Page 238 of Dark Souls

Racing forwards, I jumped up into Luka’s arms, wrapping my legs around his waist, and he hissed a little through his chuckle.

“Shit! Your ribs! Sorry.” I tried to get down carefully, but his hands grabbed my ass and kept me in place.

“Fuck my ribs. You’re staying right here.” He grabbed my face and started kissing the life out of me, and I kissed him back with just as much passion because, damn if that hadn’t been the best foreplay, I didn’t know what was.

Zoran groaned, walking past us. “Hey, pretty witch-boy.”

“Who, me?” Leif questioned, looking over his shoulder with confusion.

Luka and I broke apart, because, just like everyone else, we were intrigued about what Zoran was about to say.

“You like to fuck, right? Know where I can find a woman?”

Leif’s eyes lit up with excitement, and he folded his arms across his chest. “Is that a serious question?”

“Good. Because I am in need of a man who knows how to talk a vampire or human girl into letting me fuck her all night and drink her dry. I don’t do small talk, and I sure as hell don’t flirt, so I’m relying on you.”

“Zoran!” Hana scolded him. “You can’t drink them dry!”

“No humans!” I warned. This man was a nutcase.

“Honestly, there is no better man for the job. Pretty sure I could get you more than one for the night,” Leif said, jogging to catch up with Zoran as we all headed back to the castle. “You won’t even have to speak a word, but it might help if you smiled. Just a little.”

“Fuck no,” Zoran muttered as they both headed off towards the castle gates.

“Leif!” Neve shouted. “What about our chat about Heroux?”

“Later, Neve! Can’t you see this is a man in need?” Leif walked backwards and sent her a wink before turning around to catch up with Zoran’s demanding pace again.

“They’ll be fine. Zoran just needs to blow off some steam. He’s been a bird for centuries. The guy needs a good fuck,” Luka said as he pulled me towards the castle.

“Leif! Don’t let him do anything stupid or get in any trouble, please!” Hana shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth. We all stopped and looked at each other with pure panic when we realised who we were relying on to be the most sensible and level-headed one out of the pair.

Ah, bollocks.

Do Over

Iclosedmyeyesandleaned my forehead against the shower tiles, allowing the heat of the water to run over my body. My mind was restless. Not only because of the private conversation I had with my grandparents, parents and siblings before I went to find Luka in the woods but because of what they had offered me. It was everything I had always wanted. They had all agreed that I had proven myself and showed control and restraint in the worst of situations and that they had come to an agreement with Archer Brooks that I could become a SIA agent if I wanted.

They also offered Luka and me to move into the right wing of the Romano castle with our own privacy, staff and vampire soldiers. And then the biggest bomb of all was handed to me. Grandpapi wanted to retire as leader of the Romano Clan in the next few years. He wants me and Luka to become the new leaders. Luka could then choose his own Head of Army either in Zoran, Ronnie or Hana. All three would be invited to live in the castle with us, too. It was a lot. And more than I could have ever asked for. Yet, I was struggling with it. Something just didn’t quite fit. And I hadn’t spoken to Luka yet because I wasn’t really sure he couldn’t handle the added pressure of it all.

Wrapping a towel around my body, I stepped out of the steam from the shower and tried not to feel bothered by the fact that Luka had turned down my offer to join me once again. It had been four days since he had turned his humanity back on and I couldn’t help but notice that it coincided with the last time we had sex. Every time we kissed since, he’d stop before it went too far.

I understood that he was dealing with so much from his past and finding out his brother was alive would impact him but that didn’t stop me from craving him like he was my own form of heroin. I couldn’t even look at the man without wanting to jump and hump his bones, even more so every time I looked into those mossy green eyes. And after watching him fighting Zoran yesterday, I was more sexually frustrated than ever. I’d even considered getting myself off with the shower head, hoping he would hear me and feel overcome with desire and possessiveness over my pleasure that he wouldn’t be able to hold back anymore. But then, that didn’t feel right either. I didn’t want to force him to be with me if he wasn’t ready yet. I knew I would need to be patient with him as he worked through everything but I just never expected sex to be one of those things. It had never been a problem for us before.

As I glanced up at the bathroom mirror to check my reflection, I paused when I saw the handwritten message in my lipstick.

Do Over.

Do over?What the hell?

“Luka?”

Yanking the door open, I walked into my attic bedroom to find it empty. Everything was exactly how I left it, except the man who had been dozing on my bed. He was gone and in his place was the most stunning dress I had ever seen in my life, laid out with a pair of my laced goth boots neatly placed on the floor below. I frowned, walking over to the outfit and lifted the note that was left on my pillow.

Put on the dress and meet me in the place where we first met. I’ll be waiting for you. Luka.

My bottom lip caught beneath my teeth as a shy smile lit up my face and my heart fluttered like crazy. Was I swooning? It felt good. Tracing the deep-scarlet velvet of the long train with my fingers, I then lifted the dress by its ribbed corset, adorned with black and red jewels and beads. I let out a little squeal of excitement, allowing my towel to drop as I danced on the spot and then shimmied into the masterpiece. I expected my mother had a hand in this but it didn’t look or feel like anything she normally designed. This dress was gothic, elegant but racy and was a perfect representation of both me and Luka combined. I was completely in love with it and as I twirled towards the floor-length mirror, my mouth gaped open at the sight.

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