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Blowing out a harsh breath, I shook my head at the ridiculousness of my own thoughts. I was not expecting anything to come from the older gypsy’s prediction. I didn’t believe in superstitions, mumbo jumbo, or crap like fate. I was a man of facts and figures. I trusted concrete proof easily seen with the naked eye. To think that someone thought that they could predict fate was just ridiculous…
A glimpse of red caught my attention. Suddenly, my attention was torn away from my mental ramblings as I spotted the same, tiny woman that had approached me yesterday. She was talking to a woman with fiery red hair that fell in loose, beach wave curls down her back that looked like threads of gold had been spun through them. My breath caught as my feet came to a screeching halt. All I could do was stare at the beauty as she and the tiny woman briefly conversed. Another minute left me realizing that, like me, the crone was pressing something into the fiery goddess’ hands.
Coins.
It had to be coins, I assumed, watching as the crone’s weathered hands wrapped themselves around the beauty’s fingers, securing the bounty resting there. Instantly, my feet started moving towards them. Across the shortening distance, I watched the crone make her exit, leaving the graceful beauty alone. For several long seconds, the unknown, breathtaking woman contemplated what to do. As I drew closer to her, I watched as she turned her back to the fountain and tossed the coins into the water. Nothing else mattered at that moment other than getting to her. It was almost as if I needed to get to her. To speak to her.
To be with her.
My breath caught again as the corner of her mouth tugged upwards slightly. Just when I was almost upon her, I saw light reflecting from her eyes. Eyes that I knew even without seeing them, were the brightest green. Green as my Irish grandmother’s home country.
And that was the end of my life as I knew it.
All thanks to my mother’s dream, I would never be the same and God help the person who dared to try to make me go back.
After our awkward introduction, along with her briefly accusing me of being a grifter, Ariel and I spent the day together. We spent the minutes and hours that passed glancing in shop windows and observing the city’s citizens, as well as its visitors, until we stopped for gelato.
I’ll never look at Italian ice cream the same. Watching Ariel devour her two scoops of strawberry left me uncomfortable. I’ll admit it. I squirmed like a young teenage boy, my cock straining against my zipper, my thoughts solely focused on her tongue coated in the creamy confection. There were several times where I forgot to eat my own share. I was so spellbound by how her mouth and tongue worked in unison. All I could think about was her using them on me. It was all I could do to get my dick under control as she grabbed what was left of my share and gobbled it up.
Coffee followed, along with more strolling and getting to know one another. We spoke of everything. Our likes. Our loves. What we despised. Our friends. Our families. Grand passions. Goals. Bucket lists. Nothing was considered taboo. Through that never-ending, stimulating conversation, the one thing that we didn’t discuss were what we both considered the insignificant details of our lives. Addresses. Email. Important data that didn’t seem so crucial at that point. We casually glossed over those details, not suspecting how important they would be later.
And then came dinner. Hearing her stomach rumble for the umpteenth time and seeing how the golden Roman light had faded to a soft gossamer indigo, let me know that it was time for dinner.
We ate at the bistro that I had quickly grown to love. To my surprise, she’d eaten there earlier for lunch. As we sat at our table, I silently kicked myself for choosing that mouthwatering pizza over coming back here. If I had, we could have met so much sooner. Those were lost minutes that we’d never get to make up.
Ariel and I continued to chat as the night progressed. Somewhere between ordering and the arrival of our food, I knew that I was done for. Good and truly fucked. Even though I’d only spent a few hours in her company, I knew that Ariella Marie Grainger was the only woman that I’d ever want to be with. In those moments where her eyes reflected the candles’ flames and the overhead lighting brought out the golden highlights in her auburn hair, I knew that my mother was right. That coming to Rome would bring me the love of my life. It’s strange to think that one glance would render you undone, but that’s what happened to me. One look was all that it took for me to realize that when I looked at her, I was staring at my future.
That I was falling in love with her.
Those thoughts were running through my mind as I flirted with her, testing the waters and hoping that she felt the same way. For that reason, I didn’t let up with my compliments or professing that I found her beautiful. I watched her fidget nervously as I asked if she found me handsome. I half-expected her to look away, but instead those bright, emerald eyes fixed on mine.
It was then that I knew I had to get her someplace quiet. Somewhere intimate where it was just her and I. The two of us, alone, without prying eyes or a bistro filled with voyeurs eavesdropping on us. When we left the bistro, my plan was to take her to the garden of my hotel. When I checked in, the concierge informed me that the gardens had been designed with romance in mind.
“They are theperfettoplace to take your lady,signore,” he had said with an expert level of hospitality.
On my way to take my fiery-haired goddess to what had been described as ‘the most romantic garden’ in Italy, something changed. As I held her hand, guiding her down the street, the need to kiss her, to touch her, became too much. Instead of waiting to kiss her by a flowing fountain with the scent of flowers perfuming the air, I chose to drag her onto a darkened side street and give in to the deepest urge that I’d ever experienced. In that darkened space, I took possession of her. I claimed her for mine, savoring that sweet mouth while being tempted by her eager hands and that tongue that could melt a man’s knees. It was there we stayed, neither of us moving, our mouths locked, our bodies pressed deliciously against each other until both of us came up for air.
Moonlight shimmered in her hair, leaving me craving to bury my hands deep into those auburn tresses and press my lips against her sweet mouth again. I shouldn’t feel like this, I couldn’t help but think. I’d only known her for a handful of hours but yet, I felt like I’d known her for ages.
I guess Mom was right.
The words flitted through my mind as I stole a sideways glance at her. A glance that was reciprocated by one of her own.
“Cat got your tongue?” she asked softly, her words escaping like a sigh as a warm, Italian breeze blew blissfully against our skin. We were still tucked away in the darkened, quiet side street that I’d pulled her into before I captured her mouth and we made out like two people who couldn’t get enough of each other.
Tasting her, feeling her touch me as my hands roamed the upper landscape of her body, that sensuous tongue playing and toying with mine as our mouths devoured one another was almost too much.
“No, I was just thinking.” My reply came quick.
“About?”
“You.” Her amused eyes danced as a laugh escaped her lips that left me with a semi that I hoped to hell that she didn’t see.
“What about me?”
The words that came out of my mouth flushed her cheeks and left her squirming. Her wild, emerald green eyes burned with wildfire. I couldn’t help but grin as I discovered the hints of a little vixen hidden under that good girl exterior.
“Lucas…” she said, her soft voice breathless from the words that I’d spoken. “I…”
