Crowned In Blood

Chapter 20

20

Catalina

I pressed the button for the elevator. This was the first time I’d ever been to Marco’s house, any of them. We’d decided it was best I come stay with him, as he’d been basically living at my house for multiple weeks now.

He slept over every night. We ate breakfast together. He even had a toothbrush and a drawer with clothes there.

It had been a smart decision for multiple reasons.

Marco had finally admitted to months of surveying and stalking me, which meant he knew every access and vantage point for my house and the roads around my property. He could point out security improvements that I couldn't, which made my home the perfect place to protect ourselves while we’d been forced to wait for our revenge.

However, now that we were ready, it made the most sense to come here. If Felipe had been tailing either of us or investigating our movements, he would have known where I lived, what our routines were, and exactly how to hunt us down. But me coming here would take him time to react—time we could use in our favor.

Even though I understood the logic of it, I couldn’t help but be a little nervous.

Marco always seemed fine in my home, careful yet confident—as if he belonged there. But I didn’t know how to be that way with him. This was his space, and I was invading it. Would my presence make him feel uncomfortable in his own home?

I mentally shook my head. No.

I knew and trusted Marco. If he didn’t want me in his home, he wouldn’t have offered. I refused to let my nerves get to me. Instead, I shoved them into my worry box.

I pushed my shoulders back, straightened my spine, and when the elevator doors slid open, I saw him standing there.

Marco reached for me, and I made it halfway before he kissed me like he hadn’t seen me earlier that morning, and it had been days, weeks, years since we’d been together.

He kissed me like I was the air he needed, the water he craved and thirsted for.

I bunched his shirt in my hands as he fisted my hair, angling my head, deepening the kiss. The elevator chimed, warning us we hadn’t pressed a button, and we laughed against each other’s lips.

“I missed you, mi peque?a reina viciosa.”

I giggled and kissed him again. “I missed you too.”

He pressed the button for the penthouse floor, while I straightened my hair.

“I need to come up with another nickname for you one of these days, other than my devil.”

He wrapped his arm around my waist. “You already have one for me.”

I looked up at him. “No, I don’t.”

“You do. Sir, King, and after I kill your sorry excuse of a father, feel free to try out Daddy.”

I laughed, even as my skin flushed. “I cannot call you Daddy in public.”

“Oh, you can. I might even reward you for it,” he whispered in my ear.

I smacked his chest playfully. “Do you ever not think with your dick?”

“Absolutely, but not when I haven’t seen you in hours.”

I chuckled at him, but even I couldn’t deny the huskiness in my voice or the way my pussy clenched in need.

Stepping off the elevator, Marco opened the door to his penthouse, and we stepped inside.

His home surprised me. It was masculine, yet cozy. A mixture of browns, blues, grays, and blacks. The lighting was warm, and his foyer, living room, kitchen, and dining room all faced a wall full of borderless windows. It was the perfect view to watch the sunset.

I never knew a house could look like this.

My own was slightly haphazard because I hadn’t known what I liked. It was the first time I’d been able to furnish and decorate a space all on my own. I didn’t even know my favorite color, or which ones would have gone well with it. Eventually, I found I preferred deeper colors, dark reds, crimsons, teals, deep forest greens, and dark blues, and had settled on beige to tie them all together.

But my house, even with all the furniture, never truly felt lived in to me. Everything was clean, sharp lines. I didn’t have a lot of art on the walls or décor anywhere. But Marco did.

It wasn’t overwhelming or for show. Like Marco, it felt authentic, as if he’d truly wanted to make this space his own, his sanctuary.

“What do you think?”

I turned my head up to his. “It’s beautiful.”

His smile lit up the room. “I’m happy to hear you like it.” He brushed my hair back behind my ear. “I was worried because you seemed nervous.”

No matter how hard I try, he always knows.

“I was a little, but I’m fine now.” I squeezed his hand. “Are you going to show me to my bedroom?” I teased.

His eyebrow raised. “You mean our bedroom?”

I smirked. “Who says I’m sleeping with you?”

He pulled me into his arms. “Mi peque?a reina viciosa, please don’t make me break all the beds in the guest rooms. I really don’t want to go out and buy more.”

I stood out on the balcony, the wind blowing through my hair. I still hadn’t told him.

I could have after we’d had sex in his bed, or after we’d eaten dinner, but I hadn’t. I kept telling myself I had more time, knowing that couldn’t be further from the truth.

