by Soraya Naomi
Gliding in with one hard thrust, he releases a long groan, and I moan from the wonderful fullness.
He thrusts over and over, breathing harshly against my neck. “Mi sei mancata.” I missed you.
When his chest leaves my back, I whimper. And Luca’s fingers dig into my hips as he keeps driving into me. A deep rumble escapes him.
Tingles ignite in my lower belly, and I soar to release as a thousand stars explode behind my eyelids. Luca rakes his nails down my back, slowing his movement, and then he moves me to my side and spoons me as we face the hearth. As I turn my head slightly, a wicked grin flicks across his face.
“We’re not done yet,” he murmurs.
I guide him as he lifts my leg to plunge in, his breath caressing my neck. Teeth graze my earlobe, and he hooks my leg underneath his arm, hugging me tightly to him while I arch my back to take him in deeper. Taking my hand, he tangles our fingers and grips my breast, massaging the swell roughly as he drives into me, panting in my hair.
Luca rolls back on the rug with one arm fastened around my midriff, spreading me wide. With my back to his front and his gasps hot on my ear, he grips my waist while he takes me ruthlessly, giving me what I asked for.
“You have no idea how fucking good you feel...How much I’ve wanted you every day that we’ve been apart.”
He pistons into me hard, bringing another climax trembling through my entire body before he growls his orgasm with a final barrage of thrusts. Gently smoothing my hair back, he holds me to maintain our position as the fire crackles in the hearth.
Then his low voice tickles my ear. “I couldn’t have stopped or taken it slow with you. You make me crazy with desire, and I just have to fuck you hard.”
Laughing, I roll off him, but a loud crash outside makes Luca jolt up.
“Dress,” he instructs harshly as he snatches his gun from his suit jacket on the floor by the fireplace while I scramble for my clothes.
CHAPTER 31
Luca
“Dress.”
After I grab my Smith & Wesson, I hurriedly put my boxers and pants back on and stride toward the window by the front door. Holding my gun against my chest, I inch the curtain open and witness a car slamming into the back of mine repeatedly. In the darkness of the night, the headlights of the other vehicle are blinding me so that I can’t see who’s driving it and whether I’m dealing with one or more people.
Turning back to Fallon, I see she’s in only her jeans and tank top. “Put on your shoes and sweater. Now!”
With round eyes, she obeys me in a rush, and I yank on my dress shirt to quickly button it up and step into my shoes. Yet another slam outside and bullets being fired has me pulling Fallon down behind the sofa as the window next to the front door shatters into a thousand pieces and an ice-cold breeze blows inside.
My suit jacket with my cellphone is out of reach, so I can’t call Adriano.
Shit!
“Who is it?” The tremble in her voice conveys her fear.
Jumping up with her hand clasped in mine, I drag Fallon to the back door of the cottage amid flying bullets and splintering wood, swiftly positioning her in front of me to cover her with my body.
“Run fast, Fallon!” I shout while throwing open the back door as a bullet grazes right by my shoulder.
Looking back, I see the shooter hasn’t entered the cottage but is still shooting from outside, and I try to come up with a plan to keep her safe. My only concern is protecting her since I’m alone and have only one weapon: my handgun.
The woods behind the cottages are a known hunting zone with animal traps and underground blinds, and although it’s fucking dark now, it’s our only chance. Pushing Fallon forward to urge her to hurry, I decide to take the lead again and drag her behind me as her breathing becomes erratic.
“I’m scared...slow down—” She falls forward in the cold grass when I’m moving too fast for her to keep up with me.
“Hurry.” I tug her up and mutter, “Fuck!” when we run into the trees, and the moonlight barely illuminates the dark space.
Her hand is clutching mine tightly as I scan the ground, knowing there are small white signs where the traps and underground blinds are located. But in my panic to get her to safety, I have trouble finding one, and I can already hear our shooter running toward the woods.
“Look for a white sign on the ground,” I whisper as we flee deeper into the trees.
