99 Times for Alpha’s Bestie novel Chapter 183

I stared at the fried egg and bacon before me, scrambling for small talk to cut through the tension. “Lucien, you make pretty good eggs. The bacon is nice and crispy.”

“I am good at other things too.” Lucien sat across from me, methodically chewing on his strip of bacon without even glancing up.

I nearly spit out my milk. I mechanically chewed my egg before finally blurting, “Okay, I need to know how you knew my door code?”

“Claire, the passcode is your birthday. It’s honestly the easiest thing to guess.” Lucien lifted his gaze, eyes glinting. “Which reminds me, you should change it to mine, instead. After all, you would not want certain pests taking advantage and helping themselves in.”

I knew exactly who he meant. Sure, I could change it, but why should I change it to his birthday? My cheeks burned at the thought of what it might mean.

“Why yours? We are not like that.”

His fork stilled. Silverware clinked against the plate as he set it down, his gaze turning dangerously intense.

“It’s simple. No one would ever guess that on your door. As for us, say the word. I will change our status at a moment’s notice if you ask of it, Claire.”

I froze.

The corner of his mouth hooked as he speared a sausage, holding it just inches from my lips, his voice a velvet temptation. “Whatever you want us to be, I am game, Claire.”

Before I could think, I instinctively leaned towards him, parted my lips and took the bite of the offered sausage on his fork.

Whatever relationship? Was Lucien seriously asking me what I thought he was? I thought he had rejected me last night with his abrupt departure just when we were about to-.

“Does that mean we could even be something in secret?” The words tumbled out before I could stop them.

His brows snapped together. “Excuse me?”

My pulse skyrocketed as my eyes raked over his bare torso, every sculpted muscle on display, the raw masculinity making my mouth go dry. Heat flooded my face. I could not look away.

Lucien must have caught the way my eyes darkened with want. He surged to his feet, gripped my chin, and claimed my mouth in a branding kiss.

The kiss was possessive and lingering. Just as I neared breathlessness, he pulled back slightly, only to scoop me onto his lap the next instant, his mouth crashing down again with even deeper intensity.

After what felt like forever, my lips tingled as a strange yearning pulsed through me. When Lucien’s scorching hands began roaming, I finally pressed firmly against his chest.

“Enough.” I whimpered.

“It’s nowhere near enough for me, Claire.” His arms locked around me like unyielding iron, crushing me against him as his hot breath seared my ear, voice rough. “I can last all night.”

Before I could protest, his mouth claimed mine again, stealing my words.

No, wait! I tried to reason with myself. We still needed to finish our conversation. We still needed to define what this was. Logical me needed to know where the boundaries and limits were, but his lips claiming me like a possessed man were clouding that part of myself the longer we continued in this direction.

Through the haze, I felt my robe’s sash give way, chill air brushing my bared skin, followed by the rough heat of his calloused palms sliding beneath the fabric. I was about to surrender completely. Everything in me wanted to give Lucien everything he wanted from me.

Liam’s expression at Lucien’s words was not contained; you could see them exploding all rational thoughts in Liam’s mind. His jaw ticked, his eyes flickered between his and his hurt wolf. He went to take a step towards me, but Lucien must have reacted behind me, because Liam froze mid-step.

“Why the hell would you do this to me?” He kicked the overturned food containers, shouting furiously. “You blocked me from picking up Nora! Lectured me about boundaries! And then you turn around and f**k him? You are a hypocrite! A f*****g-!”

I stood rooted to the spot, staring at the wreckage at my feet like a spectator. Everything from last night to this morning felt like some out-of-control dream.

Even Liam’s shock paled in comparison to my own dazed confusion. I felt like I was floating in a haze, completely bewildered at how my relationship with Lucien had somehow accelerated to this point.

“I think you’ve said enough, and to be frank, you’re interrupting us,” Lucien said coldly, with apparent dismissal. “Get lost!”

Liam’s eyes burned crimson as they locked onto my swollen lips and the apparent disarray of my silk house robe, clearly fresh out of bed. Humiliation and heartache shook his body, his hands trembling violently.

“Claire, you are not the woman I thought you were,” he spat, each word dripping with bitterness. “From now on, I don’t ever want to see you again! We are done!”

He abruptly turned around, his expression filled with utter despair, and stormed out, slamming the door with a force that reverberated through the hallway.

The deafening crash sobered my foggy mind. I was a woman who had already endured the pain of one mate’s betrayal and rejection.

When I signed those papers, I had sworn an oath-no more lovestruck foolishness, no more surrendering my heart so easily, no more letting emotions override my judgment. Seeing Liam and noting how quickly he shifted all the blame and hypocrisy onto me reminded me that I had a plan, and love wasn’t it.

I needed to put a stop to whatever was happening between Lucien and me before it got too out of hand. I would be left alone and utterly broken all over again. This time, though, I wouldn’t be able to get over Lucien like I had with Liam. Lucien meant to me.