Words of Lust Read Online Free

glad I transferred to Wharton. It’s much more challenging.”
    “As a matter of fact, the lady I met yesterday is a professor at Wharton. Maybe you know her. Professor Serafina Luca?”
    “Oh my God! Luscious Luca!”
    “Watch your mouth, Gia!” his mom admonished.
    “What did you call her?”
    “That’s what the boys call her—all the jerks who sign up for her class just to hear her talk dirty.”
    “What?” His mom’s shock grew. “What kind of teacher talks dirty to her students?” She cast a jaundiced eye in his direction. He squirmed.
    “She doesn’t. Like I said, the guys are all jerks. She teaches a couple of different courses, but her Flesh and the Word class is always booked—and the waiting list is a long one. But the only students who ever drop are usually those same guys when they find out how much homework and reading she assigns, that she’s a tough grader, and the class isn’t filled with horny girls.”
    “I’m afraid to ask,” he interrupted, “but what makes Flesh and the Word such a popular class?”
    “It’s the study of erotic literature and writings.” She munched some Italian bread and looked around the table, expecting more interest at her statement. His brothers snickered, his parents looked shocked and only his sister Cara looked mildly intrigued.
    For his part he had to admit—intrigue was his reaction too. Given The Professor was the epitome of a sensual woman, whose big green eyes, thick curly black hair, lush lips and a Gina Lollobrigida figure could stop traffic, knowing she spent her days reading the erotic classics made for a smoking-hot picture. And any conversation they had about her work would be far more fun than he’d originally anticipated. He was looking forward to getting some of those books after all.
    The silence that had descended upon the table was finally broken.
    “What does erotic literature mean, exactly?” his mother asked.
    “Dirty books, Ma,” Alberto chimed in before making an obscene tongue gesture at Nick.
    “Grow up, moron,” he retorted and leaned away from the swat his mother sent toward his head.
    “Stop that, Berto, I can still come around there and smack you too.”
    Gia snorted in disgust. “See, guys never grow up.” She turned to her mother, a glow of interest lighting up her face. “It’s about the classics of erotic literature. Anaïs Nin, Nabokov, D. H. Lawrence, Henry Miller.” She glared at all the men, including him, and he felt her scorn at all the gutter-minded males in the world.
    “How about them Yankees?” Vincenzo reached across the table for the bread and his comment broke the tension. It led to laughter and to sports arguments, and he was relieved to have the topic of The Professor and her dirty books off the table.
    After dinner broke up, he offered to give Gia a ride back to her student apartment, hoping to pick her brain about Luscious Luca and those dirty books.
    She was loaded down with her backpack and a massive pouch he called the black hole, from which she was just as likely to pull a rabbit as a wallet, and climbed into the passenger seat of his battered truck. He was thrilled when, without prodding, she returned to the subject of Luscious Luca as they headed over the 59th Street Bridge to the Upper East Side.
    “She’s really a fabulous teacher, and there’s nothing dirty about the books or the class. That’s just small minds.”
    He had to smile. She’d always been the sharpest and most opinionated of the Stellato kids, except during sports debates, which regularly brought the brothers to blows. She loved school more than any of them so it was great to hear her talk, even if her newfound status gave her a bit of a swelled head. She deserved it. She’d worked hard throughout school, earned scholarships and was getting great grades.
    “Talk to me. What’s your favorite book so far?” He figured maybe he could pick up something she’d read and he’d have a segue into the conversation if he