A very good time?

What kind of naughtiness did Cristiano have planned for her?

One could loosely argue that the three pieces of lingerie were business-related purchases. Rosa would most likely be wearing them at one point or another on assignment. After listening to the saleswoman's suggestive remarks, however, there appeared to be nothing business-related about the black box.

It was a purchase meant for pure, unadulterated pleasure.

As Rosa watched the saleswoman wrap up their items one by one, the three of them continued to make small talk at the checkout counter. Cristiano pulled out a credit card to pay for the obscenely high bill. Through it all, Rosa managed to keep her expression serene. Composed. Even though, on the inside, she was dying to ask Cristiano about the contents inside the black box.

A minute later, the saleswoman thanked them for their business, and Rosa followed Cristiano to the exit. A part of her resisted their return to reality. Cristiano carried their shopping bags in his left hand and opened the door for her with his right one. They stepped onto the street. She wasn't ready to leave the fantasy world of Afrodita.

There—Rosa could flirt and touch Cristiano simply for the sake of flirting and touching.

There—Cristiano also flirted and touched her back without his usual stick-up-the-ass reservations.

Still, Rosa noted, not all of the fantasy was lost.

She stole another peek at the smallest bag in Cristiano's hand. The one that carried the black box.

As they continued walking the streets of Retiro, she tried to take her mind off of the stupid box by asking, "Is there anything else we need to do? To prepare for tonight?"

In unnervingly calm tones, he replied. "I just want you to return to the motel with me right now."

Curiosity got the best of her. "Cristiano?"

He glanced over. "Hmm?"

She couldn't resist bringing it up any longer, "The box—"

Cristiano smiled knowingly. "What about it?"

"What is inside of it?"

Cristiano's dark eyes shone with wickedness as he replied, "I will show you when we get back to our room."

Her cheeks felt warmer than usual. Rosa proceeded to probe, "Is it for... me?"

He cast a steady, pointed look in her direction. "Who else would it be for?"

Instantly, heat flared inside Rosa.

Bon Dieu!

Good God!

Why did this man have to be so fucking fuckable?

Cars and mopeds zipped by Rosa's peripheral vision. Even amidst the hustle and bustle of broad daylight, it wasn't easy to hide her attraction to him. He stopped at the curb to hail a cab for them. When Cristiano flagged one down, he again opened the door for her. He offered his hand to help her into the backseat.

The moment she pressed her fingers into his palm, tensions between the two of them rose and simmered and rose some more. Cristiano didn't let go of her hand, and she didn't pull away until they arrived at the motel. For the entire duration of the drive, his thumb caressed her palm and wrist, drawing relentlessly enticing, featherlight patterns on her skin.

By the time they reached their room, need and want and nerves ruled Rosa's senses. Cristiano's desire seemed far more contained than hers. His composure irritated Rosa. It would appear the glimpse into his boyish playfulness from Afrodita was gone. His unhindered flirting and touching had stopped, too.

In her red Saint Laurent heels, Rosa stomped past Cristiano into their room with hard, staccatoed steps. At a leisurely pace, he closed the door for them and locked it behind him. He set all but one of the bags on the floor. The smallest bag stayed in his hand.

Cristiano then looked at her and nodded towards the mattress. "Sit. Per favore."

Rosa eyed him with a keen wariness, but she took a seat on the bed.

Cristiano removed the small black box from the bag and handed it to her. "Open it."

Rosa accepted it from him. "Merci."

As she removed the lid from the box, a gasp escaped her lips. Inside, Rosa found a sleek black egg-shaped toy. At first glance, the egg looked harmless enough, but then she recalled what the saleswoman had said to her: It can be controlled through a phone.

Was this little fucker a remote-controlled vibrator of sorts?

Her amber eyes shot up to seek out his face, demanding curiously, "Why are you giving this to me?"

Cristiano shrugged as though he had presented her with something as mundane as a bouquet of flowers. And not some depraved high-tech sex toy.

"I wanted to give you a gift."

She repeated skeptically, "A gift?"

Rosa couldn't bring herself to believe that a man like Cristiano ever gave anyone anything out of the goodness of his heart, and, regardless of their mutual attraction for one another, the man had made it very clear that he didn't intend to fuck her.

That they had no future together.

Yet, he nodded swiftly. "Sì."

She challenged him, "I thought you were all about business and no pleasure? This gift does not sit in line with your motives."

He ignored her question and, instead, replied with a question of his own, "Have you never used one before?"

She chose to sidestep his question with another question, "Do you intend to use it on me?"

Cristiano kept his gaze on her. Steady. Unwavering. "No."

Rosa frowned. "Then, why did you buy it?"

"Do you really want to know?"

She scoffed, "Of course! Otherwise, I wouldn't ask."

He took a moment before answering in pensive, halting tones, "In your other life, you had... pleasure... stolen from you. One too many times. I wanted to give it back to you in some small way. To help you find pleasure again. On your own terms."

For a moment, Rosa's eyes grew wide as a surprised speechlessness overtook her. His admission did something to her heart that felt truly endearing and deeply painful at the same time. The conflicting feelings twisted within her chest even while they filled her with a bone-deep sense of warmth.

His thoughtfulness melted her to the core.

But Rosa also feared that he might see her as some sort of broken creature who needed to be fixed?

She didn't want him to view her in such a demeaning, pitying manner. She wanted him to treat her as his equal. Desperately so. Because, all of a sudden, Rosa realized that she actually cared about his good opinion. About earning his respect.

God, this man was beginning to get under her skin in all the best and worst ways possible.

"You should not have gone through the trouble," Rosa whispered as she turned her head away, suddenly unable to look at him.

She was afraid her expression might betray her emotions.

