Chapter 55
“You have your circle, and I have mine. Once we leave this bed, we’re strangers again.” Valerie’s voice was cool and measured. “Someday, if you want to bring another woman into this house, I’ll make room. But first-”
She leaned close, her breath brushing Lucius‘ ear. “What happened tonight won’t happen a
second time.”
Shoved aside, Lucius only laughed instead of getting angry. “Valerie, when I said I’d never fall in love with you, did that make you angry?”
She arched her brow. “And why should I be?”
“Because of Sonia, perhaps?”
Drunk though he was, Lucius hadn’t lost all clarity. He knew how often Valerie had humiliated Sonia at The Golden Chalice. It wasn’t just because of personal grudges–she held jealousy and
resentment toward her younger sister.
Valerie gave a sharp laugh. “That pathetic moron? All she knows is pulling petty tricks behind my back. The only place she belongs is on her knees, at my feet, waiting for me to toy with her. What else does she have worth flaunting?
“If you enjoy rummaging in trash cans, Mr. White, that’s your choice. But don’t disgust me by dragging garbage into comparison with me. Jealous because of her? Ask yourself if she’s even worthy.”
Her sheer arrogance oddly pleased him, if only for a moment.
“Women are masters of saying one thing and meaning another,” Lucius drawled.
“And men,” she shot back, “love using liquor as their excuse to do whatever they want. Later, they defend themselves with the same tired lines–I was drunk. I wasn’t in control.”
Lucius forced down the restless edge building inside him.
“Val, you’re young, but you seem to know a lot about men.”
Valerie met his stare without a flicker of shame. “Of course I do. I’ve dealt with not hundreds
but thousands of them.”
The word hit harder than she likely intended. Whether it was the alcohol or his own temper, Lucius felt a heat rising in him that had nothing to do with desire.
He refused to let her keep making a fool of him. Tossing out a curt, “See to yourself,” he stormed from the bedroom–though not before plucking Lucifer off her wrist and dragging
Chapter 55
the serpent with him. He was like a sulking husband who couldn’t win an argument and so stole their child instead.
That night, Lucius kept Lucifer with him, forcing it to sleep with him in the study.
2/2
But by morning, he woke with no surprise at all to find himself once again tangled with Valerie in the same bed.
He cursed the binding vow that shackled them, hating the trap it laid around his life. Yet, the arm locked around her soft waist betrayed the truth he refused to admit. With her warmth in his arms, what man wouldn’t stir?
When Lucius opened his eyes, Valerie was already awake, though she didn’t bother lifting her
lashes.
“If you’re up, then move to the other side.” She nudged him with her foot and shoved at his hip, telling him to get lost and stop crowding her.
No one knew what trick Magnus had pulled, but every time Valerie and Lucius fell asleep, the two of them would end up clinging tightly to each other.
In the sweltering heat, wasn’t he worried she’d break out in a rash?
Determined to draw the line, Valerie snatched the blanket and hugged it tightly to her chest. It
was the weekend, so she planned to sleep until noon.
But seeing her steal the blanket sparked a ridiculous flare of competitiveness in Lucius. He
wasn’t about to swallow that defeat.
While she was dozing, he snatched the blanket from her arms.
The moment she felt the emptiness in her embrace, her eyes snapped open at once, and before he could pull away, she grabbed it back.
When it came to tug–of–war, Lucius had his own tactics–advance when the enemy retreated, and retreat when the enemy advanced.
Valerie, amused and intrigued, countered with her own strategy–strike when least expected, and attack when unprepared.
And so the two of them, full–grown adults, wrestled like children over a ridiculous blanket on the king–size bed.
In the struggle, their hair came undone, and their buttons slipped open. They ended up looking utterly disheveled.
In the end, Lucius relied on his sheer physical advantage to claim the spoils of victory. He never would have imagined he’d sink to something so childish and absurd.
Chapter 56
1/2
Chapter 56
