Author’s Note: Steal the characters and the muse of our work will hunt you down

I found myself face down on the bed in my apartment later, dried tears on my cheeks. I hated that I had hurt Luca so much. I hated it. I knew what he wanted, even if he didn’t know. I knew also that he would never give in. He just wasn’t the type of person to break his word. He understood the commitment he made with Operation Eight and I was completely certain that he would carry out that promise if it killed him, which it was likely to do in this assignment. Kill someone?

I couldn’t imagine Luca killing anyone though I knew he was no stranger to murder. Viv told me a story about when they lived in Germany, near the Rhine. They were staying in an abandoned cottage in the country, about a mile from the river and a Commander had sent forces in looking for Levi and Claire. Luca, at a whopping age eight with his sister at his side, had made a slingshot and sat perched in a tree near the river. The agent approached, and like David and Goliath, Luca struck him down. It didn’t kill him but shoving him into the river and holding him under the water had ended the threat quickly. Upon realizing what he had done Luca said, “It could have been Dad. That makes it worth it.”

I snuggled deeper into my blankets, putting the pillow over my head. In my whole life, I’d had one boyfriend. His name was Neil and he had been a parasite in comparison to the beautiful boy I was now interested in. Luca was everything Neil wasn’t. Luca was intelligent, sarcastic and somehow serious at the same time, fair in color, and his smile…Jesus, it could have melted ice caps. Neil was an idiot. Captain of the football team, only looking for sex, a complete joker, and olive toned. When Neil smiled, I wanted to hit him and tell him he looked like a clown when he did it. To this day, I don’t understand what made him appear attractive to other females. He was so degrading…

I was falling asleep when someone knocked lightly on my door. I sat up, gathering my blankets up around me. I was only in a thin, almost see-through tank top, and boxer shorts made for an eight-year-old. “It’s open,” I said hoarsely, rubbing my face and tucking my hair behind my ears.

Viviana peeked in, her big eyes, Luca’s eyes, bright as new pennies. She was holding a folder similar to her brothers and smiling like a kid on Christmas morning. I blinked at the light from the hall and glanced out the window. I must have fallen asleep or been quite deep into daydreaming. It was dark already. “Hey Kyle,” she said quickly, clicking the door shut and sitting down next to me. “Did Luca talk to you about the assignment?”

I coughed a little, still dazed, and shrugged. “We had a little bit of a fight over it…why?”

“We have to take you to the convention as bait. Your parents won’t go and Castor volunteered so…we just thought we’d take you too since they originally shot at you. Luca will play the role of your escort.”

I nearly threw up at his name and the thought of him being my escort. That would not go over well. He wanted to take advantage of me in every way possible. I wanted to let him. I wanted to spend a night in Luca’s arms or spend a night holding him. It didn’t matter. Any night with Luca in my bed was acceptable. “What…?”

“I know…I know the tension between you two. That’s what I came to talk about. Luca likes you, as rough as he acts about it…he does. He wants to please our father so badly though, Kyle. You don’t understand what Luca’s been through. He got caught…I never did. He’s seen what they did to Bottlers. I don’t even have a clue how hard that was for him. Levi is not only Luca’s father. He’s his best friend. He wants Luca to succeed and if foregoing you means success, Luca will do it but it’s a struggle for him. You have to understand that. He’s grown to care about you and that hurts him…”

I hung my head. I already knew that. I knew the battle I caused Luca. “I just…I don’t get it. Why can’t he have both? I mean, he doesn’t love me. He’s a boy. He wants to sleep with me. I can live with just that…no-strings sex is by far not a bad thing if he’s involved.”
Viv made a face.

“Cool it, kid. That’s my brother you’re talking about,” she said, grimacing. “I don’t even like to think about him having a penis let alone having sex.”

I tilted my head. Castor did not divulge his sex life with me but I knew it existed. He was a good-looking kid, despite his ‘issue.’ He attracted attention. I was about to say something about her relationship with my brother when the door opened again. I looked up and there was Luca, those burning blue eyes narrowed and hot. He was livid. Even I could tell. His mouth was set in a grim frown, his jaw clenched, his fists tightened and crossed over his chest. “Viviana,” he said shortly. “Out.”

His sister stared for a long moment before she looked back at me. Apparently I was the one in trouble. I couldn’t tell if she was grateful it wasn’t her or sorry for me. She gave me a weak smile and slipped out the door. Luca reached behind himself without looking and snapped the lock into place. “You,” he started.

