Chapter 20
Lucas
She didn’t respond as I did the same to the left, careful to leave the tie loose enough in case she needed to break away. I didn’t want to hurt her. We had hurt each other enough already. I would never have thought that something like this was ever possible for me—for us.
I didn’t deserve her, but I sure as hell wasn’t about to give her up.
I climbed onto the bed and straddled her, my cock brushing her stomach. “I want to hear you scream my name,” I told her, my hand roving up her side possessively. “I want to hear my name on your lips, Leda.”
She sucked in a breath as I reached her breast, brushing her nipple lightly. Every fiber in my body wanted me to just bury myself in her warmth, the need nearly bringing me to my knees, but I couldn’t.
Not yet.
Leaning down, I pressed my lips to her temple, tracing them down to her cheek before using my tongue to trace the outer shell of her ear.
“You shouldn’t have put yourself in danger, Leda,” I whispered into her ear, my hand kneading her breast lightly. “Those things get you in trouble.”
“I know,” she breathed. “Maybe that’s why I did it.”
I wouldn’t put it past her. Holding in my chuckle, I moved my lips to her jawline, nipping at the skin there.
“Maybe you did,” I said along her skin. “That would make you as twisted as I am.”
Leda’s eyes opened, and I saw something in their depths that made me pause. “Maybe so,” she said softly. “But every touch you give me now, Lucas? I can feel the love there. I know it’s there, and nothing you do can ever change that.”
Fuck, she knew how to humble a man. I snarled at her and clamped my lips around her nipple, tugging until she cried out in pleasure. Now wasn’t the time for words. When I switched to the other breast, Leda struggled against the bonds.
“Oh,” she breathed as I swirled my tongue around the taut nipple. “Lucas.”
Her name on my lips was like coming home for me. No one, no fucking one, had ever cared about me like this, and I knew that there could be nothing that she did that would ever turn me away from her.
I probably would give her the dagger to shove in my fucking heart if she asked.
“Beg,” I whispered against her skin, moving my lips to her stomach. For a moment I paused, my scarred hand caressing the small bump there. Inside was a kid who was going to have me as a father. Me—the bastard kid who had grown to be a monster. I had nothing to give in return, nothing.
My throat worked, and I realized I was close to tears just thinking about it. Someday there would be a child, a son or daughter, who would rely on me for everything. My child would expect me to keep him or her safe, to provide and not have this shit going on right now.
Now I understood the sacrifices Nico had made for his family. I now understood why he had given up everything for them.
It made perfect sense. And it was a sobering thought.
I pushed the thought out of my mind, and leaned down to kiss Leda’s stomach lightly, praying to whoever was still listening to me that this gift safe might be kept safe from the cruelties of the world.
I stole Leda, bought her, and took everything from her. She had every right to want to leave, every right to deny me this child. She had every right to make sure that our child grew up without my dark influence.
But she didn’t.
And if she didn’t, then I was willing to try—willing to change.
When I settled myself between her thighs, I raised my head to meet her gaze. “Are you ready to take your punishment?”
She opened her mouth but then shut it, nodding instead.
I lowered my head to the glistening center of her body, inhaling the sweet scent of her arousal. She was ready for me, dripping wet, and I could feel my own cock pressing painfully into the cover, wanting a piece of what I held in my hands.
Not yet.
She hadn’t learned her lesson yet, though I didn’t really have a fucking clue what lesson I was trying to teach her now.