Page 13 of Saint (The Divine Ruin #2)
Luca
I wake with a start, the first rays of dawn filtering through the blinds of my bedroom. For a moment, I’m disoriented, my mind still clouded with sleep. Then I feel the warm body pressed against mine, and everything comes rushing back.
Lily. Jackson’s daughter. In my bed.
I turn my head slowly, taking in her sleeping form.
She looks impossibly young and vulnerable like this, her dark hair spilling across my pillow, her face peaceful in slumber.
A pang of something—guilt, perhaps—twists in my gut.
What the fuck was I thinking? She’s nineteen.
Governor Moore’s daughter. Off-limits in every conceivable way.
But then she shifts in her sleep, the sheet slipping down to reveal the perfect curve of her breasts, and all rational thought abandons me. Her nipples are still rosy from my attention last night, and the sight of them makes my cock harden instantly.
I’m damned. Completely and utterly damned.
As if sensing my gaze, her eyes flutter open, confusion giving way to recognition and then to a shy smile that does things to my chest I don’t want to examine too closely.
“Good morning,” she whispers, her voice husky with sleep.
I don’t respond with words. Instead, I pull her into my arms, claiming her mouth in a deep kiss that has her melting against me. She tastes like innocence and sin, a combination that’s quickly becoming my personal brand of heroin.
“Luca,” she breathes against my lips, her body arching instinctively toward mine.
I sit up against the headboard, pulling her with me until she’s straddling my lap, her knees on either side of my hips. Lily's eyes widen as she feels my hard length pressing against her core.
“Take me inside you,” I command, my voice rough with need.
She bites her lower lip—a gesture I’m quickly becoming addicted to—and slowly lowers herself onto my cock. The sensation of her tight heat enveloping me, inch by inch, nearly makes me lose control. She winces slightly, still sore from last night, but doesn’t stop until I’m fully seated within her.
“That’s it,” I praise, grasping her hips to guide her movements. “Ride me, baby girl. Show me how much you want this cock.”
She begins to move, tentative at first, then with growing confidence as pleasure overtakes discomfort. Her breasts bounce with each movement, a hypnotic sight that has me reaching up to cup them, pinching her nipples between my fingers.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I growl, thrusting up to meet her downward movements. “So perfect. Such a good girl, taking me so deep.”
Her pace quickens, her breathing becoming labored as she chases her pleasure. I grip her waist tightly, driving up into her with increasing force, watching her face contort with ecstasy.
“Lily,” I say, the words leaving my mouth before I can stop them. “I want you to go home today, pack your things, and come back here.
She stills above me, her eyes flying open in shock. “What? I can’t do that.”
“You can,” I insist, continuing to thrust up into her, making it difficult for her to focus. “And you will."
“Luca, I have school, my father would?—”
I don’t let her finish. In one swift movement, I flip her onto her back, hooking her ankles over my shoulders. The new position allows me to penetrate her even deeper, and I drive into her with punishing force that has her crying out.
“That wasn’t a request,” I tell her, punctuating each word with a brutal thrust. “You’re mine now. No one—not your father, not anyone—is going to keep us apart.”
Her eyes darken at my words, her pussy clenching around me. The little minx is aroused by my dominance, by the idea of being possessed so completely.
“But my father...” she protests weakly, even as her hips rise to meet my thrusts.
“Your father,” I growl, reaching between us to circle her clit with my thumb, “doesn’t get a say in this. Not anymore.”
The combination of my words and my touch pushes her over the edge.
She comes with a scream, her back arching off the bed as a gush of wetness soaks my cock and the sheets beneath us.
I’ve never seen anything more beautiful than Lily Moore coming undone, squirting around my cock as I continue to pound into her mercilessly.
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter, shaking my head in awe as she trembles through the aftershocks. "You’re mine now, baby girl. Do you understand that? Mine.”
Her eyes, hazy with pleasure, meet mine, and she nods, accepting her fate—accepting me—with a surrender that’s as beautiful as it is complete.
I drive into her one final time, my release tearing through me with an intensity that leaves me momentarily blind. I empty myself deep inside her, marking her as mine in the most primal way possible.
As I collapse beside her, pulling her sweat-slicked body against mine, I know I’ve crossed a line I can never uncross. I’ve taken the governor’s daughter, claimed her as my own, and I have no intention of letting her go.
