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Lucia pressed her fingers against my face, brushing them lightly down my cheek. Her lower lip continued to quiver as she explored, her eyes following the trail, her touch delicate. I parted my lips when she rolled a single tip around them, moving from one side of my jaw to the other. Seconds turned into minutes, our connection stronger than before yet entirely different. Nothing would bring back the innocence of our youth. Nothing could change the heartache we’d both endured, or the ugliness of who we’d become. What I’d become. But I would soothe the beast inside. Blood would be shed. For her. For the woman I couldn’t live without. For the only person who remembered who I once was.
“My brother told my father we were close. Papa planned on hurting you, keeping you away from me. That’s why I really came that night, to warn you. Enzo was there with the masked men. I know it. I recognized his cold, unforgiving eyes.”
I listened to her, uncertain what or if I could say anything that would ease the pain we’d both harbored.
“You’re so different,” she continued. “So tall and strong. So muscular. You grew up so much I couldn’t recognize you. Then again, everything has changed.”
“True. You’re no longer a shrimp, my amazing baby. But you always were beautiful.” Her laugh ripped away part of the tension. I pressed my lips against her hand, desire burning just below the surface.
“I dreamt about you. I wanted to believe you were alive.” She dropped her gaze along with her hand, skimming the tip along the front of my neck. “I thought I saw you years afterwards in my favorite spot of the estate. Do you remember it?”
“I was there years after the tragedy, but only once. That was the last time I saw you.”
The same frown as before formed on her face. “That was you. I thought I’d seen a ghost. My father dragged me away, calling me a fool. After that, I told myself I’d never return. It was too painful without you being there.”
“You’re all I’ve thought about for years.”
“But you hated me.”
Even though I took another deep breath, I couldn’t fill my lungs with the needed air. “I was told lies. I didn’t know what to believe.”
“You were grieving like I was.” She lifted her head again. “Who killed your family? My father?”
I nodded just once and she slumped against me.
“Then he deserves to die.” Her tone was riddled with the same rage I’d felt for far too long.
“Ssshhh…” I placed my index finger across her lips. “Not now. Not now, baby.” I cupped both sides of her face, bringing her even closer. The moment of holding her in my arms as the man I’d once been was unforgettable.
“Have you ever wanted to hold onto something so badly you’re suffocated by the thought?” Her breathless whisper tingled my skin, the words burning into my soul.
“More than you know.”
“I don’t want to wait any longer. Be with me. Make love to me.” She wrapped her fingers around my shirt, arching her back as she shifted her hips from side to side. The beast inside of me wanted to fuck her hard and fast, filling her with my seed. But the man inside, the one who’d longed to see her face for so long, to hear her lilting laugh and know she belonged to me needed something else.
All of her.
Her body.
Her soul.
And her heart.
I lowered my head, both of us taking shallow breaths. I should care about the danger lurking in the shadows, men determined to bring us to our knees, but nothing was more important than showing Lucia exactly what I felt, the raging hunger that had furrowed deep inside. I would be her protector, her savior, and her ruler. But first, I would be her lover.
When I captured her mouth, scattered moans floated past our lips, the sound as beautiful as I’d thought it would be. Being with her before, kissing her soft lips had been special, but this was magical.
She rolled her arm over my shoulder, tangling her fingers in my hair. I opened and closed her mouth with mine, tasting her sweetness. The moment I swept my tongue inside, she shuddered in my hold. The fact she was quivering in my arms set my soul on fire. As the kiss became more passionate, the electric need for each other increasing, I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck. I wanted to possess her, claiming every inch as mine.
Every sound she made encapsulated the rapture, the taste of her, whiskey and cherries, more scintillating than anything I’d ever experienced. Our tongues thrashed together as I explored every dark crevice, drinking in her utter essence, the scent driving me wild.
The way she ground her hips back and forth lured the beast to the surface. My actions became rougher, requiring all of her. She raked her fingers down my back with one hand, unbuttoning my shirt with the other. I sucked on her tongue then pulled away slightly, biting down on her lower lip.
She purred, fighting to jerk my shirt from my jeans. Then she pulled away from me, yanking the material then pushing it up my chest. When she dropped her head, pressing her heated lips against my skin, I threw my head back and roared. The woman had no idea what she was doing to me.
Or the plans I had for her voluptuous body.
With every kiss, every lick of her tongue, my muscles tensed, my cock pressing hard against the tight confines. Sweet Jesus, I was going to lose my mind. When she sucked on my nipple, I jerked the shirt over my head, tossing it aside. Then I fisted her hair, tangling my fingers in the long strands as she bit down.
