جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 70

For a moment, Lucas Storm actually froze.Just for a heartbeat.A thrum of satisfaction pulsed through me, sweet and wicked. Brilliant.Then his hand dropped from my face.“Beth!” His voice cracked like a whip.I didn’t flinch.The door opened almost immediately, and I watched his gaze stay locked on mine, hard, unblinking, full of warning.“Send her to bed,” he ordered, his tone clipped. “No treatment. Nothing.”I kept my chin up, meeting him evenly.Horrified? Maybe.Smiling? Absolutely.A small, teasing curl of my lips, letting him know exactly what I thought of his little command.I’d won this round. That much was clear.He was sending me off with a bruised backside—courtesy of Lucas Storm.“Great,” I said flatly, voice dripping with sarcasm.Then, just loud enough for him to hear, I muttered, “Just how I like it. I get to feel the sensation even more.”I spun on my heel, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing anything else.If I lingered, I might lose control and actuall

“Lucas…” she breathed, her fingers tangling in his hair as pleasure rolled over her in dizzying waves. Her body arched helplessly into his mouth, each stroke of his lips unraveling her.When he finally lifted his head, her lips were already parted, desperate, and he claimed them in a fierce, hungry kiss. Their mouths crashed together, heat pouring between them as his hands roamed upward, sliding over the thin fabric of her top, tugging, searching. He moved with urgency, as though nothing would stop him—until suddenly, he did.His hand stilled, abandoning her body to brush against her hair. He pushed back the messy strands that fell across her flushed face, pausing when his fingers lingered on the uneven edges of her badly chopped locks.“Lucas?” she whispered, searching his eyes, her voice unsteady.But he said nothing. And then without warning, he pulled away.Her chest rose and fell in ragged breaths as he stood, his gaze unreadable, his body rigid. For one perilous moment, he had a

Lucas spoke easily with the men around him, his voice low, measured, his expression giving nothing away. I sat quietly at his side, pretending to be still, trying to be invisible, pretending not to notice the hopeless shells kneeling by the feet of their masters. Their eyes were lifeless, their bodies obedient but broken. The longer I stared, the sicker I felt.The air in this place was thick, cloying. It stank of sex and sweat, smoke and alcohol, undercut by something artificial cheap perfume, burning incense, a sweetness meant to cover rot. Instead, it only made it worse.At one point, Lucas’s hand left the small of my back, releasing me. Go ahead, his eyes seemed to say. For the first time since arriving, I was allowed to walk on my own. Walking ahead. But freedom here was no freedom at all.I drifted away slowly, my gaze darting from one corner of the lounge to the next. Everywhere I looked there were hands, mouths, sounds of skin on skin. Women bent over tables, pressed against w

Few minutes earlier. Arabella. “Wait,” I called out, and she paused, glancing back at me.She rushed over, her expression frantic, eyes burning with something that felt dangerously close to desperation. “Come with me. Look—just take off the collar and we can go!” she shrieked, her voice sharp enough to make me flinch.It was as though her very life depended on it.For someone who just met me, she seemed really concerned about my escape. My fingers drifted up, fiddling with the metal around my neck. My mind spun with questions, unease crawling through me. Lucas had warned me—don’t take it off for any reason. I could still hear his voice, steady and absolute.But the woman’s words echoed too. She said it was tracked. And it made sense, didn’t it?If I was to successfully escape I had to take it off. It made sense. Still, I hesitated. I couldn’t bring myself to obey so quickly. Something inside me resisted.“Come on, let’s go,” she urged again, gripping my hand so tightly it hurt. “T

“Lucas?” My voice was barely a whisper as I stirred awake, the sound of his name breaking from my lips before I was even fully aware I’d spoken it.The air around me was saturated with him. His scent—rich, steady, unmistakably his—clung to my skin, to the worn leather of the car, to every shallow breath I took. It was grounding, pulling me back from the edges of panic, even as my body still trembled from the aftermath.I pushed myself upright, realizing with a start that I’d been leaning against him. The realization brought a sharp sting of relief. He was alive. We both were. We’d left that nightmare behind.But as quickly as it came, comfort twisted into something else—something darker. The dread returned, curling through me like smoke I couldn’t cough out.“Lucas,” I whispered again, softer this time, almost pleading. “Please… don’t ever take me somewhere like that again.”For a moment, silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating. Then his head turned, eyes locking onto mine