Page 177 of Mine Again
I slide my hands around his neck and pull him closer. I need my lips on his.
This time, our kiss is like sealing a promise.
A blend of reverence and relief. His lips move over mine with a kind of aching care, like he’s afraid to miss a single detail. And I kiss him back with everything in me, pouring all my love, all my trust, all my belief inusinto that one, lingering connection.
I sigh into his mouth, and he swallows the sound like it’s precious.
When we finally part, our foreheads rest together. His breath mingles with mine, and I close my eyes to drink in the sensations.
Then Luca rolls to his side, taking me with him and shifting us so that my cheek rests in the warm curve of his shoulder. His chest rises and falls beneath me, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat lulling me deeper into this perfect kind of calm.
I breathe him in. Salt and sweat and skin. My safe place. My weakness. My home.
I close my eyes, letting the silence wrap around us. The soft weight of his arm over my back, the gentle stroke of his fingers against my spine, the low sound of his breathing. It’s like a lullaby written just for me.
“I gave in to you way too quickly,” I murmur, my voice thick with sleep. “Technically, this is only my third night here.”
Luca smirks against my forehead before he presses a kiss to my temple.
“Didn’t feel quick to me. This has been in the making for five very long, very lonely years.”
I exhale slowly. I don’t want to think about the time we lost. Not tonight. Not after what we just shared.
But as always, he senses it, as if he’s wired into every shift in my breath.
“Never again,” he whispers. “We’ll never be apart like that again.”
I wish he could promise that and mean it. But we’ve been here before. Five years ago, we thought nothing could tear us apart either.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I whisper.
He shifts to look at me. His fingers gently tilt my chin so I meet his gaze. It’s soft. Steady. Unshakable.
“You and I,” he says, “we’re as inevitable as the sun rising each day. As the tide returning to shore. As breath filling lungs. No matter what happens, I’ll find my way back to you. Every damn time. Nothing… and I mean nothing can keep us apart.”
My throat tightens. He brushes a knuckle down the side of my face.
And in this stillness after the storm, I believe him. Not because I’m blinded by afterglow or drunk on orgasms and sentiment, but because I feel that truth deep within my soul.
This man would burn the world down to keep me in his arms.
But I pray it will never come to that.
“Now, get some sleep,farfalla. You’ll need it. I’m planning to wake you up and fill you with my cock again.”
I let out a sleepy laugh. “So romantic,” I mumble.
He chuckles and presses a kiss to the top of my head. I shift sluggishly, letting my cheek rest on his chest. My fingers curl loosely over his abdomen, the weight of my arm suddenly too heavy.
Still, I force my hand up, blinking slowly as I hold it in front of my face. My gaze lands on my ring finger, and on the tattoo that wasn’t there three days ago.
“I’m sorry for doing this while you were out,” Luca says gently, sliding his hand beneath mine to lift it higher. “But I also won’t apologize for marking you as mine. I needed to make sure there’s no doubt in anybody’s mind about who you belong to. Including yours.”
His thumb strokes over his name inked into my skin. It doesn’t hurt anymore. And somehow, that’s the most dangerous part… how quickly I’ve accepted it. As if it has always belonged there.
“I was actually tempted to tattoo my name over your heart like I’ve done with yours over mine,” he adds. “But I didn’t think I’d get awaywith that.”
I crack a smile, too tired to laugh properly.
