“Definitely not necessary.” I led her up the stairs to the first bedroom.
“Thanks for letting me stay here tonight.”
“If there’s anything you need, I’ll be awake for a while. Just come down and look for me.”
“Thank you,” she repeated.
I let her be, went downstairs, and poured a glass of wine. It was a nice night, so I sat out on the terrazza and enjoyed the star-filled sky.
In the brief time since I found her, I’d crossed several lines with Tara. It would’ve been different if I was pretending to be attracted to her as part of the mission. Not that I’d ever resorted to that. I knew many agents operated that way, but I never had. No, the desire I had for Tara was completely genuine. Should I follow my best friend’s advice, reach out, and grab every bit of happiness I could, even at what might be the expense of my job?
I looked over when I heard her come out the door from the kitchen.
“May I join you?” she asked.
“Of course.” I held up my glass. “Want some?”
“No, thank you. I think I’ve had enough in the last couple of days.”
I set my wine down on the table. I was guilty of the same.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
I wanted to ask what was worrying her, but the list of things she wouldn’t be able to talk about was lengthy.
“I wanted you to know I’m planning on leaving tomorrow.”
While that didn’t surprise me, given Lucia’s treatment of her, I was disappointed even more than concerned.
“It’s none of my business…”
Tara smiled. “Go on.”
“I haven’t kept my attraction to you a secret, but that isn’t the only reason I’d ask you to reconsider.”
“What’s the other reason?”
“As I said before, you might want to wait until you can talk to Pia in person.”
“I wasn’t going to leave by cover of night.” She laughed, mesmerizing me.
“You have the most beguiling smile.”
The moon was bright enough that I could see the flush that stained her cheeks.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
I stood and held my hand out to her. Her eyes were questioning, but she took it and stood anyway. “Just in case,” I whispered, putting my hand on the back of her neck. I leaned forward and kissed her in the same way I had earlier today when we were at Casavetti. The difference now was we didn’t have an audience.
We didn’t just kiss; I captured her mouth with mine, breathing in her erratic breath, plundering her lips and thrusting my tongue into her mouth.
She’d changed her clothes, taken off her bra, so I could feel the stiff peaks of her nipples against my chest. I kissed my way from her lips to her neck, wishing I could bend mine and suck one of the hardened tips into my mouth through the thin fabric of her nightshirt.
Tara’s fingers wove into my hair, pulling it until my scalp tingled, taking my need for her from desperate to animalistic.
I cradled her ass, kneading and squeezing her flesh. In the back of my mind, I knew this was too much, but I couldn’t stop. If I woke tomorrow or any other day and she was gone, I’d go to the ends of the earth to find her. In the meantime, I needed the memory of how her body felt next to mine to sustain me.
“Ben,” she murmured.