Lucca's Lust: The Luminara Series Book 3 (37 page)

As he is anxious to see Lexi, I send him upstairs because I want her to be surprised. I carry his bags to one of the guest bedrooms. When Lexi and Cameron have caught up, she sends him downstairs to go look around at the pool area.

I am rewarded with her sexy bikini clad body pressing against me and her lips kissing mine. She has me rock-hard in this little getup, and her tongue does crazy shit to me. Teasing her with Charlie Chaplin
silent sex
, I have her bikini off her, my mouth over her hard nipples, and fingers deep inside her in no time.

My baby cannot stay silent even if she tries. I need to muffle her moans and cries with my mouth in seriously dirty, open-mouthed kisses.

Pulling her to the edge of the bed, I lower my shorts, roll on a condom at her request, lift her hips, wrap her legs around my waist, and sink deep inside her in one hard thrust, giving her a spontaneous sexual gift of the day. I pump her deep and hard while I hold her hips.

When she begs for more, I feel her muscles tense as her pulsing walls tighten and throb around my expanding cock, so I tease her clit with my thumb. Falling apart, she quivers and cries my name, reaching her climax, causing me to cum insanely hard seconds after her.

After we freshen up, I see her frown when she takes in her naked body for the first time in front of the full-length mirror before she puts her bikini back on. The look of displeasure and sadness in her eyes when she sees the faint bruises and scrapes affects me sorely. It pains me.

I kiss her everywhere—every scrape, cut, and bruise on her body—reassuring her that they will heal and she is still beautiful. In front of the mirror, I hold her against my body, snaking my arm around her, one hand flat on her stomach, the other cupping her breast. Moving her hair, I leave a trail of soft kisses on her neck until I see the spark rekindle in her eyes and her frown disappear.

Before going down stairs, I place Lexi’s new pendant diamond earrings in the safe with the others and then carefully help her with her sling. I am trying so hard to care for her and be gentle, but every time she quietly winces, holds her breath, or squints her eyes closed, I know she is in pain. She will not admit to it and it cuts me up to think she is uncomfortable and sore.

As planned, Paulo drops off Anna, Dominic, and Hazel to stay with us here at the farmhouse for a few nights. I have given Marco a few days off because he was on constant duty and did a shitload of running about for me when Lexi was in hospital. He is bound to need a rest, and I know he would like to go diving with his papa, Marcario.

Lexi becomes overwhelmed with emotions when she sees them, just as she did when seeing Cameron. It is the first time I have seen her truly happy and whole-heartedly smiling since the night we had the carefree dinner at Vincenzo’s restaurant.

I am mesmerised by her today—I always am—but today it is lovely to see her comfortable and relaxed with her brother and friends. I adore watching her smile and hearing her girly giggles and casual banter with Cameron, and I love to see the way he looks at her. He idolises and absolutely loves her; that is extremely obvious. I like that. I like that he has been looking after her and is very fond and protective over her. I like that Dominic is too.

It gives me insight into Lexi’s relationships with others. She is very easy to fall in love with, and everyone around her cannot help but love her in abundance. I knew my family would love her, but it is good to see her in her own familiar comfort zone with her brother and know that he too loves my girl.

If I never had my own sister, I would probably be quite jealous and pissed that they are close and showing each other lots of attention, but I have a similar relationship with Anna, so I completely get it. If it makes my dolcezza happy, then I would love to be around her family and friends more.

I have been feeling exceptionally protective over Lexi because she is still not feeling one hundred percent, so I make sure to show her even more attention than I normally do. I cannot drag my eyes or my hands away from her for long at all. I am glad that she has the distraction of her friends when I am busy preparing lunch so she will not notice I am unable to fuss around her.

When Lexi catches up with Hazel, Anna corners me in the kitchen and tells me I am practically suffocating Lexi with all my care, but she thinks it is adorable. Hey, I did not see Lexi complaining. If anyone thinks for one moment I am going to back off and not be so attentive towards her, then they can forget it. Not happening.

I tell Anna as much. She wraps her arms around my waist and tells me I am her best brother and she is proud of me. I think I might need to give Anna a gentle warning about Cameron. I like the guy, and I would not mind at all if she dated someone like him, but it upsets Lexi and I will not tolerate that. Plus, Cameron has a girlfriend at home. As always, where Anna is concerned, it will go in one ear and out the other. She is like Armando in that respect.

In the highest temperature of the afternoon sun, we eat lunch on the alfresco patio area. Lexi announces that she is moving in with me, and she will allow Hazel and Dominic to stay in her home in order to help them save for their wedding.

The fact that Lexi has openly told them she is moving in with me fills me with excitement and gratitude. It makes it appear all the more real, and as I watch her intently from across the table to check if she is tiring or uncomfortable, all I see is mirth and happiness brimming in her eyes.

Biting on my lip, winking and flashing her my dimpled smile, I reach under the table and gently squeeze her knee and then lift her better hand to my mouth and kiss it sweetly to thank her. I notice she is not blushing as much because she is so content and relaxed in the present company.

After the horrid events of the weekend, I am so relieved that she is still willing to live with me. I cannot imagine being apart from her after sharing this time together, and the thought of going home to a massive, empty house is not appealing. I cannot wait for Rose and Peter to meet her. They will love her, I know it. It will be nice for Rose to have a female around.

My mind already races with possibilities: coming home from work to my beautiful girl, sharing my bed with her at home as I have here, giving her free rein over the homes I own because I want to share everything with her. Having her in my life means giving my life to her, just like the way my papa and his forefathers have done before me. We take care of our girls.

A tug of nostalgia settles deep in my core because I like to plan ahead. I think about Christmas and New Year’s and how special it will be this year sharing it with Lexi. Maybe in the future we will have our own family to enjoy, especially on special occasions such as Christmas.

