His Salvation: Cavalieri Della Morte

by Marta, Claire

  She remains silent, her lips pressed together as I talk.

  “Believe it or not, I was on the way to England to find you when I got the call telling me Paulo had a heart attack. You’ve been with me every day since I left. I’d walk through fire for you, petal. I love you that much.”

  Shocked eyes snap to mine. Her mouth opens and closes as if my answer has stunned her. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

  “Eve.”

  Her hands move to clench protectively over her bump, my attention darting to the small movement. “You hurt me, Kay.”

  Dropping to my haunches, my own hands close over hers warm and gently. “I’m sorry.”

  “I thought I was never going to see you again.” Thick mascara-laced tears slide down her cheeks. “Crazy as that sounds after you kidnapped and knocked me up. God help me, I should hate you for what you put me through. My hormones are all over the place.” She hiccups through sobs.

  Snatching a crisp, clean napkin off the table top, I stuff it awkwardly into one of her hands. “I was trying to do the right thing. The world I’m part of isn’t a nice place, Evelyn. How long have you known Paulo was your father?”

  “I found out the day he rescued me from Mauro,” she admits, dabbing at her tears only making the black streaks worse. “He explained everything in the car when we were on the way to the villa.”

  “Neither of you said a word.”

  “I didn’t know what to believe,” she admits with a sniff. “So much had happened. Then suddenly, you were gone.”

  I’ve messed this all up epically and need to get this right. Fate brought me to her, and there’s no way I’m letting my own insecurities and fears keep us apart. Not this time.

  Finally, I sweep her into my arms. Something I've been dying to do since we first entered the room.

  "I'm too heavy," she wails.

  "No, never," I tell her, placing a kiss on her damp temple. "Even looking like a dishevelled panda, you'll never be too heavy for me."

  Evelyn's punches my shoulder, the strength in her fist surprisingly strong. "If that was supposed to be a compliment, then it stinks."

  “I’m never leaving you like that again, sweetheart. You have my word on that. You’re moving to New Orleans with me.”

  A thunderous look ripples over her beautiful messy expression, washing away her upset. “If you think for one minute I’m going to let you boss me around…We barely know each other!”

  I can’t stop my grin at her fierceness. “That’s something we can rectify. Whatever you want to know, I’ll tell you. My life is an open book, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll handcuff you to my bed and fuck some sense into you. You’ll be wearing my ring on your finger as soon as humanly possible.”

  “Oh no, Kay. We are taking things slowly.” Evelyn’s voice is firm and non-negotiable.

  Instead of answering her, I sit her back on her chair and fish out the item that’s been burning a hole in my pocket. The precious metal catches the light, gleaming and shiny. Evelyn gasps at the sight of it.

  Carefully, I fasten the necklace of gold and Sapphires around her neck over the leather cord of the small red horn amulet. “They’re the same color as your witch’s eyes.”

  The second I’d seen them, I’d known they were for her. All I could think about after purchasing them was having her wear them, and nothing else, in my bed.

  Hand fluttering up, she fingers the metal. Her gaze clouds with confusion at my gift. “It’s beautiful.”

  Rising from where I’ve been crouched, I set about uncovering the dishes. Paulo and Laura have given us this time, and I’m not about to waste it. “Whatever you want, sweetheart, it’s yours. All I know is my soul recognized yours the moment I saw you, and I think you felt it too. I love you, Evelyn. Men like me don’t do that easily, but when we do, it’s for a lifetime.”

  She doesn’t respond with the words I’m hoping for. No revelation of love.

  “Four months,” she whispers softly. “That’s how long I’m giving you to see if this thing between us can work.”

  I’m up for the challenge.

  A hundred and twenty-one days to convince her she’s mine. That without her, there will be no one else in my life.

  Epilogue

  I wake to the sensation of little feet kicking me awake. Rubbing the spot soothingly to quieten the baby growing inside me, my fingers encounter the muscled arm wrapped around my expanding waist.

  “Everything ok?” asks a sleep laden voice over my shoulder.

  “Yes. Someone’s just decided they aren’t going to sleep tonight,” I tell him with a smile.

  Kay chuckles. “That’s my boy.”

  “You do know we could be having a girl.” Snuggling into his chest, I soak in his strength, his masculine scent I never tire of surrounding me in security.

  “Well, we won’t know that until you give birth, as you don’t want to know the sex until then, so we’ve still got a while to wait,” he points out, teasing. I know he doesn’t mind. The excitement of just having a child is more than enough for him. It took less than six weeks for Kay to show me we’re meant to be together. Living in his mansion of a house with more rooms that we could ever fill, we’ve made this place our home. It’s strange how it feels so natural. As if it’s always been the place I’ve meant to be. In Kay’s loving arms.

  Love takes work. Understanding. Love is a gift. Something to be treasured. Call it fate, the universe, whatever brought us together.

  I somehow know this was meant to be.

  I trust him.

  Fully and completely. Kay loves me, and it comes from somewhere deep inside, beyond all the fears and misgivings we’ve both had. I never doubt we’ll have our ups and downs. No couple ever has it simple.

