Chapter 73 Chapter 73
The smell of expensive and familiar cologne hit my nostrils and I didn't need to open my eyes to know who it was.
Lucien.
He came so unexpectedly and suddenly that my body froze for a second. My heart started thumping so loud in my chest that for a moment I felt it might come out of my chest.
When he licked my lower lip for entrance, I came to my senses and tried to push him away by placing my palms flat against his chest but it felt like trying to move a mountain.
He is already stronger than I am, and my friend has been drained by days of stress and a lack of food intake.
He groaned against my lips in torture and longing when I didn't part my lips for him. When I tried to push him more, he just grabbed my wrists and pinned them above my head against the mirror of the changing room.
And he kissed me so hard that it stole my breath away.
His lips moved over mine with a hunger that felt like he was trying to reclaim my very soul. It was a messy, possessive, and broken kiss. Lucien's kiss.
"No," I tried to moan into his mouth, but he swallowed my word.
I fought him until one of his hands moved down to my neck. His thumb slowly caressed my sweet spot and I moaned.
I hated the way he knew my body. I hated how every time I melted into his arm.
Slowly he licked my lower lip and I gave in. Like every other time, my body betrayed me. And in that moment it was just him and me. I completely forgot about Adrian waiting for me outside, about the wedding gown lying on the floor like a dead thing, and about the danger we were both in.
If Adrian came to know about this, I don't know what he would do to me. And Aurora ... She is still in his home.
Lucien grabbed my jaw tightly and thrust his tongue deep into my mouth, forcing me to just think about him. My muscles went limp, as I gave in. I finally kissed him back with all the suppressed trauma and love of the past few weeks.
A single tear escaped my tightly shut eyes and rolled down my cheek. I tried so hard to control it, to stay strong, but I was failing.
I was failing everyone.
Lucien pulled back just enough for us to catch our breath, and rested his forehead against mine. He was so close that our breaths mingled. Our chest heaved up and down in perfect rhythm. I can't open my eyes but I can feel his intense gaze on my face.
And then I felt his lips on the corner of my eye, sucking the tear off my skin.
I gasped when his tongue lingered there for a second.
Slowly, I opened my eyes to meet his, mine were filled with small tears.
"Why are you doing this, Lucien?" I asked, trying to keep my voice stable.
"Me?" He asked "It's you who is marrying him, Cynthia!" He came back "Why are you doing this?"
His thumb caressed my jaw, softly.
"Because I am tired" my lower lip wobbled so badly that I could hardly say anything. Beads of perspiration formed on my upper lip as I continued "I am tired of running and hiding. Now I want a place that I could call my home. A place where I don't have to run. A place where I could be me and Adrian is providing me that space with the promise of Aurora's safety" I swallowed hard "Let it happen"
"I can't!" Lucien snapped "I love you, Cynthia. You and Aurora are mine. I can't let any other man just take you away from me. I tried to hate you, but I can't, not after knowing that you were always mine. You never married him"
He looked between my eyes. His eyes were shining with unshed tears. I could clearly see how much he was trying to hold himself back.
"But now I am marrying him. I am surrendering myself to him in every possible way because he is providing me with something you never could. He gave me a roof when I had nothing. He gave Aurora a father figure when you left us in the middle"
He remained silent
"Life gave you a second chance to fix your past mistakes but you didn't." I added "You just let us walk out of your door, once again choosing your father over us." I inhaled sharply "Now doing all this is of no use."
"Give me one more chance, Cynthia. I promise, I will fix everything." He almost begged.
I shook my head.
"No, Lucien. It's over. I am marrying Adrian of my own will. I’ve made my peace with it. It’s better this way. It’s better if you just go back to your life. Go back to your father and marry Sophia. She is the kind of woman your father wants for you anyway."
Lucien pulled back as if I had slapped him. His face went pale and his eyes widened in pain.
"And you?" He asked "What do you want?"
I inhaled a sharp breath that went cutting down my throat.
"I also want you to get married to Sophia"
Silence.
A deep silence followed my words before he broke it, "You really want me to marry her?"
I nodded, though every fiber of my being wanted to scream the opposite. "Yes. I want you to be 'settled.' I want us both to stop fighting a war we have already lost."
"Say that by looking into my eyes, Cynthia," he challenged me.
I licked my lips and looked up into his eyes.
"Say it, Cynthia. Tell me you can see me with another woman!"
I parted my lips to say the same and end it here but before I could the door handle to the changing area rattled, and my heart nearly stopped.
"Cynthia? Are you done, darling?" Adrian’s voice drifted through the door "What's taking you so long?"
Lucien’s eyes darkened and he didn't let go of my hands. He looked like he was ready to burst through the door and end it all right here.
"Lucien, just go!"
I quickly picked up my dress and put it on.
"I am not going anywhere" he stated.
"Please," I mouthed "Go. For Aurora’s sake, go."
But still, he didn't move from his place.
"Open the door, Cynthia or I am coming inside" he banged on the door like a madman.
I immediately picked up the wedding gown and opened the door slightly, just for myself to slide out of the changing room.
"What took you so long?" He asked.
"I ... I couldn't get out of the gown" I lied.
"You could have called me for help. You know" He winked.
I looked away.
"Fine, let's get home" he wrapped his arm around my shoulder as he led me ahead "As you were being a good girl today, you can spend the rest of the day with Aurora"
He kept blabbering while I could still feel the touch of his lips lingering on mine.