Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

Lucas

Sitting on the beach with Wyn, talking about Gabriel being alive, is so fucking surreal, I don’t even know what to think. All I know is that the second I saw Gabriel standing in the doorway of Wyn’s bathroom, I felt rage.

Fucking rage , dude.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

In that split second when I saw him standing there, my only thought was, will he take Wyn from me?

A soul-crushing wave of guilt swamped me instantly.

How the fuck am I going to do this? I can’t even look at Wyn without wanting to feel her warmth or taste her skin…

“I belong to him?” she repeats. “If I’d known his claim on me would be taken seriously that day, I would have objected.”

I glance down at her, smiling at the anger etched into her beautiful face, and I laugh. “When have you ever gotten a say, Wyn?”

She pulls back and flashes me a scowl. “Is this what you do, Lucas?” She motions to me. “Act like an asshole so nobody wants to get close to you?”

I don't know what it is about that statement that makes me snap—maybe it’s just the weight of everything that’s happened today, but I lunge at her, pressing her down onto the sand, my body pinning her down.

“I did get close to someone,” I say, my face only an inch from hers. “I confided in Gabriel, and do you know what happened? He used that information to punish me. He knew I wanted you, and he claimed you anyway.” I pause. “And now he’s back, taking away the only thing I care about in this fucked-up world all over again. How the fuck am I supposed to feel about that, Wyn? Hm? ”

Her eyes flare when she realizes what I’ve just admitted and she relaxes beneath me, all the fight draining out of her. “Imagine being told you belong to someone regardless of how you feel about that person,” she says. “Imagine having no choice.”

The fight drains from me, too. Her body is soft beneath mine, her flowery scent surrounding me. Like a magnet, I’m drawn to her, my hand smoothing up her thigh, dipping under the skirt of her dress. She sucks in a breath as I toy with the hem of her panties.

Fuck , I’m already rock-hard. It would be so easy to push her panties aside and slide my cock into her, right here, in the sand.

I’m still pissed at her for drugging me, then running. But all that seems like the least of my worries now. Because, shit , before Gabriel went missing, Wyn belonged to him—despite what she’s saying now. And rules in The Burning Crown are strict when it comes to our women. Once a claim is made, a guy either steps aside, and voluntarily releases his chick, or his death releases her.

And Gabriel isn’t going to voluntarily let Wyn go. No fucking way.

Lowering my head, I bury my face in her hair and inhale, pulling her scent into my lungs. The thought of handing her back over to Gabriel guts me, but that’s the way our world works—and even I can’t change that.

Pulling back abruptly, I straighten and stand, offering my hand to her. “We should get back,” I say.

She blinks up at me, shielding her eyes with her hand. “I’m not ready to go back.” She sits up and brushes the sand off her arms. “Sit back down. Talk to me.”

My cock is still hard, and honestly, I don’t trust myself. But I sit back down on the sand, anyway. “Wyn, I can’t do this with you,” I say, and it’s probably the most honest thing I’ve ever said to her.

She pushes out a breath. “I need answers, Lucas.”

I glance at her. “I’ve already told you—I don’t know what happened that night.”

But she’s not buying that, I can tell. She can’t possibly know the truth, though. No one does, except for Gabriel. Well, if he ever gets his memory back. It’d be better for everyone if he doesn’t.

“Last night, after I drugged you…” she says, hesitating over the words. “I found something in your closet.” Her gaze flicks to me, and before the words leave her mouth, I already know what she’s going to say. “...a black duffel bag.”

My heart is thumping hard against my ribs. “And?”

“ And? ” she repeats, incredulous. “If you’re claiming you don’t know anything about Gabriel being alive, then why is that bag in your closet?”

Is she fucking with me?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say. “What does that bag have to do with Gabriel?”

She blinks at me for a second, then looks away.

“Wyn,” I say, trying to get her to talk to me. “What exactly are you asking me?”

She turns back to look at me, her gaze flicking down to my bracelets. Then she shakes her head and moves to stand up. “Nothing. You’re right, we need to head back.”

Something is wrong, and I’m fucking confused. She was about to say something—maybe call me out for what was in that bag—but she asked about Gabriel instead.

I stand, too, but as she turns away, I reach out and grab her wrist, stopping her. “Wyn, what the fuck was that?”

She whips around and yanks her wrist out of my grip. “Gabriel was the one stalking me,” she says. “Before he showed up last night, he admitted he’d been breaking in, leaving flowers for me, and…” She swallows like she’s suddenly embarrassed. “...and other stuff.”

I narrow my eyes, that familiar rage returning with a vengeance. “What does that mean, Wyn? What other stuff ?”

Her jaw clenches like she’d rather not say. Well, tough shit. She looks away again. “We were uh, intimate. And that bag in your closet…it had everything he used when he broke in.”

I take a step back. She thinks it was Gabriel breaking in, and fucking her. She thinks it was Gabriel bringing her darkest fantasies to life. I should let her think that. It would be easier that way, but for some reason, I need her to know it was me making her scream.

“Gabriel wasn’t stalking you, Wyn,” I say, already regretting the words. “I was the one breaking in.” I take a step closer. “I was the one in the mask. I was the one fucking you.”