Tino jerked the blanket off, exposing her. Then he leaned down and kissed the crease of her knee. He lifted his gaze to stare at the place between her spread legs, giving her a look that made Brianna feel hot all over. He licked his lips but didn’t seem deliberate about it. It was more unconscious, like he was thinking about something very dirty.
And she was unquestionably hot now.
But he said, “No,” as though talking to himself and moved lower instead, kissing her calf.
“No?” she repeated, unable to hide the hitch of disappointment.
So far this was doing absolutely nothing to restore her dignity.
“I don’t deserve it,” he decided for both of them. “I’ll just think about it instead. I’ve got lotsa practice.”
“Think about what?”
“If you have to ask, then I definitely don’t deserve it.” He ran his lips lower down her calf, whispering against her skin, “We’ll play a different game.”
She fought to keep her breathing even as he kissed her ankle. He licked at the top of her foot, and she tried to jerk it back. “What are you doing?”
“Worshipping you.” He kissed her big toe, even though she was struggling to get her foot out of his hand. “Why are you fighting me?”
“Dancer feet.” She tried again to pull her foot free, but his hold was iron tight. “Stop it.”
“I like dancer feet,” he said with one of those dazzling smiles that should get him anything he wanted. “Especiallyyourdancer feet.”
“No.” She kicked out, catching his shoulder when she finally got her foot free, but he just laughed at her. “No touching my feet.”
“Why?” He leaned down and kissed her other ankle, completely ignoring her embarrassment.
“They’re ugly.” She tried to pull her other foot out of Tino’s grasp when he licked at her heel. “Come on, Tino. Stop it. I don’t even want you looking at them. I certainly don’t want youlickingthem.”
“They make you beautiful. They help you do amazing things.” Tino kissed a bruise on the arch of her foot. “You should love these feet, Brianna. You should be proud of them. They make you who you are.”
She was quiet for a long time and then took a shuddering breath when she realized she was hiding her bruises and scars from Tino. Like they were something to be ashamed of, and that was the last thing she wanted him to think she believed. It wasn’t easy. Everything in her wanted to pull free, but she didn’t fight his hold on her.
“Why do you want to do this?” she asked when he licked at the arch of her foot again.
“’Cause you matter.” He said it so solemnly it gave her chills. He kissed her little toe. “To me you matter. It’s not much, but—”
“It’s everything,” she said quickly, feeling almost three years’ worth of confessions rising in her chest. She was fairly certain she’d been madly, hopelessly in love with him since the first time she saw him smile at her in the summer sunshine on that trampoline. “Tino—”
She was cut off when the door opened.
“Maledizione!” Tino shouted at his brother. “Get the fuck out, Casanova!”
Tino hadn’t let go of her foot like any normal man would, because judging by the look on Nova’s face, it probably seemed really bizarre to an outside observer. Nova’s eyes were wide, like nothing in him could processes what he was seeing.
“Valentino—” Nova started, raising his eyebrows as he looked at Brianna’s foot in his hand.
“You just walk in?” Tino growled in response. “You don’t fucking knock? I don’t walk in on you!”
“You said you weren’t fucking her. I just figured—”
“Bullshit, you just figured!” Tino shouted and then licked Brianna’s foot. His hold on her ankle was like a vise when she tried to pull it out of his grasp. He did it lasciviously, dragging his tongue slowly down the full length of it, looking at his brother with a wild vindictiveness. When he moved to suck on her big toe, Brianna kicked forward, catching his shoulder again, because they were not doing that in front of Nova. Tino looked unfazed as he tilted his head and said to Nova, “That was for the train.”
“There’s something wrong with you. I don’t know what it is, but it’s major,” Nova decided and then pointed at Brianna. “And I think there’s something wrong with you too.”
“Get out, or I’m gonna make her spit in my mouth,” Tino said sharply.
“Figlio di puttana.” Nova threw up his hands, stepped out, and pulled the door closed, as if that was way more than he could handle seeing.
