Lucien stood beneath the cold stream of water, his hands pressed against the black marble tiles of the shower wall as the cold water ran down the contours of his body. Water pounded against his skin, but it did nothing to extinguish the fire gnawing at his insides.
He ran a hand through his thick, soaked locks and hissed through clenched teeth.
"Fuck."
The word echoed through the vast bathroom, guttural and full of frustration. He had discarded every piece of clothing in a haze, as if shedding the weight of restraint that had followed him for the past year. But no amount of cold could cleanse the burn she reignited in him.
He hated it_ hated how she could stir every forbidden desire in him without so much as a glance. She didn't even try, and still, she wrecked him.
He had married her in haste, yes—but the moment he laid eyes on Kelsey, he had known.
She was his.
She knew nothing of him, and part of him preferred to keep it that way. What good would it do to tell her the truth? That she was the soulmate he had waited centuries for? That beneath his calm, tailored exterior beat the heart of a predator—one that longed not just for her touch, but for her blood, her mind, her soul?
Lucien clenched his jaw. His fingers scraped through his hair again, his breathing heavier.
He wasn't the kind of man to woo a woman with flowers and soft words. He never needed to be. Women came willingly, drawn to him like moths to flame. He was wealthy, young_or so he appeared_and devastatingly attractive. Charm ran through his veins as surely as the ancient blood that made him immortal.
But Kelsey… she had been different.
When they met, something had surged within him_sharp and ancient, a primal instinct long buried. That unmistakable pull of the bond. A bond that no vampire could force or fake. He had waited lifetimes for it. And when it finally arrived, it had come wrapped in her scent, her fire, her stubbornness. Everything about her both infuriated and enticed him.
He had tried to ignore it. Tried to keep his distance. The desire that clawed through him whenever she was near was maddening. Parties, meaningless sex, bottomless drinks_ none of it satisfied the craving that lived under his skin. The hunger for her.
So, he had done what he thought was right at that time_ he offered a sum her greedy parents couldn't refuse and married her before he could change his mind. Maybe he thought possessing her legally would tame the storm within him.
But on the very night of their wedding, she disappeared into the shadows, and if he wanted wanted, he would have easily tracked her down and would have brought her back to him. But he didn't, instead, he let her walk away.
In her absence,he buried himself in his work, in expanding empires and crushing enemies. He filled his days with meetings and his nights with blood and women who smelled nothing like her. And still, it wasn't enough. Every time he closed his eyes, it was her. Her voice. Her scent. Her body trembling with rage and uncertainty.
Now… she was here again. Under his roof.
And his restraint was cracking.
The longer he stayed in the cold shower, the more his mind wandered. How she had looked earlier_ defiant, flushed from yelling, her brown eyes blazing with fury. The way her hair had spilled down her back, the curve of her waist he had held when she nearly fell. It had taken everything in him not to pull her closer, not to bury his face into her neck and—
Lucien exhaled sharply, slamming his palm against the wall.
He was losing control.
But how could he not? She was his soulmate. The bond tied them together in ways she couldn't begin to comprehend. It wasn't just lust_ though gods, there was plenty of that. It was deeper. Like she was stitched into the fabric of his very existence.
Now that she was finally close again, now that he could hear her heartbeat from across the hall_ how was he supposed to pretend? To wait? To act like the last year hadn't hollowed him out?
His fangs ached behind closed lips. His hands trembled slightly. But he would not touch her until she wanted him to. Until she came to him not out of obligation, but desire.
That was the only promise he would allow himself to keep.
Lucien stepped out of the shower, water dripping from his skin as he grabbed a dark towel. He wiped himself down slowly, his reflection staring back at him in the fogged mirror. A man made of centuries_ scarless, perfected, and yet so irreversibly undone by a woman and a thousand times more human.
Lucien tied the towel around his waist, jaw clenched. His dark eyes met his reflection one final time before he turned toward the door.
When Lucien stepped back into the bedroom, droplets of water still clinging to his skin, a towel slung low around his hips, Kelsey's spine stiffened. She had been leaning against the wall awkwardly, arms crossed, doing everything she could to ignore the fact that she was trapped in a room with a half-naked man.
The moment she caught sight of him, her eyes darted away in panic, heat flooding her cheeks. She turned her head sharply, pretending to be fascinated by the texture of the wallpaper.
But as if the situation couldn't get more humiliating, her stomach betrayed her.
A loud, unmistakable growl echoed in the silence.
Lucien stopped in his tracks.
Kelsey squeezed her eyes shut, mortified.
A low, teasing chuckle escaped him, deep and smooth.
"Well," he said, his voice unhurried, "it seems your stomach missed me too."
Kelsey's head snapped in his direction, scandalized. "You_!"
But Lucien didn't stick around for her outrage. He turned, leisurely strolling toward the walk-in closet as if he hadn't just made the most humiliating remark in the most indifferent tone.
Kelsey clenched her fists and looked away again, jaw tight. She hated how easily he got under her skin. Hated how he said the most infuriating things and walked away like he hadn't set off another explosion in her chest.
And worst of all, she hated how her stomach had growled.