Chapter 62: I Will Lock You Up!

Chapter 62: I Will Lock You Up! Lucien’s POV My chest ached. It wasn’t just ache, it was rage that was slowly consuming me. It felt as if she were someone you care about who had lived through hell, and you weren’t there to stop it. I suddenly couldn’t help but recall my dreams where a girl kept showing up in my dreams. She was the person who always felt familiar, even before I knew her name. She was Seraphina. But I never imagined... she had suffered like this. And this talk about past or previous lives... what did she mean? Where had all of this really come from? My thoughts were spinning, as it was all over the place. And then she tiptoed toward me, her steps soft but clumsy, and patted my chin like she was trying to confirm I was real. "Why are you not saying anything?" she whispered, her voice slurring with exhaustion and whatever strength was left in her system "I... I hope I meet you in the real world too," she mumbled, her fingers brushing my jaw. "I hope you’re just as beautiful there as you are now." Beautiful? I blinked, caught off guard. Before I could even open my mouth to correct her, she continued. "You know..." she said softly, eyes clouded with tears and lips barely moving, "other than my brothers, you’re the most beautiful existence in my life." My breath caught. She said it so naturally with hesitation, with a voice full of pain. How could someone say something that gentle... and yet heartbreaking... with such a flat and broken expression? I wanted to hold her. I wanted to tell her I was real. But in that moment, I couldn’t speak. I just stood there, watching this girl who had been through more than I could ever guess. And somehow, that scared me more than anything else. I reached up and gently took her hand, pulling it away from my face before she could fall again. "I’m real," I finally said in a low but steady tone. "And I’m not going anywhere." Her breath hitched. She looked up at me like she wanted to believe me, but couldn’t let herself. "You say that now..." she whispered, her eyes glistening with tears. "But everyone disappears and would too, the moment I’d open my eyes." "I won’t," I repeated firmly, and pulled her close. Her body stiffened at first, like she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to be held. But then her fingers slowly clutched the front of my shirt, and she buried her face in my chest. "I... I don’t like your perfume," she murmured against my chest as her fingers tightened around my shirt. "It... it feels like... You were with a lot of women and you..." She didn’t continue, but it was enough for me to understand. Because my heartbeat had already shot up, pounding in my chest, and was loud enough that I was sure she could hear it. Blood surged through my veins like warning bells. How the hell did she know? But she wasn’t wrong either. Earlier today, after a long, draining meeting, I ended up at a bar with a few business associates. It was nothing unusual, just a few drinks and some small talk. A few too-eager escorts were trying to attract attention. And normally? Normally, I would’ve gone along with it. Let one of them do what they want... Have a night that wasn’t worth remembering, and walk away in the morning after giving them a handful of cash. But today, I couldn’t do anything. The moment I closed my eyes, all I could see was Seraphina. She wasn’t smiling, or was looking seductive. She was just... staring at me with those wide eyes that looked betrayed. Every time I tried to lean in to any of those women, her face would cut through my mind, pulling me back and stopping me. In the end, I’d walked away, left them all behind and booked a room at the hotel instead, alone. But how did she know all these things? Or did she hear anything? Don’t tell me it was that bastard Joseph who had babbled all those things to her? "Don’t... don’t hug another woman," she murmured, her fingers still fisting my shirt. "If... if you hug them, then don’t hug me." Her voice was shaky, but her grip was firm. That soft body pressed into me, igniting a deep fire inside me. "Is that so?" I raised a brow when a sudden realization hit me. "Are you jealous?" "What’s wrong with me being jealous?" she growled, her eyes suddenly turned fierce as she looked up at me. "I... I don’t have much in this life. There are just a few things that matter to me. So why the hell would I want to share them with the world?" Her words were shifting something inside me, very slowly. So I was one of those few things. "So..." I said slowly, smirking to ease the rising tension within, "I’m already yours?" Her lips twitched, but her eyes didn’t waver. "Either way... It’s all a dream, right? You’ll disappear eventually. So why shouldn’t I claim you now, while I can?" She clutched my collar tighter as she said it, as if she wanted to be in absolute control. "Ouch," I muttered in a teasing tone. "That hurts! You are still calling me a dream." She didn’t even blink. "It’ll hurt more if I smell that perfume again," she growled, her nose scrunching like an angry kitten. "Or... or I’ll lock you up somewhere and... and won’t let you go until... until your whole body smells like me and only me!" Thump. My heart slammed hard against my ribs. What the fuck. Was this the same snotty girl who was crying in my arms a minute ago? I stared at her with my lips parted and brain fried. This girl... was dangerous for me. And I was fucking loving her this danger. "You can only be mine in this lifetime!" === How’s the Chapter? Naughty enough?