“I-I can barely see anything.” The nervousness in her voice is heartbreaking, so I slow down to hold her against my side with my gun still in my other hand, and we almost slam into a tree.
“You’re going to be fine.” Thankfully, my eyesight is adjusting to the darkness.
As we make our path through the forest, the branches snap loudly and Fallon’s body is trembling in distress and cold, but I can’t afford to slow down any more than I already have. Before I can reassure her again, I finally spot a white sign. I stop immediately and kneel down, patting the freezing dirt around the sign to locate a handle or something.
Yes!
Pulling it open, I squint my eyes and feel around to discover it’s a tiny space with only enough room to hold one individual. Without thinking, I haul her down beside me and cradle her head.
“You have to get in there and stay! Understand?” I whisper-yell in a desperate tone.
“No! What are you going to do?” She clasps my dress shirt with both hands.
“Fallon, goddammit. I can’t afford to worry about you too right now. I have to know that you’re safe. You have to promise me you won’t come out. You have got to fucking listen to me.”
In the meantime, footsteps are approaching.
Our faces are barely an inch apart, so I can at least see her tear-filled eyes as darkness surrounds us, and I feel the wetness flowing down her cheek. I embrace her because I have a bad feeling about this, and she knows it because she holds me firmly around my middle, not wanting to release me.
Leaving a hard kiss on her forehead, I thumb away her tears. “Get in.”
Fear for Fallon’s life has me on high alert as she folds herself into the space, and I press the lid closed. Then I kick the sign loose, cover it with a layer of dirt, and quickly run in another direction, leading whoever is following us away from her.
After I make my way to an area away from where Fallon’s hiding, I lean back against the cold, uneven surface of a tree and try to catch my breath. Once my breathing slows, I can clearly discern the footsteps of at least two people. Two people coming at me from opposite directions.
“DeMiliano.” A male voice I recognize taunts. “Michaels, come out, come out, wherever you are.”
I’m fucking sending a prayer up above that Fallon stays put. All at once, the wind brushes past me, making my teeth chatter from the iciness as it cuts into my skin. Then a ray of artificial light shines through the trees and blinds me, so I duck and circle the tree.
However, my forehead is banged against the tree from behind. The gun drops out of my hand, and I collapse to the ground on my knees.
“Got him!” he yells to his co-conspirator while his arm chokes me around my neck.
I pull on his arm helplessly, bewildered from the blow. But my arms are wrenched back and tied together by the wrists as the second person, the one holding the flashlight, joins us. I’m heaved around, my head is yanked back by my hair, and I come eye to eye with Ashton and his companion, the blonde hostess, both on their haunches.
Ashton kisses the blonde on the lips. “Thanks for blinding him, sexy. I knew you would be helpful.”
So he and the hostess have an intimate relationship.
“Finally, we meet again. I’ve been waiting, not so patiently, for you and that bitch to leave town so that I could get you alone.”
I remain silent except for my superficial breaths and lift a brow uninterestingly, which earns me a blow to my jaw, causing me to fall back on my ass, and my teeth cut into my bottom lip. As I spit out blood, Ashton retreats in a quick r
eaction, giving me room to kick him in the stomach from my sitting position on the ground.
Grunting, he comes at me and crushes my jawbone in his fingers, showing me how strong he is, but a rush of worry about Fallon shoves the pain away.
“Where. Is. She?” His voice flattens with disdain.
I don’t give a damn what happens to me as long Fallon is safe. I would rather die before he ever touches or sees her again.
He removes his hand, and I throw out my right foot to kick the legs out from under the blonde, and she stumbles back on her behind. Ashton just smiles snidely and doesn’t give her the time of day.
“I know Fallon’s here.” But his belief in his statement wavers as I keep my face impassive once again, making his annoyance rise. “I will not let that fucking cunt get away with Alex’s murder! And she’s dodging every trap I set up. CONSTANTLY!”
The woman resumes a standing position and directs her flashlight around, looking for any signs of Fallon, I presume. Ashton stands back up too while holding his handgun and towers over me, pointing the gun at my foot.
