Page 83 of Lucas

“I am still your goddamn husband, Ava.” His full lips peelback in a sneer, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “If you put this scrap of fabric on to piss me off and goad me into losing control, then bravo, you succeeded. Now go change into something that covers your ass, or so help me God...” He trails off, his voice a dark promise.

“Or what? You’ll spank me? Bend me over your knee like a naughty girl?” I shouldn’t bait him, but I can’t seem to stop running my foolish mouth. Adrenaline zinged with desire pumps through my veins, making me reckless.

“Don’t tempt me,” he growls through gritted teeth. “The way you’re acting right now, you’re damn well asking for it. Believe me, it would be a pleasure to redden that pert little ass until you can’t sit for a week.”

A whimper escapes my lips at his dark words, at the searing images flooding my brain. My panties are beyond damp now, my nipples hard points against the metallic fabric.

I can’t let him win. I have to stand my ground, prove I’m not his meek little wife.

I set my shoulders, glowering up at him. “Everything’s always about you, isn’t it? Poor Lucas, the world revolves around his giant ego. Newsflash—not everything I do is about you. I want to go have fun and let loose for once in my miserable life, and this is what I choose to wear. Deal with it.”

A tic pulses in his stubborn jaw. “Last chance. Go put on something that covers more than a fucking bandage, Ava. I won’t ask again.”

“Or what?” I spit back, jutting my chin at him. His threats are empty.

Lucas leans down until the tip of his nose almost brushes mine. His voice is a dark rasp, raising all the tiny hairs on my nape. “Or I’ll accompany you to this little cockbuffet to make certain no man gets within ten feet of you. I’ll hover over you all night and glower at any fucker who dares make eye contact. I’ll be your hulking, growling shadow.”

I should be irritated at his blatant cave dweller act, but instead, a twisted thrill dances down my spine at his possessiveness.

“There’s nothing for you to worry your pretty little head over,” I simper with false sweetness. “I have no intention of violating the terms of our lovely little contract. I’ll keep my knees locked together like a good girl.”

“It’s not you I’m worried about, Wifey.” His full lips twist in a mean smirk as he braces a hand on the wall by my head, crowding me with his bulk. “It’s all the poor schmucks who’ll take one look at you in this scrap of shiny fabric and start thinking with their dicks. They’ll be tripping over their tongues to get into your panties.”

I can’t hold back an unladylike snort at that. I open my mouth to deliver a pithy retort, then snap it shut as his expression shifts into something raw and hungry.

“You have no idea, do you?” he murmurs, almost to himself, a crease between his dark brows as his searing gaze sweeps over my face, cataloging my features. “How goddamn beautiful you are? How utterly fuckable you look, like a sinful angel? There’s not a red-blooded man alive who could resist you, all wrapped up like a shiny present begging to be unwrapped.”

A mortifying whimper escapes my parted lips as his words wash over me. Branded everywhere his eyes touch, my skin prickles with goosebumps in the overheated air.

“I— Including you?” I breathe, feeling bold.Reckless. I want to see how far I can push him before that legendary control of his snaps like a rubber band.

Something dangerous sparks in the depths of his eyes.

“Fuck, yes,” he grates out. “Especially me. You’re all I’ve been able to think about since I had a taste of your sweet honey. It’s driving me to the brink of madness.” His sinful tongue darts out to wet his lips.

I can’t drag my gaze away from the tempting sight.

“I’m a fucking addict,” he adds, “and you’re my drug of choice. I want more, I want all of you.”

I let out a breathy whimper as Lucas grazes his teeth over my sensitive lower lip, nibbling and tugging. Electric sparks zing through my nerve endings at the erotic sensation.

“Stop me now, Ava,” he rasps against my tingling flesh. “Tell me to stop while you still can.”

His deft fingers slip under the delicate straps of my dress, skimming my bare shoulders and collarbone and sending shivers down my spine as he traces maddening patterns on my overheated skin.

“And if I don’t?” I breathe, gazing up at him from under my lashes. “What if I don’t want you to stop?”

My body throbs and pulses, my blood turning to molten lava in my veins. I’ve never wanted anything as much as I want Lucas’s hands on me at this moment.

His chiseled features tighten as his scorching blue gaze rakes over me. “Then I’ll take you right here, against this wall,” he promises, his large hands gripping my hips. “I’ll bury myself in your tight little pussy until you scream my name and forget your own. Until the only image in your pretty head is my cock driving into you.”

Oh God. The gravel and sin in his voice sets me on firefrom the inside out. When he says it like that, plucking at my body like a maestro, I turn into a molten, needy mess.

The thought of his hard, muscular body pressing me into the wall, his weight pinning me in place as he takes me... I can’t form a coherent argument against it. I don’t want to stop him. To stop this. Even though I know I should.

“Last chance, Ava,” he warns, his chest heaving. “Tell me to stop. Now.”

I part my lips, but no words come out. I gape at him, desire and indecision warring inside me.