“The scars on your face aren’t the only ones he gave you, are they?”
A cold chill coming over her body had her looking up at him, staring into his haunting blue-green eyes. She slowly shook her head.
He had hinted at their second meeting when she had been wearing long sleeves in the summer that he knew, but she had never confirmed it. Or maybe I did.
“Show me,” he ordered.
Biting her lip, her hands shaking, she slowly pushed up her right and then her left sleeve as far as they could go, revealing several scars on each arm. Her marks spread out from right above her wrist to the top of her shoulders.
She hadn’t shown anyone besides Elle. And no one had ever suspected her of having more scars than the ones that marked her face.
Taking his time, Lucca touched each revealed scar on her arms, tracing, studying how thick they were and how deep the bastard must have gone based upon how high they were raised. Each mark almost glowed against her pale skin.
“Is this all of them?” he asked with a hint of doubt in his voice, seeming to know it wasn’t.
She swallowed hard. Don’t make me tell you.
“Tell me where the rest of them are.”
“A-Are you going to make me show you?”
“Not today, I won’t,” he assured her, still lightly touching each scar.
She whispered the place not even Elle knew about, “M-My s-stomach.”
He didn’t respond, continuing to look, touch, and memorize the scars on her arms before pulling the sleeves of her sweater down to cover her cold arms back up.
“T-They’re hideous, aren’t they?” she asked while confessing how she had felt about them ever since first looking at herself in the mirror.
Lucca grabbed her face, forcing her to look at him. “Don’t you ever speak those words again. Do you understand?”
She tried nodding her head in his grip. “Y-Yes.”
Loosening his hold, he moved a finger to her full lips, caressing over the scar he hadn’t yet touched that went an inch above and below her lips. “You and your scars are the most beautiful things I have ever seen.”
Her breathing hitched as he moved his face closer to hers while moving his finger from her lips to position her for the taking.
“Don’t you ever think they’re not,” he whispered, his breath teasing her lips.
She closed her eyes as he pressed his lips against hers.
This kiss was slower than the first and not as demanding. Just him leisurely tasting her bottom lip.
The last time, he had tasted of cool mint. This time, she could still taste the cool mint, but it had a smokiness to it from his cigarette. The two opposite flavors mixed, tasting of fire and ice and making her lips and body tingle.
Lucca biting her bottom lip caused a noise of pleasure to escape her throat, like it had the last time. He smiled against her lips before he smoothed his tongue over the pressure he had caused, soothing it just for a moment before he pulled away.
“I think you like being bit, darlin’.”
A flush appeared on her cheeks as she blushed at his words and her body’s betrayal.
“It’s not a bad thing.” He smiled before placing a light kiss on her lips.
Her belly became warm at the quick kiss. It was sweet, something she wasn’t very used to from the possessive man.
Unconsciously licking her lips, she noticed she still tasted of him—the mint with the hint of smoke. Tasting exactly how he smelled.
That made her ask, “Why did you put your cigarette out when I came in?” She realized then that she hadn’t smelled smoke on him much lately, which surprised her.
“Because I don’t like smoking around you if we’re not outside.”
“It doesn’t bother me,” she told him, not wanting him to not smoke on her account. The smell had strangely never bothered her.
“I know, darlin’, but I don’t want you inhaling it,” he told her, revealing that it had to do with her health and not with the fact she might not like it.
Thinking deeper about it, this was the only room in the house where she could smell smoke.
She clasped her hands together when his hand moved higher up the outside of her thigh. “I-Is this the only room you smoke in?”
His eyes didn’t waiver from her face as she looked down at her hands. “Now it is, yes. I have to be able to smoke while I’m working.”
“Now it is?” she questioned.
“I quit smoking everywhere else in the house once I knew you were coming here.”
“Oh.” Chloe didn’t really know what to think of that. It seemed like he had done a lot of things for her since he had first met her. I don’t think I’ll ever know everything he has done.
“What is it?” he asked, twirling a strand of her hair between his fingers.