Chapter 5
The house was quiet, the kind of silence that made every creak in the floorboards sound like a gunshot. I was in the laundry room, pulling a damp sheet from the washer, when the door shut behind me.
I turned.
Liam leaned against the frame, his grin lazy but his eyes sharp.
"You've been avoiding me," he said, stepping inside.
"I've been busy," I muttered, focusing on the sheet.
He moved closer, the air between us shrinking. "You think you're better than me, don't you?" His tone was playful, but something in it made my stomach knot.
"I don't think about you at all," I said.
The smile didn't leave his face, but his hand shot out, gripping my chin. "Liar."
Before I could react, he leaned down and pressed his mouth to mine. It wasn't a kiss—it was a theft, rough and clumsy, his fingers digging into my jaw until it hurt.
I shoved at his chest, but he only laughed against my lips, pulling back just enough to speak. "You belong here. You belong to us. No one else is going to want you, Selene. You're mine."
The word dripped with a sick kind of satisfaction, like he'd just claimed something no one else could touch.
I spat the taste of him from my mouth. "Stay away from me."
The grin vanished. His hand cracked across my face so fast that I barely saw it coming. The sound echoed in the small room.
"I'm so sorry, beautiful. I didn't mean to hit you.You just started uttering some bullshit and I lost control of myself for a minute there. Please forgive me, love, "
I could didn't believe what I was seeing or hearing.I knew there was something wrong with Liam, but I couldn't tell how bad it was .
This guy is like a literal psychopath.But worst of all , it was the fact that he was delusional too.He thinks I'm his just because he and his so-called family abuse and insult me?
"I'm not yours, I don't belong to anyone .Not to your mother ,or wicked sisters, and most especially not to you.Go to hell for all I give a shit,you scumbag,"I said with all the resentment I could harness.
"You talk to me like that again," he said, his voice low and shaking with anger, "and I'll make you wish you were dead."
He left, slamming the door so hard the frame rattled.
---
That night, I slipped into sleep with the weight of his touch still burning on my lips.
And he was there.
Not across the room, not watching. He stood close—too close—his body heat a wall against the cold that had settled inside me.
His hand lifted to cup my cheek, his thumb brushing the edge of my mouth. "Whose touch is this?" he asked softly.
His golden eyes flickered from gold to absolute black.Looking into them was like looking into an abyss of total darkness.
I swallowed. "It wasn't yours."
The look in his eyes was that of a predator just about to hunt down its prey.
The flicker in his golden eyes was dangerous. "It never will be again."
Then his mouth was on mine.
It wasn't like Liam's—there was no rush to take, no fumbling greed. Lucien's kiss was slow, deep, deliberate, the kind that unraveled you piece by piece until you forgot where you ended and where he began.
His hand slid to the back of my neck, holding me there, his lips moving against mine with a hunger that promised both ruin and salvation.
When he pulled back, I was breathless.
I could help but want more of this ,more of him.I wanted him to claim me body ,soul,and mind.I wanted him to possess me till there was nothing more other than him.
But the question is ,could he really do that?Could he really posses and claim me as his, they way I want?The way I need him to?
No, he can't? Don't be silly, Selene.This guy is just a pigment of your imagination.A dream.Someone you created in your sick, tormented mind just so you can console yourself.
"Say the word, Selene," he murmured, his forehead resting against mine. "And I'll erase him from existence."
I didn't answer. But I didn't look away, either.