Chapter 61: SPEND THE NIGHT WITH ME

Olivia’s POV

​"Can you give me some time to think about it?" I finally asked.

​Lucas studied my face for a moment before nodding. "Of course. But the earlier you decide, the better."

​I nodded slowly. I understood why. This wasn’t a small decision. Ending the treaty would affect two packs, Lucian, my supposed father, and probably hundreds of other people. And for me, it meant something even bigger. It meant finally walking away from the life I had been forced into and becoming Olivia again.

​Lucas reached for me and pulled me back into his arms. I rested my head against his chest, but I had barely relaxed when another thought suddenly entered my mind.

​"Wait."

​"What?"

​I lifted my head quickly. "I need to leave."

​His brows pulled together. "Why?"

​"What if Lucian thinks about me and teleports here?"

​Lucas actually scoffed.

​I frowned. "Why are you laughing? I’m serious."

​"So am I." He shifted against the pillows. "Lucian can teleport anywhere he already knows, but he can’t simply think about a person and have his power take him directly to wherever that person happens to be."

​I blinked. "But you can."

​"Yes."

​"How?"

​"I was the only one who inherited that ability from our mother." Lucas ran his fingers lazily through my hair. "All of us inherited the ability to teleport, but mine is different. I can focus on a person and my power will take me to them, even if I don’t know where they are."

​That explained how he had appeared in the garden tonight simply because he had been thinking about me.

​"So Lucian can’t do that?"

​"No." Lucas shook his head. "Lucian isn’t going to think about you and suddenly appear in this room. The only way he’ll come here is if he deliberately decides to teleport to my room." A faint smile touched his lips. "And I seriously doubt my brother is going to randomly decide to visit my bedroom tonight."

​That made sense. I released the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding and relaxed against him again.

​"Better?" he asked.

​"A little."

​"Are you hungry?"

​"No."

​We fell quiet again, but another thought occurred to me. Apparently, my brain had decided relaxing wasn’t going to happen tonight.

​"Your parents... are they here?"

​"My mother isn’t." Lucas went still for a moment before continuing. "I can’t feel her presence anywhere around the pack house, so she’s probably somewhere else. My father is here, though."

​I immediately lifted my head again. "Your father?"

​"Relax." Lucas gave me an amused look. "He’s not going to come into my bedroom."

​"You seem very confident about that."

​"Because unlike some people, my family understands what a closed bedroom door means."

​I almost smiled.

​"Relax, Annabel," he repeated, pulling me closer. "No one is coming."

​I sighed and rested against him again, though my mind was still moving far too quickly. I had somehow gone from sitting alone in Lucian’s garden to lying in his brother’s bed in another pack house. If someone had told me this would happen when I woke up this morning, I probably would have called them insane.

​"Spend the night with me," Lucas suddenly said.

​My head snapped up. "What?"

​"Stay tonight."

​"Lucas, that’s risky."

​"I’ll handle it."

​"How exactly are you going to handle me disappearing from Lucian’s mansion for an entire night?"

​"That’s my problem."

​"No, I’m fairly certain that’s also my problem."

​His mouth curved slightly. "Just say yes."

​I stared at him, wanting to argue. Every sensible part of me knew I should get dressed and demand that he take me back immediately. Staying here would only make an already complicated situation worse.

​But Lucas’s arms tightened gently around me, and once again, that strange feeling of familiarity settled over me.

​"Lucas..."

​"Stay."

​Before I could answer, his hand began to wander beneath the sheet, and my breath caught as his touch moved higher along my thigh. I immediately knew exactly what he was trying to do.

​I narrowed my eyes at him. "You’re cheating."

​A slow smile appeared on his face.

​"I have no idea what you’re talking about."

​"Of course you don’t."

​His fingers kept sliding higher until they brushed the soft skin between my legs. Without thinking, I parted my thighs for him. Lucas didn’t hesitate. One long finger slipped inside me, slow and deep, curling just enough to make my breath stutter.

​"Stay?" he asked quietly, his voice low against my ear as he began to move that finger in steady, deliberate strokes.

​A soft moan slipped out of me before I could stop it. My hips shifted against his hand. He touched me gently with his finger, in and out, the wet sound soft in the quiet room. Another moan left my throat, quieter this time.

​I nodded.

​The answer came before I could properly think about what I was agreeing to. Spending the night here was probably one of the worst decisions I could make, especially when Lucian could return at any time. Yet somehow, the thought of leaving Lucas right now felt even harder. I would deal with the consequences tomorrow.

​He kept going for a few more slow strokes, just enough to leave me aching and restless, before he carefully pulled his finger free. Then he drew me fully against his chest, tucking the sheet around us both.

​"Go to sleep," he murmured, lips brushing my hair.

​I closed my eyes, listening to the steady beat of his heart under my ear.

​There was still something about Lucas that I couldn’t understand, something that made being this close to him feel less strange than it should. I wanted to think about it. I wanted to search through my memories and figure out why that feeling refused to leave me, but exhaustion was already making my thoughts blur together.

​My breathing gradually slowed. The last thing I remembered was Lucas’s fingers moving gently through my hair and his arm tightening around me.

​Then, still curled against his chest, I fell asleep.