Page 196 of Powerhouse: Boxed Set
I guess Lucian Morelli read something in me I didn’t want to admit to reading in myself. He didn’t bother wrestling me alongside him when he stepped up to the door and slipped the key into the lock, just left me there, staring after him.
Part of me begged me to run and at least give it a shot at escaping, but no. I found myself locked in position by nothing but my own mind, my arms wrapped tight around my chest.
He pushed the door open and looked back over his shoulder, and the hate in his eyes was tinged with something more. Something I felt all the way through to my core.
“Come and meet your fate, little doll,” he said, and it was insane, just how much of a little doll I felt under his stare. Docile and somehow innocent, despite what had been done to me.
I should never have considered it, not even for a heartbeat, but he beckoned me with his finger, and I found myself moving. My feet took on a life of their own as I stepped forward, my clutch still gripped tightly under my arm. I was shaking, from too much crappy beer as much as anything else, but shaking nonetheless.
I watched him swallow as he realized just how hard I was trembling.
He liked that.
I walked past him and into the hallway of the apartment building—my cheap escape from my expensive life. Jemma was away for the month, chasing down some environmental peace on some ocean liner somewhere, just as she had been doing on and off since we were teenagers.
I should’ve been with her.
Once upon a time, I believed I would be. We’d planned to fix the oceans, and save the whales, and help anyone who needed helping, but I couldn’t do it. My life wouldn’t let me.
Myfamilywouldn’t let me.
No, that wasn’t quite true. It was my secrets that truly broke me.
I didn’t bother letting Lucian find the way upstairs to Jemma’s apartment, just snatched the keys from his hand and led the way. The other doors were all closed tight, no doubt their occupants holed up in bed. The door to number seven was right at the end of the upstairs corridor.
I pushed the key into the lock, opening the door and stepping in ahead of Lucian. I didn’t even attempt to shut the door in his face, only led the way in for him to follow.
He found the light switch as soon as he was in after me, his eyes checking out the neat little hallway around us. Jemma really was a sweet soul in her eccentricity. She had a handmade tapestry of a whale by a boat hanging proudly above my head and a picture of her charity friends by the kitchen doorway. Cheerful compared to the darkness of the moment.
I could see the questioning glance on Lucian’s face as he wondered about our surroundings. I answered him before he spoke.
“It’s my friend Jemma’s place. She’s away saving the world. Please don’t leave bloodstains on her carpet for her to come home to.”
He didn’t reply, just stepped in after me as I headed through to the kitchen. Jemma’s coffee machine was waiting ready on the counter, just like always, and I got it fired up without a word.
I dumped my clutch on the side and grabbed a mug from the cupboard, then held another up for the monster. “Hey, asshole. How about a coffee before you hurt me?”
I must have pushed him too far. He was on me in seconds, slamming me into the countertop as the mugs went crashing to the floor with a smash.Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
But it wasn’t Lucian Morelli’s hands that attacked me next…it was his mouth. His lips. His breaths. His desire. He was fierce as he ripped my coat from my shoulders and flung it aside. His fingers were savage as they tore at my dress, ripping it clean open, revealing my lace bra.
Kisses. Hot kisses. Deep kisses.
I wanted them. Oh, fuck, I wanted them.
“Don’t fucking speak to me like that again,” he said, squeezing my face in one big hand. “Or I’ll wash your mouth out with soap.”
I don’t know what consumed me as I wrapped my arms around his neck. I didn’t know what depths of insanity were possible until I panted into the next round of kisses and rode the pang of desperation for more.
This was doomed. Forbidden. Madness on every level.
With another deep kiss, the beautiful monster yanked me away from the countertop and pushed me backwards into the hallway, charging us both through into the darkness of the living room. He threw me down onto the floor so hard I tumbled onto my knees, but that didn’t matter.
He got the light and was down on me in a heartbeat.
A feral animal.
The fabric tore right open. He was strong. So damn strong I was just a doll in his arms. I closed my eyes and let him strip me, knowing full well what would be coming.Wantingwhat was coming.