The consequences will be severe. Moore will come for me with everything he has when he discovers what I’ve done. But as I look down at Lily’s flushed face, her lips swollen from my kisses, I find I don’t give a fuck. Let him come. I’ve faced worse odds and emerged victorious.
“When?” she asks softly, her fingers tracing patterns on my chest.
“Today,” I reply, leaving no room for argument. “Go home, pack what you need, and come back to me by nightfall.”
She hesitates, and I can see the war raging within her—duty to her family versus the pull between us that’s already too strong to deny.
“What about school? My friends? My life?” she asks, but there’s resignation in her tone. She already knows she’ll do as I say.
I cup her face, forcing her to meet my gaze. “You can continue your education. I’m not trying to cage you, Lily. But you’ll live here, with me. Your safety is my priority now.”
"My safety?” she echoes, confusion clouding her features. “What do you mean?”
Shit. I’ve said too much. She still has no idea who I really am, what I do. She knows the public version of Luca Ravello—successful businessman, philanthropist—not the man who controls half the city’s criminal enterprises with an iron fist.
“The world can be a dangerous place,” I say carefully. “Especially for someone connected to me.”
Her brow furrows. “Connected to you how? We barely know each other.”
I laugh, the sound harsh even to my own ears.
“After last night, after what we just did, you think we barely know each other? I’ve been inside you in every way possible, Lily.
I’ve tasted every inch of your body. I’ve made you come so hard you fucking squirted all over my cock. That creates a connection.”
She blushes, but doesn’t back down. “That’s sex, Luca. Great sex, incredible sex, but still just sex. It doesn’t mean you get to upend my entire life.”
I sit up, pulling her with me, my hands gripping her upper arms perhaps too tightly. “This stopped being ‘just sex’ the moment I decided you were mine. And trust me, baby girl, I don’t make that decision lightly.”
Fear flickers in her eyes, quickly replaced by defiance. “And what if I say no? What if I walk out that door and never come back?”
Something dark and possessive rises within me, a side of myself I’ve always kept carefully controlled. But Lily Moore has a way of stripping away my control, leaving me raw and exposed.
“You won’t,” I say with absolute certainty. “But if you tried...” I pause, choosing my next words carefully. "Let’s just say I’d find you. And I wouldn’t be pleased.”
She shivers, and I can’t tell if it’s from fear or arousal. Probably both. The line between the two is often blurred, especially in relationships like the one I’m forging with her.
“What are you?” she whispers, studying my face as if seeing me clearly for the first time. “Who are you really, Luca Ravello?”
I consider lying, spinning her some sanitized version of the truth. But something tells me Lily Moore needs honesty from me, even if it’s a dangerous thing. Even if it sends her running.
“I’m the man who’s going to protect you, cherish you, and fuck you senseless for as long as you’re mine,” I tell her, tracing the curve of her jaw with my thumb. "I’m also the man your father has been doing business with for years, though not the kind of business that makes the society pages.”
Her eyes widen as understanding dawns. "You’re... you’re connected. Organized crime. That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it?”
I don’t confirm or deny, but my silence is enough of an answer.
To my surprise, she doesn’t pull away. Instead, she leans in, pressing her lips to mine in a kiss that’s gentler than any we’ve shared before.
“I’ll come back tonight,” she says when she pulls away. “But I need to know what I’m walking into, Luca. The whole truth, not just pieces.”
I nod, relief washing over me. “Tonight, then. I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”
She slides out of bed, gathering her scattered clothes from the floor. I watch her dress, memorizing every movement, every curve of her body. When she’s finished, she turns to me, looking surprisingly composed for a woman who’s just agreed to move in with a man she barely knows.
“If I’m not back by midnight,” she says, her voice steady, “don’t come looking for me. It will mean I’ve made my choice.”
I rise from the bed, not bothering to cover my nakedness, and cross to her. Cupping her face in my hands, I kiss her with a possessiveness that leaves no doubt about my intentions.
“You’ll be back,” I say against her lips. “You’re already mine, Lily Moore. You just don’t fully realize it yet.”
She leaves without another word, the soft click of my penthouse door the only indication she’s gone. I stand at the window, watching as she emerges onto the street below, hailing a cab with the confidence of a born New Yorker.
As the taxi pulls away, carrying her back to her father’s world, I reach for my phone. There are preparations to be made, security to be arranged. If Lily is going to be living with me, I need to ensure she’s protected at all times.
Because once Governor Moore discovers his precious daughter is mine, all hell will break loose. And I’ll be damned if I let anything happen to what’s mine.