trust me and I’ll take up that burden and you’ll never have to worry again.”
“I do trust you, against my better judgment,” she admitted. “But I’ll never be able to surrender my
independence. I’ve worked too hard for it.”
He couldn’t hide his grin and ignored the second part of her admission. “That’s a start.”
She sat on her bottom, this time facing him, her legs pulled up, her feet now tucked against his hips,
a somehow possessive touch. “You wanted to know about Parker.”
He stilled, not expecting her to readdress the topic so soon. Something had changed? But what?
“Some. Only what I can handle without going on a rampage.”
Evelyn wouldn’t meet his gaze. Her finger slowly chased a cluster of tiny bubbles along the surface
until they dissolved into bath oil, leaving nothing more than an iridescent film on the surface.
“He was different,” she whispered so low he had to strain to hear her. “When he touched me, he
always asked.” Was she saying she preferred that? Lucian wasn’t someone used to asking permission.
“One time, he kissed me and I wanted to like it. I needed to feel something other than the hollow ache you left behind.”
His throat worked to swallow. He’d asked for this and he’d listen, but knowing he was getting his
way did nothing to alleviate the pain or jealousy raging inside of him.
“At first it was nothing, and I realized there was a great deal to be said for chemistry. We had
nothing like what you and I share, what you can do to me with just a look in a crowded room. But I
wanted to like him. I hated you for abandoning me and I don’t know if it was a self-preservation thing
or because I wanted to punish you.”
Her brow creased and she blinked as though she were recalling something and still trying to make
sense of it. “The one time he kissed me, I forgot about you for the briefest moment.” Her words sliced
through him, but he remained silent, allowing her to carry on. “I don’t know why. We’d been laughing
and the ever-present awareness that gutted me again and again after you left, just somehow slipped
away. But then . . .”
She paused and he quietly asked, “Then what?”
“Then he’d pause as if to ask if what he was doing was okay and I knew it wasn’t. I didn’t want to
be loyal to you, but by letting him kiss me I was being disloyal to my heart. But it was more than that.
When I’m with you, something happens to me. I slip away to a safe place that I don’t have to worry or
think. I couldn’t find that place with him. He’d hesitate and reality would come crashing down and
break any peace I felt.”
“That’s what surrender feels like, Evelyn. That’s the peace I can give you when you give me your
submission.”
She met his gaze. “Is that normal, to feel that way?”
“Do you care?”
She lifted a narrow shoulder, the motion delicate, reminding him of her innocence. “I guess not.
I’ve just wanted my entire life to be normal, like everyone else’s. I was afraid you broke me
somehow . . . for all other men.”
His eyes narrowed. “If I did, I’m glad. The thought of some other man seeing you the way I do,
watching you fall apart when you come, seeing those exposed moments of vulnerability—they’re
mine, Evelyn. The idea of someone else seeing you like that is excruciating.”
“I feel the same way about you.” She looked back at the water. “When I thought you moved on, I
felt like my insides were rotting. Something so dark and angry came over me. I just kept thinking
about stupid things, like how you wake up just before dawn and sit at your desk to watch the sun rise.
It killed me imagining her intruding on those moments.”
He understood that level of jealousy, the covetous way she thought of his habits and behaviors.
“And with everything you’ve just told me, what hurts the most to hear was that Hughes had your
laughter. Those are my smiles. I’m a very possessive man, Evelyn. I don’t ever want to share you. Not
your body, not your mind, your smiles, certainly not your laughter. I covet all of you in a way I’ve
never experienced greed before.”
She smiled and it was just for him, secret and somewhat carnal, hidden at the corner of her plush
mouth. He held out his hand. “Come here.”
She pushed through the water, causing it to ripple in her wake. He pulled her to his lap and her legs
went around his hips. His mouth kissed over her damp skin slowly, drugging her with tiny nips and
licks until she softened completely.
His hand reached to fit himself to her sex. She leaned back and slid down on him, engulfing his
cock in sensual heat. Her tight little pussy gripped him. It was his pussy. Never had it known another’s touch. The notion did things to him.