Chapter 184 Aria

Chapter 184 Aria
I had never been more sure of anything in my life.

The safe house on the ridge felt like the only place left in the world. There were no pack waiting outside. No distant howls. No threats hanging over us. Just the crackle of the fireplace, the soft glow of lanterns, and Luca standing across from me with his eyes full of everything we’d survived to reach this moment.

I stepped toward him, heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat.

“I’m done running,” I said, my voice steady even though my hands trembled. “I’m done doubting. I’m done waiting for the next bad thing to take you away from me.” I reached up and touched his face, thumb brushing over the faint scar on his jaw. “I choose you, Luca. Not because the bond pulls me. Not because the pack expects it. I choose you because you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I choose you with my whole heart.”

Something in him broke open.

He pulled me into his arms and kissed me like the world was ending and beginning all at once. His hands cupped my face, thumbs stroking my cheeks as his mouth claimed mine — deep, desperate, full of every fear and every prayer we’d carried through blood and loss. I moaned softly into the kiss, fingers twisting in his shirt, pulling him closer until there wasn’t a single inch of space left between us.

We didn’t make it to the bed at first. Not in this state of ours. Well, I digress.

He backed me against the wooden wall, mouth never leaving mine. His hands slid under my sweater, palms hot against my skin as he lifted it off. I tugged at his shirt, desperate to feel him. Our clothes fell away in a hurried, breathless rush until it was just skin against skin.

Luca lifted me, my legs wrapping around his waist as he carried me to the bed. He laid me down gently, but there was nothing gentle in the way he looked at me like I was everything he’d almost lost and finally gotten to keep.

“I love you,” he whispered, his voice rough as he settled between my thighs. “I’ve loved you since the first night you looked out that window and saw me watching you.”

Tears stung my eyes. “I love you too. So much it scares me sometimes.”

He kissed me again, slower this time, pouring every unsaid promise into it. His hands explored me with aching tenderness — tracing my ribs, cupping my breasts, thumbs brushing over my nipples until I arched into him with a soft moan. When his mouth followed the same path, sucking and licking, I threaded my fingers through his hair, holding him there.

He took his time, worshipping every inch of me like we had forever. When he finally moved lower, spreading my thighs and settling between them, I was already trembling.

The first slow lick drew a broken sound from my throat. He groaned against me, the vibration sending sparks through my entire body. He licked me like he was savouring me — long, reverent strokes, then focused suction on my clit while two fingers slid deep inside me, curling just right.

I came hard, crying out his name, thighs shaking around his shoulders. He worked me through it, gentle and relentless, until I was whimpering and oversensitive.

Then he moved back up my body and kissed me deeply, letting me taste myself on his tongue. I reached between us, wrapping my hand around him, stroking slow and firm. He groaned into my mouth, hips rocking into my touch.

“I need you inside me,” I whispered. “Please.”

He positioned himself at my entrance and pushed in slowly, inch by thick inch, until he was buried to the hilt. We both moaned at the feeling both full, perfect, and complete. The bond flared so brightly between us I could almost see it shimmering in the air, golden and alive.

We moved together.

Deep, powerful thrusts that stole my breath. I wrapped my legs around his waist, meeting every stroke, nails digging into his back. He groaned my name like a prayer, hips snapping faster and harder. The bond sang louder, wrapping around us, feeding every sensation back and forth until pleasure blurred into something almost sacred.

He shifted his angle and hit that perfect spot inside me. I cried out, back arching. Pleasure coiled tighter, hotter, until I shattered again — clenching around him so hard he groaned my name and followed right after, spilling deep inside me with a broken sound that went straight to my heart.

We didn’t stop.

He stayed inside me, still hard, and rolled us so I was on top. I rode him slowly at first, savoring the way he filled me, the way his hands gripped my hips like he never wanted to let go. Then faster. Harder. His thumb found my clit again, circling with perfect pressure until I came a third time, moaning his name like it was the only word I knew.

Luca flipped us again, thrusting deep and steady, chasing his own release while kissing me like I was oxygen. When he came the second time, he buried his face in my neck, body shaking as he spilled inside me again.

We collapsed together, sweaty and trembling, breaths ragged.

He pulled me into his arms, holding me like I was something precious. His fingers traced lazy patterns on my back as our heartbeats slowly synced.

“I’ve waited my whole life for you,” he whispered into my hair. “Every hard day, every lonely night, it was all worth it to end up here with you.”

I pressed a kiss to his chest, right over his heart. “I’m never leaving. This is home. You are home.”

The bond between us glowed steady and warm, no longer desperate but complete. Peaceful. Ours.

Outside, the forest was finally quiet.

Inside, we had finally begun the rest of forever.