Chapter 42 Chapter 42
My heart was pounding against my ribs when we entered his master suite, yet there was a different kind of calm settling over me.
A kind of calm, I haven't felt in years.
My knuckles turned white when I clutched Lucien's shirt tightly. He leaned slightly forward. The adrenaline from the escape, the hospital, and the overwhelming weight of my emotions had left me with zero energy. I wasn’t even sure if my legs would hold me if he let go of me.
He looked down at me for a second. The shadows of the room played across his sharp features, making him look like a predator.
He then took a few more steps forward and made me sit on a wooden chair. My hold on his shirt loosened slowly as I let him go.
He went to his closet and quickly returned with a thick, gray towel, and tossed it towards me.
I rubbed my hair while he shrugged off his coat, followed by his shirt.
Even in my exhaustion, I couldn't take my eyes off him. I watched the way his muscles moved under the dim amber light of the room.
My movements froze when he started walking towards me, naked from the waist up. He has built a quite good body over the years.
He stopped right at my feet and leaned down, gripping the arms of my chair and trapping me within his space. I looked up into his eyes and my breath hitched. A single drop of water fell from his damp hair and landed on my now-dry cheek like a cold kiss.
I didn’t want to admit it, but the warmth radiating from his body felt better than any heater in the room. I can't control my uneven breathing, especially when I am feeling that warmth that I had forbidden myself from remembering for years.
"That night, you should have told me about Aurora's condition," he mumbled in a deep and commanding voice that sent shivers down my spine "Maybe I would have shown you some mercy."
"Mercy is the last thing I expect from you, Lucien," I whispered in a hollow rasp "You have always exploited my weaknesses. You would have used her illness to break me sooner. It would have changed nothing."
His jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed at me as our gazes locked in a moment of long silence.
He then cocked his head and let out a deep sigh while his hands gripped the hem of my t-shirt.
Without missing a beat or having any hesitation, he simply pulled it over my head and discarded it like trash.
"Better you keep it that way" he rasped as his eyes scanned my pale skin.
I didn't say a thing when he reached for the buttons of my jeans and pulled them down my legs. His fingers felt warm yet cold. His gaze flicked up to me when I sucked in a deep breath at the contact of his skin.
My fingers trembled slightly when I reached for his belt. I didn't want to be the only one exposed. I wanted to see him as vulnerable as I was. I wanted to strip away the "dangerous man" he claims himself to be and find the man who still burned for me.
He stopped and stared down at me in disbelief when his pants dropped down around his feet.
He looked at me as if he couldn't decide whether to kill me or devour me.
"What?" I kept my voice steady despite the chaos in my chest. "I don't think you would want a corpse on your bed. Do you?"
I felt oxygen rush out of my lungs when suddenly he scooped me off the chair as if I weighed nothing. A gasp tore through my throat, but before I could even find my bearings, he was all over me. In one swift move, he pinned my wrists above my head and crushed my body into the mattress with his. His intense, lethal gaze bored into my soul.
"Don't you dare play with me, Cynthia," he hissed, through clenched teeth.
I writhed slightly and forcefully pulled one of my wrists out of his hold. Instead of pushing him away, I reached out for his face and stroked his subtle beard with my thumb.
"You were the one who started this game, Lucien," I mumbled. One side of my lips curled up into a treacherous, knowing smile. "I am just playing along."
This time, I was the one who moved first. I lunged upward, claiming his mouth in a kiss that was less of a plea and more of a declaration. It tasted of rain and five years of starvation.
I could feel his jaw twitching under my touch, him almost losing his control.
But he was quick to pull back. His breaths came in jagged bursts.
"You know what you are doing, right?"
I knew exactly what I was doing. I was awakening the beast so I could tame it later.
His breaths were heavy as his gaze flicked between my eyes and my swollen lips. His body was radiating so much heat that my skin felt like it was beginning to blister. I pushed against his shoulders. I was surprised when he actually let me move, and I immediately sat over him. I leaned down, throwing my wet hair over one shoulder and tracing the solid, lines of his chest with the tip of my finger.
"Very well!" I whispered.
I rubbed my core against his groin, deliberately. It made him let out a soft, tortured groan.
He squeezed his eyes shut for a second, trying to maintain the "Control" he so proudly preached. He didn't want to show me the devastating effect I was having on him.
Good. I wanted him to lose his mind.
Abruptly, he pushed me back and switched our positions in a blur of motion. I was once again pinned under him while he hovered above me like a hungry wolf who had been deprived of his basic needs for a lifetime.
"I forgot to be gentle the day you left me, Cynthia," he said through clenched teeth, his grip on my waist turned almost bruising. "Don't provoke me. You won't like the version of me that's left."
I smiled at him.. that same soft, haunting smile that used to melt his iron heart years ago. I knew he was trying to be the monster, but I could feel his heart thundering against mine. Everything about me still affected him.
Every breath, every touch, every look.
"Bring it on, Lucien!" I probed "Show me how much you have changed" I smirked
Suddenly, the last of his restraints broke. His eyes went pitch black, and his hold on my waist tightened until I gasped. The storm outside faded in front of him as he lashed out like there was no tomorrow...