Authors: Bethany-Kris
Lucian barked out a bitter laugh. “Go to hell. I’m not hiding from whoever this is like they’ve turned me scared. That might be fine and great for you, but it doesn’t work for me.”
“Lucian,” Antony warned sharply. “He’s only trying to help.”
“My answer is
no
.”
“And you don’t get the final say,” his father retorted just as fast. “The facts we know are clear. Very few people knew you were going to pick out your car today. That does narrow down our list.”
“To them and every person they told,” Lucian growled. “It doesn’t narrow it down that damned much. I have work to do here. I can’t afford the time to up and leave it. Besides that, I have to consider Jordyn, too.”
“Jordyn will be fine to stay with your mother and me, or even here, if she’s more comfortable,” Antony said.
“Like fuck!”
“Lucian Johnathan—”
“No,” Lucian said, interrupting his father. “And don’t give me the full name spiel. I’m too old for it. Do not ask me to leave the state and hide, and then in the same sentence, ask me to leave her behind. Why, Dad, so whoever is trying to off me can go after the next best thing to draw me out? Is that what you’re trying to do here? You wouldn’t risk Cecelia like that, so don’t expect me do put Jordyn in that position, either.”
“I’m not. She’d be watched, and I would have a guard on her like your mother has.”
“But you are,” Lucian argued. “That’s exactly what you’re asking me to do and I won’t. End of discussion.”
“Hey, you could always ask Jordyn,” Gio started to say.
“I said no more. The answer is no. Stop pushing it.”
Antony sighed heavily. “Lucian … You’re my son. My one job is to keep you safe, no matter what. I’m not giving you a choice here.”
“Please.” Lucian’s voice came from right outside the closed office door. It sounded painful, making Jordyn hurt that much more. “Don’t make me do this.”
“You have until the morning to decide where you want to be for the next couple of weeks,” Antony responded in a tone that said his decision was final. “If you fight me on this, I will force your hand and take you out of state without your consent. I’m sorry.”
“But, Jordyn—”
“Until morning,” Antony repeated. “I’ll bring your mother over before you leave. She wouldn’t forgive me, otherwise.”
“Just get out,” Lucian all but hissed. “Go.”
“Inside, you know I’m not doing this to hurt you, son, only to help. We will figure out who it is doing this.”
“If you want to help, stop wasting time with who is trying to kill me, and figure out why. I guarantee the why will lead you straight to who.”
Jordyn waited until it seemed quiet outside the office before she got up from the couch and went to open the door. Instead of finding Lucian standing on the outside, she found him with his back pressed to the opposite wall and crouched low to the floor with his head in his hands. She was on her knees in a flash, pulling his clenching fists from his face.
The pain in Lucian’s hazel eyes was unbearable as he stared at Jordyn. “I won’t go.”
“It’s okay. It’ll be fine. Maybe they’re right.”
Lucian laughed bitterly, shaking his head. “No, I seriously doubt it.”
Dante was right, Jordyn realized. Lucian didn’t think clearly when she was involved.
“Come on, Lucian … please try to look at this objectively. If they can’t find you, they can’t hurt you. Jesus, you almost died today. Don’t you understand that?”
“And you? What about you, Jordyn?”
“This isn’t about me, now.”
“But it could be. If leaving pisses whoever this is off enough, you could be the one they turn to in order to get me out of hiding.”
“I highly doubt that will happen. But, if we’re putting that on the table as a possibility, what if I was willing to take that chance?” Jordyn asked softly.
“Stop it,” Lucian muttered. “This isn’t the time for heroics.”
“Hello, pot. Meet the kettle.”
“
Jordyn
.”
“Well!”
The silent stare down between the two lasted longer than Jordyn liked. Breaking away from his gaze, she could help but notice the new injury he sported on his upper right arm. The slice was at least three inches long and anything but clean. It was more like a jagged chunk was ripped out of his arm and just the look of the stitches made her wince.
“Does it hurt?”
“No,” Lucian answered gruffly.
Jordyn scrunched up her nose. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I smoked a joint and chased a couple of morphine pills with whiskey. I feel nothing. It’s fantastic.”
