“Then tell me to move,” she whispered, but he didn’t. He didn’t even blink. “That’s what I thought.” The words came out before she could stop them. The tension between them was palpable, but she refused to give him space without him asking for it. It felt like a challenge now.
Isabella swallowed, her hand still resting against his side, her pulse racing now for an entirely different reason. This wasn’t fear. It was something more, and that scared her more than Luca ever had.
“You said I’m yours,” she said quietly.
His gaze darkened. “I did.”
Her breath hitched again. “And you meant it.”
“Yes,” he admitted. There was no hesitation and no doubt.
Her heart pounded as though it might beat right out of her chest. “What does that actually mean?” she asked. The question hung between them. Luca’s eyes held hers, and for some reason, she either couldn’t look away or maybe she just didn’t want to.
“It means no one touches you, except me,” he said. “No one takes you from me. No one uses you as leverage ever again,” he said. “It also means you don’t walk away from me.”
Her pulse jumped. “And if I try?”
“You won’t,” he smugly assessed. The certainty in his voice sent a shiver down her spine.
“You don’t know that,” she challenged.
“I do,” he said. She should have argued with him. She should have pushed back or fought with him, but that’s what she’d been doing since the moment she walked into his world. And right now, she didn’t want to do any of those things because a part of her was starting to understand him. She was starting to feel it too—the attraction, the pull, the inevitability that they’d end up together. Ever since her father announced that she was going to marry Luca, everything seemed to keep bringing her back to him, and she was finally done fighting.
Her hand tightened slightly against his side. “You’re not the only one who decides things,” she said, softer now.
His gaze sharpened. “No?” he asked.
“No,” she breathed, stepping even closer to him. She closed the last of the distance between them. “You don’t get to just claim me and expect me to fall in line.”
“I don’t expect anything of the sort,” he said.
“Then what do you expect?” she asked.
“You’ll figure it out sooner or later,” he said.
Her breath caught. “And if I already have?”
His expression didn’t give much away, but his eyes did. They were darker, and seemed to look into her deeper than ever before—as though he could see right through her.
“If you already know,” he said quietly, “then you are aware that what’s happening between us isn’t going to stop.”
Her pulse thundered in her chest. “I know,” she whispered. The admission slipped out before she could stop it or before she could think it through. It was too late to take it back, because now, it was real.
Luca’s hand came up slowly, deliberately, like he was giving her time to pull away, but she didn’t. His fingers brushed her jaw lightly, but it sent heat rushing through her all the same.
“You’re choosing this,” he said. It wasn’t a question or a warning, but more of a promise.
Her breath trembled. “No,” she whispered. That was a lie. She was choosing this. She was choosing him, and lying to him now felt wrong. “Yes,” she corrected. “I’m choosing this.”
His thumb traced lightly along her jaw. “Good girl,” he breathed. His gaze dropped briefly to her mouth, and then back to her eyes. The air between them snapped tight. And this time, she didn’t step back. She didn’t run. She wasn’t going to fight him on this because she already knew the truth—she could feel it in the way that her pulse raced. And in the way that herbody leaned toward him without permission. It was the way everything inside her said this was a mistake, and she didn’t move anyway.
“Luca,” she whispered. His name came out softer than she intended. Isabella couldn’t tell if she was warning him or not, but none of that mattered anymore. He didn’t give her time to take it back, and didn’t give her time to rethink it. He closed the distance, and when his mouth met hers, it wasn’t gentle or soft. It was controlled and deliberate like everything else about him. But underneath that control, there was something else—something hotter and much more dangerous.
Her hand slid up to his shoulder, gripping tighter than she meant to, but he didn’t pull away, and didn’t slow down, because neither did she. And that was the real problem. Because somewhere between survival and control, between danger and protection, and between him and everything she’d lost, Isabella realized something she couldn’t ignore anymore. This wasn’t just about staying alive or about the war waging between their two families. It was something so much more, and it was already pulling her under. And this time, she wasn’t going to fight it—because she liked it.
Luca
Two fucking weeks without taking Isabella to his bedroom and taking what he wanted from her. He knew that she wanted the same thing. Every time he kissed her, he could feel every ounce of passion that she felt for him. But he had made her a promise, not to claim her until their wedding day, and he was a man of his word—no matter how blue his balls currently were.
