Magnate (Acquisition 2)

He moved to my neck, his lips worshipping my jugular as he switched my wrists to one hand. When he slid his hand under my top and squeezed my breast, I moaned. He ripped the cup of my bra down and twisted my nipple between his thumb and forefinger. My hips rose against him, his cock giving more delicious friction. I ignored the flash of deep sapphire eyes that crossed my vision.

Lucius hissed when I raised my hips again, working him through his pants.

“Lucius,” I breathed, though another name was on my mind, hovering right along my lips. He sank lower, his mouth on my breast as his free hand yanked at the button and the zipper on my jeans.

He bit me hard, and I arched up to him as he slid his fingers into my panties. I was wet, and my skin was on fire wherever he grazed me with his mouth or his hands.

“Fuck.” He reached farther, pulling wetness from my entrance and smoothing it around my clit.

I squirmed and moaned as he circled my hard, sensitive nub. He relinquished my nipple and kissed back up to my mouth, his bare chest pressing into my skin.

He sank a finger inside me and groaned. “I need you, Stella.”

The words grated on me. Someone else had needed me, too. Vinemont—his eyes were there again in my vision. He was the ghost that lingered in every corner of my mind.

Lucius brought his fingers up to his mouth and licked them clean. He kissed me again, but his taste was wrong. Everything was wrong. I was a furnace that had burned out, the flame gone, the room cold.

I turned my head. “I don’t want this.”

“Yes you do.” He bit my neck.

“No. I mean it.”

The tone in my voice froze him, and he brought his face back to mine. “Are you fucking serious?”

“Yes. Please, just go.”

He let go of my hands and sat back, his eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Why?”

I shook my head and yanked down my top. “Please, Lucius.”

He stood and stared down at me. “It’s Sin, isn’t it?”

I looked away.

He didn’t need any more confirmation. He turned and retreated, his movements jerky and full of anger, before swiping his sweater off the floor.

I jumped when he slammed the door behind him.

What am I doing? I bounced my head on the mattress, trying to sort through what the hell I was thinking. Seducing Lucius was a necessary part of the plan and a welcome distraction. And I’d just blown it all up because Vinemont said he needed me. Because of a single sentence from a man who ran hot and cold faster than a tap.

I stood up and straightened my clothes before going to the bathroom. I splashed warm water in my face and stared at the mirror me. She was just as inscrutable as before, the reflection doing nothing more than reiterating how lost I was.

The bedroom door opened. I dried my face and walked out to find Gavin and Brianne. Gavin looked at the rumpled bed, then up at me, but I scooted past him with my head down.

Brianne went into the bathroom and took an inordinately long time getting ready for bed.

“So, um, the bed? Anything I need to know about?” he asked.

“No. I’m sad to say.” I rubbed my eyes. “Nothing happened. Well, nothing substantial.”

“Second base?”

I looked up and he was grinning at me. How he managed to smile so big on the eve of an Acquisition trial was beyond me. But his smile was contagious, because the corners of my mouth turned up despite my mood.

“Something like that. I’m not even sure what the bases are. But let’s stick to second.”

“I can do that.” He kicked his shoes off as Brianne walked out of the bathroom.

She crashed on her bed, not even bothering to get under the covers.

While Gavin was in the bathroom, I took off my boots, feeling inside for the knife. The warm metal was comforting. Then I stripped my jeans and sweater off, but kept my undershirt on. Gavin came out, removed his shirt and pants, and slipped into his sheets. I did the same, pulling my covers up to my chin. We lay silently for a while, listening to Brianne’s steady breathing.

“I’m too afraid to turn the light off,” Gavin whispered.

“Same here.” I flipped over to my side and looked at his profile as he stared at the ceiling.

“Do you think they’ll do it in the morning or the afternoon?”

“I don’t know, but I intend to be ready to go at sun up.”

He turned his head toward me. “How can you be ready for something like this?”

“You can’t, I guess. We just have to survive.” My voice was small and I felt even smaller. One person in the huge crush of malevolent strangers scattered throughout this mountain retreat.