Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Lucas

I study her face as my words land. I don't know why I told her I was the one who'd initiated her. Maybe I wanted to wipe that holier-than-thou look off her face. Or maybe it was me lashing out after that comment about me being dead inside. Either way, she knows now.

Disbelief registers in Wyn's wide green eyes and she pulls against me weakly, like my words have zapped the strength right out of her.

"No. That's not—" Her throat moves as she swallows. "You're fucking with me."

I'm still holding her face, and I drag my nose up the column of her neck, before burying it in her hair. Inhaling deeply, I take her sweet essence into my lungs. Then I sink my teeth into that sensitive skin just below her ear, exactly like I did that night.

She pushes against me and I release her. And, fuck me, but my dark soul feeds on the fear I see in her eyes. A spark of excitement ignites in my chest.

Her breath is coming in short little pants, and she takes a step back like she's about to run. I hope she does. Because then she'll know—there's nowhere she can run that I can't catch her. Nowhere.

Wyn's hand flies to her throat and I can tell she's trying to gather her composure. I know, because I've studied Wyn for so long I could apply for a fucking Ph.D. in the subject of her. Every hitch in her breath, every micro-expression. It's all coded in my brain.

"But…you hate me," she says, clinging to that single fact like it's evidence that I couldn't be the faceless bastard who fucked her in front of everyone.

I move toward her. My door is still open, and she's only about twenty feet away from it, backing up slowly.

"You're right." That familiar anger coils tight in my gut and radiates out into my bloodstream. "Before you showed up a year ago, I fucked whoever I wanted, whenever I wanted, never knowing…" I've caught up to her, and her breathing is labored now like she's struggling to draw in each breath. "...Once I got that first taste of you, I'd be addicted. I fucking hate you for that."

She blinks at me like she's processing what I'm telling her. I wonder if she ever suspected it was me that night. "Did Gabriel know?" she asks, her tone hollow.

"Yes," I say, my voice equally void of emotion. "I told him I'd been chosen to initiate you."

We're not supposed to tell anyone outside of the Sacred Sons, but Gabriel and I were close, and honestly, there wasn't anything I wouldn't tell him. At that point, anyway.

"After that night, I couldn't stop thinking about you…and then you started dating Gabriel, so whatever I felt, I had to bury deep down. And do you know what happens to things that are buried?" My eyes meet hers. "They fester and rot."

"None of that is my fault," she answers.

The fuck it isn't.

Reaching out, I touch the tip of my finger to her smooth cheek. "I know you felt the pull between us, Wyn. You can lie to yourself, but I know what's what."

She moves her head, dodging my touch. "Doesn't matter now, does it?"

My gaze flicks over her. Her tits are lush and perky beneath her dress, and I can see the outline of her nipples. Saliva fills my mouth just remembering how those nipples taste.

She's standing there, staring at me like I'm the monster from her nightmares. And I am. I know that for sure. But I'm also the instrument of her deepest, most secret desires. I know that shit, too.

Shoving my hands into my pockets, I shift my weight and flick my chin up. "You can go downstairs and wait for the meeting to start. I'll be down in a minute."

She looks confused at my abrupt dismissal of her, and she hesitates like she wants to say something before she leaves. One last biting remark, most likely. In the end, though, she must think better of it. With a shallow nod, she turns around and leaves through the open door looking relieved.

I smile to myself. Good. I hope she enjoys that feeling because, in just a few minutes, she'll know exactly why I let her go so easily…