Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 140780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
I coughed a little laugh, not expecting his thanks or for him to crack a joke.
I couldn’t resist the urge to nuzzle my nose against his, flooding with yet more heat and need and longing. We could delay running for a couple of minutes, couldn’t we? “Are you okay? Are you in pain?”
He just nodded.
Did that mean he was okay or was he in pain? How much pain? How long before he finally managed to live without pain?
Pressing his entire body against me, his hand slid into my long, rain-crinkled hair.
I gulped and licked my lips, melting on the spot. “What-What are you doing?”
He paused as if battling with himself, but then his eyes flashed with black determination. “I need to know if it’s really dead.”
Before I could ask what he meant, his mouth crashed on mine in a wicked kiss.
His hand fisted in my hair, pulling my head back just enough to deepen, to take, to test.
He used me.
Completely broke me as he hurled me into all those feelings I’d done my best to ignore.
His mouth opened wider as the kiss turned reckless and cruel.
My spine bruised against the wall. His hips pressed against my belly, revealing how quickly he went from healing to hard. His tongue grew rougher, deeper—like he was daring himself to lose control. Pushing himself to the threshold that always knocked him out.
His tongue hunted mine.
I licked him back—
He snapped.
Slamming me against the wall, he held me prisoner as he kissed me like I was the only thing he ever wanted and the only thing he truly feared.
Fiercely. Violently.
I clung to him, begging him to give me air all while he stole it.
“Fuck...” He groaned, feeding me his voice, his hunger.
My pulse roared in my ears as my heart erupted, fissures of frost cut straight through my veins, doing its best to put out the fire Lucien conjured. I didn’t know if it was the dregs of the pill he’d given me or something else, but my broken system struggled to tell what was lust or stress, crushing me with sudden pain.
I turned dizzy.
He kissed me harder, his hands tightening in my hair.
His bandaged chest crushed mine, feeding me the rhythm of his own heart. It hammered through his ribs, wild and unrestrained.
Faster. Harder. Louder.
He seized my wrist, slamming my palm against his chest—right over the vitalsync core. His thigh wedged between my legs, rocking against the part of me that needed, needed, needed.
Grinding his hardness against my belly, he drove me utterly insane.
Was this the moment?
Was he planning on stealing my virginity minutes after being electrocuted?
“Lucien...”
He swallowed my voice, nipping at my bottom lip.
The sharp bite of teeth. The hot heat of his mouth—
Something surged inside me like a sharp winter tide, full of icebergs and snowflakes, cutting straight through the fever in my blood. Instinct had me reaching for it. To wrap myself in the crystal coolness while Lucien burned me alive.
For one impossible second, the world felt fragile. Like I could freeze it, shatter it, and send it splintering into shards. Entire glaciers frosted around my bones. Snow blanketed me like a cape.
I wasn’t cold.
I was the cold—
But then...PAIN.
The chill turned against me, hollowing me out as it rebounded with raw, excruciating agony.
I cried out as Lucien suddenly jerked against me.
A hiss tore from his throat as if he’d felt my misery but then smoke...
The acrid scent of smoke tainted our kiss.
I tried to see.
To stop.
But he didn’t stop.
He went feral.
His lips captured mine so hard, so rough, he drew blood.
His body burned against mine and not metaphorically. It was like being pressed against a living star. A pyre. A cremation—
A gasp tore from my throat as more smoke billowed. “Lucien. Wait—”
He tore his mouth from mine, breaking the kiss with a sharp, ragged breath.
His eyes were wild and unapologetic, seeing everything and nothing. He stumbled as if I’d stopped his heart, backing away from me in horror.
I wobbled against the wall, my entire body tingling. For one terrifying second, I saw exactly what kind of man he could become without being chained by pain. What sort of nightmare he could be without his leash—
But then, my jaw dropped.
I wanted to rub my eyes because...it’s not possible.
Heatwaves contorted the air above his shoulders. Actual steam rolled off his bare skin with pale wisps.
His jaw clenched so hard, the tendons in his neck stood out. His already dark eyes were pitch black as he struggled to breathe, locking onto the wall behind me.
Staggering backward, his hand planted right over the metal disc. Between his fingers, no lights glowed. No red illumination to hint he was about to be punished.
So why was he so afraid?
I followed his stare and almost dropped to my knees.
A single strip of wallpaper had ignited with hungry flames—the edges curling and charring—the silvery flower pattern engulfed as the fire continued to climb toward the ceiling.