Chapter 5: Commanding Presence

Lucians posture remained rigid but his keen eyes pierced the quietness surrounding the room.

He was a man of command and he was always in command and in command. His eyes and everything about him screamed that.

He was more startled by her question than he wanted to acknowledge though.

Who are those men ? Was she been serious right now.

The question would come up he knew. With icy and calculating eyes the guards who had been standing by the shadows watched them.

Lucian was just too angry and he couldn't simply tell her the truth.

Even for someone with her level of bravery that would be far too risky.

She mustn't know.

He won't tell her.

Without glancing at her, Lucian gave a flat response." Business.  That was strictly business and none of your concern sweetheart."

He spoke in an emotionless almost contemptuous tone.

"Business?' She said, her voice tensing in shock. "What sort of business? You can't just—. "

"Don't ask my love. Its better if you don't know." he interrupted cocking his head to give her a quick look. " Don't you dare."

His eyes gleamed dangerously as if to warn that he should not be challenged.

"Believe me." He said." It's in your own best interest if you don't know."

She opened her mouth to object but she was unable to do so.

She was still taking in the eerie atmosphere that surrounded him

She was caught in the middle of Lucian's impending storm which was more than just dangerous.

"Take me back to my grandfather." she said firmly attempting to exert control over an already dangerous situation. "

He will be anxious. Lucian, he is old and I don't care how much my step mother gave you. He will double it.. I cant—. "

As she noticed a shift in his expression she stopped talking.

There was something in his eyes that she couldn't quite identify.

She wondered if he was truly taking her request into consideration during the brief silence that followed.

A mocking smile then twisted his lips and he regarded her as if she was a six year old that had been caught stealing peanut butter.

With a lowered voice and an obvious threat he asked .

" You want to escape? You think you can run from me?. Until I tell you to, you won't leave.

The thought of her grandfather l, the last member of her family made her heart ache.

She wanted to protest to push back. "Lucian please he needs me. I must return to him. "

"And one more thing, my love, I don't need money, I can buy your family five times over."

"Stop feeling too big." She shot back." You love exaggerating."

As he stepped closer Lucian's face hardened. He was slow to speak and it felt like they were getting closer every second.

Her heart was racing and she felt a part of her cry out for her to run away from him as quickly as possible.

She couldn't deny it anymore but there was another part of her that wanted to stay, to get  a close relationship with him in order to understand the man behind the dangerous façade.

The pull towards him, the magnetic attraction that she was too weak to resist was too much and lay in the pit of her stomach.

"Lucian, I beg you. " She said in a quiet but desperate voice "Please I must go home. I have dreams , goals, I'm my grandfather's only hope ."

Something in her voice seemed to cause Lucian to pause. For an instant his eyes softened.

With his eyes fixed on hers he took  one more step.

" I understand how much you love him." Lucian said in a hushed almost aloof voice. "But you're not leaving at this time. You are very important to me."

Her heart pounded at the way he said it. Important?

The ridiculousness of it nearly made her laugh. She then remembered the gravity of the threat he was in and the kind of power he possessed without even trying.

According to his statement, she was very  important. She was crucial to his strategy because he couldn't afford to lose her.

"Important?" She repeated softly as though testing the word ." I don't know you and I don't love you."

He smiled at her icily and calculatingly.

"I don't care if you love me or not. I just love your pretty face."

He must be insane, she said to herself and quickly looked away.

She paused and they were silent for a long drawn-out moment.

The world seemed to have shrunk to the two of them, with everything else disappearing into the distance.

She couldn't tell when the tension between them had become so intense but it was oppressive.

Before her mind could catch up, her body was responding and her pulse accelerated.

She couldn't help but be drawn to Lucian despite the fact that he was unlike anyone she had ever met.

She was afraid of him because she wanted to be close to him so badly and even when she tried to concentrate on something else, he was always on her mind.

Speaking softly almost to herself she said .

"My grandfather. . . he's all I have left." The words were bitter to her tongue.

Lucian cocked his head examining her as if she were a mystery, something he had yet to fully understand.

" I know. But what do you want? You want me to kiss you?"

She gasped for air. She was unsure of what she wanted anymore so he didn't expect her to respond to that, did he?

This situation felt wrong in every way but she also had a part of her that didn't want it to end. Even though she tried to push it back to her mind, it kept coming back, kept pushing her, making her to stare at this handsome devil. At his lips, the way they moved when he spoke, his huge arms that had wrapped around her the night before.

She wished to stop the evening from disintegrating into a million fragments.

In an honest and trembling voice she said .

"I. . . I don't know."

Then quickly looked away so she couldn't see his eyes staring at her.

Even though Lucian's eyes slightly softened, he refused to let her go.

He took a step closer instead, lightly grazing her arm with his fingers. Even though it was a slight touch it made her chill and made her insides do naughty things .

"You don't have to know everything." Lucian whispered  in a tone that was slightly darker than usual. "Its better to give up fighting it sometimes. Don't you think, moi chere?"

He flicked his fingers and had the guards scampering out and shutting the door.

Trying to make sense of the feelings churning inside her she swallowed hard.

She sensed that she was losing herself in his company, in the strength that emanated from him and in the way his body felt so strong and dominant.

In the way his eyes stared into hers as if looking at her soul.

But she was aware that for the sake of her grandfather she had to remain grounded.

She shook her head and muttered .

"I can't do this. "

For a considerable amount of time Lucian remained silent, his eyes narrowing as though considering what she had said. She thought he would step back and give her the space she wanted but he took another step forward, lifting her face to meet his while his fingers softly cupped her chin.

With a voice like a velvet touch, he whispered

"Why not?"

She froze as his thumb touched her skin lightly. She could feel her body revealing the self-control she had been working so hard to keep, as she leaned into his touch.

"I… I don't want this. "She muttered but it was a lie. She wanted him even though she didn't want to. *Oh my god she did. *.

Without saying another word, Lucian kissed her as his lips quirked into a knowing smile.

It was not kind. It was not delicate.it was quick. It was furious.

As if they had both been suppressing their emotions for too long, it was fierce.

Her pulse raced as his lips moved with such urgency that she was momentarily unable to breathe or think.

Her thoughts vanished. The stubbornness and anger she held against him melted away and all she could think was his lips on hers as he crushed them in a kiss.

The heat between them, the inexplicable force that drew them nearer with each second that went by was all that mattered.

Her hands moved to his chest, clutching his shirt as if she could ground herself in reality.

She was losing control of reality though and every second that went by caused her to sink deeper and deeper into the chaos he had pulled her into

His fingers moved to her but breasts and she moaned and at that moment she didn't want to run away .