She placed the painting back on the shelf and sighed. Something for another night.
She shuffled down the hall and paused outside his room. The door ripped open, and Hannah fell back in surprise.
“Shit!” she said as she landed hard on her ass.
“What the—” Lucius stooped down to offer her his hand. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I just wanted to make sure.” Hannah looked up. Lucius stood in the door more undressed than dressed. His pants were on, but it looked like they had been tossed on at the last second judging by the lack of buttoning, and if she was guessing, there wasn’t much on under. Her gaze continued up and stilled on his chest. She knew he felt her eyes on him, but she couldn’t look away. Thick scars coated his chest. Some looked like burns, others like stripes across his body
She cleared her throat and brought her eyes to his. “I was trying to make sure I hadn’t woken you.”
Hannah took his hand as he easily lifted her off the floor. She rubbed her sore bottom and groaned.
Lucius pulled quickly away and stepped back into his room. From her position at the door, she caught sight of the easel and walked into the room.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he growled at her.
She ignored him and stood over by the wet canvas on the floor.
“Is that me?” she asked softly.
He didn’t speak for such a long time. She wondered if he had left. When she turned around, Lucius had slipped on a button-up shirt, but left it open in the front. His face was torn between looking like he might run and looking like he might start yelling. Lucius turned toward the door, and she panicked. Not again. She wasn’t going to let him shut her out again.
Hannah raced to him, arms outstretched. Pain shot through her as her foot connected with the post of the bed.
“Oh crap!” she shouted and stumbled forward.
For what seemed like the millionth time since meeting him, she was spiraling toward the floor until she crashed hard against him. Stunned by the sudden impact, Hannah took a few seconds to right herself. She looked down at her throbbing toe.
“Shit,” she mumbled.
“Is it broken?” he rumbled in her ear.
Hannah jumped at his deep voice.
“I don’t think so,” she said and continued to look at her toe. Just a little bit longer, and she’d be in control over herself.
She gasped when he sat her hard on the bed and kneeled down to examine her foot. He lifted it gently, moving it this way and that. His rough fingers traced the tender arches of her foot. It was such an intimate move she nearly came undone.
When he looked up at her, she was nearly out of breath from all the movement.
“It seems to be okay,” he said. His eyes burned into her for a moment before shifting back over to the paintings.
She looked again at the painting on the floor. Blond hair, slightly chubby cheeks, with an amazing smile. She’d never really seen herself this way and really hoped that was how he saw her.
“Is it me?” she asked.
He turned to look at her and nodded. “It’s not very good, but I just couldn’t get your eyes right.”
Hannah looked at the painting and then back at him.
“It’s amazing,” she said quietly as she stared at him.
He sat in front of her, so wounded and vulnerable. She wanted to take away every ounce of insecurity he ever had. Every bit of sadness he ever had. Hannah leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his lips, still half afraid he would run.
“You are amazing,” she whispered and placed her forehead on top of his. She slipped her hands inside his shirt and let her fingers skim over the scarred skin.
Lucius groaned, and Hannah wondered if she had gone too far touching him like that.
She gasped in surprise when she ended up flat on the bed, his hard body covering her own.
“Tell me you don’t want this, Hannah,” he said and ground into her. “Tell me to stop.”
Her t-shirt had ridden up. She wrapped a leg around his waist and pulled him in tight against her.
“No,” she said. Her hands pushed hard at the shirt he wore until it pulled off the back.
Her hands moved freely across the bumpy surface, and she moaned at the way his muscles flexed under her fingers.
Lucius planted hot open-mouthed kisses on the side of her neck, nibbling and licking along the way.
“I’m no good for you,” he rumbled when he got to her ear.
Hannah turned her head and kissed him hard on the mouth. “Why don’t you let me decide that?”
He moved against her. He pressed her into the bed. She groaned and arched her body closer to his.
Her arms moved from around his back. She let her hand move down his arms as he continued his ministrations to her neck. He growled in irritation when he met the neck of her shirt. He sat up so quickly she nearly lost her breath. Before the words were out of her mouth, he pulled the shirt pulled over her head and tossed it across the room. When he sank back down on her this time, they both groaned at the skin on skin contact.
Her nipples pebbled against his hard chest, and she shivered with every movement he made against her. This was the most turned on she had ever been, and they hadn’t even gotten to anything. His hips pressed in and shifted from side to side, rubbing her clit in such a way she nearly came from the friction. Her nails bit into his arms, and she knew the front of his pants had to be wet with the evidence of her excitement, but she just couldn’t find the will to care.
“Fuck,” Lucius growled and leaned back to look down at her. She stared back up at him with her slightly swollen red lips and too green eyes. Her blond hair was fanned out on the bed around her like some sort of halo, and he felt a twinge of guilt like he was defiling something by even touching her, but he just couldn’t stop himself. He needed her. Needed to be a part of her in any way that she would let him.
