Page 3

ANDERS

I lean against a marble pillar in the lobby of the hotel, my face a careful mask of indifference while Luca chats with the woman at the front desk, clearly laying on the charm to get a last-minute overnight reservation.

She twists her lips in an apologetic smile and shakes her head, and I glance at the gold trimmed revolving door a few feet away, wondering if I should just fucking bolt.

My lips are tingling from whatever the fuck that was back in Luca’s car, and my heart refuses to stop thundering.

I’m not even going to talk about my cock.

The little blue pills I keep tucked into the front pocket of my messenger bag probably won’t be needed tonight though, and that’s a first. I was actually starting to wonder if there was something wrong with me.

I’ve never had trouble getting hard on my own, with fantasies playing in my mind and my hand around my cock.

Being pawed at by strangers, even attractive ones, has been more of a challenge in the last few years though.

Why didn’t I take Luca up on his offer to take the money and call it a night? That’s basically a dream scenario—a night of freedom to do whatever I want and money to transfer into my dad’s account to keep him happy.

I look back at Luca, brushing his dark hair off his forehead with one hand while he slides some kind of card across the desk with the other. A credit card? A business card? Who knows. Whatever it is, the woman instantly straightens in her seat, her eyes going wide and her cheeks flushing.

Interesting .

Apparently, whatever he handed her was enough to change her opinion about whether or not there’s a room available for the night on such short notice.

While she taps away at her keyboard, I study Luca.

In the harsh light of the hotel lobby, I’m able to actually see him.

Some guys look half-decent under the club lights and turn out to look like the Crypt-Keeper’s uglier brother once some real light shines on them, but Luca actually looks more attractive.

With his sleeves rolled up, I can see the veins in his forearms and plenty of dark hair.

His fingers are thick, and his hands look clean and unblemished, like he hasn’t spent much of his life on any kind of hard labor.

The way he’s leaning over the desk, completing the booking, gives me the perfect view of the way his round ass cheeks test the absolute limits of his fitted pants.

I lick my lips. The way he melted under the roughness of my kiss a few minutes ago makes it easy to imagine him bent over the bed, begging for my cock as I spread his cheeks apart and tongue his hole until he cries.

My cock throbs at the idea, but my brain throws on the brakes so fast I can practically smell burning rubber.

I shake my head and bite down on the inside of my cheek.

If I weren’t so careful about my drinks, I’d wonder if someone had slipped me something.

I don’t know Luca any more than I’ve known any of the men who have bought me for a night.

Maybe in a different version of my life, we might have met at Wonderland tonight and had chemistry.

I might have let him buy me a drink and then spent the night dancing and grinding with him, working ourselves up into a horny fervor of genuine wanting before ending up right here anyway.

No money exchanged, nothing but lust and chemistry.

I roll my eyes at myself and tighten both hands around the strap of my bag, just for something to do with them. There’s no point thinking about alternate versions of my life. They’re nothing but fantasy. My life is my life, and there’s only one way to change a damn thing about it.

“Ready?” Luca asks, stopping in front of me and holding up the room key.

I give a jerky nod, pushing off the pillar and gesturing for him to lead the way to the elevators. He eyes me for a second with a frown.

“Don’t tell me you’re already back to trying to pretend you’re all pliant and submissive.” He arches an eyebrow and I snort.

“Nope.” I set my jaw and let every ounce of fire and defiance inside of me shine through my eyes as I meet his. “You want me with a little bite, and I aim to please.” I flash him a toothy smirk.

His eyes flicker with heat. “Promises, promises,” he murmurs.

A surprising thrill of electricity crackles through my veins too, unsettling me and exciting me at the same time. One thing’s for sure, this is going to be an interesting night.

We get into the elevator, and another couple is right behind us.

Luca scowls momentarily, and for a second I almost expect him to order the other passengers out.

I fight back the urge to laugh and pin him with a stern look.

Shockingly, he looks a little sheepish, pulling himself together to stand politely against the back wall.

Another zing of excitement and heat rushes through me, making my cock jerk in my too-tight shorts.

I reposition my messenger bag to make sure it’s covering my unexpected erection.

We reach our floor first, and Luca gives the couple a polite nod as he eases around them to step out.

I’m right behind him, fighting the urge to call him a good boy for behaving himself.

Maybe I shouldn’t bother to resist it though.

Maybe that’s exactly what he’s looking for.

I ponder it while he unlocks the room and then holds the door open, gesturing for me to go inside.

I saunter past him, unlooping my bag from around my neck as I take in the room.

If there was any question that Luca has money, this room alone would settle it.

There’s a living room, for fuck’s sake. I didn’t even know hotel rooms could be anything other than a single room with a bed and a grungy-ass bathroom attached.

The temptation to linger and check out the view through the floor-to-ceiling windows, maybe test out whether the couch is as comfortable as it looks, is strong.

But I’m not here to play pretend celebrity for the night, so I beeline for what I assume is the bedroom.

I step through the double doors, set my bag down at the foot of the lush, king-sized bed, then spin around to face Luca.

He’s only a few paces behind me, flushed, with just a hint of shyness in his dark eyes.

The man is an enigma. He had no trouble approaching me at Wonderland and telling me exactly what he wanted, and I’m sure that if I’d let him, he would have bullied those people into taking the next elevator.

He must be used to getting his way considering the whole exchange with the woman at the hotel desk.

But that’s not what he wants from me. He said he wants to get burned.

I glance at his watch again and hold back the twitch of a smirk that threatens to give me away. I think I can deliver exactly what he’s looking for tonight, and then some.

I sit down on the end of the bed and pull one leg up to cross it over my knee so I can undo the laces on my boot. Luca unrolls his sleeves and then reaches up to start undoing his buttons, starting at the collar of his shirt.

An uncomfortable silence lingers between us for a few breaths before I decide that I need to find out exactly what he’s looking for, and if I can test a theory at the same time, all the better. I harden my gaze again the same way I did in the elevator.

“Stop,” I order, and his hands freeze instantly. I kick my first boot loose then switch to the other, keeping my eyes trained on Luca’s. “Be a good boy and tell me exactly what you want tonight.”

His breath hitches and his pupils dilate against the already dark backdrop of his irises. He darts his tongue out to wet his lips, and my cock swells with interest all over again at the way his pouty mouth glistens.

“I want you to take me apart,” he says hoarsely. “I want you to be rough with me and I want you to fuck me.”

My throat tightens with the urge to moan, and I have to work hard to keep my eyelids from fluttering and my bored expression from faltering.

I’ve never had to try this hard to stay detached and impassive.

I’ve never had to work at it at all . It’s a natural defense mechanism that’s always served me well.

But there’s something about Luca that’s tempting me to let go.

Maybe it’s the way he checks boxes I didn’t even know I had, or maybe it’s the heady feeling of being less than three weeks from freedom that’s making me reckless.

Fuck it. I deserve to have fun for once in my life, don’t I? I deserve to know what it feels like to actually enjoy sex, even if Luca is still just a paying customer.

I let the impassive mask fall away and his lips part with a soft moan.

The bulge between his legs twitches visibly.

I kick my second boot off, letting it fall to the floor with a thud, and then I splay my legs apart so he can see the answering swell of arousal pressing against the front of my shorts.

“Is that as specific as you’d like to be?

” I slide a hand between my thighs to squeeze my erection, then reach up and grab a handful of the back of my tank top so I can tug it over my head.

“Because if you have any more requests, you should tell me now before I use my top to gag you and then fuck you within an inch of your life.”

His throat bobs with a thick swallow. I slide off the bed and close the space between us in a few steps.

This place is so posh that the carpet is actually soft under my bare feet, instead of threadbare and concerningly sticky.

But that thought is a fleeting one as I press myself up against Luca, his hands trembling as he continues to hold them still, halfway through unbuttoning his shirt.

I stretch my tank top in front of him and arch an eyebrow, giving him one last chance.

He shakes his head and licks his lips again, and this time I don’t hold back the wicked grin that spreads over my face.