  “Maybe if you make it worth my while, I’ll give in at the next scan,” I say with a self-satisfied smile. I’m dreading labor but know Kay will be at my side when the time comes. Although he has periods away with work, he’s constantly texting, phoning, and video calling. I know what he does. The organization is headed by, Arthur, his boss. Kay doesn’t keep secrets from me. Just as he’d promised that day in Rome when he’d confessed his love, he’s told me every detail of his life. I’m engaged to a killer, but he’s not as cold-blooded as many think. Honorable, generous, I know he has a good heart.

  I’m rarely alone. The ever-charming Gawain has become a good friend, along with the mountain of a man Bors. The men of the Cavalieri della morte have welcomed me into their family, making me one of their own. With scary looking uncles, my child will never have to fear.

  “Oh, I think I can persuade you, petal. Coming home to you is the best part of my day, after all.” Pressing his mouth to my heavy breasts, Kay kisses each nipple. Making a soft sound of pleasure, I arch my back, offering them up to him. My lust for him never abates.

  Something rapidly begins to nudge awake against my leg, and I feel Kay grin against the side of my breast.

  A sharp punch from within my stomach reminds me someone is yet to settle. Stroking my kicking bump, I take his hand and place it next to mine. A look of awe ripples over his handsome face. It’s the same expression every time he feels the new life we’ve created, moving inside me. As if sensing his or her father, the little rhythms slowly fade as our baby calms.

  “I love you, Kay Lockwood,” I murmur into the silence of the bedroom. “You didn’t just steal me that day outside the hotel; you also took my heart, even though I didn’t know it at the time.”

  Holding my wrists over my head, he pins me down, his muscular frame looming over mine. “Fate brought me to you, Evelyn, of that now I’m sure, but it’s my choice to love you with all my heart. You’re my partner. My friend. Mother of my child and wife as soon as I can convince you we’ve waited long enough to get hitched. One call and I can have Gawain on a flight with us to Vegas.” He isn’t playing or joking.

  “I’m not getting married in a love chapel in Vegas,” I warn him, just before his mouth comes cras
hing down on mine.

  * * *

  I smile against Evelyn’s hair. The smell of sex clings to us, our sweat soaked bodies entangled. I’ve exhausted her with my need for her. Left her limp and spent. Her golden hair spread over the pillows, big, blue, bewitching eyes heavy with the love-making we’ve just shared.

  My life is full.

  My soul sated.

  The passion and love between us chases every last doubt that lingers away. She knows about Chiara being behind my parents’ murders. The beatings I endured at the bitch's hands while growing up. Slowly, piece by piece, I've exposed every aspect of my life. Every memory. Not once has she turned away. Evelyn knows what I am and accepts it.

  Reaching for my phone on the bedside table, I check for messages. My concern grows when I find none. Bors hasn’t checked in for a few days. It’s not like him. A sense of foreboding builds. My sixth sense telling me that my friend is in trouble.

  “Still nothing?”

  Evelyn’s serene tone draws me from my worried thoughts. “I’m sure it’s fine.” My reassuring smile doesn’t light my eyes. “He’s probably just too busy to text.”

  Strands of silky blonde hair caress my chest as she raises her head. Big, blue eyes bounce between mine. “Kay Lockwood, you know you can’t lie to me. Go. We’ll be fine. By now, I know to trust your instincts. Just promise me you’ll come back in one piece to us.” Her words are shadowed in anxiety.

  She knows how much the others mean to me. We’re family, even though we’re not blood. They’d do anything to aid me, just as I would for them. They’re my brothers in arms.

  I suck in a breath, trying to control my emotions. “Nothing is ever going to prevent that.”

  It’s a steadfast promise. An oath. Nothing and no one will keep us apart.

  Planting a kiss on her parted lips, I rise from the bed.

  I want to linger but know if I do, then I’ll get wrapped up in the hunger to have her.

  She’s the woman who’s always meant to be mine.

  The light to my dark.

  Day to my night.

  My salvation to a heart that’s only ever known heartache.

  Grabbing a handful of clothes, I head for the shower. I need to get moving. Whatever gut feeling is gnawing at me, it’s only getting stronger. Bors is in trouble. It’s a certainty. One I can’t ignore.

  Dumping the items on a chair in the bathroom, I hit speed dial on my phone.

  “It’s two am,” Gawain grouses when he finally answers. “What the fuck do you want?”

  I hear a female voice in the background. He’s either in the middle of fucking or having his dick sucked. Whatever one it is, he sounds pissed I’ve interrupted them.

  “Get your shit together. We’re going on a road trip once I find out from Arthur where the hell he sent Bors.”

