I watched her breathe, the tiny catch in her throat when she shifted against me. Fierce and vulnerable, fire wrapped in steel. That was the Lucy I’d been yearning for, even when I wouldn’t admit it.
I pulled her closer, letting her weight settle against me. My body ached from every bruise and scar, but with her pressed into me, it felt worth it.
“Every time I look at you, I’m waiting for the world to take you from me,” I admitted, my voice low, rough. The words scraped out like I’d been holding them in for years.
Her fingers curled around mine, soft but sure. God help me, she trusted me enough to lie here, to let me hold her like I was something steady in her storm.
“I hated you once,” she whispered, her voice breaking in the quiet. “But now, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
I’d taken bullets, broken bones, but nothing levelled me like that confession.
I brushed a lock of hair from her face, my thumb grazing her cheek. “You’re in my blood,” I murmured, raw and certain. “And there’s no walking away from that. You’re the only thing I’d burn the whole world down to keep.”
Her eyes fluttered closed, and her breath feathered over my skin. Right then, she was mine, and I’d be damned if anything—club, Fangs, ghosts of the past—took her away from me.
I traced light patterns across her arm, memorizing every line of her skin. The warmth of her seeped into me, quieting the chaos, grounding me in a way nothing else ever had.
Her lips brushed my collarbone in a soft, almost accidental kiss, and my grip tightened. She smiled against me, a small curve of her lips, but it sparked something fierce and dangerous in my chest.
Her breath steadied, soft against my chest. I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, closing my eyes for a moment. “Sleep,” I murmured, though my hand kept moving along her back, unwilling to let her go.
Her eyelids fluttered, fighting the pull, as if she wanted to hold onto this moment as much as I did. I tucked her closer.
“You’re mine,” I whispered again. “All of you. Always.”
A soft sigh escaped her, part relief, part surrender. She melted into me, and I rested my forehead against hers, letting our breaths fall in sync.
“Don’t worry,” I said, more to myself than her, “I’ve got you.”
Her fingers tightened around mine, and for the first time since Caleb died, I didn’t feel like I was holding on to ghosts. Now, I was holding her.
Sleep came for me, slow and heavy, but I held her tighter, a silent vow echoing through the dark. She was mine, and I wasn’t letting go.
Chapter 56
Lucy
The morning light shone softly through the cracked blinds, wrapping the room in a fragile calm. The air smelled faintly of leather and smoke, but under it was something warm. Jay’s scent. Jay’s heat. I stretched, feeling every inch of his body pressed against my back.
I reached down to smooth the sheet, but then his hand slid over my hip and down between my thighs, applying a slow, insistent pressure on my clit that drew a gasp from my lips.
“Jay,” I whispered, turning towards him.
His eyes were already open, smouldering, watching me. His fingers circled teasingly into my bud, sparking every nerve awake.
He pressed a lazy kiss to my neck, his breath hot against my ear. “You’re warm,” he murmured. “Couldn’t help myself.”
“I want you,” I breathed, tugging him closer, pulling him between my legs.
“Fuck, princess,” he groaned, “I’ll never get enough of you.”
Every brush of his skin lit a fire inside me, heat roaring until the room was nothing but us—moans, sweat, whispers of names.
Then, there was a banging at the door, sharp and urgent.
“Pres!” Finn’s voice cracked through the wood. “They... they sent me to get you. The brothers are waiting. We need you downstairs.”
The spell shattered, but only for a moment. Jay’s jaw tightened, his eyes sparking with a fury that made me shiver. The interruption didn’t stop him—it drove him harder.