Great
, Jordyn thought with an internal sigh.
“I’m fine, promise,” Lucian said when she didn’t speak.
“Too close for comfort, Lucian.”
“Sometimes that’s how it works, sweetheart.”
“It’s not okay when you see this as normal. And I don’t think you’re supposed to drink and smoke up while taking pain meds, either.”
Lucian shrugged indifferently. “Never hurt me before.”
“You’re way too flippant about all of this,” she pointed out again, annoyed.
“Stop worrying over me.”
Jordyn sniffed, rolling her eyes. “Right, because that’s how this works, Lucian.”
“I know Antony’s right, sweetheart, but that doesn’t make it easier.”
“I don’t expect it to be,” she replied in a whisper. “I’m still going to be here, though.”
“Jordyn?”
She tipped her chin up to meet Lucian’s eyes once more. “Yeah?”
“You know I love you, right?”
“Of course.”
“Good,” Lucian murmured heavily. “Because tonight, I want to fuck you like I don’t.”
“What?”
Why did that sound so damned good when she knew he was injured, stoned, and half heartbroken about being forced to hide out?
“If I have to leave tomorrow, I won’t be able to touch you for who knows how long. I want you to feel me for days,
bella
. In you, on you … my fist in your hair, fingers digging into your sides leaving marks, my teeth on your skin …
everywhere
.”
Air caught in Jordyn’s throat, keeping her words at bay. Heat pooled in her stomach, flooding straight to her clenching sex. She was sure wetness was already starting to dampen the sleep shorts she pulled on earlier in her haste to get out of the clothes Lucian’s blood had stained.
“I need to know if that’s okay,” Lucian said quietly, a huskiness saturating his words.
Jordyn still couldn’t speak from her surprise at his declaration. She settled for a nod, and barely had time to react when Lucian pushed off the wall and lunged for her. What response she did have to his weight crashing into hers, taking her to the floor, and his mouth crushing against hers, was a whimper.
That was it. A fucking
whimper
.
They always kissed so passionately, with her exploring and him dominating. This was different. Lucian claimed her mouth with strikes of his tongue and bites from his teeth. Pushing her back to the floor inside the office, he didn’t even let her take the time to breathe.
Jordyn’s eyes flew wide, a harsh gasp sucking into her lungs when Lucian bit into her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. The briefest flash of pain mixed in with the heat pooling in her womb sent shocks of desire and pleasure coursing straight to her pussy.
Impulsively she wrapped her legs around his hips, drawing him closer. The strain of the hard ridge of his erection beneath his zipper ground into her pelvis and stomach. Heady, throaty groans fell from Lucian’s lips every time his body connected with Jordyn’s. His fingers dug roughly into her hips and pinned her to the floor, keeping her trapped between hardwood and his weight.
Flickers of thoughts passed her mind too fast to keep up with. Was he okay to do this? Would this hurt his injury? Did he even care?
Jordyn didn’t think so, considering Lucian barely reacted when his injured arm slid under her back, his hand fisting into the ends of her hair to tug until her neck was bent back and bare. Over and over his hot mouth landed to her flesh, biting, sucking, and marking. Each time, her sanity dropped off the radar as carnal needs began to take over.
Never before had Jordyn wanted to feel like she was owned by a man. That everything she was, her body, heart, soul, and mind, was only his. Lucian did that to her—
for
her. It was consuming. It debilitated all rational thoughts.
Lucian yanked at the neckline of the flimsy tank-top Jordyn wore, stretching the fabric under his strength until it ripped and her chest was exposed. The force of the cotton pulling against her skin stung, surely leaving red marks along her collarbones and throat. She couldn’t find it in herself to care once his lips were soothing away the lingering tenderness.
“Tell me you want me to fuck you,” she heard Lucian demand.
Jordyn willed away the air in her voice so she could speak. “Yes.”
“No,
tell
me. Say the words.”
“I …”
Jordyn’s thought process dropped off again when Lucian’s teeth enclosed her nipple, nipping the tight bud until her cry escaped, sending sharp sparks of pain and desire flooding her veins. Reacting to the sting of his bite, Jordyn sought purchase wherever she could, which just happened to be his hair.
