Grievous (Wanted Men #5) - Nancy Haviland Page 0,111

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After doing up his pants, Lucian freed his wrung out pet and lifted her into his arms, the note of longing in her voice when she’d shouted his name minutes ago still ringing in his ears. She was warm and relaxed, her breathing even as she rested after her first round of punishment. Tomorrow he would introduce her to edging. From one extreme to the other. Which would be worse for her?

He paused for a moment when his focus unexpectedly centered on her heartbeat that he could feel against his chest. It was so…slight. Almost a flutter rather than a solid beat like his. He propped his foot on the base of his cross and sat her on his knee to free up his hand that he laid flat beneath her left breast.

He let his head fall forward to rest it against hers as the steady little thump soothed him. It reminded him of when he’d pressed his fingers to Markus’s pulse at the morgue and he’d felt nothing. He closed his eyes. I didn’t kill him, Markus, he said silently. You can thank my pet for that. She is an effective distraction. He swallowed the knot that lodged in his throat. I am sorry I did not bring you into the gallery the day you followed me there. You wanted to meet her because you somehow knew she meant something to me, and I shut you down.

He straightened suddenly enough for Yasmeen to throw her arms around his neck.

“I have you,” he murmured with a kiss to her hair.

As he left the room, stopping down the hall to get a blanket to cover her nakedness, he realized something. He’d kept Markus away from Yasmeen the same way Markus had kept Lucian away from Claude. He’d shut out the one person he loved more deeply than any other. He hadn’t trusted his own brother enough to reveal his unhealthy obsession with his pet. Had Markus been punishing him by doing the same? Trying to teach Lucian a lesson in that subtle way he had?

Only Sergei had stolen him before the lesson could be complete. What would the conclusion have been?

He pondered that as he walked through the castle at a leisurely pace. When he reached the foyer, he wasn’t surprised to see Sorin standing in the doorway of the sitting room.

“You disconnected the security feed.” The accusation in his voice was layered under a grudging respect.

“I knew it would not take much for you to get back in. I am glad you were not in the cold for very long.”

“Your office?”

“Is fine.”

“Ms. Michaels?”

She lifted her head to give Sorin an appreciative little smile. “We’re nifty, meathead. Thanks for having my back. If I can ever return the favor, you know I will.” Her drowsy wink and loyal offer blindsided Lucian.

For a long moment, he looked down at the top of her head when she tucked it into his shoulder again, then met his friend’s eyes. “I see her,” he assured Sorin in their language.

Apparently, that was all their protector had wanted because the tension left him as if the air had been let out of a balloon. “Christ Almighty,” he puffed before nailing Lucian in the chest with a heartfelt, “Welcome back, my friend.”

Do I really have to learn this lesson, Markus? he asked his brother silently as panic clawed at him. He didn’t get an answer, but he inclined his head and cemented Sorin’s place in his life once more. “Thank you, brother,” he murmured, holding that dark stare to let this man know he also saw him for who and what he was.

It was Sorin who turned away with a hard scrub down his face. Lucian heard him stomp through the sitting room and slam through the door which would lead him to the gym.

His lips were curved at the corners as he climbed the stairs. He brought Yasmeen directly into the bathroom when he reached their room and bathed them both before feeding her the light snack of fresh cut vegetables and hummus Sorin must have brought up earlier. Then he tucked them into bed.

As his pet curled against him, her long leg winding through his as if to ensnare him, he knew there was no way she couldn’t feel his heart racing. The erratic rhythm was something normally reserved for a man about to jump from a great height.

She fell instantly asleep, but he laid there staring up at the ceiling while sifting his fingers