Crimson Loyalty

9. Heat and Ashes

The dream started slow.

Soft.

Sienna’s bare skin stretched across black sheets, her legs tangled with his, her lips swollen from his mouth. The moonlight bathed her body like a silk veil. Nico hovered above her, his hands gripping her thighs, spreading her open like he owned every secret inside her.

And she let him.

No fear in her eyes. No bruises. No shadows.

Just her.

Just them.

Her back arched as he slid into her, slow and deep, her moan like a spell winding around his spine. His name left her lips over and over, until it didn’t sound like a name anymore—just need. Her nails carved into his back as he f****d her like she was salvation.

Her eyes locked with his.

“I’m yours,” she whispered.

And for the first time in a long time, he believed something beautiful could belong to him.

But the dream shifted.

The room darkened. Gunfire cracked in the distance. The soft moan turned into a scream.

Then blood—on the sheets, on her mouth, splattered across his hands.

He turned, naked and disoriented, reaching for his gun, but it was too late.

The walls shattered under bullets. Men in black stormed the room. Dario’s men.

Sienna ran—barefoot, bleeding—but a shot rang out and she fell mid-step.

No.

He crawled to her, grabbed her hand, begged her name.

Her lips moved but no sound came.

And then… she stopped moving altogether.

Nico screamed.

—

He woke with a violent gasp, the sheets soaked in sweat, his heart pounding like gunfire in his chest.

He sat up, staring into the dark, one hand gripping the sheets, the other trembling at the memory of her body—warm one second, lifeless the next.

His c**k was still hard. His chest still heaving.

He felt twisted. Unsettled.

Haunted.

The dream had given him everything he wanted.

Then ripped it away.

And that fear—that he could want something so badly… and lose it in the crossfire of this life—

That fear was real.

And it was creeping closer every damn day.