CHAPTER 20
Cliff
Why isn’t he stopping?
The question creeps into my mind slowly, but once it’s there it refuses to leave.
My heart sinks a little deeper with every second that passes.
After everything that’s happened these past few days, I’m not sure who I’m supposed to trust anymore.
The question creeps into my mind slowly, but once it’s there, it refuses to leave.
Something in me starts to shift. What if I got it all wrong?
What if I’ve been looking in the wrong direction this entire time?
My breath falters as the thought settles in, heavy and unwelcome. I turn towards him, my voice quieter than I expect.
“Lucien… why didn’t you stop where my car was parked?”
“Sera,” Lucien says suddenly, his voice breaking through the silence like a crack of thunder. “Do you really think after everything you’ve told me… I’m going to let you go back to that house?”
I turn to look at him.
“Lucien, I—”
The words stop halfway out of my mouth.
Because he’s right.
If Dominic did this…
If he’s capable of hurting Sophie…
Then I don’t know what he’s capable of anymore.
And I don’t know if I’m safe near him.
The car continues down the dark road, neither of us speaks for a while. The silence feels fragile, like the wrong sentence might shatter everything between us. Being near Lucien makes something inside me settle. Like the world finally makes sense when I’m sitting next to him.
Like I belong here. But I can’t think like that. We can’t be together, he didn’t tell me the truth before and I’m still married. The thought makes my breath shallow. I shake it away before it can grow into something dangerous.
Lucien’s voice cuts through the quiet again.
“We need to call the police,” he says firmly. “We need to tell them everything.”
“Wait,” I say quickly. He glances at me. “We need evidence,” I continue. “Real evidence.”
Lucien suddenly slows the car and he pulls over to the side of the road. The engine idles as he turns to face me fully.
“What more evidence do you need, Sera?” he asks.
His voice isn’t angry.
But it’s intense.
“You found her scarf in his drawer,” he continues. “The woman is missing. Your husband had bloody hands when he came home.” He shakes his head slightly. “He has something to do with this. And you know it.”
“Lucien, I—”
He just looks at me. Not impatient, not cruel, just tired.
“Sera,” he says softly. “You’re staring straight at the truth.” His voice lowers slightly. “And it’s breaking my heart watching you pretend you don’t see it.”
The words settle heavily between us. Lucien turns back toward the road.
The car pulls forward again and silence fills the space between us once more.
The car turns off the main road and onto a long, winding driveway.
The tires roll slowly over smooth stone as we climb toward the house.
Tall trees line both sides of the drive, their shadows stretching across the headlights like dark fingers reaching across the ground.
Then the house appears. It’s enormous. A modern cliffside home, all glass and steel, with clean sharp lines and huge floor-to-ceiling windows glowing warmly against the night. At least eight bedrooms if I had to guess, spread across two wide levels that stretch along the edge of the cliff.
Beyond it, the view steals the breath from my lungs. The ocean spreads endlessly into the darkness, moonlight shimmering softly across the water. Below the cliff, the city lights flicker like thousands of tiny stars scattered across the coastline.
It’s beautiful.
Lucien parks near the front entrance, the engine going silent. For a moment neither of us moves. Then we both step out of the car at the same time. The ocean wind brushes softly against my face as I walk around the front of the car. Lucien closes his door, his eyes already on me.
“Lucien—” I start. My voice falters slightly. “I think I just need to… get a hotel nearby.”
He studies me.
“And why is that?”
My chest flutters.
I look away from him for a moment, staring out toward the dark ocean below the cliff.
“You know why.”
His jaw tightens slightly.
“No,” he says quietly. “Say it.”
I shake my head.
“Lucien… I can’t.”
The silence between us thickens, heavy with everything we haven’t said for days.
Then he steps closer.
Close enough that I can feel the warmth of him in the cold night air.
The ocean breeze moves between us, but it doesn’t matter.
Standing this close to Lucien makes everything else fade.
The house behind us, the glittering city lights below, even the distant sound of waves crashing against the cliff.
“I want you, Sera,” he says, his voice low but intense.
His eyes search mine like he’s been holding these words inside for far too long.
“Is that what you want to hear?” My breath catches.
Because the way he’s looking at me feels intoxicating.
The kind that makes you forget everything you’re supposed to be. “I’m in love with you.”
The words hit me like a wave crashing against the shore below us. For a moment I can’t move, can’t breathe, can’t think. Lucien steps even closer, his hand slowly lifting until his fingers brush against my cheek. His touch is warm and steady, like he’s grounding me there with him.
His thumb traces gently along my jaw, tilting my face slightly toward him.
“I tried to walk away,” he says softly. “I tried to give you the space you needed.” His eyes soften, but the intensity in them never fades.
“But every time I do… I end up right back here. Right in front of you. Like you’re the only place I know how to find my way back to.
” He says. “And it’s not over,” he continues, his voice rough with emotion.
“It still isn’t over.”
Before I can say anything, he pulls me toward him.
His lips crash against mine. The kiss is deep, desperate, like days of restraint finally breaking all at once.
