Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Lucas

I don’t know why I’m admitting any of this to her. Not even Christian knows the true depths my addiction has sunk to. And it’s only getting worse. That desperate need to keep and protect Wyn at any cost is all-consuming…

I’m slowly slipping into insanity.

When Wyn doesn’t say anything, I brave a glance at her. I’m so fucking afraid of what I’m going to see when I look at her. Fear? Disgust? Curiosity?

She looks back at me with no expression whatsoever, and I don’t know why that’s worse, but it is.

“Well,” she says finally, pulling her knees back up, so she can cover her legs with my hoodie again. “If you don’t tell me, then I guess we’ll never know…”

Exactly. “That’s the idea,” I say.

I expect her to push me on the subject, and beg me to tell her, but instead, she releases a breath and rests her head on her knees, looking at me. “I have a question.”

“Okay.”

“Promise you’ll be honest with me?” she asks casually.

I smirk at that. “No chance.”

She scrunches her nose in feigned annoyance. It’s playful and flirty. “Well, I’m asking anyway.” She lifts her head. “Why me?”

I shake my head slightly, confused by her question. “What do you mean? Why you what?”

“I’ve seen you with a parade of different girls over the past year, and most of them were smart, beautiful, loyal. Catching the attention of just one of them would be like winning the lottery for any other guy…And yet you’ve chosen me. Why?”

I look at her from the side of my eye, suspicious. This feels like a trick question.

“Are you trying to say you’re not smart, beautiful, or loyal?” I ask.

I know chicks are generally pretty hard on themselves, but she can’t be that delusional.

“Just answer the question. What makes me special? What makes me different? I swear I’m not fishing for a compliment. I’m just curious.”

She asks the question casually, but it feels like she’s trying to crack my chest open and inspect the contents. And that’s terrifying because I already know what she’s going to find—a dark, empty cavity where a beating heart should be.

I shrug, deciding to be honest, because, fuck, why not? “We connect in a way I’ve never had with anyone else…” I confess. “You’ve seen parts of me that would send other people running for the hills. But you’re still here.”

She has her arms wrapped around her legs, and she shrugs. “And yet, according to you, there is something about you that would make me run. So how special can I really be?”

Everyone has their limits. Even a fucking saint.

Instead of answering, I shake my head. Untangling my feelings and analyzing them has never really been my thing. All I know for sure is that I’m losing my already tenuous grip on sanity, and Wyn is the reason for that. She’s the reason for everything. More than she even knows.

Her gaze collides with mine. “If I did run, would you chase after me?”

Fuck , I told myself I’d be as honest as I could with her, didn’t I? “Yes.”

She smiles faintly. “Then what good would running do me?”

The tip of her nose is red from the cold, and I reach over to brush a few strands of hair away from her face. “It’s cold out here,” I say. “I should get you back inside.”

She pulls her legs out of the hoodie, shoves me, then with a laugh, gets up and runs toward the ocean, screaming playfully. When she gets to the edge of the water, she spins around to face me, arms stretched up over her head.

I stand up, and brush the sand off my pants, watching her. What’s she doing?

Wind whips through her long, blond hair, making her look a little wild. Then she just takes off running down the beach.

Oh, fuck, I know what this is.

She’s trying to bait me.

I watch her for a second to see if she’ll come back. When she doesn’t, my instinct to chase her kicks in. It’s pitch black out here, except for the sliver of moonlight, and she’s alone. I can’t allow her to just run off into the darkness.

With long strides, I give chase, my heart pumping with excitement. I can see her ahead. She’s hugging the waterline, her shapely legs carrying her gracefully across the hard-packed sand.

She glances over her shoulder at me, her laughter carrying on the wind. When she sees how close I am, she runs a little faster, but I catch up to her easily—my legs are so much longer than hers.

I tackle her to the sand, twisting mid-air, so when we fall, she falls on top of me. My arms are wrapped around her, and she tries to get away, but I use my advantage of strength to hold her tighter. She stops struggling, her chest heaving. Mine is, too. We’re both out of breath.

“What the fuck was that?” I ask, trying to catch my breath. I don’t let go of her, though. I know better than that.

“I was testing your skill,” she answers playfully. “You know, in case I do decide to run.”

I roll her onto her back, my lower half pinning her to the sand. My knee is pressed against her center, and despite the cold, I can feel the heat of her pussy through the fabric of my jeans.

My cock stirs to life, and I can’t help it, I kiss her. I don’t want this. I don’t want to be so wrapped up in a chick that I can’t see straight. She’s all I think about, and that can’t be good…

I pull my head back and look down at her. She’s blinking up at me, waiting, her mouth open slightly, the moonlight casting shadows across her beautiful face. Then she smiles up and me, and fuck , my chest aches, that crack in my sternum opening just a fraction wider…

“It’s because you’re so genuine,” I whisper.

She shakes her head a little like she doesn’t know what I’m talking about…

“That’s why I’m drawn to you,” I clarify. “You aren’t after me for my money. Or my influence. And you’ve stared down the darkness inside me without flinching…” I swallow. “I don’t think you realize what a rare quality that is.”

She reaches up and touches the tip of her finger to my chin. “You see that as a rare quality, but I think others would call it stupidity…” she says with a little laugh.

“Don’t do that,” I say firmly. “It doesn’t matter what other people think.”

“That’s always what powerful men say. Unfortunately, the rest of us can’t afford to think that way…”

I smirk, because I’ve been surrounded by powerful men all my life. I know their secrets. I know how they operate.

