The camp was quiet, but the silence was heavy, almost suffocating. Smoke from the earlier fires lingered, curling like restless ghosts over the tents, carrying the acrid scent of ash and blood. Luca sat against the edge of the tent, his body still slick with sweat, muscles humming with the memory of what he and Grace had shared hours before.Grace leaned against him, her head resting lightly on his shoulder, her hair tangled from their fury-fueled intimacy. He could feel the warmth of her breath, the steady beat of her pulse beneath his fingers. Every inch of him ached for her again, even as the camp whispered its own quiet tension around them.“Do you ever rest?” Grace asked softly, lips brushing his neck. Her voice was teasing, but there was an edge beneath it, sharpened by the fear that still lingered in the shadows.Luca chuckled low, a sound more of exhaustion than amusement. “Not while the world burns,” he said. He pulled her closer, his lips claiming hers in a kiss that tasted

The night was thick and silent, heavy with smoke from the distant fires of the northern front. Luca walked the perimeter, shadows coiling around his feet like living things, restless and watchful. His mind was a battlefield of its own, memories of Grace pressed to him, moans still echoing, and Valeria’s smoldering gaze haunting every corner.He hadn’t expected her to be bold, yet here she was, already threading herself into his world with a confidence that made his blood hum.Grace appeared from the tent, cloak wrapped tight, eyes like fire. She approached silently, her presence a tether to his sanity. “She doesn’t leave, does she?”Luca shook his head, voice low, rough. “No. She wants to be here, in every moment I have. And she will not go quietly.”Grace’s jaw tightened. “Then we make it clear,” she said, stepping close, hands gripping his chest. “I am not afraid to take what is mine. You, Luca. All of you.”Before he could respond, a soft laugh carried through the campfire haze. Va

The northern fires burned brighter than ever, lighting the camp in an ominous glow. Smoke twisted into the sky like dark ribbons, carrying screams and the clash of steel. Luca moved through the chaos, shadows snapping forward like whips, striking enemies, protecting soldiers, and keeping Grace close at his side.But the battlefield was not the only war. Valeria lingered at the edges, watching him, her presence like a slow, unrelenting pressure, impossible to ignore. Her eyes were fire, voice a soft caress even in the distance.“You are mine too,” she murmured, voice cutting through the noise. “Even in this chaos, even with her at your side.”Luca’s chest tightened. He clenched his fists, letting shadows whip forward, striking down attackers with brutal efficiency. But even as he fought, a part of him, the part he never admitted, never let surface, quivered with the pull of her words.Grace pressed herself against him, blade ready, lips brushing his ear. “Do not falter,” she whispered.

The night was heavy with smoke and the cries of battle from the northern ridge. Luca moved like a shadow among his soldiers, every sense alert, every muscle coiled, yet beneath the adrenaline of war, a different fire burned, one that had nothing to do with steel or blood.Valeria had slipped through the chaos again, appearing at the edge of his command post, silk swaying, eyes smoldering. Her presence was impossible to ignore. Even now, with the clash of swords ringing in his ears, he felt her pull, a magnetic force that made his pulse quicken and shadows twitch with awareness.“Luca,” she murmured, voice soft and deliberate. “Even in fire, in blood, I am here. You feel me, do you not?”His jaw clenched. Desire and guilt collided inside him. He had promised Grace, yet the pull of Valeria was relentless, intoxicating, dangerous. Every nerve screamed for her, every instinct threatening to betray his vow.Grace’s sharp voice cut through the haze of temptation. “Do not,” she hissed, stepp

The northern ridge smoldered under the weight of fires and smoke. Luca moved through the chaos like a phantom, shadows snapping, striking, protecting. Yet the battle outside was nothing compared to the war inside him. Desire, guilt, and need twisted inside like a knife.Valeria’s presence had become impossible to ignore. Even now, with Grace pressed to his side, he felt the pull, the temptation, the forbidden fire she represented. She moved with the precision of a predator, eyes locking on him, lips curving in slow, deliberate seduction.“You are mine too,” she murmured, brushing a finger along his chest. “You cannot deny it. Not even with her here.”Luca faltered, shadows flaring as his control cracked. The memory of her lips, the heat of her touch, he had given himself once, and he could not stop wanting her again. Desire twisted with grief and pain, a hunger he could not suppress.Grace’s hands gripped his arms, trembling with fury and desperation. “No!” she whispered, voice low, r