Chapter 30
The Hunger for Oblivion
The hotwired motorcycle makes a loud noise as Victor drives it fast down the wet city streets.
He follows the directions his hacker sends to his earpiece, keeping his eyes on the black car ahead.
Victor turns the throttle completely, passing other cars before crashing his bike directly into the front of the sedan at a dark intersection.
The heavy hit makes the car spin out of control and smash into a brick wall, breaking the glass and metal.
Before the smoke can even clear, Victor gets off his bike and walks over to the wreckage.
The sniper tries to reach for his gun, but Victor quickly fires a single bullet into the man's knee so he cannot run away.
Victor drags the screaming shooter by his collar across the wet ground and throws him inside an abandoned warehouse.
He ties him to a rusting steel chair. Without asking any questions first, Victor pulls out a sharp blade, grabs the man's hand, and precisely cuts his first finger to show him he is not joking.
"You are going to tell me exactly where Alessio Gambino's main base is in Jersey City," Victor says in a low, cold voice, his face completely calm as the man screams. "If you lie to me, I will cut every single finger you have before I leave you to die on this floor."
On the other side of the penthouse, Lucius stands near the wide glass windows, talking quietly with Alex about their next moves. The silence between them shatters when Olivia hurries down the hallway, her face pale with worry. She catches Lucius’s eye and immediately calls his name.
"Lucius, you need to come right now," Olivia says, her voice trembling slightly. "Tessa wakes up, and she will not stop crying. Emily and I cannot calm her down."
Lucius stiffens, his jaw locking instantly. He turns to look at Alex. Alex gives him a firm nod, understanding the unspoken panic in his brother's eyes.
"Go ahead," Alex mutters quietly, gesturing toward the back corridor. "Maybe you are still the only safe place she has left in this world."
Lucius does not waste another second. He walks quickly toward the bedroom and pushes the heavy oak door open. The moment he steps inside, Emily and Olivia quietly catch his eye, share a silent understanding, and slip past him into the hallway, closing the door to give them complete privacy.
Tessa is sitting up against the headboard, her eyes red and swollen. She looks up the exact second he walks into the room, her gaze locking onto him.
Lucius walks over slowly and sits heavily on the edge of the mattress. He purposely maintains a strict distance, keeping his hands to himself because he does not want to force his presence or scare her in this state.
Tessa stares back at him, her chest heaving. Looking at his quiet frame, she decides to close the gap herself. She reaches out with a trembling hand, her fingers tightly gripping the edge of his shirt sleeve, anchoring herself to him.
"Why is it always me?" she whispers, her voice cracking as a new wave of tears spills down her pale cheeks.
"If I have not gone downstairs to that dark, abandoned room where Nisha aunty is waiting tonight, I will have never known the truth. I will have never found out what my parents do in the past, or the real reason why she leaves me for money."
Lucius watches her, his dark eyes fixed entirely on her broken expression. "I understand everything, Tessa," he murmurs, his deep voice unusually soft.
"But I fail today, Lucius," she chokes out. She is shaking her head back and forth, crying hysterically as the tears blur her vision. “I promise that no matter what kind of person you are, I will stand by your side. I want to be there for you, but today I fail completely.”
She pauses, wiping at her wet face with the back of her hand, her breathing ragged. "As for you, you make it in time. You reach me exactly when everything ends. If you are a second later, that shooter will have done the exact same thing to me..."
"Shh," Lucius interrupts hoarsely.
He does not let her finish the sentence. The mere thought of losing her sends a violent jolt of panic through his chest. Breaking the distance between them, he lunges forward, wrapping his massive arms around her frame and pulling her flush against his chest as he crashes his lips down onto hers.
The kiss is instant, deep, and entirely consuming.
It is a desperate, territorial claim born out of pure survival.
Lucius’s tongue slides past her parted lips, exploring the heat of her mouth with a fierce passion, while Tessa’s tongue meets his in a frantic rhythm.
They move together in the quiet room, deeper and deeper, as if they are trying to rip the trauma out of each other's chests and find their souls in the dark.
When the deep kiss finally breaks, they are both gasping for air. Tessa looks up at him, her body still shaking badly, her voice barely holding together as her fingers cling to his shirt.
Please... do something to me, Lucius, she thinks, the words a silent plea inside her chest before she forces them out loud. "I want to forget the past. I just want to stay with you in the present and the future. Please say yes."
Lucius stays completely quiet, his dark eyes locked onto her face, scanning the raw pain in her features.
"I need something strong," Tessa cries out again, her voice cracking as she tightens her grip on his clothes.
Make it stop. Make the noise go away. "Something strong enough to make me stop hearing the past inside my head. Strong enough to stop me from seeing it in my dreams. Please, Lucius... make me forget how much it hurts."
Lucius looks down at her hands holding his shirt. His chest heaving with a heavy breath as his gaze moves back to her eyes.
"You are asking for comfort from me, Tessa," Lucius says, his deep voice dropping into a dangerous, low baritone.
He leans down slowly, his lips brushing against the sensitive skin near her shoulder, his warm breath sending a shiver through her entire body. "You want me to take you so hard that you forget your own past."
Tessa does not pull away. Instead, she leans her head against his broad chest, listening to the steady, heavy sound of his heartbeat. Yes. This is the only place I can breathe.
