CHAPTER THIRTEEN
505 Words
IRIS
I feel so warm
Not the kind from blankets or sunlight, but the kind that came from Luca—solid, unyielding, pressed around me like a shield I hadn’t realized I needed.
I blinked awake slowly, the haze of last night still pressing against my mind like smoke. I’d seen him at his most terrifying—his hand around Elena’s throat, the promises he’d carved into the Deluca name with blood and fire. I’d been terrified, shaking so hard I thought my bones would rattle out of my skin.
And yet… I hadn’t run.
Now, in the morning quiet, I lay still, my cheek against the rise and fall of his chest.
His bare chest.
Ink sprawled across his skin, sharp black lines twisting into patterns and symbols I couldn’t decipher. They climbed over the muscle of his shoulder, coiled down his arm, trailed toward his ribs. I found myself tracing the shapes with my eyes, as though they held the key to who he really was.
For the first time, he looked peaceful.
The hard line of his jaw slackened, the shadows that always clouded his gaze gone in sleep. His mouth, usually a s***h of command or a smirk of control, was soft.
And God help me, he was beautiful.
I let myself study him like I’d never dared before—every angle of his face, the dark stubble dusting his skin, the way one stray lock of hair had fallen across his forehead. He looked nothing like the monster who’d held death in his hands last night.
He looked human.
My heart stuttered, the truth curling in the edges of my chest like smoke. I was terrified of him. Of his world. Of the danger that bled into every corner of his life.
But it wasn’t enough to make me walk away.
Somewhere deep inside, I already knew what I felt for him wasn’t something I could outrun.
I shifted slightly, careful not to wake him. My lips brushed his forehead in the lightest kiss. Then his eyes. Then the bridge of his nose. Each kiss a silent confession I couldn’t say out loud.
When I hovered over his lips, my breath tangled in my throat. Too intimate. Too real.
I hesitated.
But Luca didn’t.
His eyes flickered open, dark and sharp even in the soft morning light. And before I could retreat, his mouth caught mine.
The kiss was unhurried, deliberate, the kind of kiss that unraveled all the walls I’d tried to build. His hand slid to the back of my neck, holding me in place, deepening the kiss until I couldn’t tell where my fear ended and my desire began.
When he pulled back, his voice was rough, edged with sleep but commanding all the same.
“Next time, dolcezza bambina,” he murmured, his lips brushing mine, “don’t hesitate.”
Heat flooded my cheeks, but I couldn’t look away from him. Not when the truth pulsed through me, undeniable.
Terrified or not… I was already his
- Writer
