Page 30 of Burned

His mouth curves. “For now,” he agrees.

‘For now’ is the problem.

My beating heart and my family’s future are chained to Lucian, intrusively tied together. When I think of my happily ever after, I can no longer separate the two.

And his past threatens to burn my future to the ground.

CHAPTER FOUR

LUCIAN

By the timewe come downstairs, every man in the room knows exactly what happened upstairs.

No one says a word.

A wise choice.

The air smells of baked goods. Cass is at it again. She’ll be pushing her delicious blueberry muffins or cranberry-orange scones on me as soon as I set foot in that kitchen.

I swear I’ll gain fifteen pounds if we don’t get out of here soon.

Erin stops beside me at the bottom of the stairs.

She’s wearing fresh clothes now. Dark stretch pants. The kind she loves because they’re comfortable for curling up in. The ones I love because they’re easy to take off.

A soft cream sweater I’d love to pair with a nice bulletproof vest. I’m not a monster; I’d get it in black to match the pants.

Her hair falls loose down her back, still slightly tangled from my hands, and there’s a faint flush on her throat that belongs to me.

Mine.

The word moves through me with the same primitive satisfaction it always does.

Then she steps away from me.

Only a little.

Enough.

I feel the distance like a hand closing around my throat.

I stare at the woman who stole my heart when I thought I didn’t have one left. Heat rises in her cheeks, embarrassed by what everyone knows. Yet a secret little cat-got-the-cream smile tugs at the corners of her lips.

She loves the things we do. She loves how sexy I make her feel. I love how turned on she gets when I— Bayne clears his throat.

Back to work.

I drag my gaze from her and force myself to focus.

Blaze snickers.

They used to give me a hard time for being so obsessed, but they know just how much she is mine.

I’m not the only one whose skin she’s gotten under.

They’d kill for her, too.

One look at the men in this room pulls me back to earth by the gravity of our current situation.