Page 29 of Burned

“I thought bad girls don’t get what they want,” I gasp.

“You know you’re always my good girl.” He kisses me. “Even when you’re bad.”

The climax hits hard, tearing through me before I’m ready. I cry out, body locking around him, vision blurring as pleasure swallows every thought but his name. I’m trembling, arching, moaning, chasing down every last shudder of release.

Lucian follows with a rough sound against my throat, his control finally gone. He holds me through it, hips driving deep, body shaking over me like he’s surrendering. I feel the wet heat of him releasing inside me.

Marking me as his.

For a while, there is only breathing. Fire crackling. His weight. My hands, freed now, sliding over his back. Eventually, he rolls to his side and pulls me with him, tucking me against his chest. His heart pounds beneath my cheek. I listen as the pounding slows.

Darkness and tenderness, both so tangled I no longer know where one ends and the other begins.

“You crossed the boundary,” he murmurs.

I huff a tired laugh against his chest. “Still on that, are we? I was barely over it.”

He’s gruff. “You were over it.”

“You’re impossible.” I lift my head to look at him. His eyes are open. Watching me.

Always watching.

“We still have to talk about her,” I say. He ignores me. “And you have to tell me everything,” I say. “No more keeping me in the dark.” His thumb brushes my cheek. The silence lasts a fraction too long. My chest tightens. “Lucian.”

“We’ll see,” he says.

It is not the answer I want. It may be the only honest one he can give.

I rest my chin on his chest, studying him. “You know I’m going to keep pushing.”

His mouth curves slightly. “I know.”

“And you can’t threaten me into obedience.”

“No,” he says. “But I can make disobedience memorable.”

Heat stirs low in my stomach despite everything.

Traitorous body. I narrow my eyes. “That is not the same as trust, and you know it.”

“No,” he says. “I don’t. Whatever tactics keep you safe are the ones I’ll use. And I still want to punish you more for breaking my rules earlier.” His hand smooths down my back, scooping mybare ass in his palm. He squeezes. Hard. “How about me taking you over my lap right now and spanking this beautiful ass of yours until they hear you downstairs? Begging me to stop.”

Can’t. Breathe. He waits. Smacks my ass and it’s a warning.

Downstairs, a door opens. Men’s voices rise, then lower. And our time is over. The war is waiting. The ghost is waiting. The past Lucian never buried is clawing its way back to us, and I will not be the girl outside the conversation. Not anymore. I press my lips to the center of Lucian’s chest; over the heart I am starting to believe might truly be mine.

Then I whisper, “I want to go downstairs with you. I want to know what’s going on.”

His whole body goes still. For one long moment, I think he will refuse. Then Lucian Bachman, the man who bought me, kept me and wants to lock me away forever, heaves a sigh.

“Get dressed,” he says.

I smile against his skin. “Is that an order?”

“Yes.” He smacks my ass, then wraps his big warm hand around it, his palm needing my curves with firm possession. “And this time when I let you leave this room, you’ll obey.”

“Yes,” I say. I lift my head to meet his eyes. “For now.”