“Look at me, Aria,” Luca said in a rough voice.
I peered into his eyes even as my face felt close to exploding from shame. “Are you embarrassed because of this?” He traced a finger over my wet panties. My pelvis arched and I exhaled harshly.
I couldn’t say anything. My lips parted as small sounds that weren’t quite moans slid out. Luca moved his finger up and down, gently, teasingly, and small shivers of pleasure slithered through my body. I’d always thought that passion and orgasms came as a forceful wave leaving nothing in their wake, something almost intimidating, but this was like a slow trickling; a deliciously sweet tension mounting to something bigger.
I quivered on top of Luca, my fingers clinging to his shoulders. He never sped up his stroking, but the pleasure rose with every brush. His eyes bored into mine as he slid two fingers over my opening, then between my folds, and pressed down on my clit. How could this feel so intense? He wasn’t even touching my skin. I gasped and trembled as sparks of pleasure shot through my body. I buried my face against Luca’s neck as I clung to him. His finger rubbed my clit through my panties, slower and slower until he simply rested his hand possessively over my folds.
Luca pressed his face into my hair. “God, you’re so wet, Aria. If you knew how much I want you right now, you’d run away.” He laughed darkly. “I can almost feel your wetness on my cock.”
I didn’t say anything, only tried to calm my breathing. Luca’s heartbeat was strong and fast beneath my cheek. He shifted and his length briefly brushed my inner thigh. He felt hot and hard.
“Do you want me to touch you?” I said in the quietest whisper. I was half-scared and half-excited about seeing him naked and actually touching him. I wanted to lay my claim on him, wanted to make him forget about the women of his past. Luca’s hand on my back tightened and he drew in a deep breath, his chest expanding under me.
“No,” he growled, and I lifted my head in confusion and a little hurt. Some of it must have showed, because Luca smiled grimly. “I’m not quite myself yet, Aria. There’s too much darkness on the surface, too much blood and anger. Today was bad.” He shook his head. “When I came home today and found you lying on the sofa, so innocent and vulnerable and mine…” Something flickered in his eyes, some of the darkness he’d mentioned. “I’m glad you don’t know the thoughts that ran through my head then. You are my wife and I swore to protect you, if necessary even from myself.”
“You think you’d lose control?” I whispered.
“I know it.”
“Maybe you underestimate yourself.” I trailed my fingers over his shoulders. I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince him or myself. He had scared me, there was no denying it. But he had snapped out of it.
“Maybe you trust me too much.” He ran a finger over my spine, sending a new wave of tingling toward my core. “When I lay you down on the bed like a sacrificial lamb, you should have run.”
“Someone once told me not to run from monsters because they give chase.”
The ghost of a smile crossed his face. “Next time, you run. Or if you can’t, you ram your knee into my balls.”
He wasn’t joking. “If I’d done that today, you would have lost control. The only reason you didn’t was because I treated you like my husband, not a monster.”
He traced my lips with his thumb, then brushed my cheek. “You are far too beautiful and innocent to be married to someone like me, but I’m too much of a selfish bastard to ever let you go. You are mine. Forever.”
“I know,” I said, then lowered my cheek back to his chest. Luca extinguished the lights, and I fell asleep listening to his heartbeat. I knew a normal person would have run from Luca, but I’d grown up among predators. Decent, normal guys with jobs that didn’t involve breaking laws were a foreign species to me. And deep down, a primal part of me couldn’t imagine being with someone who wasn’t an alpha like Luca. It thrilled me to know that a man like him could be gentle with me. It thrilled me that he was mine and I was his.
* * *
The sky was only just turning gray over New York’s skyline when I woke the next morning. I was still lying on Luca’s chest, my naked breasts pressed against his hot skin, but I’d slid down his body overnight and his stiff length was pressed against my leg. I shifted carefully and peered up into Luca’s face. His eyes were closed and he looked so peaceful in sleep, it was hard to belief that the same face had harbored so much violence and darkness last night.
Curiosity gripped me. I’d never seen a naked erection, but I was worried about waking Luca. After what he’d said, I really didn’t want to risk him losing control. I tried to peek over my shoulder at Luca’s boner, but with the way we were positioned I’d have to break my neck to see it.
Suddenly a buzzing came from the nightstand, and Luca sat up so fast I squeaked. He took me with him, one arm steadying me around the waist, the other reaching for his mobile. But the new position had made me slide down his body and now his erection was between my legs, its length pressed up against my
