Making the Rent the Hard Way - 45

Luca appeared half an hour later, bloody but unbowed, as he put it. "I'm fine," he said as I tried to decide if he really was. He was bloody, but other than a few deep gashes on his arms, he seemed to be in one piece.

"You should see the other guys," he told me with a smirk. "And I don't mean Gino and Rocky, although they took their share of damage. Tipton's joining Farnham in Hell. The big guy won't be doing any fighting for a while. Rocky made sure of that. What's the saying? The bigger they are—"

"The harder they fall." I almost smiled, adding, "I hope he didn't say 'I'll be back' when he left."

"Nope, because he's still lying on the basement floor, out like a light. We decided to let him live, to pass on the message to his punks that we're bigger and badder than them."

"He will be back," I said, shivering. I felt like a wuss but I couldn't help it. The bruiser scared me. He had since the first time I saw him.

Luca hugged me. "Maybe. Maybe not. Guys like him, they think their too big to lose, but they're cowards at heart, playing on their size. My bet is, he'll think twice before coming after you or any of us, now that Rocky showed him he wasn't unbeatable after all."

"I hope to hell you're right."

Luca smirked. "I always am. Why would it stop now?"

"Conceited ass," I grumbled, before kissing him.

"Nope," he said when the kiss ended. "Not a conceited bone in my body."

"Uh-huh." I smacked his butt. "If we're going to eat dinner, which you promised me, I'd better shut things down and lock up." 

We did eat, before ending up in his bed. From there, things went as expected. By the time we finished, we were both thoroughly sated—and the gashes on Luca's arms were gone, thankfully, as was the last of the damage to his shoulder. I didn't like the reminders of what he'd gone through.

He must have realized I was checking, because he said, "Stop worrying. The only one who can damage me permanently is you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. If you ever decide I'm not really the man for you and walk away, it will break my heart. I don't think even being a shifter could heal that."

"It will never happen," I told him. "I'm in this for the long haul."

He laughed. "Not a very romantic statement, but I get the idea."

"How about I say 'I love you more and more each day'? Does that work?"

"Yes, it does," he replied softly. "I love you, too, in case you haven't figured that out."

"I have." I kissed him, then we set out to prove one more time that we were in love, before falling asleep in each other's arms.