Page 130 of Scarred in Silence

Lucien leans closer. “They never did, Astra. Not the way you needed. Not the way you deserved.”

He kisses my knee, just once, and I swear I feel it in my ribs.

“I feel free,” I whisper.

His eyes search mine.

“For the first time in my whole life… I feel like I belong to myself.”

He nods, but doesn’t speak. There’s a weight in his silence, like he knows exactly what that kind of freedom costs. Like he’s paid it in blood, too.

“I don’t want to run anymore,” I say.

He doesn’t blink.

“I don’t want to be numb. I want to feel everything—even the pain. Even the grief.”

Lucien presses his forehead to mine. “I’ll feel it with you.”

We sit there like that, skin to skin, heart to heart. And for once, nothing about it feels complicated. Not a power play. Not a trap. Just this.

Just the now. I never want it to end.

I want to feel him. I need to feel him.

I stand, giving him a needy look. He chuckles. I sprint to the bedroom.

He always knows what I need. Even in the silence.

46

Astra

The bedroom door closes behind us, and I grab him.

My fingers twist into his shirt, yanking him down until our mouths crash together—hard, brutal, messy.

I taste fury and pride and the twisted satisfaction that I finally said everything I needed to say to the people who never deserved to be called my parents.

Lucien’s hands slide under my thighs, lifting me like I weigh nothing. My back slams against the nearest wall, and I don’t care that it might bruise. I hope it bruises. I want to carry the aftermath like a trophy.

“You were perfect,” he growls against my throat, voice all gravel and reverence. “Fucking perfect.”

I yank his belt free, impatient, drunk on the way he’s looking at me—like I’m the goddamn war he’s been training his whole life for.

“Prove it,” I whisper.

“Show me I’m not just your good little project. Show me that I’m your Siren.”

That’s all it takes.

Hespins, drops me on the bed, and yanks his shirt off like it’s choking him.

“I’m not fucking you soft tonight,” he warns, dragging my leggings off in one brutal pull. “This is reward and punishment.”

I smirk. “Earned both.”

“Damn right you did.”