Page 95 of Ice & Steel

I paused on the porch and took my coat off, folding it in half and laying it over my arm.

Then I knocked on the door.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

OLIVIA

I was upstairs when I heard the knock. My heart jumped and my fingers shook so badly I had trouble pulling on my dressing gown. The house was quiet and the boys still slept in their beds.

My bare feet pattered on the hallway floor as I ran silently over the floorboards. Down below I heard the door creak open and I knew Cosimo must have heard him. He and Enza were staying in the primary bedroom on the first floor.

I froze at the top of the stairs.

Down below, Cosimo’s voice rumbled and my husband’s answered quietly. Then I heard my brother’s footsteps die away and I knew Lucien was in the hallway alone.

Why was my heart pounding so hard I could barely breathe? He was my husband, I knew him so intimately already. But somehow, it felt like I was meeting him for the first time again.

My ankles shook as I climbed down the stairs and turned the corner to step into the hallway. My stomach fluttered and a slow flush crept up my cheeks.

Lucien stood by the door with his folded coat over his forearm. His hair had grown out to its usual length, but there was more gray on the sides of his head and streaked over the top. His eyes were still made of pure ice, like a gust of wind over a frozen wasteland, but deep inside them was a gentleness that hadn’t been there for our first meeting.

I stood in the hall with my hands knotted together. He began walking towards me slowly and I caught the faint hitch in his gait. A little roll to his step that hadn’t been there before.

He paused before me, so close I felt his body heat. Then he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“How are you, Olivia?” he murmured.

That broke me and I sank into his chest, sobbing so hard I couldn’t breathe. His arms slid around me and his lean, hard hand rested on my head. Pressing me to his chest.

“Sorry,” I whispered, rubbing my face against his shirt.

“You never have to apologize to me, Liv,” he said, his voice rumbling in his chest. “You’ve been so strong.”

We went upstairs to bed, but I refused when he tried to pull my dressing gown off. I could tell he was still in pain despite how hard he was working to conceal it. His frustration was evident though, he couldn’t hide that, especially when his hard cock ground against my ass as he pulled me into his embrace.

“Not yet,” I whispered.

A little groan sounded in the base of his throat. “You fucking torture me, baby. You can’t get into bed with me looking like that and not expect me to want you.”

I glanced over my shoulder. “Looking like what? My hair is a mess, my face is puffy, I don’t have makeup on.”

He buried his face into my neck. “Fuck, you smell so good. I’ll bet you taste better.”

He started moving down my body, but I flipped onto my back and sent him a firm glare. His fingers tensed on my thighs until his grip smarted.

“Don’t disobey me,” he said, his voice heavy with need. “Open your legs.”

His voice was hard and I knew I’d lost a battle I had no interest in fighting. I let my head fall back so he couldn’t see my face and I spread my thighs.

“I haven’t showered yet,” I murmured.

His tongue slid from the entrance of my pussy up to my clit in one hot stroke. My hips seized and my vision flashed. He pushed his tongue into me and I heard his heavy groan as it pumped in and out. His hand slid down my thigh and gripped my ankle, the one with his pendant encircling it.

My toes flexed.

I was suddenly sharply aware of everything that had happened before this moment.

The fear and uncertainty of marrying him. The euphoria of unexpectedly falling in love. The overwhelming joy of seeing our children’s faces. The horror when I was afraid I’d lost him.