54 Difficult
Mara
I sat curled in the corner, broken.
I had tried everything. Tried to breathe through it. Tried to remind myself that I was strong. That I had endured worse. That this, too, would pass.
But I couldn’t stop the tears.
I couldn’t stop the ache.
I loved him too much. That was the problem.
Even if he said he was over her, having Tina in our home-in our wing-was too much. Too close. Too dangerous.
Old emotions didn’t need much to spark back to life, and I couldn’t watch that happen. I couldn’t sit at breakfast while she stared at him, while he was forced to acknowledge her needs-needs that involved the child growing inside her.
I wiped my face and stood.
I needed space. I needed to get out before I drowned in the weight of it all. I would go to my parents for a while. Just until
I could breathe again.
I moved toward the closet, already thinking about what to pack when the door opened behind me.
“Mara,” Lucian said, breathless. “Mara-”
I didn’t respond. I didn’t even look at him. His father was right. He should have ended it the moment he accepted our
engagement.
I stepped into the bedroom, heading toward the closet, but he was right behind me. He caught me before I could reach the door, pulling me into his arms from behind.
I tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let go.
He held me tightly, his chest pressed against my back, his arms wrapping around me like he could keep everything from falling apart if he just held on hard enough. He bent, resting his chin on my shoulder, his lips close to my ear.
“Please, Mara,” he whispered, his voice thick.
And I broke.
Completely.
Tears surged again, raw and unstoppable.
“He’s right,” Lucian said, his voice shaking. “My father is right. This is my fault. All of it. But please, Mara… don’t leave me
alone in this.”
I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move. I just cried.
“I should’ve ended it the second we were engaged,” he continued. “I shouldn’t have slept with her. I knew better. I let it drag on, and now… I know I messed up. But I swear-I’ll fix this.”
I shook my head. “You can’t fix this, Lucian,” I whispered. “She’s moving into our wing. She’ll sit with us at breakfast. You’ll have to look after her. Even if you don’t touch her, she’ll need you. She’ll expect you. So where does that leave me?”
I reached up, fingers brushing the mark on my neck-his mark. Wishing, for a moment, that I could take it back. That I
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could undo the claiming and walk away without it destroying me.
“No, Lucian said quickly, catching my hands. “No, Mara. Please don’t do that.”
He gently pulled my hands down and trapped them inside his, holding them tight against his chest.
“Please,” he whispered again, his voice raw. “Please, Mara. Don’t leave me.”
“She’ll be here soon, Lucian,” I said, forcing my voice to sound calm. Controlled. As if I were handling it all with grace.” You’ll need to assign her a room in this wing. And a servant.”
He looked at me like I’d slapped him, but I kept going.
“And forget the house hunting,” I added, voice colder than I meant. “I don’t want a small house anymore. Not now-not with Tina and her pups in our lives. The Nighthorn mansion will be perfect.”
His arms tightened around me as if he could stop the weight of those words from crushing both of us.
“I wish I could take it all back, Mara,” he whispered, his voice cracking. “I know this has been hurting you from the start, even when you try to hide it. Please, forgive me. It wasn’t about spite. Or disrespect.”
I didn’t want to hear the rest. I’d already heard enough.
I wriggled free, but he held me, gently but firmly, pulling me closer like he was afraid I’d disappear altogether. His face buried in my neck, he breathed me in.
“She means nothing to me,” he growled. “She’s wasting her time. She’ll never get through you. She’ll regret coming here.”
He pressed a kiss against the mark on my neck, then licked my earlobe, slow and deliberate.
Still, I didn’t respond.
He turned me around to face him and kissed me-desperate, full of pleading.
I tried to push him away, but he moved with me, and suddenly I was on the bed, my back hitting the mattress as he
hovered above me, his arms caging me in.
“You are my life, Mara. My love. Don’t let her win,” he said, eyes searching mine. “Please.”
His voice echoed in my mind through our bond.
But I turned my head, avoiding his gaze, even though my chest was rising and falling too fast, and my body betrayed me.
A small moan escaped when he kissed my neck again.
I hated that I still wanted him. That even with all the pain, my body remembered love.
He unbuttoned my blouse with trembling hands, then unhooked my bra, lowering his mouth to my skin like he needed it
just to keep breathing.
He kissed, sucked, worshipped-as if this was the last thing tethering him to hope.
And I… was dangerously close to letting it be.
I tried to control my reaction, but my body betrayed me.
It wanted him-desperately. Lucian’s hand slipped beneath my skirt, and when he felt how soaked I was, he groaned
softly.
He undressed me slowly, deliberately, then stripped himself. When his body hovered over mine, he leaned in close and linked to me.
“I’m all yours, Mara. My heart, my body, my soul-they belong to you. Please… don’t let her win.”
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54 Difficult
Then he moved between my thighs and worshipped me with his mouth.
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I couldn’t hold back. The moans spilled out of me uncontrollably. And in that moment, something inside me cracked open. The pain, the anger, the heartbreak-it was still there. But so was love. So was us.
The truth was, I couldn’t leave him. Not really. And deep down, I knew he couldn’t leave me either. We were mated.
Claimed. Entwined.
Alpha Vander had been right about Tina’s motives. She hadn’t just made a mistake-she’d made a move. A calculated one. And maybe, if I had been dating Darian back then, I wouldn’t have walked away either.
But I wasn’t going to let her win.
Lucian brought me to the edge and over in no time.
My body arched as I came under his touch. He moved up to kiss me, and I could taste myself on his lips. It should’ve embarrassed me. It didn’t.
“Let me, Mara?” he whispered.
He entered me slowly, reverently, as if reasserting everything that was ours. Every movement was full of longing and desperation and promise.
“Don’t hold back,” he whispered against my skin. “I want the whole wing to know how much I love you… how much I need you. You’re my addiction, Mara. I never want to be sober.”
His rhythm grew frantic-driven by something deeper than lust. A need to prove what words had failed to do. A need to
mark this moment as sacred.
“I can’t wait to put my baby in you,” he said, his voice strained, and that did it. I shattered around him, crying out his name.
“Yes, Mara… keep coming for me,” he groaned.
And I did. Again and again, my body shaking beneath him, nails digging into his back as the pleasure overwhelmed me in
waves that refused to stop.
He drove into me with everything he had, and when he finally came, it was deep and fierce. His entire body tensed above mine before he collapsed beside me, breathless and spent.
We lay there in silence, our bodies tangled, our souls even more so.
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