Chapter 40
I crept into the bedroom and shuffled over to the side of the bed. Lucian had been deeply asleep for hours. A clear indication of how tired he’d been. I stood over him, memorizing his slack features. His eyes moved side to side behind his eyelids.
His nose flared, and he let out a small growl. Whatever he dreamed about must be intense. Straightening, I was about to quietly shuffle away.
“Josephine.”
I froze, leaning over him. His eyes were still closed.
His fingers twitched, and a muscle in his jaw bunched. “Josephine,” he whispered again.
I placed my hand over his to stop him from ripping the blanket. Upon my flesh touching his, he calmed.
I stood there for a few more moments and slid my hand off of his, leaving him sleeping so I could rejoin Verity in the kitchen.
While in the middle of placing the lasagna into the oven, she favored her side. Her cheeks also kept flushing whenever she looked off into the distance.
“So, he wore you down?” I wiggled my eyebrows at her. Alex had taken her to a more secluded area to break her into our ways. Not every human would be down to fuck in the middle of the woods, much less allow themselves to be chased.
“Yes.” She leaned against the counter, hands settling on the granite behind her. “My God, he was so hungry .” The flush spread across the bridge of her nose. “He seemed more animalistic—needy for me. Does that make sense?”
“Oh, it definitely does,” I mused. Lucian was just as ravenous.
“It didn’t scare you?” Out of all the worries to have with a shifter-human mating, a male shifter’s hunger, especially during a Blood Moon, was the biggest one.
She pursed her lips, and her eyebrows furrowed.
“It was fucking intense.” She cleared her throat, fanning her face. “But no, he didn’t scare me.”
If she thought Alex was intense, she’d have a heart attack with an Alpha.
“I did want to ask you.” Pausing, she pushed off the counter. “What’s with the brothers’ weirdness with each other. Alex doesn’t say anything, but anytime Lucian’s brought up, he gets all moody.”
“Because they have an, um, tumultuous relationship.” Probably because of the drama their parents put them through. “They’ve had a cold upbringing. With the issues between their parents . . .” I trailed off.
“I really don’t think it has to do with them not sharing a father.” Her nose wrinkled. So he’d already told her. I was glad I didn’t have to hide it from her.
“I don’t think so either, honestly, I think they’re just awkward. They’re not really emotional.” I moved my head from side to side. “Correction, Lucian’s not really an emotional sort.”
She snapped your fingers.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “He told me about the kiss between you both.”
The blood drained from my face. I’d completely forgotten to tell her.
“I am so sorry,” I gasped, mortified. “It was my fault, I shouldn’t have?—”
She shuffled over to me and squeezed my arm.
“Chill out, Joey, I know you’ve had it rough and that Lucian’s a fucking hard pill to swallow.
” Her eyes flicked to the side. There was no way it didn’t bother her.
“You were hurting and lashing out. Trust me, I threw it in his face plenty until he made it up to me.” She waggled an eyebrow up and down.
“We still shouldn’t have kissed?—"
“What?” Lucian’s voice sliced through the kitchen. I stiffened, and panic clawed my throat. “Who kissed you?”
“Lucian didn’t know?” Verity mouthed, her eyes widened as her shoulders tensed.
Lucian was already storming toward me. I retreated until my back hit the counter. Rage flitted over my mate’s expression.
“Shit,” she whispered.
“I’m back,” Alex called, his steps echoing closer and closer. My lungs pulsed from not breathing. The literal worst timing.
He stopped inside the kitchen, eyes sweeping across all of us.
Lucian snarled, the terrifying sound ripping through the kitchen and echoing off the walls. Verity gasped, backing up.
I lunged for Lucian’s arm and hugged it.
“You touched my mate?” Lucian said quietly, his attention fully on Alex, whose eyes widened. He slowly lowered the plastic shopping bag to the floor and put his hands up.
“It was a mistake.” I could feel Lucian vibrate from the rage pouring off him. “She’s like my sister?—”
Lucian went stiff. “ Your mate. I would never have done anything?—”
He took a step forward, forcing me to stumble.
All I could do was mouth run toward Alex . Lucian was so still it was frightening.
“I kissed him,” I shouted. “Me.” He inhaled and exhaled in harsh bursts.
As soon as he charged, I threw my weight at Lucian, wrapping my arms around his waist, stopping him halfway to the door.
Verity screamed and dashed to Alex.
“What’s going on?” Alex’s voice echoed to me. Verity rushed him out, whispering to him.
“Sorry,” Verity cried out. “I’ll make sure Alex?—”
“Doesn’t show his face for a while,” I finished off, panting as I scrambled to hold him back, my legs dragging after Lucian’s relentless stride.
“Ever,” Lucian bellowed, his shout ringing through my ears. With his next step, and with my grip on him, he caused my hip to knock into the chair and send it onto its side.
“Damn,” I muttered and swung my leg around so fast it sent my momentum to the side. Using the grip around his neck, I hoisted myself higher, tangling my leg around his thigh to hinder him.
The front door finally slammed shut. My arms burned from climbing up him.
“Lucian, enough,” I snapped and used my hold on a bunch of his hair to force him to look at me. His eyes were glassy.
“Stop,” I hissed into his face. “I kissed him.”
He snarled and pinned me to the wall. He seemed maddened, and my heart wouldn’t stop pounding. He became so still. Words stuck in my throat, and I couldn’t breathe.
“ You kissed him?” It was said as a question, but it didn’t feel like one. He stared at me, chest pumping up and down. “Why?” he croaked, pain shattering his gaze.
Seeing him hurt only made me ache.
“I wanted to hurt you,” I choked out and licked my lower lip. “I wanted you to feel what I had to live with. Every. Single. Time.”
