Blood and Prophecy ║ 18+ (Ménage)

Ashes (Part 2)

Luca's POV
The warm water hit my back, almost soothing the ache in my chest. It reminded me about the moment Damian and I shared in the shower a couple of weeks ago. My eyes stared at the white marble tile as the memory switched to his death and I could feel tears welled in my eyes.

"Luca," Valeria whispered as she entered the bathroom, making my attention snapped to her. "Let me wash you."

I shook my head at her as my eyes trained on her naked body. "I should be the one taking care of you."

Valeria rolled her eyes at my answer. "Well, I'm your beloved and I'm telling you you that I want to take care of you."

I couldn't help but smile at her. She always managed to bring the best of me, even in the worst moment like this. I didn't think I would ever be more grateful to have her in my life.

She stepped into the shower, just a breath away from me. Her blue eyes studied me. I knew she was reading my emotion because our bond thrummed with an easy soothing feeling.

I bend my head down as her hand reached up. A soft sigh left my lips as admired her features while she massaged my scalp.

"You know," Valeria started with a hush voice. "You are allowed to be sad. I thought you were an expert on psychology now."

"Maybe later, my love. Someone has to be strong in our relationship."

Valeria faked a gasp and pushed me under the shower. "Are you saying that I'm weak?"

"No," I chuckled. "You know I don't mean that. But, you do have a soft heart. And I always want to be your rock."

Her blue eyes softened as she looked up at me. Then, she tiptoed to kiss me, making me wrap my arms around her waist.

Our kiss was slow and soft. And even with her naked body pressed against mine, the kiss that we shared was none other than to comfort each other.

Have a little faith, she whispered through our bond.

I didn't reply since I didn't know what to say. And Valeria seemed to understand that and chose to continue to wash my body.

We spent about more than half an hour in the shower caressing each others' bodies before decided it was enough.

As usual, Valeria let me pick her clothes. I chose a comfortable set of pink pajamas that she currently loved. And I had to admit, it was cute on her.

She hummed as she hugged herself on her pajamas. "I love this thing. It's so fluffy."

"I'll buy you another one," I told her as I put my shirt on.

Once we were dressed, we walked towards the dining room and I could tell there were only three servants in the mansion. One of my brothers must had informed them to leave us alone for the day.

I started to prepare the blood for both of us. Pulling a bag of blood bad from the freezer, I put it into the microwave.

No one likes cold blood. That's just gross.

Valeria was humming while making sandwiches for us. She moved lazily and yet still managed to look elegant at the same time. No one would believe that our beloved just died if they saw Valeria.

But there was the thing, she still held hope. A hope that I was so deeply afraid of.

The beep from microwave broke me  out from my thought and I pulled out the blood bag and used my fang to cut the plastic.

My eyes stared at the red liquid as I pour them into the glass. But the blood that usually enticed my appetite, suddenly made me want to throw up. The flashes of Damian came into my mind — the memory of holding him closed to me, kissing him, watching his nose twitched when he read a book. 

"Luca!" Valeria yelled, bringing me back to the reality.

I blinked my eyes for a couple of times, then let out a heavy sight at the sight in front of me. I had broken the glass on my grip and the blood was everywhere on the kitchen's island and floor.

Great. Just great.

"What happened?" Valeria asked as she ushered me away from the mess that I'd made. "Just leave it. I'll clean it up later."

She basically dragged me back to our bedroom and forced me to change my clothes. Looking down at myself, I couldn't help but grimace at my state. The blood had splattered my shirt and sweatpants, which was a non-negotiable attire for Valeria. She always said that she didn't want to make our servants uncomfortable — even though there were currently only three servants that were on duty.

"I think you should rest," she said softly as I pulled down my new shirt. "I'll bring you the blood. Just rest here for a minute, okay?"

I nodded silently. I felt as if my body was about to fail and the urge to fall to a deep sleep seemed so tempting. Deep down, I knew I needed a rest. But, I didn't like the thought of leaving Valeria alone, especially when we just lost Damian.

My feet brought me to the bed and I decided to listen to Valeria. Laying down on the bed, I let out a heavy sigh. Sometimes I wished this was all a nightmare. But I'd be a fool to think that the ache in my chest just because of a dream.

Valeria came back in no time, bringing me a glass of warm blood in one hand and a sandwich in another.

"Thank you, my love," I said as I sat up.

My beloved watched me while I gulped down the blood in one go, trying to suppress the flashback that might come by just smelling it.

"You should rest after this," she said. I was ready to argue, but before I could, she lifted a finger.  "I'll call Adam or Sebastian if you're worried. You look sick. You need to rest, Luca."

"Fine," I sighed. "But only for awhile."

She smiled at me, seeming pleased at my agreement. I silently ate my sandwich as Valeria called Adam. The way her lips moved when she talked. The twitch on her nose when she heard something funny. They were reminding me of how much I usually compared my beloveds to each other. Not about who was the best, or who I loved the most. But the unique features that they only had on their own.

"Okay. I'll see you, soon," Valeria said, ending the call.

I closed my eyes as she straddled me and raked her fingers through my blonde hair. Pulling her closer to my body, I buried my face into her hair and took a deep breath of her scent. Her vanilla scent always felt like warm hug that could calm me every time.

I didn't know how long we were in that position. But we only pulled away from each other when we heard someone opened the front door.

"It's Adam," she said softly and kissed my forehead. "Now, sleep. No more excuses."

"Bossy," I chuckled tiredly, but I did  what she told me to do.

I wacthed her walk out of the room and closed the door behind her. My eyes flutter closed as the exhaustion consumed my body and I let the sound of Adam and Valeria's chatter lulled me to sleep.