Chapter 21: Unlocked Door

Lucian’s POV

​I stopped outside her door and stared at it. What exactly was I doing here? Checking her arm? Making sure Lucas wasn’t lying?

​I reached for the handle. It turned immediately. Unlocked.

​I frowned. After someone had locked her in a storage room and another person had placed a deadly snake in her bedroom, the woman still wasn’t locking her door. So damn careless.

​I pushed the door open and stepped inside, ready to demand why she was running to my brother instead of coming to me, but the words completely died in my throat.

​And in that split second, I immediately regretted stepping inside. Or maybe I didn’t regret it at all.

​She was completely naked.

​It looked like she had just taken an afternoon bath. Drops of water were still glistening on her smooth skin, and she was in the middle of wiping her body down with a small white towel.

​"Ah!"

​The moment she noticed me standing in the doorway, a loud scream escaped her lips. Her eyes went wide with pure panic, and she instantly scrambled to cover her chest and front with the tiny towel, her cheeks turning bright red.

​"Lucian!" she gasped, her eyes wide. "Why are you here?"

​I knew I was supposed to look away. Any decent man would turn around, apologize, and close the door. But I had never claimed to be a decent man, and my eyes refused to budge. My eyes had already taken in enough to make my thoughts scatter.

​She was beautiful, far more beautiful than I wanted to admit, and the realization irritated me almost as much as the fact that I had noticed at all.

​I stepped fully into the room, closed the door firmly behind me, and folded my arms across my chest.

​"Why are you screaming?" I asked, faking an irritated tone. "What are you hiding? I’m your husband. I’ve seen you naked, remember?"

​Olivia swallowed hard, her chest heaving as she gripped the towel for dear life. "L-Lucian... get out! Could you please leave? I’m not dressed!"

​"Alpha Lucian," I corrected. "And this entire mansion belongs to me," I pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

​"So what?" She stared at me as though I had lost my mind. "Lucian!"

​I didn’t listen. Instead, I took slow, deliberate steps toward her, watching the way the soft sunlight hit her bare shoulders. She was breathtaking. The curves of her waist, the soft glow of her skin, the raw vulnerability in her big eyes—it was mesmerizing. It took every ounce of my self-control not to stare openly at every inch of her.

​"Why are you so shy?" I teased, stopping just a few feet away from her. "You’re a werewolf. Haven’t you shifted in front of people before?"

​She didn’t answer. She just stood there, trembling slightly, pressing the towel tightly against her chest while backing up until her legs hit the edge of the bed. Most wolves weren’t this uncomfortable with their bodies; shifting meant nudity was hardly some shocking thing among our kind. Yet she looked ready to throw me through the window just for standing there, or perhaps jump through it herself.

​A small scoff left my lips. Seeing how genuinely uncomfortable and panicked she looked, whatever amusement I’d gotten from irritating her disappeared. A sudden urge to just leave hit me. I had pressed her enough for one day. I turned my torso slightly, preparing to walk out and give her privacy.

​Then, a sudden, wicked thought popped into my mind. I should have ignored it. I didn’t.

​I paused. I forced my eyes to go wide, looking past her shoulder toward the wall behind her bed, pretending to freeze in utter horror.

​"Don’t move," I said, my tone deadly serious. "There’s a snake behind you."

​Olivia didn’t hesitate for a single second. Her face lost every bit of color.

​She gasped in pure terror, completely forgot about her modesty, screamed "Lucian!", and leaped forward, jumping straight onto me.

​The towel slipped out of her hands and fell uselessly to the floor.

​Before I could even process what was happening, her soft, completely naked body slammed against mine. Instinct took over instantly. My hands shot out and caught her, wrapping tightly around her bare ass to hold her up. Her legs wrapped securely around my waist, her breasts pressing against my shirt, and her arms locked around my neck in a desperate grip as I stumbled half a step backward from the force.

​I froze. My breath caught right in my throat, and my entire body went still. So did hers. For one very long second, neither of us breathed.

​The scent of fresh water, lavender, and her own sweet female scent hit my nose like a powerful drug. She was totally bare against me, her heart hammering wildly against my chest, and I was holding her whole weight in my hands.

​I knew playing a juvenile trick on a girl who was already terrified of me made me look like an absolute fool. Playing games just to get a reaction out of her was reckless, and this had turned into a very, very terrible idea. But standing here with her pressed so close to me, feeling the incredible heat of her bare skin against mine, I didn’t care how stupid I looked.

​Olivia buried her face into the crook of my neck, trembling softly. "Is it gone?" she whispered, her body pressed tight against mine. "Lucian, please tell me it’s gone!"

​My hands tightened against the soft skin of her lower back and thigh, my thumb unconsciously tracing a small circle there. The cold, logical part of my brain told me there had never been a snake, and that I had to somehow explain that without getting murdered by my own wife. It told me to put her down immediately and walk away before things went too far.

​But as I felt her heart beating wildly against mine, the beast inside me growled in pure satisfaction, and I knew there was no way in hell I was letting her go anytime soon.