Cameron helps me grab some more beers for him and Dominic when Lexi shows Hazel around. I choose water because after the weekend I want to be extra cautious of how much alcohol I drink. Plus, I want to take care of Lexi because she is in no fit state to drink. I want to stay sober along with her and have a clear head.

In the kitchen when Cameron and I are alone, he inquisitively asks how much Lexi has told me about her past. He leans against the counter, messes his hair up in the front, then holds his fist against his lips, studying me with precision, like a hawk. With his extensive training, he is obviously good at interrogating and reading people.

I was anticipating this and am glad he has brought it up. Carefully and compassionately, I ask him to come into the study with me as I would like to speak to him about it.

“Thank you for talking with me in private. I wanted to ask you some questions that are unsettling me. It is because I love her, I love her unconditionally, and I need some clarity because I plan on never letting her go. I need to help her and understand, especially through her nightmares. It is fucking destroying me my girl has gone through this … you have all gone through this.” I caution towards Cameron, offering him a seat on the sofa. I sit on the adjacent sofa, lean forward, elbows on my thighs, casually cupping my hands together in front of me.

“What has she told you?” he asks, clearing his throat and shifting uncomfortably, looking dark and foreboding all of a sudden. I know it is a raw topic and will be painfully sore for him to talk about it. The tension in his body language is enough for me to realise he is very guarded, so I will keep it light.

“I know the basic outline, about your mother’s abduction, the three of you being held captive and your father … what he did to your mother,” I say, schooling the anger in my voice. He does not need me lashing out and blowing up. It is not his fault, nor can he do anything about it.

“Go on,” he says, sitting back, resting his beer on the arm of the sofa.

“Lexi mentioned something briefly about Stockholm Syndrome. Is that the case? Is that true?”

“Yes. But look, mate, Lexi needs to tell you herself. It’s not fair for me to fill you in on details. If she wants you to know specifics, she’ll tell you when she’s ready. She barely even talks to me about it. She has a good group of friends that she confides in, but it’s hard for her to share. I guess it’s hard for her to tell another man. I don’t know, but I think it embarrasses her. You’re the first man she’s ever given herself to.”

I nod my head passively. I understand that because now I am getting to know Lexi I understand why she keeps things closed off, but I wish she never felt ashamed about it because it was out of her hands.

God, my baby girl had no control over her life, but hell if she has not made the best of her life as much as she possibly can considering her background. She has been through the worst psychological experience and trauma, yet she is grounded, level-headed, mature, sensible, kind, loving, and forgiving. She is remarkably balanced considering.

“No, I understand, that is why I do not want to push her. She is gradually letting me in, and I know she will tell me when she is ready, but I guess I wanted to ask you a couple of things because I hate upsetting her and I needed some things cleared up.”

“Okay, shoot.” He takes a draw from his beer.

“Has Lexi been to therapy? I mean professional therapy. I am finding it hard to believe that she copes so well given the circumstances. How does she do it?” The last thing I want to do is interrogate Lexi, or open a whole can of worms that brings horrible memories back to her, so I hope Cameron can enlighten me on some things that have been playing on my mind since last night.

I have suffered three deaths and horrendous ordeals, plus battled cancer, and if it was not for Casey and her therapy, God knows where I would be and what I would be doing. I would be completely fucked-up.

“Yes, she has. And I believe that was the turning point for her, if I’m honest. We all had several therapists when we were younger, but Lexi refused to let them in. Christ, after we
escaped … got away
, she never spoke, she never ate, she never cried. Nothing. She went into severe shock. It wasn’t until after Eleanor, our neighbour, died that her therapist at the time was able to make great progress with her.” He sighs, sadness filling in his eyes as he recalls the tragic events.

“I see. Did you know she still has nightmares?” I ask, rubbing my temple.

“Yes, and you may have noticed she’s paranoid about safety … and security. I don’t think that will ever change. She’s a grown woman and still obsesses about locks being locked, windows closed, and she fucking hates when people switch their phones off and she can’t reach anyone. As for the nightmares … certain triggers freak her out. She has post traumatic shock, so she relives the memories in her sleep.” He seems a little edgy, unsure if he is saying too much or not.

That explains things perfectly. I have noticed this about her, and I recognise post traumatic shock because Casey told me I suffered from it after witnessing Jasmine’s tragic death. It kills me she battles this and goes through it, but I know I will do everything in my power to protect, love, and care for her. Maybe I can gradually coerce her away from these nightmares by making new memories with her, happy ones, and by soothing her at bedtime.

“I have experienced that, yes. Is that why you went into the armed forces … to protect her?” I ask. Cameron clearly has the professional skills to protect Lexi. The only skills I have are my heart, mind, soul, and body, and I will use them all to protect her if she needs it. I do not intend to let her slip away from any of them.

“Yeah, I guess it was. I want to always protect her, and it seemed like I would learn the best skills within the force, but I was also so fuelled with rage and anger that these fuckers … these fucked-up criminals walk around everywhere and could be doing the same thing to someone else. I seek justice and feel like I’m making a difference by assuring these cunts get what they deserve.” He inwardly hisses then takes a swig of his beer. His lips are swollen from biting them.

“Lex, she looks after people. Real good. You have no idea. She hates to see anyone suffer or be in pain. That’s why she is a physiotherapist. Fuck, when she told me she wanted to become one, I thought she was mad because she’d need to have close contact with people, but she pointed out that she’s in control of the contact and I think it appeases her. We all suffered pretty torturous and bad shit, so she hates so see anyone hurting. I’m not quite sure she would’ve been dedicated enough or been able to concentrate on studying for medicine, so physiotherapy was her best option.”