Page 23 of Bound By Honor

“Why do you always look at me like I’m some fragile thing you have to protect?” Her voice rises, cutting through the thick air between us.

“Because that’s my job.” The words taste bitter.

“Bullshit.” She steps closer, defiant. “Your job is to protect the family. This—” she gestures between us, “—is something else entirely.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” I move to turn away, but her next words stop me cold.

“Don’t I?” Her laugh is sharp. “You think I don’t see how you fight it? How every time we get close, you pull back like you’ve been burned?”

“Because it’s dangerous.” I spin back to face her, composure slipping. “Christ, Aurora, do you have any idea what Alessandro would do if?—”

“If what?” She closes the distance between us. “If you let yourself feel something? If you stopped pretending this is just about duty?”

“Stop.” The word comes out like a growl.

“No.” She tilts her chin up, eyes blazing. “I’m tired of stopping. Tired of watching you wrestle with whatever guilt you’re carrying about Maria while?—“

“Don’t.” My voice drops dangerously. “Don’t say her name.”

“Why not? Because it makes this real? Because it forces you to admit that you’re not just protecting me, you’re hiding from?—“

I move before thinking, hands slamming against the wall on either side of her head, caging her in. Her breath catches, but there’s no fear in her eyes—only that same damn defiance that drives me crazy.

“Hiding?” My voice is barely controlled. “You think that’s what this is?”

“I think,” she says, her voice trembling slightly but her gaze steady, “you’re terrified of wanting me.”

“Cazzo, Aurora.” My fingers curl against the wall. “You have no idea what I want.”

“Then show me.” She lifts her chin, close enough that her breath fans across my lips. “Stop being such a coward and show me.”

The word“coward”snaps something in my chest. My hand moves to cup her jaw, thumb brushing across her cheek as I lean closer.

“I’m trying to protect you.”

“I don’t need protection.” Her hands fist in my shirt. “I need you.”

“You drive me insane,” I whisper, watching her pupils dilate. “Every goddamn day, you push and push until I?—”

“Until you what?” Her lips ghost across mine as she speaks. “Until you finally lose control?”

Cristo, she’s going to be the death of me. Every rational thought screams to step back, to maintain distance. Instead, I find myself pressing closer, drawn by the heat radiating from her body.

“Aurora.” Her name is a warning and a prayer. “If I lose control...”

“Then lose it,” she breathes against my mouth. “With me.”

Her lips meet mine, and everything I’ve been reigning in crashes through. The kiss is desperate, hungry—months of denied attraction exploding in a single moment. Her hands slide up my chest as I press her harder against the wall, swallowing her soft gasp.

“Dio,” I breathe against her mouth. “You taste like sin.”

She arches into me, one hand sliding into my hair. “Then damn us both.”

My restraint shatters. I lift her, her legs wrapping around my waist as I deepen the kiss. She tastes like danger and salvation, her soft moans driving me wild. My lips trail down her neck, and she trembles.

“Luciano,” she gasps, tugging my hair. “Look at me.”

I raise my head, finding her eyes dark with desire. Her lips are swollen from my kisses, her breathing ragged. She’s never looked more beautiful—or more dangerous to my sanity.

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