Lucian’s mouth curved with a wicked smirk as he released her nipple. “Hurts, doesn’t it? You like a little pain. Tell me what I want to hear, beautiful girl, and we’ll really get started.”
Jordyn moaned, her eyes fluttering closed when she felt his hand slide down to cup her sex through her shorts. He stroked her over the fabric, each swipe of his fingers wetting her further. Needing him like she did, Jordyn couldn’t help but roll her hips into his hand, wanting more.
“Sweetheart, say it.”
Jordyn yanked on his hair, giving back that pain and making him look at her. “I want you to fuck me.”
“
Christo, sì
,” Lucian groaned in response.
Lucian chanted Jordyn’s name like a mantra, the sound of his deep voice washing over her senses like liquid silk as he hastily removed what little clothing she wore. The roughness of his actions urged her to do the same to him, helping him out of his bottoms until they were kicked away and he was naked against her.
The hardwood floor was cold pressing to her back, but Jordyn barely noticed. The inner burn of lust was already sweeping through, thickening her blood and mind. She couldn’t help but let her knees fall open further, her body spreading wide and inviting him in while he kissed and bit a searing path between her breasts, down along her stomach, and straight to her sex.
When his mouth came in contact with her pussy, already throbbing, soaked and swollen with need, she was gripping his hair again, her fingernails scratching to his scalp. Lucian answered her high cry of bliss with a low hum of approval, his tongue diving between her fleshy folds to spread them and taste the arousal gathering.
He took his time at first. Exploring her most intimate parts with his mouth, tongue, and teeth. Sweeps of his tongue and gentle bites to sensitive flesh had Jordyn shaking. Lucian’s hands grabbed to her thighs, pushing them further open until muscles protested and the sweetest ache curved her back up from the floor into an arch.
That was when Lucian really started. Fast laps of his tongue landed to her entrance, moving upwards until the tortuous rhythm was attacking her clit. Lucian went between sucking and nipping the bundle of nerves to striking it again and again with his tongue. Her body would just being to sing with the tremors of an oncoming orgasm before he’d slow it down, suckling and massaging her back to a breathless, trembling mess. It was relentless.
Two fingers slid into her clenching channel just as Lucian began to draw her back down from the precipice again. Then, Lucian curled his digits roughly upwards and inwards, hitting the fleshy spot inside her walls that sent her juices gushing around his hand and her body flying. At the same time, his mouth latched on stronger to her clit than before, teeth nipping at the hood of her clit as he sucked hard.
There was no holding the orgasm back or coming down from the high that time. The move was so obvious in its intent, for a second, it blinded and silenced her with the pain mixed pleasure that coursed from her womb outwards.
When breath finally managed to fill her chest, Jordyn choked out a noise so loud it reverberated through the space. Lucian’s assault on her sex didn’t begin to release until she was whimpering and sensitive all over, nearly ready to pull away.
“That’s it,
bella
. I want you nice and wet for me. Do you know how fucking good you taste in my mouth? It’s hot candy, Jordyn.”
“Jesus,” Jordyn gasped, lifting her sex into his mouth again as he took his time to lap at the arousal her body gave. “That feels so goddamn good.”
“It’s going to get better,” Lucian promised darkly. “So much better.”
Jordyn didn’t get the chance to form an intelligible reply, because Lucian was grasping her sides and moving her backwards. The predatory gaze overtaking his features took her breath away. When the cool leather of the couch met her back, Jordyn froze.
“Turn around,” Lucian demanded thickly. His teeth bared as he spoke, the lingering wetness of her come shining on his smirking lips. “Knees on the floor, hands on the couch. I want your ass high, and your face down. Hurry.”
It wasn’t often Lucian turned to a more dominate nature when they fucked. Jordyn gave as good as she got, but when he started ordering like that, it did something totally wicked and sinful to her insides.
