Chapter 1 ONE

CORINNE   "Get on the bed," Lucian's rough voice cut through the silence with an authority that turned my knees to water. "On all fours." I froze. For a second, my limbs simply refused to cooperate. "Now," he snapped. The sharp command broke my trance. I tore my eyes from his and immediately crawled to the center of the mattress, letting my back dip into a sinful arch. Every instinct screamed at the raw vulnerability of the position, yet my body yielded completely to his gravity. From the corner of my eye, I saw his fists clench, almost as though he were forcing himself not to close the distance too quickly. When he finally stepped onto the bed behind me, the mattress dipped, and I stiffened in hyper-awareness, bracing for impact. A sharp breath sucked into my lungs as his fingers tangled firmly into my hair, pulling my head back until my bare spine was plastered flush against the burning wall of his chest. I opened my mouth to speak, but the words were instantly stolen when his teeth grazed my earlobe. A second later, his tongue traced the shell, dipping inside. A loud, unhinged moan tore from my throat, the vibration rattling through both of our bodies. He leaned back just enough to ghost his lips against my ear, his breath hot and dangerous. "I'm not going to be gentle with you, kitten." I heaved a shaky breath, letting my head fall back heavily against his shoulder. "I'll castrate you if you try to be gentle with me." Lucian stilled for a fraction of a second. Then, a low rumble-halfway between a dark laugh and a rough breath-escaped him. "Jesus," he whispered against my skin. "Where have you been all my life, kitten?" In your dreams...   LUCIAN   I crowded her until she was caged between the cold marble counter and the heat of my body. She gulped, her eyes wide. "Wh...at are you doing?" I didn't give her the satisfaction of an answer. Instead, I reached down, grabbed the back of her thighs, and hoisted her up. Her arms immediately flew around my neck and her legs locked tightly around my waist to keep her balance. My hands settled on her hips, and I quietly watched as her breath got choppier and shallower every time I rubbed a slow pattern against her soft skin. Right now, lust had completely clouded every other sense I possessed. I just burned with the primal need to get off. "Lucian..." she breathed. "I want in, kitten," I growled, my voice sounding like it was being dragged over gravel. I kept my eyes locked on hers as my hands moved lower. "How sore are you?" Her fingers lightly pulled at the hair at the nape of my neck, grounding herself. "Enough to know better," she whispered, a reckless tilt to her lips. "But not enough to reject a quick fix." My hands disappeared under the hem of the shirt-my shirt-and she arched her neck with a loud, breathy moan the second my fingertips found her. She wasn't wearing any panties; there was nothing but slick, swollen heat waiting for me. I made quick work of my sweats, then pulled her flush against me, dragging her until her hips were right on the edge of the marble sink top. "Lucian... please," she pleaded with glassy eyes as she gripped my shoulders. "No teasing. Just... please." Snaking one hand back under her shirt, I grazed her peaked nipples before moving higher until my palm wrapped firmly around the front of her neck. I tilted her head back, forcing her to look directly at me. Only then did I guide myself in, our eyes locked together in the dim light. The ecstasy of her heat wrapping and clenching around me as I found home was even better than I remembered from a few hours ago. She was impossibly tight, even after a night of being stretched out, and the way she took me in one long, slow slide made my knees weak. A tiny whimper left her as her hands flew up-not to pull my hand off her neck, but to press it tighter against her throat, urging me to take absolute control. "Fuck..." I groaned, leaning my forehead against hers. "You take me so well, honey." She opened her eyes then-those beautiful hazel orbs that were now pooled with tears at the corners-and locked onto mine. "Lucian," she whispered. "Destroy me, please." I smirked. She was made for me-a perfect, chaotic match for my own darkness, and I was never letting her go. Ever. And the most grating, beautiful thing about the thought? As I drove into her, feeling her pulse throb beneath my thumb and her walls shivering around my hardness, I realized that I wasn't bothered by the discovery at all. I was exactly where I belonged. And if given the chance to go back to when we first met, I'd choose this again...