Page 43 of Bought

“Alright. We’ll have some for lunch.” I get up from the table and browse the cupboards. There are two boxes of animal-shaped snacks with yellow sauce—his favorite. I place a pot on the stove to boil. “Is mommy still sleeping?”

“Yes.”

I’m glad. She needs more rest. We talk with Ryan about his favorite show. I serve everyone. As I’m packing up the leftovers to save for Cass, there’s another knock at the door.

Bambi and I lock eyes. “You expecting anyone?”

“No,” I say. “You?”

“No.”

We both turn around and stare at the back of the door.

Bambi didn’t lock the deadbolt behind her.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Erin

My mind can barely register his face. It’s like my brain refuses to believe it’s really him standing here. But my heart knows exactly whose broad shoulders fill my doorway. It skips hard against my ribs, a painful stutter that steals my breath.

“Lucian,” I whisper.

He grins. “I love that sound.”

“What sound?” I breathe.

He locks me in with his gaze. “When you say my name.”

Finally, I manage to ask, “What are you doing here?”

He takes his time to speak, and when he does, each word seems like a struggle. He rubs the back of his neck before finally saying, “I shouldn’t have sent you away the first night without an explanation. And I shouldn’t have ended our date the way I did.”

His voice roughens with emotion he refuses to show. “I was overwhelmed by this thing between us …” His words trail off as he shakes his head.

He looks down, and for a moment, I see the man he doesn’t want me to see: the vulnerable one.

Then his eyes find mine again, sending a jolt through me. That special current that makes me feel like everything is in Technicolor and my senses are in overdrive.

Alive.

It’s a way only he’s made me feel.

“I’m sorry,” he says, softer this time. “I don’t know what else to say.”

I lift my chin, begging him with my eyes, for what I want, what I need. “Then don’t say anything at all.”

It’s enough.

He closes the distance and gives me what I demanded. The hunger of his kiss startles me, causing an ache I feel down to my bones. His breath and tongue mingle with mine until I don’t know where he ends and I begin.

I clutch at his shirt, desperate for something to ground me. His hand tangles in my hair, pulling, tipping my face up, demanding more. Shame and longing collide inside me, twisting tight.

I shouldn’t be this undone by him.

But I am.

And when he deepens the kiss, slow and devastating, I swear my soul leaps to meet his.