Page 33 of Lucas (The Valeur Billionaires #2)

“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 fire from 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.

“Run out of smart comments, Wifey?” He cocks a dark brow. “Good. You don’t need that bratty mouth right now. Only one thing matters.”

In a blur of movement, he fists his hands in the delicate fabric of my dress and yanks hard. The flimsy cloth shreds with a sharp ripping sound, baring my body to his hungry eyes. Torn scraps of silver flutter to the floor around our feet.

“My dress!” I gasp, trying to cover myself.

Lucas captures my wrists, pinning them to the wall above my head with one large hand. “Uh-uh, no hiding from me.” His molten gaze drags over my exposed figure like a physical caress. “Fuck, you’re perfect. So goddamn perfect.”

The raw reverence in his deep voice steals my breath. No one has ever looked at me the way he is right now—like I’m the only woman in the world. Like he wants to worship me and devour me at the same time. Not even my past lovers made me feel this desired, this powerful.

I shift under the intensity of his stare, a blush staining my cheeks. I’m not used to being the focus of such blatant male hunger. It’s unnerving and thrilling at the same time .

An unfamiliar emotion swells in my chest. Not just lust but something deeper, more dangerous.

Oh no. I can’t let myself feel this way. Not about Lucas. Getting attached to my fake husband is a one-way ticket to Heartbreak City. I’m just a contracted diversion to him. A challenge to conquer.

I turn my head as he leans in, evading his seeking mouth. “No,” I grit out. “We can’t. I can’t.”

He rears back like I slapped him, his eyes widening. “No?” Confusion and frustration war on his features.

Keeping my gaze averted, I scoop up the ruined remains of my dress and hold them to my chest like a skimpy shield. “I can’t do this.”

“Can’t or won’t?” The words are soft. Laced with something that sounds like hurt.

I risk a peek at him. He looks different. Vulnerable. The cocky mask is absent for once.

Is it possible my rejection bothers him on some level? That he wants me as more than a disposable bed warmer?

I shake off the folly of those thoughts. I’m just a game to a man like him. A conquest.

Wrapping the tattered dress tighter around myself, I square my shoulders. “Does it matter? The outcome is the same.”

Sighing, he drags a hand through his mussed hair. “Fine. Go change, and I’ll drive you to the party.” His jaw tics. “If you still want to go.”

I gape at him. “Seriously? After...this?”

His gaze hardens. “You’re not going alone. Either I accompany you or you stay here tonight. The choice is yours. ”

Unbelievable. Condescending, controlling Lucas is back in full force.

“So you can pull cave dweller moves all night?” I snap. “Hovering and grunting at any man who dares speak to me? No thanks.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to get my point across.”

I hitch up my dress and spin on my heel. “Then I guess I’m staying in. Happy now?”

As I stomp away with the torn train of my dress fluttering behind me like a glittery battle flag, I pretend I don’t feel his eyes searing a hole in my back the entire way.