Chapter 206: Green Season
- RORY -
Thankfully the rain that begins falling is one of those pretty mists with droplets so fine that they cling like small jewels to everything they touch. And thankfully Raya’s dress bag is waterproof.
It isn’t until we get near the Tuk Tuck pick-up area that the rain really starts falling in earnest. Bruno waves us over, and Raya giggles as we fold ourselves under the canopy of the automobile.
"Beautiful rain," Bruno says, poised behind the wheel with the key in position while he waits for us to get situated. "This is the green season. It will rain more, but it should pass in a few hours. Did you find a dress?"
"Yes, Bruno. Thank you," Raya smiles, and I watch the lovestruck way Dex admires her when she speaks.
I don’t realize I’m smiling myself until I look away and Luciano is there to receive it. He flashes me one of those smirks that makes my skin bloom with warmth. Wet hair clings to his forehead, but he doesn’t shake it off—doesn’t remove it. He looks messy and unkempt and sexy as hell.
Adding to this discomforting predicament is how Luci’s shirt is now soaked through and clinging. But before I can truly appreciate the cut of all those muscles, I’m looking down and tenting my own top, pulling the fabric free from my skin to make sure he isn’t getting a similar view. It wouldn’t be muscles I’m flashing.
"You good, dolcezza?" Luci asks, drawing my eyes back to the thick, wet lashes feathering his own.
"Yep," I mutter.
I am good. Except his voice unravels like a rocky shoreline between my ribs just like it did when he was speaking in Italian earlier. And next to that shoreline is an ocean with something primal in its depths. With every deep look, every gravelly word from his lips, I can feel it rising, gaining more height from where it wishes to crash over him.
A shiver pebbles over my skin at the thought, and Luci catches it. He frowns, gaze dropping to take me in.
"Are you cold?" There is something unexpected about the way he asks it—the tender and confidential tone like my comfort is a private discussion—that makes me shiver again.
"No," I answer, shaking the remaining tremor from my body and trying to disguise the effect he has on me, because no one would be cold in this weather. The rain has only made it more humid.
"I’m not cold. It’s just the... the air," I trail off vaguely with a dismissive wave of my hand. What else would make someone shiver? "And I have to pee, you know?"
"Oh," he nods, lips twitching toward a faint smile.
God, did I really just say that?
"Why? Are you cold?" I ask, hurrying on past those final words so they won’t linger.
"No. Actually it’s crazy how you can be drenched from rain and still be sweating." He pulls his shirt from his chest with a chuckle before letting it go again. It clings just as it was before.
"That’s a rainforest for you, I guess."
"You want to go explore it later?" He asks, studying me. "After the rain stops?"
"With you?" That definitely wasn’t the plan, but I’m off balance from the heat and his presence and the freakin shirt that keeps wanting to stick to me and his that is sticking to him. "It’s been a long day. Maybe."
"One of the shop owners gave Rory his number," Raya says, leaning toward us.
"Really?" Luci’s eyebrows shoot up.
"No," I scoff, frowning at my sister. She phrased it in entirely the wrong way. "It was his son’s number."
Luciano’s head hangs curiously, an amused smirk playing on his lips. "Collecting numbers, dolcezza?"
"No," I say with a defensive chuckle.
He’s taking advantage of the misunderstanding so he can tease me, but there’s also a dangerous glint in his eyes that I don’t want to encourage.
"No. He’s a tour guide..."
Before I can explain further, we hit a huge bump in the road that makes Raya and I both go flying off the bench seat. Raya squeals before she’s caught in Dex’s arms, and I crash into Luci’s.
"Sorry!" Bruno calls back. "I didn’t see the big hole because of the rain. Everyone okay?"
I find myself panting against Luci’s chest as I recover from the surprise of the fall. So much is unavoidable when I’m pressed against him like this. Every sense is filled with him. Scent. Touch—his soaked shirt under my hands. The planes and ridges of his muscles beneath. He remains undiscovered but not entirely unknown—familiar enough to bring comfort and novel enough to make my heart thunder even harder in my ears than it already was.
When I finally push myself up, he’s a breath away. Wet strands of his hair hang between us, and those dark eyes assess me.
"You’re okay," he says.
It’s a statement and also a question. I hear them both.
"Yes."
I clear my throat and push the rest of the way back, hands sliding down his slick forearms before grasping the yellow handle at my side in case we should encounter another hole Bruno can’t see.
"Don’t call him," Luciano says, a muscle tensing in his jaw. "You don’t need a random local guy as your tour guide, Lorelei."
The unexpected jolt in our smooth ride has apparently shaken all the teasing from him. This isn’t a suggestion or an opinion he’s putting forth. This is a command—one filled with irritation. Like he can’t believe he should have to tell me something so obvious. Like I should know better.
"I don’t?" I chuckle, the challenge in my tone a reflex more than anything.
"No," Luciano says firmly. "You don’t."
I might secretly like Luciano, but no man is going to tell me what to do... even if I wasn’t going to do it in the first place. In fact, it almost makes me want to call the guy and schedule a one-on-one tour just to piss Luciano off. And if Silvano or whatever the tour guide’s name is happens to be a psycho, then I’ll have a chance to use the knife and take out some of this anger. It actually seems like a win-win.
"Is that an order, boss?" I tilt my head with a saccharine smile, hoping he says yes. Daring him to.
Luciano Ricca might be used to ordering people around and getting whatever he wants–whatever woman he wants–but I’m sure as hell not going to roll over and submit just because he thinks he’s right. He can take those pretty Italian words and sexy... everything... and shove them right up his ass.
While these angry thoughts flit through my mind, Luci watches me, contemplating the answer I’ve requested. But instead of insisting that I listen to him like I expect, his lips twitch toward another smile.
"No. It’s not an order."
The depth of his voice sinks into me once again and treads that invisible path next to my heart. It’s completely disarming–so much so that my false smile melts away and brows knit together.
Warmth and care and uncertainty and emotions I don’t have names for flood Luciano’s eyes before he quickly glances away, casting the rest of it out into the forest.
He’s robbed me of an argument and given me something else in its place. I’m just not sure what it is.
