Page 80 of The Breeding Cave
But I knew better now.
Monsters were real. And there was a monster in all of us.
“Bury him,” Luciano ordered Brent.
I had seen Luciano give orders before in the boardroom, but something about this …
God, control yourself, Yeosin. How can you be horny and angry at the same time?!
Luciano scooped up my hand. “Come. Let’s wash the blood off you.”
Before Luciano, whenever something major had happened like this and I became this angry, I’d return to my bedroom to be alone, to process my thoughts, but today, I found myself following after him and enjoying his company.
He hadn’t stopped me from lashing out. He hadn’t scolded me. He’d protected me.
Once we made it to the hot spring, I stripped off my clothes and slipped into the warm water. The heat felt good against my burns, and I closed my eyes as the blood seemed to melt off me. Luciano stepped in and swam over to me.
While he had been more jealous and possessive of me since he’d marked me, he was also more … loving. Maybe caring was a better word because he had already said that he didn’t love me. Though he could care for me.
We didn’t say anything as he washed the blood off my body, using the soaps that Molly had brought down here a while ago. How long had it been since I had met him? How long had we been together?
At this point, I wasn’t too sure.
A few moments later, when my body was submerged into the water, I listened to footsteps approaching, and Brent’s scent drifted through my nose. He appeared at the entrance to the hot spring.
“He’s taken care of,” Brent said to Luciano, then smirked at me. “Welcome to the pack, Luna.”
CHAPTER
FORTY-ONE
YEOSIN
Water bubbled around me. Luciano grabbed my hand and led me out of the hot spring, blanketing me with a towel and drying off my body. Once he was finished, I wrapped it around myself and followed him back to the main cave area, the stone cold under my feet.
My stomach twisted into knots. It was almost bedtime.
And I would do anything not to experience those flames again.
In the front, Brent must’ve laid out some pillows and blankets for us. Luciano sat down on them, the fire still flickering a few feet away. The warmth from the flames was the only good thing about them on this cold night.
“Come here,” Luciano growled.
“I want to sleep in a real bed,” I whispered.
Though truthfully, I didn’t want to sleep at all tonight. It was just an excuse because I knew that Luciano didn’t have a bed here. Anything to stay awake for a bit longer so I didn’t have to experience that nightmare again would be optimal.
“We don’t have a bed here.” After reaching for me, he took my hand, his facial features relaxing for the first time tonight. Somehow, I had never noticed how handsome he was without looking all angry. “You won’t have another nightmare.”
I tugged my hand away and wrapped my arms around myself. “Yes, I will.”
“I promise you won’t,” he said. “Not when you’re sleeping with me.”
Tears welled in my eyes, but I pushed them away and hesitantly sat beside Luciano. I didn’t want to visit the flames again. I didn’t want to be tortured again. I didn’t want to see Luciano with another woman again.
Because I loved him.
Yes, it was foolish. Yes, he didn’t love me back. Yes, I had only met him about a month ago. But, God, I loved him. I hadn’t felt this way about Alvin during all the years that I had been with him.
