Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82770 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82770 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“You can, and I will answer anything and everything you want to know, but not this. Not until the time is right.” He pressed his hand deeper into her skin. “I need you to trust me, Chloe. Will you do that for me?”
A sudden feeling came over her as she stared into his intense eyes. She couldn’t understand it. She only knew she believed in it, trusted in it. It was … instinctual.
“Y-Yes.”
“You feel it, too, don’t you?” He didn’t need the answer, because the feeling was shared between them, like a bond.
The feeling had been there since meeting Lucca, just how it had been for him when he had first seen her. She had subconsciously pushed away the intense feeling because it frightened her, yet it only grew stronger the more she was around him.
He smiled. “It took me a week to understand it, darlin’. Let’s see how long it takes you.”
“I-I met you in the gazebo a week later … You bought the music box a week later.”
Lucca nodded.
She was unsure if she ever wanted to know what the feeling meant, more frightened of it now that she knew he felt it, too.
Taking one final swipe across her scar, he released her.
The loss was evident, not only on his face, but in his voice. “You may go to bed now, darlin’.”
Chloe stood from her knees, still in shock of what had taken place. “G-Good night, Lucca.”
“Good night, Chloe.”
The shock never left her body as she left him behind and went upstairs.
In her room, she opened the music box and listened to the beautiful tune, feeling her heart grow heavier, heavier, heavier, while the chains he placed on her body grew lighter, lighter, lighter.
She reached up, touching her scar. The loss wasn’t only felt by Lucca, but by her, too.
Twenty-Seven
His Dreams of Fulfilling His Darkest Need Would Have to Suffice
Playing back everything that had just occurred in his mind, he recalled her voice, her face, her scar. It was like he could still feel her on his fingertips. They had just left her face, and already he couldn’t wait until the next time he could touch her.
It was the most erotic thing he had ever experienced, and he had only touched her face.
Lucca only hoped he would be able to control his darkness when he finally allowed himself to take more from her. Some time would have to pass before he did, though. Not only was Chloe not ready, but neither was he. He couldn’t trust the darkness with her yet.
Until then, his dreams of fulfilling his darkest need would have to suffice.
Lucca felt like he had made up for yesterday, and then some. When he had started the day, he had felt like he had only gone backward. Now he felt like he had taken ten steps forward.
She had to face the feeling she was running from. And even though she still didn’t understand it, it was only a matter of time before she would. It would click, just how it did for me …
Taking one last look at the scar on her face, he couldn’t wait for the day he could run his fingers across it. Beautiful.
Watching her car pull away from the shop then disappear, he went back to the music box she had been looking at. It had been obvious that it meant a great deal to her.
He carefully opened it, allowing the lullaby to play once more.
The older woman came to stand beside him. “I just had a girl in here looking at—”
“I would like to purchase it.” The words came out of their own accord, knowing he had to be the one to have it.
“I’m sorry, but I have to decline. The girl who was just looking at it seems to really want it, so I’m reserving it for her.”
He closed the music box, silencing the room. “You’re going to turn down money today, even though she may not come back?”
“For her, yes. Try back in a couple of weeks, and if she hasn’t taken it, I’ll see if I’m ready to part with it.”
Lucca nodded understandingly. He respected the woman for doing that. He would have demanded it otherwise, if he hadn’t seen how much the girl had fallen in love with it.
Deciding to leave, he figured if he was meant to have it, it would still be there when or if he came back …
The shop was five minutes from closing when he came back a week later. Wasting no time, he went right to where the music box sat, finding it still there, like it had been untouched.
The woman noticed him immediately and began shaking her head. “I’m sorry, but it’s only been a week.”
Pulling out his wallet, he laid down three thousand dollars in cash.
She only shook her head again.