"Believe me, I know," Cristiano replied with a strained, self-deprecating chuckle, "but I could not help myself. I can never seem to help myself around you."

Slowly, her face turned back towards him. Their gazes collided in midair. She searched for signs of pity in Cristiano's dark eyes. She found none. She hoped to keep it that way. Rosa wanted to show him that there was nothing broken about her.

A defiant spark lit up her lovely features as she taunted, "Why hold back, mon beau? You clearly want me, so take me. "

Cristiano's posture tensed at her bold invitation, but he made no move to come closer, muttering gruffly in Italian, "Dio, potresti tentare un santo a diventare un peccatore..."

She ignored his remark. It wasn't like she could understand him, anyway. It wasn't like he would translate for her if she asked him.

Bastard.

With a graceful turn of her wrist, Rosa plucked the egg from the box and held it up to admire the toy up close. "I do not know about you, but the last few days have left me feeling a bit... stressed. I think we could both use some... relief... before tonight's outing, non?"

Dark eyes full of heat, he inquired, "What do you have in mind?"

"If I were to use your gift to pleasure myself right now," she suggested in low, lush tones, "would you stop me?"

Frowning, Cristiano growled, "Rosa..."

"Would you?" she repeated with more force.

"No," he ground out hesitantly.

"Will you stay and... watch?"

Cristiano stopped again before responding in a huskier voice, "Do you want me to stay?"

She smiled like Eve. "Oui."

Her hands drifted to the collar of her blouse. Rosa started undoing the buttons to reveal her ivory-colored bra to him. Cristiano's eyes were hopelessly riveted in her direction. Rosa's blouse fell away. Her bra disappeared next. His body looked frozen in place as though he couldn't decide whether to run to her or turn away.

Rosa knew she had been torturing him for ages.

How much more temptation could one man withstand?

She was determined to shatter Cristiano's resolve.

With a naughty grin, Rosa watched him watch her as she shimmied out of her skirt and underwear. She then scooted back on the mattress and propped herself up against the headboard with some pillows. Rosa laid back on the bed in a half-reclining position and slowly spread her thighs to him.

His breath caught as he took in the wanton sight of her bared sex. "Mi fai venire voglia di peccare."

Rosa purred, "Are you staying, mon beau?"

"I am not going anywhere," he rasped in return.

She reached up to cup her breast in one hand, massaging the rounded flesh and rolling her nipple between her thumb and forefinger. With her other hand, Rosa dragged the egg down her stomach, over her mound, and began teasing it along her folds. Back and forth. Up and down. Until her slit grew wet with excitement. Until the toy grew slick with her excitement, too.

Cristiano's eyes kept darting between her tits and her pussy. He couldn't seem to stop marveling at Rosa. A sizable tent had since formed at the crotch of his trousers.

Through it all, he murmured passionate words of encouragement to her, "Sì, sì, sì, you are such a good girl. Do not stop. I cannot look away. You are so fucking beautiful right now. So fucking perfect."

His words thrilled her. They seduced her. She might have been broken in the past, but, in this moment, he made her feel beautiful. Perfect.

"Oh, Cristiano," Rosa sighed breathlessly, "I want to come for you. Watch me come for you."

"Come for me, baby," he urged, "make your sweet little pussy come for me."

She couldn't seem to look away from him, either. His dirty talk was such a turn on. Rosa couldn't remember the last time she needed to climax so badly. There was something about having Cristiano in the same room, watching her, lusting after her, while she played with herself that set all of her senses on fire.

And they were just getting started.

The egg wasn't even turned on yet.

Rosa released a breathy moan as she pressed the tiny switch that was tucked along the underside of the toy. Within the same second, a loud, humming buzz filled the room.

She pressed the egg upon her clit and, gasping loudly, nearly ascended straight to heaven right then and there at the shock of pleasure the vibrations wrought from her core. The egg pulsed against her sensitive nub almost too intensely, too mercilessly, setting her nerves ablaze with wave after wave of euphoric bliss. A crazed desperation coursed through her. Ecstasy was within reach. It was close. So fucking close. She could feel it.

She removed the hand from her breast and nipple. Rosa slid two fingers inside herself. With her other hand, she continued to hold the egg in place on top of her throbbing, needy clit. A second heartbeat began to pound within her pussy. In a frenzied blur, Rosa's fingers pumped in and out of her honeyed sex as she chased after her release with mindless abandon.

She didn't even notice that Cristiano had made his way across the room. He now stood near the edge of the bed with a front row view of the free show.

"Just like that, baby," he whispered in reverence, "just like that. You are almost there."

At his insistence, Rosa's orgasm hit seconds later, rolling through her entire body as she panted and trembled in pure rapture. During the height of her climax, Cristiano climbed onto the mattress next to her. He pulled Rosa into his arms and held her body close as her core convulsed in euphoric spasms.

In time, the intensity of it all tapered away, fading, quieting, until her body grew limp. Sleepy. Rosa felt utterly relaxed in Cristiano's embrace. He held her through the afterglow as she dozed off for a minute or two.

When her eyes fluttered open again, Cristiano was gazing at her with a faint smile on his face. "Welcome back."

Rosa offered him a sheepish look. "Mon Dieu, I have not come so hard in ages."

Her pussy was still tingling. Wetness clung between her thighs.

She tried to pull away from him. "I should go wash up. I made a bit of a mess."

"Stay," he ordered suddenly, caging her beneath his chest.

Rosa glanced up at him with a question in her amber eyes.

Cristiano smirked slightly. "Please. Allow me to help... clean up... your mess."

❧

Dio, potresti tentare un santo a diventare un peccatore.

God, you could tempt a saint to become a sinner.

Mi fai venire voglia di peccare.

You make me want to sin.