I Want An Heir

Lucien’s Pov

It's just the two of us in the penthouse now, the city lights below us.

I step up behind her without saying a word, inhaling the scent of her, the perfume I bought her, layered over the faint, sweet scent of the girl I remember from when I was Nineteen. I slide my hands over her shoulders, pulling her back to me. She stiffens, a small gasp escaping her, before she goes unnervingly still.

Mine, my mind whispers. A dark, possessive chant that has only grown louder with time. But even as it rises, part of me wonders if I’ve mistaken ownership for love.

"You were perfect tonight," I murmur against her skin as my lips graze the curves of her neck. I can feel her pulse fluttering, erratic and wild.

I turn her slowly. I want to see the fire in her eyes, even if it's fueled by hate. I kiss her without asking. My hand finds the zipper of her dress, the cool metal sliding down as I trace the bare line of her back. As the silk loosens, I let my fingers trail over the bare skin of her shoulders, mapping the dip of her collarbone with a hunger that feels like an actual ache in my bones.

She allows it as her hand finds my chest, gripping the silk of my shirt. I follow the line of her jaw with my mouth, then the side of her neck down to her breast, enough to draw a sharp breath from her.

"Please... be mine, lo," I say softly against her skin.

I lift her, pinning her between the cold glass of the window and the heat of my body. My hand moves up her thigh, the fabric gathering beneath my fingers. She tips her head back, her eyes closing, and the noise of everything else fades, leaving only us.

I feel a surge of something, triumph, maybe, until she pulls back. Just enough to breathe and look me in the eye.

"What changed, Lucien?" her voice is barely above a whisper, but it’s enough.

I pause, my forehead resting against hers as my heart thunders like a drum. "What do you mean?"

"Nine years ago," she says, searching my eyes for the boy she once loved, "the mere mention of a mistake, of a pregnancy... turned you into a stranger. You looked at me like I was a disease. You actually left me all by myself because you were terrified of being tied down. Of having a family!"

She steps away from me, smoothing the silk of her dress back into place. "And now? Now you're not scared anymore? You’re forcing me into a marriage?"

I flinch inwardly as if she’d struck me. She doesn’t know. She thinks I walked away because I didn't care or was terrified to have a family? I spent nights sitting in my car miles away from your house, gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles bled, screaming at my father’s voice in my head. Power wasn't in my hands then. I was just a boy with a trust fund and a father who would have crushed you into the dirt just to teach me a lesson. I left to save you from the monster who shared my DNA!

The old bitterness rises in my throat, but I shove it down. I don't like remembering the boy I was, the one who ran. I’m a man who builds empires now.

"I was just a boy then, Lo."

"I was also just a girl!" she cries, her voice breaking. "I had nothing! No safety net, no rich relative, nothing. Yet I still chose you.”

She laughs, sharp, incredulous. “Just a boy?” she repeats. “But you weren’t a boy when you took my virginity. You weren’t a boy when you promised me forever.” Her gaze locks onto mine, steady and unforgiving. “So tell me. After all those reckless, unending sex we had back then, what exactly did you think would come with it? A teddy bear? A thank-you card?”

Her laugh cracks at the edges, brittle, almost painful. It slices into me.

“I had a lot to lose,” I admit, stepping closer. “A legacy. A line of succession.” My hand hovers near her, but I don’t touch. “Things are different now, I don’t just want a wife, Lo. I need an heir. I want my child to have your face.”

The word succession hangs in the air, heavy. I see the shock in her eyes, the way something in her shuts down. The shock in her eyes hardens into something colder, deeper.

"Succession?" Her voice trembles with a different kind of hurt. “You’re not talking about a family, Lucien. You’re talking about a contract. About securing your empire with someone who looks familiar. Tell me. How is now any different from then? What are you so afraid of losing that you need to..."

My phone vibrates on the table. I ignore it, my eyes still on her. It vibrates again. And again.

I growl, reaching for it. Kris. My uncle. The man who holds more of the Vale secrets than I do.

"I have to take this," I mutter, the intimacy in the room vanishing into cold reality.

I pull my coat back on, the weight of the wool a familiar burden. I can’t look at her. Not yet. If I do, I might reveal more than I should.

"Stay here," I say, my hand on the door handle. "Don't open the door for anyone. I'll be back soon."

I walk out, the lock clicking behind me. I have an empire to defend, and a fiancée who still doesn't realize she’s the only prize worth keeping.

I know this moment will linger for her, like a shadow, long after I’m gone. And I know… I will carry it with me, too.