She didn’t argue, simply moved to shaking knees and turned as he wanted. Lucian moved away only long enough to find the pants he discarded earlier, pulling a condom from the pocket. Jordyn waited, listening as he stayed silent while sheathing his cock in the latex. Anticipation rolled through her stomach like a churn of bubbles.
She felt him kneel behind her again, his mouth coming to ghost along her bare shoulder, warm breath tickling to her overheated skin. A yelp of surprise melted into a drawn out moan when he buried his teeth at the junction of her neck and pulled her ass into his groin. The hardness of his shaft slid between her thighs, seeking.
“Feel me
everywhere
,” he repeated in her ear. “For days.”
Jordyn’s curls tangled in Lucian’s fist as his cock entered her from behind. In one smooth plunge, he was balls deep and groaning into her neck. The force of his body meeting hers pushed Jordyn’s chest into the couch, the leather muffling her cry. There was no pause between the first thrust and the second. She didn’t feel him hesitate between the second and third, either.
The briefest flicker of pain from his intrusion and her body’s accommodation of his girth mingled with ecstasy. It only added fuel to her raging lust when Lucian’s fingers latched onto her shoulder, fingernails scoring into her skin, and he pulled her back to meet his cock bottoming out. It caused his dick to hit spots deeper than ever before.
Every thrust sent a jolt of discomfort laced with pleasure straight to her gut. Every groan behind her had the cattish cries escaping her chest building to a higher crescendo.
Nerves hummed. Her body rocked with tremors. Jordyn couldn’t think, or breathe, or …
anything
. Their bodies fit together so well. Their fucking was more than frantic, it was uninhibited. There was no restraint, no control.
Jordyn’s hands curled into the leather, fisting the subtle material to root her in place for the demanding crack of his groin meeting her ass. The slickness of her arousal had smeared to her thighs, while beads of sweat dampened her hair and skin. The fingers weaved in her hair tightened, yanking her head back until his mouth was to her cheek, sending a delicious sting radiating over her scalp.
Again, his teeth scraped to her flesh, the stubble on his cheek irritating her smooth jaw. There’d be a redness left behind by that tomorrow, too.
It was magnificent.
Aching.
She burned.
Tantalizing.
She wanted more.
“Harder,” Jordyn breathed out.
“Yeah?” Lucian asked, as breathless as she was.
“Fuck, harder …
please
.”
“How about a little more instead.”
Jordyn didn’t know what he meant by that until she felt his hand finally let go of her shoulder. Then, it was between her legs, caressing along her slit and his cock before sliding up the crack of her ass. Two fingers pressed at the puckered hole of her backside. That was the only warning she had before they plunged in knuckle deep, penetrating the tight ring of muscles.
Blissful disbelief shredded what rational she had left.
Lucian spread his fingers wide on the withdrawal from her ass as his cock slammed back into her pussy. While his cock opened her sex, stretching her full of him, his fingers fucked her ass to the opposite beat.
Pleasure licked through her veins like a fire.
Jordyn could feel her juices soaking them both further. The slaps of skin meeting skin matched their moans. He’d never quite taken her so hard before, or used her body until she was a quivering, jumbled mess beneath him. Lucian always took his time, adoring every inch, drawing out the beautiful end.
But not this time. He did what he wanted to, she realized.
Fucked her like he didn’t love her, but it was impossible not to feel it, even so.
As Jordyn shattered with another orgasm, Lucian didn’t bother to stop or slow down.
She didn’t quite know it then, but he wouldn’t for hours. It was one of the only good things she could think of about him mixing pain pills with whiskey.
• • •
Jordyn woke to a quiet condo, but for the ring of her cell phone alarm clock. Morning light was only starting to filter in through the bedroom window. The soreness in her limbs and down between her thighs was a swift reminder of the night before.
That didn’t much matter, though. She had to get up, say goodbye even if she didn’t want to, and go about her day like everything was fine and normal.
Certainly not like her heart and soul was breaking.
She didn’t want Lucian to see that anyway.
