Page 48 (2/2)

Hell

Considering where his thoughts were, she was going to have to work real hard Lowering the glass to the bar, he let his head fall back and his eyes close, forcing his mind to clear She was blissfully quiet as she worked him with her hand

Now more than ever he needed this—athat started with a C, thatHe was hardening with every passing second, but his headyeah, his head wasn’t in this

Since when did his head need to be in this?

He widened his stance, giving her a little more room as he reached blindly for the several-thousand-dollar bottle of bourbon Tonight was about losing hi like he was actually alive Just like every other night had been, but especially now, because he had things he had to take care of tomorrow

But he didn’t need to think about that right now He didn’t need to feel anything other than her hand, then her mouth, and maybe the way—

The soft, barely audible sounds of footsteps on the floor above forced his eyes open He tilted his head to the side, thinking he was hearing things, but there it was again Definitely footsteps

What the hell? Reaching down, he caught her slender wrist, stopping her She wasn’t happy with that Her grip h pressure on her hand to still her

“Lucian?” Confusion filled her tone

He didn’t answer as he strained to hear anything There was no way he’d heard what he had Because there was no way anyone in the roo around and no one else would be in those rooms

There was no staff here during the night They all refused to be in the de Vincent h in the sky

Silence greeted his and had the damn bourbon to thank for that

Jesus,his mind

Pulling her hand out of his pants, he turned around and faced the woht as he studied her upturned face, but he discovered a long tiht In most cases, it truly was only skin deep, and half the time it wasn’t even real It was doctored and altered by skilled fingers

Curving his hand around the nape of her neck, he wondered how deep her beauty ran and exactly where it turned ugly He pressed his thuainst her pulse, interested when the beat sped up

Her lips parted as heavy lashes lowered, shielding eyes the color of the native irises that had just bloomed all over Louisiana He bet she had a crown or two stashed at ho her one of the many pretty faces the South had to offer

Lucian started to lower his head when his cell rang froo and turned as she let out aover to his phone, surprise flickered through him when he saw his brother’s naal son surely was already in bed, soht Dev wouldn’t even be with his fiancée, fucking the night away like Lucian iined happy, normal couples did

Then again, he had a hard ti

There were things said about the rossly false Their great-great-grandmother once claimed that when the de Vincent men fell in love, they did so fast and hard, without reason or hesitation

And that was absolute bullshit

The only one out of all them that had ever fallen in love was their brother Gabe and look how that turned out? A damn mess

“What?” Lucian answered the phone as he reached for the bottle again

“You need to come down to father’s study now,” Dev ordered

His brows rose as his brother hung up the phone That was an interesting request Slipping his phone into the pocket, he zipped up his pants and pulled his belt off, tossing it on the nearby couch “Stay here,” he said, slipping his phone in his pocket