Temptation [A Young Writer's Prize Submission]

Uncontrollable

Chapter Forty Nine

The reception at the local bar was just painful. I didn't recognise half the people outside of immediate family, but I didn't need to, because Debra would drag them all over to meet Lucien. Since he never let go of my hand during the entire procedure, I had the unequalled privilege of meeting every Tonia, Daphne and Harriet present at the wake.

"I thought you spoke very well, Mercy," one such Daphne was saying. She was introduced as the partner of Thomas' cousin, a young Texan woman with ridiculously blonde hair. "You must be very proud of her."

I assumed she was talking to Debra, but when my foster-mother didn't answer, I followed Daphne's gaze to Lucien, just in time to see his lips quirk up at the sides.

"She is truly something," he agreed, turning the full force of his smile on me. I felt my heart stutter in its rhythm, and I was unable to take my eyes off him, even as he turned back to the woman to make polite conversation, his arm winding possessively around my waist.

After a few moments, he excused us to go for drinks. Daphne beamed after us, a little too animated for a funeral, in my opinion.

"Get me out of here," I hissed at him as he bent to take two wine glasses for us. He smirked, and I felt my stomach tighten. The desire to take him somewhere private and do bad things to him was getting harder to resist. He was just so damn attractive.

"Are you so eager to have me by myself, Miss Falle?" he teased me, probably unaware of how close he was to the mark.

I placed my hand on his chest, stepping closer to him. I stared him up and down with hungry eyes, pleased when his breathing suddenly became heavier.

"I'm not in the mood to socialise," I cocked my head to one side as he returned my desirous gaze.

"Nor am I," he leaned down to kiss me gently, and my blood boiled under my skin. "Not with you looking like that, sweetness."

I grinned at him. "Is there anything wrong with my dress?"

"Absolutely nothing," Lucien swore. "It's what's under the dress that has captivated my imagination."

"Lucien!" I protested weakly, pressing my body against his.

"Drink the wine and we'll get going," he swigged his own glass before I'd even put lips to mine.

"You drink it," I frowned at the swirling liquid. "I'm not a huge fan of alcohol."

He took the glass from me and instead put it back on the table. "I'm driving, sweetness."

Fair enough.

***

Almost the second he had me back through Lauren's front door, Lucien's lips had found mine, and it seemed as though he was intent on drawing out every breath I was able to take as his hands circled my waist and he hoisted me up to press me against the wall. My fingers slid into his hair as my legs wrapped around his hips, drawing him closer, and he groaned.

"You... Feel... So... Good..." he whispered huskily in the few moments he allowed me to breathe. I felt something about him, the same darkness that I'd seen in Scorch was around him now. I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to ruin this moment by looking into the dark. I sealed my lips to his.

My body was subject to Lucien's every touch; everything felt heightened somehow, by the lack of vision.

As Lucien nibbled down my neck, I tilted my head back, feeling the strength of my submittance to him, and I sighed as the feelings he ignited within me became stronger; I could understand his light metaphor now, because my body was slowly catching fire as he held me, sparking the desire...