  The End

  The Cavalieri Della Morte Series

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  Martyris - Yolanda Olson

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  His Salvation - Claire Marta

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  Ivy’s Poison - India R Adams

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  A Cruel Love - S.M. Soto

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  Darkest Deeds - Cora Kenborn

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  Scarlet Mark - Lexi C. Foss

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  Delinquent - Ally Vance

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  Redemption - Anna Edwards

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  A Sneak Peek at Ivy’s Poison

  Prologue

  Knock, knock, knock…

  The hotel employee had received complaints about the noise coming from the room I was in. It wasn’t shocking, seeing how I had a psychotic bitch fucking me like I was the last sexual encounter she would ever have. I thought it would be. I had every intention of slitting her throat after I came inside her, but the devil thought it would be more fun to screw with me.

  Fucking devil.

  I ran. He chased.

  Knock, knock, knock… “Is everything all right in there?”

  Growl… “Fuck. Off!” I was holding on to hips that moved with expertise, gliding on top of me and teasing my dick to the point I was starving for an orgasm.

  Peering down at me with the most alluring grey eyes I had ever seen, she laughed. “Stop growling, you Neanderthal.” Sweat dripped between her naked breasts. I usually preferred them bigger, but her nipples were so tight my tongue constantly wanted to flick them.

  “I don’t growl.” I couldn’t catch my breath. All I wanted was to come, but the terror seducing my body wouldn’t let me. Every time I was close, she would stop moving or…

  My eyes rolled back in my head as my release built. That was until a small hand had a vice grip on my balls. I roared, “What the f—” as she tightened her grip, making me see stars, all the while gyrating her hips on top of me as if possessed. It was the craziest bullshit, but damn did it feel good. The pain fed my dark soul as if I had been craving sadistically erotic sex all along. Assassins don’t give up control, ever, but she had it over me. Her crazy matched mine, and I was eating up every drop of what she was sellin’.

  When her hand released my aching balls, my whole body eased into the mattress, euphorically. I lay there, at her mercy, as her core tightened around my shaft and she rose to her knees, practically lifting me with her—

  Knock, knock, knock…

  I told myself, That’s it. I’m killing the motherfu—

  Whack! The crazy bitch slapped me. Right across the face. “Stop growling.”

  Red. My temper and natural assassin response rose to red in one second. Fuck slitting her throat. I was going to strangle her. My hands opened to grab hold of her neck and throttle her, but my arms wouldn’t lift off the bed. All I could do was watch her fantastic ass walk to the door. Down her back was long hair that had waves. The color was one I would never forget—red with hues of purple and pink when the light hit it in a certain way.

  Naked and breathless, she swung the door open and asked the shocked employee, “Are you a virgin?”

  Being on the second floor, I could see the streetlamps lighting the night behind the dweeb that only responded by blinking twice and asking, “Ma’am?”

  She stuck out a hip. “Only a damn virgin wouldn’t recognize the sounds of hot sex.” She stepped aside to give him a peek of me on the bed. “See? We’re just fuckin’.”

  Since my arms were concerningly numb, my raging hard-on waved for me while I lifted my chin as a formal introduction. “How ya doing?”

  The employee backed away from the door, his feet tripping him up. “Uh, please, er, try to keep the, uh, noise down to a minimum.”

  The redheaded bitch, in much need of medication to level out her crazy, replied, “No problem. I’m about to get off, then I’m leaving this nasty-ass joint.”

  Dumbfounded, the employee walked away.

  After shutting the door—with a bang surely to piss off the employee with more complaints—she strutted back to me, an evil smirk set in place.

  I said, “Bitch. Why can’t I move my arms?”

  She straddled me,
sliding me back inside her. “Because I drugged you, Champ.”

  “I will kill you.”

  She laughed. “Nah.” She rose up on her knees then slammed down on top of my pulsing dick. “Nor can I have you chasing down the best fuck of your life.” She leaned down to kiss me.

  Be damned, I couldn’t help but open my mouth to taste her one more time. I knew, after I passed out, she was going to slip into the night and disappear. Even though I was already feeling regret for not killing her as planned, I was also experiencing remorse knowing I’d never see her again.

  Her hips began to rock a little more aggressively while she said, “You have no idea who I am or the things I would do to you if I could keep you.” Her tongue swiped my face. “If you weren’t minutes from the drug taking you down for nighty-night time, I’d wrap my mouth around your—” She groaned as I pulsed inside her, getting ready to explode because I wanted to be her slave. “But I want to feel you drench me from the inside out.”

  “If you hadn’t drugged me, I could’ve given you a repeat performance tonight.”

  Her eyes fluttered shut as her body demanded mine to climax. “You’re such a tease, Champ.” Then her hands wrapped around my neck. It took both to gain any power over my size.

  I was drugged, sexed, and now possibly dying…

  I had never been so turned on.

  As my balls tightened and my vision blurred, I stared at her, vowing to find her, fuck her, then kill her. I croaked out, “What’s your name?”

  She panted, her tunnel tightening around my cock. “Ivy.”

  Slipping from consciousness, an absolutely life-altering orgasm ripped through me and into her. My last thought was, I’m going to be your poison, bitch.

  About the Author

  Claire Marta has a passion for writing and finally took the plunge and became published with her first book, Frostbite, Book One in The Hunter Chronicles.