Page 82 of Sworn to My Heart
I wince for a moment as the water touches my wounds, but my body starts to change and adapts instantly.
Mariano jumps back in surprise and mutters a quick curse under his breath.
“I’ll never get used to seeing this,” he says, raising his hands in surrender and giving me an apologetic look before leaving the bathroom.
If I weren’t in so much pain right now, I would laugh at the situation. I submerge my entire upper body into the water, closing my eyes and beginning to absorb it into my wounds.
The water gradually numbs the pain, and I find myself addicted to the enveloping sensation. Underwater, the absolute silence calms all the chaos I’ve experienced recently, and my body relaxes from the burdens weighing it down.
Beside me, Luca is here, fighting my battles and saving me time and time again. As much as I wasn’t ready to admit it in the past, he is my home. I smile, recalling all the arguments we had at the beginning. I’m grateful he’s someone who never gives up on what he wants; otherwise, we wouldn’t be here together now. I wouldn’t know the feeling of finding my other half in life. Perhaps I’d be back with my parents in the ocean, planning a wedding they’ve postponed for ages because of me.
I chuckle, imagining the look on my personal servant’s face when she discovered I had escaped. She was always such a drama queen, with facial expressions that could replace subtitles in movies. When I find the time to tell Cora everything, I’ll have to introduce them, just so we can laugh about her together. I need to share everything with her, no matter the cost.
My thoughts drift to the day I met Cora, the day everything began...
I wake up in the bathtub, realizing I must have fallen asleep here for quite a while because when I sit up, I see Luca leaning against the sink, sleeping peacefully. He’s been in that position so long he doesn’t even wake up at the sound of the water moving as I shift back to my legs. He’s always quick to respond to everything around him, so he must not have slept much recently.
‘Luca lost it,’ I recall Cora’s words from the safe house, and my heart swells as I look at him.
I scoop up the water into a large water ball, quickly swing my legs out, and carefully release the water back into the tub, trying to avoid waking him. He needs every bit of sleep he can get.
Stretching my arms above my head, I notice my wounds have completely disappeared. I feel rejuvenated, as if an electric fish just charged me.
Tiptoeing toward the towel rack by the sink, I reach for Luca’s black bathrobe, but suddenly feel a hand caress my bare back. I jump in surprise and accidentally knock the toothbrush off the sink edge onto the floor.
“Oops,” I say quickly, sending a half-apologetic, half-amused look Luca’s way as I realize he’s awake and watching me.
“Alin, you’re alright?” He asks with concern, scanning my shoulders with his eyes and running his hand over where the bullets had pierced my shoulders.
I nod with a smile at his question and kiss his nose playfully, wanting to replace his pained look with a hungry one, but he looks so exhausted.
“Wow, there’s really not a trace of the injuries. How is that even possible?” His curiosity deepens. “So you’re telling me all I needed to do was throw you in water the moment I found you?” he sighs, a frustrated, choked laugh escaping him.
“You would have saved a few stress wrinkles if you had donethat, yes,” I laugh, spreading my legs to straddle his lap and wrapping my arms around his neck.
The hungry look I sought in his eyes surfaces. His gray eyes lighten again like the sun emerging after a storm, sparkling with anticipation.
He grabs my backside, pulling me closer, and brings his lips to mine with a slow, intoxicating approach that I can’t resist. I press my lips to his, and he opens them, allowing me to explore, maintaining restraint and teasing my back with gentle caresses.
“I guess you didn’t really miss me...” I say with a fake protest, standing up, continuing the broken-hearted act like a little girl who didn’t get the food she asked for.
He pulls me onto his lap, wrapping his broad arms around me, pressing me against his chest, and carries me out of the bathroom to his room.
I wrap my arms around his neck and lock my legs behind his back as he carefully lays me down on his bed, positioning himself above me.
His familiar scent now rises from the sheets as well, intoxicating me and clouding my senses.
“I didn’t miss you; I was completely lost without you,” he whispers close to my ear, his breath sending shivers through my body, making my breathing heavier in anticipation. My heart pounds fiercely.
He’s the drug that revives my body every time, and I’m the addict who always craves more.
Moving to my lips, he kisses them softly and teasingly. I press my body closer to him, craving more of his touch. He grabs my waist, pinning me down onto the soft silk sheets beneath me, keeping me from moving any further.
Tracing my neck with his lips, he makes my skin prickle and goosebumps rise. He runs soft kisses along my collarbone anddown my stomach, his fingers lightly brushing my stiff, erect nipple. A quiet moan escapes my lips.
My chest arches toward him as one hand still holds my waist firmly to the bed, and I try to shift enough for his hand to reach my sensitive areas below. A slight growl escapes his mouth, and he releases his grip on me, unbuckling his pants and pulling them down along with his boxer briefs, revealing his throbbing erection to me.
I’ve been kidnapped, locked in a stinking cell for days, shot, and all I want after all that is to feel this man deep inside me, to let him possess me and take me to new heights.I am an addict.