He threaded his fingers through her golden hair and pulled her up for another hard kiss. This time she was the one to slip her tongue into his mouth, and he growled his approval. While their mouths continued to battle, his hand eagerly made his way to her bare breast. He swiped his thumb across the hardened peak.
Hannah arched off the bed and moaned into his mouth. Lucius pulled away, amazed with the reaction he had caused. He swiped the nipple again and watched her back bow, thrusting her breast into his hand.
“Touch me,” she moaned.
He didn’t know how much longer he was going to be able to hold off after waiting so long.
“Lucius,” she whispered.
She ran her nails playfully down his chest. He froze.
Lucius closed his eyes. She wasn’t her. Hannah was as far from her as a person could get.
“Lucius?” Hannah said after a moment.
He opened his eyes, afraid to see the pity and resentment there. Hannah worried her bottom lip, and instead of the pity he expected, he found his own insecurities reflected back at him.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly and turned to look the other direction.
This time, it was another part entirely that burned for her. He picked up the hand she had curled against her chest and placed it over his heart, the spot where the deepest and thickest scar was at.
He took in a deep breath when she turned to look at him. “Just no nails.”
Hannah nodded. He stilled as she traced the large scar with the pad of her thumb and sighed at the way it soothed him. The way she soothed him.
He placed his own hand over her heart, and she smiled at him. Words were never his strength.
Lucius slid his hand down her body and stopped at the line of her panties, resting just on the roundness of her stomach.
He frowned when she took her hand away from his heart to cover her middle.
Lucius moved her hands and placed them firmly over her head. He lowered his face to hers.
“Don’t move.”
Hannah trembled in anticipation. Des
pite what Apollo had said, there was no part of her that didn’t trust this man, and if he told her to not to move, there was something good coming to her.
She gasped when Lucius’s mouth latched onto one of her nipples. Slow, gentle and maddening licks followed. He held on to the other one and alternated between the two. Hannah moaned and lifted her body up to meet his mouth.
His hand trailed down her body once again and stopped just above her panties. She hated that part of her. The part that was just a little squishier than the rest. Lucius let his hand slip below the pretty blue lace panties she was wearing. Hannah was surprised when he slipped them off.
Leaving a trail of open-mouthed kisses, Lucius moved down her body, pausing at her stomach.
“Beautiful,” he whispered.
Hannah shivered at his words.
She ached to run her hand through his hair. He moved further down, and she groaned when he bumped her clit.
“Lucius,” she hummed.
His tongue darted between her folds and lapped at the sensitive bud there. Her insides fluttered with need as he teased her opening and she gripped the bed sheets beside her. He darted inside her. She moaned at the intrusion.
Panting filled the room, and it took her a moment to realize it was her voice.
Lucius continued his shallow thrusts into her much to her frustration. What was the point of getting her there, if he wasn’t going to see it through?
Hannah sat up on her elbows to glare at him but stopped when she looked at him. It was the first time she’d ever seen a man in that position, head buried between her thighs. Actually, it was the first time she’d ever been naked in front of a man with the lights on before, but there she was, watching him. He thrust deep inside and swirled his tongue. She moaned but kept her eyes on him. The thrill of watching him pushed her nearly to the edge. When she was very close, she pulled back from him.
Lucius sat up, confusion etched on his face.
“What’s wrong?”
Hannah hooked one foot behind his leg and pulled him on top of her. She didn’t quite know what had come over her, but she had to have him, had to taste him with her still on his lips. She drove her tongue into his mouth and groaned.
With surprising strength, she rolled them so that she was on top, her legs on either side of him. She pulled her mouth away and made her way down his bare chest. His muscles twitched under her movements, and she grinned at this. When she reached his pants, she glanced up to him. Lucius had placed both arms behind his head and was watching her movements with growing interest. She traced the hard length straining under the denim. His chest rose and fell slightly faster than before.
Not wanting to waste any time, Hannah pushed the button on his fly and jumped when he sprang free. She pushed his pants the rest of the way down and watched as he kicked them off.
She stared at the thick cock and wondered how he was ever going to fit. Hannah leaned forward and licked the salty droplets from the tip.
“You don’t have to,” he said.
Hannah cut his words off by slipping him partway into her mouth. She swirled her tongue around the head
“God,” he grunted.
Hannah pulled off with a small pop. When she moved back up his body to kiss him again, she spread her legs over his hard length. As her mouth moved with him, Hannah rocked her hips up and down his ridged length. Slow and steady, she moved along him. When Lucius placed his hands at her hips to urge her to go faster, Hannah only slowed down.
She shivered at the deep growl that echoed through the room.
His head bumped her center and she pushed down hard.
He cleared the first few inches, but it was tight and she had to adjust.
Lucius started up at her, clearly worried by the look on his face.
“Why don’t you just…” he started to say.
Hannah pushed down further on him. This time he was about half way in, and she had to take deep breaths to gather herself. A part of her felt very good, but another part was stretched more than she’d like to admit.
“Damn it!” Lucius shouted.
She stared down at him. His face had gone red, and he was damp with perspiration.
