213

I drove into Mintia and parked the SUV in front of Luciana’s store. There was one dim light on in the back and the front door was unlocked. The store was empty of stock and shelves and I looked around at the bare store.

I turned towards the back when a door opened and I closed my eyes briefly as Luciana’s scent reached out to me. She smelled like fresh morning dew with a hint of oranges and I got a vivid image of the sunset.

“Duke Grey …” She sounded breathless and my eyes popped open.

She looked down instantly but not before I saw the light purple underneath her eye and across her temple. “Who hurt you?” I had no idea why I felt so protective over her. She was a just a young woman that I had met once before.

“It doesn’t matter.” She tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear, showing her discomfort with my presence.

“Why’s the store empty?” It wasn’t my place to ask these questions but I felt my dominant and protective sides clashing, wanting to make her feel better.

“My father sold the store and since I turned eighteen today he told me to get lost. I’m not his problem anymore.” Anger gripped me when I realized he was also the one that had slapped her, leaving a mark on her face.

“Son of a bitch!” She flinched at the anger in my voice and swallowed nervously.

“I’m better off without him. Now if you don’t mind I need to leave.”

“Where are you going?” I stepped right in front of her as she headed to the door.

“I don’t know yet but I’ll figure it out, I always do.”

“Come to the castle with me, you’ll be safe there.” I had no idea why I’d just said that but I only knew that I didn’t want her to leave. Echo was laughing at me in my mind and I knew if Ryder saw me now he’d ask me where my balls were.

“I’m not your responsibility, my Duke. I’m of age now and …”

“You have nowhere to go, Luciana, any idiot can see that.”

She smiled for the first time. “Are you calling yourself an idiot, my Duke?” I smiled involuntarily at her remark and she relaxed slightly.

“You’re a resident of Mintia and that makes you my responsibility. Get your stuff, you can stay at the castle for as long as you need to.”

She hesitated slightly but followed me outside when I grabbed the two suitcases that stood behind her. She climbed into the passenger side and moved as close to the door as she could. She was clearly afraid of touching me. The Dragon King had decreed that commoners touching a royal member was a crime punishable by losing the part you used to touch them.

“You do realize I’m not a royal.” She smiled a small smile and nodded her head as I started driving back to the castle.

As we neared the wooded lane leading up to the castle a loud thud sounded on the roof and Luciana screamed loudly as legs entered the rear window and Milo sat up straight.

“I didn’t know you had company, brother. I’m sorry for scaring you, Luciana.”

“Milo knows how to make an entrance.”

Luciana turned in her seat and she looked Milo up and down. “I remember you.”

“I should hope so, I’m much more remarkable than Wynter here.” Luciana started laughing and I smiled too.

“Keep telling yourself that, Milo.”

He grinned at me and moved to the middle as he leaned forward. “To what do we owe the honour of the company of such a beautiful woman?”

“Luciana will be staying as our guest in the castle.” I explained the rest to him in his head but he never gave away that I was doing that.

Milo and I got Luciana settled into a room down the hall from us. He didn’t question why I did that but the wink he gave me told me everything he was thinking. I felt protective over her and concerned for her welfare, but that was it.

Throughout that night I had the urge to check on her and I had no idea where it came from. Echo was quiet again and he didn’t share his thoughts or feelings on the matter and I was left frustrated as I jumped down from the balcony and walked the perimeter because he clearly wasn’t coming out to let me go fly.

Milo had gotten to know the four mistresses very well. Camelia had waited for me again in my room but I’d dismissed her and told her not to appear unless I called for her. I had no interest in the mistresses and I hadn’t touched any of them again.

Breakfast was a quiet affair and I smiled for the first time that day when Milo brought Luciana to the table and pulled out a seat for her across from where he normally sat. Maya had taken to having breakfast in her room and during dinner she sat on the other side of the table, furthest from me.

“Luciana and I had an interesting conversation on our way down to breakfast.” I looked at Milo as he grinned at her and she smiled shyly.

“Interesting how?” I lifted my coffee cup and took a sip.

“Luciana wants to go to the shelter just outside Mintia and then look for a job.” I coughed as I tried to swallow and Milo slapped me on the back hard as I choked.

“The shelter? No way.”

“My proposition was that she join the court of mistresses here. They get paid well and it’s only for a year.”

“No!” The twinkle in Milo’s eyes told me he was playing me, testing my reaction to his words and I’d fallen for it, hook, line and sinker. “Asshole.” Milo started laughing at me and Luciana clearly didn’t get the joke as she looked at us in turn.

“Took you long enough. Your diary’s full for today but I’m sure you’ll make some time for Luciana tonight to discuss her future here.”

Milo caught my glare and I left the dining room before I said or did something that I’d regret later. Milo was being an idiot, proposing she joined the mistresses. It was an absurd idea and I felt like punching him.

“You’re afraid that if she’s a mistress Milo will take her to his room.” Echo was right and I hated him for it.

“Shut up.” I blocked Echo out because his emotions were just too intense at that moment and I couldn’t deal with it right now.

I spent the day locked up in the office and dealt with work. There was a lot of it and Ivan had to snap his fingers in front of my face when it was lunch time and I ate the sandwich he brought me as I continued to work. Milo was a no-show and I knew he was glued to Luciana and that infuriated me.

