Page 15 of The Rancher's Vengeful Heart

Three.

Four.

And boom.

Lucius could not recall seeing anything more amusing than the look on his Tassina's face when the magnitude of what she had willingly signed up for finally started sinking in.

"Relax, Tassina."

Tassy could already feel herself starting to hyperventilate.What had she just agreed to?

"What you're feeling is simply a case of cold feet, and it's totally normal."

Normal?Saying 'yes' to spending Valentine's weekend with a stranger wasnormal?Only someone whowasn'tnormal would think that!

"I'm the man you've been lusting after for years," Lucius drawled. "I understand how nerve-wracking this must be for you."

Tassy could only sputter and choke.Wow. Just wow. Did his arrogance havenolimits?

Lucius watched in silent amusement as Tassina's incredibly expressive face featured one emotion after another in rapid succession. Since coming back to the cabin, he had seen her display an impressive repertoire of feelings. Shock and horror, embarrassment and guilt, dismay and shame, and then more embarrassment, and—-

Not so fast, baby girl.

Lucius recognized the moment she intended to flee, but of course, it was merely wishful thinking on her part that she could ever escape him. She washis,and soon, she would know andappreciatethis for herself.

But for now—-

He allowed her to think she had escaped his lap, waiting until he saw the relief on her face...before rising to his full height and taking hold of her hand.

Tassy was about to tug free when Lucius cupped her face and gently tucked loose locks of her hair behind her ears. "There's nothing for you to worry about." He lifted her hand and pressed his lips to her knuckles. "I'll handle everything. You only have to surrender yourself to me."

Oh no.

His words seemed to weave a spell around her, and her captivity was made complete the moment she lost herself in the coppery heat of his gaze. Tassy could no longer move even when he had already let go of her hand, and she could only tremble as the billionaire slowly ran his knuckles down her cheek.

"You will not regret belonging to me. I promise you."

His sweet words made Tassy feel like she was floating, and all she could do was watch in a daze as the billionaire started packing her things like an expertly trained PA. Before she knew it, they were already on their way out of the lounge, his hand was on the small of her back, and it was only when she listened to Lucius and a woman behind the check-in counter start conversing in Mandarin that reality intruded, and Tassy started to panic.

This was wrong!

This was crazy!

This was absolutely a surefire way of getting hurt even more!

But just when she had enough sense to try pulling away, Lucius suddenly looked down, and it was like falling back into a silken trap of forbidden promises.

Why did she so badly want to be free of him again?

She honestly had a hard time remembering, and all she could do was nod as the other woman asked for her I.D.

"Thank you, Ms. Bautista." The lady handed Tassy her ID back with a smile, asking, "May I know your relationship with Mr. Young?"

Tassy blinked, but the lady continued looking at her expectantly. "Um—-" Why did this even matter? But...she had never flown with Xin Hua Air before, so maybe this was just standard procedure on their part?

"Yes, Ms. Bautista?"

Surely...it was Lucius who had to answer that?

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