"Maybe, yes," she whispers softly. "I want that."
Lucius stiffens, his large hands gripping her waist tightly. He wants to give her exactly what she is begging for, but he wants to give her one last choice before he loses his control.
"This is your last chance, Tessa," he warns hoarsely, his eyes turning entirely dark. "Stop me right now. Because if I start, I am not going to stop."
Tessa looks up at him, her pale face full of absolute certainty. She reaches up, wrapping her arms securely around his neck to pull him closer.
I don't care about the danger anymore. I just need him.
The silent thought is clear as day on her face, her eyes holding an expression of complete and utter surrender that Lucius has never seen before.
"I just want to forget the past," she murmurs against his lips. "I want to see a future with you, Lucius. No matter what it costs."
He leans down closer, his forehead resting against hers, and whispers, "No cost. Just stay with me."
As the words leave his lips, a sudden crack shows through his hard exterior. For the first time, he feels entirely broken too—haunted by the crushing weight of his own failure because he has not been able to hold her, protect her, or keep her safe at the party.
Tessa suddenly stands up, the abrupt movement breaking their contact.
Lucius reacts instantly. His hand shoots out, wrapping around her wrist and hauling her back into his space.
The sheer heat of her body so close blows right through his defences, sending a violent wave of demand straight through his veins.
He is completely rigid, every muscle in his body coiled tight and throbbing with a desperate, heavy hunger he can no longer fight down.
"Last chance, Tessa," he warns, his voice a rough, gravelly whisper against her lips. "You can stop me right now. Because after this, I can't control myself."
Lucius stands up and scoops Tessa into his arms before laying her down gently.
The lace of her dress catches against his fingers as he begins pulling it down slowly. The fabric slips apart, revealing the soft curve of her breasts—yet there are no bra straps in sight. Instead, he notices the subtle outline of nipple covers beneath the thin lace.
Lucius pulls the lace gown completely down her arms and lets it fall onto the floor.
She is left only in the nipple covers, her chest rising and falling with every shaky breath.
His eyes darken as he reaches forward, peeling them away one by one, leaving her bare beneath the weight of his hungry stare.
Tessa’s fingers tighten against the sheets as a nervous shiver runs through her body.
“Lucius…” she whispers, almost breathless.
He leans closer, his gaze locked on her like she’s the only thing keeping him sane.
“You have no idea what you do to me,” he murmurs roughly, his thumb brushing slowly along her waist.
Tessa swallows hard, trying to steady her breathing.
“Then maybe you should stop looking at me like that.”
A dark smile curves against his lips as his forehead nearly touches hers.
“I tried,” he says quietly. “And I failed the second you let me touch you.”
The only thing left on her body is the delicate lace panty clinging to her skin. Lucius’s gaze moves slowly over her, dark and consuming, before returning to her face.
“Take it off,” he orders quietly.
A shaky breath escapes Tessa as she obeys; sliding the lace down her legs with trembling fingers before letting it fall onto the floor. The intensity in his eyes makes her pulse race violently inside her chest.
Lucius leans down until his face hovers inches from hers, one hand gripping her thigh firmly as his thumb brushes against her skin. His voice comes out low, rough, and dangerously commanding.
“Spread your legs, sweetheart.”
The words wrap around her like a threat and a promise at the same time.
It wasn’t a request. It was an order.
Tessa hesitates, her legs instinctively pressing together as nervousness flickers across her face. For a brief moment, Lucius simply looks at her, and the sharp hunger in his eyes softens into something quieter, more dangerous.
“Don’t hide from me now,” he murmurs his voice low and steady.
He slides his hands along her thighs, gripping them gently before easing them apart with slow, deliberate control. Tessa’s breath catches as he settles between her legs, his gaze locked onto hers with dark intensity.
“That’s it, sweetheart,” he whispers, brushing his thumb against her skin.
“Look at me while I fuck you.”
With a fluid motion, Lucius unbuttons his shirt, revealing his toned torso. He kicks off his shoes and removes his pants and boxers in one swift movement. Lucius positions himself between her spread legs. He leans down and kisses her neck, his muscular chest pressing against her bare breasts.
His large hand grips her thigh as he slowly pushes his thick nine-inch cock into her pussy. He can feel her body resisting him at first, her muscles tensing up from past trauma. Then his cockhead pops inside her, stretching her pussy.
A moan escapes from her mouth. “Ahh… Lucius.”
He feels her relax slightly, her body accepting him more with each passing second. Slowly, inch by inch, Lucius pushes deeper inside her.
A soft groan comes from Lucius. “Mine, sweetheart. You’re mine from now.”
As his last inch hits her G-spot, causing her to scream, he leans down. “Bite me or leave a hickey, little thing,” he groans.
Without hesitation, she sinks her teeth into his neck, marking him with a deep, red hickey. He groans deeply as she bites down, feeling his pride surge, knowing she’s marking him as her own.
His thick cock starts hitting spots inside her that she doesn’t even know exist, while her mouth hangs half open and her eyes roll back.
The initial pain slowly gives way to intense pleasure as he pushes deeper inside her.
His hand slides up, wrapping gently around her throat as his dark eyes lock onto hers.
“Look at me, sweetheart,” he orders in a low, rough voice.
His body shakes as Lucius now fills her completely and takes his cock out.
His obsession had turned into a kind of love he had never understood before. ~