Birthday Wishes - The List: Book 1 by Braxton Cole Read Free Book Online Page A

or not, here I was, ready to knock on his door.
    "Here goes nothing ," I muttered, then knocked firmly. No timid little taps for me. If I was going to be a harlot, I was going to do so proudly.
    The door eased open and I finally saw Luca again. I'd worried that the week apart would change something, that the shiny new fascination might have worn off, but no. He answered shirtless, the smooth, solid muscle of his chest and abdomen tense and begging me to touch. I swear, I could hear his nipples crying out for me to bite them. Really. He wore a pair of gray sweat pants that settled low on his hips so that I could see the cut of his obliques as they narrowed at his hips.
    Since molesting him in the doorway would probably be rude, I settled for wrapping my arms around his waist, letting my palms glide over his skin slow and sure, and pulling him into a hug. The contact was delicious, but not nearly enough.
    "Mari." He pressed his lips to my hair, whispered my name, and held me just a little tighter than the scope of our relationship justified. "Come in."
    He pulled me into his living room and closed the door behind us. He grinned at me, carefree and happy. As he stared at me, the smile transformed gradually from pleased to lustful. The mood shifted to one of heavy need and I couldn't wait to take my clothes off and then take advantage of every naughty act the look in his eyes promised.
    He shook his head and blinked with a laugh. "Can we talk for a second?"
    Really? He wanted to talk? What man asks that when sex is totally about to happen?
    "Okay." I must have looked as disappointed as I felt because Luca took my hand and led me to the couch.
    "It won't take long, I promise."
    I sat next to him rather than straddling his lap like I wanted. With very little effort, I could have his cock out and been riding it like my own personal rodeo. The sweatpants he was wearing showed that his body was totally on board for that idea even if his mouth wanted to talk. I tore my eyes away from his crotch. The longer I stared at it, the more likely I was to say fuck it, and then fuck him. I was better than that. I could totally talk if that's what he wanted to do.
    "What's up?"
    He rubbed his palms against his pants and cleared his throat. "So, I. . .where do I want to start?"
    I looked at him expectantly. I knew exactly where I wanted to start and it didn't involve words beyond the occasional Oh, God! and Yes, right there!
    He sighed and said, "This is harder than I thought it would be. Okay, so, we made our lists together, right? And that took a lot of honesty on both our parts, to say aloud, well, type the words in our case, this is what we want."
    I nodded, still not sure where he was headed, but hoping some encouragement would get him there faster.
    "And I totally thought I could have a purely sexual relationship, one where we connect solely to fuck and aren't required to engage in all the other niceties of a formal relationship."
    "Right." That was the whole point. We got to fuck without emotional entanglements. But the way he was talking made me think he was having second thoughts. Uh-oh.
    "But then I met you. I know you didn't expect me at your birthday party, but it was really nice. You're a good person."
    Shit. This wasn't going anywhere good.
    "And I had a really good time with you after the party was over." He smiled licentiously and it renewed my hope that our relationship, such as it was, might still work out.
    "But when I woke up alone Sunday morning, I . . .well, I didn't like it. And I was surprised by that." He folded my hand carefully between both of his and looked at me so sincerely I almost ran from the room. Shit shit shit.
    "Luca . . ." I started.
    "I'm not asking for more. But I'm telling you I'm open to it. I debated not saying anything, but I want to continue being as honest with you as possible."
    "You're very sweet, but I don't have room for more. That's why I went looking for the sex with no strings arrangement,