~6

Quinn

For a split second, I couldn't think.

I just knew I was being kissed so dangerously good I forgot none of this was supposed to be happening, at all.

Lost somewhere between breathing him in and losing my damn mind, I lifted my hand. I couldn't tell if that was to push him away or draw him close.

I never got to find out which it was. Because this strange man kissing me was suddenly yanked away, so fast that a whoosh of air left me, his teeth grazing my lips with the force.

As I recovered from the wooziness, I saw him pinned against the wall with a thud, in a flash.

Luciano's large hand was wrapped around the man's throat, so casually, without a single effort. But his face was tight with a dark scowl.

“I've always thought you audaciously stupid, and it's hilarious to see sometimes.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Get your hands off me, man! They burn as hell.” Violet eyes were almost bulging from their sockets, so red I wondered just how fragile he was. It didn't seem like Luciano held him that tightly.

“Stop it!” I shuffled forward impulsively. “You're hurting him.”

Wearing a humorless smirk, Luciano leaned into the man at his obvious mercy. “I'll warn you, Kallum. Just once. Lilith is my woman. And that means no other man gets to touch her. Including her guttersnipe brother.”

Even from where I stood, his eyes darkened so much the gray disappeared.

“So, keep your filthy hands to yourself, or I'll cut them off.”

I flinched as he shoved the man and casually strutted towards me, shoving his fingers through his hair.

Good heavens. What did I just get myself into? How did I get entangled with this hot mess of a man who tossed threats like they were nothing but music to his ears?

He paused in front of me, icy eyes staring down at me so intensely I wished to disappear beneath the ground.

Those eyes were difficult to read and easy to get lost in. So lost I don't realize it until he's taken a step close and lifted a thumb to my lips.

A cold shiver ran down my spine as he gently scrubbed my supposed stepbrother’s saliva off my lips.

He was doing it again. Making my heart swoon with the way those eyes slanted against my face in hard concentration.

And why did he have to do that thumb thing again? Was it his signature secret of making women fall at his feet?

Determined to not get caught in this man's trap a second time around, I tried to step away from him.

A sinewy arm shot out and wrapped firmly around my waist, pulling me flush against his chest and inches away from his face. The movement was so hard and fast it flushed the air out of my lungs.

He leaned so close his lips brushed against mine, feather-light.

“Remember,” his lips rumbled against mine, “you won't be spared either, if any man lays a finger on you. I'll punish you, for not knowing who to call.”

Trembling from the closeness and subtle carnality of his words, I took another step back. This time, I lifted my hands and shoved him as hard as I could.

“You're crazy,” I breathed, heat blazing across my face and down my neck.

He smirked and turned to Kallum, who eyed him furiously as he rubbed the angry welts on his neck. “See yourself out. I'll take her back to the hospital myself.”

Then he wrapped a hand around my wrist and yanked me away.

~~~

“Did you understand what I said back there?”

Luciano's voice broke through my reverie, and I decided to just ignore it.

There were more pressing issues than this hot mess of a man and whatever it is he'd said.

I hoped this whole shenanigan was a dream. A terrible dream I'd eventually wake from in cold sweats.

“You're bethroted to me, Lilith.” From the corner of my eye, I saw his hands grip the wheel with fierce energy. “You do know what that means, don't you?”

Exactly the problem. How could I be bethroted to a man that got me killed? And why the hell did everyone keep calling me Lilith?

It definitely had to be a dream.

A shriek of tires suddenly jolted through my thoughts, and I realized with wide eyes that Luciano had intentionally stepped hard on the brakes.

The force flung me towards the dashboard, my stomach twisting with panic.

My head had just almost crashed into the hard surface when a hand slipped through and caught it in a gentle cradle.

I was barely allowed a chance to recover before he snatched my wrist and pulled me forward.

“You will answer me when I speak to you, Lilith.”

“I'm not talking to you,” I bit back. “You're simply an illusion in my dream.”

A flicker of confusion danced in his eyes a moment before they disappeared behind the dark gray shrouds that hung there.

“Don't challenge me,” he warned in a low growl.

“And what if I do? You'll try to kill me again? Fucking dickhead?”

Even though this was most probably a dream, I brimmed with so much hate and anger towards this man. This man that had deceived me and made me fall for him at first sight, made me think he was my knight in shining armor. This man that had turned out to be a criminal. A thief that had stormed my home and threatened to take it away from me.

This man that had eventually turned out to be my nemesis.

How could I ever forget he was the reason I was probably dead and roaming the human world as a spirit, now?

No. It had to be a dream.

I never made any deals with a dashing grim reaper. I never woke up in Luciano Draven's bed. I never got kissed silly good by a charming stepbrother.

But the iron grip on my wrist reminded me otherwise, that dreams never felt this real.

Luciano glared at me with such feral rage in his eyes, suspicion bleeding through.

“What did you just say to me?”