Chapter 43
Luciano
Ava was turned on her side, the blanket twisted around her waist, one arm stretched across the pillow like she’d reached for something in her sleep and missed. I stood there, watching for a while. But then— I needed to see her face. Needed to feel her breathing on mine.
The floor creaked under my boots as I stepped closer. She stirred, eyelashes fluttering. Then her eyes opened—landing on me.
“You’re back,” she whispered.
Her voice was hoarse, sleep-roughened, but the relief in it was palpable.
I sat on the edge of the bed. “Yeah.” She reached out, her hand brushing my cheek, fingers sliding into my hair. “Are you hurt?”
“No.”
She stared at me like she was trying to see past the blood, past the violence. And maybe she did. Because she leaned up and kissed me. Soft. Unhurried. Her lips moved against mine.
I let her pull me in.
Her fingers found the buttons of my shirt and worked them open slowly. I didn’t move. My body was still on edge, tight with adrenaline, wired from days of blood and death. I hadn’t exhaled since I walked out the door days ago. But I did now—when she kissed my throat. Then my chest. Her breath was warm on my skin, making the hairs on my flesh stand on end.
I slid my hands under the oversized tee she wore and pulled it over her head. Her skin was smooth, warm. Her nipples peaked in the cool air.I leaned down, brushing my mouth over the swell of one breast. She gasped, fingers curling into my hair.
I kissed her chest. Her throat. The space just beneath her jaw. I worshipped every inch—because she was the only thing left in this world that made me feel like I still had a soul.
I flicked my tongue over her right nipple, then sucked it between my lips. She moaned, tangling her hands in my hair, holding me. Her body arched toward me.
“Make love to me, Luciano.”
Knowing that she wanted me—that broke something in me. My base desires took over.
I undressed the rest of the way and slid under the covers with her. There was no rush like before. No roughness.
I kissed her again until she was shaking for me, breath caught somewhere between a gasp and a moan. Her thighs trembled, lips parted, chest rising and falling like she didn’t know whether to run or beg.
I pressed forward, the thick head of my dick slipping between her slick folds until I was pushing into her inch by inch. Her back bowed, a gasp punched from her throat as I sank deep. There was something divine in the way I felt being inside her.
“Look at me,” I growled, settling between her legs. “Don’t you dare close your eyes.” I needed to see her eyes. I needed to see her . Needed to stay grounded.
She obeyed—barely.
I started moving. I’d never get used to this feeling. Pushing and pulling my dick in and out, in and out, until she was meeting my thrusts. Her hands stayed on me. Her eyes never left mine.
Her mouth parted into a silent “O.” She jerked against me when my tongue circled around her nipple.
“Oh! Don’t. Stop,” she breathlessly pleaded, spasming and twitching on the sheets.
She came with a soft cry that didn’t belong to anyone else. It was mine . A sound only I would ever hear.
I followed soon after, burying my face against her neck as I came inside her.
When the climax subsided, I rolled off her. The aftershock of my orgasm settle in my bones. I felt good, but still uneven. She sat up, her skin glowing.
She rolled out of bed and walked naked to the bathroom, my cum slipping down her thighs. The sight made my dick twitch like I hadn’t just emptied my soul into her.
“Come on, you smell,” she threw over her shoulder before disappearing behind the door. The faucet roared on. I followed her—because it was logical to do so.
Steam fogged the mirror. The tub was filling. She stood beside it, pouring a concoction that smelled medicinal into the water.
I made my way over, stepped in, and sank. The water was hot enough to wash away sins. She knelt beside me and dipped a cloth into the water.
“I’m three episodes into the show,” she murmured, running the cloth over my chest.
I raised an eyebrow.
“ Moon Knight ,” she clarified. “I couldn’t read the comic, but I’ll watch TV. You weren’t wrong. It’s chaos.”
I grunted, eyelids heavy.
“He makes sense to me now.”
She didn’t wait for my reply. Just dipped the cloth again, sliding it over my arm, washing off the bad deeds I’d committed. When her fingers skimmed my ribs, I caught her wrist. She looked at me.
“You’re real?” I asked. The words came before I could stop them. Just to be sure.
Because the screams had stopped. I realized it now. They’d been gone since I took her to the hospital. I hadn’t heard them since. In the past, that only happened when I dreamed. Was I dreaming?
She leaned in and kissed my forehead. “Yes.”