“Fallon, DeMiliano is too good at taking blows to his head, so I might just put a bullet in him now!” he yells and gestures for the blonde to keep moving the flashlight around.
Please stay put, dolcezza.
Crunching in the distance has the two of them whipping their gazes behind the tree.
No! I told you to stay put!
My stare is glued to Ashton’s aim, which is moving from me to the noise, so with all my power, I try to stand up, failing, and then jump up to slam my body against him as he fires his gun.
“NO!” I shout as we crash against the blonde, who shrieks, and I roll off Ashton onto my back.
Crimson pools in the chest area of the woman’s coat. The bullet hit her, and the flashlight is on the ground still lighting the area around us, but I can’t see Fallon. Wasn’t she coming toward us?
Ashton retaliates at once, digging his shoe into my lower stomach. “You idiot, it was just an animal, and now you killed her.” He laughs as she bleeds to death right next to me and does nothing to help her.
My muscles tighten in discomfort, and the breath is knocked out of my lungs when he stomps on my stomach. Heaving and grumbling in agony, I receive another kick to my temple, which splinters through my head and blackens my vision.
Stay conscious!
“I’m going to beat the shit out of him if you don’t come out!” His frustration is conveyed in firmer kicks to my throbbing body.
By now, I’ve reached my limit. “Shut the fuck up!”
“Or is she in the cottage?” he suddenly mentions. “Because I can’t imagine that bitch could stand to hear you slowly dying. You two fucking ruined my life! I loved Alex!”
I’m passing out, losing consciousness as his ranting becomes distorted. Opening my eyes, I feel blood trickling behind my ear as I look directly into the barrel of his gun. My inability to move from the sheer pain has me realizing that this is the end.
This is it. It’s over.
There’s nothing more I can do except hope that she’ll stay put.
And at the end, I only think about the beginning with Fallon.
I intently stare at the woman across the room, intrigued and mesmerized by her huge, radiant eyes, in a dress that’s incredibly sexy without revealing too much bare skin. She traces her lips with her finger, smearing lipstick down her chin so innocently that it has me smirking, but her friend is pulling her attention away from me.
Then Ashton pulls the trigger.
CHAPTER 32
Fallon
It’s pitch black.
This isn’t happening.
Hunched like a ball with my knees pulled up, I’m stuck in this scant place, crammed in here with the lid pressed against my back. Sweat seeps along the contours of my face as I try to turn my head. I dig my teeth into my knees to keep from making a sound, but my own heavy, trembling breaths are deafening, feeding my fear.
Oh my god. NO. Stop!
The blaring pain in my back is surpassed by the anguish I experience from hearing the constant blows and an incensed male voice. I shut my eyes tightly, and tears mingle with cold sweat as panic gnaws at my insides.
This isn’t real.
I hear Luca grunting in pain, and I can almost sense his suffering burning through my body while I have to listen to him being beaten, over and over again.
Someone’s yelling, and I want to help Luca, but I’m afraid to leave this space, so I honor the last promise I made to the man I love while the life is being beaten out of him.
After what feels like hours, but is probably mere minutes, of shouting and fighting, the sudden stillness thunders my fear to unmeasurable heights.
At least two shots were fired, but it could have been more. I clearly heard a shot being fired just now; it sounded weird, muted, but it was definitely a bullet leaving a gun.
Shivering from the cold, yet sweating from fright and from being huddled in this small space, I wonder what to do. I have no idea what’s happened to Luca, so how long do I wait? Why is it so quiet? Is Ashton gone? The attacker had to have been Ashton, but in my panic, I was unable to recognize the voice.
I count to one hundred and eighty to keep some sense of time. Oh my god, I just want to stay in here and cry, but I can’t. Not hearing Luca anymore worries me, so I have to get out and help him. Rounding my back, I slowly lift the lid until I can look through the opening, but it’s no use because all I see is pitch black with a blue hue in the distance where I think the cottages are located. I’ll have to rely solely on my hearing now, but my own irregular breathing is still deafening me – I need to calm down.
