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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Wyn

It’s dark, and I’m naked, those are the first two things I’m aware of. As I sit up, every muscle in my body screams in protest. The area between my legs is sore and my mouth feels like cotton.

Blinking, I realize it must be the middle of the night because the room is dark and the house is quiet. But the bathroom light is on, and it floods the room in a soft, warm glow.

It takes a second, but I suddenly realize I don’t know where I am. With a jerk, I try to pull the comforter up to cover my body, but I can’t. It’s being weighed down by…my gaze travels to the large mound of muscle that’s sleeping next to me.

“Oh!” I gasp, hopping off the bed. There’s a throw crumpled at the foot of the bed, so I grab it and pull it around my body. I blink down at the guy in the bed and realize it’s Lucas. He’s lying on his stomach, his hands beneath the pillow that’s tucked under his head, one leg pulled up, accentuating his tight ass.

Holy shit.

What happened? How did I get here?

I struggle to remember, but it’s like a huge chunk of time has been scooped out of my memory. The last thing I remember is being in the ballroom, at the meeting, and Lucas putting his necklace over my head. My hand flies to the heavy pendant resting at the base of my throat.

Oh, my God. It really happened. Lucas declared me his consort.

Flashes of memory start flickering in my mind. Lucas carrying me up to his room—then there’s a huge chunk of missing time—then he’s fucking me—and, then another chunk of missing time…

He drugged me.

The fucking asshole.

Rolling off the bed as quietly as I can, I grab a throw blanket and wrap it around my body, then I find my dress on the floor. My underwear is nowhere to be found, but that's the least of my problems at this point. I take my dress into the bathroom, so I can get dressed without waking him up.

The light is already on, and when I walk in, I catch a glimpse of myself in the large framed mirror that’s positioned over two marble his-and-hers sinks. I gasp when I see myself.

With a trembling hand, I push my hair back, which is a tangled mass around my shoulders, and inspect a red streak that’s just below my ear. I step closer to the mirror to see what it is. It looks like a bite mark. I vaguely remember Lucas biting me, then licking up my blood.

My gaze wanders to the rest of my body, and I choke back a sob, when I see the sheer amount of bite marks everywhere . A couple must have broken the skin, because there’s blood coating the inside of both my thighs.

Grabbing a washcloth, I wet it quickly, then drop the blanket and start cleaning off the blood that’s smeared across various parts of my body, scrubbing so hard that my skin is left red and inflamed.

“Getting clean, so I can dirty you up again?”

With a yelp of surprise, I drop the washcloth and spin around to see Lucas leaning against the doorframe, his muscular body on full display. He’s not shy or embarrassed by the fact that he’s standing in front of me without a stitch of clothing on. His cock hangs heavy between his toned thighs, already half-erect.

I reach down and grab the throw, then pull it up around my body.

He laughs. “It’s too late for that, baby. I’ve already committed every inch of your body to memory.” He closes his eyes, and the corners of his lips curl up as he seemingly plays back the images of me.

I grab my dress off the counter, balling it up in my fist. I just need to get out of here. I’ll figure everything else out later.

His arm darts out, blocking my exit. “Going somewhere?”

My heart stops. “You drugged me last night.”

I don’t know why I’m stating the obvious. Maybe I’m hoping he’ll deny it.

He looks amused by my statement. “I did.”

There isn’t even a shred of remorse in those cold blue eyes. He’s been invading my body, my mind, my space, and not even a sliver of regret for any of it. If anything, he looks pleased with himself.

I shake my head, tears threatening. “You had no fucking right, Lucas.”

He shrugs one shoulder. “It was either drug you or force you.” His gaze flicks over my face, a smirk on his lips. “But why do I think you would have preferred the latter?”

I clench my teeth and swallow. “You disgust me,” I spit out.

“Disgust you,” he repeats with a shake of his head. His hand moves quickly, grabbing my throat, just below my chin, moving me back, so I’m pressed up against the sink. “Why don’t I believe that?”

His grip isn’t painful, it’s just holding me immobile, a show of force that’s meant to intimidate. And it does. My heart is beating so fast, I feel like I’m about to pass out. Long seconds tick by before he finally releases me.

“Get back in bed,” he commands, moving aside so I can pass.

The last thing I want to do is piss him off, so I do as I’m told, walking barefoot across the cold bathroom tiles and into the bedroom. He’s following close behind as I climb onto his massive bed, and lean against the mountain of soft pillows, half-sitting, half-reclining.

Lucas walks around to the other side of the bed and settles into the spot next to me. He turns toward me, his head propped up on his hand. He’s so casual, you’d think we were on a Sunday picnic.

“Why are you like this?” I’m brave enough to ask somehow.

“Like what?”

I swallow. “I don’t know…evil.”

He laughs at that. “I’m not evil, Wyn. You just think I am, because you’re not willing to face certain parts of yourself.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He lifts slightly and reaches for the blanket that I’m still gripping with white knuckles. He pries the soft fabric out of my hand, spreading it open to reveal my right breast.

One side of his mouth lifts into a smug smile. His warm hand cups my breast, and his thumb flicks over my nipple. It hardens instantly. But his gaze never leaves mine and it feels like he’s reaching into my soul. I know that sounds dumb and slightly dramatic, but it’s the truth.

“You work so hard to be the good girl…” He squeezes my breast, and the pain makes me wince, but it also sends a flash of electricity rushing through me. “But I know your secret, Wyn. I know there’s darkness inside you. Like recognizes like.”

I tear my gaze away from his and try to shift my body away. He’s said this before. He thinks I’m just like him, but I’m not. Lucas is greedy and selfish. And he’s completely unhinged.

“I’m nothing like you,” I say through gritted teeth.

He rises up more until his upper body is hovering over me. “Baby, we’re two halves of one whole, and now that I have you, I’m not letting you go.”

“You don’t have me, Lucas.”

He tilts his head to the side, so he can brush his lips across my earlobe, all the while his fingers are stroking the pendant that hangs around my neck. “Oh, no?” His blunt teeth nip at my skin. The little pinch sends a hot ember tripping down my spine. “Have you already forgotten how good my cock feels inside you?”

I bite back a scoff. Humble much?

But as hard as my mind is fighting him, my body is already melting like butter. I shove his muscular shoulder, and thankfully, he falls away easily. “Let me go home, Lucas.”

He ignores my request, of course. “I could fuck you for days, Wyn, and only want more,” he says. “I don’t think you realize how special that is. I’ve never felt that way about anyone before.”

I blink at him for several seconds.

Yeah, no . I’m not allowing him to make this about sex and sex alone. Any two people can fuck. If he’s claiming we have a connection beyond that, then he’ll have to give me more. He’ll have to open up and bare his black, rotting soul.

“I don’t even know you, Lucas.”

He falls back against the pillows. “That’s a lie. We’ve hung out for over a year now.”

I shake my head. “No, you hung out with Gabriel . Whenever I walked into the room, you wouldn’t even acknowledge I was there.”

Still, he’s not completely wrong. Even if Lucas and I never really spoke, that doesn’t mean I wasn’t watching him. I know he likes his scotch neat, and that he’s pretty brilliant at applied mathematics—when he goes to class. I know he used to be an excellent surfer—so much so that he won a surf championship when he was sixteen. He hardly ever surfs now, though.

The point is, I know all the facts that makeup Lucas West on paper, but who he is as a person…yeah, that’s the mystery.

He shrugs. “So what do you want to know?”