my legs apart. He stretched me until I could feel cool air on my cunt. He tightened his hold on my ankles, holding them firmly just as he had my wrists only moments ago. "Like this?"

  I nodded. It was all I could manage as the blood flow through my body had detoured from the speech forming parts of my brain and landed directly in my exposed cunt. I was throbbing.

  "Good." He moved his hands to my waist and stood slowly, sliding his body against mine. His cock made contact with my inner thigh and I gasped again. Seemed that was the only sound my mouth could effectively make. And since it served the dual purpose of adding oxygen to my lungs, something I was desperately lacking, I was all in favor.

  He kept his hands on my waist, his grip firm and commanding, and pressed my body into the door. With his cock nestled between my thighs, he rocked his hips, testing my opening, but never pushing inside. I tried to tilt my hips, to open myself further, but Luca held me firm. He continued to rock, his length gliding smooth and silky against me. The tip teased my clit, an unbearable, near constant pressure that drew me higher, but would never ever take me all the way.

  I cried out in frustration. "Please."

  The word was barely more than an exhale, but he heard me. He tightened his hold on my waist, and continued his maddening slow, teasing pace. "You feel so good." He punctuated his words with a particularly hard thrust and groaned. "So wet."

  "Luca." I was ready to plead. I needed more and he was showing no sign of giving it. I reached behind me with both hands, grappling with his hips. His skin was smooth, his muscles hard, and when I touched him, he tensed further. "Please." I tried to pull him into me.

  "Stop." Luca pulled back until just the very tip of his cock was lodged between my thighs. It twitched and jerked, slipping higher between my ass cheeks. Luca stood perfectly still, his breathing metered and intense.

  He squeezed my sides, then released me. I felt abandoned until his fingers once again circle my wrists. He guided my hands to the wall and pressed my palms flat against the surface. I pictured my prints sinking into the paint and becoming permanently etched in the thin metal beneath. The pressure he exerted left an impression of permanence.

  "Stay. Here." He articulated each word as an individual, separate sentence, complete, but complementary. The words tickled against the skin of my neck, hot and thick, like the heavy weight of molasses dragging over me.

  I swallowed hard and nodded. My movement was staccato, completely lacking grace. He nipped at the hard tendons exposed in my neck. He sucked the skin between his teeth and ground his teeth together carefully. I scratched my fingers against the door, desperate to find purchase in something, anything. How was I supposed to remain immobile when he did something like that? The ache in my belly flared hot and I almost collapsed from the intensity.

  Instantly, his hands were on my waist again, supporting me, and his cock notched into place between my thighs as if drawn by instinct. He felt per
fect with the thick surface pressed flat against my cunt, and the thought of him inside me overwhelmed. He stroked, pulling back and pressing forward with controlled precision and if not for the strain of his fingers digging into my hips, I would have thought him unaffected.

  He thrust especially hard and jerked me back to meet him. He stilled, holding me away from the wall, his dick throbbing between my thighs, panting into my neck and wound his fingers into the hair at the base of my scalp, pulling the strands tight, then pressed forward until I tilted my head down.

  "Look."

  His cock peeked out from between my legs. Where normally I'd see smooth, waxed skin, I saw the proud tip of his erection, glistening with evidence of my arousal. He pushed his hips tighter into me and it jutted out further. I whimpered and my fingers itched to touch him. He held my head in place, my hair in his grip, and forced me to watch as he circled my waist with the other hand. He reached his fingers down, slithering over my skin, until he reached the apex of my thighs.

  "Yes," he exhaled the word as he touched the tip of his penis, rubbing his thumb roughly over the opening and collecting the pre-cum leaking out. "I can't wait to get my cock between your lips, to fuck that pretty little mouth."

  He pulled his hips back a fraction and snapped them forward hard and quick. I was crushed between his pelvis and the punishing hold of his palm pressed flat against the low part of my belly. His fingertips grazed the exposed head of his penis as he thrust forward. He did it again and again, so many times I lost count. With each thrust, he worked his fingers against me, slipping between my folds to circle my clit. He ran his finger over the length of himself, and pressed me against his cock as he rocked between my thighs.

  It was delicious and teasing and so, so hot. My cunt burned as pressure built inside me, pulsing hot and hard. He carried me higher, made my insides burn until the pressure felt impossible to contain. And when I could take no more, he gripped my clit, fully hard and exposed, between his thumb and forefinger and rubbed frantically.

  I boiled over, heat and steam rampaged through me, culminating low in my stomach and flashing out through my torso and my legs, and blackening my vision. In that one sweet, suspended moment, all I felt was pure bliss.