Chapter 20 ... "The Weight of Silk and Blood"
Luca sat on the thick fur rug in front of the hearth, Elena folded in his lap like a wounded thing he would never let break again.
The fire crackled behind them, throwing gold across her tear-streaked cheeks.
She was still shaking, small, broken sounds escaping every time she exhaled.
He held her so tightly it should have hurt, but she only pressed closer, fingers twisted in his shirt as if he were the only solid thing left in the universe.
“Baby, don’t cry,” he whispered against her temple, voice cracking.
“We’ll find whoever did this. I swear on every drop of blood in my body.”
She tried to speak, but only a sob came out.
Luca cupped her face, thumbs sweeping tears that wouldn’t stop.
“Look at me, Butterfly.”
His eyes were glassy, fierce, terrified in a way she had never seen.
“I’m so fucking proud of you. Today you stood in front of hundreds and said ‘He’s mine’ like a queen. You claimed me, Elena. You chose me. And I will spend every breath proving I’m worthy of that choice.”
Something shifted in her chest.
The fear didn’t vanish, but it shrank, pressed back by the sheer force of his love.
“You’re mine,” she said, voice raw, possessive, trembling with the weight of it. “I won’t share you. Not with the past. Not with anyone.”
Luca’s answering growl was pure devotion.
“Never, baby. I’m yours until the stars burn out.”
He brushed his lips over hers, soft, reverent, then pulled back just enough to see her eyes.
“My wife needs a reward tonight.”
Elena’s breath hitched.
The tears still fell, but her pupils dilated, dark and hungry.
“I need… rough sex,” she confessed, voice small and shattered and brave. “I need to feel you instead of the ghosts. I need to forget why this keeps happening when I’m finally, finally happy.”
Luca’s heart cracked wide open.
“Nothing will happen,” he promised, fierce and low. “You focus on me. Only me. I’ve got you.”
She nodded, tears slipping into her mouth.
He kissed them away, then kissed her like a man drowning, rough, desperate, teeth scraping,
tongue claiming every sob and turning it into a moan.
He stood with her in his arms, walked three steps and slammed her back against the wall.
The impact rattled the paintings, but she only gasped his name like a prayer.
“Safe word?” he rasped.
“Red,” she breathed.
He didn’t wait.
Hands tore his own shirt from her body, seams ripping, fabric fluttering to the floor like surrender.
She was naked, trembling, beautiful, and his.
He dropped to his knees in worship and violence, mouth sealing over her pussy like he could devour every memory that wasn’t him.
Tongue spearing deep, drinking her pain, her fear, her love.
Two fingers plunged inside, curling hard, stroking that spot that made her sob his name instead of ghosts.
She came the first time with his name broken on her lips, thighs clamped around his head, tears mixing with the slick on his chin.
He rose, eyes feral, cock straining against his trousers.
He didn’t undress, just freed himself, thick and aching, and lifted her.
Her legs wrapped his waist instinctively.
He pinned her to the wall again and slammed home, one merciless thrust that buried him to the root.
Elena screamed, not in pain, in relief.
In home.
He didn’t move for a heartbeat, just held her there, impaled, forehead pressed to hers.
“Feel me,” he whispered, voice shredded. “Feel that I’m alive. That we’re alive. Nothing touches us here. Only us.”
Then he moved.
Rough.
Raw.
Healing.
Every thrust a vow.
Every slap of skin a promise.
He fucked the grief out of her, fucked the fear out, fucked love into every shattered place.
Her back scraped the wall, his hand fisted in her hair, arching her throat so he could bite, suck, brand.
The other hand gripped her ass, fingers digging bruises that would remind her tomorrow You are safe. You are loved. You are mine.
“Look at me,” he snarled when her eyes fluttered shut.
She forced them open, tears still falling, but now they were his tears too.
“I love you,” he said with every brutal stroke. “I love you when you break. I love you when you burn. I love you when you rise.”
She came again, harder, pussy clamping around him like she’d never let go, sobbing his name into his mouth as he kissed her through it.
He spun them, still buried deep, walked to the bed and threw her down.
Folded her in half, knees to shoulders, and railed her like the world was ending and this was the only truth left.
The headboard cracked plaster.
The fire roared.
Their bodies burned hotter.
He reached between them, thumb circling her clit, relentless.
“Come for me one more time, baby. Let it all go.”
She shattered, vision whiting out, screaming until her voice gave out, every muscle seizing around him.
Only then did Lucas let himself fall, burying his face in her neck, roaring her name as he spilled inside her, pulse after pulse, marking her from the inside, claiming every inch of her soul.
He stayed inside her, softening but never leaving, arms crushing her to his chest.
Their hearts hammered in sync, sweat-slick skin fused together.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered over and over, kissing her tears, her eyelids, her trembling lips. “I’ve got you, butterfly. Forever.”
Elena clung to him, fingers tangled in his hair, breathing him in like oxygen.
The ghosts were still whispered at the edges, but they were quieter now, drowned by the thunder of his heartbeat against hers.
“I love you,” she said, voice hoarse, raw, true.
“Thank you for catching me when I fall.”
Luca pressed his forehead to hers, eyes wet.
“Thank you for letting me.”
And in the firelight, wrapped in the man who would burn empires to keep her whole,
Elena finally believed she was allowed to be happy,and that no ghost, no gown, no secret could ever take that from her again.
The fire had settled into glowing embers, painting the room in soft crimson and gold.
Luca carried Elena to the en-suite, her body limp and glowing with aftershocks, tears dried on her lashes.
He ran the shower scalding, stepped under the spray with her still cradled against his chest, and washed her slowly, reverentlyHands sliding soap over every bruise he’d left, every mark of love and war.
Fingers gentle between her thighs, cleaning his release from her tender skin while she sighed his name in half-sleep.
He wrapped her in the softest towel, dried her hair with slow strokes, then carried her back to bed.
Fresh silk sheets, cool against her fevered skin.
He slid in behind her, pulling her flush to his chest, one arm locked around her waist, the other cupping her breast.
His mouth found her nipple instinctively, warm, wet, possessive, latching on with slow, soothing pulls.
Not sexual now.
Just comfort.
Just home.
Elena arched into him with a sleepy moan, fingers threading through his damp hair.
“Lucas…” she breathed, voice thick with exhaustion and trust.
Within minutes her breathing evened out, body melting completely, falling into the deepest sleep she’d had in weeks.
He stayed like that, mouth gently nursing, feeling her heartbeat slow against his tongue, until he was sure the nightmares couldn’t reach her.
Then his phone vibrated on the nightstand, once, sharp, urgent.
He knew that tone.
Carefully, so carefully, he eased his mouth from her nipple, pressed one last kiss to the soft curve of her breast, and slid from the bed.
Elena sighed in her sleep, instinctively reaching for him.
He tucked the blanket around her, brushed a strand of hair from her face, and whispered against her forehead, “Sleep, farfalla. I’ll be back before you wake.”
He dressed in seconds, black tactical pants, black hoodie, gun holstered under his arm.
One final look at her peaceful, sleeping form, lips swollen from his kisses, marks of his love blooming across her skin, then he was gone.
The call came again as he descended the marble stairs.
“Sir,” Viktor’s voice, low and lethal. “The courier who delivered the parcel is in the dungeon. Alive. Barely. He’s ready to talk.”
Luca’s jaw clenched, eyes turning to ice.
“I’m coming.”
The door to their bedroom clicked shut behind him.
Somewhere beneath the estate, chains rattled and a man started praying.
The king was coming for answers,and hell was about to open its gates.
To be continued....