Page 104 of A War Around Us

“Don’t look away.” His tone was not to disobey.

I kept my eyes on his cruel ones.

With his hands on my face, he pulled down while his hips pushed up.

“Hmph.” I closed my eyes from his force.

“Katia!”

I opened my eyes, and he shoved himself deeper.

With our eyes tied, he resumed fucking me, and I loosened my muscles, taking him easier than fighting him. Soon the discomfort eased, and I met his hips.

Fuck, that was all he needed.

He thrust one last time, gripping my face until warmth filled me in soothing spurts inside.

I collapsed on top of him as he let me go. Both our bodies bounced with our breathing. Both spent by our fight. Both satisfied.

We lay in silence, listening to our breathing return to its usual cadence. I breathed in his scent, memorizing the smell of his clean and masculine body wash. The blend of our chaotic time together and the new crossbreed we’d created by our skin mingling.

The aroma was unique, both present and strong, both fighting to overpower. Clashing and yet, balanced. Even our scents fought one another.

Lucca’s chest caved, exhaling deeply, and he shifted slightly, ready to slip out of bed. I didn’t want him to leave, not yet, not tonight. I took it upon myself to shift off him and into the bed, regretting even trying.

With his heat far from my touch, a chill crawled over my skin, and I battled my foggy mind and exhausted muscles to move.

“I’ll get you a warm towel,” Lucca announced with indifference and sat up.

“Just stay,” I murmured into the pillow and turned my head toward him.

“The bathroom light is still on.”

I hadn’t even noticed how night had arrived, or how I was able to see him clearly even in the shadows.

“Leave it.”

He dropped his head, eyes looking down at my sheet-covered frame, and the laziness that filled my eyes.

“You should soak for a while.”

The bed dipped as he leaned back into it.

“Already did.”

“You will ache in the morning.” Lucca’s cold voice carried through the silence, and I questioned why he was so adamant to be alone.

“Are you so miserable lying next to me that you can’t stop finding different ideas to be apart?”

“My apologies for trying to help,” he quickly bit. “I’ll remind myself after fucking you not to offer a fucking rag or ask if you need to soak your body after being someone’s punching bag for the day.” I lifted my head and chest off the pillow to watch him continue. “Or better yet, give a fuck if you are in pain the next day.”

I sat up pulling the sheet along with me to face his wrath and the hypocrisy of his words. How dare he act like he cares? To believe in himself.

“Give a fuck if I’m in pain?” I laughed. “You?”His gaze turned to slits. “The man whose fingers penetrated me in the shower with a smile after seeing it causedmepain? Or how about the time you smirked after I begged and criedin pain?” I clutched the sheet tighter. “Or was that not pain, Lucca?”

My cheeks flushed with heat, angry to explain how those smiles left a trace behind. Upset that I had to give and tell him something I’d preferred to keep inside. Irritated of opening up and showing him how they’d bothered me enough to speak of it.

“Are you done?”

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