Lethal Temptation (by Michelle Ray) novel Chapter 289

289 Peace Before Judgment

Lucian

We arrived at the mansion just before noon. I gave Alpha Sam a guest room in my wing-he seemed genuinely pleased. I told him we’d cut down on staff until we knew who we could trust, but Austin would

take care of anything he needed.

Denis disappeared down the hall to his assigned room, and Mara, Keisha, and I headed to ours. Darian had apparently returned home before heading back out to coordinate the arrests-explaining why they

weren’t in the bunker anymore.

The moment the door shut behind us, something inside me snapped loose. I turned to Mara and reached for her like a man starved. Clothes hit the floor in seconds.

“You had a fever last night,” I murmured, peeling away the last layer between us. “And you were murmuring things… I couldn’t make out most of it.”

She smiled, and I kissed that smile.

I lifted her easily and carried her to the bed. She had nothing on now, her body glowing in the soft light. The small curve of her belly made my heart ache with tenderness. She looked like something out of a myth-powerful, radiant, mine.

I kissed her-everywhere. Her breath caught, her fingers tangled in my hair, and her body arched in response. I moved slowly, savoring every reaction, every sound she made. I pressed my lips to her bump and stayed there for a moment, listening-feeling. Our baby. Our future.

Somewhere in the background, my phone started to ring. I ignored it.

“Lucian,” she gasped. “Your phone-”

I met her eyes and grinned. Let it wait, I linked to her. The only thing that matters right now is you.

And nothing-not war, not politics, not the world outside-could pull me away from her.

She came hard beneath my mouth, her entire body arching with release, and I didn’t wait. I moved over her, burying myself deep, and her eyes locked with mine. That look-full of trust, hunger, and something deeper-hit me harder than anything else. I moved with purpose, with fire, giving her everything I had,

everything words couldn’t say.

She felt it-I knew she did. The way she touched me, how her body responded, how she held nothing back.

Then she flipped us, straddling me, her movements confident and commanding. My back hit the headboard and I sat up, sliding my hands along her spine to steady her as she rode. Her rhythm was unrelenting, every grind pushing me further into the storm she was creating. Her wetness, her heat-it was too much and not enough.

“I’m close,” she gasped.

1:3

<289 Peace Before Judgment

Claim

“Come for me, darling,” I said through the link, my mind flooding with nothing but her.

She closed her eyes, trembled, and then came again-clenching around me and pulling my release from deep within. I held on, letting go with her, every muscle in my body seizing in pleasure.

She slowed. Still connected, she collapsed gently onto my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her, pressing a kiss to her neck. For a few seconds, we just breathed together-sweaty, tangled, and whole.

Then she pulled back and met my gaze.

“Now we can have peace,” she whispered.

I smiled. “Yeah… now we can.”

She slipped off me, and I finally reached for my phone, still catching my breath. Three missed calls-Daria

I called back. He picked up on the first ring.

“Lucian,” he said, urgency in his voice. “Everyone’s waiting for you.”

I frowned, glancing at the clock. “We just got back, Darian.”

He sighed, and I could already hear the chaos behind him.

“I know,” Darian said through the phone, his voice edged with frustration, “but we’ve been waiting in the

sentencing hall at headquarters for over an hour. I thought you’d just swing home, change, and come back.

”

He let out a tired breath. “Please hurry. The press is here. All the defecting Alphas are here. And Alaric. We need to finish this, Lucian. Today. I don’t want this bleeding into tomorrow. I want it done.”

I grumbled under my breath. “Have you called Father?”

“I have,” he said flatly. “Neither he nor my mother is answering.”

That made me laugh, and Darian immediately groaned. “Don’t go there, Lucian. I don’t even want to imagine what’s going on in their room right now.”

I smirked. “I’ll tell them to meet us there.”

“Thanks,” he said, and hung up.

I set the phone down, and Mara turned to face me, lying on her side, elbow propped beneath her head,

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify