Rural Romance by Alexa Riley

Chapter Four

Luca

Imanage to get Selma away from the prying eyes of the bartender without a scene, but my possessive hand on her back should have been enough of a signal to fuck off. After that we end up back out on the patio next to the fountain where we can still hear the music and see everyone inside. We’re not alone, exactly, but it’s private enough.

The whole time we talk I have to remind myself to play it cool, but it never works. Every time she smiles, I smile. Every time she leans closer, so do I. From the moment I looked at Selma I’ve been tethered to her. Seeing her laugh is like watching a miracle, and knowing I caused it makes my ego just a little bigger.

I’m sitting next to the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on, and all I want is to know more. My dick certainly wants to take her to bed and have her under me, but there’s an even bigger part that never wants this night to end.

“You know, I was used to wearing heels all the time, but somehow bridesmaid shoes are different. My feet are killing me.”

She slips off the strappy heel, and I see the red lines crisscrossing the tops of her feet. Without thinking, I pull her legs into my lap and begin to rub the aches away.

“Oh god, I should tell you to stop, but that feels so good I can’t.” When she closes her eyes, my dick swells, and I want to rub her feet against it.

“Where are you staying tonight?” The question is out of my mouth before I can think it through, but I’m too hard to supply blood to my cock and my brain at the same time.

Her eyes pop open and she looks around like she’s searching for the answer. “Um, I was going to go back to the city.”

She told me earlier she’s got a place downtown, but that’s over an hour from here. Lux and Bastian found a venue in between Pink Springs and the city so that guests wouldn’t have to drive the whole way. There’s a hotel here, but from what I heard the rooms booked up quickly with it being a boutique hotel. Cooper must have known I’d want to stay here and closer to the airport because he got me a room without me even asking.

“Stay with me,” I say, not pausing my hands as I keep massaging her feet.

“What?” I see her fingers fidget in her lap, and I look up and give her one of my smiles that always seems to get me what I want.

“I’ve got a room here; there’s no need to drive all the way back. Stay here, with me.”

Her eyes sharpen, and it’s like she can see straight through me. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

She tries to tug her feet from my lap, but I grab her ankle and squeeze it firmly. “Be still,” I say in a stern voice, and suddenly she melts. I don’t think I’ve ever been so stern with a woman before, but from the way she responds, I like it.

“Luca, you’re a good time, but I don’t want to do”—she waves a hand between us like she can’t find the words—“whatever this is. It’s too complicated with our families, and I’m not in a good place right now—”

“Selma.” I love the way her name drips from my tongue. I keep my eyes locked with hers as I lift her foot and run my other hand down her calf. I graze my lips across her ankle and up the smooth skin of her leg, only an inch or so before I put it back down. “Stay with me.”

This time, it’s a command, and she doesn’t respond with words, only a slight nod that I might have missed if I wasn’t watching every inch of her. Before she has a chance to change her mind, I slide my hands under her ass and lift her from the bench.

“Jesus, Luca, what are you doing?” she hisses as she jerks her head around to see who is watching. “Put me down, you lunatic.”

“Not a chance.” I beam at her as I walk down the stone path away from the reception and toward the little villas on the property.

The hotel sits beside a lake, and the rooms are situated around it like private cabins. They’re modern, and the glass wall facing the lake shows the moon and stars bright in the sky. Out here feels like being back at home, and being here with Selma feels nice—really fucking nice.

“I can’t believe I agreed to this.” She says it with so much disappointment that it makes me laugh.

“I’m not making you do hard labor. I’m giving you a nice bed to sleep in until morning.” When she rolls her eyes, I smile wider. “Has anyone told you how adorable you are when you’re angry?”

“Never,” she says coolly, and she looks like she means it.

“Maybe you’re only angry when you’re with me.” I shrug as I scan my card to let us in the room.

“No, I’m generally annoyed with everyone.”

“So I’m not special. Got it.” The heavy door closes behind us, and she shakes her head.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“You have an older brother, Selma. How are you not used to being teased?”

It’s so late that the room is pitch black as I carry her to the bedroom where the glass doors are. From the bed you can look out across the lake and see the reflection of the moon on the water. If this place was for sale, I’d buy it up, but I’m not sure I’d be able to sell it.

“I am, I’m just not used to being teased by…you know.” She shrugs. “Men.”

I place her on the edge of the bed and kneel down on the floor in front of her. I take her shoes from her hands and place them on the floor next to her feet and look up at her. “So you don’t generally go to hotel rooms with a man you just met?” I slide my hands up her silky calves and over her knees.

“Um, no.” She licks her lips, and I smile at how nervous she’s gotten.

“I don’t know if you know this about me, but I like to win.” I move my hands farther up the sides of her thighs until I rest them on her hips under her dress. “And I love being first.” Leaning down, I kiss her bare knees, first one and then the other.

With me on the floor like this and her on the edge of the bed, we’re at eye level. I move closer so that she has to spread her knees, and I wedge myself between them. I reach around the back of her and grab her ass, pulling her forward so that her core is pressed right up against where I need it most.

“So keep on telling me that you’ve never done this before.” My lips are just a breath from hers. “All it does is make me harder.”