Chapter 88

Chapter 88
I felt like I was standing too close to something dangerous, something capable of ruining me completely, and I could not tell whether I wanted to run from it or throw myself deeper into it.
“What do you want to see?” Lucien asked quietly.
I bit my lip. “All of you.”
His hand slid along my cheek before moving to the back of my head, his fingers threading slowly into my hair. The touch was gentle, almost painfully so after the way he had shoved me against the door moments ago.
“Did I hurt you?”
I shook my head immediately, even though my pulse still had not settled.
His eyes searched my face carefully, like he was trying to make sure I was telling the truth.
“Good,” he murmured, though tension still lingered in his voice. “Though that would not have happened if you hadn’t pushed me to the edge, now would it?”
“Fuck you,” I shot back automatically, but there was no real venom behind it. My voice sounded weak, breathless, too aware of him.
Lucien’s gaze darkened instantly.
“I want to,” he whispered. “I want to so bad.” His words wrapped around me like heat, hungry, wild flame, and the look in his eyes matched it perfectly. Suddenly, my entire body felt too warm, my skin prickling beneath his stare as the same dangerous need rose inside me all over again.
My breath caught somewhere in my throat.
I could not even answer him.
The tension between us felt alive now, breathing between us like a third presence in the room. Every second stretched too tight. Every look lasted too long. Every inch between our bodies felt unbearable. I wanted him so badly, on me, in me, and even a little touch from him now would make me explode.
Lucien exhaled slowly before dragging a hand through his hair.
“I need to go for a run,” he muttered finally, like he was forcing himself to regain control. “Before I lose my mind completely.”
I swallowed hard.
Then his eyes lifted back to mine.
“I want you to come with me.”
My heart stumbled.
“What?”
“I want you to see me,” he said softly. “Really see me in my most primal form.”
The intensity behind those words made it suddenly hard to breathe.
His hand slipped from my face before he intertwined our fingers instead, grounding me and undoing me at the same time.
“Do you want to come with me, baby girl?”
I nodded immediately, far too quickly, and that small, eager reaction pulled a smile from him.
“Good,” he murmured. “But first, you need to change.”
Before I could even process his words properly, Lucien suddenly lifted me onto his shoulder. I squealed loudly as the room spun around me.
“Lucien!” I burst into helpless laughter, hitting weakly at his back while he carried me across the apartment like I weighed absolutely nothing. “Put me down!”
“Where’s your room?” he asked calmly, completely unaffected by my protests.
“Not telling you.”
“Oh, really?”
I gasped when he suddenly spun me around once, laughter rumbling deep in his chest as my shriek echoed through the apartment.
“LUCIEN!”
He finally set me down carefully, though the world still tilted slightly beneath me afterward. I stumbled a little, dizzy from the spinning and adrenaline and him.
Everything about him.
“You are insane,” I muttered, grabbing onto his arm to steady myself.
“No worse than you.”
Before I could answer, he pulled me into his chest, and the warmth of him surrounded me instantly, solid and overwhelming, his arms wrapping around me tightly until my breathing slowly steadied again. His smell, his smell was so good for me.
I hated how safe he made me feel.
Safe while also making me feel like the most unstable version of myself imaginable.
I sighed softly against his chest before forcing myself to pull back enough to look up at him.
“I’m going to get dressed,” I protested weakly, pressing my palms lightly against him. His hands slid to my waist before he slowly turned me around, his gaze dragging over me with no attempt whatsoever to hide the hunger in it.
Heat crawled instantly into my cheeks. The way he looked at me sometimes felt physical, like many hands. “I want to watch you get dressed,” he said.
“Lucien,” I whispered, mortified by how breathless my own voice sounded.
His lips twitched. “Get your mind out of the gutter. I would just stand there and do nothing but watch, okay?”
“Oh. I wasn’t thinking of anything more than that,” I lied terribly.
He raised an eyebrow immediately.
“You are blushing.”
“I am not, Lucien.”
“You are.” His grin widened slightly. “And the way you just said my name…” His gaze lowered briefly to my lips before returning to my eyes again. “That sounded like need.”
I stared at him.
Then immediately looked away because my entire body had suddenly become too aware of itself.
“You’re impossible,” I muttered.
“And you love it.”
I hated that he sounded so certain and he was right.
“Now,” he murmured, brushing his knuckles lightly against my waist again, “go get dressed for me, baby girl.”
A shiver ran through me before I could stop it.
I folded my arms defensively, mostly to hide how affected I was becoming.
“How I dress depends entirely on where we’re going,” I informed him. “I need details. This is supposedly just a run.”
“It is.”
“Sure.”
His smirk deepened. “But,” he continued casually, “I may have a surprise planned for you before it.”
Immediately, I opened my mouth with a thousand questions ready. He laughed softly before covering my mouth with his hand.
“No more questions.”
“Mmph.” He removed his hand from my mouth, then leaned down and kissed my forehead gently. The softness of it completely contradicted the dangerous wolf staring at me moments ago.
I grumbled under my breath as I turned toward my room, down a small hallway near where we were standing, and he followed me, stopping when I reached my worn door with a “HOME” plaque hanging on it.
“You can wait outside my door,” I muttered dramatically. “Or you can come watch me get dressed.” I blurted, knowing from the moment he suggested it that I would give in anyway.
He smiled at once. “I liked the way you said that.”
I froze. Slowly, I turned back around.
Lucien was watching me with pure amusement dancing in his eyes now.
“Say it again,” he murmured.
I bit my lip hard before muttering, “Come watch me get dressed.”
His eyes darkened instantly.
“Dangerous girl.”
Before I could react again, he lifted me right back onto his shoulder.
I shrieked.
“LUCIEN!”
His laughter echoed through the apartment while he carried me into my room anyway.
“You are going to make me dizzy before we even leave!”
“I’ll hold you up if you fall.”
“That is not reassuring!”
“It should be,” he said smoothly. “Considering how much you like when I carry you around.”
I buried my burning face against his back.
Because annoyingly
again
he was right.