Page 26 of Wanton

"That's it,bella," he murmurs against my flesh. "Scream for me."

My voice breaks on his name as the pleasure splits me asunder and scatters me to the winds. I float away, riding on waves of bliss unlike anything I've ever felt before. He doesn't stop or let up until my field of vision goes black and my heart threatens to stop entirely, frozen in this one perfect moment of peace.

I float back to Earth, landing safely in his arms.

"Callandria," he breathes. "Mia bella principessa."

I know I'm dreaming as soon as I find myself outside. The city is crumbling. Blood flows like a river down the streets. Bodies still lay where they fell, bloodied and battered.

"No," I whisper, shaking my head. This isn't supposed to happen. Luca and I are supposed to stop this. We're on the same side.

Luca.

No. Oh, no.

I turn in a frantic circle, trying to figure out where I am. Close to my father's house. I take off running in that direction, praying I get there in time this time, that I save Luca before it's too late. My lungs burn as I race down the sidewalk, heedlessly running through the bones that litter the city in a macabre display.

I dodge fallen bodies, biting my tongue to keep from sobbing at the sight of them. There are so many. So much death. So much destruction.Dio.This isn't supposed to happen.

I trip at the corner, nearly falling on my face before I catch myself. My ankle throbs as I skid onto my father's street, my eyes already scanning for Luca.

I cry out in horror when my eyes fall on the row of bodies spread across the middle of the street. Marcello. My father. Luca. All dead.

"No!" I scream, falling to my knees. "No!"

"Callandria." Rough hands grab me, shaking me awake.

I sit up with a sharp cry, scrabbling backward in terror. And then my gaze lands on Luca, his mocha eyes filled with worry as he stares down at me. He's alive. I sob in relief, flinging myself at his chest.

"Luca," I gasp, hitting him like a cannonball.

"Easy,bella, easy," he croons, wrapping me up in his arms. "It was just a dream."

Except it wasn't. Just like this morning, it was a glimpse into one possible future. One too awful to comprehend or even put into words. My family, dead. Luca, dead. The whole city bleeding. How am I supposed to stop that? I don't know, but I have to stop it.

I can't lose him. Not now. I just found him.

"Talk to me,piccolina," he says. "What haunts your mind?"

"You were dead," I whisper. "So was Marcello and my f-father. The city was destroyed. There were bodies everywhere." I shudder in horror, pressing my face to his throat. "It was awful, Luca."

"You dreamed of losing me."

"Yes."

"And this is why you were screaming my name?"

"I…I was screaming your name?"

"Yes."

"Yes," I whisper.

"Piccolina," he says softly, pressing his lips to my crown. He holds me for a long time just like that, neither of us speaking. And then he sighs quietly and tips my face up to his, brushing his thumbs beneath my eyes to collect tears I didn't know I'd shed. "I'll never deserve you, Callandria, but I'll fight like hell to keep you anyway."

Chapter Eight

Luca