Page 129 of Born for Lace

By the bedside, I kick something weightless. I pick it up and stare at it; time draws out as I notice the brown-blonde fur and the small frown, immediately wanting Spero’s fluffy bear for myself tonight.

Such a grumpy bear.

There is a creak in the main room, followed by my own unbidden gasp in my ears. I follow the sound to the front door, my body tensing, going completely still as I stare into the dark void. “Who is there?”

My pulse beats in my neck.

“Lucy?” I think I see… something. A figure… And it is like I am getting drawn in, sucked into the black space while trying to find a shape. “Robert?”

A metallic taste swirls around my tongue, and as I lick my lips, the black void moves forward, becoming solid. Energy borders the form like black dye seeping into the air.

A huge male figure.

In a hood.

Towers in front of me.

But before I can scream, the male drags his hood back and the smallest of light from a torch outside slides along a shiny metal plate.

“Hello, little flower.”

ChapterForty

Dahlia

“Lagos…”

The ground beneath my bare feet seems to tilt. “Is it you?” I say, my voice a fragile whisper.

He is so still.

Too still.

His hood tilts toward the cot. “Thank you for helping me find her.”

It’s him!

I don’t wait for him to answer me, launching myself at him, crying, “Lagos… it’s you,” before throwing my arms up so I can grip his thick neck muscles.

I practically climb him with his help, his big hands catching me beneath my thighs. My lips meet his, tasting the sweet and metallic essence that is him, that belongs to the man who I love.

Who does want me.

Who came for me.

Why would Tomar lie?

A growl rumbles from his chest, purring against my body as he strides to the bed. He crawls on with me, already bucking his hips and bruising my core with his erection.

I wrestle with his hooded cloak and shirt, drawing the material off his torso, immediately met with warm, hard flesh.

Tilting my chin, I can’t breathe as his lips move around my face and neck, lingering on my throat, where he sucks until whimpers spill through my lips.

I close my eyes.

Just feel him.

He mouths me. His tongue laps the new welt before following the curve of my chin while one hand removes his jeans and his feet kick off his boots.

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