The Croesus' Bride [Completed]

Laura Conti's POV

Albania was hot and sunny and dry. I sweat profusely as I was digging up some castle remains that was being found in Tirana, Albania. It was gorgeous in the city until you come to the archeological site. It was massive of dust, soil and fortunately, enthusiastic as myself for searching the ancient ruins. It has been forever since I came back to Albania for my research and job. Being here for 3 years relax me from the pressure back in Italy.

"I found something," I said as the other archeologists came to take a look at my discovery.

"What do you think?" I asked Mrs. Debaux as she was my supervisor after all. She looked at the artifact that I found and looked at me with seriousness.

"I think we just found a relic from the Ottoman Empire. It was one of the greatest empires in the world during the 15th century. This could be a discovery to relate the Albanian empire was once under the Ottoman Empire," she said excitedly as I was smiling ear to ear.

"You think so?" I asked. She nodded.

"it's also from a castle that was being burned or destroyed after Albania went out from the Ottoman Empire. We can make a connection to your research," she said as she patted my shoulder. I was grinning.

"Okay, everyone, take precaution, we don't want the other artifact or relics to go missing," Mrs. Debaux said as everyone laughed at her jokes.

The last 3 weeks have been very exciting and challenging. There is some puzzling question that made me think twice and thrice to get the answer but all the same, it was just dirt and ancient artifact which made me happy after all those time spendings in the dirt.

It was Friday night and we thought that we should spend some time in the gorgeous city of Tirana after 3 weeks of nonstop digging for an answer and discovery, not having much time to spend with the locals. Everyone agreed that we would meet at Oda, a traditional Albanian cuisine. I always excited to try local food and chat. I was getting a dress and did my makeup when someone knocked on my door.

"just a minute," as I thought it was my colleague to go together to the restaurant. I was happy to open the door before someone I unexpected to see in Albania.

"Lucca?" I asked before Lucca went inside the room and claimed my mouth. Not that I was complaining but I missed his kisses and demanding attitude. It was a nice gesture that he came to Albania to see me.

"How…what are you doing here?" I asked as we still each other arms.

"I missed you," was the answer that I get before he kissed me again. I broke the kiss and looked squarely at him in the face.

"No seriously, Lucca, what are you doing here?" I said as I looked at him murderously. He just laughed before he tried to kiss me. I moved my mouth out of the way and his kiss landed on my cheeks. He chuckled before getting out of our embrace.

"What, you don't like my surprise?" He said as he was walking around the hotel. It was cheap but it accommodated me more than enough. For the last 3 years, I have been camping out at the archeological site. The horror was nothing compared to this.

"Why don't you move to a nice hotel?" He asked as he sat on the bed. I crossed my hands in front of my chest and his eyes suddenly fuel with desire.

"it was university funding so we make do with everything they gave to us," I said as a matter of fact. Lucca nodded before gestured me to sit beside him.

"oh, no, you won't mister. I have Friday night fun tonight and I don't want to spend it on the bed. I mean, it's not a bad idea but please can we explore the city?" I whined as I went to hold his hands. He chuckled at me before standing up.

"Okay, just let me freshen up," he said before he went to the bathroom and washed his face. I waited and waited until a question popped into my head.

"how do you find my room?" I asked him as I was leaning on the bathroom doorframe.

"I asked Amelie where you're staying," he said like it was no big deal. Blood drained from my face. The horror of what I just heard.

"you asked my supervisor where I stay?!" I shouted at him. He nodded.

"why, what's wrong with asking forms wife?" He asked innocently. I hold my head as it was throbbing for me to kill somebody now, a certain someone that was in front of me, in my bathroom in my hotel.

"no wonder she said to me do not get pregnant," I mumbled.

"what?" Lucca asked as he was wiping his face.

"nothing. Let me just tell her I will not be joining tonight since my husband decided to show up," I said as I was ready to make a phone call.

"don't worry. I already told them," he said as he got out of the bathroom and went behind me. I closed my eyes to control my anger.

"Can we go now?" I asked him before he nodded as he kissed my neck as a gesture for later on Friday night.

"Okay, let's go," I said as I went to grab my handbag and went out of the hotel with Lucca's hand as I dragged him out before I exploded inside there.

"oh my god, this food is so delicious!" I said as I was eating rosto-misalche-Kosi, traditional Albanian roast beef in a fermented milk sauce. It tasted salty but also go great with the veal stew.

"Lucca, you have to try these," I said as I was scooping a handful of them to feed Lucca.

"No, love. I'm good," he said as he tried to avoid eating foreign food.

"come on, when else you will be eating this?" I said as I encouraged him to eat it. He surrendered as he knew I would never give up until he ate it. He was making weird faces when he was chewing the food.

"good, ugh, so salty," he said as he cleansed his palate with white wine as I laughed at him.

After dinner, we went to Skanderberg Square. It was lightning up with colorful lights. We were walking hand in hand as I was talking about the places that I have been to during my 3 years of stay here. We found seating at Skanderberg Square and decided to just watch people.

"what do you miss most in Albania?" Lucca said as he was caressing my arms and I rested my head on his shoulder.

"my friends, I guess, that I made here. I don't have time to visit them yet since I never came back here," I said as I was looking at the stars.

"do you want to visit them?" Lucca asked me as he looked at me. I looked into his slate orbs and smiled.

"of course, I love to," I said as I tilted my head.

"what did you do?" I asked as I narrowed my eyes at him.

"what?" He said innocently. I gasped.

"no, you did not," I said. He just shrugged before chuckling at my surprise.

"would it be late to say 'surprise'?" He asked. I chuckled before kissing him on the lips.

"you know, it's overdue for us to be back at the hotel," he said as he was caressing my legs. I arched my eyebrow at him and smirked.

"oh, what do you have in mind, Mr. Giovanni?" I asked him, playing along with him.

"something that we both enjoy," he said while wiggling his eyebrows at me. I laughed before we headed back to our hotel that was just 20 minutes away,

For the last 3 hours, we just grunting, moaning and panting that I was sure everyone else can hear, but I don't give a shit. It's not like I was doing something wrong. Lucca and I were just relaxing after 3 exhausting hours to satisfy ourselves. Lucca was resting his head on my chest as he drew a circle on my stomach and I was playing with his hair.

"did you know that in Albanian myth, there was a species called Dhampir?" I said as Lucca was looking up from my chest.

"no, why?" He asked I smiled at him before getting and straddling his stomach.

"well, they said that it was a creature that was a result of the forbidden union of a male vampire and woman," I said as I positioned myself on him.

"really? Did you ever meet the dhampir?" He asked, smirking at my attempt.

"and he's very handsome too," I said as I kissed Lucca and drove us both too ecstasy.