Page 78 of Until the End of Ever
My own magic buzzed beneath my skin, demanding I throw a shield between them, but I refrained. I wasn’t supposed to interfere. Lucian had this. He proved it by simply sidestepping the lightning with a little tap dancing move that further humiliated and enraged Abrax. The idiot threw spell after spell, screaming, punching, and Lucian…just moved away.
The entire crowd laughed.
Seeing he’d made his point, Lucian disappeared in a puff of dark smoke, reappearing right behind Abrax, to kick him forward. Infuriated and overextended, he started to fall forward,and again, Lucian was gone in the blink of an eye—except this time, my eyes followed, seeing that he wasn’t needlessly opening portals or projecting himself. He moved faster than light.
Abrax might have had a chance to catch himself, but Lucian pushed him face first to the ground, keeping him under his boot.
Abrax screamed, any words unintelligible, his mouth against the polished floor.
“What was that?” Lucian asked, with that strange, dark voice that seem so deep it made the very ground tremble. Or maybe just my knees.
I was fairly certain that what the man was saying was “I yield!” but Lucian said, “I really can’t hear you. And that most definitely doesn’t seem to be an apology to Kleos.”
Abrax cursed, Lucian’s boot pushing harder yet. He was going to crush his windpipe. I brought my hands to my mouth, shocked.
“Sowwy! Awigt, msow?—”
The boot moved up and Lucian smiled down at the poor guy, panting on the floor. “I’m sorry, okay? If you like her, whatever.”
“Why thank you, but I believe your apology ought to go to the lady directly.”
Holy fuck, I was getting wet.
Abrax sat up, back on his knees, still panting, and searched the crowd until he’d found me. “I’m sorry, all right? I don’t like new bloods. I don’t like Pendroses. But if the Regises say you’re one of us, you’re one of us.”
I’d like to say I didn’t cry, but, well, there must be a reason why Ronan handed me his monochrome handkerchief.
Meanwhile, as though he hadn’t just beat up, humiliated, and dominated the guy, Lucian offered Abrax his hand, helped him to stand, and smiled as he half hugged the guy, patting his back.
“I thought they hated each other?” I mused, yet again baffled.
“Meh. I mean, is Abrax a little shit?” Ronan nodded. “Absolutely. But he’s still a childhood friend. Sometimes, we just need to beat each other to a pulp.”
I decided to pretend it made sense.
Lucian then made his way back to us, removing his mask and putting it back in his breast pocket. How many things did he keep in there?
Instead of asking that, I cleared my throat. “You’re going to have to put the mask back on later.”
His signature smirk tugged at his irresistible lips. “Why wait until later?”
Then his mouth was back on mine, fiercely demanding, as hands dragged me against his hardness. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one aroused by a light display of violence.
With what appeared to be no small degree of effort, Lucian tore his mouth away from mine, mask back in hand.
He slid it across his face.
“As the lady commands,” that metallic voice rasped.
I wasn’t even certain how it affected his vocal cords, as the mask only covered half his face. I’d never seen anything like it. Covered in leather, it looked solid underneath, like it was carved in wood, with intricate patterns that gave me an overall feeling of brutal power. It covered everything from his nose to his hairline, with two sets of horns protruding from the top, and a sharp point at its center. There was a meaning to it, and I had every intention of asking about it. Just as soon as I was done kissing him.
I barely noticed us moving, but my back was flat against a cool mural, and then a door as his tongue and lips travelled my bare skin, hands flying over my thigh, my belly, the curve of my breasts.
Knowing it was him underneath the dark leather and yet not clearly seeing Lucian—only his eyes, that damnable mouth, that sharp jawline—was positively sinful.
And then that ring was right there, between my parted thighs, warm and vibrating even through my trousers. I groaned, needy, desperate.
I had to have Lucian right fucking now, and I knew him enough to realize he was going to take me, although we were in the middle of a town meeting.