My hands instinctively grab the front of his jacket as I kiss him back, the world around us fading into nothing but the sound of the ocean and the pounding of my heart.
Lucien lifts me effortlessly, his arms wrapping around me as he holds me against him.
And for a moment, everything else disappears.
He’s still kissing me. I barely have time to catch my breath before his lips find mine again, deeper this time, like he’s been holding back for too long and finally refuses to stop.
I’m instinctively wrapping my arms around his neck as he carries me toward the house.
The ocean wind brushes past us, but the warmth of his body makes the cold night disappear.
My fingers slide into his hair as he kisses me again, slow and hungry.
By the time we reach the front door, neither of us has stopped. He shifts me slightly in his arms so he can reach the keypad beside the door.
“Hold on,” he murmurs against my lips.
But neither of us actually stops. He tries entering the code with one hand, his focus completely ruined as I kiss along his jaw. His fingers miss the numbers once.
Then again.
“Jesus…” he mutters under his breath, half laughing.
Finally the keypad beeps. The door unlocks with a soft click. Lucien pushes it open with his shoulder and steps inside, still holding me like letting go isn’t an option anymore. The house is dark except for the soft glow of the city lights pouring through the massive glass windows.
The ocean stretches endlessly beyond them, silver under the moon but neither of us looks at the view.
He takes the stairs two at a time. My back presses against the wall for a moment as he kisses me again, deeper this time, his hands sliding along my waist like he’s memorizing every inch of me.
We stumble toward the bedroom. Clothes begin to disappear along the way.
A jacket hits the floor, a shirt lands somewhere near the hallway, another piece of clothing gets lost on the stairs.
Neither of us is paying attention anymore.
By the time we reach the bedroom, we’re breathless.
Lucien carries me the last few steps and lowers me onto the bed, the mattress dipping beneath us.
For a second we both pause.
Just long enough to look at each other. Like we both know this moment changes everything. Then he leans down and kisses me again. I could feel him licking and sucking between my breasts. I arched into him, anxious to feel more.
I needed more.
I moan in to the top of his head as the scruff from his face roughed my skin pleasantly.
His lips closed around my right nipple, and my hips went off on a tangent of their own, bucking wildly beneath him, both of my legs now wrapped firmly around his waist. Lips and tongue and teeth now lavished across my breasts, loving them equally.
I was surrounded by him, his scent was turning me on.
He bit down lightly, closing his teeth around my sensitive skin, and my hands almost tore the hair from his head.
It feels amazing. His other hand was running up and down my leg, encouraging me to grasp him tighter between my thighs as his fingers began to come ever closer to the edge of my underwear.
It was the last boundary we had yet to cross.
Our eyes locked as he eased his hand further underneath my laced underwear and then, with achingly perfect precision, he touched me.
My breathing started back up again, the intense pressure that had been circling all around and inside and out was now like a low-level hum, just beneath the surface of my skin.
My eyes fluttered shut, my entire body awash with so many sensations.
I moved with him, feeling his fingers begin to explore me, and I let out the tiniest moan. It was all I could let out. The feelings were so intense and the energy that surrounded us in that moment.
“God, Sera, you’re so fucking beautiful.” he murmured, his eyes now crowding with something a bit more than lust, and I felt tiny pinpricks behind my eyeballs.
Finally I feel him, exactly where he was meant to be.
He barely nudged inside, but just the feeling of him entering me was phenomenal. His eyes bore into mine as I cradled his face in my hands. He looked as though he wanted to say something. My own needs quieted for the moment, and I watched as he began to push into me for the first time.
He slipped gently into me, and at first my body resisted. Slight pain. It was that good kind of pain, a pain that let you know something more was coming.
I relaxed a bit, allowing my legs to wrap around his waist, and as he pressed farther into me, his smile became infinitely more seductive.
He bit down on his lower lip and tiny frown lines appeared on his forehead.
I breathed in, inhaling his scent as I watched him pull back just the smallest bit, only to thrust once more.
Now fully inside, I welcomed him the only way I could.
I closed my eyes and could see myself, once again, on the edge of that cliff, ready to jump, needing to jump. Pressure began to build, pulsing with every thrust, every slip and dip of his hips into mine, driving him in and out of my body.
Then I fell, fell hard and crashed into the unforgiving surface of the water.
I saw Lucien as he bit down hard on his lower lip, the strain on his face as he delayed his own well-deserved satisfaction.
“Lucien, it’s too good,” I panted as I bucked my hips and I meant every word of it. I clenched in all the right places, and I called his name, over and over again.
“Sera.. fuck.” he begged, his voice rife with pleasure. A strange look stole over his features for only a second as his eyes searched mine, and then he came beautifully.
He collapsed onto me, and I took his weight.
I took it all as I cradled him to my chest as he kissed me over and over again while my hands soothing his back, my legs hugging him as tightly as I could.
He whispered my name as he nuzzled into the space between my neck and my breast, simple touches and caresses.
I wrapped my arms around him and held on tighter than I meant to.
Because deep down, I knew something neither of us was ready to say out loud.
Tonight felt like the beginning of something beautiful.
And the end of everything else.