“Whatever it is, I didn’t mean to upset you…” I whimpered, sliding away from him.

“Oh, I’m not angry at you. I’m angry at Levi and you’re the reason. So we’re going to solve this problem before it happens where I can get caught.” He sat down on my bed then and I looked closely at him. His cheeks were as red as his mouth and his eyes were glazed, probably with painkillers. His breath was coming in short gasps, laboring against the Kevlar vest he was always wearing. He reached out to me, his hands on my shoulders and for a moment, he lost his mind.

Luca’s fingers wrapped around the straps of my tank top and jerked me forward so that I was practically in his lap. I heard the tearing noise before it occurred to me what was happening. The straps of the top gave way and Luca’s mouth came down on mine forcefully. For a boy that probably had never been kissed, he knew how to use his lips. His mouth was crushing down on mine and he pried my lips apart with his tongue until I gave way and opened up to him.

I couldn’t believe this was happening. Luca was peeling my clothes off like he did it daily and I was the one fumbling with the straps, snaps, and zippers of his uniform. Of course, he was wearing a lot more than I was so he had an advantage but by the time I was completely stripped and pressed under him, he was still only missing the top half of his uniform. His mouth drew away from mine and he trailed kisses down my throat, chuckling against the skin that met my shoulder. “This isn’t very fair, is it?” he murmured.

I frowned and tugged in vain at the maze of buttons that kept his uniform and bullet-proof fabric attached to his body. “No, these damn straps aren’t fair,” I argued.

His hands came down over mine and showed me where to start. With that little hint, I had him as undressed as me in less than a minutes. The rest…well, I think you get the point. It wasn’t like anything I’d ever done before. This was like angry sex. People always said sex is better when you’re angry but I never believed them until then. This was sex beyond what I’d even seen on the internet. We ended up on the floor, in the bed, my bathroom, and then finally back in my bed again. Luca fell against me exhausted at the end of it, his pretty blonde head on my chest, his breath ragged and choppy. His lips found my throat and his eyes closed. I ran my fingers through his hair, smoothing the curls off his face until he fell asleep. I was just as tired but I wanted to bask in the moment I was having with him. I knew it probably wouldn’t happen again. This was lust, not love. This was Luca wanting to take advantage of me in every way he knew how before anyone could find out. He’d succeeded.

I woke the next morning to the sounds of Luca getting dressed. The Velcro straps crunched together and the zippers made that whirring sound when they slid up the fabric. I turned over and blinked at the light streaming down from the ceiling. Luca’s hair was wet and he was just finishing tightening the vest around his torso. I would never get over that image of him. The light reflected off the water in his hair, making it seem like real spun gold around his head. His eyes were alert and content for the first time since I had met him. He was long and lithe and gorgeous in ways no man should be allowed to be. He looked down at me and smiled for a moment. “Morning,” he said softly, his voice hoarse from disuse.

I sat up and the sheet slid down my shoulders, exposing several lovely, purple bite marks that blossomed on my shoulders, the color of violets. The smile vanished and his fingertips grazed the marks. I stared up at him, waiting for some sort emotion to cross his face and when it did, I was surprised. Anguish, pain, desolation…he was upset. “Luca?” I asked.

“I’m so sorry about all of this…” he mumbled. “I shouldn’t have…I didn’t even think I would hurt you.”

I looked back at them and touched one gingerly. They ran in a ridge along my throat down to my shoulder and then to my collarbone. There were six of them. They were sore but they weren’t devastating. I rather liked them. “They don’t hurt…” I argued quietly.

“I still shouldn’t have done that. It was wrong.”

“There are worse things you could have done, Luca. I mean, really, I don’t think this is that bad at all. In fact, I enjoyed your form of revenge. Get angry at your father more often.”

He chuckled darkly and bent, kissing one of the marks. “These will be a problem when we buy you a gown for the convention…which I’m sure Viv already told you about.”

“Right.” I thought about that. It would be a problem, especially in the summer. “Viv and I will figure it out.”

Luca laughed and then sat down. He took my hands in his and leaned forward. “I’m going to figure out a way to make this work…but until then, this can’t happen again.”

“I know.”

“But it will work. I promise. I keep my promises, Kylie. I swear to you, I’ll make this work regardless of what they want.”

I kissed his cheeks then and smiled as he stood up. Something in his words made me believe him…but I knew it was going to be very, very hard.