His shoulders jerked like my words were physical blows.
He leaned forward until his forehead rested on the wall he pinned me against. I stayed still.
After a few deep breaths, I managed to muster the courage to lift my hand to his neck, cupping it.
The tension gradually melted away as we remained frozen in each other’s arms. I rubbed my thumb against the column of his throat. I understood his pain.
My panicked heart calmed.
“I’m sorry.” His words took me by complete surprise. “I have—” He paused and exhaled slowly. “No right in taking my anger out on you.”
All I could do was stare up at him. He closed his eyes and jerked his head from side to side with a quick shake.
“When was it?” he gritted out between his teeth. I studied the tension on his face: thinned lips and the stiff plane of his jaw. My stomach dropped, swirling with discomfort. This must be how he felt when I asked him all my questions.
“It was right after I left the clinic. That day he let me sleep on his couch.” A growl escaped Lucian, and he felt like he could rupture at any moment.
I eyed him until he took a deep breath with his eyes closed.
“The vomiting . . .” he mumbled, the words so low as if he spoke to himself.
Once he opened them, a semblance of calm settled.
“I approached him and kissed him .” I said as I licked my lips.
The grinding of his molars was audible, and his jaw jumped in conjunction with the sound. “It was in the moment, and I just wanted to punish you.”
I closed my eyes, getting my breathing under control so I didn’t drown under the guilt I couldn’t help but feel.
“Consider me punished,” he croaked. I finally opened my eyes to meet his.
They welled with unshed tears, rendering me mute.
He pulled back, and my feet thumped onto the tile.
Instead of leaving as I half expected, he hooked his fingers into the waistband of my jeans and made quick work of undoing them to drag them down to my ankles.
I didn’t bother trying to stop him. His determination bled through his pores. He dropped onto his knees and carefully unhooked one pant leg from my feet. I stood in front of him bare from the waist down. He cupped my hips and pressed his cheek against my belly.
Lucian shuddered, rubbing his cheek on my flesh.
He kissed my hip bone and inhaled hard, smelling my skin.
A shudder worked over his wide shoulders.
As he rose to his feet, he lifted my shirt, leaving me no choice but to put my arms up.
He tossed the garment over his shoulder and stepped so close I had to lift my head to keep his gaze.
His thumbs caressed the inner swell of my breasts where the bra met my skin. His fingertips dragged across the band all the way around until he reached the clasp and undid it. The bra straps slid down my arms.
Cold air rose goose bumps across my flesh.
I followed his eyes to my puckered nipples.
His hands cupped the bottom of my breasts, and he palmed the flesh.
Lucian leaned down and took a nipple between his lips.
My shoulders jerked back, hitting the wall, but he didn’t relent, twisting his tongue and grazing his teeth against the sensitive flesh.
He squeezed them, ripping a moan from my throat. With the same attention, he moved to my other breast.
The dampness between my thighs was only getting worse, and my breathing echoed in my ear. Every nerve ending was alive. His hands trembled against me. He lifted, leaving my wet nipple behind.
I slid my hands down his chest to the front of his sweats. It was easy to pull his cock free. I squeezed the shaft, the side of my thumb brushing against his bulbous knot. His hips jolted forward, thrusting his silky skin into my palm. The way his hands shook broke my heart.
He grabbed my hips and hoisted me up. I curled my legs around his waist.
The warm glide of his cock entering me sent shivers to my toes. I leaned back, pressing my shoulders into the cold wall and lifting my hips to shove myself onto his knot. The rub against my clit made me cry out.
Lucian thrust, flattening my back against the wall. He withdrew and slid inside me again and again. The wet sounds of our fucking flared my lust. I slid my palms under his shirt and traveled up his hard abs to settle on his chest.
He set a fast, punishing pace, hard and desperate. I widened my thighs and pressed my heels into his spine. Lucian grunted into my ear. His panting was so fucking hot. My toes curled, pleasure spreading through every nerve ending.
With a gasp, I stiffened. The orgasm fired through my veins. Lucian pumped against me with tight, hard grinds. Each time his knot shoved harder and harder against my clit, my eyes closed. I slid my hands out of his shirt and around his shoulders, holding on tight.
My channel throbbed around his shaft. He didn’t stop claiming me, allowing me no rest. He pushed me into another intense orgasm, making my channel release a gush of slick.
I couldn’t stop crying out and yanking at the cotton covering his shoulders. The throbs finally settled, and my breathing was loud to my ears. His hands pinned me against the wall, and he withdrew, slamming into my pussy with a harsh shove. The sounds of sex were maddening.
Tingles radiated from my sex, and my legs were turning numb.
His pace remained hard and controlled. I forced my eyes to his thinned lips and the bliss playing across his features.
He whimpered, his hands climbing up my sides, edged with desperation.
He was chasing us toward an orgasm. He was so damn pretty . . .
The familiar tremors began in my legs. He groaned, and that was all I needed to shoot into another orgasm. He dragged in a breath and stiffened.
His knot swelled inside me, no longer allowing him to move. In the next breath, his shaft jerked and cum warmed my channel. The twitch of his cock made me whine and twitch on him.
“I’m—” he moaned against my throat. “I’m so fucking sorry I hurt you.
” His words only served to heighten my release.
I could feel every fucking part of my body.
I yanked at his shirt, thrashing against the wall he pinned me against. The dig of his fingers into my hips relaxed until it was no longer pinching.
“I love you,” I whispered into his neck. His cock twitched, releasing another jut of warmth inside my core, and he squeezed me so hard, I couldn’t breathe. He shuddered, pulling back to look down at me.
“You are my everything, Josephine.” His eyes glistened.
A soft smile spread on my lips, and I dragged him to my mouth.