Dreadnought (Nemesis #1)(63)

Lucca hadn’t moved an inch from his spot, his eyes never leaving her silhouette behind the glass shower door. “Clean your wrists.”

Listening to his command, she held her wrists under the water, watching the blood wash away and how the water turned slightly red before it cleared. Then she picked up the soap bottle and squirted some into her hands, lathering it over her body and trying to be careful not to get it on her sores.

Turning around to let the water run down her back and hair, she saw Lucca through the glass and froze in place. It was evident through his starving, fully blue eyes that he was in agony. Chloe could see how badly he hated that he had said he wouldn’t touch her or join her. It was so bad that it looked like he was about to jump in here at any second.

Suddenly frightened that he would, Chloe quickly tried to finish, putting some shampoo into her hair and rinsing it out. Then she poured just a bit more soap into her hand and scrubbed at her face where Lucifer had touched her the most.

Get off, get off, get off. The feeling of him licking her still lingered, but with each scrub of Lucca’s soap, the lingering feeling disappeared, replacing the devil’s touch with Lucca’s intoxicating clean mint smell.

When she was sure the devil’s germs were no longer on her, she turned off the hot water and opened the shower door to grab the towel hanging outside of it. Then she hurriedly wrapped it around her body.

Lucca still hadn’t moved.

“Come here,” he ordered.

Hugging the towel around her, she shakily walked back over to him, her chest heavily rising and falling.

When he reached out, she didn’t know what to expect; all she knew was that she completely and undoubtedly trusted him.

Lucca picked her up, placing her back on the vanity. Then he started pulling things out from under the sink, getting supplies to bandage her wrists.

While he began the process of taking care of her wrists, it was hard for Chloe to look at him. The pain of fighting the darkness back was so visible on him. And by the time he had fully bandaged her up, it was now killing her to see him like this.

“I-I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I-I wish I could, but-but—”

“I want you so fucking bad, darlin’.” He leaned down, resting his head on hers as he softened. “But I know you’re not ready. I have waited over eight months for you, and I will wait forever if that’s what it takes.”

A single tear escaped her eye, feeling his emotions as her own.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and moved her head, positioning her face for him to kiss her.

Lucca looked down at her, wiping away the tear. “I’ve never seen you cry before today. Not even when you scream in your sleep.”

“I-I haven’t. I thought all my tears had dried up.” In reality, they had just needed to be started back up again. They had needed a reason to run.

Leaning down closer, he claimed her soft lips with his, taking her in a passionate kiss that was most definitely not like the others. This kiss heated her from the inside, warming her low belly and then down to her femininity when he pulled her closer. Their breathing synced, both of them lost in one another.

“Open,” Lucca rumbled over her lips when she wasn’t getting the hint from his tongue.

Parting her lips from the vibration alone, she let his tongue enter her, creating a whole new sensation that she had never experienced before. She felt it hadn’t lasted nearly long enough when he pulled his lips away.

Moving her damp hair behind her back, he placed light kisses from her jaw down her neck, his tongue picking up the droplets of water as he went.

Chloe quietly moaned when he licked at a sensitive part on her neck. She was burning up now.

He suddenly stopped and picked her up, holding her by her curvy ass as he carried her into the bedroom before setting her down on the edge of the bed.

Different emotions hit her—from confusion to neediness to worry—as she stared up at the dangerous, hungry being.

“I have to stop. Otherwise, there will be no forever if you need it,” he strained to get out.

Her eyes grew wide, realizing she had been playing with fire.

He then hurriedly went to his drawers, grabbing one of his shirts, then returning in front of her. “Remove your towel,” he demanded, staring down at her.

Biting her lip, her body obeyed, parting the towel and letting it fall to the bed, giving him a full view of her large breasts.

Lucca leisurely took his time placing his shirt over her head and down her chest while she raised her arms. His knuckles lightly grazed her peaked nipples so fast she wasn’t even sure if they had or not.

The hunger was still there. The darkness right under the surface. He was a dangerous man even more so tonight, yet she still found herself safe in the boogieman’s presence.

He’s so beautiful, she thought, looking up at the haunting man who she was seeing dressed in a full suit for the first time. It somehow made him extraordinarily more handsome. It was a dangerous and scary thing for a man with his looks to look like that.

“You’re staring, darlin’,” he warned her, still trying to calm himself and keep himself from touching her.

She blushed, quickly looking away. “I-I’m sorry. I’ve just never seen you in a suit before.”

“Do you like it?” he asked, placing a hand over her throat to get her to look back at him.