Hannah shifted a little, testing what she had been able to fit in.
“Fuck,” he groaned and closed his eyes while she shifted her hips. When he opened them, they glowed so bright the space between them was lit. “I can’t hold on if you do that.”
With one final push, he was fully inside her. Hannah leaned over him and placed her hands on his wide chest. It wasn’t painful, but it was going to take a moment before she could move. She could feel it before it happened, his control slipping away. Her eyes sprang open at the last second before she was being flipped onto her back.
She yelped in surprise.
Hannah stared up at the man she was falling in love with and tried to find him behind the feral eyes that stared back. She placed a hand on the scar at his heart in hopes that he would remember their moment earlier. The growl that ripped through him made her shudder. She closed her eyes and pulled away from him.
When his face nuzzled her neck, she jumped at the contact.
“Mine,” he growled in her ear.
His hand snaked down to her clit and rubbed in gentle circles. She moaned loudly. Her muscles contracted around his massive length still rooted deep inside her. He shifted forward slightly, moving his hips in and out.
Hannah opened her eyes to look at Lucius. His eyes were firmly on her, watching her face as he made small movements. He pressed a little harder on her clit and sped up his pace, still keeping the shallow movements. She shook with need. More. Hannah needed more.
She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him hard into her. Lucius grunted as he picked up the pace, slamming into her as they rocked on the bed. He slipped his arms under her back and grabbed onto her shoulders.
Lucius rubbed furiously at her clit, bringing her to the edge.
“Not without you,” she shouted.
Her insides were already starting to quiver when he reached his climax. After slamming hard into her a few more times, they slumped onto the bed.
“My Hannah,” Lucius whispered with choked emotion as he rocked into her one last time.
Hannah wrapped her arms around him and turned her mouth to his ear. “My Lucius.”
Chapter Twelve
Only the sounds of their breathing kept the room from being completely silent. Hannah wondered if Lucius had gone to sleep. She lay on his chest, partially snuggled to his side with one leg tossed over. His steady heartbeat thumped under her ear.
She traced the jagged scar over his heart with her finger.
“It was training,” he said after some time.
Hannah brought her head up to look at him and glanced at the red scar on his chest.
“It was deep,” she said quietly and covered it with her hand. Hannah was sure it had to hurt.
Lucius sighed, and she knew he was getting into things that he didn’t want to talk about.
“There are things…” he said and looked over to her. “Things that I had to do that I wouldn’t otherwise, but it was part of the training. Part of the exercise.”
She felt him tense and rubbed her hand back and forth along his chest.
“Anything you did, you did because you had to,” she said quietly and kissed his chest.
He gave her a tight smile before looking over her head.
“It started with Titus,” he said. “She was meant to be with him under the Bona Dea project, but he just couldn’t.”
Her stomach bottomed out. This was not the story she thought it was going to be.
Lucius shifted uncomfortably and continued. “That was the first time I met Vanessa.” He shivered before going on. “She wasn’t thrilled to be saddled with me. I was a nobody in the hybrids, but I was the best subject, strong and capable of handling large amounts of pain.”
He stopped for a moment and looked at her. “Vanessa was very
good at pain. She enjoyed it.”
Hannah gasped and moved her hand to his neck.
“Oh, Lucius,” she whispered. “The painting.”
“I’m not telling you this so you’ll pity me but because I want to share all of me with you. Even the bad parts of me.”
Hannah placed her hand on his cheek and made him look at her.
“This is not the bad part of you,” she said. “This is the bad part of them.”
His eyes went dark for a moment. “If only that were true.”
Hannah watched as he composed himself.
“I lost control tonight,” he said quietly. “There were so many things that could have happened.”
“But they didn’t,” she said firmly.
Lucius shook his head. “But they could have. And might still.” He shook his head. “It might be a good idea if we—”
“No.” She sat up and stared down at him. Not after what they had just shared. She wasn’t going to just let this happen.
Lucius sat up with her. “I’m dangerous.”
“Bullshit.” Hannah gathered the covers around her chest as if being covered would help her win this battle.
Lucius raised a brow.
“I’m not the only one who thinks it,” he said. “I’ve heard the whispers.”
Hannah folded her arms. “Are you kidding me? So you’re dangerous because some people are intimidated by you? Well, then maybe it’s a good thing they put a guard on Rachel. She’s certainly scared the shit out of some men.”
Her cheeks flushed hot with anger at how quickly he was willing to toss in the towel. She pinned him with a glare and watched as he shifted uncomfortably under it.
“There is another issue,” he said and looked over to the side.
She felt a twinge in her heart at his words. “What sort of problem?”
“Your scent hasn’t changed like the others. It goes in and out. Intense at time and nonexistent at others.” he said uncomfortably. “I thought being together would fix it, but maybe we aren’t a match.”
Hannah stared at him in shock, not even sure where to go with that. There wasn’t really anywhere to go with it. They had shared something special, and he was waiting for her to smell right?
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