Chapter 29 LEAVE…. LUCA
/Luca/
The way that snow coward wrapped his hand around her on her bed nearly made my monster rip straight through my skin. I stood there in the dark like some caged thing while he breathed against her hair. It took everything in me. Every shred of discipline I had left. Every reason why I came here in the first place. I came here because I wanted to talk to her and figure out if she would be useful to me and instead I found myself staring at her like she was the first beautiful thing I had ever seen.
And the crazy part is that she is useful. Very. More than she even understands.
So when that idiot wolf finally left and the room fell quiet I stepped out of my hiding place. Slow. Intentional. My eyes locked on her the whole time.
Stepping toward her felt like walking into a trap I already knew I wanted. Heaven must be cruel to give me a perfection like her and still expect me to share her with someone else. What kind of joke is that. What kind of cosmic disrespect.
She was standing there with her back straight and her chin lifted like she had something to protect. Something to prove. The moonlight caught her hair. Her breathing was uneven. I could still taste that kiss from earlier and my mouth refused to forget it.
Then she opened her lips and said it.
“You need to leave.”
Her voice was small but stubborn. Like she was trying so hard to sound firm. Like she knew I had every intention of ignoring her.
I tilted my head and let my eyes drag slowly over her face. The freckles she hates. The tiny line in her brow. Her mouth. That mouth that still tasted like fear and defiance and heat.
“Leave.” I repeated. “You are really cute when you try to command me.”
She glared. The type of glare meant to push me backwards. It only pulled me forward.
“Luca. I mean it.”
I stopped barely two steps away from her. I could feel her breath. She tried to hide the way it stuttered. She failed. I like the way she calls my name… no one has called me by name for centuries now… it sounds very sex coming from her mouth.
“You wanted me to hide for him.” I said. My voice dropped. “But I am not hiding anymore.”
She swallowed hard. That small movement did things to me I did not like.
I pointed at the bed she and that wolf had just shared.
“You let him hold you. Touch you. Sleep beside you.”
Her cheeks flushed. She hated that I coming closer and closer or maybe it’s in my head.
“He is my mate just like you are.” She hissed. “And I had a nightmare and he heard me scream.”
Fuck! I hate this… I hate sharing.
I took a step closer.
“Your nightmare woke him. But that doesn’t mean he should come into your room this late at night.” I know what I just said doesn’t make sense since he’s her mate as well and he has the right to be touchy with her.
Her mouth parted like she was about to argue. I cut her off with the truth I wanted her to believe.
“If we are being honest Edlyn you did not call him. You called me.”
Lies.
Her eyes widened. She tried to take a step back but hit the dresser. I caged her in without touching her. The scent of her powers filled my lungs. Sweet. Rare. Familiar in ways I could not explain yet.
“You need to leave.” She repeated softer this time.
I leaned in until my lips hovered just above her jaw.
“Why. So you can run back to him.”
Her breath caught.
“No. Because I do not want any trouble.”
“Trouble.” I laughed quietly. “Trouble is already here.”
I finally lifted my head and met her eyes again.
“And you feel it. No matter how hard you try to pretend you do not.”
Her pulse thumped so loud I almost smiled.
“Say it again.” I whispered. “Tell me to leave.”
She opened her mouth.
I. I want.
But she could not finish it. She could not lie to me. Not when the bond was already pulling tight between us like an invisible chain. With the way she’s behaving it obviously her vampire side is saying things about wanting me here.
Her voice trembled.
“Luca. Please.”
That please hit something in me I did not know existed. Something that made me curse under my breath and step away from her before I did something reckless.
I dragged a hand through my hair.
“Fine. I will leave. For now.”
She let out the tiniest breath of relief.
But I turned at the door and caught her staring at me like she wished she could shut off whatever was happening between us.
“Do not pretend you do not feel me Edlyn.” I said quietly. “You are mine and that is not going anywhere.”
She froze. Completely.
Then I walked towards the door before I did what I really wanted which was to pull her into my arms and make sure she never looked at that wolf again.
I turned to leave like she asked, even though every cell in my body rejected the idea. My monster wanted to stay. The way that wolf boy held her still scraped at my skull. It stung far worse than I expected. I came here to check her out, see how useful she might be, weigh a few things for my plan. I did not come here to get jealous. I did not come here to feel anything.
And yet there I was, halfway to the door, trying not to throw the entire building through a portal and bury that guy under it.
Her voice chased me from behind. Soft. Shaky. Too damn sweet for my own sanity.
“You need to leave.”
I stopped walking.
Leave. As if the universe had not already messed with me enough today. As if heaven was not cruel for throwing a perfection like her into my orbit only to expect me to watch someone else hold her.
“Leave” she said again when I stopped walking
Yeah, right.
I turned around slowly. Her back hit the wall the moment she saw my face. Like her body already knew what mine was planning long before my mind admitted it.
I walked toward her with quiet steps, each one sinking into the space between us until there was none left. Her breath hitched. Mine did something I will never confess.
She opened her mouth to say something. Maybe to push me away. Maybe to repeat that I needed to leave. Maybe to lie and pretend she did not feel the same magnetic pull dragging me in.
Too late.
I pinned her against the wall in one fluid move, hands caging her in. Her heartbeat kicked against my chest even though we were not touching yet.
Her eyes lifted to mine. Wide. Caught. Beautiful in a way that made something inside me crack open.
Then I kissed her.
Not soft. Not polite. Not something innocent that we could both pretend never happened. It was a full claim of a kiss, all heat and tension and everything my self control failed to suppress.
My hand rose, not rough but firm, wrapping gently around the side of her neck. Her breath stuttered against my lips, and something in me detonated. I deepened the kiss without hesitation, letting my tongue slide against hers with a slow hunger that made her grip the front of my shirt like she needed something to hold on to.
She tasted warm. Sweet. Familiar in a way she had no memory of yet. Like the universe had stamped her into my soul long before she was born.
Her lips trembled under mine at first, and for a second I thought she would shove me away or yell at me. She didn’t.
She kissed me back.
Cautious at first, almost like she was afraid of wanting it too much. Then she melted into it, letting her mouth part for me, letting the kiss turn deeper, slower, stronger. Her fingers curled into my chest, pulling me closer like she needed the distance gone even more than I did.
My other hand found her waist, steadying her as the kiss pulled us both under. Her breath mixed with mine, her soft little sounds hitting me harder than any punch I have ever taken.
For a moment, nothing existed. Not the wolf boy. Not the danger. Not the secrets she still had no idea about. Just her mouth on mine and the electric way her body leaned into me like she belonged there.
When I finally pulled back, she looked dazed. Lips swollen. Chest rising and falling too fast. Eyes flickering with questions she had no words for.
I smirked, even though my heartbeat was a mess.
“Say it again if you want me to leave.”
Her glare was weak. Her voice even weaker.
“Luca. Stop.”
“Not happening.”
And yeah, I stood there, watching her try to catch her breath and pretend she did not just kiss me like she had been waiting her whole damn life.