It wasn’t a kiss; it was a punishment. His lips crushed mine, stealing my air, his body pinning me to the cold stone. His tongue claimed, demanded, devoured. I tried to shove him back, but my body betrayed me, fire racing through my veins until my knees buckled.
When he finally tore his mouth from mine, I was panting, my chest heaving against his. His eyes burned down into me, a predator caging prey. “Enough,” he growled, voice so low it shook through my bones.
The ride home was suffocating with tension. Troy and Jericho were silent in the front, their sharp gazes fixed on the road ahead, but I could feel the weight of their awareness. They’d heard and seen. Shame prickled hot under my skin, but Lucien never looked away from me, his arm draped possessively along the back of the seat, his thigh pressed hard against mine. He didn’t need words; the warning in his stillness was louder than any argument I could make.
When the SUV stopped, I tried to resist, tried to twist out of his grip, but it was pointless. With a sharp curse, he bent, hauling me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing. My fists pounded against his back, my kicks landing uselessly against his steel body. He didn’t flinch, didn’t even slow. His boots hit the marble steps of the mansion with measured, deliberate thuds that echoed my humiliation.
He carried me straight up the stairs, down the long hallway, and into his room. The door slammed shut behind us, rattling the frame. He dumped me onto the bed, not carelessly, but with a finality that said I wasn’t going anywhere until he was finished with me.
I scrambled up on my elbows, fury sparking through me, but he was already on me. His hands pressed into the mattress on either side of my hips, caging me in, his face a storm of dominance and restraint teetering on the edge of breaking.
“You will never question me in front of others again,” he bit out, each word razor-sharp. “Do you understand me? My men look tome for strength, for control. If you undermine that, if you make me look weak, it puts you in danger. It puts all of us in danger.”
I opened my mouth, defiance already on my tongue, but his hand shot to my jaw, tilting my face up so I had no choice but to meet his blazing eyes.
“As for that woman’s daughter,” he continued, voice rough and guttural, “it is dangerous. Contacting her puts a target on the girl’s back. Do you want to save her, or paint a bullseye on her forehead? You think with your heart. I think with strategy. That is the only way either of you stay alive.”
His hand slid down my throat, not choking, but holding, commanding. My pulse pounded against his palm, a frantic rhythm betraying my fury and my fear.
When I gasped, he growled against my lips. “You don’t get to question my protection,” he snarled, his hand sliding down my side, gripping my hip hard enough to bruise. “You think you can test me? Push me? Then feel exactly what that gets you.”
He picked me up, spun me around and pushed my chest against the wall, his palm pressing between my shoulder blades, holding me there. The sound of his belt sliding free of his trousers was sharp, merciless. My heart thundered. I should’ve been afraid, but the heat pooling low in my belly said otherwise.
“Lucien…” I started, but the word cut off in a gasp as the leather strap slid across my ass, not striking, just a warning touch. His breath was at my ear, hot and lethal.
“You want to argue?” he rasped. “You want to defy me?” His free hand gripped my jaw, forcing my head back enough for his fangs to scrape the side of my throat. “Then you’ll learn what it means when I say you’re mine.”
The kiss had been fire, but this, this was an inferno. My body trembled, not from fear but from the confusing, overwhelming surge of want that wrapped around me like chains I couldn’t break.
And when his lips brushed my ear, his voice was low, dangerous, and raw with need. “Say it, Sorcha. Say you’re mine.”
The command rumbled against my skin, sinking into my blood like fire. My mouth worked, but no sound came out, only a ragged gasp. My pride wouldn’t let me give him what he wanted, but my body… my body was already betraying me, arching into his grip, shivering under the weight of his control.
His growl vibrated through me when I didn’t answer. In one fluid motion, he pulled me back away from the wall and then shoved me back into the mattress, his hand catching my wrists. He dragged them up over my head, pinning them with a strength I couldn’t hope to fight. My heart slammed against my ribs as he snapped the leather belt with a sharp hiss of sound.
“You don’t want to obey with your mouth?” His eyes burned down into me, fangs flashing. “Then I’ll take your body until you remember who it belongs to.”
The belt cinched around my wrists, tight enough that I gasped, the leather biting into my skin. He anchored me there, bound and spread, and the helplessness that should have terrified me instead sent molten heat rushing through me.
Lucien’s mouth descended on mine, punishing, devouring, until I was dizzy. His free hand slid over my throat, down my collarbone, tracing my body like it was his map to own. His fingers hooked into my jeans, ripping them down in a violent motion that left me trembling. His extraordinary strength heightening my passion.
“You argue, you push and test. You insist on defying me.” His lips dragged over my jaw, his teeth grazing my throat, sharp enough to make me whimper. “But here…” his hand slid between my thighs, spreading me open, his touch merciless, “your body tells the truth.”
I bucked against his hand, fury and need tangled until I couldn’t tell one from the other. “Fuck you,” I spat, though my hips rocked into his touch like I was starving for it.
His laugh was low, dark, a predator pleased with its prey. “Already happening, sweetheart.”
Two fingers drove into me, hard and deep, and my cry tore the air. He worked me ruthlessly, holding me open, making me feel every inch of his claim. My wrists strained against the leather, useless against his grip. Every time I tried to twist away, his hand gripped harder, his mouth taking mine in a kiss that was more conquest than tenderness.
“You fight,” he murmured against my lips, his fingers curling inside me until my vision blurred. “And I fucking love it. But you’ll still break. You’ll break for me and only me.”
The coil inside me tightened, snapping closer with every thrust of his fingers. My body betrayed me again, arching, trembling, begging for more.
“Say it,” he demanded again, teeth grazing my ear. “Say you’re mine or I won’t let you come.”
“Go to hell,” I gasped, shaking, teetering on the edge.
His growl was feral. He pulled his hand away, leaving me raw, aching, desperate. My scream of frustration made him smirk as he stripped the rest of his clothes, his tattooed body all shadowand power in the dim light. His cock strained thick and hard, proof of the control he fought to keep as he loomed over me.