Jordyn took her time getting out of bed, mindful of the tenderness spreading through her muscles. In the bathroom, she took inventory of her body and what he’d left. Teeth marks on her breast and shoulders that nearly broke the skin. Redness on her cheek and jaw from his stubble scratching to her skin. The kiss that sent her flying to the floor had swelled her lips and reddened them more than they usually were. Marks from his fingernails, imprints from his fingers, and discoloration from her clothes being pulled from her body. Her curls, usually messy and out of control, were a total lost cause.
Those were only the things she could see.
What she couldn’t visibly find, she could feel.
Deep in her bones. A burn in her thighs. Weakness, fatigue, and melancholy.
She didn’t want to say goodbye. Unfortunately, she couldn’t tell Lucian that. It was safer for him to go. Even if it was only for a short time.
Pulling on something to be decent enough for Lucian’s parents’ visit that morning, Jordyn followed the scent of coffee to the kitchen. The people who waited for her there were not who she expected so early.
Antony cleared his throat as Jordyn walked into the space. She was well aware she looked thoroughly fucked and exhausted. She also didn’t care. Lucian should have warned her they were there and she would have been more presentable.
“Good morning,” Antony said quietly.
Jordyn glanced at a teary Cecelia sipping coffee at the table.
“Where’s Lucian?” Jordyn asked.
“We were hoping you could tell us that, Jordyn.”
“Excuse me?”
Antony sighed, leaning into the counter. “Security was advised to let us up this morning and not to bother calling through to the condo first.”
Jordyn wasn’t understanding what he was saying. “So?”
“So, I suspect Lucian didn’t want them to wake you up to give the okay because obviously he knew he wasn’t going to be here. I called down a little while ago, they said he left around six this morning.”
Something awful stabbed into her heart.
He wasn’t here.
Lucian was already gone, and he hadn’t even woke her up to say goodbye.
“I thought you were supposed to send him off somewhere,” Jordyn accused. “How are we going to know where he is or if he’s safe if we don’t know where he is?”
Antony shrugged. “I have the distinct feeling Lucian did this on purpose. Gio said it himself last night. Whoever is behind the attacks could be a lot closer than we think. Even one of his family members knowing could be very dangerous. Lucian isn’t stupid. He has the ability to blend in well with normal people, he’s got more than enough cash to stay off anyone’s radar. Knowing my son, he’s close. And I’ll bet given his attachment, he won’t be too far from you, however I doubt he’ll show himself.”
Jordyn bit the inside of her cheek until pain saturated her mouth to keep her from shouting her frustrations. “What now?”
Finally, Cecelia spoke up. “My birthday is in two weeks. He won’t miss that. I know it without a doubt. He’s never missed my birthday.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. We’ve had Cecelia’s night out planned for a while, so Lucian is aware of the place and time. But until then, he’s as safe as he’s ever going to be, Jordyn,” Antony said. “I don’t like how he did it, but he did what I asked, nonetheless. That’s what’s important and more than I thought he would do, frankly.”
Jordyn forced herself to be calm, and then decided it didn’t really matter. “I’m taking a fucking sick day.”
Antony coughed away his surprise, muttering, “I think that’d be okay today.”
Yeah, like he had a say.
• • •
“ID to confirm check-in, sir?”
Lucian tossed the fake driver’s licence to the counter.
“Okay, John Antony. I have that room ready,” the clerk said. “Do you need someone to take your bags up?”
“No,” Lucian replied. “I think I can handle it.”
“Two weeks, yes?”
“That’s the plan.”
The girl smiled a little too widely, but Lucian wasn’t paying her any mind. “Do you want to put a credit card on the account for—”
“No,” he interrupted. “I’ll pay in cash.”
Surprise registered in the woman’s eyes. “But usually our guests who stay for an extended period prefer to pay one final bill at the end, not many smaller ones.”
“I’m not a regular guest,” Lucian muttered. “Can I have my key card?”
It took the woman a minute to fumble around with getting the information loaded on the card before she handed it over with another big smile. Lucian was far too exhausted and annoyed to bother with pleasantries.
He hadn’t even showered before leaving the condo earlier. After taking a cab downtown, then switching to another to take him half way back the way he’d come, he paid the driver, got out, and walked into the morning crowd of people just beginning to flood the streets.