My chest constricts in warring sensations as I climb out, trying to make as little noise as possible. I scan the area but don’t see any lights. Ashton must’ve had a flashlight with him; how else could he have found Luca among these trees? Holding my breath, I stand completely still to focus on the sounds around me, but all I can hear is the wind, so I decide to head back to the cottages.
Branches and dirt crunch beneath my shoes, and my ear-splitting, uneven breaths roar in my ears as I step forward with my hands out in front of me, feeling my way through the darkness. My head whips back and forth, and angst blazes through me while branches cut open the skin on my quivering hands as I unsteadily tread through the trees. The silence is equally unsettling.
Where’s Luca? Where’s our assailant?
I let out a sigh of relief when the moonlight starts to shine through the trees more and more so that I can see the open space that will lead me to the cottage. None of the other cottages are nearby, so I’ll have to chance it and go back to ours to get to a phone.
Breaking out in a run, I reach the cottage’s back door and listen for any movement inside.
Silence.
I open the door and grimace when it creaks on its hinges. Quietly, I tiptoe to the hearth but drop down when a slam outside warns me of company. Broken glass cuts my palms as I crawl to the window on hands and knees, yet I bite through the pain and peek outside to see Ashton occupying the driver’s seat of a car behind Luca’s black vehicle.
I need to get to a phone, but mine is in my purse in the car. Turning my head, I spot Luca’s jacket in front of the hearth.
Please let his phone be inside the jacket!
I check the pocket, and thank god, I’m touching the cold surface of Luca’s smartphone. I haven’t heard Ashton drive away, so I skulk to the back of the cottage and call Adriano, trying desperately to keep the phone from slipping out of my trembling hands.
“What up?” he greets cheerily.
“A-Adriano...help me.”
“Fallon? What’s wrong? What’s going on? Where’s Luca?” He’s instantly on alert.
“I-I don’t know.” My chest heaves while I attempt to concentrate and give him useful information.
“I’m tracking his phone right now. You’re at Cottage Woods in Lake Forest, right? Take a deep breath a
nd then tell me exactly what happened.” I hear him giving out orders to others as well. “Damian, go to Cottage Woods. Now! I want someone there within fifteen minutes.”
“Yes, cottage. Ashton is out front...I-I think he and Luca fought in the woods, and I heard gunshots. I don’t know where Luca is,” I cry and sniff.
“Fallon, where are you right now?”
“Inside the cottage, by the back door.”
“You need to leave the cottage, okay?”
“Nooo! Don’t make me go out there again; it’s so dark.” I wipe my nose with my arm.
“Ashton could come inside at any moment, and it’s going to take me twenty minutes to get to you. I need you to be brave and sneak back out, okay? When you get outside, cover the phone with your hands, run toward the woods, and hide behind the first tree you see. But don’t disconnect our call unless you see him following you; then you must disconnect it so the light of the screen won’t give you away.”
I nod through my trembles.
“Talk to me,” he coaxes in a gentle tone, laced with concern.
“Go back outside and run to the woods?” I ask hesitantly.
“Yes, but don’t go too deep into the woods,” he warns. “Hide behind the first large tree you see. Now run away from the cottage.”
I take off as Adriano instructed and round the first tree I see. For a long time, he stays on the phone with me, consistently soothing me, until he finally tells me that he’s arrived.
“I’m inside the cottage now. Ashton’s gone, and I’m going to walk through the back door. Three other soldiers are with me, so don’t panic when you see us. Do you see me, Fallon?”
A tall shadow appears in front of the back door of the cottage.
“I’m waving now. Do you see me? Come to me.”
I dash back toward Adriano, who meets me halfway when he spots me, and I jump into his arms.
“You’re fine now. Breathe.” Adriano strokes my hair and pulls back. “Where did you last see Luca?”
Other men holding guns and flashlights are behind Adriano.
