Chapter 57
EMBERLINE
Mist curled around my ankles, black as coal, two halves of a tattered veil fluttering, revealing a dark vista that wordlessly beckoned. Take that final step.
How I wanted to. My entire soul yearned to cross that threshold.
Enzo waited on the other side, with his kind eyes and that gentle half-smile on his face, the same one Luca had recently taken to sporting whenever he found something amusing.
My sire opened up his arms, a safe harbor in time of trouble, whenever the world became overwhelming. He even had on his favorite blue sweater, worn out over the years, with holes in both elbows. The one mother gave him the birthday before we were born.
“My sweet bambina.” He opened up his arms. “Come. Come and let us be together once more, let me tell you all the secrets I had to keep when I was alive.”
And I was tempted. So, so tempted to hear his voice again.
Then his expression changed, that beloved smile replaced by blood slipping down his face, a hole appearing in the sweater where his big, generous heart had once beaten so strongly.
Behind him, a diminutive female in a flowing dress emerged from the shifting darkness, long dark hair barely hiding the life-ending gash across her throat, espresso-colored eyes flashing with the same temper I seemed to have trouble keeping in check.
“You should not be here, Emberline. Go back,” she ordered sternly. “I will take care of him now, la mia adorata figlia.”
For a moment, all I did was stare, feeling small, vulnerable, and lost.
Ottavia DiRavello looked exactly like the one picture I’d seen of her, an old, faded photograph father kept framed behind his desk, but even in death… she was vibrant, glowing with a fierce energy that cast a golden aura around her. “There is a war coming, figlia. A war you were trained to fight.”
This wasn’t real. None of this was real. My mother died when Luca and I were small. Like father, some unknown killer had stolen my chance of ever knowing my mother in the flesh.
But… she was as beautiful as my father claimed.
And I couldn’t remember what it felt like to be hugged by a mother taken away too soon.
My hands flexed, and her face softened. “Your brother still needs you, Emberline. Luca is too much like your father.” She wrapped her thin arms around Enzo’s middle. “Watch over him, as you always have. Now go back, amore mio, we will all be together soon enough.”
The edges of the veil spread wider, a ripple of cold stretched toward me, like long, reaching fingers…
I burst out of the dream, from darkness into the soft light of early morning, predawn streaming through the gaps in the slats, dust careening wildly through the pale beams as I thrashed in the sheets.
“Wake up, Ember, I’ve got you.” Dante pushed damp hair out of my face, peering deep, chasing the shadows in my eyes. “You’re safe,” he soothed. “You’re in our bed, in our house.”
I shook my head, unable to tell him I was only half here, the other half was somewhere else, in a place I shouldn’t even know existed.
He cradled my face in his huge hands, callouses scratching my cheeks. “You are safe. You are loved, Emberline Dominico. No matter where you go, I will follow. I’m never leaving you, so get used to having me around.”
I huffed out a choked sob, closing my eyes, shutting him out.
But he was still there, thumbs pressed into the hollows of my cheeks, warm breath skating over me like a furnace.
“Go back to sleep. There’s still an hour before dawn.” He dragged his nose down the side of my throat, a purr rumbling in his chest. “I’ll hold you and keep the nightmares away.”
“I don’t want to sleep.” I nuzzled deeper into his palms, not opening my eyes. This felt nice, skin to skin, breath mingling, both of us so alive, it hurt.
“Then tell me what you want.” He nibbled at my lips. “Whatever it is, I am at your command, mia dolcissima moglie.”
Every soft touch of his mouth against mine sent my heart fluttering, a new, fragile happiness I couldn’t guard myself against, this growing realization I was in love with my husband, my chest cracking wide open as I let him inside.
After a lifetime of restraint, I let myself fall.
Let myself tumble headfirst into this heedless, reckless joy, and decided happiness deserved its chance.
“You, Dante.” I opened my eyes and lost myself in blue ones filled with longing, the kind that reached into my soul and yanked, the kind that had me leaning forward and kissing him back, so he didn’t feel alone, either.
“Then I’m all yours,” he vowed, “for however long you’ll have me.
” Pressing me down to the bed, he settled his weight over me like some immovable, muscled blanket, one hand still wrapped around my face as he plundered my mouth.
He reached between us and slipped his finger inside my pussy, pumping in and out, my hips slowly tiding to the rhythm until we moved together, sweat building between us, pleasure rippling through me in consuming waves.
I wanted to giggle from this heady joy moving through me, leaving me teary and breathless, my heart galloping.
“You are perfect.” He moved to my throat, fangs pricking for a small taste, then a shuddering groan before he sealed me up. He moved down to my breasts, laving his tongue over turgid flesh, coaxing my nipples into hard points until they were heavy and aching.
“Most of my life, I wanted to be alone, and now, I can’t stand the thought of being parted from the woman I love more than anything in this world.”
He held my gaze as his fingers plunged and swirled, and I unraveled like a ball of string.
“You saved me,” I choked, my body on fire for this male who’d stolen me in every single way.
He kissed my tear-stained cheeks, gentle as the rain, then pulled back so I could see his eyes.
“We saved each other, tesoro. I was a dead male when I walked into that chapel. I’m not dead anymore. Now, let me make love to my beautiful wife.”
He moved down my body, putting his clever mouth and tongue where his fingers had been.
A hungry growl rumbled against me before he drove his tongue in, deep enough, I moaned his name.
His chuckle deepened, shivering through me, a mess of raw nerve endings and slippery, swollen skin, of deep, aching hunger.
“Gods, Dante, I need…” Everything. I needed everything from this male.
“I’ve got you, Emberline, just hang on… Fuck, you taste so good.” He licked a hot trail up through me, swirling his wicked tongue around that hardened little nub until I was bucking against his mouth and begging for more.
