6

EVELINE

Lucian's eyes darkened, but he didn’t reply.

He simply held out a hand, gesturing for her to follow him out of the room.

Eveline took another look at her unconscious father, with the butler still sitting beside him. Then she followed Lucian.

His face was blank again. He made it look so easy. Maybe it came with being a doctor, to keep one's face without emotion.

He was so different from the wolf that had ravaged her that night in the hotel room…

They were now in a room that was smaller than the parlour, with leather chairs and wide windows that showed the little forest beyond.

“I didn’t expect to see you so soon,” he said. “Not after this morning.”

She turned to face him, arms crossed tightly over her chest. “My father was ill. What did you expect?”

“That you would offer terms.”

“I did have terms,” she reminded him. “I said no sex, it was a one time thing only.”

“I meant other terms.”

His sharp blue eyes seemed to twinkle again as he studied her.

She shifted uncomfortably. “Just tell me what-?”

He closed the distance between them the next second. Eveline’s back hit the edge of a side table as he loomed over her.

The only thing she could breathe was his scent: rich musk, sandalwood, and a warm thread of vanilla. It wrapped around her like smoke, like incense, invading every sense of her being.

Her knees weakened. That night in the hotel room, he hadn’t smelled like this. She tried to hold his gaze, even though her belly was a storm and heat flooded her entire body.

“You seem really eager to do whatever it takes,” he murmured in that rumbling voice.

“I-I’m just doing what any daughter should,” she replied, hating how shaky her voice sounded.

“Oh, really? Then why hasn't your sister shown interest in your father's plight?”

Eveline’s eyes started to widen but Lucian's hand grabbed her chin, lifting it upwards until they were close. So close.

She could feel his aura now, that of an alpha, thick and commanding, flooding her nose. The fresh bite mark on her neck felt hot, pulsing along with her heartbeat.

He seemed to notice it too, as his fingers traced the sensitive skin just below her ear, caressing the mark with deliberate slowness.

Goosebumps erupted across her arms and down her spine. She couldn’t control it. Her body betrayed her completely, leaning into his touch even as her mind screamed to pull away.

“Such a good little girl, aren't you?” He murmured.

“Please-” Her voice was a hoarse whisper.

Nothing seemed to make sense anymore.

He was leaning in now. Her eyes fluttered shut, lips parting slightly, waiting to taste him. She wanted him now, so bad.

Instead, his breath ghosted across her ear.

“I want nothing in exchange for my help,” he whispered. “I am not that kind of man.”

He started to pull back, and Eveline felt herself lean up on her toes, ready to grab his lips and-

A soft cough broke the silence.

She pulled back, to find Howard standing at the entrance. His face was a mask of indifference.

“Dinner will be served shortly, sir. Any special requests?”

“No, Howard, thank you.”

The steward bowed and disappeared as quietly as he had appeared.

Eveline pulled at the hem of her dress, smoothing it down in a futile attempt to regain composure. But it was useless. She had fallen apart like a stack of blocks, ready to cross her own line.

And then she couldn’t deny the slick heat between her thighs. Her body was aching, traitorous, already yearning for him again.

“Well. That was intense,” Lucian said.

He stepped back just enough for her to draw a full breath.

“Get a grip of yourself, Evie.”

“I'm fine,” she mumbled.

“Really? Because I don't think your wolf is. Oh, I can feel her now, how aroused she is for me.”

Eveline bit her lip, trying hard to stop the blood rushing to her face. Her wolf had always been dormant. But now, she could feel her under her skin, like a rushing storm.

She felt like a fucking clown. Getting wet again over a man she had declared a one-time mistake only hours earlier.

“If this continues, you’ll be wet for me day after day. Even though you claim you don’t want this.”

“You know nothing about me,” she snapped.

His gaze fell to the mark on her neck. “One night is enough to learn a whole lot about you.”

Her wolf was growling now, pacing, moaning in her head.

‘Let him bend us over that couch. Remember what that was like?’ ‘I want him so fucking bad.’ ‘Let us taste him again.’ ‘Oh, that good tool stretching us like-’

“Stop,” she thought fiercely at her wolf.

Why fight it? her wolf pressed. He’s nothing like that weak nephew of his. Lucian is a proper alpha, he'll claim us properly. Fill us until we’re dripping wet, make us scream-

“He’s still a Vale. That's all that matters.”

And yet. Yet, he'd fucked her so good, she wanted more.

He was staring against her brow, like he was reading her thoughts.

She turned abruptly and fled the room, head down low so she wouldn’t have his face. Her steps were quick, almost stumbling, as she made her way back toward the west wing.

She was glad her father hadn’t witnessed any of this; his daughter, reduced to a trembling, aroused mess by the very man who held his life in his hands.

She couldn’t afford these feelings. Not now.