Chapter 21 Chapter 21
Valentina
I didn't even make it two steps up the stairs before Lucien's mouth crashed onto mine.
A soft gasp left my lips as my back slammed into the wall, his hands grabbing my waist and pulling me hard against him. His kiss was hot, rough, hungry nothing gentle about it. I felt the heat shoot straight through me in one hard wave. The same way I felt in his office earlier. I nearly lost my mind then.
His siblings aren't around and his cousin while maids were in the kitchen. The guards were outside. No one was in the hallway. And Lucien didn't care whether they will hear us. Neither did I.
His fingers slid into my hair, tilting my head up as he deepened the kiss. My hands pushed at his jacket, trying to get it off him, trying to feel him closer. He groaned into my mouth when my nails dragged down his chest and that sound made my knees weaken.
"Lucien..." I whispered against his lips, breathless.
He didn't reply. He grabbed my hips and lifted me up, my legs wrapping around his waist like they belonged there. My back hit the wall again, harder this time. His mouth moved to my neck hot, open-mouthed kisses that made my whole body tremble.
I clung to him, fingers gripping his shoulders, pulling him closer, guiding his mouth where I wanted him. His hands slid under my blouse, warm palms on my skin, moving up, moving down, claiming every inch.
God...I couldn't think. I didn't want to.
We stumbled away from the wall, still kissing, still pulling at each other like we couldn't breathe without it. He walked backward, dragging me with him, our mouths never breaking, his grip tight on my waist.
My hands were everywhere his neck, his jaw, his chest. I felt his heartbeat pounding hard through his shirt. Felt the tension in his body. Felt how much he wanted this. Wanted me.
We bumped into a statue near the hallway and he cursed under his breath, grabbed my waist, and spun me around so he was the one slamming into it instead of me. His lips found mine again.
"Valentina..." he groaned into my mouth.
I was breathing fast, my lips swollen, my body on fire as his hands roamed up my sides, thumbs brushing the edge of my bra. I pressed closer, letting him feel how badly I wanted him too. God this is forbidden yet it felt so good. So addicting.
His hand slid around my back, pulling me tight against him. "I've been thinking about this all day," he whispered, rough in my ear.
"Me too."
He pressed his forehead to mine, both of us breathing hard, lips almost touching again.
His fingers brushed my thighs, sliding up slowly... too slowly... until I let out a small, shaky whimper that made him groan.
"Valentina..." His voice was strained. "You drive me insane."
And I didn't care. I pulled him closer, tugging at his shirt, whispering against his lips. "Touch me."
Lucien's jaw tightened. His eyes darkened. And then his hands were on me again, hot, strong, pushing my blouse up, his mouth dragging down my neck as I gasped and threw my head back.
Lucien kicked open his bedroom door the sound echoed, but neither of us paused. He pushed inside, slammed the door shut with his foot, and pressed me against it for one more hard kiss before he dragged me toward his bed.
My back hit the mattress, the sheets soft beneath me as he leaned over me, breathing hard, eyes dark and wild like he'd been starving for this.
Without a word, he reached for his shirt. And ripped it off.
He tossed it somewhere behind him, not even looking, and I swear my breath left my body.
His chest... God.
Tattoos everywhere.
Across his chest, his ribs, his stomach. Black ink and sharp lines and muscles I couldn't stop staring at.
The room suddenly felt hotter. My thighs pressed together on instinct, but it didn't help it only made the ache sharper.
Lucien noticed. His mouth curved into a slow, dangerous smirk as he stood over me, chest heaving, tattoos flexing with each breath.
"You're staring,"
I swallowed, unable to look away. "I can't help it."
He came closer slow, controlled, the way a predator moves. His hands slid to my ankles, pulling me down the bed until my hips met the edge.
He leaned down, his lips brushing my ear, his bare chest brushing mine, heat rolling off him.
"Good," he whispered, his voice rough enough to break me.
"I want you staring at me when I take you."
My breath caught. My body trembled.
He pulled back just enough to look at me, his gaze dropping to my lips, my neck, my chest like he was mapping out everywhere he wanted his mouth.
Then he pushed me gently onto my back, climbing over me, his hands sliding up my thighs, spreading them with a slow, claiming grip as his tattoos pressed against my skin.
I felt myself melt under him. Completely.
"Valentina..." he murmured, lowering his mouth to my throat. "You have no idea how much I want you right now."
My hands trembled as I reached for the hem of my blouse, dragging it over my head. The cool air of the room hit my skin, and I shivered not from the temperature, but from him. Lucien's eyes never left me, dark, commanding, and impossibly hungry.
"You know," he murmured, "your husband is coming back tomorrow."
The words made my stomach twist. Husband. He said it like it was nothing, like it was meant to sting, and it did. My lips parted, but no sound came out. Husband or not, the only man I could think about, the only one making me feel this way, was Lucien.
His gaze sharpened. "How does that make you feel?"
I said nothing. I couldn't lie, but I couldn't speak either. The heat in my chest made words impossible.
"He's your husband," he pressed softly, brushing a thumb across my collarbone. "You can't deny it."
I met his eyes, "Does it matter?"
He smirked, a dangerous, teasing curl of his lips that made my pulse spike. "It does to me," he murmured, leaning closer, until our breaths mingled and the space between us felt electric.
Even with the weight of that word hanging in the air, I knew it matter. Not when I wanted him.
His hand slid down my arm, until his fingers laced with mine. “Whether he’s your husband…” Lucien murmured, voice deepening,
“…or my father…”
My breath caught. He leaned in “You’re mine.”
The words hit me like heat exploding under my skin. His eyes darkened. Something in my chest tightened, pulled, burned.
My pulse raced so fast I thought he could hear it.
“Lucien…”
He didn’t let me finish. His hands slid to my waist, gripping, guiding, lowering me back against the bed until my spine met the sheets. I inhaled sharply, the room spinning at the sudden shift.
Lucien hovered over me, caging me in, his palms braced beside my head.
His gaze drifted down my body then back to my face, as if daring me to stop him.
I didn’t. Heat flushed through me. His hands slid along my thighs and gently nudged them apart . A shiver rippled up my spine, the anticipation almost unbearable.
Lucien’s fingers trailed slowly along the inside of my knee, tracing a path upward, stopping right before it became too much. Just that? just his touch, his nearness sent an intoxicating wave through my whole body.
He dipped closer, lips brushing the sensitive skin of my inner thigh, not quite a kiss, more like a promise.
A forbidden one.
“Oh God…” I breathed, my head falling back against the pillow.
“Yeah,” he muttered against my skin, voice low. “Forbidden tends to taste better.”
I felt it. Every word. Every breath. And God forbidden had never felt this devastatingly good.