“How do you think those men become so powerful?” I say. “Do you think they did it by giving a fuck?”

Her smile widens. “Fair point.”

I have one hand braced beside her head, holding my weight, so I don’t crush her. My other hand moves up her shapely thigh, my fingers dipping under the skirt of her dress. Her panties are just a wisp of fabric, and I pull the crotch aside easily, pushing one finger into her wet cunt.

She moans and shifts her hips, opening her thighs a little wider. One leg is restricted by the weight of my lower body, but the other falls open easily. Lowering my head, I bury my face in her hair as I push two fingers into her as deeply as I can.

My God, I’d give every last cent in my bank account if we could just stay like this forever, tangled up on the beach with Wyn, wrapped up in each other. I suck in a deep breath, filling my lungs with the scent of her—gardenia mixed with the salty beach air. I could get drunk on this scent.

Pulling my fingers out of her, I unzip my pants and free my rock-hard cock. I’m inside her in seconds, buried in her warmth, and I groan loudly—the sound blending with the crashing waves behind us.

I kiss her deeply as I shift my hips, pushing forcefully into her sweet body. Her channel sucks me in, clenching around my shaft like a tight fist. Christ , she feels so damn good, and I already know I won’t last long.

She moans into my mouth, and I swallow the sound, drinking in the taste of her as I thrust into her slowly, drawing out every stroke. I desperately want to slam into her, and selfishly take what I need, but there’s an equally desperate part of me that wants to take it slow and enjoy every fucking second of being inside her.

Breaking the kiss, I pull back and look down into her eyes. She stares back up at me, and I’m not a religious guy, but something happens in that moment. Something intense passes between us, a spark of something I’ve never felt before. And I know she feels it, too, because her eyes widen, and her breath catches.

Grinding my teeth, I cup her ass with my free hand and pull her hips more tightly against me. We’re one dark, twisted soul now, moving in unison, our bodies joined.

In a world filled with ugliness, this is the one beautiful thing in my life—and I’d move heaven and earth to keep it. To keep her.

With my free hand, I grab a handful of thigh, then pull her leg up, which gives me a new angle, allowing me to fuck her deeper. I thrust sharply, jerking violently against her, and I’m rewarded with an anguished moan that makes me smile.

Goddamn, this girl is perfect.

I’d fall to my knees every day and worship her if only she’d let me.

Maybe I’ll do it anyway. A cult of one.

My blunt fingernails dig into her thigh, which earns me a pained yelp, followed by a low, anguished moan. “You like that, don’t you, baby?” I whisper against her lips. “That’s right, give into the pain. I know exactly what you need.”

She shudders beneath me, and a rumble erupts from somewhere deep in my chest. I open my lips and claim her mouth, kissing her like she’s the fucking elixir to life. And for me, she is. If I could claw my way inside her, I would.

Closing my eyes, I drown in the taste of her, my hips slamming forward, every sharp thrust bringing me closer to oblivion.

Releasing her thigh, I wrap my hand around her delicate throat and squeeze as I continue to pump into her wet cunt. She opens her mouth in a silent scream, but I don’t let go, I don’t let up. I continue to fuck her, keeping the pressure on her throat until I see her eyes start to fade. Only then, do I loosen my grip, and she sucks in a desperate gulp of air, her pussy clenching down on my cock like a fucking vice.

She moves her head from side to side, and I grab her face, my grip punishing. “Look at me.” I squeeze harder, and a tear rolls down the side of her face. “You’ll never escape me, Wyn, so don’t even try. If you ever run, I swear to God, I’d hunt you down. No matter how far you run, I will find you and I’ll drag you back to me, where you belong. Even if it kills us both.”

She needs to know how far I’m willing to go to keep her, and I don’t give a fuck how selfish that is. I’m not interested in living on this planet without her.

I squeeze her face a fraction harder. “Tell me you understand.”

Another tear rolls down her face, into her hairline. “I understand,” she whispers, barely audible over the crashing waves. But it’s enough.

“That’s a good girl,” I say, releasing her face, my hips continuing to slam into her. I pull back and glance down at our joined bodies, watching as my cock fucks her swollen pussy, sliding in forcefully before pulling back out again, over and over, leaving her gasping.

I’m desperate to pull out, and flip her over, so I can fuck that tight little ass, but I don’t, because I need to see her face when she comes. Fucking her in the ass will have to wait. But we have time. I have the rest of our lives to use her body in a million different ways.

“ Fuck , you feel incredible,” I hiss, the pressure in my balls mounting.“I’m going to fill this pussy with my cum.”

Before I can even get the words out, I’m emptying my load into her. And while my cock is still pulsing inside her, I dip my head and bite down hard on her throat, breaking the skin, the metallic taste of her blood coating my tongue. That sends her over the edge, just like I knew it would.

My pretty little whore loves the pain.

She thrashes beneath me, her neck arching, driving her head into the soft sand. She comes so hard, it looks like a fucking exorcism. An anguished moan is torn from her throat as her pussy sucks my cock in deeper, holding me there as her greedy cunt pumps me dry.

Once we’re both drained, I roll off her, tuck my shit back in, and lay next to her on the sand. We’re both breathing hard, and my head is still spinning. I glance over at her, and she looks back at me, her eyes glowing bright under the moonlight.

I swallow and reach out to touch the bite mark on her neck. And as I look at her, that crack in my heart widens into a deep, yawning crevasse. “I love you, Wyn. And I hate to tell you this, but you might be the only person on this planet who can save me…”