The hacking group had already taken all of Felipe’s money and transferred it to an offshore account that only Marco and I had access to. They’d also looped Felipe’s camera feeds so he wouldn’t be able to see when we captured his men, interrogated and slaughtered them, gathered whatever information and paperwork we could from his warehouses, then burned them to the ground.

After that, all that would be left would be Felipe’s mansion. He had a small army there, but once we made it through them, there would be nothing stopping us from getting to Felipe. And it would all start in one short hour.

I have to say it now. I have to tell him how I feel while I still have the chance.

I turned around as Marco stepped onto the balcony and walked toward me.

“What’s going on with you, Lina? You’ve been off all day. Is it being here? Is it too much for you? Do you feel uncomfortable?”

“No. No,” I said again more firmly. “It’s not that at all, it’s just… I’m scared.”

He wrapped his arms around me, and I burrowed into the familiarity of his warmth and smell, then sighed.

“Talk to me, Lina. Are you worried something will go wrong?”

“Yes, but that’s not the only thing I’m afraid of.” I slipped my hand into my pocket, squeezing the key there.

Once I give him this, I can’t go back.

Then something, a strength I never knew I had, rose inside of me. It wasn’t that I couldn’t go back from this. I didn’t want to. I swore I wouldn’t let my fear get in the way, and that was a promise I was going to keep.

I took his hand, then gently placed the key inside it, and he cocked his head to the side.

“This is a key to my house. You’re welcome to use it whenever you want. I can clear out more drawers, get another desk in the office, whatever you need, but I… I want you there.”

“Lina…” he said slowly, carefully, as if I was a deer who might run away if he frightened me. “Are you asking me to move in with you?”

“I…” Taking a deep breath, I squeezed my hands into fists, then released them. “Yes. Or, if you prefer, I could move in here with you. Whichever you’d be more comfortable with but?—"

He slammed his lips against mine. His kiss was hard, rough, leaving me breathless and panting. Then he slipped the sash from my robe, pulling it open.

“Marco—”

He kissed my neck, sending shivers down my spine.

“Marco, someone could see us here.”

“Then the last thing they’ll see before I slit their throats is how a king worships his queen.”

He took my breasts into his hands, then sucked my nipple into his mouth.

My head fell back, and I arched my back, giving him all of me.

He nibbled, bit my breasts, down my stomach. He was moving so quickly, rushing like he couldn’t wait a minute longer for me. Then he got down on his knees and looked up at me. “Put your legs over my shoulders and feed me your pussy, Catalina.”

His voice was so husky, his eyes so dark and dilated that I moaned at the command.

I shifted one leg over his shoulder.

He grinned. “That's my good girl. Come sit on my face.”

Grabbing my hips, he lifted me, then settled me down on his face and ate me out like a crazed man.

I gripped onto the railing behind me as his tongue slid in and out of my pussy. He smacked my ass, urging my hips to move, and I obeyed immediately.

I ground myself on his face, and when I looked down at him, he was staring back at me, watching my every move.

I moaned loudly, sliding one hand into his hair, fisting it. I pulled his head harder against my pussy, felt the way his lips curled briefly before he gave me exactly what I wanted. His tongue thrust deeper, faster. Then he rubbed my clit.

I jerked, liquid pooling in my pussy.

The wind blew against my skin, eliciting goosebumps from the chill. His hands were warm and firm on my hips, his breath hot on my pussy as he drove his rolled tongue in and out of me and rubbed me faster. Not once did his eyes leave my body.

He was completely focused on me, worshipping me with his attention and devotion.

I tightened my legs around his head, silently begging him not to stop, not that he would.

Marco loved to make me come, to make me lose my mind for him, and with one more thrust of his tongue, I did.

I cried out, my hips grinding wildly on his face as he licked me. He bit my thigh, sucked my clit, then went back to feast on my pussy.

I caught my breath just a moment before he lifted my hips. Then he was standing, pulling me against him.

I wrapped my legs and arms around him, kissing him as he thrust into me.

I tasted myself on his tongue and reveled in it. It was primal, possessive, like I’d left my mark on him, claimed him.

He fucked me hard, one hand wrapped around my waist, the other bracing us against the railing. My breasts were pressed against his chest, our stomachs constantly rubbing together as he kept ramming in and out of me.

His tongue wrapped around my own, sucking it into his mouth, then nibbled and bit my lips before kissing me again.

He carried me from the railing to a corner of his balcony, pinned me against the wall, and drove into me even harder.

I tilted my head back and met his gaze with half-closed eyes.

