Chapter 17 Luca
CHAPTER 17: LUCA
Luca pressed up tight to Cal in the back of Marco’s SUV as they headed home, resisting the urge to pull the larger man into his lap. Once the witches had backed off, Cal had used his magic to clear the silver from his system and Rafe had treated the wounds, but the bleeding had only just stopped and he was still weak.
“I’ll be fine, baby,” Cal said, kissing his hair.
“You’re not fucking fine . You almost died!”
As they pulled up outside the club, Marco glanced back at them in the rearview mirror.
“You need help getting him up to bed?” he asked.
“I’ve got it,” Luca said, opening the door and rushing around to the other side of the truck to help Cal get out.
“I can walk just fine,” Cal said, but he let Luca take most of his weight on his shoulders.
Neither of them spoke again as they made their way up the stairs and into the penthouse. Like most shifters, Marco had a small wardrobe of sweatpants and tees in his trunk that he kept for occasions when their clothes were destroyed unexpectedly. Luca was grateful for the loose fabric as he tugged the clothes off Cal’s body while the big witch leaned against the wall.
“Bath or bed first?” he asked.
“Bath. I’m covered in dirt that reeks of earth magic,” Cal complained, but he didn’t make a move from where the wall was holding him up.
Brow furrowed with concern, Luca scooped Cal up in a bridal carry and headed to the bathroom, carefully placing his mate down on the low bench seat there while he started the bath running.
“I should be taking care of you, baby,” Cal said, his bright blue eyes following every move Luca made in a way that made his nerves thrum with pleasure.
“Hush. I can take care of you, too,” Luca said.
“Thank you.”
Luca flashed Cal a quick smile and proceeded to get lost in the sight his naked body made.
Cal’s lips tipped up in the smallest smirk. “The bath’s full.”
Luca shook his head in an effort to break the spell between them and turned off the water.
“Come on, then.”
The bath couldn’t have been more different from the last one they’d shared, but somehow it felt even more intimate. Luca had kept the lights dimmed and nestled Cal between his legs as he gently washed every inch of his body, fighting to keep his breathing even as a trickle of red oozed from his mate’s still-closing wounds.
“I’m okay. I promise,” Cal said, a blue glow forming around his hands as he used a touch of his power to clean and purify the water around them.
“You should be saving your strength,” Luca chided, grateful for the huge tub as he pulled Cal back until his head was resting on his chest so he could run his hands through his hair.
He hadn’t realised how much the scent of foreign magic on his mate was bothering him until the water washed it all away. The muscles in his neck and shoulders finally relaxed as he inhaled a deep breath near Cal’s neck and scented only him.
As he felt Cal’s head lean into him more heavily and the first huff of a gentle snore, Luca carefully sat up. Extracting them both from the water, he dried his barely awake mate before carrying him back to the bed.
He took the time to grab a water and the shifter-strength painkillers Rafe had given him in case Cal was still uncomfortable when he woke before slipping beneath the sheets next to his man and flicking off the light. As darkness and silence filled the room, his brain finally had the time to catch up with everything that had happened and he stifled a sob as the image of his Uncle G’s last moments played on repeat through his head.
Warm arms pulled him close as Cal wrapped him in his strong arms. Turning his head, Luca nuzzled into the soft hair of his chest, clinging to the sensation against his skin to keep the grief at bay.
“It’s okay to let it out, baby. I’ve got you,” Cal said, his words slurred with sleep but his hold firm.
Tears traced down his cheeks like sheets of rain and his body was wracked with tremors as he cried for everything he’d lost—his uncle’s death, his uncle’s betrayal, the way his trust had been stolen from him when he was barely entering adulthood, the wall he’d kept between him and his wolf all these years. Everything. And at some point, the crying drained the wounds of the infection he’d been carrying in his soul. They were still raw and open, but for the first time, he had hope that maybe he would heal .
“You’re so strong to carry all that weight, baby. You can always share it with me. I love you,” Cal whispered in his ear.
The words settled in his soul and sleep finally overtook them. He might never find out the full story behind his uncle’s betrayal, but eventually, he was going to be okay.
When Luca woke, he was delightfully hot and he could feel the reassuringly regular rhythm of Cal breathing into his hair. A quick check of the bullet wounds in Cal’s side showed they’d closed nicely and were now all but healed. Luca’s stomach growled as he snuck out of the room to find some clean clothes. He really needed to move his things into Cal’s closet.
That thought had him pausing in surprise, but there was none of the panic he usually would’ve felt. He trusted Cal with his life. With his soul. The difference between the bond that was forced on him all those years ago and the one growing between him and Cal was like fire and ice. Where one had threatened to burn him alive, the soothing feel of Cal’s water magic surrounding him was a comforting balm against the grief still crashing through him.
Cal still hadn’t awoken by the time he’d prepared and eaten a chili rich with spices, so he set aside a huge bowl for him. His wolf glowed with satisfaction at the thought of feeding his mate back to full health. As he tidied up the kitchen, he sent quick replies to the messages from his family, reassuring them they were both alive and well. He had at least six from his sister and he was surprised she hadn’t shown up in person given the light outside the window showed it was verging on dusk again. They’d slept an entire day away .
The storm that had been threatening the night before had finally broken, and rain was pelting against the window nearly horizontal as the occasional bright flashes of lightning broke through the dark grey of the clouds in the evening sky. The glazing and Cal’s wards kept any sound of the weather from intruding or Luca might’ve noticed it earlier. The violence of the storm matched the confusion of emotions raging inside him and he was struck by a desperate need to be out there experiencing it with all his senses.
He’d noticed the stairs continued up another level from the penthouse entrance and it only took him a minute to pad barefoot up them and push open the heavy metal door at the top. It was almost ripped from his grasp by the strength of the wind. With a wild grin, he stepped out onto the rooftop of the club and tilted his face to the sky, letting the rain pelt down on his face and the gusts plaster his quickly sodden clothing to his body.
Opening his mouth wide, he howled into the storm, letting his wolf give full voice to his grief.