Too much. This was too much pressure, and I was going to…
Every muscle clenched tight, release flooding through me in a wash of heat and pressure that annihilated every thought, turning me into a blank canvas of shuddering, quaking bones.
Dante never stopped licking as I unraveled, spinning my release out longer and longer as if he knew my body better than I did. Only when I was gloriously limp, my mind empty, the last of my aftershocks ebbed away, did he crawl back up and peer into my eyes.
“You are the most amazing creature I have ever known,” he said, looking a little dazed, as though he was the one who’d just had the most mind-blowing orgasm of his life. But he hadn’t; his cock lay hard and ready against my thigh.
“You’re really good at that.” I reached between us and stroked his rigid length, hot, velvety skin sliding between my fingers, the deep, dark scent of him making my pulse jump.
“But now it’s my turn, marito mio.” This time, I meant the endearment, savoring the way his expression softened into something I wanted to hold on to forever.
“Lie back,” I urged, flattening my palms on his chest and pushing him down. “I’ve never had a chance to really… look at you.”
After a pause, he obeyed, stretching out beside me, filling up the entire mattress as I bit my bottom lip. He was unexplored territory, a magnificent work of art, all hard muscle, old scars, and primitive tattoos I traced with my finger.
Wondering.
“These are beautiful.” I bent closer and kissed one of them, a spark of static igniting the second my lips touched his skin.
“Like nothing I’ve ever seen before.” I paused at the flicker of fiery energy that seeped from those dark markings, each of them covering up long, thick scars and puckered skin, my heart skipping as I realized just how deep some of those marks went.
“Pagan symbols,” was all he said, eyes fixed on me. “From a fellow prisoner in The Fossa. A long time ago.”
“Hmm.” I skimmed my hand down his flat, muscled stomach, following that line of dark hair I’d first seen on our wedding night and fantasized about ever since. He was so hard, the skin on the head of his cock shone, a drop of moisture gathered at the slit before I leaned down and licked it off.
The sound Dante made… gods, yes, I wanted to hear that sound again.
I closed my mouth around the end and swirled my tongue around the crown, gathering up another taste of salt, of smoke and leather, as another one of those hissing groans exploded out of his mouth.
I couldn’t begin to fit all of him in my mouth, but I took all I could, sliding my lips up and down, one hand wrapped around the base, his hips jerking until I gripped his hipbone and pressed down, silently ordering him to be still.
Powerful fingers threaded through my hair before he gathered a fist of curls, his body strung out into a tight, shuddering line of tense muscle and need.
Finally, he pulled me away with a guttural, “That’s enough,” and pressed me face-first into the pillows, banding his arm beneath my hips to keep me on my knees, thick thigh shoving between my legs to push them apart before he dragged his cock through my pussy.
“Ready?” he rasped.
I’d barely gotten out my shaky yes when he shunted his hips forward and drove in deep, both of us groaning at the exquisite stretch of him entering me before he went still, his harsh breaths pouring across my back.
“Fuck, Emberline. Just…”
“More,” I whimpered into the pillows, fingers digging into the mattress, pushing back against him. I wanted him to ruin me. I wanted him to stamp this darkness out of my soul and fill me with light and heat and fire.
His hands clamped down on my hips, and he pulled out to the tip, then slammed back in, slow at first, then faster, picking a cataclysmic pace that turned muscle into pure heat, turned my body into his personal playground.
Every deep, claiming stroke had me clenching desperately around him, then he reached down and circled my clit with his finger, matching the punishing rolls of his hips, both of us moving together, chasing that ruinous high that was just out of reach.
One more deep thrust, one more brush of his fingers and I ruptured, shattering on a surging wave of hot, devastating pleasure.
Spots danced behind my eyes, and my body shook as he bit down on my shoulder, pinning me to the bed, roaring against my skin as he throbbed inside me, filling me full of seed, hips moving jerkily against my ass as he emptied himself into me.
He kept us sealed together as I plummeted down, core pulsing, milking him dry, legs shaking, sobbing into the pillows like the mess I was. Now, there was no denying the truth.
I was in love with my husband.
I loved Dante.
“Stop that,” he scolded gently, gathering me up, tucking me into him, which, of course, only made me sob harder. “This is okay. You’re okay.” His hands were everywhere, gathering my hair away from my face, brushing tears from my cheeks.
“But I’m not okay.” I scrubbed my face. “This all feels so dangerous to me, Dante.”
“I would never hurt you, Emberline,” he vowed gruffly.
“Not like that.” I pulled in a shuddering breath. “I’ve made it my job to keep my heart frozen. But you melted all the ice away, and now I’m drowning in all these feelings, and I might never come up for air. I’ve lost control, Dante, and I think I’ve fallen in…”
“You’re exhausted and hungry and were betrayed by someone you loved. You need to give yourself time to heal.” He frowned down at me, head tipped, eyes full of worry. “Let me feed you before I leave.”
My insides pinched together when I thought of him going up against my uncle.
The utter folly of what we were planning to do.
“Stop thinking, Emberline, and drink.” He pulled me to his throat, leaning back, taking me with him so I lay blanketed over his powerful body, strong arms banded around me, the mess we’d made slippery between my thighs. “Drink from me and make me the happiest male in the world.”
Feeding led to another round of lovemaking, and only when I was sated, cleaned up, and dozing against him did I remember he had to leave soon.
“Be careful.” I traced the edge of one of his tattoos, the ends of my fingers tingling. “My uncle is always a step ahead, even when you think he’s not.”
“I’m always careful, Emberline, and I’m not leaving just yet. Go to sleep so I can watch you for a little while longer.”
“Glad that’s not creepy at all,” I whispered back, right before I slipped away.