Intimacy.
“Luca,” I whimpered as he kissed my lips.
“You feel so good, baby.” He sucked on my lip as he rocked his hips. “Fuck, I missed you.”
“It’s only been a few days.”
“With you,” he said as he brushed my cheek with his fingers. “It feels like forever. I can’t get enough of you.” He kissed me again. “I’ll never get enough of you, Drea.”
My body melted into his, and I slowly unraveled beneath him. It was so easy to lose myself with this gorgeous man, the same one who had consumed all of my dirty dreams. He bit my lip playfully, a sexy smile teasing his lips. I looked up at my powerful king with his strong jawline, high cheekbones, and those pretty blue eyes that sliced right through me. A feral look danced across his irises right before his legs trembled, spilling his cum inside me.
“That was perfect,” I breathed.
He smirked, then bit my lip. “I knew you needed that.”
“Luca, I need to know something.”
His thumb grazed my cheek. “Anything.”
“Do you think you’ll ever love me?”
He blew out a deep breath, his expression darkening. Luca attempted to roll off me, but I grabbed his bicep.
“Don’t withdraw from me, Luca. Please give me something.”
His eyes snapped shut. “I don’t know how to love you. What does that word even mean?”
“Love isn’t a word,” I insisted. “Love is actions. Intention. When you protected me from your enemies, when you risked your life for mine, that was love.”
He shook his head, and his dark hair fell in front of his eyes. “You are my queen, Drea. I will always put my life before yours. So will the rest of the Knights.”
“It’s been ten years, Luca. You must feel something for me.”
Luca pulled out of me, already withdrawing from me as he moved to the mattress beside me. He propped himself up on his elbow, unable to meet my gaze. “Why are you ruining this?”
“Why does the thought of loving me make you sick?” I forced down the tears stinging my eyes, though my voice still trembled as I spoke. “Is the idea that horrible?”
“No,” he admitted. “But I’ve already told you that word has no meaning to me. There are no words to describe how I feel about you.”
“What binds us will destroy us,” I whispered.
He nodded. “You may call it love, but I call it something else. The darkness inside us, the demons that want to lay claim on our souls, those are the things that bind us. We all have that in common. You, me, the Knights. Forever and always, bound to one another.”
Even though his words should have comforted me, I felt nothing but anger and frustration. “Are you saying what I think?”
“You know what Legare means in Italian.”
I nodded. “To tie, to bind.”
“What binds us will destroy us,” he repeated. “And what will destroy us unites us.”
“It’s The Devil’s Knights motto,” I said in disbelief. “After all these years, I thought it was your way of telling me you loved me.”
“No, baby. It means so much more than love.”
Anger coursing through my veins like hot lava, I slid across the mattress and covered myself with a sheet. “Get out, Luca.”
He groaned as he sat up, reaching out for me. “What’s your problem, Drea? Get over here.”
“I thought those words meant something to us,” I choked out, on the verge of losing my shit. “Not to the Knights and us.”
“They mean something,” he challenged as he invaded my personal space. “You will be our queen. I’ve been preparing you for years.”
I shook my head, fighting tears. “More like grooming me.”
Luca attempted to touch my arm, and I recoiled from him.
“You should go.”
I wrapped the sheet around my body, feeling too naked in front of him, and rushed into the bathroom, locking the door behind me.
Luca banged on the door. “C’mon, Drea.” He jiggled the handle as I backed into the room, bumping into the counter as the first tear fell. “Open this damn door, baby.”
“Go away, Luca!”
“No,” he growled. “Open this fucking door before I break it down.”
“I can’t take this shit anymore,” I shouted. “Just leave me alone!”
“What are you doing in there, baby?” Luca threw his weight into the door like he was trying to break it down. “You better not be hurting yourself.”
“Luca, I’m not suicidal. Please, give me some space.”
“Mi dispiace bellissima,” he said in Italian before muttering several curses.
I’m sorry, beautiful.
“I don’t care how many languages you know,” I screamed. “Your words have no meaning. You tricked me into thinking those words were synonymous with love. I feel betrayed, Luca. Please give me some room to breathe without hovering over me.”
He punched the door and cursed. A long moment passed before he grunted, “Fine. Have it your way. But I’m not giving up on you.”
Alex
That night I dreamed of my Devil and his Knights. Once again, we were in The Devil’s Knights Temple, hidden deep beneath Devil’s Creek. An eery silence fell over the room lit by dozens of candles. It was intimate, romantic, but what we were about to do together was far from romance.