Fractured (Lucian & Lia #2)

I jump in shock when he suddenly palms my core, resting his hand between my legs. “No touching this today, no matter how much you want to. This belongs to me, and I’ll have it tonight.” When I only laugh in reply, he pushes me back against the wall, growling in my ear. “Who owns your *, baby?”


I wonder briefly why his show of dominance after all I’ve been through doesn’t scare me. I think it’s because I want nothing more than to belong to this man and no matter how much he likes to dominate me in bed, I know he would never raise a hand to physically hurt me. Even knowing what he does, he doesn’t treat me as if I’m fragile. He lets me know how much he wants me with every look and every touch. I lower my hand to cover his, until we are both pressing against my damp heat. “You own it, Luc. You and only you.”

Our joined hands are rubbing my aching clit when an amused voice calls through the door. “Come on, kids; Luc needs to go to work now.” We both burst out laughing, feeling like teenagers caught making out. I give him a quick kiss and push him out the door before Sam can see my bedraggled appearance. I’m certain he knows what we were up to, though.

The desire to finish what we started is pounding through me, but I resist. An idea is forming as I walk back toward the kitchen to clean up our breakfast dishes. I have a few hours left to shower and call Debra to catch up before I head downtown to deliver a surprise lunch to Lucian: me.

Lucian

I’m frustrated as I finish my call with Peter Jacks. Peter told me Lee is out of town on business and should be back by the end of the week. I had asked the other man point-blank if his brother had security on Lia. The extra security I have in place at the apartment has noticed a couple of guys who appeared to be doing some type of surveillance. Peter hadn’t wanted to admit anything at first, but when I threatened to have the men arrested the next time, he admitted they were employed by his brother. Truthfully, I’m relieved. Even though I don’t think Jim Dawson could get past my security, I’m still glad to have a few extra sets of eyes on the building.

If not for Lia’s stepfather still being somewhere out there, I’d be happy not to hear from Lee Jacks for a while. He is a ticking time bomb, which I don’t have the time or the energy to deal with right now. Lia and I are in a good place despite the drama of last night. I think we are both at peace with our decision to leave any consequences that arise from our unprotected sex to fate. We will of course use condoms until we know for sure one way or the other, but there is nothing to do now but wait.

I had actually been shocked to discover that Lia felt as I did about not taking the morning-after pill. Even though it would have been hard, I would have supported any decision she made.

When Cassie had found out she was pregnant, she had been determined to have an abortion. I had been in no way ready to be a father, but after losing my parents in an accident, which I had had no control over, I just couldn’t stand the thought of voluntarily ending a life. I had promised Cassie the world if she would go through with the pregnancy.

Even with medication, her mental and emotional health had always been shaky at best. She would be on top of the world one minute and staring at the walls without speaking the next. As close as Aidan and I were to her, she had gone weeks at a time without speaking to us. Then suddenly, out of the blue, she would be back to normal as if nothing had happened. There was never any rhyme or reason to these drastic mood swings, at least that we were aware of. I suspected that much of her troubles centered on her home life, but she never actually came out and admitted that. For all of the years I was friends and then more with her, I find when I think back that I never really knew her.