Chapter 162
AMELIA
Lucius’ bedroom was twice the size of Ryden’s. It was huge with a fireplace at the end. His king-size bed was well-made with silk duvet and pillows. The space was more masculine than downstairs, decorated in an entire black shade, and smelled of expensive cologne.
At the corner was the door. Flicking the lights on, a sophisticated and impressive bathroom came in full view with a floor-to-ceiling window that overlook the skyline. He never ceased to impress me with how he managed to live two lives, a powerful alpha, and a wanted criminal, yet he was here with his luxury penthouse.
I shook my head in amusement as I entered the bathroom. I went to his solid stone bathtub, and I was tempted to soak for an hour and drink his wine, but then my friend was still healing.
I took off my blood-soaked t-shirt. The strap of my bra had also blood on it. I washed my hair clean and wrapped it with a clean towel.
My effort to wipe off the blood on my skin was paused when I realized I wasn’t alone anymore.
“Let me help you.” Lucius came. My heart instantly pounded. It was just the two of us in his cozy and expensive bathroom in close proximity.
“I can clean myself.”
He pretended he didn’t hear what I said. He lifted me up like I weighed nothing and put me down the counter. “Don’t move.”
“Do you always order women around?”
Again, he ignored me. He grabbed a facial towel, soaked it with water before pumping a good amount of soap into it, then squeezed the water out.
I just watched him do what he did. Taking a deep breath didn’t help me much as he stared at me for a moment. Without warning, he gripped my knees, parted them wide, and made me gasp. Then he settled in between and wiped off the blood on my shoulder.
“Aren’t you going to make a conversation with me?”
“About what? About what I felt watching you beneath the vampire about to suck your blood dry?”
“What are you doing here, Lucius? You know I can do it by myself, and I won’t steal your expensive cufflinks.” I pulled his hand down and put my arms on his shoulders making him stiff.
“How do you know I have cufflinks?” His eyes filled with humor.
“A wild guess, considering you have an expensive loft. So?”
He stared at me, his burning gaze fell on my lips, making my pulse go haywire. He went to without uttering a word again and continued cleaning the blood off my skin.
“Are you provoking, Ryden?”
“Done. Stay.”
I rolled my eyes as I watched him go to the drawers and pick up the blower. When he came back, he took off the towel securing my hair.
“Just go. I don’t want to piss off Ryden.”
“We’re not doing anything wrong, Amelia, unless you feel guilty about me helping you clean up.” He plugged the blower into the socket and said, “Lower your head.”
I did as he asked me to. “Why do I keep dreaming about you? They were always so intimate.”
“Do you think about me?”
“Screw you, Lucius.”
He chuckled. “I’d love to if you let me.”
I punched him on his abdomen, making him laugh. “You’re messing with my head. I didn’t even know you when I started dreaming about you, asshole.” I raised my head and looked in the eye. He was still blowing my hair dry. “You’re a part witch, did you do voodoo on me?”
“No. Why would I do that to you? Those were probably your old memories of us. When you say intimate, did we have sex in your dreams?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I won’t tell you until you tell me what’s going on?”
Once he was done, he turned off the blower and pulled off the socket, rolling the cord around it. I wondered if he did it with his Amelia, my old me.
He exhaled. “I’m dying to have you back. I’m even desperate but I would not do that to you, torture you with my sexual fantasies. I could be persistent, and I can challenge your mate to win you over, but I know you will hate me for that. So no, I didn’t do anything like that.”
“We didn’t have sex,” I lied. There was one time when we finally slept together. It felt so real that I was wet when I woke up. “But you kissed me, pleasured me, and it—” I tried to read his mind, but he seemed to have a lot of walls in his head. It was frustrating.
“It what?”
“I always woke up before I reached an orgasm, and it was frustrating. In the first few dreams, I didn’t know it was you. I couldn’t see the face of the man. It became clearer when we met outside the club, your voice, your height, your physique.”
“Is that why you were angry at me?” I could see the glint of amusement in his eyes.
“Part of it, yes, and you were my assignment, yet I wanted to get to know you, and you were so intriguing.” I raised my hand to touch his face, making him stiffen.
He sucked in a breath before leaning into my palm. His eyes showed so much longing before shutting it close.
“You’re killing me, Amelia.” The way he said it, it almost pained me. Knowing I was here with him but he couldn’t have me, reminded me of what it felt like to be rejected and watched Ryden with Nora.
My heart bled for him, and I should not be feeling like this, but somehow, deep within me, I also cared for him.
“Lucius?”
“Yeah.” He opened his eyes and looked at me. Then he took my hand and kissed the palm. I bit my bottom lip as I tried hard not to moan from the sensitivity of his lips against my skin.
I changed the topic when the tension became too much between us. “What was my full name when I was with you?”
“Amelia Celine Reidshaw.”
“And you?”
“I was Alexander before you died, my first given name. That’s how I got this loft. I was planning on taking you here after our wedding. Then I changed my name to Lucius and dropped my father’s surname when I became an alpha. My full name is Alexander Lucius Sparrow Gallen Whitmann Vassilakos.”
“Wow. That’s a mouthful.” I smiled as I mumbled my name, “Amelia Celine Reidshaw Vassilakos.”
He smiled. “You didn’t like Vassilakos. You preferred Gallen or Whitmann.”
“I can see why.” I leaned down, and he pulled away. I felt rejected and my ego was hurting, and my cheeks were flaming. I glared at him. “I thought you wanna kiss me.”
“Fuck, Amelia.” His words were guttural. His breathing quickened. “I want more than a kiss. I need more than just a kiss, but you have to think what must have he felt when you kissed me.”
“Why are you so fucking selfless?” I was furious and turned on all at once.
“Because I love you, and I don’t wanna ruin your life and your marriage with Ryden, but if you choose me, I will give you everything this world can offer. I will make you the happiest woman on earth, but sharing with him? That’s not gonna happen. And I know he won’t share you with me because I will take more than what he is willing to share.” When he smiled sadly, I looked away. He held my chin, forcing me to look at him. “Since I walked in, all I wanted was to kiss you, rip off your clothes, and take you to bed, but your mate is waiting for you, angel, and he can smell my scent on you.”
I debated with myself for a tense, breathing moment. As I tried to pick up through a thousand chaotic thoughts, I came up with something stupid, and I knew I would regret it later.
“Meet me in my dreams.”