I left the office at eight pm after eating dinner at my desk. Ivan had just shook his head at me when he left at five pm. I locked the office behind me and went to my room. I hadn’t seen Milo or Luciana all day and I had no idea what they’d been up to.

I tried to clear my head as I changed from the suit I’d worn to sweats and a t-shirt. I’d break his neck if he smelled like her. My fists clenched as I picked up my phone to call him and find out exactly what he’d been doing the whole day.

The phone had just started to ring when there was a knock on my door and I cancelled the call. The light in the living room was off as I pulled the door open and looked at Luciana as she stood in front of me.

“I hope I’m not disturbing you.” She looked different with her hair cut shorter and make-up masking the bruise under her eye.

I pulled her into the living room and shut the door behind her. “Where the hell have you been all day?” I didn’t mean to sound so harsh but I inadvertently stepped closer to her and sniffed her neck.

“What the hell are you doing?” I realized then exactly what I was doing and I stepped back.

“Do you like Milo?” She blinked as she looked up at me.

“Yes, I like Milo.”

“Is that why you want to be a mistress? So you can be close to him?”

“What? No! Milo said I’d be safe as a mistress, that you don’t touch them and he swore to me he wouldn’t touch me.” I saw the look in her eyes and I believed her. She also didn’t smell like Milo and that calmed me a bit.

I took a step closer to her and she inhaled sharply as my hands came to rest on either side of her face. Her eyes looked searchingly into mine and I lowered my head to kiss her. She froze for a second as I ran my tongue over her lips before she gave me entry and kissed me back.

I leaned into her and steadied us with my one hand against the wall. She stepped back and I moved with her until her back found the wall, my hand tangled in her hair as I tilted her face up. She broke the kiss off and her chest rose and fell as she breathed deeply.

For a moment I thought she was going to push me away when her hands came to rest on my chest. Instead she fisted the material and pulled me closer as we kissed again. My hand left her hair and it slid down her side and then to her back where my other hand was.

I lifted her and she wrapped her legs around me as I walked back towards my room and lowered her to the bed. I pulled my t-shirt off as she started to unbutton hers. I hovered over her where she now lay naked beneath me.

The emotional pull I felt overwhelmed everything else and when her hands touched the top of my sweatpants and pulled them down, I knew I was a goner. I wanted her beneath me or on top, it didn’t matter which way as long as she played along.

I didn’t want to rush it with her so I took her slow and gentle as her fingernails scraped down my back and I felt Echo shiver. I was losing my control as she pushed her hips upwards and lifted her head to kiss me again.

The climax that shuddered through me was the strongest one of my life and I fell back to earth as Luciana breathed out in my neck. I was holding her so tightly I didn’t know how she was breathing, but she was.

I pulled out of her and pulled her closer to me as I lay on my side with her back against my chest. My face was in her neck, breathing in her scent and my arm was tight around her chest. I didn’t cuddle and the realization made my eyes snap open.

It felt right, having her next to me, like she fit perfectly against my frame. She wasn’t that tall and she was skinnier than I normally liked but the way she’d responded to my every touch had made it feel like it wasn’t the first time we were doing this.

I woke up a while later with Luciana still by my side. My hand trailed down her ribs and she shivered. I liked waking up with her so tight against me. I moved my leg a little higher, nudging hers and she responded by moving it upwards.

My hand trailed up over her back and I could feel the goosebumps beneath my fingertips as they trailed lower, over her hip and down over one buttock to the inside of her thigh. My fingers found her entrance and I found her aroused and ready.

“Luciana,” I whispered.

Her arm came over her head as her fingers found my hair and she moved her hips back into my hand, giving me her consent. I pushed my arm under her leg and pushed inside her, at first moving slowly.

“Does this make me the Duke’s whore now?” Her question stunned me so much that I stopped moving, immediately pushed back into reality.

“No, this just makes you mine.”

She gripped my hair and I started to move again, pushing in and out as she moved with me. The whole room smelled like her and sex and our skin were coated with sweat. It was the best way to fall asleep again and this time I held her even closer.

I had verbally claimed her as mine and she had given herself to me, accepting the claim. I felt connected with her on a primal level especially knowing that my brother hadn’t touched her and never would, knowing that from this moment on she belonged only to me.

I woke up in a lust filled haze as Luciana gripped my erection under the sheet and her tongue swirled over the piercing. My eyes closed once again as she lowered her mouth over me and I fisted the sheets next to me.

She was sitting between my legs, cupping my balls and sucking me off. It was the best possible way to wake up and I grinned at the thought of waking up like this again. I knew I’d return the favour sooner than she expected.

I was so close and I tried to pull out but she gripped me tighter and kept on sucking, pushing on a spot between my penis and my balls, making me feel crazy. “Rise and shine asshole!”

“Milo! Get out!”

“Oh hello Luciana …. down under.”

She started laughing, her lips still around me and the spasms of her throat had me cumming and I groaned out loud as I grabbed the sheets again and Milo remained standing in the doorway. Luciana continued sucking and I felt her swallow twice and if my brother hadn’t been in the room I’d have pulled her up and have her ride me hard.