He was wild, feral, as though his sole purpose, the reason he was put on this earth, was to take me. And I'd give him every inch of me, every part of my being, every ounce of my heart. Every space in my soul, anything, everything that I was.

My feelings for him bubbled up and spilled out of me and I couldn’t stop myself, didn’t even want to. “I love you,” I moaned.

He froze. His eyes widened, jaw dropped, and a shiver went through his entire body while his cock twitched inside of me. “Wh-What did you just say?”

It felt like time had stopped. I couldn’t hear the birds chirping or the sounds of the street from below, and the sky couldn’t replace the absolute brilliance of his eyes.

A small tinge of fear fluttered through me, but I pushed it aside. I’d already said it once; I could say it again. “I love you. I love you, Marco.”

His expression shifted from shock, to awe, to wonder, then to overwhelming joy. And he rammed back inside me even harder than before.

I cried out. He was so rough and deranged.

I dug my nails into his back, dragging them down while he pounded into me over and over.

“Say it again,” he growled.

“I love you.”

He thrust harder.

“Again.”

“I love you.”

Harder still.

“Again.”

“I love you. I love you. Yes! I love you!”

He claimed my lips, kissed the ever-loving hell out of me while he fucked me with wild abandon. He pinned me to the wall harder, pressing himself against me until I could barely take a full breath, and I loved it, loved the weight of his body.

His hand roamed over my back as he drew me closer, as if he wanted to be buried in my skin, and if he could, I would let him.

“I love you, Catalina,” he moaned into my ear.

A feeling came over me—something sudden and strong that I’d never felt before. It shot from my head down my spine to my legs, filling the entirety of my body—bliss. Pure, unfiltered bliss.

It shook me to my core. Tears of pleasure and joy fell from my eyes, and Marco kissed each one, while he rammed the entire length of his cock into my cunt.

Then my body trembled. My toes curled and my pussy throbbed.

“That’s it, mi peque?a reina viciosa. Come for your king. Come knowing that I love you—that I would live for you, die for you, kill for you.”

I did. I came screaming as every cell in my body exploded. I felt like a rocket launching straight into the stratosphere—and all I could do was hold on to him so I didn't end up lost in space.

But he kept thrusting, once, twice, three times, then he roared, and I kissed him. I kissed my king, my devil, the other half of my soul as he filled me with his come. And then, I felt complete.

“Ready?”

I peered up at Marco. He was dressed in a black shirt, black pants, and black combat boots.

Normally, I thought he looked like his nickname, The Devil, because of how sinfully handsome he was. But now? He looked like death, and it made my blood pump a little harder in my veins.

Down, girl. You can celebrate by riding him later.

“Yes.” I stood, and he grasped my chin, tilted my head up, and kissed me with such gentleness and tenderness I almost melted.

“I know you’re my vicious little queen and that you can withstand anything, but take care of yourself for me. I’d lose my mind if anything ever happened to you.”

I squeezed his back. “I promise, but you have to do the same. If you die, I’ll drag you back from hell just to kill you myself.”

He laughed, and I smiled along with him. “Yes, my queen.”

We stepped into the elevator hand in hand. Marco’s driver was waiting for us outside. Our men were set at their stations, knew their orders, and were ready to carry them out to the fullest.

My body hummed in delight, and when I looked over at Marco, I knew he felt the same. After waiting so long, our day of reckoning had finally arrived.

We made our way out to the lobby, where added security—Marco’s own men—made sure we left safe and sound.

Approaching the entrance, Marco slid behind me as he opened the door.

“Lina!” Marco pulled me to him, spinning around, blocking my front.

Glass shattered in the distance, the pieces spilling over the marble floors. But I didn’t understand why.

Time slowed.

“Marco?”

His eyes were so warm, filled with so much love and affection. He had the most beautiful smile on his face, yet his chest was wet, and whatever it was began to seep into my clothing.

I recognized the smell first, the metallic tang.

When I touched his chest, it came away red, full of blood. I stared up at Marco, wide-eyed. Then he went down with me. His expression turned serene, then he closed his eyes.

I didn’t hear the additional shots, nor the screams, or the people running for their lives on the street.

All I saw was Marco, unconscious, laying in a pool of his own blood.

No.

“Marco.” I shook him.

No!

“Marco.” I lifted the entirety of his torso up and down as if his muscles, bones, and sinews weighed nothing more than a feather. But he didn’t move.

No!

I balled my fist, hit his chest. I hit him one, two, three, four, five times, but he never once opened his eyes. He never twitched, never smiled, never laughed. Nothing.

“MARCO!”