Page 81 of Petrichor

“I killed someone for you. I staked my claim today. Your life is mine now, pretty Butterfly,” I growl in his ear.

His eyes turn watery as he sniffs. “The hell it is. What you said to me–”

“I can never take it back. But I promise you it’ll never happen again.”

“It’s too late.” His retort sounds weak, but his palm feels firm as he keeps pressing it on the superficial wound on my neck.

So, I continue. “Yes, it is. You got so deep under my skin, you reached my dark soul, Joel Locke. Can’t leave me anymore.”

“You left me!”

“Never again. I’ll lock you up if I have to until you realize that you, my Pretty Butterfly, belong to me.”

His teeth sink into the corner of his mouth as he tries to stop crying. I press my thumb on his lip until he releases the soft skin.

“I hate you,” he whispers without any fire behind it.

I hum, knowing he’s surrendering himself to me. “Even now as I keep holding on after all the pain I caused us you still love me.” My retort rips a surprised gasp out of him. But we both know it’s the truth.

“Joel is gone; I’m Fly. Can you see me now?” His voice trembles.

I push my forehead against his and close my eyes.

“I saw you then, and I see you now in all your beautiful shades. And I’ll keep seeing only you until my last breath.”

Sobbing, his mouth crashes into mine. We devour each other, far too worked up after the danger and all that fucking dread and anxiety. His sobs turn into moans I swallow eagerly. The kiss just about…destroys me.

“I love you because you exist. Because you are here with me. By my side,” he murmurs on my lips when we part in need of air. This time, I’m absolutely decimated by his confession. I can only describe what I’m experiencing as elation.

“But are you really? You hurt me so deeply, Marco and I–”

“I am by your side as you are by mine. And I’ll stick there always. You are a Leone now, part of the family. Mine. And I protect what’s mine, pretty Butterfly.”

He lets out a long sigh as I keep staring into his pale eyes.

“Don’t ever let me go,” he begs with such vulnerability I feel the urge to haul him onto my shoulder and take him away from all the pain in the world.

Unfortunately I can’t do that, but I can damn try. “Not in this life,amore mio. Not in the next ones. Ti amo.”

Love has no safety net, no anesthesia. You fall into the unknown, knowing that it could ultimately hurt, make you bleed, still smiling hopefully.

Epilogue

Three weeks later

Marco

“Ineed to make your natural musk into a scent I can wear,” Fly states. And although I can’t see his face, I can still hear the heat in his voice.

I only reply with a grunt, too busy admiring those soft, peachy ass cheeks wrapped in a pair of sexy panties as I raise his skirt. Black lace with a thin zipper running from the waistband all the way to the front.Cazzo, my pretty Butterfly can make exquisite—with a hint of dirty—pieces of lingerie.

“Like it?” He chuckles happily. “Wait till you see thetop piece.”

Top piece? My eyes move to the mirror in front of us, mentally undressing his reflection. The soft, pink t-shirt he’s wearing, what does it hide?

We are in the bathroom at Rino’s, the same one where it all started. We came with Luca to grab something to drink, and at the same time to keep an eye on him. But I got distracted by Fly wearing a too damn short skirt. Every move he made, the material conformed to the round curve of his ass, and I could easily make out the outline of the panties he was wearing underneath.

My cock liked that. It has been half hard for the past hour, demanding to be free and inside him. My lust for him is extreme. Then he went and started bending over that pool table to take his shots. All those leery eyes on what’s mine made my blood boil with murderous intent.

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