He opened to my kiss, and then his tongue was against mine, his scent seeping into me, the warm, wet seduction of his mouth infusing me with life, giving me strength.
I tasted whisky. A hint of mint. And him. The familiar, unique, sweet flavor of him I could never get enough of. I kissed him deeper. Held him closer. And when he lifted me into his arms and carried me into the bedroom, never once pulling away from my lips, I savored him like the sweetest wine, wanting only to taste him everywhere.
He laid me carefully on the bed. A low fire crackled across the room, casting shimmery orange light over the walls and his skin as he climbed over me and drew back long enough to tug off his shirt.
My fingers landed on the silky skin at his abs, the ripple of muscles as he moved. I wanted to sit up. To press my lips to that spot. But before I could, his mouth was on mine again, kissing me slow and deep, taking charge of the kiss in a way that was both gentle and demanding.
I lost myself in his kiss. In his fingertips skimming over my flesh. His lips moved to my cheek, my jaw, trailed a line of heat down my throat.
Cool air washed over me as he pulled the towel open. But he didn’t gasp at what he saw. He didn’t make any sound that told me he was horrified by the bruises and bandages on my body. He only slid slower, whispered my name, and pressed his lips to the sore spot on my shoulder, at my collar bone, against the side of my breasts... kissing every single bruise until there was no more discomfort. Until I felt nothing but pleasure.
I closed my eyes and gave myself over to his lips. His touch. And when he pushed my legs apart and licked up my center, I moaned and reached for him.
My fingers slid through his hair. My hips lifted so I could rock up against his mouth. Lost in a vortex of sinful sensation, I let him push me right up to the edge and leapt off the cliff, diving headfirst into a bliss so strong, it was all I ever wanted to know.
I was still shaking when he kissed his way back up my body and claimed my mouth. I reached for him, opening at the first touch, drawing him into my kiss as his naked body moved between my legs.
He was gentle—so very gentle so he wouldn’t hurt me. And I loved him more for that. I loved him with everything that was in me.
“Luc...”
“I’m here, angioletto.” He kissed my nose, my cheek, my lips. And as he pressed inside me, he whispered, “I’m yours, Natalie. Always only yours. And you are mine.”
I gasped at the tight, perfect feel of him filling me again, right where I wanted him, and captured his mouth. He set a slow and steady pace as he kissed me, thrusting deep again and again. I wrapped my legs around his hips, clung to him with my hands, and gave him all of me, every little bit of my heart and soul.
I gave him everything because this was all that mattered. We really were unbreakable.
We reached the peak at the same time. As my orgasm consumed me and I contracted around him, I heard him groan my name, felt his body tense against me, and I savored every drop of his love pulsing inside me, right where I wanted to hold him forever.
He collapsed against me, sweaty and breathless, but quickly rolled to his side and pulled me against him so he wouldn’t hurt me. I relaxed into him, exhausted and light-headed, carried along by a current of his strength and the knowledge that we would finally be okay. As awful as tonight had been, no one could hurt us again.
“I’m going to take care of you, angioletto,” Luc whispered in my hair, pressing a kiss against my temple. “You believe that, don’t you?”
“Yes,” I whispered, already sliding down the edge of exhaustion and into sleep.
“Whatever happens tomorrow, promise you’ll trust me. I’ll always protect you, vita mia. Everything I do—all of it—it’s only for you. Promise me you’ll remember that. That you’ll trust me to keep you safe, no matter what.”
“I... I promise.”
“That’s my girl.” He kissed me again. “Now sleep, angioletto. And remember how much I love you. Tomorrow, it will all finally be over.”
They came for him in the middle of the night.
I was sound asleep, wrapped safely in Luc’s arms when Marco entered the room and roused Luc sometime around two a.m.
Groggy, I pulled the sheet around me as Luc hastily dressed and their low voices carried across the room. In my fuzzy headed state from the drugs and pain, I caught only a couple of words.
Knights.
Grand Duke.
Installazione.
The last brought me fully awake. I sat up, dragging the sheet up my chest, ignoring the ache in my muscles. “Luc.”
“It’s okay, angioletto.”
“Don’t be long,” Marco said as he stepped toward the door. In the low light from the simmering fire, I saw he was already dressed. “They’re waiting.”
He moved into the hallway, leaving us alone. Before I could climb out of bed, Luc grabbed his jacket, moved around to my side of the bed, and leaned over with his hands braced on either side of me. “I have to go.”
Fear tightened my throat, and I clasped his arm at the biceps. “But—“
“It’s all right, vita mia. I told you I would fix everything, remember? That I’d keep you safe? This is part of that.”
I knew that, but I still didn’t want to let him go. I swallowed hard. “I’m scared.”
“Don’t be. You have nothing to be afraid of.” He sat beside me and brushed the hair back from my face. “My father’s dead. He can’t hurt you anymore. He can’t hurt us. I never wanted this, Natalie, but Marco and Fee were right. It’s my chance to do the right thing. And I will. Do you know why?”
I shook my head, part of me afraid to hear the answer as I shifted my hand to his chest so I could feel his heartbeat.
“Because of you, angioletto. Because you make me want to be a better man. I’ve struggled with this world I was born into. I’ve struggled more than you will ever know. And I convinced myself that, regardless of my own urges, if I stayed out of it, if I didn’t participate in their twisted gatherings, then I was still a good person.”
“You are a good person.”
“But I’m not. Not really.” He closed his hand around mine at his chest and looked into my eyes. “A good person doesn’t let others suffer, not when they can stop it. A good person stands up and fights, even when they know they might not win.”
My heart twisted because it suddenly sounded as if he was getting ready to take on the entire Entente. “Luc—”
“A good person delivers a message to someone in Florence she doesn’t even know, putting her life on the line for a cause that’s not her fight.”
Tears filled my eyes because I heard loud and clear what he was saying. I just didn’t understand what it meant. “Luc...”
“I’m not a good person, Natalie. But I will be. For you. Because I want to make you proud, just as you’ve made me proud, every single day since we met.”
“I am proud of you.” I captured him in a fierce hug and pressed my face against his throat, holding on to him so tightly, never wanting to let go. “I’ve always been proud of you. You have nothing to prove to me. Nothing to prove to anyone.”
He held me close and turned his lips to my neck. “Then maybe I need to prove it to myself.”