“You said that to me before.” My voice came out rough. “During the week I forgot. At this door. You were smiling, and you held out your hand, and you said...”
“Come inside.” His voice had dropped to a rasp. “Yes.”
The morning was too bright. The porch railing dug into my back and I hadn’t realized I’d stepped away from the sheer force of what I was feeling.
“Lucian.”
He waited, the smile gone. Replaced by an openness that cost him.
“Why did you distance yourself from me? After the fire. After I forgot.” My voice trembled on the last word. “Unlike Solomon and Percy, you... you pulled away.”
His hand dropped from the frame. He turned so I couldn’t see his face, one hand gripping the railing, knuckles pale against the wood.
The silence lasted long enough that I thought he wouldn’t answer.
“Because I was terrified.” The words came out low, scraped raw. “Of getting too close again and losing you a second time.”
My heart clenched.
“I lived in a fantasy of happiness that made me forget about my duties. The crown, a kingdom waiting for me. Because of you.” His shoulders rose with a shuddered breath. “And then you suddenly changed and looked at me as if I’m a stranger.”
He turned. His eyes were gold at the edges, the wolf bleeding through, and the vulnerability in his expression was devastating.
“I would rather keep you at arm’s length and survive it than hold you again and have you ripped away. That was my logic.” A rough exhale. “Selfish. Cowardly. And wrong.”
I crossed the porch in two steps.
My hands found his face. Thumbs against his cheekbones, fingers curling into his hair, and I pulled him down to me.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said against his mouth. “And I’m done playing the long game with you.”
Lucian broke.
His mouth crashed into mine and his arms locked around my waist, lifting me off the ground. My legs wrapped around him on instinct and the kiss was nothing close to gentle. Teeth and tongues and biting.
“Shit,”I cursed as he bit my lip hard enough to bleed. I noticed his canines protruding a bit before it retracted. He was losing control.
And I loved it.
My fingers fisted in his hair as he carried me through the doorway.
We didn’t make it to the stairs.
His knee hit the arm of the couch and he corrected, pressing me against the nearest wall instead. My back connected and his hips pinned me there, and the sound that tore from my throat was loud enough to echo off the timber walls.
“Upstairs,” I managed between kisses.
“No.” The word vibrated against my throat. His mouth traced a path from my jaw to my pulse, teeth grazing, and my entire body arched into him. “Here. Now. I can’t... I need...”
“Okay.” I pulled his shirt over his head. He let me go long enough for the fabric to clear his arms and then his mouth was on mine again, stumbling backward in a tangle of limbs and discarded clothing.
My cardigan hit the floor by the door. His shirt followed. My tank top landed on the couch. His belt buckle clinked and I yanked it free while his hands found the waistband of my jeans and peeled them down, making my thighs clench.
The fireplace was lit. The rug was soft beneath my shoulders when he laid me down, his body hovering over mine.
Lucian paused. His chest rose and fell against mine, breath ragged, pupils blown wide with the gold ringing them.
“Are you sure?”
