Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 57085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 285(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 285(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Our kisses deepen and our touches become more heated, more needy. We tear at one another like wild animals, eager to get more of what we’ve been deprived of since we’ve been apart.
“I’m never letting you go again,” he tells me in a low grunt. “You’ll never have to worry about a thing, not anymore. I’m going to protect you.”
His words feel like salve to my soul and I give in, letting him convince me it’s going to be okay.
I can’t bring myself to respond verbally, but my body does the job for me. As he pushes inside me, I moan with pain, eager for more of his punishing touch. I’m realizing just how deep under Julian’s influence I am now. How desperate, ready I am for him to give me everything I’ve ever dreamed of.
“Don’t leave me again, Julian,” I whisper, the words tearing themselves from my lips before I can stop myself. “Don’t let me go ever again.”
“I won’t,” he promises darkly, kissing me deeper, showing me just how much he cares about me.
“You’re mine forever now. And I’ll kill for you again if I have to.”
The words should trouble and scare me, but all they do is make me wetter. It makes me wonder just how fucked up I am, getting off to his cruel words and the way he’s so possessive of me I doubt he’ll let another man look at me again.
We make love slowly, but with so much passion, I’m convinced we’re going to ignite the bed together. I’m falling for him all over again, deeper, harder, so much fucking harder it makes me dizzy to see myself fall this helplessly.
“Swear to me you won’t tell anyone about what I did,” Julian grunts in the shell of my ear as he continues to fuck me. “Swear you won’t tell a soul I killed Leonardo Brambilla.”
To hear him admitting it out loud like this is as thrilling as it is terrifying. I want him to repeat it. I hate myself for getting off on the cruel nature of his words. My orgasm nears, lingering close by and reminding me I have little time before it tears through my body, rendering me his toy once and for all.
“I love you, Julian,” I say, my voice weak, but my words filled with resolve.
“I love you too, Francesca,” he tells me, making me shatter on the inside. Now I belong to him. Fully. There’s no changing the outcome of our story anymore. We’re bound for the rest of our lives.
He comes inside me then, filling me to the brim once more and making me feel more whole than I’ve felt in my entire temporary life. I know we’re tethered to one another now. There will be no running anymore.
My orgasm follows a second behind his, twisting my body into painful positions as the feeling hits me hard. I’m coming apart at the seams... and I love it.
Afterward, we lie in the bed together and he softly strokes my hair, making me feel every bit as whole as I’m meant to feel. His caresses are soft and sweet, and I trust him again, knowing I belong with him, knowing nothing will break our bond now.
Not anymore, not after everything he did to me... Everything I begged him to do.
I don’t have an explanation or a reason for this sense of attachment I feel to Julian. Any normal human being would be disgusted by his actions, sick at the thought of him killing an innocent man. But me... I feel almost relieved.
With both Brambillas out of the way, I feel more detached from my parents than I ever have. They’re living their own life now, stuck in exile, resigned to their fate. But that’s not the life I want for myself. It’s not the life I’m willing to live.
I already know I’m not going to leave Julian’s side. I belong with him now. I need to stay by his side, to prove to him that I intend on being his wife, his love, until the end of time.
There are so many words on the tip of my tongue, but there’s no need to say them. From the way Julian’s holding me close, inhaling the sweet scent of my hair, I know he feels the same way.
From today on, our bond is unbreakable. We’ll never be apart again. And as I remember him filling me up, once again forgoing the protection, I know my feeling of belonging isn’t wrong. He’s my family now, and I’m his.
24
JULIAN
2 weeks later
For the past weeks, Francesca and I have been staying at the house, avoiding everyone else. But now it’s time to say goodbye to the University and leave for a life together.
The first stop we have to make is Francesca’s old room, that she shared with the principal’s daughter. I don’t know Luciana very well, but from everything Francesca has told me, I’m excited to meet her.