I reached out and cupped her cheek, my fingers curled gently around the base of her neck. Her long, dark hair fell over my hands, along the back of the couch.
“Lucian,” she whispered softly. Grace looked at me then, something flitting across her face. “I just want to feel something other than this hurt and frustration.” She shifted on the couch so she was facing me, and I kept my hand on her cheek.
I’d do anything for her, and the fact she was in pain, that maybe I could give her some comfort, take some of that hurt away so it was off her mind, had me reacting instantly.
I leaned in and kissed her, sliding my tongue along the seam of her lips, feeling her lean against me.
“I love you,” I said against her mouth, and she moaned, wrapping her arms around my neck and pressing herself closer to my body. “God, I love you so much it feels like my heart could stop from it.”
She leaned back and looked me in the eyes. “Don’t ever leave,” she whispered with this desperation in her voice.
“Never.” We were tied together for life.
She was mine and I was hers. Irrevocably.
* * *
Grace
When my mom had told me about my father, there were only two people that I wanted to confide in, to get comfort from.
Sherry and Lucian.
But they were different kinds of comfort, different kinds of emotional support that I needed from them.
I’d called Sherry last night, talked to her for hours, knew that things would be okay because they had to be. And it felt better … but I’d felt this hole in me still.
And first thing this morning, I’d come to see Lucian. I’d wanted to talk to him last night, to have him wrap his arms around me, to do more than just tell me everything was okay—to actually show me. I knew he’d pull this hurt and betrayal from me, so I felt nothing but him and me.
I clung to him, kissed him with this feverish need that I’d never felt before. I found myself on top of him, my legs on either side of his, the stiff outline of his erection pressing right between my thighs telling me he was right here with me.
I moaned and opened my mouth wider, tilting my head, delving my tongue between his lips and taking from him what I knew he freely gave.
He lifted his hips up, grinding his dick against me, and at the same time I pushed down, rocking back and forth, feeling sparks of pleasure filling me.
He had his hands on my hips, his fingers digging into my flesh with almost bruising force. But I wanted those marks. I wanted to look in the mirror tomorrow and see what he’d done to me, that I was his, that he’d branded me.
I pressed my breasts against his chest, my nipples hard, ultrasensitive. The gruff sound that came from him spurred me on, and I started rocking back and forth against his erection, rubbing my pussy along the length, the bulge. I could’ve gotten off this way, finding my release by moving over Lucian.
“Yes,” I whispered against his mouth, breaking the kiss only long enough to suck in a lungful of air.
I stared into his face, saw he was controlled, calm, but he couldn’t hide his body’s reaction. His pupils were dilated, his breathing slightly increased. His cock was hard, like a lead pipe between his thighs.
“Take from me, Grace. Use me.” He slid his hands up my back, over my shoulders, and cupped each side of my throat.
He tipped my head to the side and leaned in and kissed me, his mouth, his tongue, everything about him so full of possession and power.
“I’m here for you. I was made for you.”
A moan was ripped from me at his words, and I felt something break open, a dam of emotions, desire, arousal … life in general filling me until I could cry from the overwhelming sensations.
I wasn’t thinking about anything else in this moment. But when I heard his office door open, the sound of a startled gasp come from behind us, my entire body froze.
I looked over my shoulder to see Ashley standing there, a stack of papers in her arms, her eyes wide and her mouth parted in shock.
She wasn’t moving, wasn’t speaking as she stared at us. Here I was, on top of Lucian, his cock hard and pressing between my thighs, no doubt what we were doing hanging between us.
I looked back at him, feeling like this entire experience wasn’t happening. Everything was moving in slow motion.
But he wasn’t focused on her. He stared right at me, no concern or worry on his face. He still had his hands on either side of my throat, smoothing his thumbs along my pulse points.